Chapter: 218
Alright, then.
“Let’s move on.”
“Huh? Wasn’t the story already finished?”
“The story I just told was about the Valkyries stealing souls, and the story I’m about to tell is something else entirely.”
“Something else… Ah!”
Only then did Freyja seem to realize what I was referring to.
“I, um… Are you talking about the illegal entry?”
“You know quite a bit.”
Not just any illegal entry, mind you; it’s the kind that trespasses into paradise, reserved for those who have passed judgment in the afterlife. So it wouldn’t just be overlooked, would it?
I started by venting my anger towards Odin for his soul-stealing antics, but truly, this was the main issue at hand.
“Now, tell me everything you know. How you got here, what you are doing here, what Odin is planning. Everything. I want to hear it all.”
“Yes, yes!”
With her future already mortgaged to me, Freyja shared everything she knew without a hint of resistance.
“To migrate the Aesir gods to escape destruction. No, this place was never meant for you to begin with.”
“I was just doing as I was told! Old Odin, in his arrogance, told the other Aesir gods that he created this place, but… he revealed very little to me, almost like he wanted me to keep it to myself.”
Aha, he told you to keep it to yourself… Does that mean he knows what kind of place this is?
“Well, even when he did give details, it was so vague! Like ‘the cherished land of the Goddess of Life’ or ‘a blessed space beyond death.’ It’s always been that way! That old man!!! Twisting his words with ambiguity, making them hard to understand! And when I asked him again for clarification, he just said I didn’t need to know and brushed off my questions! Since he’s a divine being, I had no choice but to help! But honestly, I’ve lost all affection for him!”
“I see there’s quite a bit of pent-up frustration.”
“Of course! I’d rather not lay my eyes on that self-indulgent, old one-eyed man! Plus, he seems out of his mind right now! Ugh! It feels like he’s gone nuts after hearing some strange rumors!”
Gone nuts, huh… Hmm. I wonder if the prophecies I made drove Odin to madness?
“Anyway, Odin created a passageway from the Aesir realm to this place. He instructed me and the Valkyries to move supplies here, repair things, and fortify the area.”
“Fortification, huh…”
When I first saw the Aesir gods doing something here, I thought maybe Odin was mistaken.
What if, in his attempt to create a new world, he accidentally opened a door to another realm… to paradise itself?
Perhaps they were preparing for migration, mistaking paradise for a new world.
However, if Odin was trying to escape destruction by creating a new world and leading the Aesir there to migrate, then fortifying it would be unnecessary.
They were going to a world meant solely for the Aesir, so fortifying it would waste resources and manpower. Rather than investing in such efforts, they would have focused on stabilizing that world and reinforcing its foundations.
But Odin prioritized fortification first. Before even fully migrating, he started construction and erecting defenses.
And above all, he knew exactly where this place was. He knew perfectly well that this was the world beyond death.
That’s why I couldn’t possibly forgive Odin.
If the path was made by accident, then sneaking into paradise could be forgiven, but if it was intentional, then that’s another story…and it can’t be forgiven.
That’s why…
“The Aesir must be destroyed.”
“What?”
“Not that destruction was avoidable already, but… they should fall as miserably as possible.”
It looks like it’s time to put into action the divine Twilight… I guess it’s time to kick off Ragnarok.
“W-what? The downfall? Are you serious about the Aesir?”
“There’s no need to worry; I’m just slightly altering the inevitable process of destruction.”
And Freyja… Well, I’ll need her later for other tasks. Let’s spare her from the downfall.
“Then… what about me and the Valkyries?”
“Don’t worry. I said I’d punish you by assigning different tasks, so you won’t be swept away in the destruction.”
I don’t know about the other Aesir gods, though!
So, after giving Freyja some instructions, I began the preparations for the Twilight of the Gods.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Freyja built a citadel in a corner of paradise and fortified it. After a short time, Odin and the Aesir gods moved to paradise.
Odin, speaking about the paradise as if he had created it himself and even naming it Valhalla, showed none of the wise and sage-like demeanor he had before.
All that remained was a cross-eyed lunatic with clouded eyes.
Yet, due to his intact abilities… he somehow managed to carve a path to paradise.
The Aesir gods, who had moved to Valhalla—this world Odin created—felt relieved at having escaped the fate of destruction and began celebrating daily feasts in the fortress of Valhalla.
The Aesir gods cooked with the meat of pigs that resurrected the next day after being slaughtered and feasted on mead from female goats that produced mead instead of milk.
They would have no idea.
That there can’t possibly be a paradise where you flee, only to arrive.
The heavily fortified citadel wasn’t built to protect the Aesir gods from enemies but to imprison them, ensuring they could not escape.
And the most damning fact of all: an army was mobilizing to wipe out all of the Aesir gods.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The Aesir’s invasion of paradise… Trespassing? Well, it’s still within the realm of possibility, so I guess it’s fine. Anyway.
News of the Aesir’s trespassing spread among various gods, and they each responded differently.
First up, the Underworld.
Led by the three judges of the Underworld, those who manage the Underworld, those who guard it, along with prisoners whose sentences are shortened based on their merits.
They were furious at the news that part of paradise had been taken over by others.
Well, that’s to be expected. Paradise is a location beyond the Underworld, accessible only if one passes its judgment.
Being closely tied to the Underworld, it was impossible for them not to be outraged about it.
Thus, the Underworld prepared for an all-out war.
Next up… dragons.
Initially, the dragons were indifferent to the news about paradise shared by Ceres.
They thought it didn’t concern them, whether paradise was occupied or not.
However, perhaps as the story was passed along, the details transformed into something else entirely. After some time, what I heard back from the Dragon Lord was…
“The afterlife created for dragons in Paradise has been seized by the gods of Aesir.”
That was the warped message I received.
Hmm. Hmm… Hmmm…
It’s not entirely different from the original news, is it? While I did create paradise, Ceres was trying to design an afterlife for dragons, which expanded, leading the Aesir gods to breach it….
Hmm. Even if many details were omitted, I suppose it’s somewhat accurate?
Anyway, that news reached the dragons, and they… were quite angered.
Dragons who grasped the accurate situation furiously exclaimed that “How dare they occupy the paradise created by the Creator Dragon!” while the ones who received the distorted account yelled, “How dare they invade the afterlife created by the Creator Dragon for us!”
In the end, the only takeaway was that the dragons were irate.
Additionally, there were golems made by children inspired by the Talos I created, giants suffering under the aggression of the Aesir gods, wolf gods imprisoned by the Aesir, gods attempting to seize fragments of Baal that Odin possessed under Zeus’ orders, and other gods who viewed Aesir as thorns in their eyes.
Hmm… Aesir gods. Why do you have so many antagonistic foes? There are even gods gnashing their teeth in rage.
Anyhow, various beings converged, all for a singular purpose.
To bring about the destruction of the Aesir.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“To be honest, if it’s about destroying the Aesir, wouldn’t Mom be able to do it all on her own? It’d be simpler than squashing a bug.”
“That’s correct, but wouldn’t that be a bit mundane?”
“Mundane, you say?”
I gazed at the fortress constructed by the Aesir.
An imposing stronghold built as if this paradise were their territory.
“I want them to feel despair. I want them to regret daring to step into this paradise with dirt on their feet and sink into destruction.”
“Despair, is it?”
“Indeed. Despair. But I am far too powerful to allow them to despair. They will be gone before they ever know what despair is, so that would be quite dull.”
And then I surveyed the gathering around the Aesir’s citadel.
Many dragons, countless dead, the gods of giants, the wolf gods, and even massive golems.
“But I believe these gathered individuals could sufficiently bring the Aesir into despair.”
And… I have one more thing prepared as well.
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