Fated Encounter (6)
Fated Encounter (6)
Wisdom obtained by hanging from Yggdrasil for nine days, offering oneself as a sacrifice.
It is Odin's most famous anecdote and her most powerful strength.
To be honest, when I heard the rumors, I wondered just how great of a thing she could have gotten her hands on, but experiencing it firsthand, she is definitely no ordinary opponent.
Odin neutralized my attacks by using all sorts of magic obtained through that wisdom.
Even though I am clearly superior in both magic power and physical ability, Odin is dealing with me composedly.
"Then how about this."
As I released a vast amount of magic power, the weather around me began to twist, and a blizzard started to howl.
The range of the blizzard gradually expanded, covering the surrounding area, including Asgard.
The cold I naturally acquired by living my whole life in Niflheim.
The essence of Niflheim given to me by Hel.
The two combined to make the surrounding environment similar to Niflheim.
"The cold of Niflheim. It certainly would have been dangerous if I were a lower god."
As Odin said that, a small ember rose above her palm.
The ember floated into the air and grew in size, making only the area around Odin warm.
"Then try blocking this too."
I opened my mouth again and fired a Breath toward Odin.
This Breath contained not only poison but also the cold of Niflheim.
Knowing full well that she could not avoid the Breath mixed with frigid cold and extreme poison, Odin tried to absorb the Breath by tearing through space once again.
"Ut! This is!"
However, the cold of Niflheim, reinforced by my magic power, froze the very space itself as it passed through the rift.
Odin's arm began to freeze in an instant.
Without hesitation, she quickly severed her own arm.
The arm severed from Odin crumbled and disappeared due to the cold and poison before it even touched the ground.
It was a judgment worthy of the Goddess of War and Madness.
I tried to pressure Odin, who had lost one arm, but she quickly constructed a defensive spell and placed her hand on the cross-section of the severed arm.
Then, a light-green magic circle wrapped around Odin's hand, and the severed arm regenerated at a rapid speed.
Odin returned to her original form as if there had been no injury from the start.
However, the regeneration of the arm must have been quite a blow, as sweat was beaded on her forehead.
"Do you still think you can make me submit, Odin?"
"Hu, huhu. As expected of Nidhogg. But, thanks to your carelessness, I've bought quite a bit of time."
Ttak!
Wiping away her sweat, Odin snapped her fingers.
What is she trying to do now?
I looked around, wary of any magic being activated, but that wasn't what Odin was aiming for.
What appeared as she snapped her fingers were not spells, but other gods.
The figures of gods were casting some kind of magic at a slight distance away from me.
Don't tell me she was preparing magic by blinding me and using the other gods!
"You tricked me, Odin!"
"Did you expect fair and square from me, the Goddess of War?"
"Now!!"
The magic was activated in response to Freyja's shout.
However, since I have no knowledge of magic, there is no way for me to know what that magic is.
For now, I just have to trust this strong body and endure.
It was a fairly large-scale magic circle, and contrary to the expectation that they would have prepared a definitive finishing blow to defeat me.
What came out of the magic circle was an ordinary-looking chain.
If there was anything unusual, it was that a strange magic power could be felt, and it was closer to silver than iron?
Still, as it was an attack prepared by several gods united as one, I had no intention of just taking it.
I took another breath and spat out a Breath toward the chains.
Kwaaaa!!
The Breath, carrying cold and poisonous energy, collided with the chains.
Contrary to the expectation that it would freeze and shatter the chains at once, the Breath did not cause any damage to them.
It endured a Breath that even freezes space?
No, that's not it.
The Breath literally passed through the chains.
Before I could even realize what was happening, I had to twist my body to avoid the chains.
However, the speed at which the chains extended easily exceeded my expectations.
I succeeded in avoiding most of the chains, but I failed to avoid a single one, and one of my legs was bound by it.
"A mere chain like this...!"
I pulled my leg hard to break the chain.
The chain, pulled taut as if it would break at any moment, did not pull any further as if it were firmly fixed somewhere, nor did it break.
"It endured my strength?"
"Heh... are you flustered?"
"Odin! What did you do to the chains!"
"It won't break, will it? Of course it won't. That is..."
Because it's 'Gleipnir.'
Odin looked down at me with a gloomy sneer.
I wanted to rush in and bite her to pieces right now, but I couldn't because I couldn't leave the range of the chains, like a dog on a leash.
Instead, swallowing my anger, I thought about what Odin had said.
Gleipnir.
It's a name I've heard somewhere before...
Ah! Among the things Ratatoskr told me a long time ago, there was such a name.
Did he say it was a device Odin made to seal a certain wolf?
I don't know the details because it was just something said in passing, but it was definitely a chain that even a god couldn't break.
"That chain is no different from the authority of binding itself. How is it? You won't be able to escape with your weakened strength, will you?"
"You've prepared this well, Odin."
"It's all thanks to the help of the humans. To think I could capture you so easily."
Could it be the Truth's Eye?
I knew that half of the Truth's Eye was supporting Odin, but I didn't know their help would end up holding me back.
I tried to exert strength a few more times to escape the chains, but the chains still bound my leg and showed no intention of letting go, and every time I did, Odin mocked me with an even more annoying smile.
Furthermore, the power of the chains is interfering with my magic operation.
I can feel the strength gradually leaving my body from a moment ago.
As expected, is 'this state' insufficient to deal with all of Asgard?
I wanted to win in my clone state if possible...
'How is the status?'
Feeling the connection with my main body that was still felt despite being bound by the chains, I spoke inwardly.
There is a reason why I haven't brought the power of the main body until now, even though I met Odin and started the fight with Asgard.
After visiting the Dragon King's palace, I stopped by the main body to deliver the Wish-fulfilling Jewel, and the main body had entered a sleep state to absorb the Wish-fulfilling Jewel until just a moment ago, making even proper conversation impossible.
But whether it felt the crisis of the clone, or whether it was finally time, the main body that was absorbing the Wish-fulfilling Jewel just now finally woke up.
The main body, having woken up from a deep sleep, instantly grasped the situation through sharing with me and replied.
'It's the best. How long has it been since I last molted?'
'What? You even molted?'
I didn't know because I was focused on the fight and hadn't received the status of the main body properly, but to think it even molted.
For me, a Dragon, molting is no different from proof of growth.
Since the last time I molted was over a hundred years ago, there is no need to say how difficult molting is.
'The last time I molted was...'
'It was when I ate Fafnir's heart.'
'Then how strong have you become?'
'I don't know. I'll have to test it from now on.'
A new line was created in the connection between the clone and the main body.
The Wish-fulfilling Jewel, which was originally like the Dragon King's heart.
It has completely become mine.
'Ratatoskr will open the passage. He says to prepare for the impact.'
'As you know, the situation isn't good. Hurry up.'
'That depends on Ratatoskr.'
While I was talking to the main body for a moment, Gleipnir was added in several layers and wrapped around my body.
As I stayed still without any resistance, Odin seemed to feel something strange, but...
It's already too late.
Kung!
A crack appears in the air.
Golden magic power, the power of Ratatoskr, leaked through the cracks that spread like broken glass.
The gods, who were wrapping my body with Gleipnir while adding strength to the magic, felt that something was unusual and stopped in their tracks.
The one who noticed Ratatoskr's power first was, of course, Odin.
She bit her lip while staring at the broken crack.
"....!!"
"Odin. Did you say I've become weak?"
"No way. No way. No way. No way. No way...!"
Odin's eyes, full of madness, turned toward me.
Her eyes, which were not the gaze she had been looking with through magic but met in a half-sealed state, looked into me as if prying into everything.
"Nidhogg, you bastard! Were you a clone?!"
"Yeah. I referred to the method you guys use to create humans."
"Kvasir!"
With her brilliant brain, she instantly realized even the method I used to create the clone.
And she reached out toward the crack as if to deal with it before this abnormal situation turned uncontrollable, but Odin's magic power heading toward the crack was bounced back all too easily.
"Connecting the passage. Opening the path is not your domain."
"Ratatoskr! Why did you join hands with Nidhogg?!"
She shouted as if frustrated, but there was no way Ratatoskr, who was not here, would answer.
Instead, a golden round sphere popped out from beyond the completely shattered crack.
The Dragon King's—no, it's my Wish-fulfilling Jewel now.
The Wish-fulfilling Jewel contained immense power, and ignoring the interference of Odin and the gods who tried to prevent it from reaching me somehow, it flew to me and dwelled within.
The moment I became one with the Wish-fulfilling Jewel, an immense magic power erupted from my body.
If we only consider the magnitude of the power, it's twice as much as before.
No, is it more than that?
I don't know exactly how much power was transferred.
The moment I became able to use 100% of my power completely.
I grabbed the Gleipnir wrapped around my body.
The chains, which were originally a conceptual power of binding and thus passed through my Breath and could not be grabbed, were caught in both my arms.
"You grabbed Gleipnir?! How?!"
"Even if it's an authority, it's bound to be helpless before overwhelming power."
"Does that even make sense?!"
"It does, doesn't it?"
I shamelessly held up the captured chains and pulled them to both sides so Odin could see them clearly.
Kwaji-jik...
The chains, which made an ominous sound and cracked, could not withstand my strength and eventually broke.
Once one side was broken, breaking the rest was simple.
I threw away the Gleipnir, which had been completely broken into pieces and turned into junk, and said while freely emitting the magic power that had regained its freedom.
"Round 2 begins. Odin. Do you have enough tricks prepared?"