Celebration and the Beginning of the Wind (6): Odin
Odin. She was the creator of rune script and the supreme deity of Germanic mythology, bearer of countless names and titles. The god of rage worshipped by the Berserk tribe, one of the three great barbarian races. When I thought of it that way, it clicked in a few places.
In the dream I’d had, Odin was a woman consumed by curiosity about everything in the world. In a sense, she was the ultimate role model for mages—a total psychopath. Up to that point, I could call her relatively normal. As a scholar myself, I could even muster a bit of respect for that kind of attitude toward life. That kind of insatiable curiosity is what drives civilization forward, after all.
But normal people don’t get so pissed off when they can’t find an answer that their stomach starts boiling with rage, right? And then the “solution” she came up with was something like, “I’m hungry, so I’ll cut off my own flesh, grill it, eat it, and regenerate with a potion.” What kind of awesome-yet-insane conclusion was that?
She probably didn’t want to receive human sacrifice, so she offered her own life instead… True self-sacrifice. A miracle magic where she offered herself as the ritual sacrifice to summon unknown knowledge through a mental summoning, then resurrected the version of herself that had been sacrificed on the altar once the summoning ended.
Compared to the foolish gods of the Aztecs, she’s practically conscientious. But that’s still not the thought process of a sane person. I tried to think of it in the best possible light. No matter how I looked at it, though, she was just a massive fucking lunatic. What kind of drugs would you have to take for your brain to develop that kind of structure? Now I completely understood why that crazy hot mess was called the goddess of madness in Germania.
“Indeed. I must admit I am impressed by the courage it takes to so recklessly invoke a god’s name.”
Veronica spoke as if she found the whole thing absurd. Her reaction left me slightly stunned.
“They’re gods who haven’t involved themselves in human lives for hundreds of years. What’s the big deal?”
“…I believe that one day they will return.”
“I’m not qualified to comment on your faith. I’m all for them coming back, but I’d appreciate it if they didn’t drop divine punishment on me when they do.”
As I spoke, I reflected on the Norse mythology knowledge I’d picked up back on Earth. From what I remembered, the gods in those stories couldn’t avoid Ragnarok—a great apocalypse—and were destroyed. It wasn’t proper academic knowledge, but that was how it went in movies and novels.
In this world too, the phrases “Twilight of the Gods” and “Doom of the Gods” appear in records left in the ruins of ancient civilizations. Whether the gods had actually been destroyed or not, however, not even a daughter-in-law could know for sure. The records were damaged along with the fall of those ancient civilizations.
It wasn’t as if every single god from every country had joined hands and gone out in a blaze of glory together. Why had all divine intervention on the mortal plane stopped simultaneously after the mythic age? That was a missing link in history that even the modern people of this world didn’t understand.
“Even so, that was an unexpected question. Were you matching the topic to my story?” Veronica smoothly changed the subject.
My question must have seemed completely out of left field. I shook my head.
“No. It’s a phrase that appears in the incantation of a spell I use.”
“Your magic… the one that weaves the mana of the old gods, yes?”
“You knew about that?”
Tabula had noticed it too. Was it common knowledge among rune mages? Veronica raised a finger, manifesting a red rune above it. It was ᚬ (Óss), a variant of ᚨ (Ansuz). A rune with a far broader meaning of “god” than the original.
"ᚬ (Óss)"
⟨ Rune of the Divine ⟩
“The mana of that spell felt similar to the mana of runes. It seems to share the same origin or motif as rune magic.”
“Yeah, probably. It’s called Beast Regression. The incantation starts with yáǵeswō deiwōm dyēus—‘Pray to the Sky God.’ I was actually wondering if this magic might be imitating Lord Odin.”
At Veronica’s words, I recited the Beast Regression incantation.
"yáǵeswō deiwōm dyēus"
⟨ Pray to the Sky God ⟩
Sky God—deiwōm dyēus. Here, deiwōm simply meant “god,” more like a title similar to the Nord “Professor.” Therefore, dyēus had to be the actual name the primitive people who built that ruin used for their sky god.
“The primitives who created the magic probably didn’t know Odin’s true name, so they used their own term and it stuck.”
Once I thought that far, the hypothesis started to take shape. It was like how the Korean word for “retard” originally insulted the disabled but in the 21st century became a catch-all insult for anyone with a screwed-up head or personality.
In other words, the Beast Regression incantation essentially means “Pray to the god Dyēus.”
Veronica seemed to have reached a similar conclusion. She erased the rune and spoke.
“Then that magic must be imitating the mana of the Sky God. No wonder it didn’t feel like any of the pure old gods’ mana I know. So that was why.”
“Probably.”
Beast Regression wasn’t a properly formalized magic like the prayers of priests or nuns. My guess was that it had been crudely copied by eye, so they couldn’t replicate it 100% accurately. After all, the incantation itself is fucking primitive as hell.
Dyēus was the root of Deus, the word for god in Romanian. It was the same Deus from the theatrical term Deus Ex Machina and the origin of Zeus from Greek mythology.
Well, at first I did wonder if the Sky God might have been Zeus. If Beast Regression was a magic imitating Zeus—the married-woman-killing, rape-master god of lust—then it would explain why my dick had gotten bigger. Fuck, everything lines up perfectly. The foreshadowing was so well-placed I nearly slapped my own balls in approval.
But there is no Zeus in this world.
The Olympian gods from Greek mythology simply did not exist in this world. It wasn’t that they had existed and then been destroyed. If those horny bastards had been here, they would have failed to control their dicks, caused incidents everywhere, spread their seed, and left their names all over history.
Yet there are no records of the Olympian gods at all. Therefore, the hypothesis that the Greek gods never existed in this world from the very beginning seemed solid.
The fact that the Olympian gods who had decorated my memories as a kid didn’t exist here was genuinely depressing. I really wanted to see Aphrodite and Hercules in the flesh. Sob. Tears are actually welling up…
…Sorry. That was a lie. I’m not sad at all. As a married man, the existence of those NTR-loving manwhore gods would be nothing less than cosmic horror to me.
Therefore, in this world, the term “Sky God” referred to either Odin or Uranus. After all, not many gods from other pantheons governed the heavens.
But if that’s the case, they should have just put the actual name in the incantation, damn it.
“Pray to Odin (yáǵeswō deiwōm Óðinn).”
“Pray to Uranus (yáǵeswō deiwōm Wérunom).”
Logically, one of those should have been the correct version. What’s the difference between this and thinking the Moonwalk is cool and copying it without knowing who Michael Jackson is?
Anyway, fuck. Those stupid primitive ancient homo isekai-tus bastards. It was sloppy as hell, but I suppose it couldn’t be helped. If Odin hadn’t told the primitives her real name when she created the spell, there was no way they could have known it. Or maybe they were trying to show respect by using an epithet.
Still, it pissed me off. If I had a guy calling me “Professor Stone-Smasher, you’re so cool!” I’d smack him in the head and yell, “You fucking idiot, at least get the title right!”
“Anyway, thanks to you my question’s been answered. I appreciate it.”
I said this to Veronica as I picked up my teacup. The fact that she’d poured me more meant I should drink it. Maybe the magic keeping my sanity intact had a time limit? If I didn’t drink, I might start spouting nonsense like “Fellatio handle” and climb onto Veronica’s back again.
Fortunately, having regained my senses, the tea tasted perfectly normal. Veronica rested her chin on her hand and waved dismissively.
“This is nowhere near enough to repay you for saving my life. I am currently searching for a suitable gift for our next meeting, so you need only look forward to our reunion.”
“Heh. Any idea when that’ll be?”
“This is already the second time I have been dragged into your dreams. We keep meeting like this without me having to lift a finger.”
She was right. I was curious why our dreams kept connecting, but Veronica didn’t seem to know either. Asking would be pointless.
“By the way, your answers came really smoothly. Did you research what I asked about last time?”
“No, I did not look anything up separately. I did prepare a written summary in case you asked about rune magic, however.”
Oh right, I needed to ask about that too. I paused mid-sip and spoke.
“That’s right. Veronica, didn’t you say that we humans can’t draw out the true power of rune magic?”
“Another sudden change of topic. As far as I know, yes. I heard your kind were also cursed by the gods during the mythic age, just like us.”
“But I can use it.”
“……………………………Huh?”
Veronica froze like she’d just heard Batman’s secret identity was Peter Parker. I finished the rest of my tea, using the beautiful mare’s slightly adorable dumbfounded face as a snack.
Looking at me, Veronica’s voice trembled.
“…You’re lying.”
“One hundred percent pure, unadulterated truth.”
When I sent that giant golem of the dark mage to the afterlife, I had realized the true meaning of the ᚨ (Ansuz) rune and was able to use it.
ᚨ (Ansuz) — The true rune of the mouth. It connects consciousness and delivers words directly.
“ᚨ (Ansuz).”
I activated the rune for the skeptical Veronica. The rune’s function—representing the mouth that delivers speech—linked my consciousness directly to Veronica’s.
—Can you hear me, Veronica? I am speaking directly into your head right now…
“………………………Huh? Haa?”
Veronica’s mouth fell open when I showed her with action. Then she suddenly shot to her feet, grabbed my shoulders, and started shaking me violently. She wasn’t as bad as Franc, but she was surprisingly strong.
“Why?! How?! Did you overcome the curse?! What did you do?! How could you escape a restriction imposed by the gods themselves?! Tell me!!”
“It wasn’t really overcoming it. It just… started working while I was doing it.”
“Don’t spout such nonsense!! That’s impossible!! This is a divine curse we’re talking about!!”
—SCREECH! Veronica clung to me desperately, screaming loud enough to burst my eardrums.
“Overcoming the curse is the long-cherished wish of our entire clan!! I beg you!! Tell me the method!!”
She even fell to her knees and grabbed my clothes. I was taken aback by how frantic she was.
Was the curse really that serious?
When I had awakened the rune, I hadn’t felt anything blocking me. That was why I’d brought it up so casually earlier. Was it because I was from Earth and could use it without being affected by the curse? It seemed plausible, yet also not.
Veronica must have misinterpreted my thoughtful silence. She pleaded with heartbreaking desperation.
“I know it is shameless to ask this after you have already shown me such grace!! I will give you anything I can!! Whatever you desire, I will devote the rest of my life to obtaining it!! So please, I beg you!!”
“Look, I do want to help, but…”
Her desperation was so palpable that I started thinking hard.
“What exactly does this curse entail?”
“Our clan’s curse has three major aspects!! We cannot take our divine forms in front of others, we cannot carry the pure upon our backs, and we must bear this curse in our blood for all eternity!! Those three!!”
So it was a curse that forced them into the form of virgin-allergic horses and made them pass it down to their children. It sounded both vicious and strangely simple.
After listening to Veronica’s explanation, something occurred to me and I asked about it too.
“Now that I think about it, that big horse called Hamal said it gets itchy when carrying people on its back. Are they cursed too? Though scratching the itch made it better.”
“Hamal…?”
Veronica’s eyes shrank to the size of peas. Her eyelids fluttered so hard it looked like she might faint.
“Grani!! It must be Grani!! Have you even lifted Grani’s curse?!”
What the hell is Grani? Proper nouns don’t get translated by my ability, damn it.
I pushed Veronica’s head aside as she pressed against me like someone clinging to a branch on a cliff.
“I didn’t lift it, just temporarily relieved it. When someone else rode it, the itch came back immediately. Is it that big, gray, lazy horse?”
“Yes!! That is undoubtedly a trait of Grani’s descendants!! Those creatures are cursed to be unable to carry people because their original form is that of a horse!!”
This was an unexpectedly huge twist. Fuck, those hippo-horse hybrid bastards were divine descendants? I was so stunned that I accidentally blurted out the next thing without thinking.
“And I also lifted the curse on a unicorn.”
“………………………………Eh?”
“The unicorn dark mage I fought the other day was in human form. Didn’t he have the same curse? But he fought in front of people in human shape.”
Abidus, the human virgin detector who distinguished Ada from Huda with a blue barrier, had definitely been in human form. A completely fucked-up-in-both-personality-and-face human-shaped piece of shit.
“His horn was broken, but that was a side effect of black magic. He spoke as if their leader had restored his original form—”
“How?! How?! How?! How?! How?! How?!”
“Hey, hey!! Calm down!! Stop shoving your head at me!! Don’t stab me with your horn!!”
—SQUIIIIISH!
Veronica rubbed the horn on her head against my stomach. Fuck, if that horn had been pointing forward, she would’ve put a hole in my gut!
“How?! How?! How?! How?! How?! How?! How?! How?! How?! How?! How?! How?! How?! How?! How?! How?!”
“Aaaargh!! Calm the fuck down, you crazy mare!!”
Veronica had completely ditched her arrogant tone and turned into a broken cassette tape on repeat. This damn horse couldn’t hide her true nature after all! Did she have some kind of rivalry with the unicorns? No wonder the crazy ones worshipped her as their highest god!
—BOOM!!
Then it happened. I jumped at the sudden sound of collapse. Maybe because my mind was in chaos, but the cabin had crumbled and vanished. This was the same sign of waking I’d felt last time in the dream!
“—Oh no!”
Veronica seemed to finally regain her senses when she noticed the change. She peeled herself off me. She must have realized her rampage was causing my dream to break apart.
Looking up at the sky in panic, she spoke urgently.
“Y-you there!! Where are you right now?!”
“Huh? I’m in a place called Sargadis near Heisvent, where we met last time.”
“Britannia! It is far! But it does not matter!! I will definitely come find you and hear the rest of what you told me today!!”
“Wait, even if you’re that excited, I don’t really have any idea how to—”
“Ah, fuck.”
My body began floating into the air mid-sentence. The sensation of gravity inverting between sky and earth, like being sucked into a vacuum cleaner. It was the phenomenon that occurred when I woke from the dream.
Veronica cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone and shouted.
“Do you understand?! Wait for me!! I will reach Sargadis before autumn ends, no matter what!”
“But how are you going to find me in that pony form—”
“That is for me to figure out!! Understood?! Do not go anywhere else—!!”
—SWOOOOOOSH!!
Veronica’s shout grew distant. With the sensation of falling, I didn’t even have time to reply before I was sucked into the hole in the sky.
Shuuuuuuuuuu—!!
Right before my consciousness awakened, a sun floating beside the hole in the sky entered my vision.
“—The hell?”
I widened my eyes at the color of that sun. It was a sun I had never seen the last time I was here. And it felt strangely familiar.
It was the same white flame that sometimes filled my mind when my rage passed the critical point after I obtained Beast Regression—the flame of the Professor Slayer. It was also the same soul flame I had seen when I purified the giant golem’s soul reactor.
The sun floating in my dream world was burning with exactly the same white flame.
—Pop.
Before I could even consider what that meant, my consciousness shook off the sleep demon and woke up.