And so Odin kept the giant wolf Fenrir in Asgard, sealed the death goddess Hela as the ruler of the realm of the dead, and only the great serpent Jormungandr was too hideous and despised by the gods, who cast it into the bottomless abyss of Midgard...
- The Poetic Edda
"..."
His head felt heavy and dazed, as if someone had struck him, leaving his mind in a state of utter confusion.
Voices of men and women, some melodic, some deep and masculine, continuously argued beside his ears, as if many people were speaking all around him.
"Who am I?"
Struggling to open his eyes in a daze, this was the first thought that flashed through the owner of this consciousness.
Strangely, in his impression, everyone should have a name, but the problem was, he could only vaguely recall that he was once human - being born, going to school, graduating, working...
It seemed ordinary with nothing special, yet many memories were veiled by a thin mist, obscuring clarity.
In his hazy recollection, he could only faintly remember his own name seemed to be...
"Meng...Meng...Meng?"
He speculated his name with some uncertainty, never able to fully ascertain the "Meng" in it.
"Where am I?"
This was his second thought. He desperately tried to open his eyes, but they seemed to be tightly glued shut, unable to open at all. Beside his ears, the voices of the men and women grew increasingly distinct.
"We should throw it down..."
"No, I think this little one is quite cute..."
"This little girl..."
Oddly, although Meng had never heard those complex and strange voices before, he could effortlessly understand what they were saying.
Meng strived to open his eyes. Suddenly, a sliver of light emerged before his eyes, followed by an expanse of brightness as countless colors rushed in.
Then, with just one glance, Meng was stunned...
"Where is this..."
Inside the towering temple, traces of giants could be seen everywhere. Each exuded an inexplicable oppressive aura that instilled an involuntary sense of dread. The giants were so tall that Meng had to raise his head to see them in full.
At the same time, Meng was also shocked to discover something else...
"Where are my hands and feet?!"
Perhaps due to his previously muddled state, Meng actually failed to immediately realize that he could no longer feel the existence of his hands and feet. Not only his limbs, at this moment, Meng felt as if he had lost his arms and legs, lying on the ground and crawling like a snake.
Without bothering to observe the giants any further, Meng instinctively lowered his head to look at his body, only to see that the area that should have been his body was fully covered in tiny black scales and slimy mucus.
Turning his head, he saw a slender serpentine tail trailing behind him on the ground.
Putting aside the question of how his head seemed to be able to rotate 360 degrees, after looking around his body in astonishment, Meng finally had to acknowledge a fact...
He had turned into a snake.
Moreover, what was strange was that beside him, there was also a newborn pup-like creature and an unconscious little girl.
The pup was not that odd, but what truly astonished Meng was the unconscious little girl.
The left half of her body appeared normal, like a pure and beautiful young girl, while the right half looked as if it had been burnt to a crisp, reduced to a half-skeletal state.
Life and death coexisted, creating a shocking and eerie sight.
As Meng was observing his surroundings, the oppressive giants were all standing in the great hall, heatedly arguing about something. In the center of the crowd sat a one-eyed old man on a silver throne, with a long beard and fully armored.
The one-eyed elder wore a great golden crown, with two ethereal ravens perched on his shoulders. By his feet crouched two alert wolves.
Unlike the others who were arguing, the one-eyed elder remained silent. His piercing gaze swept over Meng's direction.
Although he did not specifically stare at Meng, being brushed by that knife-like sharp gaze still made Meng's entire body go numb.
Fortunately, the one-eyed elder merely gave a cursory glance without any other intent, then sank back into contemplation...
"Enough!"
Finally, with the one-eyed elder's sudden furious roar, the numerous giants who were previously quarreling endlessly instantly fell silent.
After quieting down, the one-eyed elder surveyed the surrounding giants, then looked towards Meng again.
This time, Meng could be certain that he was looking directly at him, because along with the one-eyed elder's gaze, the other males and females also turned their eyes to Meng.
Under the stares of the many giants, Meng inexplicably felt a sense of crisis and instinctively opened his mouth.
However, he had forgotten that at present, he was purely a snake.
So when he opened his mouth, although newborn, the sharp snake fangs that had already begun to show were exposed to the giants before him.
"Hiss~"
Long red forked tongue, complete upper and lower fangs... along with the instinctive recoil into a defensive posture, as if threatening the giants.
Meng then keenly noticed that the faces of the giants before him all revealed varying degrees of displeasure and disgust at the sight of him.
The one-eyed elder's face also showed some dissatisfaction, but he did not say anything. Instead, he looked at one of the many giants and calmly said:
"Thor, throw this beast into the sea."
The giant addressed as Thor had a valiant appearance, wearing armor, with sturdy arms that clearly possessed immense strength.
Hearing this, the giant immediately walked towards Meng without a word.
"Thud... Thud..."
The clinking sounds of the armor with each step proved that what this burly giant wore was no ordinary gear.
Seeing this majestic and mighty giant, Meng instantly felt a sense of unease.
"Hey... Wait..."
He wanted to say something, but he had forgotten...
In his current serpentine form, the most he could do was flick his tongue.
Then, the giant directly reached out a massive hand to grab Meng.
The immense power emanating from the giant's hand seemed heavier than a mountain, directly crushing all the bones in Meng's body together, the friction producing a series of crisp snapping sounds as excruciating pain spread throughout his entire being.
"It hurts..."
Before the agonized scream could be uttered, the giant had already widened his eyes in fury, raising his arm high...
"Ha!"
With a thunderous bellow, the raised arm was flung out like a taut spring.
"Boom!"
The arm that was abruptly swung out instantly broke the sound barrier. Amidst the thunderous explosive sounds and shrill whistling of the air rubbing against the arm, this strongest god of the heavenly realm used his mountain-crushing might to directly hurl this not yet grown serpent into the sky, disappearing like a shooting star...
After witnessing Meng vanish from his sight, the one-eyed elder finally turned his head to look at the pitiful little girl and puppy before him. After a moment of silence, he slowly said:
"As for Fenrir and Hela... Let Fenrir stay in Asgard; Hela, let her go to the realm of the dead."
...
Several days later, all the nine realms knew that Odin, king of the gods, had kept Loki's three children. Fenrir remained in the divine realm of Asgard, Hela went to the realm of the dead, and Jormungandr, despised by the gods for being the ugliest, was directly thrown into the bottomless abyss of Midgard.
...
Midgard, the deep sea.
On the vast and dark ocean, only the howling of the sea breeze and the churning of huge waves could be heard. Here, almost no signs of life could be found.
Everything seemed so tranquil, as if it would never change.
But there are always exceptions.
"Boom!!!"
From the sky, something like a falling meteor smashed into the ocean. Instantly, accompanied by a thunderous rumble, towering waves surged...
A long while later, the sea gradually calmed. A limp little snake subsequently floated to the surface.
At this moment, its mind was filled with endless lingering fear.
"D*mn, that guy nearly smashed me to death..."