WIEDERGEBURT Act VI: Chapter 32

Flames burst from my body as a blade of water struck my chest. The water dissipated harmlessly, but the attack was still powerful enough to make me skid backward along the ground. Then I found my body frozen the moment I stopped moving. Time lock.

I flared my Spiritual Power to shatter the time lock instead of unraveling it, which was faster. Kari used the momentary distraction to transform into light and appear before me. Our eyes met before she lashed out with a powerful kick that slammed into the underside of my jaw--or so it looked like before my body burst into water.

It was just a water clone.

Appearing above Kari, I waved my hand toward her, unleashing a wave of death energy that threatened to engulf her. Kari didn’t panic. She raised her hands and stopped my attack’s time, freezing it in a single moment in time. However, by that point, I was already right in front of her and attacking before she could recover.

The early morning light broke over the mountains, casting hues of blue and purple across the red sky. This realm’s crimson sky was unlike anything I’d seen. It vaguely reminded me of the time I was in Niðavellir, but this sky was a lot prettier and seemed natural, whereas that sky had been the result of the Sekbeist’s doing something to the realm.

Kari and I were sparring beneath the fortress walls. Siv was standing off to the side, watching.

Like me, Kari had gained complete mastery over the seven elements, but she still primarily used the light element. Her second most used element after that was water. Aside from elemental mastery, she understood the Concept of Time, but her comprehension of this concept was weaker than my comprehension of the Concepts of Life and Death.

He death energy she had frozen scattered into streamers that coalesced around my fist, which I thrust forward as if to punch her head in. She tried placing me in a time lock, but the Spiritual Power I was generating was stronger than the amount she could gather, and the time lock shattered before it could form. Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at my fist, which I stopped just before it could touch her nose.

“You’ve become a lot more powerful,” I said to Kari with a smile, retracting my fist and standing straight.

Kari shook her head. “Not nearly as powerful as you, though. I shudder to think of the training you must have gone through to gain such mastery over the Concept of Death.”

“Your Spiritual Power has also increased a lot.” I rubbed my chin as Siv wandered over to us now that the battle appeared to be over. “I’ve noticed this, but each time I mastered an element, my Spiritual Power would undergo a quantitative change, increasing about ten times to what I had before. When I mastered the Concepts of Life and Death, the change in my Spiritual Power wasn’t as pronounced, but I felt like the world around me had become different.”

“I noticed that too.” Kari nodded. “When I began comprehending the Concept of Time, I started seeing the world differently. While the concept it self-evident because everyone can witness the passage of time, it’s made up of many different components. It is supposed to only flow in one direction, forward, but people who understand this concept can reverse its course as well.”

“Can you do that?” I asked.

Kari gave me a somewhat bitter smile. “I have been trying, but it has not been going well. In order to reverse time, it is important to understand that time itself is a fluid concept. However…” she raised her hand and curled her fingers. “I am still not quite able to grasp this idea. I am used to thinking of time as a rigid concept that can only move forward. This is also why all I can do right now is momentarily stop time, and that uses most of my Spiritual Power.”

“When we get to Gudeverdenen, I’ll have Fray enroll you in the Hall of Heroes. They have meditation chambers and alchemy pills that can help you understand the Concept of Time,” I said.

“What about me?” asked Siv, tugging on his sleeve.

I smiled and rubbed her head. “They also have meditation chambers to help you understand the Concept of Space, though it looks to me like your understanding of space is a little more complete than Kari’s understanding of time.”

“She is incredibly gifted,” Kari said with a smile that was bit bemused and maybe even a bit frustrated.

As a Drakvar, Siv naturally had a lot more raw power than Kari. She was born into that power. Her understanding of a specific concept was also something she possessed innately and only needed a trigger to unlock. I was sure Kari felt a little jealous that Siv was handed such power, whereas she had to struggle just to glean a basic understanding of time.

I wanted to spar with Kari and Siv some more, but a man walked onto the courtyard before we could renew our fight. It was Captain Nidhogg. A grimace worked itself onto my face as the man glared at me with disdain in his eyes, though he soon shifted his attention from me to Kari.

“So this is where you two have been, LadyKari, Lady Siv,” he said with a smile. “It is quite late in the morning. The mess hall has already finished serving breakfast. Why don’t you two come to my private quarters and dine with me?”

I almost twitched. Was this man really trying to make a pass at my wives while in my presence? Was he stupid?

“Sorry, but I will have to politely refuse.” Kari’s smile was polite, but I could detect the condescending tone in her voice. “A woman who is married cannot be seen in another man’s chambers. Rumors will spread that way.”

It was interesting to watch the way this man’s face shifted through a variety of emotions. First was shock, then consternation, and then anger at being refused. He reminded me of Grant Leucht. That man had hated refusal as well. Maybe I should kill this man before he tried to kidnap one of my wives like that other man had done.

Then again, my wives would probably kill him if he tried.

Siv hid behind my back as Captain Nidhogg snorted. I almost chuckled. It seemed that some things would never change, but I found it comforting that Siv was still the shy woman I’d always known.

“Hmph! A husband who disappeared on you for four years is no husband at all,” Captain Nidhogg snarked. “How can you even consider someone like that husband material? You should be with someone who will treat you right, someone who can protect you, someone--”

“Like you?” Kari sighed at the man. “I feel like you don’t understand the heart of women at all. I don’t need someone to protect me, and Eryk has always treated me right. I’m not even going to bother justifying our relationship to you. I’ve tried being diplomatic about this, but since it hasn’t gotten through to you yet, let me lay it out for you in simple terms that even you can understand.” Kari’s eyes sharpened. “I am not interested you. I will never be interested in you. All your attempts at getting me into your bed are annoying.”

“That--that wasn’t what I was trying to do at all!” Captain Nidhogg shouted, taking a startled step back as Kari called him out.

For a moment, I thought he was going to beat a hasty retreat, but that didn’t happen. Instead he glared at me, then pointed.

“F-fine! It seems I have no choice! I challenge you! If I win, you will give Kari to me!”

I stared at the man like he was an idiot, which caused the bravado he shouted with to quickly lose steam.

“Are you an idiot?” I asked.

“What?” Captain--no, this man didn’t deserve the title. Nidhogg looked shocked.

“I can’t believe you are so stupid as to think I’d ever use my own wife as a prize for winning in a duel. She’s not a prize. She’s not a trophy. She’s my wife. Also, even if I was dumb enough to use her as a prize in a duel, what makes you think she’d go along with it? Do you really think she’d bed you just because you won? Only an idiot would think women can be exchanged as if they were trophies meant to sit on your shelf.”

I honestly couldn’t believe there were people dumb enough to think challenging me with my wife as the prize would work. I stared at Nidhogg, whose bright red face was scrunched up with anger and shame, then turned around and prepared to leave.

“You know, a duel wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Kari said at last. “You should challenge him.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, looking at her like she’d said something impossible to comprehend.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that.” Kari waved her hand through the air as if warding off my incredulous expression. “I’m not willing to be a prize in this man’s contest, but I do think fighting him in a duel would help cement your position. This is a world where the strong are respected. Nobody really respects you right now because they don’t know you, but if you beat this man in a duel…”

“Then people will understand my power and won’t try what this man is attempting to do right now,” I finished as she trailed off, nodding my head.

Back on Miðgarðr, I was considered the strongest person in the entire realm. Nobody would dare mess with me because I was on top. However, it was also because I was on top of the world in that realm that I’d forgotten one simple fact.

The strong are respected.

I turned to Nidhogg, narrowing my eyes as my fighting spirit surged like the tide. To his credit, the Drakvar captain did not seem frightened by the intensity of my Spiritual Aura, instead choosing to take a step forward until we were standing chest to chest.

“If you want a fight, I will give you one,” I said. “Nidhogg, I challenge you to a duel. If you win, I will overlook the fact that you stupidly tried to hit on my wives while we were separated. If I win, then you will stop pestering them.”

“Absolutely not.” Nidhogg snarled. “If I win, your wives belong to me.”

“That is--”

“Fine,” Kari said before I could finish.

“Kari?” I looked at the woman, whose brilliant blue eyes stared into mine with confidence. She wore a smile that set my soul ablaze. I knew what she wanted from me, and so I turned back to Nidhogg and said, “That is fine. The duel will take place in two hours. Is there a place where we can have it?”

“The underground arena,” Nidhogg said. “Before the Sekbeist began trying to break breach our walls, it saw a lot of us, but it hasn’t been used in a long time now. However, we still maintain it, so it can be used just fine.”

“Fine. We’ll have our battle there,” I said.

“I hope you are ready to surrender your wives to me,” Nidhogg said with a fearless smile as he turned and walked away. I stared after him as he disappeared through a door, then sighed and turned to escort my wives to the mess hall for breakfast.

I was looking forward to putting this man in his place.

***

Kari and Siv were sitting together in the underground arena. It was just a wide circular expanse of space with bench-like tertiary seating surrounding the arena floor, where warriors battled with each other. Because of the nature of Drakvar in general, there were no VIP seats like the kind found in the Nevarian Colosseum or the arena in Midgard.

Many of the seats were already filled, with Drakvar men and women of all different colored scales chatting excitedly about the upcoming battle. This arena had not seen any use since the Sekbeist launched an attack on Lindwurm.

Everyone was giving the two of them a wide berth. No one sat near them. This was because everyone knew who they were and understood that they were untouchable. Siv was the daughter of the reigning monarch, Queen Schnee, and Kari was the woman Nidhogg wished to claim for himself.

“You two are awfully easy to spot within a crowd,” a voice said seconds before two people appeared before them.

The one who had spoken was Chloe, the maid/warrior woman who Eryk had introduced as one of the strongest people in Gudeverdenen. She smiled at them and politely bowed her head.

“Do you mind if we sit with you?” asked Chloe.

Kari felt Siv scoot closer to her, a sure sign of nervousness, but she just grabbed the girls hand, smiled at the pair, and gestured toward the empty seats around her.

“Feel free,” she said.

“Thank you,” Chloe said as she took her seat.

“Fucking thanks,” Tora muttered. It seemed she was still bitter about what Kari had told her the other day.

“It has been a long time since I’ve seen a duel like this,” Chloe said.

“Has it? The last duel I saw was about nine years ago between Eryk and a man called Albert Himmel,” Kari said.

“What happened during that battle?” asked a curious Tora who, surprisingly, did not add “fuck” to her sentence.

The pair sat up straighter as Kari blinded them with her smile.

“Of course, Eryk defeated Albert like a man stepping on an ant,” she said.

***

I stood on the arena floor with Nidhogg and Commander Vitra. While Nidhogg stood opposite of me, the commander was standing between us. When he learned of the altercation between myself and Nidhogg, he decided to become the referee for this duel.

“Remember that his is merely a duel to settle a dispute between the two of you. Should Eryk win, I expect you, Captain Nidhogg, to give him a public apology and never come near Ladies Kari and Siv again. Should Captain Nidhogg win, Eryk will have to give Lady Kari to him,” Commander Vitra said.

I twitched. The very idea of giving Kari to anyone left a foul taste in my mouth. Of course, I had no intention of losing, so the point was moot, but I still hated the very idea of it.

“Are both opponents ready?” asked Commander Vitra.

“I am,” I said.

“Hmph. So am I,” Nidhogg added with a snort.

Commander Vitra looked at us both, the roar of the crowd died down, and then he raised his hand and sliced it downward in a swift chopping motion.

“Then you may begin!”

Nidhogg wasted no time in launching his first attack at me. He spun around and a dark blade shot at me. I sensed the dimensional ripples from the attack and understood that this man had some comprehension of the Concept of Dimension.

As the dimensional blade drew near, I created a Dragon’s Tail Ruler from the earth element, created an overlay of death energy that caused the weapon to distort, and waited right until the dimensional blade was just half a meter away. I swung my ruler with all my might. Space fractured from the power that erupted from my weapon. A death blade sliced through the dimensional blade and continued on toward Nidhogg.

Credit had to be given where it was due. The Drakvar captain did not retreat. With a roar, he transformed his left hand into a draconic claw and sliced at the death blade, but that attack was merely a distraction. With another swing, my ruler’s numerous segments disconnected and flew forward. The tip of my weapon slammed into Nidhogg’s chest. A powerful shockwave erupted from here it struck and, with a loud cry of pain, Nidhogg was sent flying.

I could have continued to attack, but I didn’t. My goal was not just victory. I was going to overpower this man so thoroughly that neither he nor anyone else got any ideas of fighting me again. I would wipe the very thought from their minds.

Nidhogg struck the ground back first, skidded for several meters, and stop. He scrambled to his feet as if fearing an attack while he was down. His eyes landed on me when he realized no attack was forthcoming. The anger burning in his eyes was second to the shame of his blushing cheeks as he realized I wasn’t attacking because I didn’t even put this man in my eyes.

With a roar, Nidhogg slammed his hands into the ground. The purely physical attack caused the earth to split. I was sure he meant to knock me off balance, but I was already jumping into the air when he made his move, and now I just floated in the sky and waited for the ground to stop rumbling.

“If you wish to defeat me, you will have to do a lot better than that,” I said.

“That arrogance of yours is going to be your downfall!” Nidhogg shouted as he spread his arms wide.

“You say that, but you are far more arrogant than me,” I said.

Nidhogg’s lips twisted into a snarl as Spiritual Power erupted from his body. The ground beneath him cracked as shockwaves emitted from him, then all that power gathered into his hands as he tucked them into his torso. I waited and watched. I had no intention of attacking first.

Roaring even louder than before, Nidhogg thrust out his fists, first his left and then his right. Black dimensional bullets flew from his hands. He didn’t stop at just two attacks. He continuously thrust out his fists at a rapid fire rate, unleashing bullet after bullet until there must have been several hundred of them.

I was a little impressed. An attack like this would have definitely defeated me back when I was struggling to survive in Ironwood Forest, but that was back then. It was clear to me now that while this man had some understanding of the Concept of Dimension, it was at the level of a beginner. He had no gained true mastery.

Death energy covered my ruler. I compressed it. Then I added more, which I compressed even further. I did this several times as the dimension bullets shot toward me like a swarm of bees. I waited until I believed I had compressed enough power into my weapon, and then I swung the ruler in a horizontal attack and unleashed all the compressed death energy.

A wave of blackness swept through the air and engulfed the bullets, which died out from my attack. Everything died. Animals. Demon Beasts. Plants. People. Even concepts would die eventually. My attack “killed” the concept behind Nidhogg’s attack, and since I had used far more Spiritual Power, the black wave of death energy continued on even after killing all the dimension bullets.

Nidhogg must have sensed how powerful this attack was because he didn’t bother trying to block it. He leapt backward as the death energy struck the ground, which immediately turned black as all the nutrients in the earth died out. He eyed what happened to the ground fearfully. For a moment, I thought he would give up, but then his eyes turned to me and his glare gained several layers of viciousness.

“You are strong,” he admitted. “But I will not lose to you! I refuse to lose! Kari will be mine!””

“Maybe in your dreams,” I said with a shrug. “But even if I did lose, Kari would never let you touch her. The mere fact that you think a duel will make her want you is pathetic.”

Nidhogg’s face boiled red with rage as veins bulged on his forehead. His emotions were slipping--a foolish thing to let happen since it meant he was no longer thinking straight.

With a flap of his wings, Nidhogg shot off the ground and sailed toward me. Reddish black flames encased his hands. I sensed both the fire element and dimensional energy. He appeared before me and launched a fist that caused the fabrics of reality to fracture as it sped toward me, but I raised my Dragon’s Tail Ruler and encased it with life energy, creating a white overlay. Nidhogg’s fist struck my weapon with a loud sound like someone ringing a gong. However, aside from the sound, nothing else happened. I didn’t budge a centimeter.

When Nidhogg saw this, he gaped, but then began punching my ruler with increasing intensity and frequency. He loud ringing sound as his fists struck my weapon resounded across the arena. Yet no matter how hard he punched, the ruler did not break.

I eventually got tired of the constant attacks. Holding the ruler with only my fake hand, I created a water whip with my real hand and swung it forward. The whip wrapped around Nidhogg’s left leg. This caused the man to stop attacking and look down, but I didn’t give him a chance to do anything else.

With a grunt, I swung my arm, and Nidhogg went with it. He flew into the air, then slammed into the ground with enough force to leave a massive crater. I didn’t stop. I swung him over my head, and then slammed him into the ground again. And again. And again. Craters formed every time Nidhogg struck the ground.

“RAAAAGGGHHHH!!!”

Nidhogg eventually recovered his wits enough to explode in flames. The flames evaporated my water whip, which meant I couldn’t injure him as I had been, but it didn’t matter anymore. The damage was already done. He looked awful. His left eye was swollen shut, his right arm was bent at an awkward angle, the armor he wore had shattered, and black bruises covered a good portion of his body.

Shoulders and chest heaving for breath, Nidhogg looked up at me as I stared down at him. His face contorted at my calm gaze. It always amazed me to see how angry people could get just by looking at them like this. Kari called it my “you are less than dirt” expression because I looked at someone like they weren’t even worth the dust I clean off my boots.

With another loud roar, Nidhogg flew into the sky and tried to attack me with a series of punches and kicks. I wove through his hailstorm of fists and feet. A simple tilt of my head allowed me to dodge a punch. I flew up when he threw a kick. As Nidhogg’s body spun around from his miss, he tried to strike me with this tail, but I turned into a flash of light and appeared behind him.

I believed it was time to end this.

Grabbing his tail, I swung the surprised Drakvar around and around, increasing my speed until all I could even see was a blur of colors. Then I released him. Nidhogg flew into the air with a scream, and I chased after him. As his body crashed into the rock ceiling, I rotated and slammed my feet into his chest, further embedding his body into the rocks. Nidhogg gasped as blood and bile flew from his both. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head. Then he went limp.

I removed my feet from his chest and descended from the sky as Nidhogg fell to the ground. He hit the arena floor with a harsh crack, bounced once, and then went still.

“Call it,” I said to Commander Vitra.

The commander nodded, raised his hand, and said, “The winner of this duel is Eryk Vanir!”

Cheers erupted from the stands the moment my victory was announced. No one seemed too shocked by this battle, but I guessed most Drakvar were used to incredible fights. I raised my hand and clenched it into a fist, which caused the people to cheer louder.

“Eryk!!”

Kari, Siv, Chloe, and Tora flew down from the stands. A grin spread across Kari’s face as she flew into me. I wrapped my arms around her body and spun her once before setting the woman on her feet. She beamed at me.

“I knew you would win,” she said.

“I am thankful for your vote of confidence,” I replied.

“That was a splendid battle,” Chloe complimented.

I nodded at her. “Thanks.”

“Well, that captain was weak as fuck, so I’m not surprised you won.” Tora crossed her arms and looked away. “But it was an entertaining fight. Watching you pound that fucker into the ground was amusing if nothing else.”

I rolled my eyes at her words, but didn’t say anything as Siv quietly reached out and grabbed my hands. To me, this fight didn’t mean much. I only did it to prove my strength so everyone here would be aware of my power and understand that messing with me and mine was a bad idea.

“By the way,” Kari began, her face scrunching up adorably. “It is just now occurring to me that your real name is Vanir and not Veiger.”

“I guess so,” I said. “Is that a problem?”

“Well… I mean, our marriage certificate says we are married to an Eryk Veiger,” Kari explained. “I was just wondering if this means our marriage is null and void. Will we have to hold a second wedding to make our marriage official?”

“I don’t think you need to worry,” I said, glancing at Chloe.

“If Master Eryk says you two are his wives, then we of Gudeverdenen will honor your marriage,” she said.

“Oh, that’s good,” Kari said with a nod. “Though I do think it would be interesting to have a second wedding. I’m curious to know if weddings in Gudeverdenen are different than weddings on Miðgarðr.”

I could only laugh at my wife’s words. As always, at the very last moment, her true desires for bringing up a topic shone through. That said, I could not deny that the idea of holding a second wedding appealed to me. But that would have to wait until I was reunited with all of my wives.