Chapter 61

"Hahaha, of course!" Beowulf laughed heartily, as if he were genuinely happy, and proudly raised his chest. "After all, I have to do something like a king. Anyway, I don't care if I'm in pain or not, as long as the Crowd is safe and sound."

A person always fights to Protection something.

Live on the battlefield, fight to the last moment of your life, and die on the battlefield.

This is probably not the kind of life a normal person should have, but even so, at that moment, the blond man still clenched his fists and charged towards Kraken from the bottom of his heart.

Beowulf's childhood was unfortunate. He lost his parents at a young age and was adopted by his maternal grandfather when he was seven. He lived with his uncles, but a tragedy between his two uncles resulted in their deaths. Not long after, his maternal grandfather also passed away due to excessive grief.

Beowulf records it as follows:

'A mournful wind has replaced smiles: the knights sleep, the heroes lie buried in the yellow earth, there are no more harp songs, no more courtly feasts, no more of the former liveliness.'

In reality, according to Avia's memory, Beowulf became king after killing Grendel. After all, he was looked down upon as a child because of his father and lost a competition. His early ascension to the throne might be due to some kind of butterfly effect.

As a descendant of Cain Grendel is theoretically immune to any blade, and in a sense, he is a higher Phantasmal Species. However Typhon's lava and Odin's Rune should be effective...

Just as Avia was pondering, Beowulf continued:

"But to be honest, thinking about it now, I'm still a little scared. After all, I almost died; I was just putting on a brave face."

However, the silver-haired youth shook his head, his attitude resolute:

"It's normal to be afraid of death; no one is immune to it. Everyone faces death the same way. But you took that crucial step, and that alone deserves praise. After all, you did the best you could."

"Haha, Avia, although what you said is very good," Beowulf chuckled, "But why do I feel like you're actually more like a Missionary? You're quite the talker, and oh, you're also very good at fighting."

"Oh? Are there any Missionary from the Church here?"

Avia asked with some curiosity.

After all, the Church in the Western Rome did not treat Heterodox Faith as human beings, and the Eastern Rome did not have enough people, so perhaps they were the wandering type of Missionary, he thought.

"Yeah, but there are only a few people. Actually, it's quite annoying for me, but their presence definitely makes the Crowd's lives a bit better, so I don't really mind."

The blond man seemed to remember something as he spoke, and then continued,

"Their leader seems to be from Constantinople, and he's currently in Jötunheim, his name is something like O..."

'Augustine?'

"Yes, yes, that's the name. Do you recognize it?"

We could barely be considered acquainted.

Avia truly hadn't expected that Doctor Grace would come to Scandinavian Island to preach.

But that's perfect. After dealing with Cain's descendant Grendel and the lurking Norse Fire Dragon, I can go and talk to this Augustine.

After all, once the Corrupt Main Church of Western Rome were dealt with, he hoped that Augustine could smoothly write his book, * the City of God *.

122: Leviathan's Skin

As the sun sets on the horizon, a colossal figure stands within the ruins of a grand Main Hall.

This grand Main Hall, which once hosted grand celebrations, has long been eroded by a completely different atmosphere.

Initially, the Door were smashed, nearby windows were shattered, and ritual implements used to worship the Norse gods were struck with blunt objects and thrown to the ground.

Everything inside the facility was destroyed, making it look like it had been restored to a barbaric era. On the Throne, which was barely undamaged, stood Giants covered in blood.

"... Ah, this smell, is that all?"

A moment later, the Giants swallowed his mother's body whole, and then, in a hoarse voice, gently raised his blood-stained hand to stroke his cheek.

Although Grendel's mother was an alien being, she was revered as a god by the local Norse Phantasmal Species, and could be considered the de facto leader of the Norse Phantasmal Species at that time.

"The smell of Evil, the smell of injustice, the smell of darkness—my Father Cain, bless your child who has fulfilled all your duties."

Grendel smiled and nodded, his body dripping with foul-smelling red puddles.

As for why he ate his own mother?

The Answer is simple: Wrath.

The Giants's Wrath was uncontrollable. The reason was that he was not suited to this era. Theoretically speaking, Grendel and his mother were remnants of the Age of Gods.

He was a being born in the past mythological era, yet he did not know why he had crossed the End Times of the Age of Gods, or even the beginning of the Western calendar. After four hundred years, he awoke on the Scandinavian Island.

As time went on, this Wrath gradually turned into a hunger, leading him to devour his mother who had been awakened.

Grendel didn't seem to care, after all, Cain's descendants were all unjust. Next, he would devour everything on the Scandinavian Island, and then all the creatures of the distant continents. In his view, inferior beings existed only as food.

"Oh? Humans have arrived? Is it dinner?"

The last rays of the setting sun were slowly disappearing below the horizon, and a new moon hung high in the Cyan sky of the east. Under the Cyan sky where the sunset and moonlight met, the silhouette of the ruins could be faintly seen.

Grendel, who was sitting on the Throne, stood up abruptly and stepped across the collapsed Main Hall doors and shattered walls, the sound of falling rubble echoing across the empty ground.

Giants standing thirty meters tall, possessing two legs capable of crushing the earth and two arms capable of easily shattering mysterious life forms.

After the Age of Gods ended, Grendel, with its own independent mythology, was unable to maintain its existence. Therefore, with the help of its mother, it merged and integrated with the Leyline of the descendants of the massive Giants in the North Sea Pantheon, which were also in a state of extinction, thus surviving in the human history that parasitized Norse mythology.

Grendel was unaware of this, but even if he had, he would have taken it for granted.

His Wrath was actually traceable, because of his fusion with the Leyline of the descendants of the Norse Giants, and because he was a descendant of sinners, his body contained a trace of the 'residue of Wrath's from Surtr, the Norse end-of-the-world device.

In other words, the current Grendel is a hybrid of the Evil of two mythologies, possessing both the Evil of Cain and the Wrath of the Fire Giant.

Cain's descendant was Enoch, Enoch's son was Methuselah, Methuselah's son was Lamech's son was Noah, and Noah's great-grandson was Nimrod the God-Defier.

In the darkness, Grendel squinted as he slowly searched for food.

There, three humans sped towards them.

In that instant, the air seemed to change.

"... oh."

Grendel murmured with amusement, noticing the indescribable scent emanating from the youngest silver-haired human, aside from the blond food and the silver one. The Giants felt his heart pound.

An exceptionally loud and unusually noisy thumping sound.

With each thud, there was a strange sound far louder than appetite and Wrath—

"It doesn't matter, everyone's the same! Let me eat them all!"

The moonlight pouring in from the other side momentarily stained the Giants's hands with a blood-red turmoil that seemed to materialize.

But the Giants soon realized his mistake; he could not simply trample or kill these humans.

The two humans on either side, without slowing down, ducked to avoid a blow from the swinging giant arm.

After glancing sideways at the strike that cut through the sky and pierced deep into the earth, Siegfried and Beowulf both began to run sideways.

Their speed was faster than the Giants swinging his arms, yet they skillfully dodged the attack, displaying their artistry unscathed.

The dragon-slaying hero wielded Balmung, unleashing multiple powerful blows at the Giants's right foot in one go.

The king, unarmed, flexed his biceps, the thick veins protruding from his muscles resembling a vise, gripping the giant's left hand tightly, leaving no room for error, attempting to break it off.

Avia then nimbly climbed onto the Giants's feet, knees, and chest, before swiftly scaling its head and standing atop it.

That alone concentrated a terrifying amount of Od. Typhon, absorbed the Od and unleashed a violent blizzard of freezing air, instantly freezing the Giants Grendel's entire body. Then, crimson molten lava slowly trickled down his head.

But in an instant, flames suddenly rose from the Giants's body, protecting him and allowing him to break free from the three men's grasp.

Then, Avia extended her hand, and the Rune immediately appeared—

The terrifying thunder seemed to tear the earth apart, like the silver-haired youth's fingers. Countless blinding lightning bolts, accompanied by flames, struck the Giants, forming shackles... But the techniques originally used against the North Sea Kraken, inexplicably had no effect on the Giants.

Perhaps for this reason, Grendel sneered.

That crimson joy mocked the power of humanity; mere inferior humans only had the ability to offer him their blood, bones, internal organs, and brains.

"I'm starting!"

Grendel lunged fiercely at Avia's location from a height of several meters.

Although the silver-haired youth was able to dodge, he chose to use explosive speed to punch the Giants's head directly with both arms. Then, there was a creaking sound, the sound of bones breaking.

"How could this be? How could you possibly hurt me...?"

Under Grendel's incredulous gaze, Avia smiled and walked step by step towards him.

"So you're so confident because you're wearing Leviathan's skin now, huh?"

123: Still not enough to eat

Leviathan is one of the Three Beasts of the Apocalypse, and it dies as the dinner of the Holy One. In addition to being impervious to swords and spears, its skin can also make all beasts bow down and be slaughtered at its feet.

The phantom Albion, formed by Novia using Od in the first century, mainly consumed Leviathan's heart, and only took a few bites of other body parts... Of course, it ate the most Saki.

After he left, there should have been many remnants of the flesh and blood of the Three Beasts of the Apocalypse at the site of the final battle in Armageddon, so it is not surprising that the Magecraft or some kind of Phantasmal Species at that time managed to obtain Leviathan's skin there by chance.

I can only say that I didn't eat enough back then.

"I was wrong, I was wrong. I can serve you, please don't kill me. I am Cain's child. Master, I will do whatever you want. I know I was wrong..."

Feeling his life slipping away at an alarming rate, the Giants was consumed by fear. He had no time to think about why his invulnerable body had been shattered by humans; all he could do was plead incessantly.

Indeed, before Leviathan's skin, Odin's Rune and Typhon's molten lava could only trap it, not harm it. Moreover, Grendel's body now contained the 'Wrath' of the Fire Giant from the Leyline of the descendants of the Norse Giants. In theory, it was Monster that occupied the top of Norse.

It's a pity that Leviathan's true form was killed by Avia, let alone just a skin.

The instinct for death clung to the skin of the already dead Leviathan, rendering it ineffective in its ability to make all beasts bow down and be slaughtered before it.

Having lost this ability, Grendel, even as a descendant of Cain, was no match for Avia, whose Flesh abilities were only slightly inferior to Attila's.

Failure is to be expected.

'No matter what, what's the point of those two humans besides you? Without you, they'd be killed by this guy; with you, one person is enough.'

Avia shrugged as she heard Typhon's Telepathy in her mind.

Even so, there's no guarantee there aren't wolves, tigers, bears, or anything like that around here.

'You'll be fine. How could those wild beasts possibly hurt you?'

The unseen red-haired girl pouted, then grinned.

'Are you confused, Typhon?'

The silver-haired youth stood beside the Giants who had fallen to the ground, Telepathy to the Primordial Dragon in his mind.

'What? Why should I be confused? It was just defeating a weak creature, is that even interesting?'

"That's true. I bet you're pretty happy right now. The armor you wore after killing the Kraken was incredibly shiny, and—"

'Human, you're so noisy! Can you please stop nagging? Who cares about this kind of thing anyway!'

"That's not right, Typhon, you're the one who talks the most, you can talk nonstop all day long. It was fine at first, but after a while, you'll unconsciously start rambling on about trivial things..."

Avia smiled gently as she felt the temperature of her armor rise suddenly.

But this smile caught the attention of the Giants Grendel, and driven by his will to live, the Giants continued to plead with the human before him:

"My lord, I was truly wrong. I will never dare to do it again. I will sign Master-Servant Contract with you. Please, please don't kill me—"

"Do you really know you were wrong?"

Like the silent Death God, the silver-haired youth approached the Giants shaking its head and surveyed the stench emanating from the surroundings.

On the ruins, which were as hard as rock and piled with corpses, lay countless human and animal carcasses, long since turned into skeletons, with maggots wriggling around them. Although there were traces of blood flowing from beneath the corpses, it had completely turned black and dried up.

The cold ground and the rows of corpses—these are the humans that the Giants devoured.

"Yes, yes, sir, I really am --"

It was a breathtaking punch, so powerful it felt as if it had pierced through the sunlight. In that instant, the cold space seemed to shatter, and a gust of wind erupted around it. Only after the Giants's massive body was swallowed up by the molten lava in a few seconds did it return to the original flow of air.

"Actually, I do believe that some people truly realize their mistakes and try to correct them. If that's the case, it's not bad... but..."

Avia turned and left.

"All you know is that you're going to die, Grendel."

Amidst the drifting cold wind, the pale sunlight shone upon the frigid earth, casting a silvery-white glow upon the ruins.

Thus, the North Sea Kraken that had plagued Scandinavian Island, and Grendel, Cain descendant of Cain, both of the great Phantasmal Species, were now dead.