Chapter 3
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 3: Stolen Goods
As I sat on the outskirts of the world, watching it burn and pondering what to do next.
Along with a massive gale strong enough to tear the world apart, an eagle as massive as myself descended from the sky and struck down on the head of the fire giant.
-Screeeeech!!
"Surtr! To set fire to my nest! You must be itching to die!"
The eagle who grabbed the head of the fire giant, Surtr, with sharp claws and let out a bizarre shriek filled with rage was none other than that middle-aged eagle lady I fought with just a while ago.
Come to think of it, the top of Yggdrasil was that lady's house.
To burn down that lady's house, that guy must be something else, but the same goes for the eagle lady.
Furthermore, the eagle lady, having lost her house, looks the angriest I've ever seen her.
Right before the claws wrapped in a storm could tear Surtr apart, he opened his mouth.
"Greatest of eagles. This is an end destined from long ago, and a destruction for a new beginning. Do not interfere."
"What? Has that time already come?"
"Indeed. Therefore, obediently accept the end and join the cycle."
"...Tsk! I have no intention of interfering with what is foreseen, but I also have no intention of joining it. Handle the apocalypse yourself."
Pacified by just a few words, the eagle lady released Surtr's head with a displeased expression and stepped back.
Wait, that eagle lady is backing down just like this?
It really must be time for the world to perish.
Flapping her wings broadly, the eagle lady passed Surtr, approached me, and landed.
"Why are you sitting there staring blankly? Did you perhaps get hit in the head too hard during our last fight?"
"Eagle lady. You said your nest was blown away. Are you really going to leave it like that? It seems you're the one who injured your head, not me."
"You damn lizard... I told you not to call me that!"
Smack!!
"Gaaah!"
A massive lump of wind gathered in the air and smacked the back of my head.
Seeing her leave Surtr, who destroyed her nest, completely fine, I thought she really had injured her head, but seeing her react to the word "lady," her temper is exactly the same.
After smacking my head a few more times just like that, the lady let out a deep sigh and explained the situation.
"Little one, this is an end destined since the distant past. It is the beginning that ends the era of gods and starts a new world. Do I look happy when my nest has completely burned down? There's nothing good about defying fate, so I am merely complying."
"The words you use, lady, are too difficult to understand."
The end, fate, and all that.
For me, who only ate, slept, and played in Niflheim, thinking it was a reward for working hard in my past life, those words are too difficult.
"I told you not to call me lady! Ahem... You, who only stick to the bottom, eating and sleeping, wouldn't know, but going against the flow brings about a fierce backlash. It's not even my life on the line; defying fate just because a mere nest burned down isn't worth the cost. Just know that."
"Anyway, you're saying it's a natural occurrence, so I should just watch?"
"Yes."
Like that, the eagle lady joined as a bystander and observer, watching the world and everything else completely burn away.
Wait, I thought it was just the eagle lady, but looking again, I also saw Ratatoskr with her shoulders slumped, drooping among the lady's feathers.
"Haa..."
"What. I didn't think you'd be dead, but you sure survived without a single scratch."
The world was doomed anyway, so I dropped the solemn atmosphere I usually maintained and openly mocked her, but Ratatoskr only kept a consistently gloomy expression despite the mockery.
"I know you two don't get along, but don't do that right now."
"Why? Did something happen?"
"She is an apostle, or a being like an avatar, with a part of her mind connected to Yggdrasil. With Yggdrasil burning now, she must be feeling an emptiness as if a part of herself has been ripped away."
"Uh..."
Seeing her rarely slumped figure, I thought I'd tease her lightly, but it seems I got the timing wrong.
To think there was such a situation.
"Um... sorry."
"Forget it. I already knew you were an ignorant pig lizard..."
"Hey, I'm trying to comfort you here."
"Hiss!"
I growled in anger at the sharp words returned after I went out of my way to comfort her, but my anger was instantly suppressed by getting smacked in the back of the head by the eagle lady's wing.
Why only me...!
It felt unfair, but the Rainbows who usually listened to my complaints, or anyone who could be called a friend, were not present here.
Swallowing my grievance, I gave up on teasing or getting revenge on Ratatoskr, and turned my gaze forward again.
Even while we were talking, Surtr, who had been diligently burning the world, was now truly on the verge of the end.
Most of the worlds had collapsed or were on the brink of collapse, and all that was left was Asgard, where those arrogant beings who call themselves gods reside.
Perhaps judging that striking Asgard alone was too much, he crossed the rainbow bridge with countless fire giants.
And as soon as they crossed the bridge, Surtr and the fire giants charged at the gods guarding Asgard and the warriors they had chosen.
A chaotic melee began in an instant, and countless fire giants and warriors died.
The eagle lady watched the life-or-death struggle of the gods with a sneer.
"A meaningless struggle."
"Is it? Still, if that sneaky guy or that ignorant brute step up, it seems like they'd stand a chance..."
"Are you talking about Odin and Thor? Certainly, if those two were there, the tide of battle might change. However, they cannot help because they already have a destined death."
"Those two are going to die?"
"Yes. It is their fate to be bitten to death by the wolf and the snake they abandoned."
I hadn't expected that at all.
To think that sneaky, snake-like old man and that ignorantly strong god are destined to die.
I recalled my past encounters with them.
The sneaky and snake-like old man, Odin, tricked me by proposing a bet out of nowhere, taking my scales and poison, and the ignorantly strong Thor scorched me with lightning as soon as we met, calling me an evil dragon.
Recalling my past with the two of them, I found myself naturally nodding at their deaths.
"They certainly have built up a lot of bad karma."
"They seemed to be struggling to avoid the apocalypse somehow, but if it were that easy, it wouldn't be fate. Rather, those actions would have incurred the hatred of fate, only increasing their enemies."
Yeah, it's just because I have a good personality; if anyone else had suffered what I did, they would be leading the charge to wipe out the gods right now.
I nodded in agreement with the eagle lady's sharp observation.
At that moment, a howl overflowing with murderous intent echoed throughout the world.
-Awooooooo!!
"It seems Odin has died."
"Already?"
"Yes. Those eyes of yours aren't just for decoration, so try tracing that sound just now."
At the eagle lady's words, I nodded and focused power into my eyes.
Unlike the dragons that appear in places like fantasy novels, I have absolutely no talent for magic and cannot use it, but I may be lacking in some areas, yet I am still a dragon, so my eyes are special.
Let's see... Wow. He really is dead, isn't he?
In front of a silver wolf as massive as the eagle lady and me, its mouth stained with blood, Odin lay collapsed as a cold corpse with two-thirds of his body blown away.
As someone who killed Odin, the wolf was no ordinary beast; it instantly noticed my gaze and glared this way with eyes full of murderous intent... but so what?
It's true it's no ordinary beast, but does it really plan to attack me with a body covered in wounds from facing Odin?
As I also revealed my power and glared back fiercely, the wolf, after a brief staring contest, turned its head and left the scene.
Where does a half-dead guy get off acting tough.
While briefly examining Odin's corpse left in the spot where the wolf departed, a long spear gleaming with a golden light caught my eye.
That's Gungnir!
One of the most noble treasures Odin cherished.
The spear that never misses its target, the javelin that heralds the start of a war.
Such a Gungnir had lost its master and was stuck in the ground like trash.
For the first time in a while, my eyes flashed with greed rising from deep within my chest.
"Hey, by the way. If it's the end of the gods, does that mean all the gods will die?"
"Not all. Though most will die."
"Anyway, it means almost all of them are dying. Then it should be fine if I carefully put those masterless treasures to good use, right?"
The eagle lady let out a chuckle, looking at me with dumbfounded eyes.
"Are you planning to go around stealing in this situation?"
"What do you mean stealing! I'm just picking up items that have lost their owners and taking good care of them."
"It's the same thing. Do whatever you want. At a time like this, a carefree guy who can leisurely go around collecting treasures is probably only you anyway."
"Okay. I'll be back then."
Having received permission from the only witness, I stood up and spread my wings.
Then, I broadened my field of vision, selected items that looked good enough to incite my greed among those whose masters had died or disappeared, and mapped out a route to go get them.
Once I decided where to go and flapped my wings, the surrounding scenery changed in an instant, bringing me closer to the treasure.
The first place I went to retrieve something was naturally where Gungnir, the most valuable and finest item among countless treasures, was located.
As soon as I arrived in front of Odin's corpse, I surveyed the surroundings, and after confirming no one was there, I grasped Gungnir in my claw.
Vwoooom-!!
"Whoa there!"
There was a little resistance, but considering it just a cute act of rebellion, I suppressed it with force.
And putting the quieted Gungnir into my mouth, I swallowed it in one gulp.
It's a treasure of Odin, after all; it shouldn't break or rust just because I stored it in my stomach for a bit.
Just as I was about to leave to find the next treasure, having recovered Gungnir.
Feeling something strange, I lowered my head and examined Odin's corpse closely.
"What, it's a fake?"
It was made elaborately, but not enough to fool my eyes checking it up close.
I should have known.
There's no way that eccentric bastard, who's cunning enough to have boiled and eaten hundreds of sly snakes, would die so easily.
Leaving behind the fake corpse of Odin, who had avoided the apocalypse in an innovative way, I blurted out a fact that suddenly came to mind.
"Huh? Then this isn't ownerless loot, it's actual stealing, isn't it?"
Of course, that thought didn't last long.
He should have taken better care of his belongings.