Reincarnated as a failed hero?! Watch me Defy Fate! - Chapter 176

Chapter 176: Kraytheon and Gor’mundr
Flareth’s POV:

“Hey, take a look at this… those two damned monsters we once defeated have returned… HAHAHAHA!” I laughed heartily, my voice echoing through the battlefield as I laid eyes on the two Unique Monsters—Kraytheon and Gor’mundr. These living disasters, creations of that accursed Outer God, had once wrought havoc upon the lands of the gods and goddesses. And now, they dared to return.

“Why are they all here?! Are they begging to be roasted into ashes?!” Zarion shouted, his voice tinged with fury and disbelief.

I glanced over to see Miranda desperately working to repair the barrier. She needed more time. If the barrier wasn’t restored soon, the mid to high-level demons accompanying the Unique Monsters would continue to pour in, overwhelming us.

Solis, Terra, and Gaia stood guard around Miranda, shielding her from any incoming threats. Meanwhile, Zarion, Aqualia, Zephyra, and I made our way toward the impact site of the Unique Monsters, determined to confront and eliminate them once more.

As we approached, we saw that the angels had already engaged the monsters. Kraytheon and Gor’mundr had descended from the sky like meteors, their landings shaking the very foundations of Cosmoria. Their presence exuded an aura of destruction, causing the ground to quake and the air to thicken with malice.

The monsters rampaged, their attacks indiscriminate and devastating. Mountains were cleaved, valleys turned into craters. The angels fought valiantly, unleashing their holy magic and wielding sacred weapons, but their efforts were in vain. The monsters’ defenses were impenetrable, their power overwhelming.

By the time we arrived, the scene was one of utter devastation. Countless angels lay wounded or worse, their bodies strewn across the battlefield. Kraytheon and Gor’mundr continued their rampage, unrelenting and seemingly unstoppable.

I couldn’t stand by any longer. I raised my voice, commanding the remaining angels, “All of you, retreat immediately! You won’t be able to defeat them! Evacuate and tend to your wounds at Miranda’s location! Those still capable of fighting, focus on eliminating the lesser demons!”

To emphasize my command, I unleashed a burst of my holy fire magic into the sky, a blazing signal of my power and intent. The angels, recognizing the gravity of the situation, began to withdraw, assisting their fallen comrades and regrouping to combat the lesser demons.

Turning to my companions, I issued our strategy, “Zarion, Zephyra, you take on Gor’mundr. Aqualia and I will handle that flying lizard, Kraytheon!”

Zarion smirked, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “Honestly, I could take down that ugly brute Gor’mundr on my own… but fine, let’s do this, Zephyra!” With a burst of lightning, he launched himself at Gor’mundr, delivering a powerful kick to its face and sending it crashing into the eastern mountains. Zephyra followed, her expression one of resigned determination, knowing the battle ahead would be intense.

Now, it was just Aqualia and me facing Kraytheon.

“How long has it been since we last met, you damned flying lizard!” I shouted, propelling myself toward Kraytheon with a fiery explosion, delivering a powerful uppercut infused with divine fire.

BOOM!

Kraytheon was sent soaring into the air.

“Do you not remember how I froze you to your very bones last time?!” Aqualia taunted, unleashing her ice magic to encase Kraytheon in a massive tower of ice.

Seeing Kraytheon trapped in ice brought back memories of our past battles against these Unique Monsters. The war between the gods and these abominations had been a time of great strife and unity among us.

…

Seeing Kraytheon trapped in ice stirred memories long buried deep within my heart. The flames of battle today paled in comparison to the hell we once endured during the first Great War—the war against the Unique Monsters created by the Outer God. That was the day the harmony of the divine realms shattered… and we realized that even gods could bleed.

It all began centuries ago, during what we now call the “Twilight Calamity.” Back then, Cosmoria and Aetheria flourished in peace. The gods and goddesses maintained balance, while mortals prospered under our protection. But the peace was a lie—too perfect, too fragile. The moment the Outer God tore a hole into our realm, that illusion shattered like glass.

Kraytheon and Gor’mundr were the first to come through the breach.

Kraytheon, the Winged Incinerator, was a monster wreathed in eternal flames, its wings leaving trails of burning ether wherever it flew. His very presence scorched the skies and reduced sacred groves into barren wastelands. Meanwhile, Gor’mundr, the Earth Devourer, emerged from beneath us—an abomination of stone and muscle, a beast who moved like an avalanche and tore through our sacred mountains with ease.

Back then, we gods were unprepared. We underestimated them. A mistake that cost many of us dearly.

The first city to fall was Myralis—the city of the High Choirs. Once a beacon of divine light, it was obliterated in mere minutes by Kraytheon’s flames. Its towers melted, and its lakes boiled until nothing remained but ash. Thousands of celestial beings perished that day… many of them never even had time to fight back.

We rallied—myself, Zarion, Aqualia, Zephyra, Terra, and the others. We were young then. Proud. Arrogant. But we fought back with everything we had.

I remember vividly how I charged Kraytheon over the obsidian cliffs of Cindralis. My fire met his. He laughed—yes, laughed—as our flames collided. But I didn’t stop. I pushed through, until his laughter turned into screeches of pain. It was in that battle I learned to channel divine fire through my soul, igniting even the cursed ether that cloaked him.

Meanwhile, Aqualia trapped him in a prison of eternal frost—waters drawn from the divine spring of Omendral, frozen with her sorrow for the fallen.

Gor’mundr was worse. Nothing we threw at him seemed to work. His skin deflected divine lances, and his roar shattered even the protective barriers woven by Gaia himself. Zarion nearly lost that day. I remember the moment Gor’mundr grabbed him mid-air and slammed him through a floating temple.

We thought Zarion was dead.

After Gor’mundr hurled him through an entire temple, his divine aura flickered and vanished. Everything went still for a moment—like the realm itself held its breath. I remember the sound of Zephyra’s scream cutting through the chaos. It wasn’t just anger—it was despair, raw and devastating. I had never heard anything like it before… or since.

In that instant, the gentle winds that usually danced at her command transformed. Her sorrow became fury, and her fury became a storm of deadly precision. The sky darkened as Zephyra summoned a hurricane laced with blades—thin as threads, sharp as divine steel. The very air itself turned into a weapon, slicing through Gor’mundr’s thick hide and forcing the beast to stagger back.

Terra, ever the unshakable shield, didn’t hesitate. She drove her fists into the ground, sending shockwaves that disrupted Gor’mundr’s footing, forcing him to his knees. Side by side, she and Zephyra held the monster in place. It wasn’t easy. Every strike from Gor’mundr threatened to break them. Bones cracked, and blood was spilled—but they did not yield.

That was when Gaia stepped forward. He had been silent until then, his hand pressed against the soil, listening. Mourning. Praying.

The Wrath of the World Tree was a forbidden power, a primal force tied directly to the lifeblood of the divine realms. It was never meant to be used in battle—only to preserve balance in times of catastrophic imbalance. We had sworn never to invoke it… but Gaia knew this was the moment. There was no other choice.

She whispered something—words lost to time—and the earth trembled.

Roots, vast and ancient, erupted from the ground like divine serpents. They twisted through the battlefield, glowing with pure life energy, and pierced Gor’mundr from all sides. The beast roared in agony, but the roots held fast. Gaia’s body shimmered with golden light as she channeled every ounce of her strength into the ritual.

When it was done, she collapsed.

He hasn’t been the same since. His power diminished. His voice softer. His laughter, rare.

After that day—after blood painted the skies and divine ichor soaked the land—we finally forced Kraytheon and Gor’mundr into stasis. Aqualia sealed Kraytheon deep within the Sea of Silence, frozen in a prison of eternal frost. Gor’mundr, meanwhile, was entombed beneath the roots of the World Tree, bound by every divine sigil we knew.

We believed that would be enough. We hoped the seals would hold forever. We prayed we’d never have to face them again.

But hope, it seems, is a fragile thing.

Now they stand before us once more. Released. Enraged. Evolved.

When Kraytheon shattered his icy prison with that guttural howl, all those memories came flooding back. This wasn’t just another battle—it was the resurgence of a nightmare we thought we had buried.

Only this time, we were ready.

I tightened my fists. Fire crackled between my fingers, hotter than ever before.

“This time… you die, Kraytheon,” I muttered, my voice a whisper forged in flame.

Aqualia, calm and resolute, stood beside me. Her eyes—like glacial mirrors—never left the beast. “For the fallen,” she said.

I nodded. “For the gods. For Cosmoria.”

And together, we charged into the fire of fate.