Why Are You Here, Brother?
Confusion and surprise, something in between. I felt bewildered by an indescribable feeling. At the same time, I knew what emotion it was stirring up. Why are you here, brother?
"What the hell are you? Why are you still alive?"
[...What did you do to me?]
"That's what I want to ask you."
Look at the legion commander's state—he was on the verge of death just moments ago. He's nothing but an axe now. He can't move, can't fight. Even with a will, he can't act on it.
"Puheheheh. Hey, this is great. I had so many questions for you."
Joy. That's what I'm feeling. Look at that pathetic sight. I can't help but laugh. Seeing my wicked grin, the Void's Bete—no, the axe—let out a wail. I don't particularly enjoy watching a grown man bawl like a child, but what can you do? He got properly humiliated after all.
[Let me go! I have to return to the Void... I shouldn't be here!]
I ignored him. My mind was filled with nothing but delightful fantasies. If I swung him around, would he get dizzy? Would an axe drenched in monster blood feel damp? Or maybe... if I used this axe to kill another legion commander, would he feel guilt?
"Ahaha!"
Just thinking about it made me happy. Honestly, I don't understand this situation either. The Shield of Frost, made from the Frost Giant King Thrym's skull, was perfectly fine. So why did Bete come back to life? I saw it clearly. I watched him vanish into shadows with my own eyes—pupils, irises and all. The ridiculous thought crossed my mind: was this bastard really so lonely that he stuck around? His voice was so unexpected it made the idea seem almost plausible.
I chuckled and stared at the axe. Riana's lips curled into a faint smile as well.
"Riana, you've got a new weapon now. Shouldn't we test it out before heading back?"
"Haa... haa... Good idea, Hero."
Warm breath flowed along the axe blade. Bete couldn't contain his shock at the strange atmosphere. Even without limbs as an axe, he instinctively hugged himself and trembled. The shaking made the axe vibrate.
"What the hell, you bastard. Are you shaking right now?"
[Ah, no. I do not yield to fear.]
Liar. There's no way he's not scared. If it were that vulgar hero, he'd definitely do something. This was a certainty only someone killed by him could understand.
"But why are you stuttering?"
[...Me, feeling fear toward that madman. My authority... aah... my authority is gone.]
He wanted to hide his fear, but he couldn't. If he knew how to hide it, he wouldn't be trembling in the first place. What was he so afraid of? Look at their faces. They were just like the wicked Bete's own face.
'...Ah, that's me.'
Anyway, I had no idea what these lunatics were going to do. Swing him around like this? Kill the monsters of Helheim? Torment him horribly? Whatever it was, he was certain they'd do it just to make him suffer.
-Until they hear what they want.
"Puheheh."
[...Eek!]
Having no way of knowing Bete's inner thoughts, I simply smiled brightly.
*
Let's all go around the neighborhood~ The children's song from elementary school music class evaluation came to mind. Who would've thought a song I got tired of would feel so welcome now?
[Ugh...]
Turn sideways, turn forward, turn upward. At Riana's peculiar axe dance, Bete covered his mouth. Of course, he had no mouth. It was just a figure of speech.
[S-save... ugh.]
"Then answer the question."
[You can't mock the Father of the Void...]
Oh, this little shit.
"Riana. Spin him."
At my words, Riana smiled brightly and lifted the axe. Since we'd met again, I might as well get the answers I never received before. More importantly, what was this "Father of the Void" thing? Words I'd never heard before kept spilling out.
"Kieeeek!"
"Hero, this axe is incredibly sharp!"
"Yeah? Glad you like it."
The jet-black axe tore through the hobgoblins' necks. Blood splattered in all directions, soaking the dark axe. It was a gruesome, vicious sight—fitting for a legion commander. Anyone would know this axe was crafted from a legion commander's skull. Don't believe it? Just look at how vicious it is.
[...You've got a nasty personality. And you're still a hero?!]
"I'll stop if you just answer my questions, you know?"
[Then, just stop for a moment. I'm going to throw up... throw up...!]
"You don't even have a mouth. It's fine. You won't throw up."
[Grr!]
Act like a tool if you're a tool.
"Is answering a few questions really that bad?"
[...I already gave you the answer.]
The answer... The few words Bete spoke before vanishing before my eyes. Those words flashed through my mind.
-We did not sow the Void.
-I'll give you one piece of advice. Beware the dragon that eats the roots.
-In the end, what will swallow the world is the Void.
-If you want to stop it, head to the heart of the World Tree.
I'd spent a week lying in bed thinking about it, but no clear answer came. What he said were just keywords.
[Ugh!]
I took him from Riana and drove him into the ground. Crouching in front of him, I asked.
"What do you mean Hel didn't sow the Void's energy?"
If the Demon King didn't sow it, then who the hell did? He said they didn't. The Demon King wields the power of the Void but didn't sow it. Her subordinates, the legion commanders, also didn't lay a hand on Midgard. What kind of bullshit is this?
[Grr! I clearly told you everything.]
"Yeah, you gave me some vague hints I couldn't make sense of."
[That's where you're wrong. Hero, I clearly told you everything.]
Not hints? From the moment that bastard ripped open my stomach and I held my spilling guts in, until the day I arrived in Vanaheim enduring excruciating pain—I'd never forgotten a single word he said. I knew he was telling the truth about not sowing the Void. If a legion commander denied it that firmly, it must be true. So let's think further.
"...The dragon that eats the roots."
The dragon that gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasil, which spreads its roots in the darkness. I knew that existence well. It was a story I knew all too well—beyond mere deduction. The spring in Niflheim. The dragon living in Hvergelmir, Nidhogg. Bete had said he'd told me everything. It wasn't the beings of Helheim who brought the Void's energy to Midgard. He denied that it was the Demon King and the legion commanders' doing. So a question arose. Why did he possess the Void then? Why did he accept the Void and suddenly corrupt the World Tree? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't figure out the reason. There was too little information. Deduction only bears fruit when all sorts of information gather together. Right now, all I had was that Nidhogg possessed the Void and the Demon King's army didn't sow it. Nothing else.
Unable to watch any longer, Bete sighed. The axe vibrated slightly. Seeing me deep in thought, he spoke up.
[Ratatoskr.]
"...What?"
[The squirrel who set foot in the Void. The bastard who kicked away his position as legion commander.]
Before I knew it, Riana had come to sit beside me. Passing people gave us strange looks. Planting an axe in the ground and sitting around it talking—listening intently, even. We looked like complete idiots. But we didn't have time to care about that.
[Never heard of him?]
"Not even once."
[...Do you know Nidhogg?]
"I've heard about him countless times in Jotunheim."
Bete cleared his throat before speaking. Of course, he had no throat. I didn't know where the sound was coming from, but I heard it.
[I don't know the details either. I only know that he seduced Nidhogg.]
We naturally became absorbed in his words. A short, simple story. Thanks to that, it was easy to understand, and we learned the names of those we needed to kill. A greedy squirrel set foot in the Void and became corrupted. His name was Ratatoskr. He approached the massive beast Nidhogg, who gnawed at the roots, and started whispering. In the end, Nidhogg took the bait.
"So I just need to kill Ratatoskr and Nidhogg."
"Hero, that's dangerous."
"I'm going to kill Hel later anyway. Why would I be scared?"
Then Bete spoke.
[...That woman, Hel, has no interest in Midgard.]
"Bullshit."
[I don't lie. In the first place, why do you humans treat us as enemies?]
"Because you attack humans."
There were many methods, but the Void Festival was the prime example. On the day the Void's energy covered the sky, the walls of the demon realm opened and all sorts of monsters poured out. People fell into chaos, blood covered the villages. Corpses floated on water, maggots crawled through rotting entrails. Many died, and many warriors knocked on Valhalla's gates.
[...We are merely the pitiful dead. The dead who couldn't set foot in Valhalla. So why do you kill us?]
"Because you cause the Void Festival. Because you keep creating the dead and expanding your forces."
That's why Odin summoned me and chose me as the solution. If they hadn't done anything wrong, would a god have interfered with another dimension and summoned someone? I didn't think so. They were dangerous, so they were wary because they caused humans to lose their lives.
[...The Void Festival. What do you think its source is?]
"Hel."
Loki's daughter, half-human half-demon. Cast into an unknown land by Odin, the Demon King who became its ruler. All of us humans believed she was the cause. Those who possessed the Void's energy were the monsters of Helheim.
[Honestly, we're wronged.]
"Wronged my ass. You brought it on yourselves."
[We are merely the dead.]
"And those dead crossing into Midgard is the Void Festival."
I'd seen it. People exploding right before my eyes. The first time I saw humans dying. My heart raced, my hands and feet trembled. My pupils shook, and I couldn't lift the holy sword. I'd overcome that fear back then, but if I had to go back to the past, I'd choose to refuse. The Void Festival was truly hell. A new form of hell presented by hell itself. The form of death sent by the Demon King Hel.
[No! The Void Festival isn't something we cause because we want to.]
"...Then what is it?"
I asked, and Riana nodded vigorously. Her complexion was pale. From what I could infer, she clearly had unpleasant memories in her past. Memories close to the Void Festival—or rather, memories caused by the Void Festival. Bete denied it. Hearing that cry made me a bit annoyed. Why are you denying it? You shouldn't be saying that. The legion commander residing in the deepest abyss. The monster king who killed the most humans, the king of Betes. The sinner who imprisoned the greatest warriors in Helheim.
"Son of a bitch."
[...More bullshit?!]
"I've lived my whole life and this is the first time I've heard such bullshit."
[...Even when I tell the truth, you won't listen.]
"Fine, let's say it's not your fault. So what do you want me to do about it?"
Countless people had died. There would still be those who couldn't go to Valhalla while holding the Void's energy. Among them would be those I killed with my own hands. There would also be those who couldn't and were still wandering the underworld. It wasn't sent by the Demon King? So what? The monsters attacking and killing humans was the same. In the end, we humans had no choice but to hate Hel, the source of the monsters. The fact that Hel had no interest in Midgard and humans, and the reason? Fuck that. I wasn't interested. It didn't matter. The focus should be on monsters killing humans. I was the hero who had to show light before humans, the hero who had to kill Hel. With her death, I could return home and achieve my wish. If, just if, I dug out Hel's heart with Mistilteinn and she met her death. If Hel's death added to Loki's rage and Fenrir and Jormungandr responded—
-In the end, if Ragnarok occurred?
Fuck it, let it happen. I'd just kill them all, including Loki. In the end, humans would survive, and at the midpoint would stand me and the holy sword. I'd believe Odin's blessing would be with us. That was the whole story.
"Hey, Bete."
[...What?]
"You said it. What swallows the world is the Void, and if you want to stop it, head to the heart of the World Tree."
[I did.]
Then the question I'd wanted to ask from the beginning. Let's ask something really important.
"The heart of the World Tree."
In the end, if the Void swallows the world and to prevent destruction we must head to the heart of the World Tree—
"What's beneath Yggdrasil?"
[There's a massive dragon living in Niflheim.]
I smirked. He knew better than anyone that I wasn't playing word games right now. I didn't know what he was trying to pull. Riana glared at Bete as well. She looked ready to torture him at any moment. Right now, as his weapon, he couldn't rebel or even move his body. Tormenting him was more than enough. I crossed my arms and asked, my face devoid of any trace of a smile.
"I'm not talking about Nidhogg. That guy you mentioned... who was it. Ratatoskr?"
[It's Ratatoskr.]
"Right, Ratatoskr. That squirrel set foot in the Void. What exactly is that Void?"
I'd thought it was just energy emitted by the Demon King Hel. But listening to the story, there were some strange parts. Several things didn't add up. Some spoke of power, others of space. Bete said Ratatoskr had "set foot" in the Void. Also, Bete had said before dying that he'd watch over me from the Void. When I opened my eyes in the form of an axe, he was saddened and enraged that it wasn't the Void. Just as warriors meet death and head to Valhalla, let's assume monsters die and head to the Void. I thought. The Void wasn't simply power. I formed the hypothesis that while it could be used as power, that was only a part of it. What I suspected was that the Void was a region. In other words, somewhere in the heart of the World Tree Yggdrasil. And I was filled with the thought that there must be "someone" managing that Void.
[The Void is...]
"Change the question."
The Void is—
"Who's managing it?"
Silence fell. The wind swept through the trees once. It was such a quiet silence that the sound of leaves brushing against each other was vividly audible.
[So you finally thought about it.]
"...You bastard, until the very end—"
[Loki.]
That single word stopped me as I was about to flare up. That single word flowed into Odin's ears, connected to the holy sword. And now, Bete shattered the silence once more.
[He is merely a father enraged by what the gods did to their children.]
And—
[He will bring about Ragnarok.]