Episode 72/Chapter 1: Ragnarok (1)

TL: Tsubak

ED:

The mount of Olympus disappeared.

Surtr, that had the burning sword sheathed at his back, looked at the connecting path of Asgard without any words.

Anjra Mainiuu had become a strength for him. Surtr became the will of destruction. Perhaps, it was an obvious thing as Surtr was the incarnation of Muspelheim that existed to bring an end to the worlds.

The sky and the ground burned down and Olympus got dyed with the colors of destruction.

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The end was nearing.

There wasn’t much time left.

Surtr started to walk. The destructive group, the Kingdom of Fire followed his back.

The land of the last decisive battle.

Towards Asgard.

&

Odin hurried off after sealing the connecting path. They couldn’t know how much time they had bought.

It would be more than two days at least. If they thought about it unfairly, they had about four days but not five. They would depend on the next two days to see if they had two more days available.

There was someone getting past the group that was on hold at the connecting path of Asgard’s side and advancing. It was the Goddess of magic Freya whom you could recognize at a glance.

She didn’t say anything and Odin just spread his arms. He hugged Freya whose eyes reddened so tightly he seemed to crush her.

“It hurts. I’m saying that it hurts.”

Freya spoke annoyedly. But she just dug in deeper into Odin’s embrace contrary to her words.

Odin stroke Freya’s vast hair. He kissed her in her forehead and then looked down at her. Freya said.

“I prepared everything you told me. Tae Ho is also coming right now.”

“You are so firm and decisive like usual.”

Freya snorted and Odin laughed in a good mood. He placed his lips on Freya’s forehead once again and then looked at the Gods of Olympus.

A huge sense of loss was covering them. It was due to having sensed the destruction of the mount of Olympus directly.

Apollo and the other Gods of Olympus collapsed in place. There were also many of them that lied down and cried. Even the Goddess of warfare Athena burst in tears while hugging Demeter.

There were only two that were holding back their tears.

Heracles stood like a boulder and didn’t move and Zeus stayed silent. Hera, that was holding it back while biting her lips, cried sorrowfully.

It was a regretful scene and this wasn’t only a thing of a third party. It was something that could also happen to the Gods of Asgard.

“Zeus.”

Zeus reacted at Odin’s call. He hugged Hera once that wasn’t able to control her body yet and then entrusted her to the wife of Heracles and the daughter of Zeus and Hera, the Goddess of youth Hebe.

Zeus knew what Odin was requesting. He took a deep breath and answered as the master of Olympus.

“Let’s go.”

As there was no time to waste.

Freya called the cat carriage. She led Odin and Zeus to the center of Asgard- to Valhalla.

&

The black holy dragon passed through the connecting path of the Temple and Asgard. There were countless martial artists at her back.

The leader of the 12 protectors of the Temple, Son Wukong, was leading them and the ancient God of the Temple and the new master, Nuwa, was at his side.

There was a dragon that approached her the moment the black holy dragon entered the skies of Asgard. The woman that landed at the back of the really huge black dragon was Valkyrie Rasgrid.

She had obtained new dragon wing coats and so she entered the heart room of Nidhogg.

“For Asgard and the nine realms.”

Rasgrid expressed etiquette as soon as she saw Tae Ho. Tae Ho also expressed back etiquette and then looked at her face. It hadn’t been a month since they separated from Olympus but they felt like they were seeing each other in a really long while.

“Odin has arrived. He is waiting at Valhalla.”

Rasgrid spoke up to that point and then gave him a feather that had runes engraved in it. When Tae Ho grabbed that, all the information Odin transmitted him entered his head.

Four days from now on. The time given to Asgard.

Forces were gathering from everywhere.

Warriors weren’t only gathering from the world of Gods Asgard but also from the mortal world Midgard, the world of fairies Alfheim and Svartalfheim and warriors from Nidavelir too. It was the same for Vanaheim and Niflheim.

The oldest Steel warrior woke up from its slumber. All of the warriors of Valhalla prepared to go out to the battlefield without excluding anyone.

Tae Ho nodded.

He looked at the direction Valhalla was at.

&

When Tae Ho got down the black holy dragon, the first one he saw was Idun. The woman that had golden hair ran to him and hugged him tightly.

“My warrior Tae Ho.”

Her voice was mixed with fear. Tae Ho embraced her tightly.

“I heard everything. What Odin was preparing and what will happen in the next four days.”

Idun placed her hand on Tae Ho’s chest. She then pushed him to get away from his embrace and then stroke his cheek. She then stood up on her toes and placed her lip on Tae Ho’s.

“Let my blessing accompany you.”

Tae Ho also blessed her back. Idun wanted to get hugged by Tae Ho again but Heda stopped her. They still had time. This wasn’t the time to get drunk at the happiness of the encounter.

“I will wait.”

Heda spoke with Idun’s face and Tae Ho nodded. They followed Reginleif that was waiting for them and headed to a deep place of Valhalla. The only one accompanying Tae Ho was Nuwa. Nidhogg and Adenmaha wanted to follow him but Heda also stopped the two of them.

Tae Ho thought that he would head to the room that had the throne of kings. But the place he arrived at was a room he had never entered until now.

A circular room that was filled with runes in the floor, walls and ceiling.

“We will make the transference here. Move to the center of the room please.”

Reginleif spoke with a low voice that wasn’t like her and Tae Ho supported Nuwa as she started to show signs of exhaustion for the first time since she arrived at Asgard and they headed to the center of the room together.

The transference only lasted a moment. When Tae Ho opened his eyes again he could see the lake of Mimir covered by a dense fog. It was the lake of Mimir.

“So you came.”

Odin, that was sitting near the lake, stood up. Zeus and Freya were standing next to him and the first and second sisters among the three sisters, Urd and Verdandi, were next to the head of Mimir. They couldn’t see the third of the sisters, Skuld.

“For Asgard and the nine realms. The God of war Odin greets you.”

“The Goddess of magic Freya greets you.”

Nuwa also answered back without strength as Odin and Freya expressed etiquette to Nuwa.

“Let the light of the Temple be eternal. I’m Nuwa.”

Nuwa looked at Zeus and he greeted with a low voice.

“Let the glory of Olympus be with you. I’m Zeus.”

His greeting was a bit stiff to the point it seemed a bit rude but Nuwa understood him. Olympus was still groaning even at this moment under the flames of destruction.

Odin looked at Tae Ho.

“Tae Ho, we don’t have much time. The ceremony itself will take time and after that, you need time to get accustomed to your new power.”

Tae Ho took a breath when they asked him if it was possible to start with the ceremony right away. He nodded and answered to Odin’s question.

He had already prepared his mind. There was no reason to delay any more.

Odin told Tae Ho which was his seat. It was on an altar that was prepared in front of the head of Mimir.

The head of Mimir, Urd and Verdandi took place around Tae Ho in a triangle and Odin, Freya, Zeus and Nuwa, that were at the border of the lake formed a square.

Zeus looked at the direction Olympus was at for the last time. Nuwa clenched her chest and closed her eyes.

Odin looked at Tae Ho. Tae Ho answered once again. The sentences of Erin and Asgard appeared at the back of his hands.

“We will start with the ceremony.”

The moment Odin finished speaking.

Asgard, Erin, Olympus and the Temple.

The power of four worlds got concentrated on Tae Ho.

&

Time passed. One of the days of the four days passed and night came.

The warriors of various worlds looked at the starry night. The number of forces gathered at camping ground that was made with Valhalla as the center easily surpassed a hundred thousand and they were still increasing even at this moment.

Ragnar looked at the connecting path that got closed. It was hard to imagine that those gates will get swept away by flames and get destroyed.

But that was a future that would come soon and it was a fate that couldn’t be evaded.

Bjorn approached Ragnar. He gave him a leather pocket instead of saying anything and Ragnar grinned. Ragnar stroke the head of Bjorn that was taller than him and then brought the pocket to his mouth. Naturally, he looked at the direction the World tree Yggdrasil was at.

One streak of light was surging up. Ragnar knew what that light that was surging up from a deeper place than Asgard meant.

‘At least like Sigurd.’

The words he first said and the words he was half joking about.

‘At most like Thor.’

His expectations had gone wrong. It got really destroyed. Because of that Ragnar wished one more time. For Tae Ho to break his expectations once again. For him to advance to a region beyond what he imagined.

Ragnar looked at that light.

&

Rolph adjusted his cloak that was made with wolf leather. The residence of Ullr’s legion was located above the lake of fog like any other residence so the air at night got colder unavoidably near the lake.

“Rolph.”

“Captain Siri!”

Rolph answered reflexively at the voice that was heard following the wind and turned his head in a hurry. He wasn’t an inferior ranked warrior about to rank up to intermediate for nothing so he could find the direction the voice was heard at in an instant.

Siri was standing with a smiling face. She always put a serious expression at work but she always showed a soft smile after her job was done and which Rolph missed to see.

“So you were at guard work.”

“I’m still at a place where they still use me everywhere.”

Rolph grinned and then checked the back of Siri. Siri asked at his sudden question.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, I was wondering if Bracky didn’t come.”

Bracky had also been promoted a lot and had become a God now just like Siri but they were still comrades when they were at the inferior rank. For Rolph, Siri was captain Siri and Bracky was just Bracky.

Siri smiled softly at Rolph’s answer and then gestured at her back with her chin and answered.

“He went to Thor’s legion for a moment. Because he and I miss a lot of people.”

Day two of four.

Siri and Bracky couldn’t stand shoulder to shoulder with the other warriors of Valhalla at the final war, Ragnarok. The two of them had become too strong for that.

Rolph put a troubled smile at Siri’s answer. He checked Siri from head to toe and grinned like a fool.

“You became a real Goddess now.”

“Did something change from me?”

When Siri turned to look at herself and ask, Rolph nodded in a hurry.

“You became really different.”

Siri laughed once again as Rolph didn’t speak in details. She patted Rolph’s shoulder and said.

“You have also become more reliable.”

“Stop it, you aren’t teasing a kid.”

The one that sighed and butted in was Gandur. Siri frowned as if objecting and spoke.

“I said that because he really is reliable.”

“Right, of course. You are acting like that without thinking because he has gotten more reliable. Rolph, you should understand her. She’s really tactless.”

“I understand. She has been like this since long ago.”

Gandur patted Rolph’s back as he smiled bitterly.

“I don’t know what you are talking about at all.”

Siri mumbled alone as she got excluded from the conversation. Rolph just shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to clear this awkward atmosphere and end this situation in the best way.

“For Asgard and the nine realms.”

“For Asgard and the nine realms.”

Siri answered reflexively at Rolph’s greeting.

&

Ingrid climbed the walls of the fortress alone instead of accompanying the warriors of Njord’s legion. It was a place she could see the light that surged up from the World tree well.

The usually earnest Ingrid always maintained a fixed posture while standing. But it was different this time. She leaned on the wall a bit and looked at the light with loosened eyes.

The end was nearing.

A war of a different scale from what Asgard had experienced until now and the war that would decide the fate not only of Asgard but all the worlds was in front of them.

That’s why she decided to get honest. Because it was a place that she was alone. She called in a really low voice.

“Warrior Lee Tae Ho. It’s a meeting.”

What would have happened if it wasn’t Heda but her?

Ingrid smirked. She leaned her head with her arms instead of fixing her expression.

She hid her feelings that she hadn’t shown until now and wouldn’t show it and looked at the light.

&

Rasgrid gathered her hands and prayed.

Reginleif looked at the starry night next to that Rasgrid.

It was a really starry night. It was a night that was the same as yesterday and would be the same tomorrow which you couldn’t believe that the end was nearing.

Merlin didn’t read the stars. He, the last survivor of Camelot, sat in the residence of Idun and looked at Erin that was seen from far away. It was really small compared to before and no one knew of this land but this land would some day recreate the glory of Camelot.

Merlin resented the fact that he was the lone survivor when Erin got destroyed. But it was different now. He prayed towards King Arthur and the Knights of the round table that he wasn’t able to meet anymore.

Let a next time exist. Don’t let it end like this. No answer came back but he didn’t stop praying.

&

Helga looked at the sky and thought. Would her father and siblings be looking at the same sky from Midgard? Would they also be praying like her?

The residence of Idun was silent.

Scathach sat inside her residence and waited for Cuchulainn. There was no guarantee that he would return tonight but she didn’t bother about those small things.

Nidhogg, that was yelling that she would wait for Tae Ho, got embraced by Adenmaha and breathed calmly. She fell asleep to the point she wouldn’t notice if someone carried her.

It was because she had overdone herself greatly these few days. Adenmaha looked at Nidhogg. She placed her lips on Nidhogg’s forehead who she worried about like a kid playing on water.

“Yeah… I will protect you…”

Nidhogg talked in her sleep and then rubbed her head in Adenmaha’s chest. She also didn’t forget to grab Adenmaha’s waist with her arms.

Adenmaha suppressed her depressed feelings while facing Nidhogg. It was because the ones that would be getting on the front lines in the approaching battle would be Tae Ho and Nidhogg. The two of them were the strongest forces the beings that wanted to maintain the world had.

That truth made her sad. She felt pain at the fact that she couldn’t do anything but let the two people she loved the most go to the most dangerous battlefield.

‘I won’t send them alone.’

She would at least stay next to them. She would follow them to the ends of hell.

“Adenmaha…”

Nidhogg mumbled in a low voice. Adenmaha kissed Nidhogg in her forehead once again and then looked outside the window.

A streak of light was crossing the sky.

&

The night was deep. It was a time when dawn opened the morning.

The light of pillar that was surging up next to the World tree disappeared. Heda knew what that meant.

She waited a bit more and then turned her head. She was always the one that went to find him but this time, the man came for her.

“Hello once again?”

Tae Ho greeted her and laughed. He couldn’t know what had changed right now. There were no external changes. He was the same warrior of Idun, Tae Ho.

‘It’s good to be Heda’s warrior for today at least.’

Idun said in a low voice and Heda chuckled. She looked at the transcendental being that was the master of Asgard and Erin and had now obtained the seat of master of the Temple and Olympus. And then ended up saying unconsciously.

“This time I will also fight.”

Just like when they fought against the magician king. When they defeated the World Wolf Fenrir.

“Although I wasn’t able to obtain some Dragon wing coats.”

Tae Ho opened his eyes roundly while looking at Heda pouting and then laughed like a fool.

“That’s regretful.”

“I have a winged horse wing coat but it won’t be enough, right?”

“Yes, a little bit.”

In addition Tae Ho already had real dragons.

Tae Ho sat next to Heda and she grabbed his hand and laughed again.

“Why?”

“Well, I remembered the time we first met.”

“When you coughed after offering me a cigarette that you don’t even smoke?”

“Forget that please.”

“I will see.”

Heda glanced at him and Tae Ho laughed. He stroke Heda’s cheek and gave her the best blessing.

There was not much time until dawn. The night was ending but they still had time. Heda smiled and then asked with her red cheeks.

“Will you also dislocate my waist?”

Tae Ho’s face reddened at her joking words and Heda giggled at that. This time, she gave Tae Ho the best blessing.

She became one with Tae Ho.

&

Morning came.

A day passed again and the estimated day came.

Heimdall blew Gjallarhorn. All the warriors of Valhalla headed to the connecting path. The warriors of Olympus and the Temple accompanied them.

The black holy dragon and other colorful dragons flew up high to the sky.

Ragnarok.

The last war that would decide the fate of Asgard and the nine realms.

The sound of the horn trumpet rang.

It proclaimed the start of war.

< Episode 72 – Ragnarok (1) > End