Fated Encounter (2)
Fated Encounter (2)
I suddenly brought Yoo Da-eun, who had been waiting outside, into the house.
"You, wait in the living room for a moment."
After making her wait in the living room, I washed Haeryeong, who was covered in dust from playing outside, made her clean, and sent her in to rest.
"Can't I stay with Ajossi?"
"No. Wait in your room while we talk."
Since someone from Truth's Eye had come personally, I guessed it wasn't for an ordinary conversation, so I sent Haeryeong in to rest.
Finally letting go of her tail, Haeryeong entered her assigned room with a gloomy expression.
I should buy her some ice cream later to soothe her pouting heart.
Only after Haeryeong returned to her room did I go to the living room. In the meantime, Yoo Da-eun was waiting leisurely, drinking tea and eating snacks she seemed to have taken from the kitchen on her own.
"The tea is delicious."
"I don't recall giving you permission to take it and drink it as you please."
"I received permission 3 minutes and 26 seconds later, so wouldn't it be fine?"
"That's the future me, not the current me. Besides, didn't you say you couldn't see my future?"
According to Yoo Da-eun, the fates of Nana or Shin Su-ah were so twisted that it was hard to see even an inch ahead. So how did she know the future where I'd give permission 3 minutes and 26 seconds later?
"It's just hard to see, not impossible, right? This is one of the few futures we've seen... though I didn't expect Nidhogg-ssi to be a married man."
"What?"
"Oh? Then are you planning to deny it? Even with such a cute child?"
Yoo Da-eun's fingertip pointed.
Following that point, I turned my gaze to see Haeryeong, who had come out of her room at some point and was peeking her head out from behind the wall, watching us as if monitoring.
"She's cute~"
"Haeryeong is a child entrusted to me by a deceased acquaintance, not my biological child."
"Was that so? I didn't know because I couldn't see the detailed future."
I was dumbfounded by how she nonchalantly moved on after turning a bachelor into a married man with a kid.
I wanted to call her out on her rude attitude right away, but Haeryeong was listening, and I didn't think she came all this way for something trivial, so I decided to put that aside for now.
Instead, I got to the point.
"First of all, why did you come all the way here?"
"Ah, I forgot to mention that first."
Setting down her teacup, Yoo Da-eun spoke in a serious voice, unlike her usual self.
"Nidhogg-nim, it is time for you to reunite with your ill-fated relationship."
"An ill-fated relationship?"
An ill-fated relationship, huh.
I thought back to the past for a moment, but there were so many opponents who could be called ill-fated relationships that I didn't know what she meant.
Seeing my puzzled face as I pondered, Yoo Da-eun explained in more detail.
"Yes. The gods who crossed over from the same world as Nidhogg-nim. Odin, the Main God of Asgard, and the gods under her command are scheduled to begin interfering with the world in earnest."
"Odin? But a god with power like hers shouldn't be able to just come out of the Gate at will."
I already knew Odin was in this world from the moment I captured Linnea.
However, according to her, Odin was still busy with the reconstruction of Asgard. Just as I indirectly interfere with this world through an avatar, the system of this world isn't so loose that a being with power on the level of Odin can just step out of a Gate and interfere with the world at will.
If there were a way, it would only be by using something like an avatar, just like me.
And as if she had already anticipated my answer, Yoo Da-eun shook her head with a bitter smile.
Could it be that Odin found a way to interfere with this world with her full power?
"Normally, that would be the case."
"Normally?"
"Yes. Since Odin-nim also possesses power at least as formidable as Nidhogg-nim's, she was expected to have difficulty interfering with the world."
"Did she find an exit through magic?!"
I added my own reasoning, but only a denial came back, indicating that wasn't it.
"Bjorn has attached himself to Odin-nim."
"Who the hell is Bjorn?"
"Bjorn is a member of Truth's Eye who, like me, can see destiny. He chose Odin-nim for the future of humanity, just as I chose Nidhogg-nim. And by providing Odin-nim with massive resources, he succeeded in allowing her to interfere outside the Gate, albeit limitedly."
"Wow... you don't have anything for me?"
Odin coming out of the Gate is certainly shocking news.
But that's not what's important to me right now.
I've been preparing for someone like Odin for a long time, and now that I've arranged various means, I'm confident I can win even if we clash.
So what's disappointing?
It's Yoo Da-eun's support.
While the other side received enough support for Odin to interfere outside the Gate, all I've received from Yoo Da-eun is some information about a future I haven't interfered with.
If I had received support from Truth's Eye like Odin did and poured it all into Ratatoskr, I wouldn't need to fear someone like Odin, nor would I need to waste Giant's Hearts that I can no longer obtain.
I glared crookedly at Yoo Da-eun, who had offered no support or anything since that conversation, but it wasn't like support would suddenly appear just because I did that.
"I'm sorry. There are few comrades within Truth's Eye who share my views..."
"What about the ones who sided with Odin, like that Bjorn guy?"
"About half?"
"That's a lot of them."
"Ehehe. Instead, Nidhogg-nim has me."
"Get away from me, you."
Yoo Da-eun approached and clung to me, acting cute.
Then, Haeryeong, who had approached at some point, appeared between us and pushed Yoo Da-eun away from me.
And Haeryeong took that spot instead.
"Oh my."
"Hmph!!"
Yoo Da-eun, who was pushed away unexpectedly, was bewildered at first, but then she saw Haeryeong, who had pushed her, and laughed as if she were cute. However, Haeryeong glared at Yoo Da-eun as if checking a rival and turned her head away.
"She's cute."
"Eeeek!!"
Despite that reaction, Yoo Da-eun seemed to like it and clung to me with Haeryeong sandwiched in between.
For a moment, there was a tug-of-war between Haeryeong, who was trying to push her away somehow, and Yoo Da-eun, who clung on as if she didn't care.
And the winner of that tug-of-war was, surprisingly, Yoo Da-eun.
Where did that strength come from? She had defeated a dragon in physical strength, no matter how young the dragon was.
"Fufufu, then as the winner, shall I receive my rightful reward?"
"Hieee...!"
The exhausted Haeryeong was caught by Yoo Da-eun and sentenced to a free hug.
Desperate looks asking for help flew from Haeryeong, but the world of competition is cold.
This is the fight you chose.
Endure it with grit and spite.
When I ignored Haeryeong's gaze, she was caught by Yoo Da-eun with a shocked face and became like an attachment doll.
Still, I couldn't completely ignore Haeryeong, so I restrained Yoo Da-eun at an appropriate point.
"That's enough, let's get back to the main point."
Haeryeong, released from Yoo Da-eun's arms, refused to even come to me and ran toward her assigned room without looking back.
Yoo Da-eun, who watched the departing Haeryeong with a regretful expression, smacked her lips and turned her head toward me.
"Yes, if you have any questions, please ask."
"I understand that half of Truth's Eye went over to Odin's side, and I understand that Odin was able to come out of the Gate with the support of Truth's Eye... but exactly when is that point in time?"
"5..."
"5 days? If it's 5 days, there's plenty of time to prepare."
"4, 3, 2, 1..."
"??"
"Now."
Tiriririring—!
As soon as the countdown ended, the smartphone I received from Shin Su-ah rang.
The name on the screen was Baek Yeon.
For a call to come from her, who was handling Association business...
"Shouldn't you answer it quickly?"
"Tsk. You should have come and informed me of such an important matter in advance."
To think it wasn't 5 days, but 5 seconds.
When I answered the call, I heard Baek Yeon's urgent voice.
[Nidhogg-nim! Are you at home right now?!]
"Yeah. I am."
[If so, please turn on the TV right now and check the news!]
I wondered what she meant by telling me to watch the news out of the blue without any explanation, but sensing something unusual, I operated the remote control nearby and turned on the TV.
There was no need to ask which news to watch.
As soon as I turned on the TV, every broadcasting station was covering one piece of news as a real-time breaking report.
It was a scene that seemed to have been filmed from quite a distance, but despite that, it was massive.
A 'land' so huge it was comparable to my true form was floating in the sky.
It was a situation where one would believe it even if told an island was flying through the air.
At the bottom of the news screen broadcasting the shocking scene, one sentence passed repeatedly.
[Did you check it?]
"Yeah. I just checked it. So, do you know what that is?"
[I don't know. The Association is also trying to grasp the situation, but since an unmeasurable rank Gate Break is a first, everyone is in a state of panic.]
I had heard before that the Association and Truth's Eye were in a cooperative relationship, but the Association was reacting as if they had no idea at all.
Small but urgent voices could be heard over the smartphone.
Could it be that only Truth's Eye was in league with Odin?
"Is that perhaps..."
"Yes. That is the new 'Asgard' that Odin created after crossing over to this world. Originally, it should have been inside a Gate, but thanks to the support of Truth's Eye, they succeeded in intentionally causing a Gate Break and moving it entirely to this world."
As Yoo Da-eun finished speaking, a number of small dots took flight into the sky from the floating Asgard.
Since the news screen was filmed from far away, it would look like dots to others, but to me, with a dragon's vision, it was very clear what they were.
Valkyries.
Valkyries wearing armor like Shin Su-ah or Linnea took flight all at once and began heading toward North Korea.