Chapter 530 - Tanael versus Freya II

The battle between Cthulhu and spirits of legendary figures of the past had begun. Despite the massive size difference, the heroic spirits fought back with valor and fearlessness, as if they were used to fighting monstrous horrors. Perhaps that was not far from the truth since the time they were alive.

They managed to tear off Cthulhu’s arm and gouged his innards, but tentacles swiftly grew replacing the arm and the entrails moved as if they were snakes fighting the spirits.

The spirits could be injured and disappear if they got damaged enough but Freya could summon them back to her Domain and send them back fighting again. Worthily of their name, the heroic spirits fought using skills and Artes that were borderline legendary.

Tanael watched it all unfolding on top of Cthulhu’s head, preparing his next move.

Despite the theatrics and bluster, the Cthulhu was not really one of the Great Old Ones. It was the soul of a dead leviathan monster that he collected during one of his adventures to the sea depths. That soul he had strengthened with various means and reinforced with three million souls, then voilà, Cthulhu.

He could only use it in the Imaginary Domain but the power spoke for itself. This was one of the trump cards Viers gave his clone for the Tower of Remorse raid.

For the ‘Cthulhu’s’ abilities, Viers took the inspiration from Macronomicon. The guys’ works, particularly Wake of the Ravager, Industrial Strength Magic, and The Legend of William Oh were inspirational. The guy had a gift in making abilities that absurdly synergized with one another to an OP degree.

For starters, beside the basic but high size, speed, and strength, Viers made it so the Cthulhu could not truly die. It fits with the mythos. The soul construct had regeneration, as it demonstrated against the Freya’s spirit soldiers.

At this point, both Freya and Tanael let their minions duke it out, waiting to see if the scale tipped either way. Since they both stayed in their Domain, the other wasn't affected by the opponents’ special effect. In other words, Freya’s life force wasn't diminishing at this point. Tanael didn't know Freya’s special effect, which he was certain she had.

The villain summoning a giant monstrosity and the heroes band together to defeat it was a common troupe that couldn't be more common.

It didn't take long until the Cthulhu new gimmick started, from its body monster octopuses emerged. They were much smaller than the parent but each was still half as big as a grown man. Their tentacles were barbed and poisonous. Hundreds of them outnumbered the fifty or so heroic spirits.

Freya frowned. She could sense things weren't going well for her.

Tanael smiled. He made the Cthulhu for endurance, the brick wall before the enemy could get to him. Because long fights in his own Domain meant the greater the price for his opponent, that much closer to certain death.

With the addition of Cthulhu’s offshoots, the heroic spirits were getting forced back. The spirits were skilled fighters and powerful too, but as beings summoned by Freya, they lacked the oomph to eradicate Tanael’s Cthulhu in a short time.

Cthulhu also could breathe gas of deadly poison, concocted from exotic sea creatures and monsters. The rarer the poison, the harder to detox and less chance of people having the means to deal with it. However, since the enemy were spirits, Tanael kept that ability in reserve.

Tanael watched the light-based necromancy with interest. Freya would deny that accusation if she knew, explaining the fundamental difference between her technique and whatnot, but Tanael didn't care.

These Heroic Spirits... They’re unable to use their Noble Phantasms, it seems. Perhaps if Freya became Level 5 they could.

And no matter their Level before their death, the current them seem to be limited by Freya’s own Level. The gimmick they couldn't be stronger than the summoner perhaps?

Against normal Pathseeker, even a Level 4 peak might struggle against just one of Freya's spirit warriors. However, there was nothing average about Tanael.

The dead heroes knew the situation was unfavorable to them so they took a gamble.

Tanael didn't hear the spirits speak a word since the beginning, even though they had mouths. He didn't know how much of the ordinal personality was inside them. They were brought to battle, so they seem to possess enough cunning to strategize.

The spirits combined their forces, some sacrificed their own ethereal life and body to allow a few spirits past the octopus offshoots and the big guy. They climbed the massive body with the agility of a monkey. They were aiming for Tanael on the crown of its bald head.

Of course, Cthulhu didn't simply let it happen. With its tentacled beard, it grabbed a few, bringing them to its hidden maw.

One heroic spirit made it through to Tanael, her twin blade was descending like slicing winds.

Summoning and maintaining the Cthulhu was not an easy task, even for Tanael. His reaction against the attack on his person was slowed. He raised a barrier of soul and turned on his red laser sword, resisting to the end. At the end of the exchange, the heroic spirit managed to land four big hits on him. If this was a manga, the moment would be an epic two-spread page for sure.

Tanael was visibly injured. The heroic spirit used her all and faded away, accomplishing her duty at all cost.

Freya wondered if she succeeded. A big move like Tanael’s had to come at a cost. The same could be said to her own. There was a reason why she didn't simply brandish her sword and charged alongside her valiant spirits.

Too bad for Freya.

“Is that all you’ve got? Come now, put your back into it.”

Freya saw Tanael was healing his wounds incredibly fast. Not only that the wounds were not as severe as she thought.

She knew from the intel that Tanael possessed regeneration ability, but in the record it was not as potent as she saw now. As for the other reason... She suspected the octopus monster received a portion of Tanael’s damage somehow, mitigating the damage to the caster.

Freya kept her frustration hidden behind her poker face. Truly, otherworlders were really troublesome. This was her third fight with one and not one of them had been easy.

Freya’s assessment was correct, Cthulhu ate some of the damage like a tank in video games. Some sort of damage link. Viers did make Chultulu for a horrifying attrition.

“You look tired,” Tanael taunted at Freya, looking down from above. “Need a break? I could do this all day.”

Tanael spoke the words of Steve Rogers, with ten times the smugness.

He didn't send his monster to attack Freya in her Domain. Despite appearances, he was still wary. Who knew what aces MCs like Freya still had in their sleeves?

Tanael’s words hit the nail on the head. After the battles she fought for the defense of the Tower of Remorse, she also defeated all three of the Devil God avatars. She was running on fumes.

At this moment, her valiant spirits had been erased to the last and she lacked the stamina to summon more.

“Beware the shadow,” Gregory said.

“You, on the other hand... Be careful, Luminary,” Devil God Isidaris said.

Freya recalled the warnings from those two. She thought it was about some Level 5 expert from the Bone Raven assassins, hiding and stalking. She now knew she was wrong. It was about the otherworlder she was facing instead.

On contrast with Freya, Tanael didn't tire himself out during the Tower of Remorse raid. The fight with Cedric, a fellow otherworlder of the Silver Legion, couldn't be really called a fight. The recruiting of the prisoners from the Bleeding Hearts hidden floor, he spent very few efforts for that. The most major drain on his stamina was against the assassins, but even then Tanael paid just a little price and succeeded in killing them all, including the Latias Prince.

In a battle of attrition, Tanael was confident he could win. Freya as Silver Legion might possess their unique Victa generation boosting Arte. Viers knew how potent it was from Ciel after the Valkut arc, His own had long expired but Freya’s won't. Viers already created the soul-based substitute Arte though, Soul Energon.

Viers gave his clone Tanael a substantial amount of Arte, knowing how important the Tower of Remorse raid was. Like he said, Tanael could do this all day.

But was Tanael convinced of his victory? Absolutely not.

The hero was on the back foot.

Time for them to step up their game and power up. If their hidden aces were spent at this point, they would invent one on the spot, much more potent than everything they previously had!

In a sense, this was when the fight would truly start.

Seeing Freya holding her position, Tanael wasn't going to risk it and attack her in her own Domain. He would wait until she made her next move.

That said, it wasn't like Tanael was wasting his time unproductively.

Firstly, he realized the similarities between this fight with one in Fate/Zero, where the Servants banded together to fight the Lovecraftian octopus monster that Caster summoned. The monster was too tough for the Servants to defeat, they lacked the firepower.

Only two kings possessed the power to defeat the monster. The King of Heroes refused to do the dirty work and was just chilling on his flying ship, so it was up to the King of Knights.

C’mon, Freya... Use your Excalibur Noble Phantasm or its equivalent. Please use it, and kindly let me counter it.

Against Cthulhu, what Freya needed was a big attack that would obliterate it in one fell swoop.

Kinda like the attack she unleashed to erase the three Devil God avatars earlier, Absolute Silver Slash.

Of course, it was only a power she could use because she was in her special power-up state thanks to the Aurora Scroll.

Tanael guessed Freya was thinking something like it too. Either that, or using her Divine Weapon once more. At any rate, he already had a counter against one big energy blast attack. The trap card was set and ready to be opened at the crucial moment.

With the Fable on my side, it’s like I can see the future, khuhuhuhu! Speaking of which...

Secondly, was the Aurora Scroll he yoinked. The cause of this battle with Freya in the first place.

While Freya was concentrating, unearthing her hidden power/potential that was within her all along, Tanael finally had the chance to peruse the legendary artifact.

Back then, during the race, Freya only needed to touch the scroll and she became that Super Saiya Freya or something. However, when it was in Tanael’s hands, the scroll didn't do shit!

Of course, this irked him.

However, the scroll’s aura was so potent that he could not simply slink away in invisibility. Even if he won against Freya, he had to be able to dim the scroll’s aura or every Level 5s in the country sensing it would come gunning for him.

I swear, if you are the type to plays favorites, I’m going to make you regret it, Scrolly.

It might be because he was a clone and not Viers’s true body. At any rate, Tanael wanted to gain the secret to such strength, too.

With the careful balance between eagerness and carefulness, he unfurled the scroll with his two hands.

What met his eyes, was a splendid blank paper.

..............

.........

...

Tanael looked up and down, left and right, front and back. He used his Euryale Sight Arte and every other investigative Arte he knew but he found not a single word or secret.

“Looking for something?”

Tanael looked at Freya, Victa was swirling around her. It seemed like she was almost succeeding in whatever feat she was doing. With a small smile that was kind of smug, Freya raised her hand. It was the hand that touched the scroll during the race event. Mystical golden words and symbols appeared on her hand. Perhaps it extended to her shoulder before her clothes covered it up.

“So, the contents are inside you, somehow... Typical,” Tanael snorted with disdain. He couldn't say he was not disappointed.

“You are not worthy to wield such power. Surrender and repent. That way, the Goddess might have mercy on you,” Freya’s silver aura was increasing.

Tanael lowered his head; his shoulders seemed to be shaking with rage. Anytime now, and the guy would have a villain breakdown moment. The Cthulhu seemed to receive the creator’s wrath and became aggressive, poised to attack.

Freya saw the raised face of Tanael and there was a refreshing smile plastered on his face, as if he had reached enlightenment.

“KUNG! FU! PANDA!”

Tanael screamed each word with a grandiose martial art form, whilst wearing a big shit-eating laugh of mockery.

Freya couldn't be more confused.