The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military-Chapter 265: Exploit Their Weaknesses! (4)

Translator: Pai_

-...How surprising.

Thor looked at Iron with an expression of astonishment.

He had certainly thought this attack would bring everything to an end.

That’s why he had gathered all his power, and he did not doubt the outcome.

Though not perfect, he had descended while maintaining most of his once towering might.

It was not a strike that a mere, still immature human could withstand.

Nevertheless, the human in front of him had managed to withstand it.

“Huff... huff...”

Iron panted heavily as he finally deflected Thor's hammer and stepped back.

At that, Thor wore a genuinely surprised expression and looked toward Hræsvelgr standing beside Iron.

-Hræsvelgr... you are truly remarkable.

To Thor’s words, the storm bird remained silent.

In fact, this attack from Thor had been meticulously calculated.

He had not expected it to be blocked, but had thought there was a slight possibility.

And there was only one way that could happen.

Hræsvelgr using his power.

If the storm’s power was used to block Thor’s strike in order to protect Iron, then Thor would claim victory afterward.

That was because, once his final reserved move was used, there would be no way to defeat Thor.

But Hræsvelgr did not use his power until the end.

-Did you believe in that human?

Even to Thor’s question, Hræsvelgr gave no answer, and Iron also raised his sword instead of responding.

And this time, Iron initiated the attack.

It was a deliberate move to not allow Thor any time to recover his strength.

Before anyone realized it, Iron’s body, damaged by Baepsae’s power, had begun to heal, and the Divine Beasts were also quickly absorbing the energy of nature to once again manifest their power.

‘Path of Steel.’

What was most needed in this moment was the strength to continue forward without faltering, even in the face of Thor’s overwhelming might.

As his ultimate skill unfolded and the tide shifted to offense, Thor, perhaps still reeling from his all-out blow, was pushed back, unlike before when he had overwhelmed with sheer force.

As Iron's continuous attacks advanced, the surrounding forest burned, and the earth was overturned.

But Thor was a god with vast experience.

He was one who knew how to reverse a disadvantageous flow using his immense experience.

Crackle!

With lightning bursting again from his massive hammer, Thor cut off Iron’s momentum.

At that moment, Iron clenched his teeth and swung his sword again.

‘If I break here, it’s over!’

Thinking this, Iron put in all his strength, and Thor also went all out in response.

‘Hræsvelgr hasn’t used his power yet. If I push harder, it’ll be dangerous!’

Both knew that this moment was the turning point that would decide the match.

That’s why Thor forced himself to once again gather all his power.

Sensing his thoughts, the Divine Beasts also poured out all their strength.

Even though they had recharged by absorbing the energy of nature, it was still nothing compared to their original power.

Thus, the Divine Beasts were well aware that if they used the fusion technique again, they would inevitably be reverse summoned.

Even so, they used the incomplete final fusion technique that had been employed when Thor was first summoned.

-Grrk!

As two beams of light, compressed from the combined power of the three Divine Beasts, flew toward Thor, even a god of the world had no choice but to clench his teeth and block them.

The moment he blocked the light, he crashed to the ground, and as if that wasn’t enough, he was driven deep into the earth, creating a massive crater.

The humans watching from afar momentarily thought that Thor had been killed, but soon a gigantic lightning bolt struck from the sky, making them realize their thoughts were in vain.

An immense amount of power gathered into the crater, and that energy soon began to form into the shape of a massive hammer.

And the moment he saw that, Iron looked at Hræsvelgr.

-Only by enduring this strike can that creature be erased.

At Hræsvelgr’s words, Iron gave a slight nod.

“Baepsae, help me.”

-Tweet!

To Iron’s request, Baepsae gave its usual brief response.

The three Divine Beasts, who had already been soaring in the sky, were reverse summoned immediately after using the incomplete final fusion technique.

Iron gritted his teeth and infused power into his sword, fully aware of how great the cost would be for recklessly using an incomplete power twice.

It was a technique he had deliberately avoided until now.

To the almost perfectly fused Divine Power and Aura, a third power began to infuse itself.

Crackle!

As an immense surge of natural energy swirled around the white sword, cracks began to appear in the seemingly solid Aura Blade.

“Help me.”

At Iron’s call, Baepsae responded.

As Baepsae controlled the Divine Power sustaining the white sword, Iron began to recklessly pour the natural energy into the steel aura.

A massive amount of natural energy and the endlessly surging Divine Power wildly flooded into the Aura Blade.

To contain this ocean-like energy, Iron drew out every last bit of his aura.

Even so, the explosive power created by the fusion of the three forces was something that could not be contained by a Grand Master-level being.

“Just once! Just one strike!”

Iron cried out desperately as he swung the incomplete, flickering Aura Blade at the massive lightning hammer flying toward him.

Kuuung!

Iron’s incomplete transcendental technique collided with Thor’s all-out blow, and in that instant, a massive explosion erupted and devoured everything around it.

The light created by the immense blast lit up the surroundings so brightly that it was blinding, and it did not fade for quite some time.

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And when the light finally disappeared, what was left behind was a crater so massive that even the one created by the Divine Beasts’ final fusion technique looked small in comparison.

Crackle! Crackle!

-It's not... it's not over yet.

Thor rose into the sky, looking at his half-destroyed hammer.

Even though he was drenched in blood from head to toe, the god radiated lightning power as he ascended into the sky.

In contrast, Iron had collapsed with his half-broken sword, having exhausted all his strength.

Iron, who had always endured until the end no matter the circumstances, had blocked the final strike, but this time he could no longer stand.

“Cough! I… I’m still…”

Iron coughed up blood and tried to rise again.

Baepsae had already been reverse summoned at some point, and with even the Divine Beast’s power depleted, Iron’s body, gravely wounded, could no longer heal properly.

Seeing him like that, Hræsvelgr took flight.

-Your role is done. What remains now is mine to do.

Hræsvelgr murmured quietly as he ascended into the sky.

Thor unleashed lightning and charged at him.

With a roar that it was not yet over, another massive lightning hammer was formed.

However, unlike the great hammer that had struck down upon Iron, this one was visibly damaged in many places.

His divine weapon, Mjölnir, had been half-shattered, and the lightning hammer manifested in the same broken form. Hræsvelgr smiled as he looked at it.

-So this is your limit.

Watching Thor squeezing out the last of his strength, Hræsvelgr began flapping his small wings.

Hræsvelgr, whose form was no bigger than Baepsae.

But the wind that began to surge from that small bird’s wings was beyond belief.

Soon, a massive whirlwind formed and began to sweep through the surroundings.

Kwa-duk!

The enormous lightning hammer, flying in with the momentum to destroy both Iron and Hræsvelgr, was gradually ground away by the enormous whirlwind and began to vanish.

In contrast, the place where Iron lay remained calm.

-The center of a typhoon is always calm.

Hræsvelgr murmured as he looked at his contractor.

Back when he first met him at the Phantom Tree, he had despised the fact that he had to contract with something like that.

But after the battle with the Ancient Species, and now through this battle, Iron had grown once more.

Watching the human grow at an unbelievable pace, Hræsvelgr began to wonder whether perhaps his contractor might reach the heights of those lofty beings.

-Perhaps... he might even reach those who toyed with us...

Hræsvelgr murmured as he looked ahead.

Though not even an inch ahead could be seen due to the storm, Hræsvelgr could see clearly, as if looking into a clear sky with nothing in the way.

Thor’s final lightning hammer, created by squeezing out his last ounce of power, had been completely ground away by Hræsvelgr’s whirlwind.

And at last, with the disappearance of the lightning hammer, even Thor, his frail body all that remained, was swept away by the storm.

Kwa-duk! Kwa-duduk!

The storm that devoured Thor’s body and the massive hammer Mjölnir tore through Thor’s entire form as if a predator were consuming its prey.

-Even corrupted... still a god, huh?

Hræsvelgr muttered to himself and looked ahead.

Soon, the storm, having spent all its power, disappeared, and Thor’s battered body fell to the ground.

Even a storm strong enough to grind everything down could not completely erase Thor.

Instead, Mjölnir had been completely annihilated.

The divine weapon had sacrificed itself to protect Thor to the very end.

-Cough!

Thor coughed up blood as he looked toward the sky.

-…So, I’ve lost.

As Thor blankly stared at the sky, realizing his own defeat, Hræsvelgr flew toward Iron.

He gently tapped Iron’s forehead with his beak.

-Well done.

With those words, Hræsvelgr infused his remaining Divine Beast power into Iron and was immediately reverse summoned.

It was a faint remnant of Divine Beast power left after summoning the great storm.

But with that power, it was just enough to restore Iron’s body to the point where he could move.

“Huff… huff…”

Iron slowly stood, using his half-destroyed sword as a cane.

The great battle had ended, and in the distance, the Holy Alliance forces were rapidly approaching, determined to kill the fallen Iron and protect Thor.

That was why Iron had intended to finish it himself before they could reach him.

-…In the end, your victory.

At Thor’s words, Iron quietly stared at him and raised his sword.

Thor let out a faint chuckle as he looked at him.

-If it’s you… maybe you really can overcome this Destruction.

“Destruction… What exactly is that?"

At Iron’s question, Thor silently looked at him.

-A game. A game in which great beings wager the destruction of the universe.

At Thor’s words, Iron frowned.

“A game… You mean the system?”

-Yes. The system was created to suppress the wrath of the Primordial Dragon and to divert the predetermined destruction. And this game is the method to temporarily subdue that rage.

At Thor’s explanation, Iron sank into thought.

But Thor interrupted him.

-You should finish this quickly, shouldn’t you?

At Thor’s words, Iron turned around.

He could see the Holy Alliance forces approaching from afar.

He also saw them casting holy magic in the distance to kill him.

Iron gripped his sword.

But he did not immediately kill Thor.

Thor, sensing why Iron was hesitating, let out a faint laugh.

-If you want to know more, defeat all the Fallen Gods. Then you’ll get closer to the truth.

At Thor’s words, Iron bit his lip and raised his sword.

Then, in a single motion, he drove the blade into Thor’s heart.

Squelch!

-Cough!

Thor, his heart pierced by Iron’s sword, coughed up blood and stared blankly at the sky.

The time when he stood above all during the Mythical Era.

As if that time was being drawn in the sky, he unknowingly reached out his hand.

As death approached, he instinctively yearned to return to those days.

But that was merely a vain desire.

-…Even if you face true Destruction, I hope you overcome it.

At Thor’s words, Iron asked one last question.

“When is… the true Destruction?”

-When all the gods are defeated.

With those final words, Thor slowly began to turn to dust and scatter.

“When all the gods… are defeated…”

Iron murmured as he quietly looked up at the sky.

The battle in the West.

Thor’s words, hinting that true Destruction would come after this, made Iron let out a deep sigh.

Before he knew it, the black aura that had covered the sky had completely vanished, and the Aura, which had been scraped down to nothing, began to fill back up.

Kwaang!

“Commander! Are you alright?”

Before he knew it, Ariel was beside him. He gave a small nod as he looked at her.

“Let’s finish this.”

As Iron looked toward the place where the black pillar had stood and spoke, Ariel lowered her head and responded.

“I’ll break through the front.”

With those words, Ariel created an Aura Blade.

Watching her, Iron felt a twinge of pity for the Holy Alliance soldiers rushing toward them to kill him.

Because he knew all of them would soon die by her swordsmanship, faster than light.

***

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