Chapter 316: Zainan Gorge (1) (1/2)
I’m feeling better now, so the translation will resume with its regular release schedule.
There were seven kinds of calamities that led to the destruction of Pleiades in Legend of Heroes 2.
In some cases, they were simply strong entities like Light Dragon Yalavaska, the monster Jabberwock, and Georg the Slayer, but there were also cases where the mere existence of a calamity caused disaster.
The fire giant Karte.
Earthquakes occurred wherever it walked.
The surrounding area naturally became a sea of fire, and inhaling the toxic gas the fire giant seemed to exhale made the average untrained person die within 3 minutes.
But the biggest disaster caused by the fire giant Karte, the biggest reason it was called a natural disaster, was different.
Its volcanic eruption ability.
It could make volcanoes erupt.
In the case of dormant volcanoes, the volcanoes would erupt from Karte just being close, and even in the case of inactive volcanoes, it would erupt again when Karte applied its power to it, covering the ground with lava and the sky with dust.
The seven major calamities each played a big role in the collapse of the empire, and fire giant Karte played a huge portion in that. The northern part of the empire was devastated by the chain of volcanic eruptions it caused.
‘Well, I thought that we’d fight it one day.’
They were planning to search the Catan Mountains where it first appeared.
Their plan was to deal with it early as it was highly likely not yet a proper calamity, just like the case of Yalavaska or Jabberwock.
But their expectations were wrong.
Their visit made the demon followers hasten the birth of the lava giant, which was the predecessor of the fire giant Karte.
In fact, it was good up to here.
Completing something that was faster than scheduled was bound to have flaws.
But they had one problem.
‘Isn’t that already a calamity?’
The lava giant was huge.
It was 60 meters tall, and over 20 floors in terms of building floors. Not only was it tall, but it was also so huge that they had no idea where and how to attack it.
But that giant even flew.
“Draw its attention! We must stop it from going to the dragon veins!”
Cordelia acted instead of answering to Jude’s shout.
She boldly steered the Phantom Steed to the giant’s front.
“HIIIIEK?!”
Kirara screamed in horror, but Cordelia did not stop. She used ice magic in front of the lava giant.
“Hit! Hit! Hit it!”
Dozens of sharp ice missiles formed in the air and rushed towards the lava giant’s head.
It was a literal bombardment of ice.
But it did not seem like an attack had happened. The giant did not care whether ice was stuck in its head or not. Its lava-covered face did not even have eyes or a nose, so it was doubtful if it even had a weakness in the first place.
“HIIIIE!”
Kirara screamed again and hugged Cordelia’s waist.
Because the lava giant opened its mouth wide as though it would swallow the Phantom Steed.
‘I should have betrayed them right away!’
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
At the time when Kirara shouted from the depths of her heart, Cordelia smiled bravely.
If the lava giant was aiming for them, it was something she welcomed.
“This way!”
Cordelia yelled and directed the Phantom Steed to the direction opposite Zainan Gorge, which was away from the nest of Serpent King Nagaros.
But it was not long before Cordelia realized that her plan had gone awry. Because her back did not feel hot.
“I lived! I lived!”
Kirara rejoiced, but Cordelia held back from cursing. Because the lava giant ignored them and only proceeded towards the nest of Nagaros.
“UOOOOOOH!”
Just then, Jude pierced the side of the lava giant with the firing of a sword.
It was one of the Twelve Snowflake Sword Art’s skills powered by his extreme Yin energy, but just like Cordelia’s ice missile bombardment, the giant endured it. Part of its side hardened, but soon melted back into lava.
“Look at me! Look at me!”
“HIIIIE!”
As Cordelia shouted again and flew in front of the lava giant, Kirara began to cry. But Cordelia only focused on the lava giant. She once again cast ice missiles, trying to draw the giant’s attention.
Bababababababang-!
But it did not work. Its wings continued to flap. It did not even look back because it did not have eyes in the first place.
“Save me, save me.”
Kirara cried her heart out but was ignored. Cordelia just thought and thought again.
The lava giant is too big.
It’s impossible to stop it with ordinary magic.
What about the Spirit King Punch?
Will that stop it?
Cordelia stopped her thoughts. Because it was a waste of time to continue thinking.
“Let’s go!”
The Phantom Steed ran through the air again and headed to the top of the lava giant’s head. Although it was hot because of the heat under their feet, Cordelia concentrated. She sweated profusely and drew her fist.
“Spirit King Punch!”
The moment she punched, she felt a pain as if an invisible blade had pierced her chest.
Her immense mana was consumed in an instant, and the Spirit King’s fist accompanied by lightning fell from the sky.
Boooom!
The huge fist pierced the back of the lava giant. The lava giant stumbled and fell to the ground.
“Wow! You did it! You did it!”
Kirara exclaimed in delight, but not for Cordelia. Rather, she was frowning.
It was not because of the pain caused by the sudden consumption of her mana. The moment the giant crashed to the ground, Cordelia’s gut feeling told her.
‘It’s not dead.’
It was as she thought. Lava melted and filled the hole the fist made. The lava giant raised itself again and resumed its flight. It flew away as if nothing had happened.
“That’s crazy.”
The damage should not have been minimal.
It was difficult to use the Spirit King punch again, but it did not seem impossible to defeat the giant by inflicting it with damage little by little.
But their problem was time.
“Snowflake Orchid!”
Jude used Snowflake Orchid, one of the secret arts of the Twelve Snowflake Sword Art.
It was a wide-range attack that could strike dozens of people at the same time, but it was not enough to stop a 60-meter giant that was advancing like a bulldozer.
The giant staggered but continued to move, ignoring Jude too.
Jude calculated the distance between the lava giant and Nagaros’ nest.
Considering the speed of the lava giant, the remaining time was less than three minutes.
‘Let’s think, let’s think about the victory conditions.’
We have to stop it.
We don’t have to kill it, we just have to stop it.
We must prevent it from reaching its destination.
What should we do then?
Should we use Serpent King Nagaros?
No, that’s too risky. Using Nagaros to do that is already a defeat in itself.
The lava giant will clearly ignore Nagaros and throw itself into the dragon vein.
What should we do then?
Is there any other way?
“Jude!”
He heard Cordelia calling him just then. Jude quickly turned around and Cordelia shouted once more.
“Buy time!”
Jude did not get angry nor say ‘Can’t you see what I’m doing now?’
Cordelia was not stupid.
Shouting like that meant that there was a way.
“Trust me!”
Cordelia shouted again and no longer focused on the lava giant. She headed beyond that, to the nest of Nagaros. She kicked the side of the Phantom Steed to speed it up.
“M-master?!”
What are you going to do? You’re not going to run into the lava giant, right?
Kirara whose brain was paralyzed by her panic could no longer make rational decisions.
But not for Jude. The moment he saw Cordelia running past the lava giant and heading towards Nagaros’ nest, he thought of a possibility.
“D-don’t tell me?!”
No, it’s possible.
Because it’s none other than Cordelia.
Because she already has a track record of doing it several times!
“HEY!”
“It’s okay! Trust me!”
Cordelia immediately responded to Jude’s protest and continued her plan while Jude let out curses.
But at the same time, he admired her.
In terms of achieving the victory conditions, Cordelia’s answer was not wrong.
“We can’t let it go to its destination, right? Then we just have to get rid of its destination!”
The reason the lava giant is headed to Nagaros’ nest is because of the dragon vein there.
So just get rid of the dragon vein. Prevent the lava giant from coalescing with the dragon vein by blowing it up in advance!
[Most problems can be solved by explosions!]
At Cordelia’s magic, Jude let out exclamations in succession. For Cordelia who had already gone far ahead, he searched for a way to stop the lava giant.
“Here it goes!”
Jude did not think for long. Instead of using a wide-area attack, he gathered his extreme Yin energy into his sword-like hand. He directed the Phantom Steed who run as though it was climbing the lava giant’s back.
[My successor!]
Valencia saw through Jude’s intentions. By amplifying the power of Sword Origin, Jude’s sword-like hand was strengthened.
“UOOOOOOOOOH!”
The Phantom Steed ran on the lava giant’s back. Ignoring the burning back, Jude swung his sword-like hand that had his extreme Yin energy.
Shwaaaaak-!
He aimed for the giant’s wings.
The extreme Yin energy hardened the lava. The Phantom Steed sprinted into the air and changed directions, and Jude stretched out his empty left hand at the part where the hardened wings, or to be exact, at the place where the giant’s wings and back were connected.
“Black Dragons’ Rampage!”
Seven black dragons came out from Jude’s palm. As each dragon moved and grew bigger, the lava giant was unable to get rid of the dragons no matter how huge it was. The connecting part was destroyed and the lava giant that lost its wings fell to the ground again.
Boooooom!
The ground shook with a roar.
Since it had already entered Zainan Gorge, the surrounding area did not become a sea of fire, but the ground melted as parts of the gorge collapsed due to the earthquake and rocks fell down.
“Haa… haa…”
Jude thought as he caught his breath.
He only delayed it for about ten seconds or so.
But if he repeated it, he could buy more time.
“KUOOOOOOOOO-!”
The lava giant roared and sprouted new wings.
Instead of looking back at the direction in which Cordelia had flown, Jude evoked his extreme Yin energy again.
And in less than a minute.
In less than a second.
“KIAAAAAA!”
Serpent King Nagaros roared and stood up.