NOVEL WEB Chapter 123: Still Didn’t Eat Enough
Leviathan—one of the Three Beasts of the Apocalypse—was destined to die as the holy one's supper. Its hide was not only impervious to blades and spears but could also compel every beast to bow and await slaughter before it.
Back in the first century, Novia's magically-conjured phantom, Albion, devoured Leviathan's heart as its main prize, with the rest of its body merely torn and gnawed at in passing… though the one who ate the most was, of course, Qizhi.
When he left, the battlefield of Armageddon should still have been strewn with remnants of the Three Beasts' flesh and blood. That some magician—or perhaps some phantasmal species—managed to snatch up Leviathan's hide back then is hardly surprising.
One can only say: they hadn't eaten nearly enough at the time.
"I was wrong, I was wrong! I can serve you—please, don't kill me! I am a child of Cain, my lord! Whatever you wish to do, I can do it for you! I truly know my mistake…"
The giant, feeling his life force draining away at terrifying speed, was consumed by fear. There was no time to wonder why his once-invulnerable body had been shattered by a human; he could only plead desperately.
Indeed, even Odin's divine runes and Typhon's molten wrath could at most bind Leviathan's hide, not harm it. And Grendel's body contained the wrath of the fire giants flowing in the spirit-veins of his Norse giant heritage—by rights, he was a monster at the very pinnacle of the Norse world.
But unfortunately for him, Leviathan's true body had already been slain by Avia. What chance did a mere hide have?
The death-instinct clinging to Leviathan's corpse stripped away its power to make all beasts bow in submission.
And without that ability, even as Cain's descendant, Grendel was no match for Avia—whose physical prowess was second only to Attila's.
His defeat was inevitable.
"By the way, do those other two humans mean anything without you? Without you, this thing would've killed them. With you, one person is enough."
Hearing Typhon's voice in her head, Avia shrugged.
"Maybe so, but there's no telling if there aren't wolves, tigers, bears or something else lurking nearby."
"You'd be fine. Beasts like that couldn't possibly hurt you."
The unseen red-haired girl pouted, then broke into a grin.
"Are you… feeling confused, Typhon?"
The silver-haired young man stood beside the fallen giant, conversing silently with the primordial dragon.
"What? Why would I be confused? Just smashed a weakling, that's all. What's the point?"
"True. Still, I'd bet you're happy right now—last time you killed the Kraken, your armored form was practically gleaming, and—"
"Human, you're noisy. Can you not prattle so much? Who even cares about stuff like that?!"
"That's rich—Typhon, you're the one who talks the most. You can go on all day. At first it was fine, but after a while you always drift into pointless chatter…"
Feeling the heat rising in his armor, Avia simply smiled softly.
Grendel, catching sight of that smile, felt his will to live flare again and pleaded harder:
"My lord, I truly repent! I'll never dare again! I'll sign a master–servant pact with you—just please, I beg you, don't kill me—"
"Do you really know your mistake?"
Like a death god without footsteps, the silver-haired youth walked to the giant's swaying head, eyes sweeping over the stinking ruin around them.
Piled atop the rubble—hard as rock—were uncountable corpses of humans and beasts alike, long since stripped to bone, maggots crawling endlessly. Beneath the heaps, black, dried traces of old blood seeped into the cold ground.
These were the humans the giant had eaten.
"Yes, yes, my lord, I truly—"
The punch that followed stole the breath from the world. For an instant, it seemed to split the sunlight itself. The frigid air cracked apart, wind roared, and moments later, molten fire consumed the giant's massive frame entirely. When the heat faded, the air stilled once more.
"I can believe there are those who truly realize their sins and seek to change. If that were the case, it wouldn't be so bad… but."
Avia turned to leave.
"You only realized you were going to die, Grendel."
In the drifting cold wind, faint sunlight spilled over the frozen earth, silver-white light reflecting from the ruins.
Thus ended two great phantasmal beings that had plagued the island of Scandinavia: the North Sea's Kraken, and Cain's descendant, Grendel.
At that same moment, deep in a mountain cave somewhere on the Scandinavian island, silence reigned, broken only by the occasional drip of water. The ground was slick with moss, soft underfoot—every step cautious, lest one slip.
The elders said this was the lair of a dragon that had slumbered for centuries, a beast whose awakening would bring disaster.
Here, the surrounding mountains rose to fearsome heights, sheer cliffs serrated like saw teeth. Their snow-crowned blades cut into the sky; cliff faces of columnar basalt rose like giant spears. Only magi—or a few fearless beasts—would dare wander here.
But the fire dragon who once hoarded treasure beyond count lay dead, its chest ripped open by cruel talons, heart stilled forever.
Before the corpse stood a massive, hooded werewolf, his cloak soaked in the thick blood of the dragon.
"…Hah. Finally killed this fire dragon. Now it won't trouble the people of today."
The werewolf smiled, ignoring the glittering hoard as he walked out of the cave. Perhaps sensing something, he looked up toward the far-off stars.
"So… the reason I was drawn here wasn't just this. Great God, the one who released the runes at the other end—is that the warrior you have chosen?"
A dead spirit, descended into the mortal world through the vessel of a wolf's body—
One of the heroes sung of in the Völsunga Saga, said to rival the great Sigurd in might. The fierce warrior who destroyed the Sigrl family, elder brother who died before the dragonslayer Sigurd was ever born—
The hero Sinfjötli.