Kanzaki VS Brunhild

In response to her anger, massive power rose within Kanzaki’s body. It was the power of a Christian Saint. That overwhelming power flowed into her body because she had bodily characteristics similar to the Son of God.

For a brief moment, both of them remained silent.

It only lasted a few seconds. The calm amid the powerful emotions was similar to the strange area of still air created within the complex whirling winds of a storm.

There was no physical sign of when it began.

Because of that complete silence, the two of them could hear a ringing in their ears.

That became the sign.

An explosive noise exploded out.

Kanzaki Kaori and Brunhild Eiktobel exploded out from the asphalt at their feet in order to fill the five hundred meters between them at their greatest speed.

It did not take even two seconds for them to meet in the middle.

However, Brunhild swung Gungnir through empty air before their blades actually clashed. It influenced the weather that was the symbol of Odin’s power. That spear could control lightning, floods, earthquakes, tornados, volcanic eruptions, and any other natural disaster as a weapon.

The pure white disasters attacked.

Dozens of stones appeared out of thin air.

Each giant mass was over five meters and corresponded to the disasters of falling rocks or a landslide.

However, neither Kanzaki nor Brunhild stopped.

As the stones rained down, the two of them accelerated further and further as they darted through the slight gaps between the stones. Finally, they clashed at the center.

Kanzaki’s sword and Brunhild’s spear struck, causing sparks to fly through the air.

The two weapons knocked each other back a few centimeters.

Immediately afterwards, their bodies blurred.

The sound of clashing metal continued seemingly infinitely and sparks exploded out. As Gungnir was swung, pure white flames erupted and violent winds blew about like sharp blades. Each strike held a disaster and gave more weight to each of Brunhild’s attacks. Her chain of attacks held the majesty of natural disasters and would leave anyone who saw it paralyzed with fear.

But Kanzaki did not stop.

She unhesitatingly kept up the attack.

Every disaster that Brunhild created originated from the movements of her spear. Norse mythology had no simple four great elements, but she was likely producing the various phenomena by mixing together the magical symbols of fire, ice, and frost. In the world of Norse mythology, winds flowing from the land of fire and the land of ice collided creating frost. That frost gave birth to the frost giant known as Ymir who became the material the current world was created from. Those three things could be seen as the elements from which the world was constructed.

That was a mixture of three symbols.

A trinity.

Once more, a Christian magic symbol had found its way in, likely without Brunhild intending for it to.

Most likely, that symbol was nothing more than an impurity that would reduce her power as a Valkyrie.

In that, Kanzaki Kaori saw her way out.

(...!!)

With a great noise, they locked blades.

With blade biting into blade, Kanzaki and Brunhild glared at each other. A look of doubt found its way onto the Valkyrie’s face. It was caused by the fact that Kanzaki had been the one to initiate that locking of blades.

“Did you forget?” asked the Valkyrie as she adjusted her grip on the spear. “A legend exists where Odin’s spear broke the great sword Balmung in a single strike. Your sword will be easily broken like this and the next strike will surely defeat you.”

“Not necessarily,” responded Kanzaki Kaori with a thin smile. “You are the one that is forgetting something. When your power as a Norse Valkyrie is at its absolute strongest, it weakens your nature as a Christian Saint. So what would happen if I was to forcibly raise your characteristics as a Saint?”

“...!?”

Brunhild seemed to have realized something, but it was too late.

Like the waxing and waning of the moon, her power changed over a three-month cycle. Her powers as a Christian Saint and a Norse Valkyrie were in conflict with each other. When one was at its strongest, Brunhild could wield power greater than a normal person, but when they cancelled each other out, she had no more power than a normal person.

“Know this.”

Brunhild had chosen to carry out her plan during the time when she could wield her
power as a Valkyrie at its fullest.

However, even while she could keep things balanced on her own, a Saint like Kanzaki could add on another weight and greatly alter Brunhild’s scales.

“When I was a more miserable existence, I had a thought. ...There are stories of the Sonof God bringing the dead back to life. And the Son of God himself rose from the dead three days after he was executed. A portion of that power flows through me, so I thought I might be able to bring my dead companions back to life if I could construct special recovery magic based on that power rather than on normal magic power.”

Brunhild’s power lessened.

It was caused by the locked blades.

Kanzaki had adjusted the angle at which the sword and spear met to create the symbol of a cross. She sent her power as a Saint through that and into Brunhild.

Most likely, it was in the form of the special recovery magic that had failed in the past.

Even if it could heal the wounds of the living, the spell could not heal the souls of thedead.

She used it in order to truly heal the deep wounds within Brunhild Eiktobel.

“Kh...!!”

Brunhild immediately released the spear’s weapon destroying power in an attempt to break Kanzaki’s sword. However, she could not get the command across properly. She was losing her power as a Valkyrie.

And...

Kanzaki removed one hand from the handle of her sword and reached for the oddly long scabbard at her waist. That black scabbard could deliver a blow that greatly outdid a normal metal bat.

Because she let go of her sword with one hand, the balance of the locked swords was lost.

Brunhild Eiktobel immediately regained control of Gungnir. Half her power had been stolen, but she wielded her spear to the end in an attempt to defeat her enemy.

Scabbard and spear.

The two weapons crossed.

“—I’m sorry.”

Ceillier Flatley’s final words floated up in the back of Brunhild Eiktobel’s mind.

I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.

“Me, too,” Brunhild muttered quietly.

In truth, she had understood it all from the beginning.

A great impact reverberated through the core of her body.

SS Kanzaki, Chapter 8, Part 6