“Phew…”
Fernandez covered his ears and patted Kirhas’s head, who was groaning in pain. He then hung Thunderthrower on his sword belt. Kirhas was in chaos from the cannon fire that had just erupted beside her.
Botan, with his throat torn, collapsed with a thud. Magic and divinity could be seen flowing from his torn neck. Fernandez slowly walked towards his body.
[Huff… Huff…]
Botan was gasping for breath, blood gurgling in his throat. It was a pitiful end for the ruler of the Northern Temple of the Gods. He rolled his bloodshot eyes, looking around.
A shadow fell over him. Fernandez looked down at him, gripping the hilt of his greatsword with one hand. Soon, Botan’s eyes gradually calmed down.
[Stab my heart.]
“You’re going to die anyway. And dying instantly would be too merciful.”
[No. Even if my heart is destroyed, there are ways to survive. But my heart bears the mark of Jormungand. Hurry, stab it.]
At those words, Fernandez frowned and quickly twisted the hilt. The greatsword spun and plunged into Botan’s chest. A crunching sound of bones breaking was heard. And then… the sound of magic being severed.
[Ugh… That’s it… The play is over.]
Botan convulsed for a moment, then raised a hand, groping the air. Though he couldn’t fully understand due to the difference in systems, the magic circuit he drew was a kind of… seal. Botan’s curse seeped into his torn neck.
[I feel better now.]
“What did you do?”
[I anchored myself using my own body. As long as my head isn’t destroyed, I won’t face complete death.]
-You’ve become a lich.
Faijashi chuckled. Liches use a spell to anchor their soul to a part of their body. From that moment, the body biologically dies, but as long as the soul vessel inside the body isn’t destroyed, they become nearly immortal as an undead.
Gian-Kel’s soul vessel was his heart. Most liches store their souls in their hearts. It’s the best place for magic circuits to connect and the hardest to destroy. But with his heart destroyed and his neck torn, Botan didn’t have many options.
Fernandez lifted Botan’s head. With a crunch, the head was torn from the body. Kirhas screamed in horror and turned her head away.
“What’s the point of all this?”
[At least I can prevent Ragnarok.]
“Are you repenting now?”
[No. This was part of the plan. My death… was included in Eda’s plan. Damn it. I didn’t think I’d end up like Mimir.]
Botan grumbled briefly. He looked up at the sky. The hawk was nowhere to be seen. Though he couldn’t fully grasp the situation due to the intense battle, the hawk had flown off somewhere in Yggdrasil and hadn’t been seen since.
If it had gone to Yggdrasil, there was no immediate worry. Yggdrasil was one of the few places in Asgard untouched by demonic corruption. Fernandez grabbed Botan’s head and placed it on the altar, locking eyes with it.
“Explain it to me, step by step.”
[You annoying brat. Run first. Carry me. This place is about to collapse, and we’ll be sucked into the lava below. Down there is connected to Muspel. Before that… run.]
-Kurrrrung!
As he spoke, the ground began to shake. Parts of the steel fortress on the lava sea started to crumble. The balance tipped, and bricks tumbled down like a sandcastle being swept away.
“Kirhas! Run!”
“Yes, yes!”
Fernandez grabbed Botan by the hair and ran. The fortress roared as it collapsed. Right behind them, lava surged, and the intense heat scorched their backs.
It wasn’t easy to pick up speed with a body nearly broken from overuse. Fernandez bit his lip as he ran. He stepped on broken bricks and kicked aside tilting planks.
-Thud!
Kirhas ran like a gazelle. She zigzagged across the rapidly collapsing bridge, constantly glancing back. Every time Fernandez slowed, she looked at him anxiously, hesitating.
The steel bridge connecting the fortress to the ground completely collapsed behind them. Fernandez forced himself to hold onto the bridge, which felt like it would give way any moment, and gasped for breath. Botan chuckled at the sight.
[With that stamina, how can you be called Fenrir?]
“I never had that nickname.”
[Hmm. Didn’t Loki bring you here?]
Fernandez placed Botan on a nearby rock and sat down in front of him. He opened his canteen, took a sip, and handed it to Kirhas.
“Is Loki another name for Loft?”
[Loft is another name for Loki. The Aesir have many names. Mortal. Unlike you, we’ve been called by many names across many generations.]
“And now the great one is just a headless corpse.]
[This was my choice. Fenrir. What’s your real name?]
Botan looked at Fernandez with a strange expression. His uncovered eye held a subtle smile. But Fernandez looked at his other eye, hidden under the eyepatch.
There, he felt an unfamiliar magic. After the corruption of hellish magic had cleared, that eye was likely his true form.
“Our profession keeps names a secret. Tell me your story first.]
[You’re being difficult. Fine. Where should I start…]
Botan looked at Fernandez with a thoughtful gaze. He pondered for a moment, then slowly began to speak.
[It all started with Mimir.]
The Aesir, strictly speaking, cannot be called gods. They didn’t ascend to godhood by accumulating divinity and ruling over mortals. They were simply a race born strong from the beginning.
Like dragons. They were born with souls equivalent to demigods. Eternal life, strong bodies, endless magic… Days when it seemed they could become anything and do anything.
When they finally created Bifrost, their worldview expanded beyond dimensions. The conquest of Asgard had already been completed a thousand years prior, and now only the long war of conquest with other dimensions remained.
The Aesir, tired of the monotony of life, gladly threw themselves into the conquest. Countless dimensions burned. The fourth realm, known as the Material World. The numerous horizontal worlds tied to that dimension were their…
