And at the same time, Meng, hidden in the endless depths of the sea, naturally wouldn't know about any of this, let alone that the strongest war god of the heavenly realm was currently hopping mad, grinding his teeth in rage towards Meng to the extreme.
For Meng, although he would think according to the thought patterns he had when he was human, because he lacked the memories from when he was human, he severely lacked a sense of identity regarding his human self. He was used to eating and then sleeping, waking up and eating again, without much ambition or desire. At most, he was just a beast with a human thought process. To Meng, whether it was swallowing the sun or devouring the sun goddess Sol, it was all just normal feeding for him, simple and pure, without any malice.
Of course... for those mortals who no longer had the sun shining upon the earth at this moment, who were sinking into endless darkness and despair, whether the serpent's capricious actions were evil or not went without saying.
But for Meng, he obviously had no interest in paying attention to those mortals. He didn't care about these things, but... sometimes, even if you don't want to get involved with something, in the end, that thing might still end up being connected to you.
...
Midgard, the south, in an unknown small mountain village.
The sky was completely black, with only the moon and a few stars. The sparse moonlight shone on this small mountain village, but it only made this sparsely populated village appear even more dismal. Only one house still had a faint glow of firelight, and under the flickering light, the silhouettes of many people could be vaguely seen inside.
And inside this dimly lit house, the fire was burning and crackling. A group of men and women, old and young, were sitting around the fire. The atmosphere was unusually quiet. Everyone was holding their breath, not daring to breathe heavily, their eyes all fixed on the elderly woman sitting closest to the fire.
"'la-call..."
Surrounded by the crowd, the old woman sat in front of the fire, facing it with her arms spread wide, as if embracing the flames before her. Her face was covered in strange tattoos painted with various colorful pigments. Her expression was exceptionally solemn and respectful. She kept rapidly chanting various complex and obscure words, some similar to the Norse language but not entirely the same, as if communicating with someone. From time to time, she would throw some special powders into the fire, making it burn more vigorously.
The burning fireplace, the seated crowd, the mysterious old woman - everything was bizarre to the extreme.
And as the old woman chanted, in front of her, the originally quietly burning fire seemed to come alive, beginning to flicker restlessly along with the old woman's complex, incomprehensible words and tones. The flames grew bigger and bigger. The originally less than half-person-high flames suddenly exploded in front of the old woman, almost instantly expanding into a huge fireball several people high, nearly burning the roof.
Accompanied by the involuntary exclamations of surprise and awe from the surrounding crowd, under everyone's gaze, the flames transformed into a vague, almost humanoid ethereal form. At the same time, the old woman's chanting became more and more urgent and shrill. Her body suddenly began to shake uncontrollably as if she had gone into a fit, as if something had possessed her body, making it out of her control.
Finally, just as the old woman's voice reached its limit and the flames also burned to their peak, suddenly, the old woman stopped moving and chanting...
The flames gradually returned to their original state, just a small tongue of flame burning quietly in the fireplace as always. The previous events seemed like just an illusion, but the old woman, exhausted as if drained of all strength after finishing the chant, suddenly went limp. If the people around her hadn't quickly supported her, she definitely would have directly collapsed into the fireplace.
Even so, she was still panting heavily, unable to say a word. However, someone had already handed her a bowl of water to quench her thirst.
The crowd looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
"Seeress, did the gods give any revelation?"
After a long hesitation, someone asked the female seer, who was slowly resting, in a reverent tone.
The revelation from the gods was undoubtedly a big deal. For these Norsemen who feared nothing, only the gods could make them feel a hint of awe.
As if a floodgate had been opened, someone in the crowd then worriedly said:
"It's already been seven moons rising, but the sun still hasn't appeared... Could it be that the gods have forsaken us..."
"Silence! That's blasphemy!"
A stern voice rebuked.
And so, the original whispers and private conversations respectfully ceased.
No wonder. Since seven moons had risen, the sky had changed and the sun had subsequently disappeared. The moon had already appeared in the sky for the seventh time, but the sun had never reappeared. The entire world had sunk into darkness.
Without the sun, it meant crops couldn't grow and it was difficult to go out to sea to fish. All kinds of aspects of life that had been taken for granted suddenly faced survival difficulties.
So, in this state of unease, people everywhere were constantly trying to find ways to solve the problem. And in this small village, what they could rely on was the old woman who was regarded as a female seer and prophetess. They hoped that through the seeress' mysterious magic, they could seek revelation from the gods.
However, in the face of everyone's expectations, the elderly female seer only surveyed the crowd, then shook her head and said:
"The gods... did not send any revelation."
"Buzz~"
Instantly, it was like a pot had exploded. The crowd broke into discussions, whispering to each other. Shock, disappointment, dread, unease... various emotions spread among the people.
In this era ruled by the gods, to face a situation like this without the gods' guidance, for these mortals, they simply didn't know how to cope.
The seeress remained silent. Usually she seemed to have all the answers, but at this moment, she also sank into perplexity and helplessness. But after a long contemplation, as if she had made some decision, she said in a low voice:
"But the fire spirit gave me some insight."
However, the subsequent words from the female seer's mouth successfully suppressed the many noisy voices.
A robust man at the forefront looked at the female seer in front of him in surprise, then cautiously asked:
"You mean..."
As if the previous spellcasting had exhausted her to the extreme, the elderly female seer closed her eyes. She said softly:
"The fire spirit responded to my call. It told me some things..."
The female seer slowly opened her eyes, her gaze filled with fear and dread.
"A powerful force... unimaginably, incredibly powerful... greedy and brutal, incomparably cruel, incomparably evil. On the day the sun disappeared, that incredibly powerful force completely swallowed the sun into its belly. So... this world will henceforth usher in an era without the sun."