You Don't Have a Mom, Do You?

The bastard's tail began to rise. Having abandoned its human form, its body was unmistakably that of a destroyer. Sharp scales covered it like armor. Reversed scales that drooped like tree roots added to its majestic presence. Slowly lifting its massive body, its golden eyes turned toward us. Vertical slit pupils. The same reptilian eyes I'd seen before.

"...Damn it."

"No matter how tough I am, I don't want to get hit by something like that. If it were still in human form... haa... haa..."

Bete was so shocked he couldn't hide his horror. Riana's eyes sparkled as she stared at the massive brown dragon, but eventually she showed clear disappointment. A hint of fear lingered in her gaze. It was only natural. While it wasn't her first time seeing a dragon in her life, this was her first encounter with the one that gnawed at the roots of the World Tree—one that even the gods found troublesome.

Hoping it would be both the first and the last, I raised Mistilteinn. The bastard's venom-filled fangs gleamed with sharpness. Its pure white teeth gradually lost their chill as—

Sssssss...

They began to stain black with void energy. Purple energy swirled around them.

Thud!

As the creature moved its enormous body, the roots of the World Tree began to shake. Stones and dirt fell haphazardly, turning into hail the moment they touched the frost energy and pouring down.

"Shield!"

"...Kyaaak!"

I raised my shield overhead to block them, but Fina couldn't do the same. I'd brought her along in case someone got hurt, but she'd become nothing but dead weight. It was thanks to Fina that Nidhogg had revealed its true form, but the whole process had been so cancerous that—

"Yeah, I'm not helping you."

I didn't bother blocking for her. She needed to feel it too. What kind of emotions I'd harbored, how hard it had been, and just how much hatred had piled up. Even if she regretted it and apologized, I wouldn't accept it. Yeah, she had to experience it herself.

The Holy Sword Mistilteinn. The rune characters engraved on it with my blood began to glow. A faint mana flowed along the blade, sharpening its edge with a gentle yet deadly keenness.

"Odin. Grant me your blessing."

Flash—

A pure white light settled over my body. It was warm. At the same time, it was brilliant and ethereal. I felt a surge of gratitude toward Odin in my heart. The fact that he'd even given me a little chuckle was a bonus. Even after getting punched in the face by me, he was still handing out buffs. What a perfect buff shuttle. Did I hate it? Hell no. I was fucking grateful.

Thump. Thump.

Adrenaline surged through me. I felt like I'd become one of Odin's soldiers—an Einherjar. Fighting spirit overflowed, and I could hear the battle cries of the Einherjar ringing in my ears. It was probably just an auditory hallucination. Despite the drums pounding in my chest, I felt like I was with them. Those who had left the world first to enjoy feasts with the gods. The fragments of great warriors. Remembering and feeling them for a brief moment, I gripped the hilt of Mistilteinn tightly.

"You wouldn't understand! The great power of Loki!"

Sweet, sweet, so sweet. It was so sweet it felt like it would give me diabetes. Nidhogg, lost in self-indulgent ecstasy, unleashed its Dragon Fear. Just its presence inspired terror. Overwhelming killing intent poured toward opponents no bigger than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its own claws. It was probably humiliating for a great dragon, but the one standing before it was me.

The Hero. Odin's contractor and the guardian of Midgard. And I was holding Mistilteinn. That sword was a blade that could kill anything. Because of that, it could inflict damage on beings strong with void power.

"Loki's plans never fail."

"...I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm going to stop Ragnarok."

I had to. Even if I couldn't stop it, I'd fight with everything I had. At the very least, so that Isabel and Seria could survive.

"I'll take it."

'Take it?'

It was clear the bastard wanted something. Our corpses? Our souls? The situation was so unpredictable that it was frustrating, but all I had to do was kill the thing.

Nidhogg spewed a void breath. A round orb of void energy shot forward like lightning and exploded. A murky, dark mass of flame. Tirgar, who had caught my thrown Shield of Frost, leaped high and blocked the breath. At the same time, Bete in Riana's hand radiated dark void energy.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

Along with Riana's charge, the black breath split in two. The double-edged axe traced a trajectory while spewing void energy. The residual traces gathered into fragments all at once.

Bete chanted the runes in a low voice. Unlike his corrupted past, he was now a pure soul cleansed of everything. However, the traces couldn't be erased. After all, he'd spent far more time as a legion commander. Thinking like a human was nearly impossible for him. Still, no one was better at handling void energy. This was not a realm that Nidhogg—who had only recently accepted the void—could dare to challenge.

The fragments of void energy transformed into sharp thorns. They couldn't pierce Nidhogg's scales, but they could stab its eyes.

Tududududu!

Like firing a machine gun in rapid succession. Under Riana's command alone, the thorns attacked Nidhogg's eyes.

"Kwaaaaaaaaah!"

"Yes! It worked! Hero!"

Riana rejoiced with a bright, innocent expression. Her black hair fluttered in the swirling wind. Nidhogg's Dragon Fear mixed with the frost energy to create a powerful pressure. I nodded and ran alongside Seria. As the creature tilted, the ground shook violently. I stepped on the bouncing ice fragments and swung my sword energy while moving. Seria also radiated lion-like aura from beside me.

I climbed onto the leg of the creature that was covering its eyes in agony. I jumped in short bursts, running. Stepping on its scales, I leaped upward as if climbing a cliff. At the same time, I chanted the Swiftness rune. Seria followed right behind me, coating her blade with sword energy. To shatter its scales, we had to keep stacking the energy. It required intense concentration and was a tedious process, but—

"No... choice... but to do it!"

I shouted through gritted teeth at the strenuous movement.

Oooong—!

Pure white and blue sword energy began rising over the Holy Sword. A crackling blue light like small lightning bolts covered it. Seria seemed to understand my intention and immediately began copying me. More skillfully than I, she already unleashed a triple-stacked blade. A heavy pressure crushed my entire body. Controlling it while moving wasn't easy at all. Instead, my mana began to flow backward.

"...Five stacks!"

My whole body screamed as I forcibly raised the sword energy. The taste of blood rising in my mouth made me realize how real this was. A sharp pain intense enough to make me groan "Ugh!" passed through me, but—

"Thunder Flash."

It was only momentary. At the familiar shout, blue lightning enveloped my body, and a single strike pierced the creature's scales. The force was enough to sever its leg. Nidhogg's twitching flesh came into view as it felt the numbness.

"You know about the Demon Slayer Corps?"

"Mere human scum!"

"Can't keep up with the trends, you stupid bitch."

This is why people get divided into insiders and outsiders. Of course, I was from the outsider group. The kind of guy who quietly studied and just went back and forth between school, academy, and home. I did have friends, but it was a group of fellow outsiders.

"What the hell are you babbling about!"

The creature spewed its breath and created a barrage of void bullets.

Kiiiiing—!

A sound that stung the ears. Riana swung Bete to block the breath, but—

Whoosh!

The creature immediately swung its tail, striking me and Seria.

"...Keuk!"

"Kyaaak!"

As it flapped its massive wings, the extreme cold struck our entire bodies. This was Niflheim. The demonic realm of bitter frost. The air was so cold it made you feel death itself.

It was then.

Clap!

The sound of clapping hands came from somewhere.

It was Fina. Seria clicked her tongue at the holy power that instantly healed the torn abdomen. She didn't seem to like receiving help from Fina. Nevertheless, Seria gratefully accepted the recovery. It felt strange. After all, I'd never once received a heal from her before. In this abnormal situation, I clicked my tongue too.

What if—just what if—Fina had helped me back then? Even if Ragner and Lunaris acted like that, if Fina at least had helped me? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠At the very least, we wouldn't have fallen apart like this.

The me from back then—who had once liked Lunaris and Fina—came to mind. The time when I knew nothing. I felt resentment toward my past self and disgust toward the current Fina. The more the wounds healed, the more complicated that feeling became. My heart was a mess. And yet, there was still a part of me that hated Fina.

"Seria, aim for the wings."

"Yes, Hero."

I didn't want to freeze to death. Above all, it was a dragon. A massive predator that flew through the sky. Without its wings, it was nothing more than a flightless chicken. Maintaining the stacks, I tore a scroll.

The two magic scrolls scattered mana fragments and vanished. Clang clang clang! The runes hammered into my body. It didn't hurt. There was no sensation in the first place. The feeling only returned the moment the runes reacted with my body. I could now capture the creature's movements with even greater precision.

Whenever Nidhogg tried to unleash its Dragon Fear, I slammed my sword into that spot.

Kwaduk!

The scratches Riana had made earlier. I shot sword energy and flame orbs into the spot where void energy was raging.

"Kugh!"

As expected, freely using five stacks of sword energy was difficult. This was my first time using it myself. Even when fighting Bete, four stacks had been my limit. It was also to maintain it for a long time, and I hadn't wanted to carry the risk. But now the situation was different.

If Yggdrasil was tainted by the void, every continent would accept the void. That meant it would become Loki's domain, and many humans and animals would fall into corruption. They would become beings of Helheim, Niflheim, and Muspelheim. In the end, they would become Loki's subordinates who would trigger Ragnarok.

The void energy that would spread like a zombie virus. To stop it, we had to bear the risk. The method was right in front of us, writhing in pain and spewing breath. If killing it could protect Yggdrasil, then of course we had to push ourselves.

Seria continued her sword strikes while drawing star shapes. I also forced my blade into the gaps between its torn scales.

"Kwaaaaaaaaah!"

"You little shit. Your breath smells fucking awful. Are you sure you only eat grass?"

It doesn't even brush its teeth. Filthy bastard.

"Hey. Nidhogg."

"Huu... huu..."

Its left eye had been torn out, and it had wounds on its leg and wing. There was no way it didn't hurt. Did its size matter? It was a living being. When its flesh was torn, cut, or burst, it felt pain.

As I called out to it, I asked the question I'd been curious about. Well, I wasn't expecting much.

"Nidhogg. What the hell do you want?"

"Khh khh. What are you going to do even if you know?"

As expected, not expecting anything was the right call. But it was an unpleasant answer. It felt like asking a friend, 'These are the new clothes my parents bought me. What do you think?' and getting 'Who cares?' in response. It was the typical answer of those damn bastards. Yeah, this guy was a son of a bitch. I wasn't sure when dogs or puppies became reptiles, but this guy was a son of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a bitch.

"What am I going to do even if I know?"

What the fuck am I going to do? I hit the accelerator on my sudden rage at that infuriating retort. When someone asks you something and you give that kind of answer, this is what you should say. Listen well.

"You motherfucking bitch. I'm asking because I'm curious. Why the hell would I ask if I wasn't curious?"

"...W-what?"

"Oh, sorry. You don't have a mom, do you? She probably died giving birth to you, so of course you don't."

This was certain. It didn't have a mom, so it was poorly educated. All the bastards who go around harming others never had moms.

"...Y-you. Say that again. What did you just say?"

"This motherfucking dragon, are your ears fucked too? Maintaining the stacks is a huge pain in the ass, so I'll only say it once."

Your mom exploded and died, you bastard.

"You fucking idiot."

Kekeke.

Right there, I succeeded in reaching six stacks while laughing mockingly.