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IBHJ Chapter 670
🕑 Added 2024-01-14 03:06:15 +0000 UTC"Defend Midgard!"
Even though they faced a terrifying enemy, these battle maidens felt no fear. If anything, their grip on their shimmering spears grew even tighter.
Seeing that he hadn't overwhelmed the Valkyries, fury and brutality flashed in Níðhöggr's eyes. His enormous mouth boomed like muted thunder and the black crystals covering his body radiated a wheel of dark light, resembling the stare from the deepest abyss.
In the next moment—
Countless black crystals on Níðhöggr's body bubbled up and magical spheres brimming with vast mana left his body, indiscriminately sweeping the area within a thirty kilometer radius in every direction.
"May Odin be with us!"
"May Odin be with us!"
The Valkyries prayed again to the god who had long since disappeared. One by one, their spears lit up, shining like morning stars in the long, dark night.
But Shirou understood clearly that this was useless. The fifteen Valkyries before had been unable to overwhelm Níðhöggr's breath, which already showed the vast difference in strength between them and the dragon.
Of course, Níðhöggr was one of the most famed magical creatures in Norse legend, comparable to Fenrir the wolf and the world serpent Jörmungandr.
The foundation of the Norse mythical world was the tree Yggdrasil. The realms of gods, giants, and humans all existed upon its branches and roots.
Níðhöggr, the black dragon, lived at the very base of the tree, always gnawing away at its roots. When Níðhöggr finally finished hollowing out Yggdrasil's roots, it would signal the arrival of Ragnarök.
Although it was unclear how Níðhöggr, who should have been at Yggdrasil's base, had appeared in Midgard, the world tree's middle layer, there was no doubt this black dragon was stronger than even Vortigern - far beyond what these Valkyries could handle.
Níðhöggr unleashed an indiscriminate carpet bombing across a thirty kilometer radius. This area clearly included Shirou and Salter, standing just a hundred meters from the battlefield.
Chi chi chi!!
As Shirou watched countless dark beams slash apart the earth, surging towards him like aurora swords, he drew out his scabbard again. Avalon fragmented into hundreds of pieces around them. Strange fluctuations connected the fragments, forming an impenetrable barrier. When the dark beams swept over them, Avalon’s barrier didn’t so much as ripple, effortlessly blocking their advance.
As the bombardment ended, he dismissed Avalon's barrier. Salter gripped the black sword in her hand, ready to unleash her Noble Phantasm and help the Valkyries. But he reached out and pressed down on her shoulder.
"What are you trying to do, Saber?"
"I'm going to kill that dragon!" she declared, fists clenched. "If we let it keep rampaging, it may threaten Gelda's village. And didn't it attack us too? We have every right to fight back!"
He shook his head. "I know, but I think it's better if you don't fight it."
"Why not?" she was puzzled.
"In the dragons' hierarchy, you're ranked below Níðhöggr. Just by existing, it can greatly suppress you."
She furrowed her brows. “Even so, I can’t just stand by and do nothing.”
“Of course not,” he replied, a faint smile appearing on his face. His tone was calm and confident, contrasting with his slender frame. "What I meant was, leave this one to me."
“Skreeeonk!"
Níðhöggr tilted its head back with a long, mighty roar, seeming somewhat proud of its power. Its thirty-kilometer indiscriminate bombardment had not only devastated the land, leaving a hellish scene of desolation, but more importantly, it had shattered the Valkyries' spears of light. It should also have definitely destroyed the Valkyries. This is what truly delighted and pleased Níðhöggr the most. However, when the dust of destruction cleared, Níðhöggr's mood dropped.
A shield.
An enormous, smooth white shield was protecting the Valkyries. The blonde goddess was also puzzled. Where did this shield suddenly come from?
Could Lady Skaði have noticed their predicament and deliberately thrown it down from Asgard to protect them?
The blonde goddess wondered, while Shirou revealed a faint smile.
It turned out when the black dragon had shattered the Valkyries' spears and was about to kill them, Shirou had timely manifested Galahad's invincible shield to protect them.
And Galahad's shield was impenetrable!
Níðhöggr's bombardment naturally couldn't break through the shield.
Most importantly...
The pure white shield glimmered with a faint glow, surging with magical energy. Prominent and famous names emerged on its surface one by one.
Then—
With a rumbling like thunder, the shield absorbed Níðhöggr’s bombardment, condensed it into a concentrated ball, and formed a seventy-to-eighty-foot-tall white beam, shooting directly at the dragon.
Seeing the beam rushing toward it, Níðhöggr was shocked and hurried to dodge, but its massive body was too large. The beam scored a direct hit on the center of its abdomen with a boom. Although its black crystal scales had astonishing defensive power, reflecting its own attack was too much—the scales shattered. The intense heat charred its abdomen, chunks of smoking burnt flesh falling away.
"Graaauuugh!"
Níðhöggr let out a deafening, pained roar. It turned the pain into boundless fury. The huge wings on its back flapped powerfully as the giant dragon charged at the Valkyries like a tank, its jaws gaping wide. Its sword-like, barbed teeth glinted coldly in the winter sun.
However, before it reached them, a heavy black light flickered amidst the wreckage on the ground. Then an enormous black beam emerged from the earth, shooting straight toward Níðhöggr.
This black beam grew extremely fast, transforming from nothing into a heaven-piercing pillar in the blink of an eye. Even though it sensed the attack, Níðhöggr simply couldn't react in time.
The beam slammed into the dragon with a boom, knocking it back as chunks of black crystal scales scraped off its battered chest.
It was like skinning it alive - extremely painful. Even Níðhöggr couldn't help but roar again in agony.
"This is..."
The blonde goddess stared at the shield before them and the black beam that had emerged. She couldn't help but be stunned. Lowering her head slightly, she saw a man and woman below.
They emitted a filthy, cursed, hateful aura.
But without a doubt, this attack and shield were summoned by them, right?
And that Saint Graph reaction...they were Heroic Spirits?!
"Could they be Heroic Spirits summoned by Chaldea?" the goddess wondered.
Compared to the blonde, the other Valkyries were more rigid. They dutifully stared at Níðhöggr, firmly gripping their spears.
But some of the more curious ones, like the green twin-tailed Valkyrie, upon seeing the black beam, pressed her temple and said, "New object detected, uploading to Valkyrie network. Uploader: Valkyrie Model C No. 11475."
Níðhöggr clutched its chest, now scraped raw by the black beam. Fury was increasingly apparent in its beastly eyes as it followed the beam back to its source. Níðhöggr instantly spotted Shirou, who saw that the beast was also staring back at him.
Shirou wasn't panicked at all - rather, he was very calm, even smiling as he gave Níðhöggr a small wave in greeting.
This casual gesture completely enraged Níðhöggr, who sensed the human was looking down on it!
Níðhöggr raised its head and roared, wanting to demonstrate its rage and might. But just as it opened its mouth, the black beam shot straight down its throat.
A boom exploded inside its throat. Viscous green blood trickled from between the cracked black crystal scales on its neck.
Níðhöggr clutched its neck with one claw, glaring at Shirou with pained, furious eyes. That icy gaze was like looking at an annoying pest making a ruckus on its dinner plate.
But Shirou paid the beast no mind. Even stared down by Níðhöggr's terrifying pressure, he remained very calm, even faintly smiling, with a completely relaxed expression.
In the past, he had encountered an enemy as dreadful as Níðhöggr – the white dragon Vortigern who became the last god. Back then, he had scrambled to borrow all kinds of powers through schemes, tricks and coercion before finally managing to defeat Vortigern.
But things were different now. That difficult journey had already become a heroic legend, solidified as an indispensable part of human history.
Now, Shirou no longer needed to borrow power from anyone!
Because he himself was power!
Comments
Bt
669
Jace N.
Let the beating commence.
Azelios Rosemile
Damn. Shirou as King Arthur is so cool though!
JeanMartin Freites
That right there was a good way to show just how much Shirou has grown.
