Episode 65/Chapter 3: The ten realms (3)
TL: Tsubak
ED: StellarRain
The remnants of Erin were scattered everywhere.
From this destruction, there were some pieces located inside Asgard. Tae Ho chose the largest and closest to Asgard fragment as the first territory to occupy ando purify.
Echidna, who was flying towards the floating islands similar to ones in a certain story, looked toward the ground and said.
"So this is the front lines of Asgard? It's quite quiet now."
They saw the fortress that served as the wall of Asgard for close to a hundred years was below them. When Tae Ho peeked out his head he could see the warriors of Valhalla waving their hands towards them.
"Because the giants fled to Jotunheim it seems like only 10 percent of the warriors stayed behind."
Tae Ho nodded at Heda's explanation. It was because the number of soldiers that he could see had really decreased.
"Are they going to mobilize the forces to the boundary of Jotunheim?"
"Most of them will. Ragnar also moved as he needs to defend that place."
"Master Ragnar seems quite busy."
"Ragnar's commanding abilities are quite excellent. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his skills in commanding forces and creating strategies are the best among all the warriors of Valhalla."
One reason for this was that Ragnar's saga was 'King of Vikings'.
Just like Ragnar himself once said, he was a bit more proficient in commanding rather than as a warrior, so as the commander he was being called everywhere to mobilize the forces.
'Then Sigurd is also next to him?'
As Tae Ho transmitted Cuchulainn's question to Heda, and she nodded once again.
"Yes, several battle Gods including Thor-nim followed Ragnar."
The existence of Sigurd, the strongest warrior among the top ranked warriors, was like having a tactical weapon. Being able to safeguard the front lines would change depending on his presence.
'You both are certainly doing your best fighting , but somehow neither of you have met.'
'Well, we will fight on the same front line one day. Although it's not a good thing for a battle to occur.'
Tae Ho answered Cuchulainn and then turned to look at Heda. It was because he recalled someone after he speaking.
"Now that I think, what about Hraesvelgr? I don't think I have seen him since returning."
"Oh, Hraesvelgr returned to the highest branch."
"Um, indeed. It's obvious as he is also a king."
In the first place, that old man had left the branch for only a moment to help with the war in Asgard. It was obvious for him to return after the matter with Olympus concluded.
"You should still go to visit him later. He seemed quite disappointed that he had to leave without seeing Nidhogg."
Heda spoke playfully and Tae Ho laughed at her words and turned to Nidhogg. He found it fun watching Hraesvelgr rebuke Nidhogg like how a grandfather would scold his niece.
"I think that we are almost there!"
Nidhogg pointed in front of her and yelled. Regret, expectation and several expressions crossed Adenmaha's face like a whirlwind.
The remnants of Erin were dyed by an ash gray color.
Echidna looked at the land that seemed like not even a bug could live in and said.
"It would need a massive reconstruction."
It seemed just so. The ship landed on the destroyed fragment of Erin.
&
The things they had to dos quite simple actually.
They needed to engrave dozens of runes prepared for this day in the sky and ground, and then use the foundation stone they brought from the resurrected Erin and proceed with the purification.
The process was similar to transplanting a sapling to another place.
They slowly engraved the 62 runes into the sky and ground. Tae Ho looked down at the foundation stone placed at the core and dropped his shoulders a bit.
It was similar to Hermes resting his hands after drawing a magic circle. They needed time until the rune magic became completely engraved but during the wait he could just sit still.
Tae Ho checked his surroundings. The new Gods of Erin were in their positions inside the huge magic circle connected by runes, but as they were part of the ceremony they couldn't move.
'They all seem absent minded.'
Because they were just standing still and had nothing to do.
But the same was for Tae Ho. Because of that, he spoke to the only one that could move in this situation, someone who chose to be at his side because of that.
"Heda, i'm curious about something."
"About what? When we will have our wedding?"
Tae Ho blinked as Heda spoke naturally then smiled brightly. Tae Ho looked shocked as if he never thought about marriage.
"Wh, what's wrong with your expression? Our marriage has already been decided. We also spoke about it a little before you left to Olympus."
Heda spoke with an embarrassed voice and red face, but seemed a little disappointed. It seemed like she became sad as Tae Ho reacted in shock.
"Um, yes we did. Yes, of course."
When Tae Ho managed to regain his calm and began to speak as if it concerned someone else, Heda glared at him. She then pouted her lips and grumbled.
"You are too much. To have completely forgotten about it. Do you know how much Idun was waiting for it?"
"Not Heda?"
Heda flushed as Tae Ho pinched the right spot but it only lasted for a moment.
"Anyways. I'm disappointed. It means that you haven't been thinking about it properly."
"No, that's not it….anyways, you are right. We have to set up a date for our wedding."
They had driven the giants back to Jotunheim and the battle in Olympus had also concluded. There would be a temporary peace so it was the best time to have a wedding.
"We should also set up a date for the coronation. Although that's something you can only do after Odin-nim and Freya unnie returns."
Tae Ho received the seat of the master but hadn't had a proper ceremony yet. Because of that, the citizens of Midgard neither knew that Tae Ho was a God nor that he had become the master of Asgard.
And one more thing.
It had only been two months since Tae Ho became a God. So obviously, his ability to handle his work was really low so for the moment he would need help from Odin and Freya.
"A coronation and a wedding…..I can't believe it's real. Those are things I never imagined."
"But it's all true."
"Right."
Tae Ho grabbed Heda's hands and she smiled sweetly. Cuchulainn butted in as it seemed like the two of them would share a best blessing if they were left alone.
'Hey hey, you can postpone falling in your own world for when the two of you are alone and weren't you going to ask something different?'
His words hit the right spot, as expected of a master of Scathach's techniques. Tae Ho quickly regained control of himself, properly grabbed Heda's hands and asked.
"Anyways, Heda. I want to ask you something."
"What is it?"
Heda sulked. It seemed that it was because the atmosphere was broken.
But that was just for a moment. Heda swiped her hair backwards and focused on Tae Ho as he asked curiously.
"Um…it's from when we had the first lesson. You talked about other worlds right? About how the ten worlds were placed and things like that."
"Yes, I certainly did."
"Thinking about it, I never heard about each world in detail. And I don't even know the name of half of them."
The other worlds Tae Ho knew about were five.
First was Tae Ho's home, Earth.
Then there was Asgard, Erin, Olympus and the Temple.
He really knew exactly half of them.
Heda grew a troubled expression at Tae Ho's question, bit her lips slightly and answered.
"Um…honestly speaking not even I know about all of them. The connection of each world is like a stepping stone. So it's something like this?"
When Heda rolled her fingers, the layout of the worlds he had already seen several times appeared in the air.
"Looking at this, you can tell that Erin is only connected with Asgard. And so, the other worlds connected to the Temple and Olympus don't have a direct connection to Asgard."
The connection between the worlds was a circuit, much like Heda described, so not all worlds were connected together.
"That's why I know a little bit about the worlds connected with the Temple and Olympus, but for the worlds below that….I know almost nothing about those worlds."
"Unexpectedly they don't have any particular interaction."
"Yes, because there's no reason for any interaction. I heard that the connecting paths of Temple and Olympus are mostly sealed."
Actually, even if the three worlds at the front lines didn't have any interaction before, with the destruction of erin as the trigger, the three formed an alliance.
Asgard had a connecting path with Earth, a world at its rear, but had no interactions with it. It was the same with the Temple and Olympus.
"Mm, at least tell me about the things you know."
"Should I?"
Heda shrugged her shoulders after speaking in her teacher mode for a long time.
At the same time in a different place.
Son Wukong, the strongest divine protector of the Temple, was picking his ear with his staff, the legendary Jingu Bang, while lying down.
"I'm getting an uneasy feeling."
"Whatever."
When Ju Pal Gye, who was eating some meat while lying down, answered casually Son Wukong clicked his tongue.
"You should listen the words of your hyung-nim seriously you bastard."
"Please, I can't get accustomed to your expression and the way you speak. How would you feel if an old man says that he gets an uneasy feeling while picking his ear?"
"Kugh, I'm the one getting a headache when trying to speak with you. Anyways, I'm getting a bad feeling."
Son Wukong jumped up, floated in the air and crossed his legs. While lying down Juh Pal Hye touched his stomach and asked.
"What is so wrong that you are acting this way?"
"It's hard to explain. Something bad but it feels uncomfortable to just let it pass."
Son Wukong spoke while frowning and then spun in the air while grabbing his tail. He then looked at Juh Pal Gye.
"Juh Pal Gye, you said that the matter between Asgard and Olympus settled well, right?"
"Kaldea said so."
"What, you are still meeting that Valkyrie lady?"
When Son Wukong opened his eyes in shock, Juh Pal Gye laughed with a wicked face.
"Uhuhu, we are a good match for each other."
Just looking at his face and voice, Juh Pal Gye seemed completely like a villain from a fairy tales. Even his head was a pig.
"The tastes of that lady is also weird. Ah….is she just forcefully meeting you because of business? It seems like that lady sacrificed love for her ambition."
"Hey hyung-nim, why are you saying something so disappointing? Kaldea likes me a lot."
"Right, I will believe you for now. Anyways, if it's not that side is it over here? I felt like the guys of Kum Oh Do were calm nowadays."
Son Wukong changed the subject hurriedly as it was becoming a joke.
Juh Pal Gye stood up from his place as Son Wukong was being more obstinate than usual, scratched his chin and said.
"I didn't hear anything in particular. Isn't it more reasonable that you guessed wrong?"
"I would like it if that was the case."
And it was then.
Son Wukong opened his eyes widely and all the fur in his body stood up.
"Wh, what's wrong?!"
Son Wukong gritted his teeth as Juh Pal Gye asked hurriedly.
"One of my clones wast killed."
The meaning behind those words were clear. Son Wukong mobilized clones for minor tasks so the number of clones he had numbered more than a dozen, but there were still special ones among them.
Each one of these clones protected places connected to the fate of the Temple.
One of them was defeated, and the problem was defeated without being able to fight back.
"Pal Gye, gather the Conference of the thousand right now. We also need to dispatch a messenger to Asgard. I will be heading to the south now."
The south.
There was only one thing in the south that could cause this problem, but regardless Juh Pal Gye opened his mouth and asked. He hoped his thoughts were wrong.
"What's wrong?"
Son Wukong stood up at Juh Pal Gye's question. He grabbed his staff and answered.
"The connecting path was opened."
&
"They say that Dilmun has proceeded to attack the Temple. The one leading the fronlinet is Gilgamesh, the hero king of Dilmun."
Ragnar became dumbfounded at the report of the Valkyrie who had certainly come running here.
It was because of the name he had never expected.
Dilmun.
Someone who came from the rear world that connected with the Temple.
The world ruled by Anu and the 'seven Gods who decree'.
That place attacked the Temple. In addition, the one leading the charge was a high named king of Uruk, Gilgamesh.
It was a situation he couldn't understand. Considering that a Valkyrie had come running to this place hurriedly meant that the Temple had sent a formal envoy. Right now he had to leave his speculations and look solely at reality.
The attack of Dilmun started.
If you thought about the distance between the Temple and Asgard, a proper battle should already be taking place right now.
"You have done well. Rest. I will meet the messenger of the Temple directly. Where is the messenger now?"
"To Valhalla."
From position of the Temple, it was an obvious to speak to the master of Asgard who should be in Valhalla instead of Ragnar who was protecting the front lines.
It wasn't the time for him to be staying like this. He had to hurry back to Valhalla and fully understand the situation.
But it was at this moment.
Another Valkyrie came running quickly as if a monster was chasing her. She was one of the Valkyries that stayed at the front lines and served the role of a messenger.
"What happened?"
The Valkyrie breathed roughly at Ragnar's question but then hit her chest and expressed etiquette. She kneeled down and said.
"It's an emergency notice from Olympus. They say that the connecting path was opened."
There was no way she were speaking about the connecting path with Asgard. The Valkyrie continued speaking.
"They say that the attack of Memphis has started and that Sent is leading the frontlines."
Memphis. The world connected to the rear of Olympus.
The world of Gods lead by Amon-Ra.
Two worlds were attacked at the same time.
There was no way it was a coincidence. It was clear someone planned the current situation.
"The kingdom of fire."
Ragnar said a name unconsciously and raised his head. He looked inf the direction of Valhalla.
< Episode 65 - The ten realms (3) > End
TL note: Thanks for reading~
Episode 65/Chapter 4: The ten realms (4)
TL: Tsubak
ED: StellarRain
Asgard's new front lines were much more further up north than before. This time it was at the boundary of Asgard and Jotunheim.
Ragnar, who was preparing to travel south by riding on the Black Flash, turned to look in the direction the fragment of Erin and asked.
"Where is Tae Ho- no, the master right now?"
He had heard days before that Asgard would soon proceed with a ceremony to reconstruct Erin. Reports said that the ceremony required to be completed as soon as possible as it was extremely important.
'Did Tae Ho say that time stops inside the region where the ceremony takes place?'
Anyways, the important issue was that he had no way to communicate with Tae Ho since the ceremony started.
The Valkyrie who served as a secretary flinched at Ragnar's question. She then pressed something in the air and inspected it.
The woman with charming blonde hair bit her lips after that.
"The ceremony was planned to take place this afternoon…..so it should already be underway."
Perhaps it hadn't been long since they started with the ceremony or the distance was too far, but they couldn't see any signs in the fragment of Erin.
Regardless, Ragnar couldn't go directly to Erin as there was a high probability he would be going for nothing.
"We don't know what will happen so send someone over there. I will head to Valhalla immediately."
"Understood."
Ragnar hit his chest as the Valkyrie saluted and then rode on the Black Flash.
'I can't get accustomed to this no matter how much I ride on it.'
Ragnar closed his eyes and for a moment cleared his mind of the matters relating to the Temple, Olympus and Tae Ho.
It didn't take long for him to arrive at Valhalla.
"Father!"
Ragnar heard a call as soon as he got down from the Black Flash so he raised his head while teetering a bit. Bjorn came running from far away as expected.
"Bjorn."
"I have put the messenger of the Temple on hold. Let's hurry."
Bjorn supported Ragnar who stumbled and spoke quickly. Ragnar leaned on Bjorn for a moment, looked his surroundings and asked with an urgent tone.
"What about the Gods? Did they announce that we were at war?"
The atmosphere in their surroundings wasn't normal. There were also other Black Flashes flying to Valhalla even in this moment.
"Heimdall has already done so. It's still at stage 1 but….each legion is already preparing to take part in the war."
A declaration of war in Asgard composed of 3 stages. As expected of the combative Asgard, they were already preparing for battle beginning in the 1st stage.
"Heimdall says that he wants to meet the messenger."
"Yes, he made the announcement right after the attack, so I think that the situation is more serious than I thought."
Ragnar gulped. He unconsciously turned in the direction of the Temple and Olympus and asked Bjorn.
"What about the messenger who came from Olympus?"
"Both messengers are resting in the same place."
"They should also need to exchange information."
The two sides must be really surprised right now. A situation where Olympus and the Temple were attacked by another world was special already, but two worlds even were attacked at the same time.
"Over here. Let's hurry."
After Ragnar entered the inner parts of Valhalla, he quickly moved to where the messengers were resting.
"For Asgard and the nine realms."
"Let the light of the Temple be eternal."
"May the glory of Olympus accompany you."
The messenger of the Temple was a female and the messenger of Olympus was a tall and thin human hero.
They were beings clearly below Ragnar in both rank and level, but they had still come to this place to represent their world. They couldn't be neglectful in their etiquette.
Ragnar finished the simple introductions and then followed with a question hurriedly.
"I will ask you directly. Are Dilmun and Memphis hostile against the Temple and Olympus? It's not an independent military act?"
It was really special when one world opposed another.
Excluding the last deployment to Olympus, it was something that had only occurred two times in the long history of Asgard, and those were small skirmishes as neither world knew anything about each other.
The messenger of the Temple frowned at the Ragnar's question, as he asked whether or not there would be an all out world.
"The vanguard of Dilmun that attacked the Temple is lead by the hero king Gilgamesh. There was no one else particularly outstanding among them but it's hard to see it as a spontaneous decision as you have to pass through the connecting path to attack another world. Only… it seems like most of the forces Gilgamesh is leading are destructive beings."
Ragnar opened his eyes sharply at the woman's words. He took particular notice of this information and then looked at the messenger of Olympus.
"What about Olympus?"
"The situation is similar. However, the ones who have appeared so far were already calamitous beings in the first place, so there's a guess believing that the the monsters that previously attacked Erin moved on to Olympus."
It was much better than having all of Memphis turned but this was still a dark future. Ragnar closed his eyes and then asked the two people.
"The time frame you were attacked is similar?"
"It was almost at the same time."
The two messengers turned to look at each other and then answered in one voice. Ragnar asked again.
"How large is the scale of the enemy?"
"We don't know yet. I departed right after the opening path was activated and the invasion of the enemy was confirmed, so I think I will know once I return."
"It's the same with Olympus."
The ones that arrived were only messengers to notify Asgard of the invasion. That's why there was the possibility the situation may worsen.
"Can't you forcefully close the connecting path?"
"It's impossible as the other side is supporting it."
The situation was different from when Olympus closed the connecting path with Asgard by force.
In that case, Odin and the Gods of Asgard had no interest at all in the connecting path with Olympus. If Odin was committed to opening the connecting path, not even Zeus would be able to close the connecting path as he pleased.
Ragnar let out a short sigh and then asked some more questions. These were things related to Memphis and Dilmun as Asgard didn't know about much about these worlds.
After ten minutes passed like that and Ragnar resolved some doubts, he stood up and said.
"I understand. Thank you for your time. Asgard will soon send you more news."
Ragnar nodded politely and then headed to the thrones of the Gods. Heimdall was standing guard like he expected.
"Ragnar."
The only one who could command the defenses of Asgard and Valhalla now that Tae Ho, Odin and even Freya were absent, was Heimdall.
"For Asgard and the nine realms."
"For Asgard and the nine realms."
Both of them exchanged greetings and then Ragnar approached Heimdall and asked.
"I heard the announcement. What are you planning to do?"
"Do you know that the master has already started the ceremony to rebirth Erin?"
"I do."
When Ragnar smiled bitterly, Heimdal also put a similar face.
"It's a troublesome situation. Odin-nim and even his acting proxy, Freya, are in Olympus, but on top of that it's impossible to contact master."
"But we still have Heimdall-nim."
In the first place, the reason Tae Ho could proceed with the ceremony was because of Heimdall.
It was a really obvious that Heimdall was better at politics and management than Tae Ho, who had just become the master, as Heimdall had been protecting Asgard for a long time.
Heimdall closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
"I'm planning to research the situation a bit more for now. But the issue is that the two worlds need assistance and we would have to dispatch some forces. There's a reason we have to send them to the two worlds."
"Odin-nim, Freynim and Thor-nim are in Olympus."
The most important beings of Asgard were in Olympus so they had to at least send reinforcements to protect them.
"Right, and we have a debt with the Temple. If we just leave them out to dry it won't only be unjust, but we won't be able to get their help ever again."
The assistance of the Temple in the last war was short but fierce. There would be none in Valhalla that would forget about this debt.
"But Heimdall-nim. It's a bit excessive to send reinforcements to both sides."
"Probably but we still have to send reinforcements. And if it's not possible to dispatch forces at an equal level…..I'm planning to put more emphasis in Olympus for now."
It wasn't because Heimdall liked Olympus more.
"We don't know if the forces of Dilmun and Memphis are similar or if there's a difference. But the clear thing is that the Temple is still at full power but Olympus isn't in a situation to go at war yet."
Olympus was not only partially destroyed in the last internal war, but also lost countless heros and forces . It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Olympus had lost more than half its previous strength.
"Ragnar. I will entrust the defenses of Jotunheim to you and Sigurd. It will become troublesome if the giants rise up again if they take advantage of the messy situation."
"I understand. Will Tyr-nim and Thor-nim lead the reinforcements?"
"There's a high probability they will. We are currently debating about who will go to Olympus and the Temple."
Heimdall spoke up to that point, inhaled some air and then spoke with a bit of leisure.
"You should also know this but the war has just started. There's still one week until the master returns from Erin….and nothing much will happen until then."
Everything needed some time. It would be difficult for the Temple and Olympus to fall in only one week.
The 12 Olympians that turned spent almost two months taking over half of Olympus.
"I hope so."
Ragnar spoke sincerely.
But compared to their wishes, the situation quickly started to worsen.
&
Four days since war erupted.
The first restriction line of Olympus was destroyed.
Apollo looked at the battlefield through the eyes of a believer who was at the brink of death and gulped.
He had only just woke up from his sleep with Artemis a few days ago. However, he had no leisure to rest or recover.
The ones who destroyed the first line weren't just the forces of Memphis. There was a devastating cavalry troop that destroyed anything in their path.
Apollo didn't know well about them, but as the God of the Sun he could sense their power.
The God of sun not from Memphis but from another world.
And the forces he was leading.
The life of the believer was coming to an end. Because of that Apollo opened his eyes widely and then looked at the God of sun of the foreign world and engraved his figure into his eyes.
A huge snake with feathers.
A shining man that had a snake around him, the man that became one with the snake.
He noticed Apollo's gaze. He turned to look at the believer and at that moment when their eyes met the body of the believer became light and disappeared.
Apollo breathed roughly. He then searched in the library of the Gods and searched the name of the man he had seen.
Not Memphis, but Maya.
The one born with the fate to destroy the world, even though he was the God of sun and the master of his world, Quetzalcoatl.
Apollo closed his eyes. As the God of Reason he judged logically and then accepted one truth.
It was a combination of beings that wanted to destroy the world. Memphis and Maya had joined hands.
The two worlds invaded Olympus together.
&
Virudhaka, who guarded the south, was collapsed on the ground. He had covered his body with a red and thick armor, but his entire body was pierced by arrows as if that armor was paper.
He didn't even have strength to lift a finger. Because of that he just rolled his eyes and looked at a distant place. He could see Witacheon, who was the fastest one, hurriedly escaping.
Flee. Stay alive and report the situation.
Virudhaka transmitted his earnest wish and then looked at the front line again. He could see people standing still on the ground that dyed in red from the blood of tens of thousands of soldiers.
The hero king Gilgamesh was standing with a grimace and had hung down his sword in silence.
He was certainly strong. But the reason Virudhaka was defeated so one sidedly wasn't only because of Gilgamesh' own power.
The ones that came with him.
The old hometown of Virudhaka and part of the Temple- not Temple or Dilmun but another world.
Xindu.
They had allied with Dilmun. And the one leading them was the strongest among those that wanted to destroy the Xindu.
The rival of the greatest hero of Xindu Arjuna, the son of the God of sun Karna.
Virudhaka closed his eyes.
The destructive beings from Xindu and Dilmun were together. Even if that wasn't the case, it was impossible for them to stop the enemy alone as they were already at war with Kum Oh Do.
'Witacheon. Notify them of the danger. Ask for reinforcements from Asgard.'
Virudhaka stopped breathing with that last wish. The forces of Dilmun and Xindu passed his corpse and marched.
The fifth day since war started.
The southern defenses of the Temple were annihilated.
&
There was ten worlds.
And there were beings lighting up fire at the south and north.
Muspelheim.
The land was covered entirely in flames. The Northern path of fire would stand at the vanguard of destruction and notify the end of the world.
The giant of fire Surt stood up from that place. He, the king of Muspelheim, looked toward the south.
And there was someone standing up from the south as if answering his gaze.
The last of the ten worlds.
Avesta, that was located between Maya and Xindu.
The devastating monsters revelled in victory and raised flames that would purge the world.
The Southern path of fire joined the kingdom of fire with the Northern path of fire.
When Erin was destroyed and Asgard groaned due to the Great War, the rear worlds weren't at peace.
The ruinous beings from Maya and Xindu conquered their world with the assistance of Avesta, and then stretched their hands to Memphis and Dilmun.
The evil dragon Azi Dahaka turned to look at its master.
Angra Mainyu, who was the crystallization of evil answered the gaze of Azi Dahaka. As the World God who had suppressed Spenta Mainyu and Hermazd, e ordered
Go forward. Burn down the ten realms.
Avesta.
The flames of the tenth worlds headed to the north.
&
Urd, Verdandi, Skuld.
The three sisters spun the spinning wheel and created the thread of fate. They looked at the fate of Asgard.
Urd trembled in fear. Tears flowed from Verdandi's eyes as the destined destruction that was even worse than the time with the Great War.
Skuld clicked through the threads of fate. She discovered only one thread of hope that was mixed with the threads of despair.
The God who was fated with the Goddess of Hell, Hela.
The one that would decide the fate of Asgard once again after the Great War.
"Tae Ho."
Skuld closed her eyes.
And at that moment. She heard a voice.
< Episode 65 - The ten realms (4) > End
TL note: Thanks for reading~