Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

“Beowulf, I’ve heard that name mentioned before. He’s the king of Gitland…”

Siegfried spoke in a steady voice, which was normal for him, given his personality.

"Hahaha, it doesn't matter what king I am. I was just a warrior before I became a king. It's nothing."

Beowulf then looked at Avia, his eyes filled with determination and pleading.

"Avia, you must be an envoy sent by the great god Odin!"

"...Well, I guess that's a stretch, since I do have some knowledge of runes."

"Although it is very inappropriate to meet like this on our first meeting, could you please come with me to destroy the Water Demon Glendel?"

119: I am absolutely, positively going to eat you up!

Born from the harsh environment of the snow-covered North, home to a grand myth where everything is consumed by fire, the cold winds blow throughout Scandinavia, yet the people living here are not afraid of the cold, but instead burst into hearty laughter.

Because they knew that the Kraken, the giant monster that had wreaked havoc in the North Sea, had been defeated by their king Beowulf half a month earlier.

Now, we can fish in the North Sea with peace of mind again.

After all, the people here mainly rely on hunting and gathering for their food; venison, fish, and wild fruits are their primary food sources.

The power to gather, the power to hunt, the power to devour, the power to fight, the power to kill, and the belief in survival in any environment—this violent power exists in the hearts of almost everyone here.

The majestic mountain range soars into the clouds, its peaks perpetually covered in snow, as if wearing a silver-white hat. Under the sunlight, the snow-capped mountains gleam and shimmer with dazzling light.

In the city below, many excited citizens, dressed in warm and durable clothing made of animal hides, stopped what they were doing and awaited the return of their king.

You can hear cheers and shouts from afar or from all directions, no matter where you are.

Amid cheers from the crowd, Beowulf, the King of Kitland, a blond man nearly 1.9 meters tall, with a robust and strong physique and scars all over his body, slowly emerged from the gate with two silver-haired figures whom the people were seeing for the first time.

The moment they saw it, almost everyone shouted and cheered in unison:

"Beowulf! Beowulf! Beowulf! Beowulf!"

People's joy stemmed not only from the successful destruction of the Kraken, but also from their sincere trust in Beowulf.

At the same time, Beowulf smiled and slowly scanned the entire room with his bright eyes, his gaze full of gentleness.

Without a word being spoken, the bustling city fell into complete silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Everyone! The Kraken monster of the North Sea has been defeated! But this is not my achievement alone!"

The shirtless blond man gave the illusion that the cold had no effect on him whatsoever.

"This man is from afar, named Siegfried, the dragon slayer! He is the one who will fight alongside me to defeat the Kraken!"

Siegfried, who had volunteered to come with Avia, nodded slightly.

Then, Beowulf lifted Avia's hand, revealing his white teeth in a smile:

"And this man, Avia! He is the one who personally slew the Kraken! He is the true man who brought peace to our Kytland! He is also the one who saved Siegfried and me from the Kraken! A true hero!"

Although it was extremely rare for Beowulf, a king and warrior, to belittle himself, he didn't care at all.

It's not only out of respect for his skill and the recognition he received, but also out of gratitude for his acceptance of my commission.

Grendel, a water monster and giant who wreaks havoc on the Scandinavian islands, lives deep in the mountains and enjoys killing. He is a terrifying being far more terrifying than the Kraken, the giant of the North Sea. Beowulf has always wanted to kill him and rid the people of this scourge.

In fact, Avia also knew about this Grendel; he and his mother were actually descendants of Cain.

This refers to Cain, the eldest son of Adam and Eve in the Bible, who was punished for killing his brother Abel out of resentment over his brother's actions.

A Christian being committing evil in Norse territory naturally had to deal with Avia, who was both the recipient of the great god Odin Rune and the first pope.

Then Beowulf shouted again in his powerful, rough voice:

"Not only that, but he is also someone who has passed the trials given by the great god and gained recognition! He is someone protected by the beautiful Valkyries who once flew in the skies of the Age of Gods! He is a warrior recognized by the great god Odin!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was invigorated. When they saw the runes appearing around the man named Avia, they looked at the warrior with respect and admiration.

'.....'

'Why aren't you saying anything, Ephemeros?'

Among the seemingly happy crowd, only Avia knew that Typhon, who remained silent, seemed to be in a bad mood.

The silver-haired teenager spoke gently in his mind to the girl who was tens of thousands of years old.

Thinking that she herself was also inexplicably confused, the girl, who was currently in armor, was unable to express the emotions that she couldn't let go of.

'I'm thinking, Albion's been dead for so long, how come you still have her scent on you? And given her personality, there's no way she would allow anyone to touch her. Could it be that you touched her corpse? That shouldn't be possible; an ordinary person shouldn't be able to touch it...'

'Albion? Why is there no possibility of contact with people?'

Avia asked with great interest.

"You were born in this era, so of course you wouldn't know. That girl always called herself the strongest dragon. Although I didn't see her much back then, when we did, she always acted all high and mighty. But at the time, I didn't care much. After all, I was going to kill the Olympian gods, so I couldn't be bothered to argue with her."

But if we were to fight, I would absolutely crush her under my feet with ease. Human, you need to understand, because true power doesn't boast about being the strongest. That guy was obviously just putting on an act. Who isn't a pure-blooded dragon? It's disgusting to hear him say that so many times all the time. Damn it, Zeus is clearly a bull, yet he's so much stronger than the Babylonian bull. If I wanted to kill him, I would have done it long ago, and I wouldn't have been sealed away for so long.

But thinking about it now, it's not so bad. At least he wasn't as badly dead as Albion; he probably couldn't have been saved...

Typhon is still the same as ever; once he starts a conversation with Avia, he can't stop talking, like a chatterbox.

Even after listening for so long, Avia still laughed from the bottom of his heart, because Typhon, apart from killing the Olympian gods, was completely over the top in every other way, as naive as a child.

'...Well, I see.'

'Oh right, I almost forgot, I was also going to eat you.'

'You sound really listless. Let's try again. What's your goal?'

'I am absolutely, positively going to eat you up.'

120: The Alliance of Gods and the Anchor of Arashi

"What? The Kraken of the North Sea has been wiped out? That shouldn't be possible. That guy should be able to live for a thousand years..."

Holding a handkerchief crumpled by the wind, a man in a top hat stood in a courtyard in Monaco, gazing at the scenery before him as if it were his own business.

The courtyard has been modified, but conceptually it is no different from Moonlight, which is normal, since Dead Apostles have a dislike for sunlight, so modifications are to be expected.

"Yes, that's right. When Fuabro Lowein and I arrived at the Kraken, all that was left were the rapidly dried and weathered octopus bodies, which looked like an attack that was a mixture of molten lava and lightning."

The twentieth patriarch, a dead disciple of Zhu Yue Brunstad, was named Merlin Solomon.

After the 27th Ancestor betrayed the True Ancestor and Zhu Yue died, he decided to live in seclusion, but for some unknown reason, he is currently plotting something with the 14th Ancestor, Van Feim.

However, decades ago he originally wanted to join the church's burial agency, but he was almost killed there, and then he came to Van Fem's side.

"How interesting. The Kraken, who shouldn't have died now, is actually dead. Is this what Kyshua meant by a certain fixed era? But despite being trapped in a dead end, the planet hasn't given up..."

The man wearing the polite clothes actually has some futuristic vision. According to observations in earlier years, the Kraken, the giant monster of the North Sea, should be an ancient species that could live a thousand years in the future.

Behind him were six girls. Although their hairstyles and clothes were different, their limbs, bright blonde hair, and even their clear skin color were surprisingly similar, making them look like sisters.

This is the 'daughter' of Van Fem. The fourteenth ancestor Van Fem was the supreme puppeteer in creating enormous objects. He once created the "city" of seven golems. In other words, these sisters-like girls are the embodiment of the golem city. The reason there are only six is ​​that one of them was destroyed by the White Knight a long time ago, and he has hated the Eltruch faction ever since.

"However, as for the North Sea, Rosie, who stays on the Scandinavian island, should know something."

The Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles are not allies. Apart from the five ancestors known as the Gods' Alliance, they are mostly enemies. The requirement to join the Gods' Alliance is simple: one must be over three thousand years old. There are currently five such ancestors: the sixth Black Knight, Rizowall Stuart, the fourteenth Van Fem of the Demon City, and the seventeenth White Wing Duke, Tevanm Ottenrose.

"Speaking of which, the mixture of lava and lightning... not long ago, Mount Etna was sometimes active and sometimes quiet. Could it be because someone went inside?"

After saying that, Van Fem frowned.

As a Dead Apostle who has remained active to this day, he still has some knowledge of Mount Etna. After all, even magic cannot alleviate the high temperature of the lava inside, making it a veritable death trap.

Could it be that some kind of fantasy species or something else has naturally revived?

Van Fem's thoughts were drawn to this.

"What should we do next? Aren't we going to deal with B. Zhe of Britain? It just so happens that he has lost the assistance of the Church of Wales, and the Church of the Western Roman Empire is currently stuck in Gaul. Now should be the best time to deal with him, after all, that guy is one of the stronger among us."

"Do you really think the Church of Christ will be stuck in Gaul? Even the true God might not be able to hold out, let alone a God who is only manifested under the constraints of a contract... Anyway, these are truly turbulent times."

".......really."

"........."

Van Fem was silent for a moment, then spoke as if spitting out cold crystals.

"Glory should bow down to me."

"Huh? What is this?"

"Originally, it was a praise of Nimrod, the legendary ruler of the world and the first hero in human history—and also the reason why the man of the Clock Tower and the Wandering Sea searched for the Anchor of Storms on the island of Britain. The Tower of Babel was destroyed by the God believed in by the Church, and thus mankind lost its 'unified language'."

In the world of magic, some magicians refer to the era before the loss of speech as the "Age of Gods," the time when humanity began to recognize the existence of gods, and the universal language before the gods lost their speech is called the "Unified Language."

A unified language is not only a common language for humankind, but also a common expression of meaning for all things. Therefore, it can enable people to communicate not only with each other, but also with the world and to determine meaning.

In the world of magic, the One God gave humankind tangible language to replace the intangible language because the intangible language was too terrifying.

Since this language can communicate with the "world," from the perspective of an ontological class system, no one can deny what is said in this language, because that would be tantamount to denying one's own existence in the world.

This phenomenon is called "Absolute Words," where words spoken in this language become reality. Whether "Absolute Words" is similar to "Imagination Manifestation" in terms of ability remains unknown; however, it does not require magic to activate and can control anything that exists in the world, unlike Imagination Manifestation which cannot affect things that are not natural.

"The magicians' idea is probably that since the church is not giving them any way out, they will go against the will of the planet and the subconscious of humanity, dismantle all the Storm Anchors in various places, and let the existing laws be stripped away from the world formed by them and fall into depravity. This will cause things that have left the human world and gone to the inner side, as well as a large number of fantasy laws, to reappear, starting from the navel of the planet."

A playful smile appeared on Van Fim's lips; occasionally, one of the oldest Dead Apostles would indeed wear such a smile.

"Speaking of which, the Anchor of Storms was indeed lifted by an unimaginable force hundreds of years ago, and there was a scene that resembled the arrival of destruction..."

Then, Van Phim drank the water in front of him and closed his eyelids.

"It seems that for now, we can only put aside our hatred. Whether it is the old-fashioned White Winged Duke Tevanm Ottenrose, or the White Knight Fina Brad Sfield who destroyed one of my beloved daughters, they are no longer important."

The blue handkerchief on his chest swayed like a rose, its ten fingers trembling in a chilling way.

"Our Lady has been gone for so many years, it's time for us to go and welcome her. After all, at least for now, she is our only Lady. Since there is no future, why not let her become the 'strongest' in the present?"

121: The City of God

On a certain day in 423 AD, late at night, in the capital city of Kitland on the Scandinavian island.

The people living here had already drifted off to sleep, each with their own thoughts and worries, while Avia, inside the palace, was still awake in a newly dug garden.

Dawn was approaching, and the first rays of sunlight would soon illuminate the night sky. The silver-haired youth simply sat quietly in his chair, letting the cold, damp air wash over his face.

"Oh, Avia, you're already up."

This shout instantly shattered the momentary tranquility.

Beowulf, who had just gotten up, was still shirtless in the cold air, just as he always had.

"Yes, because we need to deal with Grendel, we need to prepare early."

In fact, the reason why Avia didn't sleep all night was because of Typhon. When he was about to rest last night, he happened to pass by here. As a result, Typhon, who had transformed into armor, suddenly didn't want to leave and transformed back into human form to come down and take a look.

One of its golden eyes gleamed with delight, like a kitten spotting a little mouse.

Perhaps it's because the garden is full of countless new shoots, some breaking through the soft soil, some pushing open the hard treetops, as if they can't wait to see the outside world. The grass, which shows its face even faster than the flowers, seems to want to attract more attention, and it raises its head vigorously, stretching upwards with all its might.

Although curious about why the usually talkative Typhon would do this, Avia didn't bother her too much. So, under his gaze, the red-haired girl began to dig in the dark, damp place, digging holes around the flowers and plants. The holes became deeper and bigger, and the damp soil around her piled up higher and higher.

"Well done, well done, it's alright, it's alright."

The red-haired girl made a sound as happy as a child, which startled her, but she continued to dig carefully. She moved the poor plants that were growing in the shade and had not even sprouted buds to a warm place during the day.

Seeing Typhon's joyful expression as he shook his head, Avia, who was standing nearby, probably understood why Typhon had done this.

Winter may have less color than spring, but it is still beautiful. However, winter brings the world not only beautiful scenery, but also the undisputed season of death, with less sunshine and biting cold.

Typhon, the progenitor of the dragons, was a dragon who wanted freedom and did not want to die. So when he saw these weak flowers and plants struggling to survive, he felt a slight urge to help them... He seemed like a child.

And so, the girl who dug the hole and then buried it, and the silver-haired youth who watched silently from the side, the night passed by in a very simple way.

However, the unconditional gentleness and long silence that the night bestowed upon people also slightly reduced the girl's anxiety about tomorrow and gave her hope.

“Anyway, I’ll have to trouble you and Siegfried, Avia.” Beowulf stared intently at the pair of quiet, blue eyes that were still slightly lowered and meeting his gaze, and continued, “To be honest, I’m no match for Grendel. If it weren’t for you, I might have died when I faced Kraken.”

"But you're the kind of person who won't regret it, right?"