Despite feeling light-headed, Chang-Sun tried hard to pull himself together. ‘I shouldn’t let him sway me.’
Were his goal to confuse Chang-Sun before the negotiation, Loki succeeded. Judging from J?rmungandr’s reaction, however, it seemed Loki often acted like this.
‘Thanatos also told me to be careful.’
“I should be wary of Loki while subjugating <Niflheim>?” Chang-Sun repeated.
“Yes.”
“He truly must be someone to be reckoned with. He used to be Odin’s rival too, didn’t he?”
Thanatos smiled bitterly. “Hmm...”
“What’s with the smile?”
“Just like you said, he’s indeed formidable in more ways than one.”
Chang-Sun couldn’t understand what Thanatos meant.
“You’ll know once you meet him.”
No one could have expected that Thanatos’ warning would hold this much meaning.
Finding it necessary to take the initiative and stop Loki from swaying him any further, Chang-Sun decided to tackle the obstacle head-on. “I believe you want the cure for Angrboda.”
“Hmph! There’s no need to jump right into such a complicated matter. We can enjoy each other’s company a little more, can’t we? ”Loki asked mischievously, holding his slender index finger against his lip.
Chang-Sun noticed Loki’s eyes had become sharp. “This isn’t really the time to relax, though, is it?”
“Not the time to relax?”
“You do know that <Extinction> is imminent, don’t you?”
Loki’s gaze grew cold, like the time he had blocked the spatial gap to <Nihil>.
Chang-Sun continued, “I won’t be able to close Ubbo-Sathla’s gate next time.”
“I guess. We have a great geographical advantage, but we don’t have anyone who can freely use omnipotence. Besides, Ubbo-Sathla isn’t an idiot. They won’t fall for the same trick twice.” Loki let go of Bel-Marduk’s arm and crossed his legs. Bel-Marduk heaved a sigh of relief, but Loki couldn’t seem to care less. “What’s your plan, then? Even if I somehow save Angrboda, it wouldn’t matter if we meet <Extinction>.”
Chang-Sun nodded.
“Keep in mind that the <Anti-Star> Alliance is a mess right now. Some babies are whining to withdraw from the alliance, so you better stay on high alert, sweetie.” Loki glanced at Bel-Marduk. “Things in <Horoscope> are a total disaster, too. Sorting out the aftermath of all this will be very tough.”
Ubbo-Sathla’s summons had always begun with Sadalmelik using herself as a sacrificial offering. From <Horoscope>’s perspective, it would be like watching a nuclear bomb suddenly drop in the center of their base. They were bound to take the biggest damage. Nevertheless, Bel-Marduk scoffed, showing no interest in the news.
‘He must be used to it,’ Chang-Sun thought.
He didn’t know if Bel-Marduk’s first encounter with Ubbo-Sathla began in the same way, but the trigger had to be similar. Chang-Sun momentarily wondered how many times <Horoscope> had fallen and restored in the process.
“So, what’s your plan?” Loki asked again.
“Are you asking me to reveal all my cards right now?”
“Hmph. You’re really hard to deal with. That means you do have a plan, don’t you, sweetie?”
“I’ll explain it in the <Anti-Star> Alliance’s next general meeting.”
“Fine.” Loki played with his lip for a moment and then crossed his arms. “In that case, let’s get back to the main topic. How are you going to cure Angrboda?”
He narrowed his eyes like a serpent looking for his prey’s weakness. Suffocating tension filled the air.
Woosh, swish, swoosh...!
Chang-Sun had a strong feeling that it would be hard to win against Loki in single combat. ‘A Nine Heaven is certainly powerful.’
In some ways, Loki even seemed to be a trickier opponent than Bel-Marduk.
“Spring has arrived at Jarnvidr. Although the fight against Ubbo-Sathla has destroyed most of the place, it wouldn’t take long to restore it.”
“So?”
“Have you forgotten where Angrboda’s homeland is?”
Loki tilted his head in confusion, his beautiful eyebrows slightly furrowing. “You’re not suggesting that breathing in the air of her homeland will cure her, are you?”
“Something like that, yes.”
“If some simple forest bathing could cure her—!”
“Jarnvidr isn’t just Angrboda’s homeland but also all Jotunns’ motherland. That’s why it’s the central divine ground of <Jotunheim>,” Chang-Sun reminded Loki. “Besides, correct me if I’m wrong, but I heard that Angrboda has the Mother Terra Celestial’s attribute.”
Jarnvidr, the ‘Iron Forest,’ was every Jotunn’s home, and Angrboda, the forest’s greatest prophet and witch, naturally shared the same destiny as Jarnvidr. While Tiamat originated from the primordial ocean where lives were conceived, Angrboda’s origin was the forest of life.
“Replant the trees in Jarnvidr to Nastrond,” Chang-Sun said.
Loki’s eyes started to shine.
“Since spring has already reached the forest the trees will be coming from, the trees will be able to purify the weakened demonic water fog. Collect essences from the trees and give them back to Angrboda.”
Getting the gist of Chang-Sun’s plan, Loki blankly murmured, “... Give the purified soul fragments to their original owner.”
“Exactly.”
The demonic water fog was made from Angrboda’s soul. Spending so long undoing the curse on <Niflheim> had greatly weakened her soul. Hence, Chang-Sun suggested using trees from Angrboda’s homeland to purify it.
Loki smiled bitterly. “This solution is very simple... yet difficult to execute.”
Even if he had learned about this method much earlier, it wouldn’t have been easy to execute it because he would have had to restore Jarnvidr first. Maintaining <Niflheim> alone was already challenging enough. Taking care of <Jotunheim> on top of that would have been a very difficult task. Loki ultimately would never have tried this solution if he hadn’t met Chang-Sun
His cheeks turned rosy. The thought that he might get his lover back and finally live the future that he had been waiting for delighted him.
Thump!
Chang-Sun slammed the table. “I’ve given you the solution. It’s your turn to uphold your end of the deal.”
Staring right into Loki’s eyes, he continued, “What will <Niflheim> give me in return?”
* * *
Once left alone with Chang-Sun, Bel-Marduk asked, “Do you really believe that you’ll get <Niflheim>?”
“Whether I believe it or not does not matter. It’s something I have to do,” Chang-Sun firmly answered. “That is the only way to restore Bestla’s power.”
“Are you talking about that poem verses of yours?”
Chang-Sun nodded. “Yes.”
Bel-Marduk’s question was relevant to the conversation that Chang-Sun and Loki had earlier.
“What will <Niflheim> give you in return?” Loki repeated.
“That’s right.”
“Hohoho! Sweetie, I think you’re being too greedy here. Angrboda is indeed the love of my life, but you’re asking me to give you all of <Niflheim> just to save her.” Loki smiled alluringly. “Do I look that blinded by love to you?”
There were plenty of precedents in history when love had blinded a person enough to ruin a country. Considering his famous undying love for Angrboda, Loki could have been one of them. However, he had just made it clear that he would never let that happen and that he had not forgotten his duties as a ruler.
“You can threaten me and tell me you’re not going to stop Ubbo-Sathla all you want, but it won’t work. Even if I promise to hand <Niflheim> over to you, my children will definitely try to tear my hair out. Should you still try to subjugate us, you will leave us with no other choice but to fight,” Loki said with a shrug.
“I have no intention of forcing <Niflheim> to fall under my command. That would just create an internal strife that would eventually destroy it.”
“Oh, that is insightful of you. What will you ask in return, then?”
“Give me the verses of [Bestla’s Poem],” Chang-Sun requested.
Loki’s eyes widened. Smiling bitterly, he replied, “You’re even slyer than I thought, sweetie.”
Considering verses of [Bestla’s Poem] were all over <Muspelheim> and <Jotunheim>, which both came from Bestla’s original forces, <Niflheim> had to have some too. Hence, Chang-Sun demanded them as a realistic price for his services.
The demand was enough for Loki to get wind of Chang-Sun’s ultimate goal.
“Be it the Fire Giants, Frost Giants, or Variant Giants of <Niflheim>, every one of them misses Bestla’s glorious days. That’s why we’ve all been holding onto her verses. What do you think will happen if they are all merged into one and mastered for the first time?” Chang-Sun asked.
“People will believe that a new Bestla has been born,” Bel-Marduk answered.
“Exactly. It will make <Niflheim> obey me of their own volition. No matter their political situation, they won’t be able to defy the trend.”
“The old Celestial King will return, and the Giants’ revival will be complete.”
Chang-Sun nodded. “That’s right.”
He planned to subjugate <Niflheim> as naturally as possible by including them in the alliance of revived Giants.
Chuckling, Bel-Marduk narrowed his eyes at him. He then brought up something that Chang-Sun hadn’t mentioned yet. “That’s not all, is it? As Odin’s reincarnation, you’ll reach even higher leagues. The combination of Giant Celestial King Bestla’s <Myth> and the <Myth> Odin dreamed of as a Celestial King... it’ll surely be a sight.”
When Chang-Sun faintly smiled, Bel-Marduk burst into laughter. “That’s quite an adorable idea. If the two can be merged and, after conquering <Muspelheim>, <Jotunheim>, and<Niflheim>, you also go after the old <Asgard> and <Vanaheim>... then that would be a completely different story. You might even reach a level higher than Celestial King.”
Bel-Marduk bared his fangs, causing them to gleam. “Once you have your six hundred sixty-five past reincarnations under control and awaken to your complete and flawless self, you’ll finally have a chance against Ubbo-Sathla.”
Few beings were perfect in the Great Universe—no, the same could be said even for those in the Outer Universe even though they were called Emperors.
“That is the hope you saw in the future timelines, isn’t it?”
Chang-Sun chose not to answer. His silence implied a lot of things, and one of them was that all the timelines that he had seen unveiled a clear solution. Sinmara’s eyes didn’t just show him the paths that he had passed or could have passed. His six hundred sixty-five past reincarnations’ lives, accomplishments, legends, <Myths>... he saw everything that his soul had gone through.
Watching all of them had shown him the best direction that his soul could take—the only way to stop the <Extinction> that Ubbo-Sathla brought.
Hating how composed Chang-Sun was, Bel-Marduk crossed his arms and clicked his tongue. “I was wondering if you planned to just keep hiding this, but you don’t seem to want to now.”
“I thought you would have found out sooner or later anyway.”
“What made you think that?” fr eewebnovel.com
“You and I are fundamentally the same,” Chang-Sun answered.
Bel-Marduk looked displeased, but Chang-Sun understood why he would feel that way. Just several days ago, being told that they were similar to each other would have made him respond the same way.
Chang-Sun hadn’t forgotten about his grudges against Bel-Marduk nor the fact that they were enemies. However, he had accepted that they shared the same roots and that his grudges were a separate issue.
“You would have likely made and executed a plan similar to mine,” Chang-Sun said, “That makes me wonder, though. Why did you choose to create new <Myths> and become who you are now instead of just becoming Odin?”
Despite feeling light-headed, Chang-Sun tried hard to pull himself together. ‘I shouldn’t let him sway me.’
Were his goal to confuse Chang-Sun before the negotiation, Loki succeeded. Judging from J?rmungandr’s reaction, however, it seemed Loki often acted like this.
‘Thanatos also told me to be careful.’
“I should be wary of Loki while subjugating <Niflheim>?” Chang-Sun repeated.
“Yes.”
“He truly must be someone to be reckoned with. He used to be Odin’s rival too, didn’t he?”
Thanatos smiled bitterly. “Hmm...”
“What’s with the smile?”
“Just like you said, he’s indeed formidable in more ways than one.”
Chang-Sun couldn’t understand what Thanatos meant.
“You’ll know once you meet him.”
No one could have expected that Thanatos’ warning would hold this much meaning.
Finding it necessary to take the initiative and stop Loki from swaying him any further, Chang-Sun decided to tackle the obstacle head-on. “I believe you want the cure for Angrboda.”
“Hmph! There’s no need to jump right into such a complicated matter. We can enjoy each other’s company a little more, can’t we? ”Loki asked mischievously, holding his slender index finger against his lip.
Chang-Sun noticed Loki’s eyes had become sharp. “This isn’t really the time to relax, though, is it?”
“Not the time to relax?”
“You do know that <Extinction> is imminent, don’t you?”
Loki’s gaze grew cold, like the time he had blocked the spatial gap to <Nihil>.
Chang-Sun continued, “I won’t be able to close Ubbo-Sathla’s gate next time.”
“I guess. We have a great geographical advantage, but we don’t have anyone who can freely use omnipotence. Besides, Ubbo-Sathla isn’t an idiot. They won’t fall for the same trick twice.” Loki let go of Bel-Marduk’s arm and crossed his legs. Bel-Marduk heaved a sigh of relief, but Loki couldn’t seem to care less. “What’s your plan, then? Even if I somehow save Angrboda, it wouldn’t matter if we meet <Extinction>.”
Chang-Sun nodded.
“Keep in mind that the <Anti-Star> Alliance is a mess right now. Some babies are whining to withdraw from the alliance, so you better stay on high alert, sweetie.” Loki glanced at Bel-Marduk. “Things in <Horoscope> are a total disaster, too. Sorting out the aftermath of all this will be very tough.”
Ubbo-Sathla’s summons had always begun with Sadalmelik using herself as a sacrificial offering. From <Horoscope>’s perspective, it would be like watching a nuclear bomb suddenly drop in the center of their base. They were bound to take the biggest damage. Nevertheless, Bel-Marduk scoffed, showing no interest in the news.
‘He must be used to it,’ Chang-Sun thought.
He didn’t know if Bel-Marduk’s first encounter with Ubbo-Sathla began in the same way, but the trigger had to be similar. Chang-Sun momentarily wondered how many times <Horoscope> had fallen and restored in the process.
“So, what’s your plan?” Loki asked again.
“Are you asking me to reveal all my cards right now?”
“Hmph. You’re really hard to deal with. That means you do have a plan, don’t you, sweetie?”
“I’ll explain it in the <Anti-Star> Alliance’s next general meeting.”
“Fine.” Loki played with his lip for a moment and then crossed his arms. “In that case, let’s get back to the main topic. How are you going to cure Angrboda?”
He narrowed his eyes like a serpent looking for his prey’s weakness. Suffocating tension filled the air.
Woosh, swish, swoosh...!
Chang-Sun had a strong feeling that it would be hard to win against Loki in single combat. ‘A Nine Heaven is certainly powerful.’
In some ways, Loki even seemed to be a trickier opponent than Bel-Marduk.
“Spring has arrived at Jarnvidr. Although the fight against Ubbo-Sathla has destroyed most of the place, it wouldn’t take long to restore it.”
“So?”
“Have you forgotten where Angrboda’s homeland is?”
Loki tilted his head in confusion, his beautiful eyebrows slightly furrowing. “You’re not suggesting that breathing in the air of her homeland will cure her, are you?”
“Something like that, yes.”
“If some simple forest bathing could cure her—!”
“Jarnvidr isn’t just Angrboda’s homeland but also all Jotunns’ motherland. That’s why it’s the central divine ground of <Jotunheim>,” Chang-Sun reminded Loki. “Besides, correct me if I’m wrong, but I heard that Angrboda has the Mother Terra Celestial’s attribute.”
Jarnvidr, the ‘Iron Forest,’ was every Jotunn’s home, and Angrboda, the forest’s greatest prophet and witch, naturally shared the same destiny as Jarnvidr. While Tiamat originated from the primordial ocean where lives were conceived, Angrboda’s origin was the forest of life.
“Replant the trees in Jarnvidr to Nastrond,” Chang-Sun said.
Loki’s eyes started to shine.
“Since spring has already reached the forest the trees will be coming from, the trees will be able to purify the weakened demonic water fog. Collect essences from the trees and give them back to Angrboda.”
Getting the gist of Chang-Sun’s plan, Loki blankly murmured, “... Give the purified soul fragments to their original owner.”
“Exactly.”
The demonic water fog was made from Angrboda’s soul. Spending so long undoing the curse on <Niflheim> had greatly weakened her soul. Hence, Chang-Sun suggested using trees from Angrboda’s homeland to purify it.
Loki smiled bitterly. “This solution is very simple... yet difficult to execute.”
Even if he had learned about this method much earlier, it wouldn’t have been easy to execute it because he would have had to restore Jarnvidr first. Maintaining <Niflheim> alone was already challenging enough. Taking care of <Jotunheim> on top of that would have been a very difficult task. Loki ultimately would never have tried this solution if he hadn’t met Chang-Sun
His cheeks turned rosy. The thought that he might get his lover back and finally live the future that he had been waiting for delighted him.
Thump!
Chang-Sun slammed the table. “I’ve given you the solution. It’s your turn to uphold your end of the deal.”
Staring right into Loki’s eyes, he continued, “What will <Niflheim> give me in return?”
* * *
Once left alone with Chang-Sun, Bel-Marduk asked, “Do you really believe that you’ll get <Niflheim>?”
“Whether I believe it or not does not matter. It’s something I have to do,” Chang-Sun firmly answered. “That is the only way to restore Bestla’s power.”
“Are you talking about that poem verses of yours?”
Chang-Sun nodded. “Yes.”
Bel-Marduk’s question was relevant to the conversation that Chang-Sun and Loki had earlier.
“What will <Niflheim> give you in return?” Loki repeated.
“That’s right.”
“Hohoho! Sweetie, I think you’re being too greedy here. Angrboda is indeed the love of my life, but you’re asking me to give you all of <Niflheim> just to save her.” Loki smiled alluringly. “Do I look that blinded by love to you?”
There were plenty of precedents in history when love had blinded a person enough to ruin a country. Considering his famous undying love for Angrboda, Loki could have been one of them. However, he had just made it clear that he would never let that happen and that he had not forgotten his duties as a ruler.
“You can threaten me and tell me you’re not going to stop Ubbo-Sathla all you want, but it won’t work. Even if I promise to hand <Niflheim> over to you, my children will definitely try to tear my hair out. Should you still try to subjugate us, you will leave us with no other choice but to fight,” Loki said with a shrug.
“I have no intention of forcing <Niflheim> to fall under my command. That would just create an internal strife that would eventually destroy it.”
“Oh, that is insightful of you. What will you ask in return, then?”
“Give me the verses of [Bestla’s Poem],” Chang-Sun requested.
Loki’s eyes widened. Smiling bitterly, he replied, “You’re even slyer than I thought, sweetie.”
Considering verses of [Bestla’s Poem] were all over <Muspelheim> and <Jotunheim>, which both came from Bestla’s original forces, <Niflheim> had to have some too. Hence, Chang-Sun demanded them as a realistic price for his services.
The demand was enough for Loki to get wind of Chang-Sun’s ultimate goal.
“Be it the Fire Giants, Frost Giants, or Variant Giants of <Niflheim>, every one of them misses Bestla’s glorious days. That’s why we’ve all been holding onto her verses. What do you think will happen if they are all merged into one and mastered for the first time?” Chang-Sun asked.
“People will believe that a new Bestla has been born,” Bel-Marduk answered.
“Exactly. It will make <Niflheim> obey me of their own volition. No matter their political situation, they won’t be able to defy the trend.”
“The old Celestial King will return, and the Giants’ revival will be complete.”
Chang-Sun nodded. “That’s right.”
He planned to subjugate <Niflheim> as naturally as possible by including them in the alliance of revived Giants.
Chuckling, Bel-Marduk narrowed his eyes at him. He then brought up something that Chang-Sun hadn’t mentioned yet. “That’s not all, is it? As Odin’s reincarnation, you’ll reach even higher leagues. The combination of Giant Celestial King Bestla’s <Myth> and the <Myth> Odin dreamed of as a Celestial King... it’ll surely be a sight.”
When Chang-Sun faintly smiled, Bel-Marduk burst into laughter. “That’s quite an adorable idea. If the two can be merged and, after conquering <Muspelheim>, <Jotunheim>, and<Niflheim>, you also go after the old <Asgard> and <Vanaheim>... then that would be a completely different story. You might even reach a level higher than Celestial King.”
Bel-Marduk bared his fangs, causing them to gleam. “Once you have your six hundred sixty-five past reincarnations under control and awaken to your complete and flawless self, you’ll finally have a chance against Ubbo-Sathla.”
Few beings were perfect in the Great Universe—no, the same could be said even for those in the Outer Universe even though they were called Emperors.
“That is the hope you saw in the future timelines, isn’t it?”
Chang-Sun chose not to answer. His silence implied a lot of things, and one of them was that all the timelines that he had seen unveiled a clear solution. Sinmara’s eyes didn’t just show him the paths that he had passed or could have passed. His six hundred sixty-five past reincarnations’ lives, accomplishments, legends, <Myths>... he saw everything that his soul had gone through.
Watching all of them had shown him the best direction that his soul could take—the only way to stop the <Extinction> that Ubbo-Sathla brought.
Hating how composed Chang-Sun was, Bel-Marduk crossed his arms and clicked his tongue. “I was wondering if you planned to just keep hiding this, but you don’t seem to want to now.”
“I thought you would have found out sooner or later anyway.”
“What made you think that?” fr eewebnovel.com
“You and I are fundamentally the same,” Chang-Sun answered.
Bel-Marduk looked displeased, but Chang-Sun understood why he would feel that way. Just several days ago, being told that they were similar to each other would have made him respond the same way.
Chang-Sun hadn’t forgotten about his grudges against Bel-Marduk nor the fact that they were enemies. However, he had accepted that they shared the same roots and that his grudges were a separate issue.
“You would have likely made and executed a plan similar to mine,” Chang-Sun said, “That makes me wonder, though. Why did you choose to create new <Myths> and become who you are now instead of just becoming Odin?”
