TL: Tsubak
ED: Julsmul
Long ago, when the Great War was about to end–
The spinning wheel that was at the center of the residence of the three sisters started to spin.
The finely made threads of fate let them take a peek at the fate of the world.
Uld, who grabbed at the thread with her long and slender fingers, had said,
"The fates of the three children of Loki are connected to the ones that will decide the fate of Asgard."
Verdandi nodded while making a new thread and read it down. The fate of the World Wolf was connected to the fate of the King of Gods, Odin.
The fate of the Space Snake, Jormungand, was connected with the strongest God, Thor.
Skuld frowned.
No matter how she looked at it, it wasn't good.
Cases like these, where the fates of different people were connected to each other, happened occasionally.
It was easy to think about the connection a couple had, but there were much more different cases than that. And if it was a destiny that the thread of fate showed, then it certainly wouldn't be normal.
A best friend, a nasty foe, someone living a similar life, a relationship that changes when they meet each other, an existence that can become a milestone for another, etcetera.
But the ties that the children of Loki had with the Gods of Asgard were the worst of the worst.
Mortal enemies, and in a one-sided way.
The World Wolf was Odin's doom. It was a terrible existence that could turn Odin into dog food.
And the Space Snake was the doom for Thor. Thor had a strong vitality that could defeat all kinds of giants and monsters and was resistant to all kinds of poisons, but he couldn't endure the poison of the Space Snake.
Odin and Thor were both important existences for Asgard. As they were the King of Gods and the strongest God, respectively, if either one of them disappeared, Asgard could be stumbled by the threat the giants posed.
"Loki's last child."
Uld said. And Verdandi read the thread of fate once again.
Hela was also connected with someone from Asgard. But it wasn't possible to know with who.
"He still hasn't arrived. He will come in the future."
It was Skuld's area, but even she couldn't grasp who was connected by fate with Hela.
She couldn't know what kind of fate it would be as she didn't even know the adversary. Not even Uld, who had read the threads of fate for a long time, knew. She could barely read that it was only a different kind of fate.
But she was certain of one thing aside of that.
"The one that's connected by fate with Hela will decide the future of Asgard."
Just like Odin and Thor did.
Uld grabbed the thread of fate. Verdandi raised her head and looked at Skuld.
Skuld received the gazes of her sisters and changed her point of view.
She saw beyond the concept that the World Wolf and the Space Snake were enemies and the Queen of the Dead was an ally and looked at the line above that.
The children of Loki were telling them.
The ones that would decide the fate of Asgard.
The King of Gods, Odin, was the past of Asgard.
The God of Thunder was Asgard's present.
What Hela pointed at was the future of Asgard. The existence that would bring forth the future.
The one that hadn't arrived yet.
But the one that will one day arrive.
Skuld untied the threads of fate like she always did.
Uld spun the spinning wheel once again and slowly made a new thread of fate.
-
"We arrived."
Tae Ho got a hold of himself when Odin called for him with a low voice. He saw a green hill in front of him when he opened his eyes.
"We are at a place not too far away from the lake of Elidi."
Odin wore a long hat and a cape. A flock of crows were flying towards him as if welcoming him.
"The air here is good. It's fresh,"
Nidhogg sniffed and said. The air here couldn't be compared to the roots that was covered by a dense fog and the poisonous fog she made.
Tae Ho stroked her head and then looked at his surroundings. He had spent some time in this place when he last visited Midgard, but it was merely that so he couldn't quite pinpoint where he was at.
'Odin should know the path if that's what you are thinking about.'
Odin was also the God of the Wanderers. Because of that, he could know all of the paths of Midgard as if they were lines in the palm of his hand.
In addition, a flock of crows was approaching. They would transmit the information they had to Odin.
Tae Ho wasn't the one that should have been thinking about where they should go or where they were at just like Cuchulainn had said. Because of that, Tae Ho thought about a problem he could solve himself.
"Good, I have decided."
"What?"
Nidhogg tilted her head and asked. Tae Ho smiled towards her instead of answering and then took out a summoning rock.
He would summon Adenmaha.
It was impossible to do that when he was at the roots because of the severance.
He hadn't summoned her since he got out of the roots because he'd thought that she would be in Valhalla, but that wasn't something he could be sure of. He would be able to summon Adenmaha if she remained in Midgard just like the warriors that couldn't leave it.
'What if she's taking a shower?'
Cuchulainn laughed creepily, and Tae Ho shook his head. But still, his worry about the summoning not working was solved to an extent. Cuchulainn would have also probably said it to ease his nervousness.
'I'm looking forward to it. Do it quickly. She would have finished clothing herself at this pace.'
Cuchulainn breathed out from his nose and said. It was sincerity itself.
'H-He should be joking. He should have joked to make me feel more relaxed.'
Tae Ho consoled himself and then took a deep breath and inserted magic power to his summoning rock. He then called the name he grieved with a trembling voice.
"Adenmaha."
Someone responded to his call. Adenmaha appeared while washing herself and showing her white skin as the space folded around her.
Exactly one second after–
Adenmaha blinked.
And after another second–
"Kyaak?!"
Adenmaha screamed, and Cuchulainn cheered.
'Ohh! It was real!'
He had just said it casually, but for her to really be showering....
Tae Ho was horrified while Cuchulainn felt joy, and Adenmaha felt even more perplexed at the fact that she had gotten summoned.
"Ma...Master?!"
Adenmaha looked at Tae Ho and opened her eyes widely. She closed her eyes and then tears started to fall down from her eyes.
"Master!"
Adenmaha threw herself towards Tae Ho. She grabbed him by his neck and burst out of laughter.
"W-Wait! Clothes! Wear some clothes first!"
"Uwaa! Master!"
But Adenmaha just cried as if she couldn't hear him. She didn't let go Tae Ho in fear that he may leave.
And in the end, Tae Ho's eyes also reddened. He embraced the shoulders of Adenmaha that was crying sorrowfully.
"Right, right Adenmaha. You were safe. Safe."
"I....I was....really worr- worried."
Adenmaha sobbed and spoke. Her pronunciation was a mess as she was burying her face in Tae Ho's chest, but she didn't mind about that one bit.
Tae Ho patted her back. He hugged her tightly so that the frail and small Adenmaha could calm down.
"I was also worried, Adenmaha."
"I-I really thought that you were dead....uwaa!"
She had barely calmed down a little, but she then burst out in happiness once more. They weren't tears of sorrow or surprise, but tears of joy.
"It's fine. It's fine."
Tae Ho also grew relieved. Just like Adenmaha was worried about Tae Ho's survival, Tae Ho had also worried about her.
He was thankful that she was healthy without being injured.
And after some time passed–
Adenmaha barely managed to stop crying and then activated a mystical magic while still burying her flushed face in Tae Ho's chest. And then, the uniform of a Valkyrie that had the symbol of Idun engraved in it appeared over her instead of the sky blue dress she enjoyed wearing.
After some more seconds passed, Adenmaha managed to calm down her excitement a little bit, and only then did she put off her face from Tae Ho's chest. But she still looked up at him while hanging on to him.
"But master...."
Her eyes were still teary, but it only lasted a moment, and her voice and eyes were rather sharp.
"Yes?"
Adenmaha's eyes sharpened even more, and Tae Ho answered with a nervous voice unconsciously. She turned to look at Nidhogg that was still grabbing on Tae Ho's clothes.
"Who is that? The one that's grabbing your arm."
It bothered her. Precisely speaking, if Adenmaha's intuition was right, she was of a dragon race, was female, and a formidably dangerous existence.
Nidhogg flinched at Adenmaha's gaze and then said while stuttering,
"I-I'm Nidhogg. I'm the dragon of Tae Ho master."
"Tae Ho....mas...ter?"
Adenmaha turned to look at Tae Ho once again. He gulped dry saliva unconsciously, and Nidhogg continued speaking innocently.
"Yes, yes. Tae Ho master. Nidhogg is the dragon of Tae Ho master."
Adenmaha let out a long sigh.
How worried was she for the past fifteen days.
She was begging that he would be alive.
"Explain this."
A forced, polite way of speaking came out after a long while.
Her tone scared Tae Ho. It wasn't entirely appropriate, but he could only feel that way.
"No, so the thing is–"
"Tae Ho master. She's scary."
Nidhogg's mumble was like pouring oil over a fire. No, it felt like pouring cold water on fire.
Adenmaha's gaze became cold, and Tae Ho started to explain what had happened the past fifteen days.
'I'm sorry, Odin.'
Cuchulainn, who materialized thanks to Odin's magic, spoke towards Odin spindly. Whatever the case, this wasn't something they should show the King of Gods.
But Odin smirked as if he didn't mind.
"No, let's keep watching. We have to wait for the information from the crows anyways. It's also rather fun."
The crows were still gathering by bringing information even now. Actually, the group also had to ask Adenmaha what had happened the past fifteen days, but right now, Tae Ho should be thinking about the peace in his family just like he always emphasized.
"So the thing is...."
Tae Ho started speaking, and Adenmaha listened to his story while shutting her mouth.
-
"So, putting it briefly, you got sent to the roots of the World Tree because the teleportation magic exploded, and you seduced Nidhogg that was trapped in the roots her entire life to get out of the roots?"
Adenmaha summarized the story just by grabbing the most important points after listening to Tae Ho's story.
But Tae Ho had some complaints about it.
"....I feel like you are misleading things."
"Anyways."
Adenmaha crossed her arms as if blocking Tae Ho's complaints like she had no thoughts of listening to him and then turned to look at Nidhogg who was still grabbing his clothes.
"Hm."
The black dragon, Nidhogg.
Adenmaha came from Erin, but she had still heard that name. She had heard a brief explanation about her in Idun's residence while studying to become a Valkyrie.
The ancient dragon that has existed alongside the World Tree.
It didn't seem to be an overwhelming and evil existence like she heard in stories, but still, there was one point in common.
An existence that had been trapped in the roots for more than a thousand years.
'How poor.'
Adenmaha felt compassion for Nidhogg, who was aware of her. Because of that, she said with a gentle face and expression, completely different to the one she had shown until now,
"I'm called Adenmaha. You said that you also wanted to become Idun's Valkyrie, right?"
"Yes yes. I will become Idun-nim's Valkyrie."
She was still Odin's Valkyrie, but she was thinking of moving to Idun's legion as her Valkyrie after she entered Valhalla. And actually, she had already received permission from Odin.
Adenmaha nodded.
"Right, then I will be your senior. I'm master's first dragon, so I'm a senior in both regards."
'But a sea serpent isn't a dragon.'
Cuchulainn criticized from behind, but Tae Ho and even Adenmaha ignored him.
Nidhogg smiled brightly.
"Yes yes. Adenmaha is my senior. Nidhogg's senior. Hehehe."
It was a face that she was really happy that she had gotten a senior.
Adenmaha, who felt compassionate once again, stood on her toes to stroke the head of Nidhogg as she was bigger than her and then spoke to Tae Ho.
"Didn't you seduce a really pure kid?"
Tae Ho just smiled bitterly as he had given up on defending himself, and Adenmaha turned to look at Nidhogg once again.
"First, let go of master's arm. You can't keep holding him like that."
"Then I want to embrace you."
"What?"
Nidhogg moved quickly even before she could react. As she covered the small Adenmaha that was about 10 centimeters shorter than her, Adenmaha had no means to dodge her.
"You are softer than Tae Ho master. Squishy. Feels good."
"M-Master?"
Adenmaha called out to Tae Ho, but it had no meaning. Nidhogg embraced Adenmaha more tightly and said,
"Tae Ho master likes Adenmaha a lot. That's why I will also like Adenmaha. I saw Adenmaha a lot in Tae Ho master's memories."
Nidhogg spoke casually, but that became the decisive blow.
"Hm, well. It's unavoidable."
Adenmaha flushed when she heard that Tae Ho liked her and snorted, but she smiled like a fool and hugged back Nidhogg, who was putting a vague expression.
'I thought that Nidhogg was the most pushover being.....but I think it actually was Adenmaha.'
Cuchulainn criticized precisely like usual.
Tae Ho thought that it was more of a rock, paper, scissors relationship, but whatever the case, he stayed silent as their relationship was good.
And finally, Odin opened his mouth.
"It seems like it has become somewhat organized."
There were already several crows gathered near him. Tae Ho, who'd gotten a hold of himself, faced Odin with an embarrassed face, and Adenmaha also turned towards Odin while still holding on Nidhogg.
"Let's start the conversation."
About the things that had happened in Midgard the past fifteen days.
Odin started to speak ahead of Adenmaha.
< Episode 40 – Idun's Valkyrie (1) > End