TL: Tsubak
ED: Julsmul
Ratatoskr ran on top of Yggdrasil with booming sounds.
If Nidhogg was a dragon and Hraesvelgr was an eagle, then Ratatoskr was a squirrel.
But, just as the dragon and eagle weren't normal, Ratatoskr also wasn't the average squirrel either.
Beast Ratatoskr.
The only existence that could freely move in the World Tree.
The squirrel, that had ash-colored fur, was bigger than normal dragons. It was tens of meters long from its tail to its head.
In addition, it wasn't only big. It's leathery hide, which was laced in black lines, was hard as steel, and its fur was as sharp as a blade.
The root Nidhogg was living in was in a really deep place. The lake of Mimir was connected to one of the roots too, but they couldn't be viewed as being the same. If the root Nidhogg lived was the 100th floor, then the lake of Mimir was at the 10th.
Ratatoskr passed the lake of Mimir and went down to a deeper place. It ran while passing the dense fog.
Ratatoskr looked different from normal squirrels, its size aside. It had a long tail that rivaled its body in length and had four legs, but its head and other body parts looked really heinous.
There were sharp stones surging up from its fur. If the stiff fur was like a blade, then the rocks could be compared to huge axes.
But the most peculiar part was its head.
Big, white teeth that could turn hard boulders into dust in an instant were sprouting out. There was a horn erupting from the inside of its nose and two more flanking its head. The one that was in its nose was like that of a rhinoceros, and the ones at the sides of its head were centered so that they made a circle.
It wasn't that weird up to this point because horns were something that common beasts also had.
The thing that made its head truly gastly was that there was the upper body of a woman melded into its forehead.
The lower body of the woman was the head of the beast, just like a centaur, and the upper body of a human.
The woman had violet skin and had hair composed of hundreds of thin, elongated snakes.
Her eyes held no scleras and were completely black, and the tongue of a snake darted out from her mouth.
Just from looking at its shape, one could say that it was rather beautiful, but the feeling it gave was heinous and atrocious, so it also made one feel fear.
Ratatoskr hummed and ran. It's claws left new wounds in the World Tree.
The fog grew denser. Human presence disappeared completely, and nothing was heard aside from the steps of Ratatoskr.
And it finally stopped. It wasn't because it had reached its objective. There was a bit more to go, but it stopped anyways.
The boundary between the root Nidhogg lived in and the one above that lay before it.
The last line that couldn't be crossed if one didn't have permission, so it wouldn't be able to be crossed until Nidhogg's eventual demise.
How would it bother Nidhogg today?
He thought of several methods in an instant. Among them, there was a fresh curse Hraesvelg had made.
But Ratatoskr shook his head. It was because it wanted to go by the traditional way.
"Shall I go then?"
Let's bully Nidhogg.
Let's keep berating the poor dragon that was stuck in the roots and make it resent the world. Let's dye its white heart with black emotions.
More than a thousand years had passed, but the squirrel didn't grow tired of it. It was rather fun for it.
Because Nidhogg only had Ratatoskr, but it wasn't the same for Ratatoskr.
It wasn't talking about Hraesvelgr. Ratatoskr could come and go from the top of the World Tree to the roots however much it wanted, and so harassing Nidhogg was only one of the tasks it had to do.
It was something that brought it joy whenever it was recalled in its memory, so there was no way it would grow tired from doing it.
Ratatoskr giggled and then crossed the line as its determination grew.
It clenched the World Tree with its claws and pushed itself upside down.
Ratatoskr didn't call for Nidhogg. It was because, even by walking silently like this, that big and fool-like dragon extended its head like a chick waiting for food and waited for it.
And it wasn't different today. It had merely went down a hundred meters after crossing the line, but the black dragon extended its head beyond the dense fog and poisonous fog.
"Ratatoskr!"
Nidhogg said. It was Nidhogg that always smiled brightly when starting the conversation but always ended up crying.
Ratatoskr laughed. It was because it was glad to see that the heinous dragon that was 2 kilometers long looked at itself and speak with an anxious voice.
Nidhogg grabbed the World Tree with two of its arms as if it wanted to get closer and pushed its body closer. The scene was overwhelming as it was no different from a mountain scrambling closer, but Ratatoskr didn't mind it much. There was plenty of distance between the two of them.
Ratatoskr stopped in place and started to speak with light curses. It was only saying that Nidhogg was stupid and only big and acted as a kid, but this much was enough for Nidhogg as it wouldn't be able to understand hard curses either way.
And Nidhogg started to sob as it had effect.
"Too much, you are too much! Why are you always like this?"
As the distance between the two of them was still great, they conversed through magic rather than with their voices.
Ratatoskr laughed once more. It was because the sobs of the dragon were still heard as a roar, and it was too laughable.
"That is because you are a retard that doesn't have friends, family, or anything!"
Nidhogg's big body flinched. Nidhogg said in a dispirited voice again,
"But you are my friend."
"I'm not. Why would I befriend trash like you?"
As Ratatoskr spoke in a cold voice, Nidhogg flinched once again. Then, Ratatoskr slightly pulled back, as it knew that this was the perfect moment to give additional wounds.
"For trash like you to call me a friend, I will have to leave as you have worsened my mood."
"Do-Don't go!"
Nidhogg knocked its head on the floor and begged. Ratatoskr smirked at that and then looked down at Nidhogg's face.
"Fine. Then copy what I say. If you do, I will stay for a bit longer."
"Ye-Yeah."
"Nidhogg is trash that is only big, doesn't have any friends, and has a retarded head and doesn't have any right to live. Having been born is a sin of itself."
Nidhogg opened its mouth but couldn't say anything. Ratatoskr laughed once again.
"Why, you can't? I will leave then."
Ratatoskr really turned around and then Nidhogg yelled hurriedly.
"I....I will do it!"
Ratatoskr slightly turned its head and looked down at Nidhogg. Nidhogg sobbed and opened its mouth.
"Ni-Nidhogg is a big.....retard.....stupid...."
"I can't hear you well."
"Trash. Doesn't have rights to live. Having been born is... a sin..."
Nidhogg's voice became lower and lower, and Ratatoskr's smile became denser in kind.
"I-I'm done. You will stay a bit more, right?"
Nidhogg forced a smile and said. This was the moment Ratatoskr hoped for the most.
"Retard! You really do it because I tell you to do so? I'm leaving!"
Ratatoskr laughed and turned around. He still hadn't transmitted the fouls words Hraesvelg had requested be passed to Nidhogg and also couldn't make the dragon spit curses to transmit it to Hraesvelgr, but it could do all this later.
Leaving like this today would be the most effective.
Ahh, what kind of expression would Nidhogg make now that it was left alone? How much would it cry?
Just imagining it was fun, and because of that, Ratatoskr didn't leave Yggdrasil immediately. It pretended to hesitate a moment so that Nidhogg's hopeful attitude would rise again so he could crush it once more.
And it was at that moment-
Nidhogg pushed its body forward, and Ratatoskr laughed once again at that big movement.
"What are you going to do? You can't even fly because of how big you are!"
Ratatoskr turned around to harass Nidhogg. It even got a bit lower as if egging it on.
Just like Odin had predicted after listening to Nidhogg's words.
'Go.'
Cuchulainn said. At that command, Nidhogg's big body, precisely speaking, its big head, split in two.
The thing that surged up was Nidhogg. It's size, merely 1/20 of its original body, was still a huge, black dragon, and it fluttered its four pair of wings and flew up.
Ratatoskr was stunned at the sudden emergence and tried to turn around, but it couldn't do so. All four of its legs were tied up to the World Tree and didn't move.
It was the effect of the rune magic Odin had engraved. As he had installed it in a hurry, it wasn't able to tie down a beast like Ratatoskr for a long time, but it didn't matter too much. It was enough if it was able to tie the rude squirrel down even for a few seconds.
Nidhogg fluttered its wings once again as Ratatoskr broke the rune magic, but when it turned around, another magic was activated.
Odin hadn't installed only one rune magic. He had inscribed a line of them along the path he'd guessed that Ratatoskr would approach and leave the border Nidhogg wasn't able to cross.
Ratatoskr's movements stopped again, and Nidhogg flew. The distance between the two grew closer by every passing second.
Finally, Nidhogg's teeth reached Ratatoskr. It bit its tail.
The first plan Odin had come up with was that Nidhogg would drag down Ratatoskr, but Tae Ho's plan was different. Tae Ho, who was riding on Nidhogg's forehead, looked at a place beyond Ratatoskr. He looked at the line that Nidhogg couldn't cross and ordered,
"Fly up!"
Nidhogg fluttered its wings with more strength and charged while still biting Ratatoskr's tail.
Odin had said that it was impossible to cross the line with all of Nidhogg's body.
To cross it, one needed Ratatoskr, the only existence that was allowed to do so.
To fly while biting Ratatoskr one needed overwhelming strength and also speed that could cross that line in an instant.
Ratatoskr shook its body as if struggling. It tried to delay Nidhogg's speed by a little bit.
Nidhogg felt it to be difficult. It felt that it would be impossible to cross the line like this.
But it didn't stop its wings.
It wasn't because of the desire that it wanted to cross the line and get out.
Nidhogg wasn't alone. There was someone granting it strength.
[Odin's Valkyrie]
Odin had given Nidhogg a title of Valkyrie.
The process was a mess as there wasn't even a ceremony, but it was enough.
Because the minimum requirements were caught.
It now needed a new strength to be added!
[Saga: The Warrior that Rides on Valkyries]
[Saga: The One that Controls Dragons]
[Saga: The Charge of a Warrior is like a Storm]
Tae Ho's sagas granted further strength to Nidhogg. It enabled Nidhogg, who didn't have much experience in flying, to be able to draw a perfect trajectory.
Nidhogg raised its head and pushed Ratatoskr in the boundary line. It used Ratatoskr as a shield and passed through the invisible barrier!
A sound that was breaking was heard, and Ratatoskr cried out.
Nidhogg's strength was spent as she passed through the barrier, but she still summoned more to fly up again. It stuck its claws onto Yggdrasil and hung on to it desperately.
Nidhogg couldn't do anything anymore. It didn't even have the strength to move now. It couldn't even be happy about the fact that it had crossed the line because of its exhaustion.
Ratatoskr breathed roughly. It couldn't get out from Nidhogg's grasp; however, it could push it back below the line.
But its plan was thwarted. It wasn't because of Odin's rune magic. Obviously enough, Odin's rune magic didn't exist outside the boundary line.
Another one.
A third person besides Nidhogg and Odin.
Cuchulainn didn't make any advices. Tae Ho surged up by kicking Nidhogg's forehead and charged towards Ratatoskr.
"Who are you! Who the hell are you!"
Ratatoskr got angry and asked, but Tae Ho gripped the air instead of answering immediately. He gripped the Hammer of Clash, one of the weapons Merlin had made to face the giants.
"I'm Nidhogg's friend."
"What?"
Ratatoskr blinked at the late reply, and at that moment, Tae Ho swung his hammer. It clashed against Ratatoskr's head, and a crisp, violent explosion rang out like a thunderclap.
< Episode 38 - Ratatoskr (3) > End
TL note: Thanks for reading~