Chapter 867: The godslayer’s offer
’If power is what I need! Then I’ll take it from the prison you put me in!’
Nidhoggr’s dragon heart thudded violently as she roared, and from her back pressed against the Cosmic Nexus, she began absorbing cosmic energy directly from it.
|! Wyndella!|
Barda called out to his sister and rushed toward her, grabbing her and pulling her away just as Nidhoggr’s body erupted with a burst of power, reality fracturing under the weight of the immense energy leaking out of the Cosmic Nexus, energy Nidhoggr was drawing in to try and break Aleksas’ Authority that sealed hers.
Wyndella and Barda flashed away to avoid the next omnidirectional wave of toxin energy that flooded the space, and within it, Nidhoggr condensed two orbs of cosmic energy in her palms and slammed them together.
The two orbs collided with sparks, and as she pressed them harder, they began to merge and swirl into a green whirlpool of power that released a laser beam of energy toward the two Levites.
Barda and Wyndella naturally moved to dodge, but the laser beam shattered into countless tiny fragments, each one homing in on them, with some exploding midway.
The individual blasts caused little damage, but it didn’t matter since Nidhoggr had only meant it as a distraction to keep them occupied for a moment.
|I am Nidhoggr, the Venomous Sovereign, the breath of corrosion, and the rightful ruler of Dragonkind who defied the False Progenitor to claim the throne by right of strength! I am the Blight this Cosmos needs!!|
Making that ’Declaration’ by drawing on the energy of the Cosmic Nexus, Nidhoggr created a crack in the suppression on her power imposed by Aleksas’ Authority, instantly alerting the Progenitor who was in the faraway Second Multiverse.
Through that crack, she regained a fragment of her true power and didn’t hesitate to squeeze out as much of it as she could.
|Dictum of the Venomous Sovereign!!!|
A dodecahedron of greenish cosmic energy formed around her, expanding rapidly and dyeing reality with rot as it spread.
Within it, Nidhoggr spread her wings wide, a multi-layered cosmic crest appearing behind her as she roared and condensed energy for a breath.
But right before she released it, all phenomena came to a halt.
|!|
’This feeling...!’
|I said it before...|
Nidhoggr’s pupils darted around at the sound of that cold voice, her eyes finally locking onto the existence who owned it, floating in the space above her.
|...and I’d say it again.|
With a flash of light, Barda instantly returned to his true draconic body, his eyes glowing blue and his scales shining under the light of the Cosmic Nexus.
|The Old Man is not the best ruler...but he’s still leagues better than anything you could ever be.|
Wyndella quickly backed away as she felt Barda’s cosmic energy flood the space around them, pushing Nidhoggr’s back toward her.
Not a single trace of emotion was in Barda’s voice, a stark and jarring contrast to his usual self, so much so that it felt disconcerting even to Wyndella.
—Fourth Concretization: Aspect Dominion—
Reality around them became an empty world of black and white, and Barda, the only existence retaining colour, raised both hands up.
He gripped empty space, and the handle of a sword appeared, and as he pulled back for a swing, the rest of the blade rapidly constructed itself from his energy, finishing just in time for him to swing it horizontally from left to right.
Breaking the Sky: Second Step.
|Part the Sea.|
Barda’s sword flashed, and a line cut right through everything.
Nidhoggr’s Dictum shattered, the energy construct around her collapsed, and the cosmic crests behind her were split in two.
A long gash appeared across her torso, from which blood poured uncontrollably, and at this, Wyndella closed the distance, grabbing Nidhoggr by the head and finishing what she started.
|Creation Cocoon.|
Cosmic creation energy erupted from her palm, wrapping around the black dragon and encasing her in white bandage-like energy strips.
The dragon was sealed within seconds, and by the time Wyndella was done, Barda was back in his humanoid state, his horns once again serving as the only tell-tale sign that he was far from human, and he looked up along the Cosmic Nexus’ length while rubbing his chin.
"I’ve seen the guy Arthur was talking about," he said casually. "He was trying to look here and got blinded by my Concretization. The one-eyed one too."
He casually spoke of having blinded both Heimdall and Odin, and considering how much he favoured Arthur, whom he wanted to make the next Eternal of Time, he was tempted to leave them that way.
However...
"We can’t leave any evidence of our presence behind, Barda," Wyndella said, reminding him that their retrieval of Nidhoggr was supposed to remain secret.
She couldn’t serve as a Wild Card in the possibility of War if everyone knew she was out of Prison, could she?
"I know," Barda said, sighing softly as he turned his gaze towards Niflheim and sent a telepathic message.
’Arthur. It’s time to leave.’
◇ ◇ ◇
A few minutes earlier, shortly before Barda and Wyndella’s clash with Nidhoggr began, Arthur was in a world of eternal winter, where the light from the stars of this system was dim and snow fell endlessly, with blizzards raging across the planet’s surface.
He waded through waist-high snow, a cosmic energy barrier surrounding him to shield him from the hailstones falling from above.
After several minutes of silent walking, Arthur tripped on something, but instead of being surprised that his senses had missed this ’thing’, he smiled, knowing it meant he was close to his destination.
"You’re one meticulous bastard, Odin."
He waved his hand, clearing the snow that interfered with his senses, revealing a massive white chain embedded in the icy ground.
Following the chain as his guide, he soon reached a cliff overlooking an immense valley, where the chain he had been tracking descended to the bottom.
All around, similar chains stretched from the tops of the surrounding cliffs, all converging toward the centre below.
Despite the raging blizzard around, this place was unnaturally calm, with not a single snowflake falling from the sky, and the icy ground lay bare, untouched by snow.
Arthur leapt down to the bottom of the valley, creating a small crater in the ice upon landing, though the surface smoothed itself within seconds after he walked past.
The place was unnervingly silent, so the sound of his footsteps echoed across the frozen expanse as he drew closer to the centre, where a single entity lay bound to the ground by the hundreds of chains stretching from every direction.
"So these are the famed Chains of Gleipnir, huh?"
His voice echoed as he reached out to touch the thick chains, each link large enough to reach his mid-thigh even while standing, but the chains sparked violently the moment his hand made contact, their immense energy rebounding against him.
Blood dripped from his palm and hit the icy floor, melting it slightly with a faint hiss.
"Very restrictive, they are."
Arthur infused divinity into his arm and reached out again, but the chains repelled him once more, and when he tried using anti-divinity, the rebound was even more violent, the sparks burning his skin up to his elbow.
"Against both the divine and even more so against the Anti-Divine. I suppose that’s to be expected considering the existence they hold down."
Finally, Arthur lifted his gaze from the chains to the entity at the centre, the giant wolf covered in dense white fur.
The parts of its body bound by the chains were discoloured grey, and its once sharp claws were all broken unevenly.
The wolf appeared to be asleep, and at this, Arthur raised his hand again, activating his Extreme Nothingness Authority, his hand coated in a silver glow as he reached out to touch the chain.
"In the end, all would eventually return to Null..."
Unlike the last three times, however, the chain didn’t rebound his touch.
It couldn’t, as the link he touched instantly crumbled to dust and fell to the ground.
[!]
The wolf immediately reacted, eyelids snapping open to reveal a pair of vivid hazel irises and light brown pupils that instantly locked onto Arthur, who bowed slightly and spoke.
"I am Arthur, the Progenitor of the relatively new godslayer race. Nice to meet you, World Wolf."
[...]
Though there was no response, Arthur raised his head, slipped his hands into his pockets, and continued speaking.
"I’m not sure if you’d heard of my race before your recent incarceration. I also won’t deny that my existence played a part in Odin’s decision to seal you."
At those words, the silent wolf finally stirred, lifting his massive head from the ground and staring down at Arthur, his colossal body towering over forty metres.
Even while bound by the chains of Gleipnir that restricted both his movement and his immense power, the aura he exuded was still overwhelming enough to make any ordinary Deity tremble in fear.
But Arthur wasn’t any ordinary Deity.
He countered Fenrir’s intimidation with his own, the collision of their energies causing cracks to spread across the frozen surface.
They held each other’s gaze in silence until the wolf’s maw slowly opened, and a deep voice rumbled out.
[...what do you want?]
"What do I want? Well, soldiers for the godslayer Army I intend to raise, that’s what I want," Arthur answered. "And on that note, I bring you an offer."
Removing his left hand from his pocket, Arthur continued.
"I’ll free you from the chains of Gleipnir, and in return..."
He extended his hand toward the cautious wolf, a calm smile on his face as he spoke.
"Become a godslayer, Fenrir."
