Time turned back thousands of years…
"Jormungandr, or should I say… Meng, in your eyes, what exactly is fate?"
Hearing this, the great serpent, who had already closed its eyes, opened them again. Its cold, forest-like pupils gazed down at the tiny human figure beneath it, but the reason it opened its eyes was not only because of these words, but also because of the voice that surfaced in its mind along with them.
…
"Ah ah ah… Loki, you actually…"
At the last moment before being devoured by the great serpent, the screaming Mimir seemed to realize something and struggled to cry out, but before he could finish, this wise giant who had glimpsed nearly all of time and space was swallowed into the belly of the ferocious serpent along with his three daughters.
And beneath the great serpent's colossal skull, the frail Loki watched everything before him with indifference, witnessing Mimir being devoured above, and then spoke as if to himself.
"Mimir, you think that by making the entire universe cycle in this infinite loop of time, you can sleep soundly without worry, but ah, as I said, what you have gained is nothing more than the wisdom that common sense can comprehend. Wisdom is like a vast ocean, and the wisdom that common sense can comprehend is like a small island. You reside upon this small island, and everything you see, hear, know, and experience is on this small island. You pride yourself on being able to comprehend all under heaven, but in my eyes, you are ultimately nothing more than an unenlightened buffoon."
"You only know that time is endlessly repeating, but you don't know that beyond time, there is yet more time. Time has never been just one kind. That existence slumbering at the end of time has already grown a bit impatient from waiting… No matter how grand the sacrificial ceremony, if Ragnarok repeats thousands upon thousands of times, that existence will eventually grow weary of it… Mimir ah, you say I am fated to rebel against fate. You are indeed not wrong, because my very existence is fate, but not the fate you imagine. I am a tool chosen by that existence to end all of this."
"You and I… are both merely prisoners of fate."
At the end, Loki's tone inexplicably paused for a moment, and then he murmured.
And above Loki's head, the great serpent with its spine lined with mountain-like bone peaks was not the least bit interested in what he said, only casually snorting, but this breath of the dead creature could not be like the storms it created when alive. Instead, it turned into a fiercely bone-chilling cold.
In its empty eye sockets, there was no joy, no anger, nothing at all, only that kind of coldly indifferent, downward-gazing aura. Or rather, this was its true nature.
It fully vented itself in Ragnarok, burying all of Jormungandr's violence, greed, madness, and savagery in that battle with the thunder god, interring them in death. What remained was this deep indifference and coldness.
It was neither human nor monster, but something essential, like… the heavens.
The way of Heaven is eternal, impartial to the righteous or the wicked. It is neither good nor evil, only coldly and indifferently observing all.
"Fate? A boring thing."
In the trembling air, a deep voice entered Loki's ears, and Loki could clearly hear the derisive tone of the great serpent. Very obviously, in the eyes of this great serpent, there was no such thing as fate.
However, Loki was also unfazed and lightly chuckled before saying,
"Meng, in your eyes, what is death? Do you fear it?"
"Death? That is nothing more than a slumber for me. Just as humans need to rest when tired, death is when I feel weary. Life and death have no meaning to me, so how could I fear death? Do you dread sleep?"
The deep voice scoffed, carrying a profound arrogance and disdain.
Loki immediately laughed, as if he had long anticipated the great serpent's answer, and continued,
"So in other words, you also cannot understand our profound feelings about fate, that irresistible force. You do not fear death, nor do you care about fate, because human emotions simply do not exist within you. You are nothing more than a soulless beast…"
At the end, Loki looked at the immense being before him, composed of countless bone peaks, and gazed into its body… where there was nothing.
"It's empty."
At the end, Loki's voice laughed, as if carrying some deep significance.
Then, he stretched out his hand, holding a quietly beating human heart, and softly said,
"Meng, these are your feelings as a human. I borrowed them for a bit… Now, I return them to their rightful owner."
And before Loki, the great serpent slowly lowered its head. Its excessively huge skull filled the entire sky above the Well of Wisdom with deathly white bones. The empty eye sockets made one shudder, and under the great serpent's downward gaze, that heart and itself seemed to have some peculiar connection.
"Heh heh… ha ha ha ha ha ha…"
Unexpectedly, looking at that human heart, the great serpent let out a deep laugh. The laughter gradually rose, its earth-shaking volume whipping up gusts of wind, as if mocking.
"Loki, have you misunderstood something? To me, such a thing is no different from a human's shed fingernails, or like apes picking lice before evolving into humans. It's nothing more than a tiny bit of dregs that I discarded after transcending humanity. Why would I care about it?"
The voice carried a deep arrogance and conceit.
And Loki looked at it and said,
"A tiny bit of dregs… is it? Hehe, if that's the case, then discard it."
With that, he casually traced a rune with his hand, and in an instant, the space beside him formed a void. Then, he nonchalantly tossed the heart into this void connecting countless universes and worlds, letting it drift with the currents of space-time to some unknown space.
Raising his head, looking up at the immense being before him, the corners of Loki's mouth curled up, and then he laughed,
"I hope you won't go searching for it one day because you regret it."
And before Loki, the arrogant and conceited monster only casually spat out gusts of chilling wind, not minding Loki's words at all.
"Rumble…"
At the same time, outside the Well of Wisdom, thunderous booms rang out. It was the shaking produced by the entire World Tree gradually reverting to that invincible giant. The entire universe trembled. The invincible giant who had slumbered for countless tens of thousands of years had finally awakened.
Last time, his slumber heralded the birth of the entire world. And this time, his awakening would herald the destruction of the entire world.
However, at this moment, there were only a scant few survivors left in this universe.
Loki looked towards the sky above the Well of Wisdom and could vaguely see that infinitely huge tree that supported all Nine Worlds gradually transforming into a giant…