Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 25 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

A Shot at Victory

A HEATED DEBATE was underway when I got back.

“Our foe is at our gates. We must get ready.”

“So we should go and search for Rudeus first!”

The second person yelling was Eris, and she was arguing with Sandor. Roxy was there too.

“Dohga is with him. They’ll make it back eventually. In the meantime, we need to organize our forces, and set our trap…”

“Like that blockhead will be any help!”

“He’s more capable than you think.”

“Well, if we’re talking about capable, how come you weren’t with him?!”

“Hmph… Well that’s…”

Next, the big question: would they come to my rescue, or assume I’d make it back on my own and engage the enemy?

Eris was arguing in favor of rescuing me. I appreciated that.

“Whatever, I’ll go down myself!” Without standing on ceremony, Eris rose and spun on her heel. That was when our eyes met.

“If you’re heading down, I’d recommend going down to the altar using the staircase in the shadow of the mushroom and getting the blue water,” I said.

“Rudeus!”

Eris responded to my helpful puzzle walkthrough by throwing her arms around me.

Ow, ow. You’re gonna snap my spine.

“I was worried about you!”

“I’m sorry.”

Roxy and the others all looked relieved I was alive. Lucky, lucky me!

“…By the way, what’s with the arm?”

“Oh, this… Look, I’ll explain everything at once. Only, before that…” I looked around until my gaze came to rest on one man sitting there.

“You. Who are you?” I demanded, staring down Sandor.

***

North God Kalman II, Alex Rybak. The protagonist of The Epic of the North God, who defeated the Monarch of the King Dragons, slew a giant behemoth, achieved numerous glorious feats on battlefields around the world, and eventually became one of the Seven Great Powers. He was the greatest practitioner of North God Style, and until a mere hundred years ago was regarded as the greatest swordsman in the world.

That was how Sandor introduced himself. To tell the truth, I wasn’t that surprised. Part of me wondered what a guy like that was doing here, but mostly, it made sense. It made sense why Orsted had put him with me but not told me why. Why Ariel had sent him over the heads of Ghislaine and Isolde. Why Dohga was a North Emperor. He was North God Kalman II. It made sense.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked him.

“Just in case… The Man-God can see into peoples’ hearts, but if no one on our side knew I was Kalman, I could conceal my presence. It made it easier to move too.”

Fair enough. Pretty sure everything I know got leaked to the Man-God when I fell into the ravine, though.

He wouldn’t know Kalman was on my team because I didn’t know it either…but then, if he could see into Sandor’s heart or Dohga’s, did that even matter?

“…Really?” I asked.

“Well, to be honest, I kind of thought it’d be cool if I revealed my true identity at a crucial moment.”

“Oh, granted. Of course.”

People trip over themselves to look cool, yeah. Happens all the time.

“Wasn’t it futile after it came out that Dohga was a North Emperor?”

“I suppose… Though Dohga isn’t an especially well-known North Emperor.”

If I’d known the two of them were powerful warriors, I’d have tried to conceal them. Except if I’d done that, maybe everything would have gone even worse.

“Well, anyway. I’ll be counting on you from here on out, Alex.”

“Naturally. Only please keep calling me Sandor. That’s the name I go by these days.”

After confirming Sandor’s identity, we moved on to putting together all our information.

Ten days earlier, I’d brought the Sword God Gall Falion and North God Kalman III to the village, and they shoved me into the ravine. I hadn’t felt the time pass on the ravine floor, but I’d been unconscious for a long time. It was a day later, maybe two—I wasn’t sure of the precise time—when the teleportation circles and communication tablets had stopped glowing. That was what had clued Eris and Roxy into the fact that something was terribly wrong, and they’d come to the Superd Village to meet up with me. They’d guessed that the magic circles at the Superd Village would have ceased to glow too, but they trusted that I was still active. They decided to see how things played out. 

It was Sandor, who’d come straight back, who told them I was missing. He organized a search party with Ruijerd and the others to find me, which was when they’d discovered that Dohga had gone into the ravine after me. Sandor decided then to leave me to Dohga and stay on the alert for the enemy’s attack. Reason being the information he’d gotten from his informant had gotten him anxious. The informant told him a totally baseless rumor that the devils in the forest were the Superd, and they’d murdered everyone in the surrounding area. Based on the rumors, the kingdom was mustering a hunting party.

“I see… Right…”

Backing up Sandor’s information was the report from Eris and Roxy. They had only arrived yesterday. That distance should have been only a four-day journey, but it took ten days. They’d been held up by a huge ceremony in the capital they had to push their way through. It was the departure ceremony for the hunting party. The decision to hunt the Superd had broken out into a kind of festival, and I guess they decided to hold the departure ceremony a little early, in the midst of the festivities. 

Strictly speaking, it shouldn’t have been held until a little later. Geese probably got the news that I’d been tossed into the ravine and set things in motion ahead of schedule. When Orsted’s bracelet came off, that had alerted the Man-God to my survival, so maybe he’d wanted a speedy attack on Orsted before I got out of the ravine. Roxy and Eris had done some recon work around the too-early departure of the hunting party, and confirmed that the Sword God and the North God had joined during that.

As they did their recon, however, the two of them couldn’t shake some questions: I was supposed to have negotiated with the kingdom, so how had things ended up like this? Where had I disappeared to?

Then, before they knew what was happening, the hunting party had set off from the capital. They followed anyway, keeping a close watch. They knew where the party was headed, but they thought maybe they could learn something. When they reached the Second City, Roxy suggested that further pursuit was too dangerous. They gave the town a wide berth then traveled through the forest, heading for the Superd Village. After that, they got lost—understandable—and wasted a few days. They arrived safely at the village in the end.

So here we were. Oh yeah, apparently Eris and Ruijerd had an emotional reunion when she arrived back at the Superd Village. The moment Eris laid eyes on him, she’d been struck by the urge to pounce. I suppose she was consumed by the desire for him to see how strong she’d gotten. She managed to hold herself back. She wasn’t a child anymore. Ever since Ruijerd had recognized her as a warrior, Eris Greyrat had been a warrior. So as not to embarrass herself, she had to behave in front of her mentor. Telling herself this, she assumed her usual pose and said, “It’s been a while! You look the same as ever, Ruijerd.”

“Hey, Eris,” he replied. “You’ve grown.”

“Yeah, duh.”

That was the extent of Eris and Ruijerd’s conversation. It was enough to fill Eris with nostalgia and pride. Once, she’d had to look up at Ruijerd, but now, they stood eye to eye. In battle, she could fight alongside him. Eris told me all this with a smug look on her face.

“We don’t have much time left. The hunting party is probably heading this way as we speak, and I expect it won’t be long until the Ogre warriors join them.”

“Okay. Right, here’s my report.”

I told them how the two soldiers had been the Sword God and the North God, using the same rings that I had to disguise themselves. Geese was probably disguising himself in the same way and that was why we couldn’t find him. I also told them that I’d fallen into the ravine, but the Atofe Hand and Dohga had gotten to me in the nick of time and saved me. I told them that when I fell, Orsted’s bracelet had come off…and the Man-God had seen me. I finished with our escape from the ravine and ensuing return to the village.

“Rudeus,” Eris said when I was done, her voice low, “I’ll kill Gall Falion.” She was staring at the point where my arm met my body.

“…Well, that is one option, but let’s discuss it. I’m happy you want to avenge me, but I don’t want you charging off alone, or you’ll end up like I did.”

Okay, let’s recap.

First, Geese was definitely in a position where he could manipulate the hunting party. The most likely scenario was that he’d disguised himself as the king. I didn’t know who the disciples were, but Geese had the Sword God, the North God, and the Ogre God on his side. The Sword God and the North God had scouted out the Superd Village using the power of the rings, and the Ogre God had gone with Geese to mount an assault on the office, robbing us of any place to run. Now, they were with the other hundred or so members of the hunting party, heading for the Superd Village.

Ogre God Marta had been sent to Sharia. Thinking about it again made my heart sink into despair.

“What happened to our house…?” I asked. Roxy looked down and Eris folded her arms.

Sandor stroked his chin, looking troubled. “The Ogre God may have just destroyed the office and then left. He might have gone on to attack Sharia too, but we have no way to know.”

I thought this through. What would I have done? Right now, no one was in Sharia. No Rudeus, no Orsted. There wasn’t a single person there who could stand up to the Ogre God. No way would he have just left it. Even if I didn’t have the firepower, I’d probably attack anyway, just for the hell of it.

The room was silent. I got the feeling Orsted was glowering too. I couldn’t know for sure because of the helmet, but he always glowered.

“Dear me! I’m missing the gathering!” There was a voice from the entrance. I looked around, and there he was.

“Zanoba!”

Right, he’s here too. No—I didn’t forget about him! Of course I didn’t! I just, um, I had my family to worry about!

“Sorry I’m late, Master. We just arrived.”

“No, it’s all good. I only just got here.”

I saw Julie and Ginger behind Zanoba. They were beat up. There were scrapes all over them and exhaustion had put dark shadows under their eyes. It looked like their magic was nearly exhausted.

“We had some trouble with invisible beasts along the way, you see. If the Superd had not come to our aid, we would have been in grave peril.”

“You don’t say. Okay, let’s have those two lie down… Wait, no, you should tell us what you know first. You can sit in the corner and rest,” I said. Without a word, Ginger and Julie tottered off into the hall and sank down next to a pillar. Roxy ran over immediately to cast healing magic on them.

“Okay, Zanoba. How much do you know about what’s happening?”

“The gist of it. I’d be grateful if you could explain it to me from the beginning.”

So with that, I explained. It was honestly annoying going through the same stuff again, but it had to be done. The important thing was for all of us to be on the same page.

“—and so, our concerns now are the hunting party coming this way, and what happened in Sharia.”

When I finished, Zanoba gave a snort of laughter. I didn’t recall saying anything funny. Surely, he wasn’t thinking something like “Well, my whole family is safe here! Hahaha!” He wasn’t like that.

“How interesting. On the way here, I found a monument to the Seven Great Powers, so I had Perugius’s servant Master Arumanfi confirm some things.”

“Ohh!” Standing up with a joyful smile was not me but Sandor. He looked around the hall, then sat straight back down again.

“Excuse me. And?”

“He said your family is safe, Master.”

Relief settled over the room.

Okay. They were safe. Leo must have done his job, or someone else had protected them. Maybe they saw a potential invasion of Sharia on the horizon; it did house the University of Magic, after all. Whichever it was, it was happy news.

“If Master Perugius joins our forces, that alone would tip the balance in our favor.” Sandor looked around the hall with mild excitement.

Zanoba, on the other hand, looked mildly troubled. “No, Sir Perugius apparently said that he would remain a spectator in this battle. I doubt we can rely on his aid.”

“Surely not! This is the sort of situation where he is strongest!” Sandor exclaimed, recoiling in a way I thought was a bit melodramatic.

Did the guy like Perugius that much? No, he was the Second North God. The First North God and Perugius were old allies, back when they’d been the Three Godslayers, which meant Sandor might be acquainted with Perugius. He might even have looked up to him, a man of his father’s generation known as a hero. Setting that aside, Sandor was right. The power of Perugius and his twelve familiars would be especially valuable in a delicate situation like this. There was no better reconnaissance agent than Arumanfi the Bright, and Clearnight of the Roaring Thunder had the ability to share information. Putting just those two together would throw our opponent’s hand open and get all our allies up to speed in an instant. 

In the legends about Perugius, that was how he’d stripped enemy armies of everything. And that was just the beginning. Between all his familiars, they had powers that could cover every eventuality. If he said he wouldn’t help us, though, then that was that. Orsted’s policy was to not take help from Perugius, anyway.

Suddenly, Orsted spoke. “Ogre God Marta might be rough, but he is decent. He wouldn’t attack non-combatants. If it had been Gall Falion or North God Kalman III, they would have attacked Sharia.” His voice was soft, but it carried well. There was a bit of an echo, maybe because of the helmet. “Geese, however, is a coward. Through those other two, he confirmed that I was here. Because there was a teleportation circle, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that I might return to the office. Thus, he sent Ogre God Marta. Even for me, it would take some time to defeat the Ogre God. In the meantime, Geese—or some ally of his—went around breaking the magic circles. He may have planned this from the start.”

So that was Orsted’s theory. Geese only brought the Ogre God along as a safety net. That safety net had protected my family. Then…he might not have meant to attack Sharia in the first place. I came first. My family came later.

Sandor chimed in with a question. “Then why didn’t all three of them go?”

“I believe that is because the goals of Gall Falion and North God Kalman III differ from Geese’s.”

The goals of the Sword God and the North God? At this, everyone looked confused. Well, everyone except Eris.

“…Because Gall Falion wants to fight you, right?” she said.

“As does Alexander Rybak.”

Orsted was in the Superd Village. The Sword God and the North God knew that, which was why they’d stayed behind rather than go to Sharia. From that, I got the sense that Geese didn’t entirely have those two under his control. They could have climbed down to the floor of the ravine and killed me if that was what they were after. I mean, even North Emperor Dohga had done it. The North God and Alexander could have. They weren’t doing what Geese and the Man-God wanted from them.

“Well, I know my family is safe, so that’s a relief at least. Though I can’t really be relieved when the Sword God, the North God, and the Ogre God are about to attack us.”

Three God-tier warriors, plus another hundred in the hunting party. On the Superd side, there were fewer than twenty warriors who could fight, plus the folk here. Orsted, Zanoba, Ginger, Julie, Norn, Cliff, Elinalise, Ruijerd, Roxy, Eris, Sandor, and Dohga. The Superd women and children, along with the medical team, were staying in the village. The medical team was one thing, but the hunting party had its sights on the Superd. If they breached the village, all of them could end up dead.

Ginger, Julie, and Norn weren’t fighters. Cliff…wouldn’t be much help in a fight either. As for Orsted, he wouldn’t fight either. He was practically incapable of recovering mana, and his max amount went down as he used it. I’d become his follower to compensate for that. I couldn’t ask him to take over just because there was going to be a fight. Tossing him onto the battlefield as a last resort meant putting him up against not one, not two, but three God-tier warriors together. He’d have to burn through a ton of mana. 

Even if we avoided that, there was still the fact that we didn’t know what Geese looked like. Maybe he still had some backup forces. If I were Geese, I wouldn’t send in any old moron I thought would get brushed off in a head-on fight. I’d give them a surefire plan. Orsted was the queen at the back of the board. Sure, I’d win that exchange if I brought him out, but he’d be taken in the next move. Unless there was nothing else for it, it was better for him to stay back.

Three God-tier warriors. Without Orsted, it wasn’t going to be an easy fight. It would be tough…but not so tough that we couldn’t win. We had three strong fighters—Sword King Eris, North God Sandor, and North Emperor Dohga. If I worked with Zanoba and Ruijerd to support them…it wouldn’t be easy, but whether we fought or fled, it wouldn’t be totally impossible.

This all-out battle felt a bit poorly planned for Geese. My allies were all gathered in the Superd Village right now. It would be one thing if he thought I wasn’t here, but when I fell into the ravine, it was revealed to the Man-God that I was alive. I was here, and so was Orsted. Was he really going to try for an all-out battle here and now?

Ah, right. He’d had Abyssal King Vita. All going according to plan, Geese had meant to use Abyssal King Vita to turn Ruijerd against me. Going off that, he would have tricked me as I arrived unsuspecting in the Biheiril Kingdom, then when the disguised Sword God and North God arrived at the Superd Village with the Ogre God. There would be three God-tiers plus Abyssal King Vita and Ruijerd—a guaranteed knockout.

That’d be what he was counting on. Yeah. Going off that, maybe it was fair to say that he now looked like he was down on pieces because I’d outmaneuvered him. Though you could also parse it as sheer luck on my part—I still didn’t know who was a disciple and who wasn’t. The info we had conveyed the same sense that Geese didn’t have Gall Falion and North God Kalman III totally under control. How had Geese gotten them to work for him? If he offered them some conditions that they’d accepted, that would be why they were so desperate to attack. Conditions had come up in our conversation just now. The guys who’d attacked me wanted to fight Orsted. After seeing him, they were ready to fight. Geese had set up that encounter for them. That was it. Continuing that idea, Geese had assumedly sprang into action as soon as he knew I’d fallen into the ravine. He even sped up the departure of the hunting party, the one meant to have set off at the same time as the Ogre warriors. He’d have known that I’d struggle to get out of the ravine and tried to finish things while I was out of the picture. Geese, knowing that I wasn’t dead, hadn’t waited to send off the hunting party to strike a crushing blow at Orsted. He’d been busy while I was out of commission, but so had I. I got back before the battle began, and things had settled into place.

It was possible that he’d realized Sandor’s identity. Also, going off how harried the Man-God had seemed…

“…This might be our shot at victory,” I said under my breath. Just then, a youth came into the hall. He was carrying a white spear—a Superd warrior.

“The hunting party has come. They are half a day away.”

I’d made it back in time, but only just.

***

The Ravine of the Earthwyrm. It was, on average, four hundred meters across. At its widest, it extended to over five hundred meters, but at its narrowest, it was only around a hundred meters. The Superd had suspended a bridge over the narrowest point and used it to come and go from the forest. They crushed up and smeared herbs that repulsed the Invisible Wolves all over it.

Our enemies were many, but this was their only way through. Unlike a river, the ravine couldn’t easily be crossed. They would have to stop there. If we took down the bridge, it would buy us more time. Also, unlike in the forest, there were no obstructions there to stop me using the Eye of Distant Sight. That put them within my firing range.

“Let’s leave the bridge.”

So the bridge stayed. We could bring it down if the hunting party came across it. Once you fell in, it was no picnic getting back up again—I knew from experience—and there were other benefits besides. There wasn’t time to set a trap, but we decided to wait for the enemy here. Right now, we were fielding six players: me, Eris, Ruijerd, Zanoba, Sandor, and Dohga. The six of us would take on the three God-tiers. The Superd warriors would focus mainly on the hunting party. I had something else for Roxy to do, so she’d be stationed at the back. Elinalise and a few of the Superd warriors would be her guard. Cliff and the others would protect the village.

It was a pretty traditional battle arrangement, I guess. Warriors on the front line, magicians in the back. We could also send anyone who got injured back to the village to be healed. Speaking of healing, I decided to leave the Atofe Hand where it was for the time being. Right now, our time—as well as the scrolls Roxy and Zanoba had on them—were limited. My new arm seemed to have better specs than my actual arm, so I figured I’d leave it on, then grow my real arms back when the battle was over with. I could use a healing magic scroll when the time came. It was a present from a demon king, so I was going to have some fun with it.

***

Half a day later, we were staring down the hundred-strong hunting party across the bridge. Three men stood at the front on the Biheiril Kingdom side. A middle-aged man with a sword at his belt. That was Sword God Gall Falion. He’d already relinquished his title as Sword God to another, and he was seriously getting on in years. His skill with a blade, though? That hadn’t deteriorated. I was proof of that. I hesitated to attach “former” or “previous” to his name lest I let my guard down. Then there was a kid with a giant sword slung on his back—North God Kalman III, Alexander Rybak. He was one of the Seven Great Powers, but his strength was an unknown quantity. Then, standing nearly three meters tall, broad as the trunk of a giant tree and wearing a necklace with what looked like a bell on it and a tiger-striped loincloth, was a red ogre. 

That was Ogre God Marta. Orsted’s guess was that he hadn’t attacked my family, but we didn’t know for sure. Maybe I ought to thank him for that…but I didn’t plan on it. He’d attacked the office. Which meant grim things for the elf girl on reception. Her name was Fa…Farraris…right? No, wait. Um. Well. It was something like that. Okay, so I hadn’t ever actually remembered her name, but I still wanted to avenge her.

“No sign of Geese, huh?” Disappointingly, I didn’t see a monkey face. Was he hiding nearby, or waiting back in the Second City of Irelil? He wasn’t in range of the Eye of Distant Sight, at any rate. That was Geese for you. If he didn’t have things totally under control, he might have decided to throw it in this time and do a runner.

I saw scared faces amongst the hunting party as they looked at the Superd warriors with their green hair and white spears. Devils out of fairytales. If we won this battle, I was going to sell Ruijerd pamphlets on every street corner in the Biheiril Kingdom.

“There’s nothing to fear!” Unlike the hunting party, the three God-tiers at the front didn’t look scared of the Superd warriors. “We far outnumber them!” Alexander was particularly peppy. He waved his fist in the air, giving a rousing speech to raise morale in a voice loud enough to carry all the way over to us.

It was true, the hunting party beat us on numbers, but he was wrong. We were in the forest, and we had the Superd, so we had the advantage.

They all drew their swords while glaring at the twenty or so of us across the ravine with open hostility. Then, Alexander pulled the sword from his back.

“My name is Alexander Rybak, the Third North God Kalman! Follow me and together we shall have glory!”

With that, Alexander set off running across the suspension bridge, howling. Sandor cried, “Now!”

I fired stone cannons from both hands. They flew straight at the base of the suspension bridge, smashing it to pieces. Ruijerd, in front of me, also made his move. He sliced through the vines that supported the bridge with his white spear.

“Aaahh!”

Everyone watched in amazement as the bridge fell. North God Kalman III went plunging down into the abyss.

We all just stared in amazement, even Sandor, who’d given the order.

No way. That did not just happen. You’ve got to be kidding me…

I mean, he wasn’t coming back from a fall like that.

…Well, it was Alexander, so he might. Still, even if he survived, it was going to take him a while to climb up again.

“…O-okay, that’s one down?” I said. No one cheered. No one looked angry either. The shock of what had just happened was burned into everyone’s mind. This was our chance! I concentrated magic in my hands. The list of people who could attack right now was pretty damn short.

Let’s do it.

I raised my left hand to the sky. Sending up a massive surge of mana, I created thunder clouds, then used my right hand to subdue the raging magical energy, compress it, and bring it down.

“Lightning!” A crackle of impending thunder rolled in; a bolt of lightning flashed down. My vision went white, then there was a crash. Thunder boomed around us in a full swell. A cloud of dirt rose on the opposite cliff. Flames engulfed the trees, which clattered and cracked as they crashed to the ground. I couldn’t tell how much damage I’d done, but I felt it. I felt it so strongly my hands shook. It was the sense that I’d killed people. I pushed down my nausea, then I concentrated mana in my hands again.

“One more shot…” A second after I said it, something came hurtling out of the dust cloud. A red shape. The leap was effortless and at this distance, silent, like it was flying. Its momentum was overwhelming. The red shape closed in at startling speed and made impact. Impact was the only word for it. There was a bang and a cloud of smoke like a cannonball.

A red-skinned ogre, and a forty-something-year-old human: Ogre God Marta and the former Sword God Gall Falion. They had jumped across the ravine. A hundred-meter-long jump. Seven Great Powers on full display.

“Right… Who’s gonna fight me?” He was a grinning wolf. When I’d faced off against him last, he’d seemed a bit dopey. This was different. This was a battle with mortal stakes. At his belt, housed in its resplendent scabbard, was a sword. Probably magic. This wasn’t like the one the armor had stopped. I felt cold sweat trickling down my back.

“That’s me.” Stepping forward like it was a foregone conclusion came a red-haired mad dog. She had two swords at her hips. She folded her arms and placed herself imposingly in front of Gall Falion.

“Yeah, that figures. Who else?”

“Me,” I said.

Gall Falion scoffed. “Well, well! Looking good for a dead man.”

“Alive and kicking, actually.”

“Tch-hah. I told you we should’ve cut his head off,” he muttered.

Who was this bad temper directed at…? Geese, I suppose.

There was one more of us. He didn’t say his name, but beside me stood a brave, battle-hardened warrior with green hair and a white spear in his hand.

Three of us reunited. Eris, Ruijerd, and me. The three of us were going to fight together. Dead End was back.

It was three-on-one, but I didn’t see anyone complaining. The plan had been for me and Sandor to fight Alexander, but then the kid went and screwed himself over with that dumbass move. Sandor, Zanoba, and Dohga would take the Ogre God, who focused on hand-to-hand combat. Zanoba and Dohga were crazy strong against powerhouse-type characters.

Sandor, North God Kalman II, was also supposed to have experience fighting big enemies. They were the perfect combo. They could win. We might lose someone along the way, but even so. We could beat these two.

“Hyup!” In that moment, I heard a shout from behind us. I spun around just in time to see something fly up from the cliff—not something. It was a black-haired kid. The one who’d literally just now fallen into the ravine.

Breathing hard, he mopped his brow and lifted his sword high into the air. Then, like he was in a theater production, he proclaimed, “I am North God Kalman III! I will slay the cursed god of evil, Orsted, and become a hero! Anyone who would stand in my way may challenge me if they dare!”

No way…this isn’t happening. Did he run up? From the bottom of the ravine…?

To be fair, while it was a cliff, it wasn’t totally vertical. With magic, even I could stop myself on the way down and come straight back up. Or maybe he’d run up from the bottom stabbing that sword into the wall as he climbed… That was the Seven Great Powers for you.

“…Nothing for it, then,” Sandor said. “Master Rudeus, shall we take this bonehead?”

“Yeah.” I nodded at him.

I was disappointed I couldn’t fight with Eris and Ruijerd, but oh well. Back to the original plan.

“Watch out for that sword,” he said. “It’s the strongest in the world.”

There was only one sword fit for the North God to wield: the legendary greatblade, forged after the defeat of the Monarch of the King Dragons. Kajakut, the King Dragon Blade.

The blade’s master, however, was gaping at us, sword still raised. “…Why?” he demanded. “Why are you here?” The voice of North God Kalman III, Alexander Rybak, trembled as he looked at me.

Oh ho ho. Is it that surprising to see that I survived? Never mind that I was well enough to join the battle? I thought you’d have heard it from Geese, but I guess you didn’t believe it. See, when you don’t see a character die, like when they fall off a cliff, that always means they’re coming back.

Wait, what? Is he…not looking at me?

Alexander’s gaze was directed behind me. It was Sandor. He was looking at Sandor. Oh, okay. That made more sense.

“Dad!” Maybe that shout signaled the battle to begin, or maybe it was just a question of timing.

“Ruooaaaah!!!”

The next thing I knew, Ogre God Marta swung his arms up and brought them crashing into the ground, roaring a battle cry. The ground thrust up, the cliff crumbled, and a row of trees toppled. I let the impact carry me along, and thus the battle began.