The sandstorm on the cliffs of Gazoob spun increasingly wild, drawn by the colliding vortices of anomalous energy. The boiling hot air from the blaze of Zald's Rea Ambrosia now clashed with the cool wind currents from Dina and Vena's Anemo-Calyx.
Amidst the elemental chaos tearing apart the atmospheric order, Hedin Selland stood with an upright posture, radiating a calmness that felt out of place.
His bespectacled eyes scanned the battlefield with a terrifying speed of calculation.
On the front lines, he saw Dina and Vena continuously maneuvering in the air, using wind manipulation to divert Zald's attention. On the other side, the four executives from Orario's two Familias—Finn, Gareth, Riveria, and Ottar—were trying to recover their breathing rhythm and stamina, which had been drained after the first clash that nearly toppled them.
As a former king who once led thousands of Elven troops in Hjaðningavíg, Hedin recognized one absolute fact: relying on blind aggression and pure power to bring down Zald was a logical impossibility. The former Zeus Familia executive before them was not just a monster; he was the personification of a Level 7 wall at the peak of his prime. The gap in status and experience between them was too massive to be bridged merely by an unyielding spirit.
Hedin pushed his glasses frame up with his index finger. Purple electrical sparks crackled from the Ego-Calyx on his chest, sparking softly yet laden with threat. His brain worked to dissect every piece on this sandy stage. He deeply understood Hogni's destructive capacity, Dina's absolute utility, and Vena's aerial aggression. However, he knew nothing of the detailed abilities, magic, or combat habits of the Loki and Freya Familia members nearby.
Still, in the eyes of a tactician, ignorance was no excuse for defeat. Chess pieces were still chess pieces, as long as they knew where to step.
"All of you, listen to me," Hedin's voice did not yell, but his cold intonation, amplified by the static electricity sparks in the air, cut through the storm's roar and reached the ears of the other seven fighters with absolute clarity.
Finn Deimne turned, looking at the White Elf with a wary gaze and heavy breathing. Ottar remained silently gripping his sword, while Hogni lowered his posture like a predator waiting to be unleashed. Riveria and Gareth exchanged a brief glance, realizing there was an incredibly thick authority in the foreign Elf's tone.
"If we continue to fight sporadically and rely on our individual egos, we will only be insects waiting to be crushed one by one," Hedin said flatly. He stepped forward with the elegance of an aristocrat, approaching Finn's position. "I have a plan. If we all want to be taken seriously by that veteran, we must work together under one absolute orchestration. And I will be the conductor."
Finn narrowed his blue eyes. As the supreme commander of the Loki Familia, handing over operational command to a stranger he had just met was a massive taboo. However, his sharp Pallum instincts whispered something different. The bespectacled Elf before him radiated an aura of tactical leadership that was equal—perhaps even more ruthless and pragmatic—to his own.
"You demand absolute command," Finn tested, his thumb rubbing the shaft of his spear. "Even though you know absolutely nothing about our full capabilities, magic, or Skills."
"I don't need to know your trivial details to know where you need to stand," Hedin retorted sharply, his gaze sweeping over them one by one analytically. "I see a Boaz there who can act as a fearless sledgehammer. I see a Dwarf who is the embodiment of a steel shield. I see you, Pallum, as an agile diversionary spear. And Princess Riveria..." Hedin glanced at Riveria. "...is an artillery cannon with a terrifying Mind capacity."
Hedin looked back at Finn. "Coupled with the capabilities of the Elves from the Barbatos Familia, that is more than enough to construct a trap scenario that will force that gluttony to get serious. Follow my directions, cast aside your doubts, and I promise Zald will consider you worthy."
A momentary silence blanketed their ranks. Ottar was the first to respond. The Level 6 Boaz snorted softly, drove his sword into the sand, and gave a curt nod. To him, as long as the tactic could push him beyond his limits and prove his worthiness for Goddess Freya, he didn't care who gave the orders.
Seeing Ottar agree, Finn let out a sigh, letting go of his commander's ego. "Fine. This Pallum, Dwarf, and High Elf will be your pieces. What is your plan, Tactician?"
"We will force him to block attacks that are impossible to parry from all directions," Hedin answered, his voice dropping to a strategic whisper. "Princess Riveria, I want you to prepare the strongest, longest, and most destructive magic you possess. Do not worry about your defense; we will secure your time. Dwarf, Pallum, the two of you are rotational bait. Draw out his sword swings, but never try to block them fully. Boaz, Hogni... you two are the physical executioners. Wait for my signal."
Before anyone had the chance to protest how risky that formation was, Hedin triggered one of his most absolute innate Skills.
Fairy Hildr.
Instantly, waves of silvery energy radiated from Hedin's body. The magical enchantment swept over Hogni, Dina, Vena, and unexpectedly, also pierced into the nervous systems of Finn, Gareth, Riveria, and Ottar. For anyone who accepted and obeyed his command on the battlefield, this Skill forcibly boosted the effectiveness of their magic, stamina, and the resonance of their physical strength.
Finn's eyes widened as he felt a refreshing surge of power pumping through his muscles. His mental burden was lifted. The leadership enchantment of the White Elf seemingly negated all forms of doubt in their hearts, replacing them with absolute clarity of purpose.
"The plan starts now!" Hedin commanded, his voice now echoing with absolute authority. "Princess Riveria, begin your chant! Boaz, Hogni, prepare for a point-zero clash!"
In the distance, Zald, who had been giving them time to recover, now grinned broadly. He rested the blazing Grattor on his shoulder. "Interesting. Break time is over. Show me what your little alliance can do!"
"Hogni! Release your restraints!" Hedin shouted, shattering the silence.
Hogni Ragnar did not wait for the order to be repeated. The Dark Elf, who had been holding back, now closed his right eye. When his eye opened again, all his rational sanity had vanished, replaced by pure, dark bloodlust. The Skill Dark In activated. His consciousness drowned in killer instinct, deadening his pain and exchanging it for an extreme surge in his Strength and Agility attributes.
At the exact same time, Hogni triggered the Ignis Tenebris magic. Without a chant, the Cruor Calyx on his chest pulsed ferociously, spewing pitch-black flames that wrapped around his entire sword blade.
"Die... Slice... Burn to ashes!" Hogni babbled in a horrifying, hoarse voice. He shot forward like a black cannonball, leaving a trail of scorched sand. He moved parallel with Ottar, who also charged forward at full speed, crushing the ground beneath his feet. The two strongest vanguards from the Boaz and Dark Elf races became the spearheads of the formation.
Zald laughed defiantly. He raised his giant sword with one hand, preparing to cleave both of them with a single sweep of Afterglow.
"Dina! Vena! Blind the area!" Hedin's commands did not stop.
Dina twisted her aura-clad wrist. The Allure Curse was fired again, this time channeled through the dense waves of Ventus Canticum. The audio and visual curse locked onto Zald's sensory focus, making the veteran's arm swing slow down for a highly crucial fraction of a second.
In that same second, Vena triggered Ventus Ruina. The Dark Elf hovered in the air, spread her arms, and created a storm of microscopic razor blades. However, according to Hedin's instructions, she did not aim it at Zald's body, which possessed absolute Endurance, but instead smashed it into the expanse of sand right in front of Zald's feet, creating a super-dense dust explosion that blinded visibility.
Zald clicked his tongue softly as his vision was completely obscured by the sand veil. Yet, his Level 7 combat instincts responded to the danger automatically. He twisted his body based on hearing and parried the strike of Ottar's greatsword coming from the right side.
CLAAANGGG!
The clash shook the earth, creating a new crater beneath their feet. However, before Zald could return Ottar's repulsion, Hogni emerged from the blind spot within the dust veil on the left. The black fire of Ignis Tenebris slashed through the air wildly, aiming straight for a gap in the armor at Zald's neck.
The veteran was forced to duck with an agility impossible for his giant body size, letting the black fire slash merely cut a few strands of his hair. The corrosive heat from Hogni's fire briefly grazed Zald's pauldron, leaving a boiling scorch mark. Zald was just about to kick Hogni when the next command rang out.
"Pallum! Dwarf! Rotate now!"
Finn and Gareth darted in through the dust. Gareth leaped high, swinging his axe with full gravitational force. Zald was forced to raise Grattor to block the Dwarf's vertical strike. As Zald was locked from above, Finn, who had activated Hell Finegas, slid low over the sand, thrusting his golden spear with deadly precision right at the Achilles tendon of Zald's ankle.
This attack was too coordinated. The speed of Hogni and Ottar, the utility of Dina and Vena, and the precision of Finn and Gareth were united into a single, deadly combat organism by Hedin's Fairy Hildr. Zald realized he could not dodge without taking a wound. He had to take forceful action.
"RRAAAAGHH!"
With a trembling roar, Zald unleashed a shockwave of pure Rea Ambrosia from his entire body in all directions. The explosion of his Level 7 aura blasted Gareth, Finn, Hogni, and Ottar dozens of meters back, tearing apart their tight formation.
"Hah... a troublesome tactic," Zald muttered, standing tall again with a savage grin. He prepared to raise his sword to chase after the thrown Finn.
However, Zald didn't realize that the entire barrage of close-range attacks earlier was merely a smokescreen. A large-scale diversion of aggression deliberately designed by Hedin purely to buy time.
In the backline, Riveria finally completed her long, time-consuming magic chant. The tip of her magic staff radiated a blindingly bright white light.
"Wynn Fimbulvetr!"
Three giant ice storms manifested in the air. The absolute cold that froze the moisture in the air shot toward Zald with the speed of a hurricane, aiming to freeze the veteran's joints, which had just heated up from his own aura explosion.
Zald narrowed his eyes, preparing to swing Grattor to cleave through the ice storm. To him, magic of any size could be destroyed if its center was split with Afterglow.
However, the real surprise—the climax of the Tactician's orchestration—was just about to be dropped.
Zald looked up and realized something was amiss. The Gazoob sky, which had been clear and boiling from the heat of the battle, had now turned pitch black. Massive thunderstorm clouds had completely blotted out the sun in a matter of seconds. Broad daylight instantly turned into a chilling night.
Hedin Selland stared at Zald with eyes as cold as ice.
While Finn, Ottar, Hogni, and Gareth fought risking their lives below, Hedin had secretly utilized his Skill Diu Hjaðningavíg to stabilize his Mind, while chanting a super-long scale magic spell, hiding the sound of his incantation behind the roar of the dust and Dina's wind storm.
"Caelus Hildr!"
Giant purple lightning spears struck down from behind the dark clouds, illuminating the Gazoob desert with a blinding flash.
And it was here that the multi-layered trap snapped shut perfectly.
With the disappearance of the sunlight due to Hedin's storm clouds, a passive condition was met. Hogni's Skill Fairy Nocturne activated automatically! The Dark Elf, who had just been blown backward, suddenly felt his strength multiply because his body's system thought night had fallen. He roared in ecstasy, shooting back toward Zald with a speed that now nearly breached the limits of Level 6.
Zald's eyes went wide. This scenario was completely beyond the logic of conventional battle.
Riveria's three ice storms freezing his movements from the front, the punishment of Hedin's purple Caelus Hildr lightning striking from above to shatter his magic defenses, as well as the dark slash of Hogni's Dainsleif and the blow of Ottar's giant sword coming from two different sides. Everything was coordinated to land on one point simultaneously.
There was no avenue to dodge. No room to maneuver.
"HA... HAHAHAHAHA!"
In the midst of that absolute pincer attack, Zald's laughter exploded, cutting through the elemental cacophony. It wasn't a laugh of despair or a condescending scoff. It was a laugh of pure ecstasy from a veteran warrior who had finally found the spark he was looking for from the new generation. His eyes flashed with a terrifying intensity, burning with pride and brutality.
"Outstanding! A truly beautiful orchestration, Elf Tactician!" Zald's voice boomed, overpowering the rumble of Hedin's thunder. "You have proven that you are not merely successors of a weak generation! Your synergy, your intellect, your will to surpass limits... everything has reached me!"
Zald lowered his massive posture, planting both feet deep into the Gazoob sand. He canceled his intention to use a casual Afterglow slash.
He decided to pay the highest respect to the eight fighters before him: he would answer this perfect trap with a pure attack representing the absolute weight of the title Gluttony.
The muscles in both of Zald's arms expanded to their maximum limits. The veins in his neck and forehead bulged, radiating a red glow from beneath his skin. The entire sea of Rea Ambrosia fire was forcibly drawn into Grattor, compressing the hellfire into one blindingly dense point along his sword's blade.
Zald swung his sword with the full power of a Level 7.
There was no explosion of projectiles, no shockwave shooting out. What happened was a phenomenon where the space around Zald's sword swing seemed to shatter into pieces. The pure physical thrust layered with energy density equivalent to a natural disaster created an absolute vacuum pressure.
Hedin's purple lightning, Riveria's giant ice storms, Hogni's black fire slash, and Ottar's sword collided directly with Grattor's swing at the exact same point of impact.
A gripping silence ensued for a fraction of a microsecond. Nature seemed to hold its breath.
Then... KABOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!
The earth of Gazoob exploded.
An existential shockwave swept in all directions, tearing the atmospheric order and instantly destroying the storm clouds in the sky. The resulting wind pressure was so massive that thousands of tons of desert sand were turned into deadly projectiles shooting out like a meteor shower.
"Ughh!"
Dina's protective wind dome at the rear shattered instantly like a glass window struck by a sledgehammer. Vena was thrown into the air spinning, her shoulder slamming into rocks until the sound of shifting bones was heard.
Gareth, who tried to block the residual wave with his axe to protect Riveria, coughed up fresh blood before his body was blasted dozens of meters away, collapsing the remaining cliffs. Finn and Riveria suffered the same fate; their magical and physical defenses crumbled completely. Ottar and Hogni, who were at the foremost point of impact, were thrown the farthest. Ottar's greatsword slipped from his grasp, while Hogni's consciousness faded instantly as his back slammed into a sandy crag until it shattered.
It only took one attack. One truly serious sword sweep from a legend in his prime to wipe out the eight strongest elite fighters of the Orario executives and the Barbatos Familia. The dimensional difference of a Level 7 was truly an absolute wall impenetrable by ordinary strategies.
The dust storm slowly settled. A giant crater over a hundred meters in diameter was now formed on the Gazoob expanse, smoking and boiling with the remnants of red fire and purple lightning.
At the edge of the crater, Hedin Selland knelt on one knee. His combat uniform and cloak were now in tatters, charred, and soaked in his own blood. The glasses that always sat neatly on his face were now severely cracked on the left side. His right hand gripped his magic staff, which was driven deep into the sand, desperately supporting his body that was already on the verge of unconsciousness.
Fresh blood dripped slowly from the White Elf's chin. His Mind reserves had been drained to the point of Mind Zero.
Hedin's eyes were half-closed, his vision blurred, and he knew he would lose consciousness in a matter of seconds.
Yet, in the last remnants of his consciousness, Hedin forced his neck to look up, staring straight into Zald's eyes.
Then, amidst that crushing physical defeat, a smile slowly blossomed on Hedin's bloody lips. Not the arrogant smile of a victor, nor was it despair. It was the satisfied smile of an architect who had just seen his trap triggered perfectly.
Seeing that smile, Zald instantly froze.
The veteran instincts of the Level 7 suddenly sounded a maximum-volume warning alarm in his head. An incredibly foreign premonition crept up the nape of his neck.
Why is he smiling? Zald thought. His eyes narrowed sharply. This trial was over. He had proven the absolute wall of a Level 7 to this new generation. They had fallen.
To confirm Hedin's condition, Zald lifted his right foot, intending to step forward toward the Elf.
However, right when the sole of his iron boot lifted one centimeter off the ground...
BZZZTTT!!
The expanse of sand beneath Zald's feet, which had previously looked charred, suddenly emitted a blinding purple glow. An invisible magic circle composed of pure elements exploded from within the ground.
"What—?!" Zald's eyes widened immensely.
Hundreds of purple lightning needles from the Fulgur-Calyx shot upward like the fangs of a venomous snake, piercing the gaps in Zald's armor and directly stinging the central nervous system in his spine and joints. The millions of volts of pure electricity were not intended to injure his muscles or burn his skin—Hedin knew that was impossible—but were specifically designed to disrupt the gluttony's neural motor signals.
Instantly, every muscle in Zald's body locked up dead. His giant body stiffened like a stone statue, and he was forced to drop to one knee due to the extreme paralysis attacking his legs.
Across the crater, Hedin coughed, spitting blood onto the sand, but his smile grew wider.
"You... cunning Elf," Zald growled with great difficulty, his voice trembling to withstand the purple electrical voltage continuously creeping and locking his entire neural network. "That barrage of massive attacks earlier... you knew it wouldn't defeat me, so you used it as a smokescreen to plant this neural mine?"
"Exactly," Hedin whispered, his voice hoarse yet full of absolute pride.
In his fading mind, Hedin reflected on his masterpiece. He knew the goal of this fight from the beginning. This was the stage of the Trial of Freedom designed by God Venti. Defeating Zald in a test of physical strength was a logical impossibility. However, Hedin refused to simply lose and become a punching bag for a show of force.
While Zald was focusing all his Rea Ambrosia and concentration on withstanding the deadly attacks from above and the sides, Hedin had secretly channeled the remaining energy of his Fulgur-Calyx through his magic staff into the ground, planting it right at Zald's foothold.
Hedin never planned to win a battle of brawn. His main plan was: Tactical Checkmate.
"We might... have fallen bloody upon this sand," Hedin said brokenly, his eyes beginning to close. "But you are also... forced to your knees and cannot take a step anywhere... Let's just consider this trial... a draw."
Zald gritted his teeth. He tried to summon Rea Ambrosia to burn away the purple lightning, but the signals from his brain couldn't reach his muscles. He was truly temporarily paralyzed. He had won the physical battle absolutely, but this new generation had managed to trap him in a war of strategy, forcing him to his knees at the end of the fight.
"I see... this is the answer of your wings of freedom," Zald murmured. The annoyance in his chest suddenly faded, replaced by a small chuckle held back in his stiff throat.
"God Venti's philosophy... is proven here," Hedin whispered as his final words.
Hedin Selland released his trembling grip on his magic staff. The Tactician's body finally collapsed completely onto the Gazoob sand, sinking into unconsciousness with a smile of satisfaction clearly etched on his face.
Amidst the silence of the desert that had returned to its gripping quiet, Zald could only kneel in place. The hot wind blew, kicking up dust and sweeping across the Gluttony's face. Though unable to move his body, a faint smile—the proud smile of a veteran who had finally found worthy successors—was etched on Zald's face. Without needing to be injected with Erebus's despair, these children had proven that they were capable of tearing down the absolute in their own way.
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