打扑克的男女

ED: SlowAsLightning

“Adenmaha is great!”

Nidhogg stuck closely to the neck of the white and huge sea serpent while yelling.

Actually they had started travelling on Adenmaha 2 days ago so it was past the point of getting accustomed to it but she was still impressed by her.

Adenmaha increased her speed a bit more to answer to Nidhogg’s admiration.

As they had completely left the affluent of the Euphrates, the water was now deep and there were no obstacles so it was good to swim now.

‘How good.’

Cuchulainn smiled and said. Tae Ho only heard his voice but he could imagine what kind of expression he was putting.

“We should have moved like this from the start.”

Siri and Bracky that were sitting together added. Adenmaha’s movement speed was close to a running horse even if she didn’t increase her speed because of the excitement.

In addition, you kept advancing forward alone because of the cool fresh wind.

Compared to the last trip that they had to travel on forests or mountains on purpose, this trip was really pleasant.

“Adenmaha is not a riding thing.”

Siri said while being in Bracky’s embrace. Tae Ho held back his laughter because he felt some sympathy from her words and Cuchulainn clicked his tongue.

But fortunately, it seemed like Adenmaha quite enjoyed this situation. He could feel Adenmaha’s excitement even without using the ‘eyes of the dragon’.

‘It must have been a while since she swam in the sea.’

The lake of fog was in the end only a lake. It could only be lacking compared to the sea of Erin where Adenmaha swam to her heart’s content.

‘Now that I see, she also said that she liked taking baths right?’

It was something Heda had said casually.

Adenmaha stayed in her sea serpent form well when Tae Ho wasn’t around but it seemed that staying in the lake wasn’t enough for her that she enjoyed taking baths even in her Goddess form.

Tae Ho closed his eyes and thought of the Erin he would make. First,a lake seemed to be indispensable for Adenmaha.

After some time passed while everyone travelled in a satisfactory way.

Ingrid looked at the far sea with a stiff face and said.

“Ingrid? What’s wrong? Does your head hurt?”

Gandur, who had transformed into a swan and was being held by Ingrid, asked. Could a Valkyrie of the sea God get sea sick?

Ingrid shook her head at Ingrid’s question mixed with worry and curiousness and then talked to Patroclus who was actually the one getting sea sick.

“Patroclus, do you know in what state the God of the sea of Olympus is in?”

There were no problems in the river but Ingrid felt nervous when they entered the sea.

Almost all the battles in Asgard took place in ground but the God of sea Njord whom Ingrid served boasted of an absolute strength in the sea. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he was three times stronger in the sea.

The reason Ingrid was aware of the God of sea was because she knew what Njord was capable of in the sea.

You couldn’t help but be afraid of rainstorms and waves if you were in the middle of the sea no matter how strong you were.

Patroclus answered with a pale face maybe because of his sea sickness.

“I don’t know. But I think he has remained as someone wanting to maintain the world looking that there have been no changes until now.”

Patroclus had solved Ingrid’s doubt.

They could deal with a problem that occurred if they were in a river as it was shallow and wasn’t that far away from land but that wasn’t the case for the sea.

Emergency situations could always happen in the deep sea.

“Uh, you are saying it’s fine anyways right?”

Gandur asked carefully from Ingrid’s embrace. She was always bright but her voice shrank by its own as she was in the middle of the sea.

Patroclus laughed as if it that unexpected side of her was cute.

“Probably. But what we have to be careful of are the other Gods of the sea and the sea monsters.”

There wasn’t only one God of the sea.

The brother of Zeus, Poseidon, was the leader of all the other Gods of the sea but there were still other Gods of the sea that existed.

If there was someone that had turned into someone wanting to destroy the world.

And if they were where the group was at.

Or if there was a sea monster that opposed the ones wanting to maintain the world in the first place.

‘Tell her to stop spouting unlucky words. They say that words become true.’

Cuchulainn spoke sharply to Tae Ho. He was quite sensible on matters of the sea because he was originally a man of the sea.

But Patroclus kept speaking as he didn’t know of Cuchulainn’s discomfort.

“Fortunately, there are no Gods of the sea near this place and the sea monsters aren’t able to approach thanks to Athena-nim’s influence.”

The influence of Athena that spread from Athens as the core was so strong it didn’t allow indecent monsters from approaching.

Gandur was relieved at Patroclus’ explanation but it was only for a moment.

If Athena’s divine power was stopping the sea monsters, what would happen now that her divine power had weakened?

But it wasn’t that the sea monsters would have flocked over just because her divine power weakened and there was no guarantee that they would meet one. And actually, nothing had happened even though they had entered the sea a few hours ago.

But just like Cuchulainn, your words would come true. He felt an uneasy feeling.

It was the same for Patroclus. He turned to look at the sea.

A clear deep sea but one that you couldn’t see anything in it.

It was a dense blue.

No, at some point they felt that it was becoming black.

“Grab tightly!”

Adenmaha yelled at that moment. Tae Ho could see what it was as he had activated the ‘eyes of the dragon’.

“It’s coming from below!”

There was some distance with it but it was excessively fast.

Something huge was coming from below the sea!

“Kyak!”

Nidhogg screamed. Cuchulainn cursed out and Patroclus lied down and yelled.

“Scylla. It’s Scylla!”

The name of the sea monster that was closest to them.

“Shut up for now!”

Gandur yelled sharply and then grabbed Patroclus’ shoulders and flew up. Rasgrid carried Sybilla in her back and transformed into a swan hurriedly and flew up with Ingrid.

Heavy waves shook. Dozens of tentacles surged up from below the water as if trying to prevent Adenmaha’s swimming.

“Kyak!”

‘Nidhogg!’

Cuchulainn yelled. Adenmaha couldn’t swim properly because she was grabbed by something and a big wave hit Adenmaha’s back. One tentacle grabbed Nidhogg and dragged her away.

“Tae Ho ma-”

Nidhogg’s voice couldn’t be heard until the end. It was because the wave had gulped her down.

Adenmaha, that treated her like a sister, let out a sorrowful scream. Tae Ho extended his hand and pressed on the scale of Adenmaha. He calmed her down and yelled at the same time.

“Prepare for the shock!”

[Saga: The warrior that had a Goddess meet him]

He didn’t call Nidhogg and instead, wore her with the magical armor of the fake Nidhogg.

A black dragon that was a hundred meters big appeared so naturally, a huge wave swept the surroundings. The shock was added as Nidhogg struggled in the shape of a dragon as she couldn’t swim.

Adenmaha gritted her teeth and passed the wave and Tae Ho looked at Nidhogg that was no different from an island and moved on to the next phase.

“Rolo! Adenmaha!”

He summoned Rolo who was flying apart in a high place with a summoning rock. Rolo had to fly in between high waves and flew desperately while roaring with Siri and Bracky on top of him. Their destination was obviously Nidhogg’s back.

Adenmaha understood what Tae Ho’s call meant. When Siri and Bracky moved to Rolo’s back, she started to concentrate below the sea. She felt the sea monster that was bewildered because of the sudden appearance of the black dragon and transformed into a Goddess.

“Power of the sea!”

When Adenmaha spread her arms and yelled the sea started to shake in another meaning. The sea split with Adenmaha in the center just like what happened in Midgard. It seemed like she had carved a circle in the sea.

Tae Ho surged up and grabbed on Adenmaha’s waist. He then looked below him.

He could see part of the sea monster because of the sea water that had split in a circle.

[Lower God of the sea]

[Under Poseidon’s household]

[Glaucus]

It wasn’t only a sea monster. It was a lower God of the sea and one under Poseidon’s household.

What they could see was a black and huge head that looked like a reptile and the upper half of the body of a male that had horns in his head. There were dozens of tentacles at the side of the black monster just like the legs of an octopus but each one of them looked like snakes.

He looked at Tae Ho and Adenmaha. Instead of swinging his tentacles, he dived deeper in the sea water Adenmaha hadn’t been able to push away.

But it wasn’t that he had escaped. He had only hidden to attack again.

Tae Ho chased the red words with his ‘eyes of the dragon’ which he maximized with his vision. Adenmaha was sweating maybe because it was hard on her to push away the sea water and Tae Ho grabbed her waist more tightly and surged up higher to the air.

“Release the sea water!”

Glaucus surged up from the surface of the water at the same time Tae Ho yelled. Adenmaha hurriedly released her power and the sea water obstructed his movements at least a bit.

Kwagang!

His body hit the surface and created a loud sound. Tae Ho surged up once again and looked at him. He looked at Glaucus that was diving to attack once again and made a judgement in that instant.

“Adenmaha! You trust me, right?!”

Cuchulainn was perplexed at the sudden question but Adenmaha answered without even thinking about it because of Tae Ho’s serious eyes.

“I do!”

“Get eaten by it!”

Tae Ho yelled once again. Adenmaha opened her eyes widely and at that moment Glaucus surged up. He opened his mouth widely trying to eat Tae Ho and Adenmaha in one bite.

Tae Ho looked at Adenmaha.

And Adenmaha looked at him.

Adenmaha nodded after a moment of hesitation and Tae Ho threw Adenmaha to Glaucus’ open mouth. He then surged up higher into the sky.

‘Hey! You crazy bastard!’

Cuchulainn cursed out but Tae Ho didn’t answer. He activated the ‘charge of the warrior’ while everyone in the surroundings was shocked and created some distance with Glaucus. He activated his saga the moment Glaucus was about to go underwater after gulping Adenmaha.

[Saga: The warrior that had a Goddess meet him]

It was quite complicated.

He first called the fake Adenmaha instead of calling for the real one. He then grabbed on her waist and changed her with the real one.

“Kuhuk!”

Adenmaha breathed out while being covered in a sticky substance.

She had entered quite a deep place of Glaucus while Tae Ho called the fake Adenmaha and changed places.

And that also meant that the fake Adenmaha was located deep in his body.

[Saga: Master of frost]

A loud sound exploded under the water. A scream filled with pain and the sound of an explosion created a terrible shock and the water got dyed by black blood in an instant.

It was an obvious thing as a dragon the size of his own body had appeared suddenly in his throat. Thanks to that, the fake Adenmaha that had transformed into Javier also suffered damages but she was a fake in the end.

It was a really reckless plan by Tae Ho.

Glaucus had his body burst open and surfaced up. But he wasn’t dead yet. It seemed like the upper body of a human he had in his monster body was his main body, contrary to Ratatoskr. He screamed and extended his tentacles towards Tae Ho.

Tae Ho ran in the air once again and at that moment Bracky and Siri flew with Rolo while Glaucus was only concentrated in Tae Ho. Bracky jumped down from Rolo’s acrobatic flight and landed on the head of the black monster.

Glaucus looked at Bracky hurriedly but Bracky was faster.

He smashed his chin with his hammer and then looked at the joint between his monster head. He had had his doubts but it wasn’t a perfect whole body.

Bracky put away his hammer and grabbed his waist with his two hands. He then pulled out his body from the head of the monster even before Glaucus could resist.

Bracky threw Glaucus to the air. The tentacles of the monster dropped down because the essence of Glaucus had been separated.

Siri fired arrows in consecution from on top of Rolo and pierced Glaucus’ chest.

“Kyaak!”

Glaucus let out a painful scream but it didn’t seem like he had received a big injury yet. It was because he was a God of the sea although a lower ranked one. There was no way he would die just with a few hits.

“Let’s go!”

Adenmaha barely opened her eyes on top of Nidhogg’s back and yelled with a bit of resentment.

And it was at that moment.

[Defeat the lesser God of the sea that has turned into a being wanting to destroy the world.]

[Defeat him and calm down the fiery waves!]

Apollo’s quest was sent down through the voice of the Gods.

It was a late timing but it was better than not having anything at all. Tae Ho placed his lip on the still panting Adenmaha. An unknown liquid got in his lips thanks to that but he didn’t mind.

Tae Ho let go of Adenmaha’s hand and then threw himself to the air once again. He glared at Glaucus and extended his right hand.

[Saga: Equipment of the dragon knight]

[Chainsword of revenge]

It was a sword that was tied on a long chain so it was a weapon that was able to attack in a long and short distance.

The chainsword that left Tae Ho’s hands flew like an arrow and got stuck in Glaucus’ shoulder. Tae Ho threw himself towards Nidhogg, that had started to find stability like a real island, and pulled his right arm.

Glaucus got pulled towards him like a fish caught in a rod. Tae Ho moved his right arm once again and threw him on Nidhogg’s back instead of taking him in.

“Kuhuk!”

Glaucus let out a breathtaking sound when he fell on Nidhogg’s back and Tae Ho arrived a beat later. He gripped the air and pulled out Arondight and then pierced his heart.

Glaucus trembled as if resisting but it only lasted a moment.

[You have accomplished your quest.]

[Your prestige has increased.]

[You have obtained the title ‘the one that has defeated a sea monster’.]

[You are closer to the title ‘the one that killed a God’.]

[The many people that suffered because of Glaucus will praise you.]

The voice of the God was heard and at the same time Tae Ho felt his divinity get a bit stronger. If his divinity had been a little seed, it now had the size of a jujube.

Tae Ho let out a breath. He then closed his eyes for a moment and enjoyed the growth of his divinity.

But it wasn’t possible to enjoy the aftertaste. He approached the Valkyries that were landing next to Adenmaha while bringing Sybilla and Patroclus with them.

Tae Ho took out a towel from the air and wiped off Adenmaha’s face and hair. He then gave a gaze to Sybilla as Patroclus wasn’t in a situation to speak at all.

He didn’t know if it was Sybilla’s intention or Apollo’s order but the divine message had already started.

Tae Ho asked quickly.

“Did Poseidon turn into a being wanting to destroy the world?”

[I’m not certain. We can’t know it yet. But if that’s really the case-]

Apollo, that had been speaking hurriedly, closed his mouth. He then gulped down his scream.

The reason Apollo did that.

What he ended up witnessing in a far place by squeezing out all his divine power.

Apollo showed Tae Ho what he saw instead of making a long explanation.

It was a recording of only a few seconds but Tae Ho also ended up being at a loss for words like Apollo.

The still far Athens.

The polis that had a port.

It didn’t get attacked by Sparta. The battle hadn’t started yet.

But a bigger catastrophe, an attack that couldn’t be fought head on was sweeping Athens right now.

A huge hail that covered the entire city.

It was the right of Poseidon.

< Episode 51 – Clash (3) > End

TL note: Thanks for reading~