Capítulo 2301: Reason
Rather than guiding Sis and Fenrir towards the lavish chamber that had been prepared for them, 'Muninn' directed the duo to a hidden stairway that led deep beneath Asgard.
Breaking the long silence, Muninn spun around began floating backward, the smile fading from her face as she lazily droned, "I don't like how calm you are. It makes me think you're looking down on me..."
Maintaining a relaxed smile, Sis raised her brows ever so slightly as she mused, "Oh~? Have you given up on the charade so quickly? And here I was, looking forward to seeing what you had in store."
"Kuh...I really hate that look on your face..."
Punctuating her words, Muninn attempted to form a seal with her hands but found herself unable to as a dark blue paw blocked her view. In the next moment, she found herself crashing through several pillars as Fenrir slammed her head and body through Asgard's foundation.
Despite the punishment that she was enduring, Muninn's expression remained unchanged as she gripped Fenrir's forearm and said, "I abhor violence..."
Following Muninn's words, a series of ghostly blue chains erupted from her body, each link reminiscent of a jagged tooth as it attempted to coil around Fenrir's arm and body.
Instead of evading, Fenrir surprised the increasingly illusory Valkyrie by accelerating exponentially, busting through the attempted encirclement. At the same time, her nails began to radiate a shimmering white light that allowed them to sink deeper and deeper into Muninn's flesh.
With traces of golden blood trickling from her wounds, Muninn grumbled, "Disgusting..." before spontaneously bursting into a gaseous, ghostly blue haze. Some attempted to invade Fenrir's mouth and nostrils, but it quickly dispersed upon realizing she was proactively trying to devour it.
Breaking past the voracious Vanargandr, a thread of the ghostly blue mist sped towards Sis with extreme speeds. Unfortunately, it was only able to get within a few meters of her before impacting a rune-covered barrier that not only arrested its momentum but prevented it from escaping with a tremendous gravitational pull.
With a distinctly mischievous smile on her face, Sis began drawing runes in the air as she asked, "What's the rush? Why not stay a while and have a chat~?"
Compelled by the intricate runic passage, the ghostly blue mist that had permeated a large part of Asgard's subterranean complex was attracted towards the shimmering golden barrier surrounding Sis. Even Gods on the level of Odin would struggle to string together more than a few runes at a time, but Sis was able to write them with the fluency of spoken word.
Unable to resist Sis's magic, the ghostly blue mist inevitably coagulated into a phantom figure with ghastly pale skin, golden eyes, jagged teeth, and flame-like blue hair.
"There you are~."
Finished with her binding spell, Sis added injury to insult by swiping her hand in a cutting motion. When she did, seven swords formed of golden light manifested out of thin air before accelerating at blinding speeds to pierce the figure's back, forcing it to a corporeal state and binding it to the barrier she had erected.
As much as she enjoyed teasing Vahn, Sis didn't fool around when it came to her opponents.
Despite golden blood leaking from their mouth and nose, the ghastly pale figure didn't appear to be in pain as it stared at Sis through her barrier and remarked, "You're nearly as disgusting as the Sage Dragon Emperor..."
Smiling radiantly, Sis chimed, "Thanks for the compliment." before making a second cutting gesture, this time piercing the figure's wrists and ankles with spears of golden light.
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Sensing what was happening back at Asgard, Vahn grabbed the bolt of lightning trying to envelop him as if it were a solid object before flicking it like a whip towards the surprised Thor.
Rather than affording the befuddled God of Thunder the time to collect himself, Vahn teleported next to him, his fist smashing into Thor's cheek. In the very next moment, he appeared on the opposite side of Thor, yet another fist smashing into the God of Thunder's face before following it up with a barrage of punches and kicks that compelled him to remain in the same position.
After landing a series of blows that could have leveled entire planets with ease, Vahn ended his assault by lightly tapping Thor's forehead with his Mjolnir and declaring, "Our battle has been enjoyable, but we should wrap things up here. I didn't come to Asgard seeking conflict."
Though his face was swollen to the point of resembling a pig's near the beginning of Vahn's statement, Thor had nearly recovered by the time he had finished. However, instead of immediately attacking, he looked up at the hammer obscuring his vision, stating, "You've quite the hammer..." in a weary yet joking tone of voice.
Before Vahn could respond, Thor swung his own Mjolnir in an attempt to send him flying. Since Vahn was no longer playing around, however, the runes on the hammer appeared to peter out as it impacted the unsmiling dragon's cheek without so much as leaving a dent.
Taking advantage of Thor's momentary stupor, Vahn smacked his would-be adversary on the forehead with enough raw power to vaporize most of his body. This was far from his full power, but he was hoping it would be enough to convince the battle-hungry God to stand down.
Reversing the order of entropy, Vahn allowed Thor a moment to process what he had just experienced before saying, "If you want to fight again at a later date, I'm more than willing. For now, there are other matters that require my attention. If you continue getting in my way, I will no longer regard this as a 'friendly' bout."
Instead of responding to Vahn's words, Thor took a moment to touch his face and body, seemingly to confirm he was still whole. He had died many times throughout history, his most recent death being at the hands of the Demon Dragon God, but he had never experienced being vaporized in an instant.
Realizing the incomprehensible gap between his and Vahn's strength, an uncharacteristically serious expression developed across Thor's face as he looked into the former's golden eyes and inquired, "Tell me...for what reason do you possess such strength? I can't imagine why anyone would require such an...excessive amount of power."
Having heard similar questions in the past, Vahn adopted an almost sad-looking smile as he shouldered his Mjolnir and calmly replied, "So that I never have to use it."
Blinking in surprise, Thor opened his mouth to say something but found himself at a loss for words. He was under the impression that, at least for a time, Vahn was enjoying their battle. Now, the latter gave the impression that he would rather be doing anything else...
Seeing through Thor's thoughts, Vahn adopted a less cynical smile as he elucidated, "Make no mistake, I do enjoy friendly battles and contests of strength. It's just that I find much greater meaning in spending time with the people I care about, watching over and guiding them as they pursue their respective paths."
"I see..."
Hanging his head, Thor stared at the Mjolnir pulsing in his right hand as he contemplated Vahn's words. He couldn't see eye to eye with them, but he could understand one thing: Vahn had a much stronger sense of purpose than most other Gods in the Divine Realm.
Holstering Mjolnir at his hip, Thor gazed into Vahn's eyes as he said, "It's no wonder you have the support of Shiroyasha and Indra...you might just have what it takes to bring about the change so many have failed to bring about in the past."
Shrugging his shoulders, Vahn allowed his Mjolnir to disperse into motes of golden light as he replied, "That was never in question. Now then, shall we return...?"
Shaking his head, Thor gazed off towards nothing in particular as he said, "You go. I'll follow after in a few hours. When I do, allow me to pour you a drink. Valhalla runs rich with the finest mead in the Nine Realms, nay, the Little Garden as a whole...!"
Regaining a bit of his vigor, Thor raised his hand to manifest a drinking horn carved to depict some of his more famous exploits. He was about to offer Vahn a drink, but the latter preempted him by saying, "Very well, I'll look forward to it." before disappearing in an instant.
Though he would have felt offended if anyone else departed in such a hasty manner, Thor didn't brood over Vahn's sudden departure. Instead, he just shrugged his shoulders before removing the cork of his horn and engorging himself with several sloppy mouthfuls...
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Sensing Vahn's imminent arrival, Sis promptly lowered her left hand and adopted a smile as the former manifested next to her, eyes fixed on her captive as he remarked, "Even if this is just a clay golem, don't you think you're going a little overboard...?"
Before Sis could respond, the blue-haired figure, Loki, appended, "Yeah, don't you think you're going a little overboard?" in an identical pitch and tone.
Furrowing his brows, Vahn floated over to Loki, staring into the latter's snake-like until the androgynous God asked, "Why are you staring at me so intensely? What, gonna kiss me...?"
"Gotcha."
Without elaborating, Vahn stabbed his right hand into the center of Loki's chest. However, despite penetrating up to his elbow, his hand didn't come out of the befuddled God's back. Instead, a panicked expression began to develop across Loki's face as they screamed, "What in Odin's saggy balls do you think you're doing...!?"
Ignoring Loki's outburst, Vahn retracted his hand, concurrently pulling out an identical copy of the fiery-haired God as he flatly remarked, "Let's get a little serious, shall we?"
Showing genuine emotion for the first time, Loki stared back at Vahn with a mixture of fear and disbelief as they muttered, "Impossible...you can't just backtrace across multiple dimensions and pull someone out through them..."
Releasing Loki from his grasp, Vahn stated, "I've never once cared what others thought to be possible. If you and your companions intend to get in my way, don't expect me to keep playing by the rules."
With Vahn releasing their collar, Loki was tempted to teleport to safety but found the surrounding space completely solidified. To make matters worse, Fenrir had spontaneously appeared behind them, a no-nonsense expression on her face as she bared her increasingly sharp fangs.
Realizing they couldn't run, Loki hesitated for a moment before reaching towards the center of their chest and manifesting the hilt of a pitch-black claymore wreathed in ghostly blue flames. Upon seeing this, the severity in Vahn's expression faded into a look of interest as he inquired, "Is that your version of the Laevateinn...?"
Scowling, Loki brandished the two-and-a-half-meter long claymore as they spat, "There are no 'versions.' I'm the one that created Laevateinn. All others are just a pale imitation! Now, see what happens when you-!"
Interrupting Loki's shout, Vahn promptly sliced through their Laevateinn with his own before planting a kick in the former's abdomen. Loki's sword may have the power to destroy all of Asgard, but the legend required it to be wielded by others to reach its maximum potential. Loki wasn't exactly known for their might.
Grabbing one of the fragments of Loki's Laevateinn, Vahn held it up to his own as he asked, "How about it? Want to try becoming the 'original'...?"
Having no interest in such titles, Laev-tan replied, ("Eh...just toss it. I'm happy enough just being your Zanpakuto.")
Exhaling a light chuckle, Vahn reversed the order of entropy to restore Loki's Laevateinn before running his finger along the flat of the blade. As he did, a trail of golden runes replaced the existing enchantments. Laev-tan may be unwilling to become the original, but he could still remove the curse that tied it to Asgard's destruction.
As Caulifla might say, Surtr and his little Ragnarok Community could go suck it...
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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Sis is scary...','Vahn be like: *bonkai*','Laev-tan supremacy (U w U)~!')
Capítulo 2302: Wisdom
With powerful tremors spreading through Asgard, it wasn't long before the Realms protectors, consisting primarily of Valkyries and Einherjar, began to rally in an attempt to uncover the cause.
Fortunately for Muninn, Odin ordered Heimdall and Tyr, the Norse God of War and Justice, to stay alert on the surface while she and the members of the White Raven Community handled things underground.
Following the path of destruction wrought by Fenrir, it wasn't long before Göll and Geirölul discovered Vahn and his retinue hovering in the air with a disheveled-looking Loki.
With Göll and Geirölul acting as beacons, Muninn, Vor, and the rest of their group were able to teleport over. When they saw Loki bound in golden chains, Muninn's usually stoic expression immediately paled as she inquired, "You...I mean, Your Imperial Majesty managed to capture the real one...?"
Without taking his eyes off of Loki, Vahn answered, "I have my methods." before shifting his gaze to a seemingly empty area of space and adding, "Don't tempt me..." in a threatening tone.
Though others might not be able to detect such things, Vahn had become increasingly aware of the presence of foreign intentions. Even if someone were to peer across space and time using an advanced form of divination, he would be able to sense them.
In response to Vahn's threat, several of the intents keeping an eye on him immediately vanished. Those that remained were predominately the result of the various forms of omniscience ever-present within the Little Garden, specifically Laplace, Shiroyasha, a few similarly powerful individuals that had little better to do than spy on others.
With most of the peanut gallery departed, Vahn surprised nearly everyone present by releasing Loki from Enkidu's embrace, explaining, "I've severed your contract with the Ragnarok Community. I recommend you lay low for a bit and avoid antagonizing me in the future. Next time, I won't be nearly as merciful."
"Your Majesty...!"
Knowing how dangerous Loki could be if allowed to traipse about, Muninn attempted to interject. Unfortunately, Loki wasn't regarded as one of the most tenacious Gods because of their durability. The moment Vahn let them go, they immediately teleported away without so much as a quip or barb.
Shifting his attention to the understandably incensed Valkyrie, Vahn's expression remained calm and relaxed as he said, "It's not my job to clean up the Nine Realms Community's messes. Loki may have targeted me and my people, but so too did your Community's Thor. The right to spare and or release them is mine, not yours."
Though she 'really' wanted to argue, Muninn remained silent for several seconds before exhaling a tired sigh and muttering, "I understand..." in a sullen tone. She couldn't find fault in Vahn's perspective on the matter, so there wasn't much else she could say.
What Muninn didn't know was that Vahn had no intention of allowing Loki to simply roam free. Much as he had back in the Tower, he placed a curse within their body that would activate the moment Loki attempted to take advantage of a 'protected' class of people. At that point, Loki would have no one else to blame but themselves.
In an attempt to lighten the mood, Vahn snapped his fingers to revert their surroundings to their original state. Sis had created a 'snapshot' of Asgard's underground long before Loki revealed themselves, so it was a simple matter for him to undo the devastation wrought by Fenrir's charge.
Seeing everything spontaneously return to normal, Muninn opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something. Instead, she exhaled another sigh before adopting a faint smile, shaking her head, and muttering, "As expected of the Sage Dragon Emperor..."
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Though he would ordinarily greet guests while seated atop his throne, Odin made an exception for Vahn by choosing to wait for him near the base of the stairs separating the palace from the Bifrost.
While everyone else bowed towards the Chief God of their Pantheon, Vahn made his way over with Sis and Fenrir in arm, saying, "It's good to see you again, Odin."
Adopting a grandfatherly smile, Odin resisted the temptation to inspect Sis with his penetrating blue eye. Instead, he maintained eye contact with Vahn as he replied, "Indeed. I trust my children have not caused you too much trouble?"
Shaking his head, Vahn adopted a smile of his own as he stated, "None worse than my own. While most of my children are good-natured, there are quite a few prone to mischief."
"Mmm...speaking of which, rumor has it that the Little Garden has been blessed with a new generation of Moon Rabbits. I'm looking forward to the restoration of the Moon Palace."
With Odin mentioning his and Black Rabbit's kittens, a far more sincere smile developed across Vahn's face as he mused, "I am very fortunate." while pulling Sis and Fenrir close.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Odin cast his gaze over the two animalistic beauties, remarking, "Indeed." in a sincere tone of voice. Even without scrutinizing them, he could sense the unfathomably vast quantity of energy contained within the two women. Sis, in particular, gave off an impression similar to the World Tree, Yggdrasil.
Seeing through Odin's surface thoughts, Vahn somewhat surprised the elderly God by inquiring, "Thinking of which, how is the World Tree faring? I trust the Panacea I provided functioned without issue?"
While discreetly increasing his mental defenses, Odin nodded his head and replied, "Better than expected. In fact, as far as we can tell, the tree has already made a complete recovery. We were simply waiting for your visit before declaring it to the public."
Unsurprised by the revelation, Vahn maintained a relaxed smile as he said, "That sounds about right. Then I presume the reason for this invitation was to discuss a union of sorts between the Nine Realms and the Aldrnari Empire?"
Gesturing towards the interior of the palace, Odin suggested, "We should move someplace more comfortable to speak in private. As I'm sure you're aware, Valhalla is more than hospitable towards those worthy of entering its halls."
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Vahn replied, "Sounds good." before releasing his hold on Sis and Fenrir, adding, "I'll meet the two of you back at our room. If anyone gives you trouble, be sure to return the favor."
Punctuating his words, Vahn planted kisses on the duo's foreheads before shifting his attention to Muninn, briefly narrowing his eyes as he said, "Try not to lose them this time."
Feeling a shiver run up her spine, Muninn stood even straighter than usual as she hastily replied, "Understood! We won't fail you a second time...!"
Nodding his head in approval, Vahn exchanged a telepathic message with Sis and Fenrir before accompanying Odin into the silvery-golden palace of Valhalla.
As could be expected from a structure that was visible from nearly 150 million kilometers away, stepping into Valhalla was like entering into an entirely separate world. The distance between the floor and ceiling, at least at the entrance, was close to 50 kilometers, while the room Odin escorted him to had a literal mountain range visible in the distance.
Fortunately, even an average human would be able to wander the halls of Valhalla without getting lost as, much like the Bifrost, the floor would glow with a rainbow hue before moving you to your destination. It was nowhere near as convenient as instantaneous teleportation, but that wasn't exactly an option for most people.
While eyeing a few mountain-sized figures walking around in the distance, Odin broke the silence between him and Vahn by revealing, "I viewed the battle between you and my son, Thor. What you said to him near the end; I must admit, I didn't expect it..."
Though he was briefly confused by the elderly God's words, it didn't take long for Vahn to realize Odin was referring to his comment about wanting power so that he wouldn't need to use it.
Seeing no reason to keep silent, Vahn nodded his head and explained, "As much as I enjoy helping people and improving their lives, I've been forced to acknowledge there is no actual reason behind such actions. I will never stop trying to make the world a better place, but eternity is an unforgiving mistress. I've come to realize that even a single moment spent with the people I love has greater meaning than the countless I've spent trying to ensure fairness and equality in the world..."
Turning towards Vahn, Odin's singular sky blue eye blazed with an intense light as he calmly remarked, "You have great wisdom. Mimir himself could not have said it better."
Returning a somewhat sad smile, Vahn softly retorted, "I have everything except the things that truly matter. For their sake, I will stop at nothing to draw even the concepts of fate and identity into myself..."
Sensing the passion contained within Vahn's words despite his tone, Odin felt fear for one of the few times in his life. The former wasn't threatening him or anything, but he got the impression not even the sum of Creation could prevent Vahn from reaching his goal. There was only a singular fate awaiting anyone that got in his way...
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After escaping Asgard and retreating to the Seven-Digit Gates, Loki took several moments to collect themselves before pulling out a fiery red orb and contemplating whether or not to contact Surtr, the current leader of the Ragnarok Community.
Though Vahn had said that the contract between them and the Ragnarok Community had been nullified, Loki didn't immediately believe him. Even they could not annul a contract established through the Central Network without something like a Gift Game, so it wasn't easy to believe they had been liberated so easily.
Deciding it was better to be safe than sorry, Loki activated the fiery red orb and waited for it to connect to Surtr. Instead, the orb flickered a few times before turning pitch black, seemingly broken.
Groaning in frustration, Loki droned, "Seriously...?" before smacking the orb against a nearby wall. Somewhat surprisingly, this actually seemed to work as the orb immediately regained its luster, revealing a woman with raven-black hair, dark green eyes, and pale, almost snow-white skin.
Recognizing the woman as one of their children, confusion briefly marred Loki's expression as they asked, "Hel? Why are you answering instead of Surtr? Don't tell me you're sleeping with that ancient piece of charcoal..."
Scoffing in response to her faux father's words, Hel explained, "Surtr has been severely injured, and the entire Community is in complete disarray. What happened between you and the Sage Dragon Emperor?"
Blinking in surprise, Loki asked, "Injured? How...?" in a genuinely confused tone of voice.
Furrowing her brows, Hel answered, "How am I supposed to know? There was an explosion, and then we discovered Surtr unconscious in his throne room. We also checked on you, but you were nowhere to be found. At this point, everyone is assuming you're the one responsible."
While others might be surprised by Hel's words, Loki appeared relatively calm as they remarked, "It certainly sounds like something I would do..."
Shaking their head, Loki preempted their daughter's enraged response by explaining, "The Sage Dragon Emperor was somehow able to pull me into Asgard through my connection with my puppet. I don't know how, but he was able to completely ignore the wards placed by my father and the fact I am prohibited from entering Asgard directly. He is far more capable than we expected."
Understanding that her 'father' wasn't capable of defeating Surtr even with their full strength, Hel was one of the few people that didn't think Loki was responsible for Surtr's injuries. Vahn, however, was more than capable of performing such a feat.
Exhaling a sigh, Hel took a moment to consider her words before saying, "It matters not. Return to Muspelheim and await further instruction. If what you say is true, we'll need to devise a counterme-"
Interrupting before Hel could finish, Loki supplied a curt, "Nah." before promptly smashing the orb against the ground. If Vahn had the power to take out someone like Surtr without having to make an appearance, there was no way in Helheim they were going to face him. More importantly, the fact they could refuse their daughter's command was more than enough evidence to prove they were free from their contract. It had only been a few months since their resurrection, and they weren't going to squander it trying to poke a Dragon that wasn't even asleep...
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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Not my problem...','True wisdom...','Loki be like, "Fuck this shit, I'm out~"')
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