Valhalla Saga

ED:

Achilles was standing on a fortress while having the sun at his back.

He thought about Patroclus.

His best friend.

A relation where they treasured each others lives more than their own.

Achilles still loved Patroclus as his friend and was certain that it was the same for Patroclus.

But he didn’t belong to the same camp. Right now, Patroclus was his enemy.

The change in their relation changed about two months ago.

Everything changed when the Gods, precisely speaking Zeus that was the God he served, changed.

Olympus and the nine realms.

The properties and characteristics of the ten realms, Erin included, were a bit different.

Erin was a world where humans and Gods were equal.

In addition the human race the Milesians defeated the God race the Tuatha De Danann and reigned supremacy over the world.

There were certainly differences between Gods and humans in Erin. But looking at it from a distance, the difference in their abilities didn’t share which race was superior. It was simply a difference in abilities just like there were better and worse humans.

In Asgard, the Gods weren’t equal to the humans but they lived together in one world.

The humans served the Gods as their parents.

And the Gods led the humans.

But of course, that relationship wasn’t smooth. Odin didn’t hesitate using or sacrificing humans if it was for his plans. But just because of that, it wasn’t that he raised them as livestock.

The relationship was just like how humans used each other.

Olympus was different to Erin and Asgard.

The Gods were the rules of humans and the owners.

The fates of the humans were on the hands of the Gods. There was an absolute wall between humans and Gods that couldn’t be crossed at all.

It didn’t matter if you were a great hero with outstanding abilities, you couldn’t turn over this kind of relation.

There were cases of humans that became Gods because they were loves by the Gods but no one became a God from a human directly and even if that was the case, it was hard to become a real God.

Someone that had the bloodline of a God.

The existences the God made under special plans in the first place.

Only existences like them held the possibility to become a God.

But not even them could turn over the absolute relationship of subordination before becoming Gods. No, in the first place, there were many cases that even becoming a God was planned by the Gods.

And it wasn’t different for Achilles.

He was called as a great hero but he was a human in the end. He was an existence under the rule of the Gods.

The Gods Achilles and Patroclus served became enemies.

That was the end. Even if they shared a deep friendship, he could only become Patroclus’ enemy. That was fate- no, that was fate.

Achilles closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. When he erased his thoughts about Patroclus, he naturally thought of another person.

The one that received the spear techniques of the greatest master of Erin, Scathach.

Regardless of that, a warrior that was from Asgard and not Erin.

He was strong. Achilles couldn’t be certain he could win against him even if he did his best.

But even so he was one warrior. He was accompanied by two strong warriors and some Valkyries but it was impossible to overturn the situation only with that.

The path with Asgard got cut off. Olympus was slowly transforming into a world that wanted to destroy the world.

Achilles turned around and looked down at the fortress. He looked at a distant place.

&

The sun set and night came.

When Tae Ho’s group got out of the small shrine of Apollo, they gathered in an underground shelter Adenmaha made with her mystical powers and prepared to have a meal.

This place was strikingly similar to the magic shelter Merlin had made when they were fighting in the remnants of the destroyed Erin but the insides were bright and had good ventilation so it was quite comfortable.

Cuchulainn spoke with a satisfied voice.

‘The training she received from master took fruit. Our master teaches well indeed.’

‘She said she learned it from Merlin.’

‘When did I speak about the shelter? I was just talking about her overall mystical power.’

‘Oh that was the case. You were looking at the shelter and thought of the mystical powers she used in the afternoon. So that was the case.’

‘Kugh, Heda is certainly strong.’

Tae Ho and Cuchulainn were exchanging absurd words like usual.

In the other hand, Bracky that was in front of Tae Ho sniffed a few times and didn’t hide his appreciation.

“Kya, this looks really good. I want to have one.”

“It’s marvelous indeed.”

Siri also added a comment. The thing the two of them were looking at was a big shield.

Heat shield.

It was a shield that could release a strong heat in the front and attack the enemy.

It was a necessary item to pass through the ice castle, that was one of the essential quests in Dark Age and it was an item that was quite loved by players as it could attack the enemy while defending yourself.

But of course, right now it was being used as a grill.

Bracky looked down at meat sizzling in the square heat shield and smiled, and then grabbed some meat and gave it to Siri.

“Here, take a bite. Ah.”

The expression Siri would show at the blatant display of affection was already determined.

“I also have hands.”

She would decline first but Bracky already grasped many things about her. He didn’t despair and continued to say.

“Don’t be like that, Ah. Okay? Ah.”

In the end, SIri would listen to you if you kept insisting.

And as expected, Siri that can’t decline continued demands, flushed and opened her mouth slightly.

“Ah.”

“It’s delicious, right?”

Siri nodded as Bracky asked once again. And Gandur, that looked all that, mumbled with cold eyes.

“How bitter, how bitter.”

As Siri got surprised at that sentence and started to get aware of her surroundings, Ingrid said in a low voice.

“You don’t have to mind about us.”

“Right, think that we aren’t here.”

Gandur giggled and Siri flushed even more. But Bracky grabbed one more piece of meat as he was enjoying it.

“So they say. Here, one more.”

Siri punched Bracky’s side instead of eating it but Bracky laughed as if he liked even that.

Nidhogg blinked at the scene where everyone looked happy but Siri and turned to look at Adenmaha.

“Adenmaha, ah.”

She imitated Bracky and gave some meat to Adenmaha and she laughed and opened her mouth. She ate it and then grabbed some meat of her own.

“Nidhogg too, ah.”

“Ah.”

Nidhogg received the meat and laughed. They really looked like mother and daughter- no, sisters.

‘How warm, how warm.’

Cuchulainn got satisfied once again and then Patroclus cleared his throat. It was a small gesture to get the attention of Tae Ho.

“Idun’s hero. I’m sorry i’m saying this in the middle of a meal but I want to organize the story from before.”

“Good.”

Tae Ho answered immediately and turned to look at him. Patroclus, that was seated with Apollo’s maiden Sybilla, grabbed the ground and explained.

“Just like I told you, the mortal world of Olympus is composed by several cities called the Polis. Each of the Polises serve one God of Olympus as their protector.”

But it wasn’t that they didn’t serve other Gods aside of their protector. The Gods of Olympus, especially the 12 Olympians, were served in almost all of the Polises.

“A kind of force gets formed by the agroupation of these polises. A sacred force of Gods that that transcends hostile human relationships.”

There were cases that polises that served the same protector God opposed each other.

The reactions of the Gods were various in cases like these. Some Gods favored the Polis that offered more sacrifices to instigate their hostility and other Gods didn’t interfere and remained impartial.

But of course, there were some Gods that only took the offerings and didn’t worry about which side got destroyed.

Whatever the case, the important thing was the sacred force Patroclus spoke about.

The rank of Gods changed depending on how many believers they had in the mortal world.

Even if it was a God with an important rank, if the number of believers they had was low they tended to get ignored and neglected.

But actually, there was one more secret in the sacred force.

It was that the sacred force influenced the strength of a God.

It wasn’t absolute but it wasn’t something that could be ignored.

“There tend to be polises that can be said to be the core of a sacred force. Apollo-nim has Delfos.”

Apollo’s sacred force was spread near the connecting path. That’s why Delfos wasn’t too far away either.

“Reclaiming the great shrine in Delfos and lighting up the light of the sacred precincts is our quest.”

“That’s right. That is Apollo-nim’s wish.”

Patroclus and Tae Ho looked at Sybilla. She nodded slightly and at that moment the voice of a God was heard from the sky.

[Apollo shows interest in your meal.]

[Apollo wishes you to make an offering.]

‘He’s loyal to his instincts.’

They wondered if they would hear something useful.

Tae Ho hid his expression while agreeing to Cuchulainn’s words and looked at Sybilla. She flushed and said in a low voice.

“Um, can I ask for some?”

“Yes, of course.”

Sybilla received a new plate from Adenmaha and filled it with food and then started to prepare for the offering.

Patroclus looked at her for a moment and then looked at Tae Ho once again.

“Whatever the case.....it’s too inconsiderate. It’s been too long since Delfos got filled with monsters. I know that you are strong but it’s impossible to recapture a city that’s taken over by thousands of monster and perhaps ten thousand of them.”

It was like that in a logical way. The number of the group was merely 11 including Sybilla and the gryphon Rolo.

They would be able to defeat dozens of centaurs but the story changed when there were thousands of them.

But everyone showed unreasonable reactions at Patroclus’ reasonable claim.

“Ey, we will know only after we do it. Isn’t that right?”

“I don’t think it’s impossible.”

“It’s not that we can’t do it.”

“If we are with Idun’s commander-nim..... I think we will be able to do so.”

“There’s no reason to give up immediately. At least, I think that it’s worth getting some information as we are together with none other than Idun’s commander.”

They were Bracky, Siri, Gandur, INgrid and Rasgrid respectively.

Patroclus thought that Bracky always showed that kind of reaction when he spoke but he put on a dumbfounded expression when even Rasgrid, that was similar to Athena, said such things.

They said that the warriors of Asgard were mad warriors that only knew how to charge forward, so it seemed that rumor was true.

But that wasn’t it. Everyone was thinking rationally.

And no matter what they spoke about, a black haired woman was eating the meat Adenmaha was giving her too well.

“Nidhogg.”

“Yes, Tae Ho master.”

Nidhogg answered while chewing some meat. Tae Ho smiled bitterly and asked as Adenmaha let out a sigh and cleaned her mouth.

“How many front rolls can you do in consecution.”

It was a completely unreasonable question for Patroclus but that wasn’t it for the group.

Nidhogg thought about it while hanging her mouth open but then smiled brightly and spread then fingers.

< Episode 50 – God of Sun (1) > End

TL note: Thanks for reading~