Ragnarok (7): The Cursed Birth of Loki
I crafted a small box and placed Odin's extracted eye inside it. With this, all of Baal's body fragments were finally gathered... Hmm. For now.
"Don't just stand there gawking—come here."
I beckoned lightly with my hand, and at the same moment, two gods who had been hiding far away, spying on me and Odin, were yanked right in front of me. More precisely, their positions and mine had swapped places. Anyway.
"Hermes and Ares, was it?"
"It's Mars!"
"Ah, sorry. This one's only just recovered, so his mind's still a bit foggy."
Hermes hurriedly grabbed the back of Ares's head and kneaded it firmly. Hmm. Mars, huh... Whatever his name, it doesn't matter.
"I won't ask how you sneaked into this battlefield. You must've blended in with the others somehow."
For this war, plenty of outsiders had slipped into paradise. Even the underworld, right next door, couldn't enter easily at first, so I'd opened the gates myself—and the same went for everywhere else.
"The reason you two came here... it's this, right?"
I held up the box in my hand as I spoke, but Hermes and Ares offered no reply. Their darting eyes said enough, though.
"I know exactly what you're worried about. You're fretting that you can't offer me this Baal fragment and thus won't get that ten-year reprieve."
"If you already know, then this'll be quick. We won't make the shameless demand for that Baal fragment. Just... since you've received it, will you grant us the ten-year reprieve?"
Hermes bowed his head politely as he spoke. Hmm. A reprieve, huh. I could spare that much, sure.
"I'll grant you ten years. After that, whatever happens is on you—so go tell Zeus."
I tucked the box into my bosom as I said it.
"If he doesn't want to end up like Odin, he'd better watch his step."
At my words, Hermes and Ares glanced at Odin sprawled on the ground. The god who had lost his last eye, his ravens that scanned the world in their stead, and all his wisdom besides—reduced to folly.
"Now then... time to clean up. You uninvited guests need to leave."
"Ah! W-wait a second!"
Hermes tried to say something, but it was too late. In the blink of an eye, the two gods vanished from paradise. I'd dropped them near Olympus territory; they'd figure out the rest.
Alright, then.
"Time to tidy up."
If you're gonna smash and play to your heart's content, you wrap it up neat. I gazed at Odin, now a blind, writhing god on the ground. I hadn't taken his life yet, but... Hmm. Eugh... Should I kill him? Or make him so wretched he wishes for death? Either works.
Hmm.
I grabbed the head of Odin—who couldn't even stand properly—and hoisted him up. Odin, blind and stripped of all wise insight, swallowed by madness. To him, I murmured softly.
"Odin. Do you want to live?"
He gave no answer for a moment. His ears still worked fine, even if his eyes were gone. Ignoring me on purpose? Fine, then. A clean death it is.
But after a slight delay, Odin finally moved his lips.
"Kill me...!"
Oho. The classic line you want to hear from a captured knight! Bonus points if it starts with a grunt, but whatever.
"You want death?"
"Yes. Just kill me. I don't want to live having lost everything."
Hmm. He wants to die, does he? I see.
"No."
"What?"
"Why should I give you what you want?"
I floated Odin into the air. The frail remnants of a god who had lost everything, even the spear clutched in his hand. A feeble old man no longer worthy of the name Odin. That's right. Since the fall of the Aesir began with him, I'll give him a new name.
"I'll strip you of the name Odin. Since the Aesir fell because of you, I'll give you a fitting name as their downfall's origin."
"Wh-what? Stop! I said stop!"
"Loki. I'll etch the name Loki upon you. Upon you who lost all wisdom, I'll overlay a god born of lies."
Conveniently, no god bore that name anymore. Overlaying it would repaint Odin's existence. The wisest god, leader of the Aesir, reduced to a god of deceit and the cause of their ruin—what a delightful twist. I considered naming him after a blind god since he'd gone blind, but that one was a mighty warrior, so it didn't fit. Thus, Loki—the culprit who brought the Aesir's doom.
Stripped of wisdom, left with petty tricks and lies. The being who would destroy the Aesir through them.
"From now on, you'll live lie upon lie. Wandering eternal darkness, never seeing even a handful of light. The Aesir's name will echo only to a scant few, and their fall will be blamed on your folly."
"Stop, stop!!"
"Rejoice. You've become the one who led all who followed you to ruin. This chain of events will be called the twilight of the gods—Ragnarok—and many will tremble at the name."
The one who was Odin—now Loki—curled in agony, screaming, but his cries couldn't drown my voice.
"Loki, existence forged in falsehood. Bereft of divinity, forever denied true death, merely clinging to life. You shall achieve nothing. You shall know no truth. You shall behold no light. And should you glimpse light, it shall be your end."
I layered curse upon curse, binding Loki. Stripped of godhood, reduced to a crawler who could only deceive. That was my punishment for the one who was Odin—now Loki. Not a peaceful death, but a tormented, wretched life.
"Just kill me! Kill me, I beg you!!!"
"Now, live on. In endless pain and sorrow. Beg my forgiveness each day. When your screams reach my ears again, I'll check on you and decide if your life ends."
And so, Loki—divested of godhood, capable only of deceit—was cast down to the mortal world.
Alright, I'll check back in about a thousand years.
I picked up Odin's spear—Gungnir—from the ground. Hmm. Even if it looks like this, it's a spear infused with divine power, so I can't handle it carelessly...
I stowed Gungnir away, then surveyed the battle-ravaged paradise. Hmm. I'll cut this area out and repurpose it. It doesn't suit paradise anymore. Maybe turn it into an afterlife for dragons... While I'm at it, reshape the paradise's barriers... Nah, later. Cleanup first.
With that, I lightly flew toward those who had won the battle.
"And so, through Ragnarok, the gods bearing the Aesir's name vanished."
I stopped writing in my notebook at the Dragon Maiden's words.
"Ragnarok...?"
I'd seen that name somewhere before. Surely...
"I think I saw that name in the giants' myths..."
"Giants? Of course. Their god joined that war and told the tale."
I didn't remember the details, but... it was about gods falling to giants, I thought. While researching, I'd glimpsed Odin's name among them...
"That actually happened? I thought it was just giant bluster."
"Bluster it was. The giants' god didn't do it all. He only got a fragment of the thunder god's divinity as payment for joining."
"The giants' god... My father?"
"Yes, that god. He already had thunder god traits, but absorbing part of the Aesir thunder god's divinity made him stronger... Hmm, not for now."
The Dragon Maiden cleared her throat lightly and continued.
"Thus, the twilight of the gods—Ragnarok—saw the Aesir vanish. Some survived by changing names or pledging to other gods."
"Those survivors became the current Pantheon?"
"No, one faction remains."
I nodded slightly at the Dragon Maiden's words. Ennead, Lokapala, and Aesir—all gone. Now left was...
"Olympus..."
"Yes, those guys hung on."
The Dragon Maiden chuckled softly.
"Olympus rejoiced at surviving. With other factions wiped out, no one to rival them."
"But I've never heard the name Olympus."
"Because they vanished."
"Vanished?"
The Dragon Maiden stated it matter-of-factly.
"They were erased by the king of gods they tried to enthrone."
"The king of gods... Baal...?"
"More precisely, the soul that was Baal. But humans know that name well."
The Dragon Maiden smiled faintly.
"Lyclean."
The hero chosen by humanity, unknown to none among them.
