Chapter 924

Brunhilde was facing the greatest crisis of her life.

“

Kuhuhu!”

Credos let out a vile laugh as he stared at Brunhilde, who was collapsed on the ground and groaning in pain.

Of course, the situation was far from ideal for Credos, too.

“

Kieeee!”

“Kiee!”

The Demon Drakes were being torn apart in the blink of an eye by the mighty dragons.

At the same time, the combined forces of the dark elves and demons were being obliterated by the relentless bombardment of the Proatine Forces and the Marchioni Empire’s Imperial Army.

In other words, the dark elves would certainly lose this battle.

And yet, he was enjoying every second of this battle.

Why?

It was all because his true goal wasn't winning the war.

‘

Hehehe! I lost my daughter because of you, Lohengrin! Now you’ll lose both your daughter and granddaughter! And you too, Siegfried van Proa! You’ll lose your wife and daughter!’

It did not matter to him whether he won or lost. In his eyes, he had already emerged victorious in this war.

Not a day went by that Credos was not in agony after losing his daughter, killed by the scoundrel, Siegfried van Proa.

He waged several wars on Elondel to exact vengeance, but each attempt failed, further weakening Niflheim. Once he realized it was impossible to exact revenge, he drowned his sorrow in alcohol every night, hoping that it would ease his suffering.

Today, just the thought of making both Lohengrin and Siegfried van Proa suffer the same agony he had been suffering made him grin from ear to ear.

The outcome of this war was irrelevant to him. He only wanted to make them experience that unbearable torment.

“Finish off that wench and her brat already, Credos!” Baroque exclaimed, sounding impatient.

In Baroque’s eyes, this battle was a total disaster.

He was on the brink of losing an entire division of demons after the dragons and the empire suddenly appeared. At this rate, claiming Credos’ soul and body in return for fulfilling their contract would only serve as a consolation prize.

“I’ll finish them off even if you don’t rush me,” Credos said with a twisted grin.

He gripped his saber tightly and approached Brunhilde.

“

Argh...!”

Brunhilde struggled to her feet, using her sword, the Holy Sword: Phoenix, as a crutch.

“Mother!”

“

Kwing! Kwing!”

Verdandi and the Fair Dragon tried to help her, but Brunhilde was already at her limit.

She was Level 299 and on the cusp of becoming a Master, but her opponent, Credos, was already a Master and a Level 415 one at that.

Credos was on par with Lohengrin when it came to combat prowess, which meant that this was a lopsided fight to begin with.

However, to make the situation even worse for Brunhilde, Credos formed a contract with Baroque, which boosted his power by over thirty percent.

The only reason Brunhilde could hold on for this long was her unyielding will, and her unyielding will was born from her fierce maternal instinct to protect her daughter, Verdandi.

Had it not been for that, she would have died at Credos’ hands long ago.

Both Verdandi and the Fairy Dragon cast spells to help her, but their inexperience and age severely limited what they could do in battle.

“

Kuhuhu...

That child... she always wanted to kill you,” Credos sneered. Then, he flashed an even more vile twisted grin as he said, “At last! I shall grant my beloved Menacia’s wish!”

He intended to drag Brunhilde and Verdandi’s lifeless corpses before Menacia’s grave to appease her soul.

“You... won’t get away... with this...” Brunhilde growled while staggering to her feet. She could barely stand up, and her voice was trembling, but her eyes still held the determination to keep fighting to protect her daughter. “I will... protect my child... no matter what...!”

“

Kuhuhu!

Then try to protect her if you can!”

With a wicked laugh, Credos lunged forward and swung his saber in an attempt to cleave Brunhilde in two.

***

With Hamchi at his side, Siegfried flew as fast as he could toward where Brunhilde and Verdandi were. In mid-flight, he quickly transformed his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a sniper.

‘

Aim...’

he aimed at Credos’ wide open back.

No matter how much mana he poured into his +10 Black Crow Wingsuit, there was no way he could outrun a bullet. In this situation, providing long-range cover fire was the best he could do.

Of course, sniping a moving target while flying was incredibly difficult. No, he would have to rely on luck, too, at this point.

Still, he had no other choice but to take the shot.

‘

Pull the trigger.’

Just as Siegfried was about to squeeze the trigger—

Flash!

A crimson light exploded from Brunhilde.

“

Ack!

My eyes!” Siegfried screamed after being blinded.

He was looking through the scope attached to the +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp when the light suddenly blinded him.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: You have been blinded!]

[Alert: You have temporarily lost your vision!]

The light was so intense that it completely blinded Siegfried.

‘

W-What happened?!’

Siegfried panicked after realizing he had lost his vision.

“

Kyuuu!

We’re crashing, owner punk! What are you doing?!”

“I can’t see!”

“Fly up! We’re gonna crash!

Kyuuu!”

“G-Got it!”

Siegfried almost crashed after getting blinded, but he narrowly avoided such a disaster thanks to Hamchi’s help.

“Keep flying! Go straight!

Kyuuu!”

“Okay!”

“Hamchi will guide you!

Kyuuu!”

“Hey! Tell me what’s happening!”

“

Kyuuu!

Hamchi’s sister-in-law is beating the shit out of the dark elf!”

“W-What?! She’s winning against the dark elf?!” Siegfried exclaimed, unable to believe what he heard.

Just a few minutes ago, Brunhilde seemed on the verge of dying at Credos’ hands.

But now she was beating him up?”

It made no sense at all. There was no way she could suddenly gain so much power even if she reached Level 300 and awakened as a Master in the middle of the fight.

Brunhilde defeating Credos was simply impossible.

Why? Because Credos was a veteran Master over Level 400, and he also had a contract with Baroque.

“Hey! How does that even make sense?!”

“

Kyuuu!

It’s happening! She’s incredibly strong! She’s crushing the dark elf!”

“You expect me to believe tha–!”

It was then.

‘

What?!’

Siegfried felt an overwhelming surge of energy coming from where Brunhilde and Verdandi were, and this energy was so powerful that it pricked his skin.

‘

What the hell is happening over there?’

Just as that question flashed across his mind—

[Alert: Status ailment has been lifted!]

[Alert: Your vision is returning!]

[Alert: Vision is fully restored in 3 seconds!]

[Alert: 2... 1...!]

[Alert: Vision restored!]

Siegfried’s eyes cleared up, and he could see again.

‘

What the...?’

The moment his vision returned, Siegfried tried to have a grasp of the situation.

Fwoosh! Fwoooosh!

The first thing he saw was Brunhilde engulfed in blazing crimson flames.

‘

All of a sudden...?’

He was completely bewildered, as he had never seen her surrounded by flames like that before.

‘

What’s going on?’

Then, it hit him.

‘

Ah!’

Siegfried noticed that even Holy Sword: Phoenix was burning brighter than ever before.

‘

Is that sword revealing its true power...?’

He flashed his Rune of Insight at the Holy Sword: Phoenix, and the result was—

‘N-No way!’

He was completely stunned.

[Holy Sword: Phoenix]

[A sacred sword imbued with the power of Archangel Auriel.]

[The flames of this flaming sword can burn even souls to ashes.]

The Holy Sword: Phoenix that Brunhilde had been using was, in fact, a divine relic of Archangel Auriel.

The same Archangel that Siegfried once fought quite a while ago.

‘

No!’

Siegfried poured his mana into his +10 Black Crow Wingsuit after realizing what was happening. His instincts screamed that Brunhilde was turning into a vessel capable of containing Archangel Auriel's soul.

***

The Holy Sword: Phoenix was a sacred relic related to Archangel Auriel.[1]

There was a time when Siegfried was almost possessed by the dark mana of the Demon Sword: Avenger, but Brunhilde saved him using the power of the Holy Sword: Phoenix.

Now that he thought about it, everything that happened on that day finally made sense.

The Demon Sword: Avenger was a demon’s relic, while the Holy Sword: Phoenix was an angel’s relic.

Since the two possessed polar opposite attributes, the aura radiating from Holy Sword: Phoenix allowed Siegfried to narrowly escape being possessed by the dark mana unleashed by Demon Sword: Avenger back then.

However, the problem was that Siegfried never paid much attention to the Holy Sword: Phoenix after that. In fact, he had completely forgotten the description that told him about how the sword was Archangel Auriel’s relic.

In other words, this was a classic case of missing what was right under one’s nose.

“Burn to ashes,” Brunhilde muttered coldly as she relentlessly attacked. Siegfried was shocked. It seemed like Archangel Auriel was possessing Brunhilde. No, it looked like Archangel Auriel had already taken control of her.

“

G-Gaaaah!”

Credos screamed in agony after being burned by the flames.

And it was not just Credos—

“

Ack! Gaaaah!”

Baroque screamed in agony upon being engulfed by the divine flames.

“A dark elf and a demon running around in this world? Filthy creatures like you deserve nothing more than to be burned alive until you turn to ashes.” Archangel Auriel, now in Brunhilde’s body, displayed far greater power compared to when he possessed that ordinary old man.

An archangel was equal to a demon lord in terms of power, and with Auriel possessing a fitting vessel like Brunhilde, he was able to display far greater power than he did in the battle against Siegfried and Metatron.

It went without saying that Baroque, who was merely a son of a demon lord, could never fight on equal footing against an archangel. Naturally, there was no way he could withstand the divine flames of Archangel Auriel, and the same went for Credos.

“

Gaaaaah!”

“Aaaack!”

Both Credos and Baroque were reduced to ashes by Auriel’s divine flames, and they scattered into the wind.

They were literally burned to death by the divine flames.

“It seems that these vile creatures are running rampant in this world... that is only fitting after the Celestial Realm’s prolonged absence,” Archangel Auriel grumbled, looking disgusted after burning both Credos and Baroque to death.

“M-Mother...?”

“

Kwing...?”

Verdandi and the Fairy Dragon looked at Brunhilde with confusion.

The Brunhilde they knew was always gentle and warm, but the woman in front of them seemed terrifyingly cold for some reason. Verdandi’s instincts screamed at her that this was not the same mother she knew, which only confused her even more.

“Oh?” Archangel Auriel muttered while looking down at them before flashing a sinister smile.

To be precise, his gaze was fixated solely on Verdandi.

“Perfect... Truly perfect,” he muttered in awe.

Then, his lips curled into a spine-chilling grin before uttering, “Absolutely perfect. Flawless beyond words.”

“M-Mother...?”

“Come over here,” Archangel Auriel said as he walked toward Verdandi. Then, he grinned from ear to ear and added, “You will be the most fitting vessel for the chief—”

It was then.

Bam!

Siegfried suddenly dropped from the sky and slammed his shoulder into Auriel, sending him flying.

Baaam!

Auriel was knocked back several meters before crashing on the ground.

“Verdandi!” Siegfried exclaimed.

He scooped her into his arms and held her tightly.

There was no way he would let the likes of Auriel, an angel, take his most prized possession, his beloved daughter.

1. Author-nim kindly left us a note to see Chapter 143. ☜