Valkyrie (2)
Valkyrie (2)
Odin recalled the first time she met Nidhogg.
A very long time ago.
It was back when the seeds of Yggdrasil had been planted, and the rapidly growing Yggdrasil supported the nine worlds, just as the world was beginning to stabilize.
A rumor she happened to overhear.
'Deep within the darkness, at the very bottom of the world, lives a terrifying dragon.'
She didn't know who started it or when it began to spread, but at some point, such rumors began to circulate.
Odin felt curious about the rumor, and to verify the truth, she sat upon her throne, Hlidskjalf, intending to observe Niflheim, the place people spoke of.
Since Niflheim was a place where only the dead resided, she usually didn't pay it any mind and had some trouble finding it, but with her skillful manipulation, Odin found the target location before long.
There, just as the rumors said, was a colossal dragon.
A giant dragon with black and blue scales, exhaling poison that could melt the earth with a single breath.
The dragon spent most of its time sleeping, and whenever it occasionally woke up, it gnawed on the roots of Yggdrasil.
Furthermore, while it slept after eating the roots, its already massive size grew even larger.
From then on, Odin began to observe the Dragon of Hatred, Nidhogg.
Because she didn't know if it would become an ally or an enemy when the prophesied Ragnarok occurred in the distant future.
If it could become an ally, she intended to draw Nidhogg to her side.
As time passed, around the time Nidhogg's size had grown 1.5 times larger than when she first saw him.
When his bulk had become so massive that even an ordinary mountain could no longer be compared to him.
Odin, who sat on her throne as usual to observe Nidhogg, faced an unexpected situation.
"?!?!?!"
She had made eye contact with Nidhogg.
Before Odin could withdraw her gaze at the thought that her observation through Hlidskjalf, which had never been caught by anyone before, had been discovered.
From within Nidhogg's wide-open maw, a potent poison capable of melting even a god was sprayed toward Odin.
"Kyaaaaak?!"
Even though she knew it wouldn't reach her, Odin, terrified by his poison that melted everything around it, let out a scream befitting her appearance for the first time in a very long while.
And, calming her startled heart, she slumped into her throne and recalled the sight she had just seen.
Nidhogg, breathing poison toward her with eyes full of hatred directed at who-knows-where.
"Heuek... I should avoid associating with him if possible."
That was the conclusion Odin reached after her observation.
When Odin, who had briefly recalled that meeting-that-wasn't-really-a-meeting from the past, opened her eyes again.
The place was not the splendid and grand palace of Asgard where Odin used to live, but the newly built, chilly, and desolate palace of the second Asgard.
Inside the audience chamber, there were only Odin and Freyja.
Odin sat as if lying down on the throne, and Freyja glared at her with eyes that seemed displeased with something.
Freyja spoke with a voice full of anger.
"Are you telling me to abandon the Valkyrie right now?"
"Yes. As you know, once she's caught by Nidhogg, there's no hope for that Valkyrie anymore. It wouldn't be strange if she had already melted into liquid by now."
"How can you be so sure? And even if that were the case, the Valkyrie's revenge...!"
"Look at reality. There are too many things we need to resolve right now to take revenge immediately."
Just the immediate tasks—from installing barriers inside the Gates to isolating those Gates from the System to seize control—they had many mountains to climb to completely turn this world into the second Asgard.
Freyja, knowing this well, couldn't offer any rebuttal, and Odin let out a sigh, speaking as if to persuade her.
"Huu... I'm not saying we won't take revenge. It's just that now isn't the time. Once we've completely made this place our territory, it won't be too late to take revenge then."
"...I know we need time. But... I don't want to lose anyone else."
"......"
"I came here abandoning my family and friends, but because of that, I don't want to lose anyone even more."
Freyja made a pained expression as she thought of the family and other gods she had to leave behind in the destroyed world, and since it was the same for Odin, her expression also distorted.
"Freyja..."
"I understand. I get it. I know very well that this is just useless stubbornness. So. Please promise me."
"What?"
"Once the work we need to do here is mostly finished, you must promise to take revenge on Nidhogg."
"Of course. Just as we are restricted, Nidhogg is also not in a normal state. Once Asgard is rebuilt, we can bypass the System, regain our original power, and take our revenge."
At Odin's unhesitating assurance—she who still firmly believed that Nidhogg had weakened—Freyja believed those words and turned her body.
"Then I'll go to handle the remaining preparations."
"Right. Call me when the preparations are finished."
"Is someone talking about me again?"
"Why do you ask?"
"No. My ear is just itchy."
It probably wasn't Ratatoskr, who was still recovering his strength, so was Odin or Freyja badmouthing me?
I carefully scratched my ear with a sharp claw.
"It looks dangerous, should I do it for you?"
"No. It's fine."
I declined Baek Yeon's offer to clean my ear and sat idly, watching Shin Su-ah, who was training hard.
Shin Su-ah, wearing the Valkyrie armor for training, drew Magic Power from her body and thinly coated the armor with it.
And a woman wearing identical armor, who was watching her from the side, scolded her.
"Not like that. You do it like this."
The one personally teaching Shin Su-ah how to handle power was none other than the Valkyrie Linnea.
I had captured her several weeks ago and was on the verge of torturing her to find out information, but surprisingly, she was perfectly fine.
It was because Linnea, realizing that Baek Yeon really intended to torture her, had proposed a deal.
Teaching Shin Su-ah how to use the Valkyrie's power, and teaching Baek Yeon the Valkyrie spear techniques bestowed by Odin.
In exchange for giving up those two things, Linnea survived perfectly fine even though she didn't spill any information.
"Like—this."
"I don't know what that 'like this' is supposed to be."
"You don't just thinly coat the armor with Magic Power. You must let the armor absorb the Magic Power naturally, like a sponge absorbing water. Only then can you draw out 100% of the armor's performance and use it as if it were your own body."
"Even if you say that, having the armor absorb Magic Power... it's not easy."
"It's alright. You'll be able to do it soon if you keep at it. Let's try again!"
To me, it all looked the same, so I didn't know what the difference was, but Shin Su-ah must have felt something different, as she had kept Linnea for over a week practicing only that.
"Still, it's a relief that there seems to be progress."
"There's progress?"
"Yes. At first, it felt like that armor's unique power was just layered over Shin Su-ah-yang's Magic Power, but now I can see the two powers gradually mixing."
"Is that so. I guess it wasn't a completely useless endeavor."
"If she becomes able to freely use the power that has become completely one, Shin Su-ah-yang will become even stronger."
"Ooh... then what about you?"
Just as Shin Su-ah was learning how to handle the Valkyrie's power, Baek Yeon had also been taught the spear techniques used by the Valkyries, so I asked her about it.
"It is an excellent spear technique. Especially the spear-throwing method; it's superior to the point of being on a different level from humans."
"Well. That old man was indeed good at throwing spears."
It was Odin who bestowed the spear techniques upon the Valkyries.
And Odin also used a spear as her main weapon; in particular, her spear technique focused more on spear-throwing than fighting with the spear in hand.
"By 'old man'?"
"Odin. She's the King of Gods who sneaked into this world like me. She's a fellow who carries a hundred snakes in her gut, so be careful if you ever meet her."
"I understand."
Even if I gave such a warning, there wouldn't be much Shin Su-ah or Baek Yeon could do if Odin set her mind to something.
She possesses magic skills that are bothersome even for my true body, so if she approaches after changing her appearance, they'd be caught in an instant.
Just as I was worrying that I should prepare some kind of countermeasure now that I knew Odin existed.
Jiiiiing—
A vibration rang from Baek Yeon's pocket, and she took out her smartphone and answered the call.
"Yes... yes... I'll try to mention it for now, but don't get your hopes up."
After talking with someone for a moment, Baek Yeon hung up and spoke to me.
"I received a call from the Association."
"What did they say?"
"They say there's something they'd like to ask of Nidhogg-nim."
"A favor for me?"
Since the time I formed an expedition and explored the Gate, the Association hadn't looked for me.
They had discovered two double Gates inside the Dragon's Nest Gate where my true body resides, but after nearly being wiped out while exploring just one area, exploration of the double Gates inside the Dragon's Nest was prohibited, and the Association only harvested resources from inside the Gate after paying me a fee with my permission.
A call from the Association, which hadn't contacted me for weeks... could it be?
"What kind of favor?"
"They say another Gate Mutation has occurred."
As expected.
According to Shin Su-ah, I had heard that another Gate Mutation would break out around this time, so it was something I already knew.
And I also knew that there was something I needed inside that Gate.
"Was it a request to do something about the interior of the mutated Gate?"
"There was mention of helping with the internal exploration, but if that's impossible, it was a request for help in case of a potential Gate Break."
"Tell them I accept."
"Understood."
While Baek Yeon was contacting the Association again, I called out to Shin Su-ah, who was training hard.
"Nidhogg-nim. Did you call?"
"Yeah. I heard it finally appeared."
"By 'finally'?"
"The Gate Mutation."
"Aha. Finally."
Together with Shin Su-ah, who answered as if she had been waiting, we prepared to hunt the Giant.