I Became the Guild Leader in Exile

114 – 8# Pillar Destruction Operation (2)

The fire giant, Surt.

In a small western village, there existed a legend about a monster that would appear when the world was about to end. According to the legend, a giant of flames would emerge and burn everything to ashes.

And the one who appeared in that legend was none other than Surtr. As Loki, who had already memorized various legends, myths, and records, it wasn’t difficult to recognize the giant of flames, Surtr.

Surtr’s appearance was that of a giant with a flame-like body, without any armor or weapons, continuously burning.

“Perhaps it’s not intelligent?” Loki thought, and first threw the dagger he was holding. However, the dagger melted and disappeared before it could even reach Surtr.

“Did it melt from the heat?”

“It doesn’t seem so.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look over there.”

Loki followed Fenrir’s pointing finger and saw that, unexpectedly, plants and rocks were still intact in the surrounding area. Thanks to this, Loki quickly realized the truth.

“That’s right, if it had melted from the heat, the surrounding landscape would have been affected as well.”

Of course, the existence of Surtr, the giant of flames, itself was a flame, so it was natural to have some heat. But if the heat was intense enough to melt iron, it was impossible for the surroundings to remain intact.

The fact that could be inferred from this was that Surtr could selectively melt only its enemies. Loki clicked his tongue. This guy was moving more precisely than he had thought.

This meant that Surtr had intelligence or a function that could distinguish its enemies. Loki nodded, understanding, and used his magic this time.

A massive ice pillar burst out of the ground, piercing Surtr. The ice pillar, shaped like a sword, lifted Surtr’s foot off the ground. At the same time, a strange, eerie sound echoed.

“What’s that strange sound?”

“It’s okay. Just trust me, sister.”

“This much magic should be enough, but it’s not even scratching it.”

Even though Loki had put in a considerable amount of magic, he couldn’t even inflict a critical wound. The only consolation was that the ice that had pierced Surtr didn’t melt immediately.

Of course, it was still melting now. But Loki realized that if he used a sufficient amount of magic, at least it wouldn’t evaporate instantly like the dagger earlier.

With the calculation of how much magic he would need to consume and how long he could maintain it done, Loki used his magic again to cast a protective barrier around himself and the children. The maintenance time was 12 hours.

“Let’s finish it off within 12 hours.”

The first to charge forward was Jörmungandr. Ugh, it was frightening. So, let’s just get rid of it quickly. It was a childish judgment, but its power was not childish at all.

Kwaaang!!

Jörmungandr’s massive body quickly bound Surtr. However, Surtr didn’t care and stretched out its hand to grab Jörmungandr’s body tightly. The flames spread.

But thanks to Loki’s magic, Jörmungandr was able to continue binding Surtr without difficulty. At the same time, Fenrir and Helene attacked from behind.

However, Surtr didn’t just take the attacks lying down. The flames that burst out from behind Surtr moved like arms, knocking Fenrir and Helene back. Loki clicked his tongue and said.

“Can it even exert a certain amount of physical strength?”

“This isn’t the time to be careless!”

“I know that.”

In fact, Loki wasn’t just watching from behind either. Typically, giants like this would attack clumsily, and if they got hurt, they would quickly regenerate and attack again.

So, how could they win? The answer was simple: find and destroy the core. And Loki was currently analyzing Surtr’s structure using his magic.

Naturally, as a master of magic, Loki was able to easily find Surtr’s core. Originally, it was a magic prepared to fight Odin, but it didn’t matter now.

The purple magic circle drawn at Loki’s feet. At the same time, the sound of horseshoes thundering on the earth echoed loudly. Soon, a massive horse-like form appeared, striking Surtr’s body with great force.

Sleipnir

Sleipnir, originally a mythical horse in Norse mythology, was born when Loki transformed into a mare and mated with a giant’s horse to thwart the giant’s construction work. But it was different here.

“It was originally a magic designed to give the humiliation of being killed by one’s favorite horse, but…”

Here, it was simply the name of Odin’s beloved horse, Sleipnir. The problem was that it was designed to humiliate Odin, but…

Still, as a magic of the great Odin, its power was undeniable. The winged horse-like form that collided with Surtr made the flames burning brightly suddenly disappear, completely extinguished.

“What kind of magic is that?!”

“To counter Odin, I’ve been saving a magic spell.”

“What kind of magic is it?!”

“It’s a simple spell that annihilates everything it touches.”

I didn’t want to admit it, but Odin was an extremely powerful god. He not only possessed immense magical power but also had a vast amount of wisdom and even owned a divine artifact.

The best way to deal with him was to render all his abilities useless. So, after much deliberation, Loki came to the conclusion that annihilation was the answer. He wanted to erase Odin’s consciousness completely.

Then, neither healing magic nor any divine artifact would work. That was Loki’s strongest magic, Sleipnir. When Fenrir heard Loki’s explanation, he punched him.

“What are you doing?!”

“Are you saying you used that magic near Yor?!”

“I wouldn’t dare use magic that would harm my brother!”

“Don’t joke around!!”

Naturally, Fenrir was furious. His precious brother Yor was being held by Surtr, and Loki had used such a terrifying magic right next to him. Was this human?

No, not human.

A god.

That’s why Fenrir was even more enraged.

“Wait, why are you getting stronger?”

“Just… because I’m unlucky, I guess. So, why are you suddenly using honorifics?”

“This is a habit that comes out when I focus… Ugh!!”

The more Loki tried to explain, the more intense Fenrir’s punches became. However, it didn’t last long. Suddenly, Loki stood up and pushed Fenrir away.

“What are you doing?!”

“I thought it was all over…”

Loki stuck out his tongue. It was a bit awkward, but he had used a magic spell specifically designed to counter Odin. Maybe it was a natural consequence. That’s what he thought until the recent attack.

Loki used a defense magic to block the flames that were about to engulf him. In his line of sight, there was definitely Surtr, whom he had dealt with earlier. However, there were too many of them.

At least 10 or more.

And they were still emerging from the pillar.

He had to deal with all of them to destroy the pillar.

The smile on Loki’s face disappeared.

* * *

“Damn, it wasn’t just one, was it.”

On the other hand, the attack had already begun at another pillar. Unlike Surtr, the Crete Guild and Amazoness were taking significant damage. Asterios clenched his teeth.

Their opponent was a monster with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake. It was enormous and had incredible strength, as well as high intelligence.

Fortunately, there were no fatalities, but many guild members were severely injured. It was a huge loss to fight just one of them. And behind it, another monster appeared?

[Is this the guardian the mother spoke of?]

[Even the weakest brother is struggling this much. The standard has dropped.]

[The ones to watch out for are the two in front.]

“Damn monsters.”

Asterios glared at the Gigas. He had already received a warning from the Master. Monsters beyond his imagination would appear. But he didn’t expect it to be this bad.

What to do now? The Master had said that if they were in a desperate situation, they could retreat. But he knew the importance of this attack.

If they failed to destroy the pillar, they would have to regroup and launch another attack. That would give the opposing forces an opportunity to counterattack. But they couldn’t just attack recklessly.

Imagining the devastating consequences, Asterios was lost in thought when a sudden gust of wind burst out from behind him, piercing the belly of a Gigas.

“What are you hesitating for? Just kill them all!”

It was Tipolt who burst out from behind. There was no fear in her eyes, only unwavering trust and the conviction that she had to reciprocate that trust.

“Ha, I’m going to teach a lesson to those stupid Amazonesses.”

“I’ll take care of them after I’m done with you.”

“Try if you can.”

Asterios also let out a loud roar and charged forward.

Master Isaac Silverter was behind them.

The mere fact that he was there was enough to boost their confidence.