Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria - Volume 21 - Chapter 4

ACT 4

“Their witchcraft has finally come to an end, it would seem, and not a moment too soon...”

Nobunaga let out a slow breath.

To the Steel Clan’s scouts, the Flame Clan was an impenetrable iron wall—a force that effortlessly brushed aside their assaults. The reality, however, was quite different. The scales had threatened to tip against the Flame Clan at several points during the conflict, and it had required total concentration from Nobunaga to keep his forces together.

“To find myself so shaken after something as minor as this... My age has caught up with me.” Nobunaga said derisively, chuckling self-deprecatingly as his knees trembled—the aged patriarch struggling to remain upright. The relief from having withstood the Steel Clan’s assault had drained the tension from him, leaving exhaustion in its wake. Fatigue gripped his mind, and his limbs felt like lead.

“My Great Lord, it may be too early to relax. This could very well be a trap to get us to let down our guard,” Old Man Salk, serving as his adjutant, said as a warning. The art of drawing the enemy into a false sense of security at an apparent victory was a tactic as old as warfare itself. Salk’s caution was understandable, however...

“No, there’s no chance of that,” Nobunaga declared simply. If Gjallarhorn could be activated and deactivated that easily, they would have used it much more proactively in battles past. The fact that they had never employed it in that fashion meant that it required a certain degree of preparation. That said, it was still a small price relative to the sheer power of the rune itself.

“More than anything, I can feel the fear from the Steel Clan soldiers. The troops don’t lie,” Nobunaga added smugly, his lips curling into a feral grin. A general in his position needed to chomp down on every morsel of information he could gather from the battlefield. The snippets of voices he heard from in front of him were clearly frightened—and the number was significant. He no longer felt the sting of the enemy’s determined gaze either. There was no way this was a feint.

“We’ve slain the Mánagarmr!”

“We’ve avenged Lord Shiba and Lord Vassarfall!”

“The Steel Clan is finished!”

The cheers of Flame Clan soldiers echoed from the battlefield’s left flank. That settled it. The death of the Steel Clan’s talismanic warrior, the Mánagarmr, who had slain two of the Flame Clan’s Five Division Commanders, had just been announced. It was the kind of news that would shatter enemy morale while providing an enormous boost to their own. Nobunaga smacked his knees to steady them and stood to issue his proclamation.

“The time has come! Send word to all units! Pursue the enemy and wipe them out!” Nobunaga yelled with thunderous vigor.

“So that’s it, huh...”

Yuuto let out a long breath, as though exhaling everything that had been pent up inside him until that moment. After having the scales tipped so far in his opponent’s favor, he wasn’t sure what he could do to change things. He’d long since run out of trump cards and party tricks to use against the Flame Clan. This battle had been decided.

“We’re withdrawing to Valaskjálf Palace!” Yuuto ordered. There wasn’t the slightest hint of hesitation in his tone. While a general’s greatest responsibility was to win the battle, the second most important was to know when they were defeated and do everything they can to minimize their losses.

Thanks, perhaps, to the efforts of Thír and the others, there was still a good deal of distance between the Steel Clan forces and the western and eastern flanks of the Flame Clan Army. While the main body under Nobunaga’s direct command had quickly switched to offense, the soldiers themselves were still in the process of reorganizing for a pursuit and were a touch slower than expected. They were probably still dealing with the psychological impact of fighting Gjallarhorn-boosted Steel Clan soldiers. Of course, that wouldn’t last long—the moment they realized they no longer had to worry about fighting those fearless berserkers, they were going to attack with a vengeance. At this juncture, the briefest hesitation on Yuuto’s end would vastly increase the Steel Clan Army’s losses.

Only the most foolish generals would waste soldiers on futile last stands driven by vanity and spiritualism. Even the greatest general wasn’t going to win every battle, after all. The wise man was quick to change. Yuuto’s ability to switch his mindset so fluidly was another reason he made such an excellent general.

“...Brother Rungr, can I leave the rear guard to you?” Yuuto designated his masked brother with a pained expression. Frankly, it was nearly unbearable for him to ask someone close to him to take on this dangerous task, but there was no one better suited to the role. The tactic that Hveðrungr had developed—using the suicide squads left to him by Skáviðr in self-sacrificial attacks on the enemy—was the most effective strategy to use under these circumstances. Whatever his personal feelings, as a general, this was the decision Yuuto had to make.

“Your Majesty, aren’t you relying a bit too much on myself of late?” Hveðrungr replied with a touch of venom, adding a sigh for emphasis. He was right. Not only that, but almost all of his assignments had been extremely difficult ones. Yuuto could only shrug with a dry laugh.

“Can’t help it. I can’t seem to find anyone better suited for it than you,” Yuuto replied.

“I suppose I’ll accept that line of reasoning.” With a soft snort, Hveðrungr turned on his heel, his cloak fluttering as he moved. He then called to Yuuto without looking back. “Get out of here. I’ll at least buy you time for that.”

“Brother...”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m doing it for Felicia’s sake,” Hveðrungr said dismissively. But to Yuuto, it sounded like he was just trying to hide his true feelings.

“Yeah, I know. Thanks, Big Brother! Don’t die out there!” Felicia yelled out to him.

“May the gods protect you, Brother!” Yuuto added.

With those words, the chariot rattled away. Hveðrungr sighed without turning around to watch them leave. “Fools. You’re my elders with the Chalice now.”

The moment they let their guard down in the slightest, the two of them always reverted to how they had addressed him in the past. It made no difference no matter how many times Hveðrungr pointed it out. Perhaps they simply weren’t taking their roles as the þjóðann of a great empire and one of his closest retainers seriously enough. Tsk... His younger brother and sister still had a lot to learn.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, I suppose,” Hveðrungr chuckled as he spread out a map of Glaðsheimr with countless Xs scattered around it. He had already positioned his suicide squads near the Valaskjálf Palace before the battle had started, and they were already in place to handle the enemy’s advance. There was no need for any last-minute preparations on his part. “That said, it would have been best if things hadn’t needed to come to this...”

It wasn’t as though Hveðrungr had been expecting Yuuto to ask this of him from the start. No, it was simply that they were up against Oda Nobunaga. He knew there was no such thing as overpreparing against an opponent of his caliber.

“Sure, but shouldn’t we be getting ourselves a bit farther out of the way?” the alluring beauty standing next to him asked flippantly. Her name was Sigyn. She had once been patriarch of the Panther Clan, but she was now Hveðrungr’s wife.

“I would like nothing more than to do that...” Hveðrungr then let out a long sigh. He was currently standing on the roof of a house that had somehow remained intact. It had a good view of the approaching army, and it was well-suited to providing orders to the soldiers below. However, it was also very conspicuous, and given that their army was currently retreating, it was a dangerous place to be.

“However, this is the only way I can think of to make sure the plan succeeds,” he added after a pause.

In the recent retreat from Gjallarbrú Fortress, the enemy had already encountered his suicide squads and had even found a counter to them. It was clear that using the exact same tactic would fail miserably. His only solution to the problem was to stay and wait in the most dangerous part of the city.

“Ah, gotcha. So that creepy thing down there is also part of your plan? I mean, I can see what you’re going for, but is it someone that you need to go to such crazy lengths to defeat?” Sigyn inquired.

“Yeah, she’s up there with Steinþórr,” Hveðrungr replied.

“That bad?! Are you sure you can handle her?!” Sigyn asked worriedly.

“No idea,” Hveðrungr replied flatly.

“You’re an odd one, you know. I can’t imagine you have any reason to be that loyal to Suoh Yuuto,” Sigyn stated in exasperation.

“That makes you just as odd, doesn’t it? Why are you still here with me?” Hveðrungr quipped. Their marriage had originally been a political one. Hveðrungr had needed to cement a power base in a clan where he was a foreigner, while Sigyn had felt she was barely holding together her rabble of rogues. Given that the Panther Clan had been absorbed into the Steel Clan and Hveðrungr held no power, there was no reason for her to stay with him.

“Hah! You know, despite all appearances, I’m a loyal and loving woman. Not that you’ve seemed to notice yet.”

“Believe it or not, those qualities were why I asked for you. I figured you’d stay with me in the end.”

“You really are a piece of work, you know...”

“A common compliment,” Hveðrungr remarked dryly. He always did stick to his principles in the end—simply making use of whatever and whoever he could to achieve his goals.

“I guess this is what love does to you, huh? So, what do you need me to do?” Sigyn asked him.

“Well, to start with... Cast Fimbulvetr on me when the moment’s right,” Hveðrungr replied.

“Huh? Why would you...”

“Looks like there’s no time to explain.”

Hveðrungr shoved Sigyn by the shoulder, throwing her off the roof. Of course, Sigyn was an Einherjar—the fall wouldn’t be a problem. No, the bigger issue was the sharp sound of metal clashing against metal that rang through the air.

“Grrr! You took a lot of finding, Hvesomething!” Homura shouted in her high-pitched, childish voice as the two exchanged blows.

If Hveðrungr was honest, hers was a voice he’d hoped he’d never hear again. But, if he left her out in the streets, his suicide squads wouldn’t stand a chance of completing their mission. Her overwhelmingly potent ability to detect living creatures would allow her to quickly uncover all of their ambush points. Hveðrungr had decided to use that power against her. If he stood in a conspicuous location and used himself as bait, he figured that she would be drawn to him. That had gone exactly to plan. He still had one problem to solve, however...

“I’m gonna have to figure out how to survive this...” he thought to himself.

Twin-runed Einherjar broke all of the rules. Homura was possibly the worst opponent for someone like Hveðrungr—a man who depended on manipulating and exploiting the rules of human nature to win.

“Tch. They’re making use of the suicide squads again. How unoriginal...” Nobunaga furrowed his brow and sighed with frustration. Just as he had won the clash of the main armies and was about to use the momentum from it to push his advantage, the suicide bombers of the Steel Clan’s rear guard had once again stopped him in his tracks. His foul mood was understandable. That said, he had already overcome this tactic once before.

“Send Homura at once,” Nobunaga relayed to one of his messengers. The enemy’s suicide bombers relied upon the fact that a handful of soldiers were scattered around in hiding, but Homura was able to detect the presence of any living creature. If he sent her in to identify their ambush locations, it would kneecap their entire strategy, or so he had hoped...

“I-I bring a message. Her Highness suddenly left the front lines and is currently unaccounted for,” a returning scout informed Nobunaga.

“What?! What in the blazes is going on?!” Nobunaga shouted angrily, his brow twitching with rage. While they had won the melee, that was only a tactical victory. The biggest results were often achieved during the pursuit phase of the battle, and though the Steel Clan had lost, they hadn’t lost many units. The only way to truly claim victory over the Steel Clan here would be to chase down their retreating forces and cut them down before they managed to regroup. Her sudden absence at this juncture was inexcusable in his eyes, despite his affection for his daughter.

“A-According to witnesses, she shouted ‘Found him’ before she ran off...”

“So that’s what it’s about, huh...” Nobunaga murmured as things clicked into place in his mind, though he still let out an exasperated sigh. The masked man who had defeated Homura had also been the one commanding the suicide squads during their previous encounter. He was probably doing the same this time as well. Though it was nothing more than an assumption, Nobunaga had figured out that Homura had detected him and hadn’t been able to restrain herself. She was, after all, still just a child.

“You know what Her Highness found?” the messenger asked.

“Yes, she’s probably gone to confront her past,” Nobunaga replied.

“Pardon? Her past?” Nobunaga’s comment appeared to have made little sense to the messenger, who simply blinked in confusion.

In Nobunaga’s eyes, there was no need for him to explain things to a mere messenger. He simply responded, “We’ll ignore Homura’s absence. I’ll give her a proper lecture afterward, of course.”

Nobunaga always had a soft spot for his family. Homura had gone to face down an opponent who had utterly dominated her in battle and taught her the true meaning of fear. He would be lying if he said he had no concerns about her ability to defeat the masked man, but he bit down on that anxiety. To Homura, the masked man was the first obstacle she had ever encountered in life. She needed to overcome that obstacle on her own. If she didn’t, she had no right to be his heir. That was Nobunaga’s way of preparing his child for kingship. He had no intention of sparing the rod and spoiling his daughter.

“We’ll lose our opportunity if we wait for her to return. We’ll continue our advance,” Nobunaga explained.

“I may not have seen this tactic of theirs with my own eyes, but is that not a risky gamble? We may end up losing quite a few capable officers in the process,” Old Man Salk warned him with a frown.

Nobunaga understood his point. The enemy’s suicide squads focused their attacks upon higher-ranking officers. It was easy to replace common soldiers, but capable officers were another thing entirely. There was a limited pool of people with the necessary talent, which alone wasn’t enough to make them useful. They needed to be properly schooled and trained in the art of war. Those things took time, money, and sacrifice. Losing all of those investments would be a painful loss for the future of the Flame Clan.

“I know the risk. But fortune only favors the bold!” Nobunaga stated proudly to reassure his nervous subordinates. He had no intention of underestimating Suoh Yuuto in the slightest. If Nobunaga was a conqueror like Xiang Yu, then Yuuto was a ruler who had the virtues of a king like Liu Bang. While those virtues might also make him more merciful than required, it was also capable of inspiring almost fanatical loyalty in his subjects. If Nobunaga failed to follow up here and gave him time to recover, there was a high probability Yuuto would use his charisma to quickly rebuild his army. To allow him to escape for fear of losing officers would simply mean that the Flame Clan would end up losing even more officers fighting a newly energized Steel Clan. There were times when a general needed to accept great sacrifices to prevent even greater losses. Now was one of those times.

“All forces, charge in! We’ll crush them with brute force!”

Hveðrungr felt the torrent of ásmegin sting at his skin. His mouth was dry from the tension. In front of him was a monster in the shape of a human child. Hveðrungr swallowed before he spoke. “Hm? Who in the hell are you?” He tilted his head and looked quizzically in her direction. It was, of course, an act. There was no way he could forget such a monstrously powerful enemy, even if he had wanted to.

“What?! Are you saying you don’t remember me?! I’m Homura!” the small girl yelled angrily.

“Homura? Ah yes! That’s right! You’re the girl who wet herself from fear,” Hveðrungr responded mockingly.

“I-I didn’t w-wet myself!” she protested furiously, her cheeks beet red. As immensely powerful as she was, she was still just a young girl. She was comically easy to taunt. She was so strong, in fact, that Hveðrungr, one of the three greatest individual warriors in the Steel Clan, was forced to resort to such petty tactics from the outset.

“I’m mad now! I’m not gonna forgive you! I’m going to make you cry!” Homura exclaimed.

“I see... But now’s your chance to run. I’m not letting you get away with just wetting yourself this time, shrimp,” Hveðrungr, continuing his taunts, rebutted.

“I said I didn’t wet myself!”

“Is that true? I’m pretty sure you were trembling and bawling your eyes out.”

“Grrr! I’m going to kill you!” With a shrill shout of rage, Homura vanished from view. Hveðrungr immediately glanced skyward. As he expected, she was right where he’d set his gaze and ready to strike with her dagger. She was extraordinarily fast. In fact, if he had never seen her move before, she might have killed him before he registered that anything had happened. A moment later, the sound of metal clashing against metal rang through the air.

“Is that all you’ve got? You won’t be able to kill me with that.” Hveðrungr blocked her blow with his blade and chuckled with a smirk. He had already learned her movements in their previous encounter. Her anger made her all the easier to read. Deflecting her attacks was a simple matter.

“I’m not done yet!” she replied.

“Ah?”

Even after he stopped her attack in its tracks, Homura shoved forward, using her greater strength to her advantage. Despite the fact that the girl in front of him was less than half his weight, he felt like he was grappling with a giant predator. Little did she know, however, that this was exactly the situation Hveðrungr wanted to find himself in.

A slight smirk appeared on Hveðrungr’s face. “Heh...”

“Wha?!”

Homura’s dagger slipped along Hveðrungr’s blade. It was the Willow Technique that he had learned from his master, Skáviðr. The stronger the enemy, the more effective it was. Homura, seemingly unprepared for its use, lost her footing. Or so Hveðrungr had thought...

“Nope!” she yelled mockingly.

“What?! Guh!”

Just as her feet had started falling from under her, Homura leaned forward, using her momentum to slam her heel into Hveðrungr’s face.

“Gah!” Hveðrungr was thrown backward from the blow. The impact on his body knocked the wind out of him for a moment.

“Ugh...”

He tried to force himself to stand, but he felt his vision waver, and he was left unsteady on his feet. He had taken a full spinning kick from a twin-runed Einherjar. The blow had taken its toll. Thankfully, he had somehow managed to roll with the kick to dampen most of its power. Had he not done so, the kick might even have knocked him out cold.

“...Thibt!”

He felt a hard object in his mouth and he spat it out. White fragments were mixed with the blood as it landed on the ground. The kick had shattered one of his molars, and he had just spit out the pieces.

“I’ve seen you do that before. It won’t work on Homura again. Also, neither will that tongue of yours,” The girl stated, smiling coolly as she looked down at Hveðrungr. There was no trace of anger in her eyes, nor was there any excitement or joy from landing that blow in her expression. She was calm as she gazed down at him.

“...So that was all an act,” he replied.

“That’s right.”

“Tch. Perhaps I’m growing too old for this.”

His attempt at taunting her had appeared to have backfired. It was a painful mistake for a trickster like himself. But what was even more alarming was Homura’s growth—she had calmly analyzed his fighting style and found an effective counter. No doubt she had recalled their previous encounter in her mind countless times to remember how he fought. To someone like her, who had always looked down on others, that must have been a humiliating and painful experience. Her ability to overcome her pride and reflect on her moment of vulnerability alarmed Hveðrungr. People who had faced serious setbacks and bounced back from them often showed immense psychological growth. Homura had learned to do whatever it takes to win, and she no longer underestimated her enemy. That was the most frightening thing of all.

“It seems I slapped the sleeping giant awake.” Hveðrungr couldn’t contain a dry laugh. In terms of pure physical ability, Steinþórr, similarly blessed with twin runes, was still probably superior to Homura in her present state. But Steinþórr had always been too reliant on his innate talent.

Homura’s mindset being very similar to Steinþórr’s during their first encounter had given Hveðrungr a weakness he could exploit. That opening was now long gone, however.

Suddenly, his wife’s voice rang out, and he felt a surge of strength.

“Fimbulvetr!”

Fimbulvetr was a seiðr that Sigyn was particularly adept at wielding, and it removed all constraints on an object. Ordinarily, it was used to remove things like curses, but it could also be used to unlock one’s latent physical ability and draw out their hidden potential, similar to Gjallarhorn. While it wasn’t nearly as powerful as the Rune of Kings, right now it would have to do. The sheer gap in physical ability between Hveðrungr and Homura was far too great without it. Heck, even with that enhancement, there would still be some ground to cover...

“Yes, this is hardly one of my smartest decisions, is it...” Hveðrungr said with a belated sigh of regret. Hveðrungr was a masterful tactician—a general with a sharp eye and creativity that allowed him, as Panther Clan patriarch, to counter Yuuto’s weapons and tactics, despite their origins from thousands of years in the future. Even among the Steel Clan’s roster of talented generals, he stood a head above the fray. Despite his great strategic skill, however, finding a path to victory in his current situation was proving much too difficult for him.

Hveðrungr desperately blocked the storm of blows that Homura unleashed at him. She was fast—lightning fast. There was no trace of the raw, childish fighting from their previous encounter. And that wasn’t because she had suddenly gained new physical abilities. Even twin-runed Einherjar weren’t able to simply massively increase their physical abilities in a matter of days. No, what had changed was her fighting style. She was no longer a child playing with her prey, and she had streamlined her movements. Just that simple change had turned a monster into a behemoth.

“Tch!”

He felt a sharp pain at the base of his neck. She had only grazed him, and the wound wouldn’t hinder his ability to fight, but if he had been even a fraction of a second slower in avoiding the attack, she would have lopped his head clean off his shoulders.

“If I didn’t already have experience facing her, I’d probably be dead right now...”

While her movements had been streamlined, she hadn’t gotten rid of all of her tells. He had only been able to respond quickly enough because he had seen the attack coming ahead of time.

“Thinking about it, I’m probably the reason she’s had this massive personal growth, aren’t I?”

He regretted taking on the role of rear guard during the Gjallarbrú retreat. That decision had put him squarely in the crosshairs of this monster. He couldn’t help but feel that the fates had completely abandoned him. In fact, even the relatively agnostic Hveðrungr started to wonder if the gods truly were out to get him.

“Well, I’m sure it’ll be fine...”

Hveðrungr smiled confidently. He’d dealt with worse situations in the past. He’d faced unfairly powerful opponents and come out of it alive. The gods? The fates? None of it made any difference. He would simply overcome this challenge, same as he had always done.

“Wow, good job dodging that one. Though, I guess that’s the very least you could do,” Homura said as she moved her dagger to her opposite hand. She sounded thoroughly arrogant, talking down to him from far above. Yet despite that tone, there was no overconfidence, and certainly no opening for him to exploit. It was simply an expression of her knowledge that she was a more powerful life form.

“Big words from a brat who was bawling after losing to me. Know your place, whelp,” Hveðrungr irritably spat at her. He was betting on the fact that she had been so sensitive to being called a brat in the past, but...

“That’s true. You’re right.” It seemed it didn’t bother her in the least, and she simply nodded in agreement. A very anticlimactic reaction, to be sure. “I didn’t think I’d been looking down on you, but it seems like I was doing it without meaning to. You beat me before, so I’ll just have to take you more seriously.” No, she humbly accepted his words and warned herself not to let down her guard.

“Well, that didn’t work out as I’d hoped,” he responded, somewhat defeated. He had tried to engage in a bit of psychological warfare, but it seemed he had only helped her. Once people learned to accept their shortcomings and take criticism seriously and fix their flaws, they were far quicker to learn and grow. Hveðrungr knew that from bitter experience. After all, there was another person like that in his life: Suoh Yuuto, a man he found more irritating than anyone else in the world.

“Heh, no point in trying to upset me with words. I told you it won’t work anymore.”

“Seems so. I suppose I should start taking this seriously.” Hveðrungr adjusted his sword, shifted into a proper fighting stance, and let out a breath, focusing his attention entirely upon her. For the first time, Homura’s expression tensed in response. To her, his murderous gaze was a source of terrible trauma for her. But that tension only lasted a moment.

“Heh. Hvesomething, you really are scary.” Even as a bead of sweat trickled down her brow, Homura managed a smile in the face of death, readying her dagger. She had a tough heart. She had reined in her fear in an instant. However...

Hveðrungr lunged forward as he sensed an opportunity. There was the slightest ounce of tension, a very subtle awkwardness as Homura had regripped her dagger. Even if her mind had overcome her fear, her body had yet to fully adjust. It was an opening that Hveðrungr was never going to miss.

“Dangit!” Homura shouted as though to force her body into motion and lashed out with an attack of her own. The exchange of blows resumed—

“Whoa?!” Homura was the one who let out a cry of surprise. Their exchange was a stalemate. No, if anything, Hveðrungr had a slight advantage. “So, you’ve finally gotten serious!”

“I’ve been serious this whole time, little girl. I just had an extra trick up my sleeve.”

A sharp clang rang out as Hveðrungr’s upward sweep knocked Homura’s dagger skyward.

“Wha?!”

He had managed to pull that off partly due to the greater momentum behind his blow, but that wasn’t the only thing working in his favor. He was in the Realm of Godspeed, a technique he had stolen from Sigrún during his time as patriarch of the Panther Clan. When combined with Sigyn’s Fimbulvetr, it granted him a level of speed and strength that could be compared to Homura’s. This was Hveðrungr’s trump card. Still, his advantage would only last for so long. In a drawn-out fight, Homura’s tension would eventually fade, her nerves would settle, and Hveðrungr would find himself on the back foot once again. He pushed forward to exploit his momentary advantage.

“Hrah!”

With a powerful shout, Hveðrungr unleashed a side-slash. He had her! Or so he thought. Instead, Homura vanished from his line of sight.

“What?!”

He felt a shiver run up his spine. It was just pure instinct. He jumped backward, his body reflexively recoiling.

“Guh!”

Much to his chagrin, he had been just a moment too slow. He felt a sharp pain, like a searing heat, run up his thigh.

“You really are kinda impressive, Hvesomething. I almost thought I was gonna die,” Homura stood up and said with a smile.

She had ducked, making it appear as though she had vanished. But that alone wasn’t enough to explain what had happened. Currently, Hveðrungr’s mind was in the Realm of Godspeed, perceiving time to be flowing more slowly. Even a twin-runed Einherjar shouldn’t have been able to move fast enough for him to lose sight of her.

“But thanks to you, I’m in a new world. It’s so weird. Everything looks so slow.”

“You can’t be serious!”

Hveðrungr clutched at his leg as he felt despair overcome him. Just how much stronger was she going to become?

“How did you enter the Realm of Godspeed...?”

“Oh, so that’s what this is called. I see... So that’s how you got so fast, Hvesomething.”

With that, Homura slashed with her dagger. It made a completely different sound as it cut through the air. Even within the Realm of Godspeed, Hveðrungr could barely catch the flash of the blade’s movement.

“But, with that leg, I guess you’re done,” Homura looked at Hveðrungr’s right leg and said with a slightly disappointed expression on her face. The leg was still attached, but he was bleeding profusely.

“Guh... Nrrgh.”

He knew he was in trouble, and Hveðrungr attempted to bring his sword up, but his leg couldn’t hold his weight and he faltered. There was no way he could move properly on this leg. What to do? He desperately tried to come up with any sort of solution, but they weren’t so easily forthcoming, and in that same span of time, Homura was closing the distance to finish him off. Hveðrungr slowly backed away, as though intimidated by her approach. A step. Then another.

“Ah.”

His left heel found no surface to rest on. He had been driven to the edge of the roof.

“Dammit!”

He tried to ward her off with a wave of his sword.

“Guh!”

Before he could complete the swing, Homura kicked his arm. The pain made Hveðrungr drop his sword.

“Felicia...”

In that moment, the image Hveðrungr saw was the dissatisfied glare of his one and only blood sibling, his little sister Felicia. “Oh come on, not now,” Hveðrungr thought. This felt too much like he was about to die. He had no intention of dying in a place like this.

“Thanks for everything, Hvesomething. It’s all thanks to you that I’ve gotten stronger.”

Homura slowly raised her dagger and she ruthlessly brought it down. Blood sprayed into the air.

“Brother?!”

Felicia turned around, convinced she had heard someone call her name, but there was no one there to greet her. It had only been her imagination. Nonetheless, she couldn’t shake a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Felicia?”

“My apologies... It appears I was mistaken. Please don’t worry.”

Felicia lightly shook her head in response to Yuuto’s query. They were in the middle of a fighting retreat. The situation was extremely tense, and she couldn’t distract Yuuto with something as vague as a bad feeling. Felicia lightly smacked her own cheeks to refocus her attention.

“Y-Your Majesty! The enemy is already approaching the gates of the palace!”

She felt a sharp squeeze on her heart at the terrible news from the radio receiver. The enemy being at the palace meant they had broken through the rear guard. Her heart ached as it pounded in her chest.

“What?! That’s far too early! What about Brother Rungr?!” Yuuto said, clearly shocked by the report that had just come in over the radio.

“Th-There’s no word on his status,” the voice replied sheepishly.

“Hey, Rungr! It’s Yuuto! Answer me!” Yuuto shouted into his handset with a note of panic. Hveðrungr was one of Yuuto’s most valued subordinates and had been given his own radio receiver. However, despite several attempts at reaching him, there was no response from Hveðrungr through the radio.

“Oh no... Brother...”

Felicia felt the blood drain from her features. At one point in time, she resented him to the point where she wanted him to die, but he was still someone that had been with her since the day she was born. The idea that she would never see him again made her body tremble in fear.

“No, not yet, Felicia. It’s too early to give up,” Yuuto called over to Felicia, attempting to reassure her. Her distress was plain to see. Indeed, the battlefield was a place where information was quickly distorted and lost—whether that was due to a breakdown in communication or intentional misinformation on the enemy’s part. It wasn’t unusual for someone who was reported as alive to actually be dead or vice versa. The key was to avoid letting that information send her into a state of panic. She needed to look past that and continue to do her job, regardless of her feelings at the time. Felicia’s years of experience serving at Yuuto’s side were unmatched by any other person on Yggdrasil. She was the only one who could provide adequate support to him.

Somewhat reinvigorated thanks to Yuuto’s encouragement, Felicia bit down on her lip and resumed running, silently offering a prayer. “Please be alive, brother... I’ll at least let you hold the baby.”

“You daft fool!”

The anger in Nobunaga’s voice shook the very air itself, and his fist came down hard on Homura’s head. While Nobunaga was known for being easy on his kin, there were limits. Even he wasn’t going to let his daughter get away with ignoring orders and chasing after a personal vendetta during this climactic battle for control of Yggdrasil. “You’re my heir, are you not? A general must always keep their eye on the bigger picture.”

Still, considering that there were tales of Nobunaga executing ladies in waiting who had gotten carried away with carousing during his absence from Azuchi Castle, a single blow to the head was still letting Homura off easily.

“Oww... Yes... I’m sorry,” Homura held her head, tears welling in her eyes as she apologized to her father.

Nobunaga let out a long sigh, then paused for a moment before asking, “So, did you win?”

“Yeah. I brought this as a memento,” she replied gleefully as she twirled a familiar-looking mask atop her index finger. It was, without a doubt, the mask that the enemy general Hveðrungr had worn.

“Glad to hear it.”

Nobunaga’s expression quickly turned from one of anger to a playful grin. To his daughter, settling the score with Hveðrungr had been a vital rite, one where she had overcome the only opponent who had ever made her truly fear for her life. While he had believed Homura would be able to do so, there had still been a part of him that had worried. Of course, if she had been unable to step forward when she knew her life was on the line, she wouldn’t have been worthy of being his heir. In that sense, Homura had finally proven her worth as a ruler. As a parent and as a leader, there was nothing that gave him greater joy.

A Flame Clan messenger approached, delivering the following report: “I bring word, My Lord! We have finished destroying the Steel Clan’s rear guard! The vanguard is currently positioned in front of the main gate and is awaiting your word to attack.”

“Very well.”

Nobunaga nodded with satisfaction as he listened to the report. While the Flame Clan had suffered some losses, they had been below his expectations. Surrounding the commanders with defensive formations as they advanced had worked as planned. Almost all of the losses had been sustained by the conscripted soldiers and had done little to weaken the army’s main body.

“And what is the state of the Steel Clan Army?” Nobunaga asked.

“According to our scouts, the majority of their soldiers have broken and are currently fleeing the battlefield. Approximately three thousand under Suoh Yuuto are believed to have taken refuge inside Valaskjálf Palace,” the messenger replied.

“Oh? So he intends to fight to the end...” Nobunaga’s eyes widened in surprise. He had thought Yuuto would abandon the palace and flee to Jötunheimr long before things had progressed to this point. Perhaps he had some card left to play in a vain attempt to try to turn the odds? Or was he simply trying to buy time for his people and soldiers? Given Suoh Yuuto’s personality, both were strong possibilities.

“Heh. He certainly doesn’t disappoint, even to the very end,” Nobunaga said with a predatory grin that would have frightened off a tiger. The most likely scenario was that Yuuto was trying to buy time. The vast majority of the Steel Clan’s forces were in a panicked retreat, abandoning their ruler and running for their lives. It seemed unlikely this was a feigned retreat. Even the three thousand left in the palace were probably rather disorganized at this point. No matter what schemes he had up his sleeve, Yuuto stood no chance against the sixty-thousand-strong Flame Clan Army—or so his rational mind told him. But he couldn’t let go of the possibility there was something still waiting, that Yuuto had something remarkable left up his sleeve, that if he attacked now, he would suffer terrible losses.

“The young lad—nay, that great man—is quite impressive. He’s achieved quite the feat to have made me behave so cautiously!” Nobunaga gripped his hand into a fist. His hand felt clammy, and his back was slick with sweat. “However! A conqueror as great as myself can’t possibly turn back here!”

He still had the greatest opportunity to end the war right here. While it was true that a commander needed to be cautious, they also needed to be able to identify opportunities as they arose. Those that were cautious but didn’t exploit opportunities were mere cowards.

“Salk!” Nobunaga thunderously called for the old general.

“My Lord,” he replied dutifully.

“Send the eastern division to pursue the broken remnants of the Steel Clan Army fleeing the city. The western division is to watch the area around Glaðsheimr. It’s also very possible that they might use a hidden route to flee the city limits. Don’t let them escape!”

“Yes, My Lord. I’ll send the messengers at once.” The old man, despite being over seventy years of age, nodded briskly, then ran off to send the necessary messengers off to the respective divisions. Salk was well aware that Nobunaga was a ruthless master, willing to cast aside even an old hand like him if he wasn’t able to pull his own weight.

“Homura!”

“Yes?!” When Nobunaga called her name, Homura stood crisply at attention. Evidently, even a twin-runed Einherjar was intimidated by a conqueror of the Warring States Period.

“Your punishment for disobeying orders. Take the Akazonae and lead the vanguard,” he stated coldly and clearly.

“Wha?!”

This order sent a ripple of confusion and surprise through the various officers and bodyguards assembled around him. It went without saying that the vanguard was the most dangerous position in battle. Sending his one and only heir to command it must have seemed like madness to them. But Nobunaga had his own reasons for making that choice.

“No doubt there are Einherjar waiting with Suoh Yuuto. Homura, you should be able to find them easily,” Nobunaga explained.

With those words, the officers understood Nobunaga’s reasoning. Every native of Yggdrasil knew the vast extent of the Valaskjálf Palace grounds. It was large enough to swallow a small city or two. Randomly searching for a single man on those grounds would give the enemy time to regroup. Nobunaga had no intention of giving Yuuto any chance of counter-attacking.

“Of course, I’ll be right behind you with the main body. Our one and only objective is to claim the head of Suoh Yuuto! Pay no heed to the rabble. Focus solely on that objective!” Nobunaga yelled out to his men.

“Huff, huff... Phew. We should at least be able to take a short break now.”

Yuuto sat down tiredly the moment he reached the throne room in the deepest section of the Valaskjálf Palace. He had just experienced a nerve-wracking battle against Nobunaga followed by a five-kilometer run. Despite having spent the last four years training, it had still taken its toll on him.

“We’re missing a lot of faces,” Yuuto said, sighing grimly as he looked over the remaining officers. Their numbers had dwindled. Some were still fighting their way to the palace or had fled the city of Glaðsheimr, while others like Sigrún and the Maidens of the Waves had been killed in battle.

“If only I had done better... I’m sorry, everyone,” Yuuto bowed his head, his voice trembling with regret. He had been focused solely on getting away until now, but with that accomplished, the second-guessing had started again in his head. Maybe he could have come up with a better plan. Perhaps he could have done things differently at a certain point in the battle. The regrets bubbled up one after another in his mind.

“Big Brother, please don’t blame yourself. If it hadn’t been you in command, we wouldn’t have held out this long,” Felicia replied. “No matter how close it might be, in the end, there’s no point if we lose. There’s no point if we die.”

Felicia’s attempt at comforting him did little to raise his spirits, however.

No, perhaps he’d simply been overcome with hubris in believing that he could save all of his people. It had been egotistical of him to think that he could fight on equal footing with the conqueror of the Warring States Period, Oda Nobunaga. The smart thing to do would have been to abandon his empire, all of the strangers in it, and simply flee with his inner circle. If only he had done that, he wouldn’t have lost Skáviðr or Sigrún. The same was true of Hveðrungr. He was missing in action, and he might very well already be dead...

“Your Majesty! The enemy’s vanguard has entered the main palace grounds!”

“What?! How the heck did they get here that quickly?!”

Yuuto blinked in surprise at the sudden report from the Vindálf. While the Valaskjálf Palace was referred to as a single palace, it was not a single structure. It was actually made up of several dozen buildings. It was, in essence, a city built for the royals and nobility that made their home in Glaðsheimr. There were, of course, no maps of the palace itself, and there should have been no way for the Flame Clan to identify each building.

“How the hell did they figure out where we are?! Actually, is it even worth wondering about at this point?”

Yuuto forced his exhausted body to stand and turned his gaze to the throne. Underneath the throne itself was an entrance into the city’s sewer system. It was an escape path for the Imperial family, and the sewers had exits located in various sections of the Valaskjálf Palace, the city of Glaðsheimr, and various points outside the city limits.

In the past, his late wife Sigrdrífa had used the passages to sneak out of the Holy Capital and travel, and more recently, the passages had been used during his guerrilla warfare to move his soldiers around the city. While part of the reason Yuuto had fled to the palace was to draw Nobunaga’s attention and give his soldiers a chance to flee, he had also intended to use the passages to escape.

“Felicia.”

“Yes, what is it, Big Brother?”

When Yuuto called her name, Felicia quickly responded with a serious expression. Her expression was worn from a combination of fatigue and sadness, but her face was still breathtakingly beautiful. Thinking back on it, she had always been at his side since his arrival in Yggdrasil. While he had resented her when he had first been summoned, in the end, she had always been one of the people who had helped him.

“Big Brother?” Felicia furrowed her brow as Yuuto quietly gazed at her face. Oops, he’d been caught staring. With the jig up, Yuuto pointed at the throne and said evenly, “Take the others and escape through the sewers.”

“What?!” Felicia’s eyes went wide with surprise. It seemed the instructions had come as a complete shock. “And what do you intend to do, Big Brother...?” She then glared at him intently. While she had asked the question, it was clear she had already guessed his answer. He felt the anger that she was doing her best to contain. It took a great deal of courage to tell her given her expression, but he somehow managed to speak.

Yuuto took a deep breath before he said the words slowly. “I’ll stay with two hundred or so and hold them back.”

The entrance into the sewers was narrow, and only one person could go down it at a time using a rope ladder. It would take five or six hours for three thousand people to make their way down it. Someone needed to hold back their pursuers during that time.

“That’s what I thought you’d say... Truly, what a ridiculous suggestion, Big Brother! You’re the one who needs to use that route first and escape! Think of your position!”

“My position is why I’m saying this.”

Yuuto could only offer a forced smile at Felicia’s criticism. While intellectually, Yuuto knew that in an Imperial system, the emperor and his blood were the most valuable and most precious things and had to be protected at all costs, the idea simply didn’t resonate with him. He had grown used to Yggdrasil’s culture during his time there, but when it came down to it, he had still been born and raised in 21st-century Japan. In his formative years, he had seen CEOs take responsibility and resign after corporate scandals on TV, while politicians were supposed to be servants of the people, working for the public good. Those values were still thoroughly rooted in his mind.

“I have no intention of dying. I’ll find the right opportunity and follow you,” he explained calmly.

There was still a lot he had to do. There was also Mitsuki and their children. He couldn’t afford to die yet.

“Easier said than done. You know better than anyone how hard it would be to actually do it, do you not?” Felicia protested.

“Aunt Felicia is correct, Father! I’ll serve as the rear guard.”

“Howww can you possibly do thaaaat in your staaate, my laaady? I’ll serrrve as the reaaar guard insteaad.”

Fagrahvél and Bára each volunteered to lead Yuuto’s proposed distraction force. However, Fagrahvél was deeply exhausted from using Gjallarhorn and couldn’t even stand upright on her own, while Bára had suffered wounds to her head and dominant arm protecting Fagrahvél. On top of all that, they had lost many of their sworn comrades from the Maidens of the Waves. The pair looked pale and thoroughly exhausted. They had already done enough. He couldn’t ask more of them. Yuuto slowly shook his head.

“I can’t very well run away and let women fight for me. I’m the one who started this war. It’s only right that I take responsibility for it.”

If Yuuto hadn’t wanted to save everyone, many others would still be alive. The ones still here were the ones who had followed him to the end. Even if he knew it was just to satisfy his own conscience, he didn’t want to lose any more of them. The job of a commander was to save as many of his people as possible. In that sense, objectively, he was the one best suited for this task. He was the best tactician among the remaining people. However...

“Father! Please reconsider!”

“Yes. Place more value on your life.”

“Who would lead the people without you, Father?!”

It was clear the others didn’t agree, and they voiced their objections vociferously. It was, perhaps, understandable, but Yuuto had no intention of backing down.

“Quiet! I’m giving you these orders as your sworn father and as the þjóðann!”

Yuuto chose that moment to wield his authority. With the Chalice and his authority as þjóðann behind him, even his officers were forced into silence. The orders of one’s sworn father were absolute in their world. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence.

“Why will you not allow me to be by your side?”

The voice that broke that silence was cold but filled with anger. Despite having known her for four years, this was the first time he had heard her voice take on that tone. When he turned around, he saw Felicia staring at him with a mix of sadness and anger in her gaze.

“While you always seem gentle and flexible, you’re also a very determined person. Given what you’ve said, I know you have no intention of overturning your orders. I’ve known you for long enough to understand that is the case,” Felicia said calmly as she held back the torrent of emotions roiling deep within. But in the midst of her sentence, tears began to fall from her cheeks. Once the dam had broken, she couldn’t stop the flow of her emotions.

“But I’m your adjutant, Big Brother! Why are you telling me to leave your side at such an important time?!” Felicia shouted, her voice shrill as her face was streaked with tears. Even under the circumstances, Yuuto couldn’t help but find that sight precious and dear. Which was exactly why...

“Because I don’t want you to die under any circumstances,” Yuuto said flatly with a heavy sigh. This was war. He had already lost several people close to him. He had thought he had been ready. But when he had heard Sigrún was dead, he simply couldn’t handle it. “It hurts to admit, but I’m scared at the thought of losing you too.”

“Scared?”

“Yes, frightened out of my mind. Far more than the thought of my own death. That’s why I need you to go... I can keep fighting if I know you’re alive.”

“Even under these circumstances, I’m extremely happy to hear that you feel so strongly for me. But, I’m afraid I still can’t follow your orders.”

“Felicia!” Yuuto shouted in frustration. His tone pleaded with her to listen. But Felicia simply shook her head.

“No. I feel the same way, Big Brother. I’m afraid of losing you more than anything. If I were to lose you, I couldn’t possibly go on living. Please, let me protect you by your side.”

Yuuto found himself at a loss for words. It was a tearful plea from a woman he loved. He’d be lying if it didn’t make him reconsider.

Yuuto gritted his teeth and grimly gave the order, “I’m going to say it again. This is an order. You need to run.”

“Big Brother!”

“You have to listen to me. We don’t have time for further debate. Go!” With that statement, Yuuto turned his back to her. He knew he was hurting her. But this was something he needed her to listen to.

“I see...”

He heard her crestfallen voice from behind. She must have realized it was useless to argue any further. He really did feel guilty for doing what he had, but he felt a surge of relief at the same time.

“In that case... I’m afraid to inconvenience you, but I will be returning your Chalice. Thank you for taking care of me all this time.”

“Huh?”

Yuuto turned around, slack-jawed in shock at the unexpected response. He expected her to say goodbye, but why would she return his Chalice? As his mind struggled to process what she had just said, Felicia continued.

“I am no longer your sister, and you are no longer my brother. We’re total strangers. Because of that, I have no reason to listen to your orders. As such, I’ll be staying and fighting.”

“Whaat?!”

He finally understood Felicia’s intentions. He hadn’t remotely imagined she’d use such an absurd loophole. Still, Yuuto wasn’t one to give up that easily.

“Then this is my direct order as þjóðann!”

They were orders from the divine emperor of Yggdrasil. He figured she wouldn’t be able to disobey, but...

“I’m afraid my loyalty is sworn only to the person I accepted as my Big Brother. I have no memory of extending that loyalty to the þjóðann,” Felicia said without the slightest hesitation. He could have sworn Felicia seemed to be extremely respectful to Rífa when she had discovered Rífa was the þjóðann, but he figured she’d play dumb if he pointed that out.

“Hey, you lot! Drag her out of here!”

“Oh? Do you really think mere strength is enough to deal with me?”

With that, Felicia snapped the whip she had somehow taken into her hand, the sound echoing through the room. That simple action forced everyone around her to swallow. While she had never made much of a name for herself in battle, Felicia was a highly skilled Einherjar herself. Even though she wasn’t anywhere near as accomplished a fighter as someone like Sigrún, she was still far superior to the average Einherjar. Moreover, she was by far the strongest individual in the room. Of course, they would probably be able to restrain her if they all swarmed her at once, but with the Flame Clan Army just moments away, now was hardly the time to be squabbling like that amongst themselves.

“Fine! You win. Come along with me!” Yuuto threw his hands up into the air and shouted with exasperation. He couldn’t think of any way to get her to leave before him. In that case, it was much better to have her by his side than have her fighting at random on her own. “However! Make damned sure you don’t die!”

“Of course. I promised Big Sister Mitsuki that I’d come home safely with you. And, well...” Having said her piece, Felicia’s lips twisted into a warm smile.

“And what?”

“Well, that will stay a secret.” Felicia placed her index finger over her lips and smiled. She looked so happy at that moment that Yuuto almost found himself gawking.

“You can’t just say that and stop there. Come on.”

“I’ll tell you when we’ve safely gotten through this.”

Evidently, she wasn’t going to tell him no matter how much he pushed her. Still, they had known each other for a long time. Yuuto had a rough sense of what it might be based on her expression, but he wasn’t going to say it aloud. It would make him want to tell her to get out of here again, and if he did, they’d just end up in the same loop they had been stuck in earlier. It would be a complete waste of time. That meant there was only one thing to do.

“Then I guess I have no choice but to survive this.”

After all, it was a father’s job to protect both mother and child.

“Oh come on! This place is too big! And the roads are still weird!”

Homura stamped her feet in frustration as she proceeded through the halls of the main palace with her soldiers. Valaskjálf Palace’s paths were complex and winding for defensive purposes, practically a labyrinth in their own right. It had already been two hours since they had set foot in the palace grounds and over half an hour since they had gotten to the main building. Even someone older and more patient than Homura would be understandably irritated at these maze-like corridors.

“Y-Yes. It’s far too large.”

“Quite annoying.”

The Flame Clan soldiers accompanying her were all dressed in armor that was painted red. They were the Akazonae Unit—Homura’s bodyguard that Nobunaga had chosen from the best of the best in his entire army. They had been gathered with no regard to breeding or manners, and quite a few of them were mere ruffians.

“I’m thirsty! Water!”

“Yes, my lady!”

Still, even they were prim and proper in front of Homura herself. After all, Homura was a child, and an angry child often had no conception of boundaries and could do just about anything. Furthermore, their own strength was useless against hers. If they ran, she’d find them immediately and drag them back. They had no choice but to stay quiet and obey.

“Your Highness, how much farther do we have to go?”

The only one who seemed unintimidated by Homura and addressed her firmly was Arako, one of the Five Blades of the Flame Clan. Nobunaga had approved of his extremely straightforward and extraordinarily stubborn personality that remained unflinching even in front of Homura. His personality was precisely why he had been assigned to lead Homura’s tutors. Homura herself wasn’t particularly fond of this nagging middle-aged man, but Nobunaga had ordered her not to hurt him and to listen to him, so she had been forced to let him remain by her side.

“Hrm, not too much. There’s three Einherjar in here, I think.”

“Oh? Well then, we’re in for a treat,” Gatu, another of the Five Blades of the Flame Clan, said with a chuckle. He was the second-in-command of the Akazonae Unit, and while he was more easygoing and friendly than Arako, Homura still found him difficult to deal with.

“Not really. I don’t feel that much power coming from them.”

At this distance, she could figure out the strength of the person’s ásmegin. Of course, ásmegin wasn’t the only measure of strength, but it was roughly correlated with physical ability. Based on her observations, the three Einherjar ahead were maybe average at best, not much to look forward to in that regard.

“Hvesomething was pretty unique, I guess.”

Homura let out a sigh of disappointment. After experiencing a fight with that man, all of her other fighting had felt like just dealing with chores and bored her. The ones who had served as the Steel Clan’s rear guard had been too easy to deal with, a complete disappointment for her. Honestly, she was tired of fighting the rank and file. Right now, she really wanted to fight someone who would present something of a challenge.

“But, well, daddy told me to bring him Suoh Yuuto’s head.”

Homura nodded to herself and refocused on the task at hand. Even if it wasn’t particularly interesting, she would be happy to see her father’s approving face when she succeeded. She felt a warmth in her heart at that thought. It was enough to keep motivating Homura under just about any circumstances.

“Oh, seems like that’s the place.”

Homura pointed to a door at the end of a hallway. She felt the presence of at least a hundred or so people crammed into the room. It was probably an ambush of some sort, but such things were completely meaningless against Homura.

“Well then... Let’s go kill them.”

After licking her lips, Homura shot forward like a cannonball. Her red-armored companions hurriedly ran to join her. The monster in the form of a little girl was coming to finish off the Steel Clan.