Rainbow-colored light poured down upon the Celestial Realm.
High in the air, the aged god, Odin, narrowed his eyes, taking in the entire scene in his mind.
It had only been moments since a goddess had ascended from the snowy plains into the Celestial Realm through the rainbow bridge, Bifröst. Freyja had immediately risen into the sky, scattering the seven-colored magical power surrounding her across the entirety of the celestial realm.
Now, the gods who had lost their strength and collapsed were rising to their feet.
The God of Thunder, the God of Mischief, the God of Hunting, the God of Medicine, the God of Awakening, and the Daughter of the Sun—
The gods exchanged glances with Freyja as she floated beneath the blue sky.
Then, without a word, they headed toward Bifröst, the rainbow bridge descending toward the snowy plains.
There were no words among the gods. What had happened was already clear from the Water Mirror that had displayed the battle.
The only one who could not remain silent was Odin, the chief god.
“Are you going?”
After descending to the ground, Odin asked the gods.
Only Solana stopped and turned around. Her golden eyes met the chief god’s gaze.
Odin continued.
“You are already gravely wounded. Even if you use the magical power of Jörmungandr and the others, along with the remaining power of creation, you will not last long.”
Odin planted his spear against the ground like a staff and took a step forward.
“The gods throughout the world’s dungeons have already expended much of their strength resisting the eclipse. If you were to approach the brink of annihilation again, there would be no longer be any way to restore your strength through magical power.”
Solana smiled.
“What are you trying to say?”
“If you go to the Ginnungagap, Solana, you…”
Before the chief god could finish, the goddess placed a hand against her chest.
“This is my vow.”
Odin tightened his grip around his spear.
“…A vow?”
“I have chosen to stand with Rion. It was my own will. My own desire. I made that choice myself.”
The years of the distant past came rushing back through the chief god’s mind.
Long ago, Odin had created the ancestors of humanity together with the other ancient gods. They had been imitating Ymir, who had created the gods. And so Odin had thought he understood that humans were beings beneath the gods. He had seen nothing but their betrayal, their fear, their weakness. But perhaps he should have looked not only at the darkness they produced, but at the light that gave rise to it as well. After all, darkness only becomes visible because light falls upon it.
Odin murmured,
“A god… swearing a vow to a human…?”
Now, it was the goddess who was being pulled along by the will of a human.
This apocalypse had brought one thing after another that he could never have anticipated.
As Solana walked toward Bifröst, the rainbow bridge, together with the other gods, she looked back at Odin and smiled.
“You’ve awakened now, haven’t you?”
By the time the chief god looked up in surprise, Solana and the others were already gone.
Only a gentle breeze passed through the celestial realm.
Odin had no strength left to fight, having devoted it to maintaining the seal and to the skills he had bestowed upon the adventurers. Considering the risks, he had no business leaving the celestial realm either.
Even so, the chief god felt a small pang of regret that he could not go to the surface and fight alongside them.
The Water Mirror of the celestial realm continued to display the snowy plains, positioned a short distance away from Odin.
A light appeared on the surface.
The golden light plunged into the enormous rift.
◆◆◆
Sunlight poured down around me, so thick it felt as though I could scoop it up with my hands.
Light streamed in through the rift high above.
Golden radiance washed over Ymir and me as we stood upon the great glacier. Ymir leaped backward, while I reached a hand toward the sky.
Someone descended toward me, trailing sparkles of light in their wake.
My eyes widened.
My heart began to pound.
The moment I saw that radiant smile, I called out her name.
“Solana!”
We had only been apart for a short while, yet it already felt as though I hadn’t seen her in days.
I took both of the goddess’s hands and pulled her toward me.
Her flowing golden hair.
Her large eyes gazing into mine.
Just seeing them filled my chest to overflowing.
“Why are you here…?!”
“That’s because—”
The goddess began to answer, then suddenly her mouth fell open.
“B-behind you!”
Ymir, who had grown to nearly five meters tall, had raised his fist.
“We’re flying, Rion!”
Solana grabbed my hand and took flight.
Ice shattered beneath us.
As we rose, Ymir bared his fangs and roared up at us.
—WOOOOOOOOOO!
His burning gaze followed us.
Solana abruptly lowered our altitude, breaking his line of sight, and flew low across the great glacier.
“The gods have recovered their strength. I’m the only one who could come into this void, but the others are waiting for us on the surface.”
Above us, the rift leading back to our world was still open.
If we could make it there, we could rejoin the other gods. And then, perhaps, we could fight back.
“So—the magical power has been restored?”
Solana hesitated for a moment.
“It was Freyja. Her magical power, along with the power of Jörmungandr, the World Serpent, and Fenrir, was delivered to the celestial realm. That is why we were able to recover.”
“Freyja? But she was supposed to be inside Lu… Did Lu go to the celestial realm?”
“No. The one who helped us was Freyr.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise.
“…What do you mean? I…. I thought he was dead…”
“I’ll tell you everything in more detail later. You and Luisia are both incredible. You truly saved a god who had been lost in doubt!”
A tremendous roar approached from behind us.
Solana and I turned around in alarm.
Ymir was coming after us, crushing the glacier beneath his feet. His massive body, now more than five meters tall, grew rapidly larger in my field of vision.
“Solana, can’t you fly any higher?”
“…I’m sorry! The cold magical power filling this place dulls even the strength of the gods!”
She was right.
Golden light was leaking from Solana. It was as though her body itself were coming undone, the magical power slowly fading from her.
Are you okay?
I almost asked. But I swallowed the words. There was no way she is all right.
And yet, she had still plunged into this void for my sake.
My heart grew hot.
The will to fight began rising within me once more.
“Solana, for now, let’s focus on getting back to the surface.”
When I said that, Solana raised an eyebrow.
“…As expected of you. I feel the same way. In order to defeat this monster, we’ll need to join forces with the other gods and the adventurers.”
Ymir wrapped both arms in flames and fired them at us in rapid succession.
I let go of the goddess’s hand, and we split up in two directions. If we both moved in zigzags, even a torrential downpour of fireballs could be avoided.
As I thought, fighting in tandem with the goddess was something special.
“Rion! Can you see the rift up above?”
After finishing our evasive maneuvers, Solana and I regrouped, standing back-to-back.
“Loki and the others are up there, preparing for something.”
“Preparing—”
Even as we exchanged words, Ymir roared again.
With a series of cracking, grinding sounds, his enormous body grew even larger.
The light scattering from his left arm was probably because a crack had formed in the bracelet. Just as he had done earlier, Ymir grabbed his left wrist with his right hand.
Seven meters tall. His sheer presence was as oppressive as a mountain of rock, while his wildly swirling golden hair looked like the raging flames of some mythological inferno. Dark red flames burned around his neck, waist, and joints, as though protecting them.
Ymir rippled his muscles and stretched both arms out to either side.
Red light gathered in his palms. As the glow intensified, two masses of rock, each roughly five meters across, appeared there. He had created them.
The titan drew back his enormous arms and smashed the two boulders apart. Fragments came raining down sideways, driven like a storm.
Solana groaned.
“T-the power of Creation…?!”
I answered as I dodged. One of the fragments seemed to have grazed my left shoulder, sending a sharp pain through me.
“The Heart of Frost and Flame was taken.”
Solana caught her breath.
Ymir’s body creaked and groaned, and he grew a little larger once again.
With every passing moment, this monster was growing stronger.
“Rion, but…”
“It’s all right. This monster still doesn’t know how to control his power.”
The key was the bracelet fastened around his left arm. The ice bracelet Lu had placed there was on the verge of bursting against an arm that had grown as thick as the trunk of a great tree. Even so, it still hadn’t snapped.
For Ymir, it was a restraint that kept his power in check. And yet—Ymir was interested in the bracelet. The fact that he occasionally checked on it was proof enough.
Ymir wanted to know the feelings Lu had poured into that bracelet. That was why he wasn’t growing dozens of meters all at once. Instead, his body was gradually, little by little, increasing in size. If he grew too quickly, the bracelet around his left arm would eventually be destroyed.
That meant there was hesitation in his fighting.
“Lu’s bracelet is still holding Ymir back.”
The bracelet had two effects. Its original purpose was to seal away Ymir’s power. And its secondary effect was to confuse Ymir’s heart.
Those two factors were our hope right now. Still, we couldn’t afford to let our guard down.
As his body grew larger, Ymir’s growls became more violent. The Primordial titan made the very air tremble.
“Perhaps it’s time to devour you.”
The giant eyes fixed on me and Solana.
A breath like steam leaked from Ymir’s mouth.
The pit of my stomach trembled.
I didn’t know how long he would continue to cherish that bracelet. After all, he wanted to devour both Lu, who had created it, and me, her older brother. By devouring the humans who had created the bracelet, he might also be able to learn about the bracelet itself.
It was a way of thinking unique to Ymir.
Solana gently descended beside me.
“…I understand the situation. I’ll explain my plan.”
With about ten meters between us and Ymir, we faced him.
Solana continued.
“I need you to stop Ymir’s movements. Just for a few seconds. I’ll use my magical power to pull both Ymir and us all the way up.”
I glanced at the rift far above our heads.
“…Pull us up? All the way there?”
“That is why I have a plan. When the time comes, I want you to blow the horn as well. It will be the signal to Loki and the others.”
Stop Ymir’s movements, and blow the horn.
I slapped my cheeks to fire myself up.
“—Understood!”
“Good. Then…”
Ymir let out a roar.
A wall of magical power came rushing toward us with tremendous force. All around us, sections of the glacier burst apart.
Our voices overlapped.
“Let’s go!”
Relying on the momentum of the Golden Flame, I kicked off the ground.
Ymir’s body was seven meters tall. The bracelet on his left arm was already being squeezed to the point where it looked ready to burst apart. I could hear the sharp sound of ice cracking in my ears.
Crack. Crack.
“Haah!”
As I passed him, I slashed at Ymir’s leg.
The wound would be shallow, but thanks to the Golden Flame, my blade could cut through. If that was enough, then all I had to do was repeat it as many times as necessary.
—OOOH!
The Primordial titan swung his arms, scattering dark red flames. The four flames twisted and writhed, taking shape into something eerie—Monsters.
I couldn’t help shouting.
“C-Cobolds?!”
They were beastmen with dog-like faces. Their bodies were distorted, with one arm longer than the other, or a single wing growing from their backs. They were all mixed together in strange ways, but there was no mistaking them. They were cobolds.
The monsters howled and leapt at us. I sliced through two of them, while the other two were swallowed by the golden light Solana unleashed.
“Rion! With the power of Creation, he can create even the bodies of monsters!”
Creating monsters from nothing—
It was a power that felt like cheating.
As long as Ymir remained here, he could potentially recreate an entire army of monsters like the ones that had attacked the royal capital.
But…Could a power like this really satisfy this giant’s hunger?
“Ymir.”
I looked up at the Primordial Titan.
“I’ll teach you what that bracelet means!”
Lu’s figure flashed through my mind.
I’m going back. I’m going back to the surface.
I unleashed one slash after another. My target was his left leg. On the left side of his body, where the bracelet was, Ymir’s movements were indeed just a little slower.
I slashed as I passed him.
Thor’s Hammer.
I combined the fire spirit Salamander with the wind spirit Sylph, hammering him with a blast of wind and flame.
Ymir slammed his fist into the ground, sending dark red flames surging outward.
As I leapt backward, small monsters—cobolds, goblins, and the like—appeared, chasing after me as though trying to keep me from escaping.
“—!”
Solana supported my back.
“Let us drive away the darkness with the light of the sun.”
Golden light poured from the goddess, swallowing the monsters whole. The goblins had the dark red flames stripped from their bodies, and they immediately crumbled back into black ash.
“Solana…”
“I’m fine.”
For just a moment, it felt as though the goddess’s magical power had dropped dramatically. Even her smile looked tired.
Let’s finish this with the next attack.
With a single step forward, I slipped beneath Ymir’s arm.
At one of the places where my previous slashes had deepened the wounds, I drove my short sword in, enveloping the blade in the Golden Flame.
At the same time, the goddess struck that same left leg with a blast of light.
—U… OOOH…!
Ymir dropped to one knee.
I hurriedly leapt away from his palm, which was as massive as a slab of bedrock.
He had only lost his balance yet it felt as though an earthquake had struck.
Solana shouted.
“Now!”
I pulled the horn from my pouch and blew into it.
A flash of light glimmered high above us. As though answering the signal, Solana dove beneath Ymir and scattered golden light across the great glacier. The entire area filled with sunlight. The frigid air that had made our breath turn white receded, and warmth wrapped around us.
“What is this…?”
With the sound of cracking ice, the ice bracelet began to glow.
And then—
It shattered.
—WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Ymir finally broke the bracelet and let out a roar.
Almost at the exact same moment, warm air surged up from beneath my feet.
An updraft.
Me, Solana, and even Ymir’s enormous body were lifted into the air. Her golden hair fluttering in the wind, Solana raised her voice.
“I mixed my solar magic into the cold wind flowing from the rift! In this space filled with cold magical power, the warm magic of the sun is an intrusion! It creates a force that pushes us upward!”
The goddess looked up toward the rift, her expression softening.
“According to Loki, it is something like an ‘updraft.’”
I could almost picture the Loki’s proud face as he raised one finger and explained it.
I found myself smiling, too. Knowing that our companions were waiting for us really was reassuring.
Solana nodded.
“With this, we can escape from this cold void…!”
A torrent of light continued pushing us upward. Ymir swung his enormous arm around and grabbed hold of the ice with his right hand.
“I… am…!”
I sliced through that hand with the wind spirit Sylph.
The great glacier shattered, and Ymir, too, was swept upward by the immense torrent of light.
—Rion!
—Over here!
—Come back!
I began to hear the voices of my companions and the gods.
Leaving the great glacier behind, Solana, Ymir, and I continued rising higher and higher.
The rift that had fallen from above drew closer, and the world around us gradually grew brighter.
Far in the distance, I thought I could faintly see an enormous tree.
Blessing of the God of Hunting.
Magical Power Detection.
“The flow… of magical power…?”
The movement of magical power glowed, making it look almost like a tree. At the same height as the rift that served as our exit, luminous roots stretched out.
And above them stood an incomprehensibly enormous tree—I couldn’t tell whether it was several meters tall, or several kilometers. It was as massive as a mountain. Above the tree were countless points of light. It looked like a starry sky.
I had thought there was nothing to see in this void, but as we drew closer to the world we had come from, countless lights began to appear before my eyes.
Solana took hold of my arm.
“Each of those lights is probably the magical power possessed by someone living in your world.”
A glittering starry sky—
No.
Magic power.
The roots of the tree spread wide overhead, as though protecting our world.
“We flew outside the world itself. Because of that, the flow of magical power and the light are actually easier to see. What appears to us as a tree and its roots… is likely the magical tree known as Yggdrasil, the World Tree.”
Solana continued.
“Magic is the power by which feelings take form. The magical power currently being used by the divine artifact, the World Tree Yggdrasil, in its Water Mirror is merely a tiny fraction of this enormous tree. The feelings carried by humanity throughout its existence surround our world, protecting it even from the wounds Ymir inflicted upon it.”
We were enveloped in light and emerged from the void. Alongside Ymir’s roar, we returned to the battlefield where our companions were waiting.
It was blinding. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the presence of the sun pressing against my eyelids.
The Frost Palace had still been in the midst of dawn when we left. But now, the sun was rising above the horizon, tearing the night away from the sky.
Pushed upward by the surging wind, Ymir and I were carried dozens of meters into the air. Below us, across the snowfield, I could see our companions and the gods.
Thor, Heimdall, Loki, Uru, Sigris—
And alongside those gods were Mia, Felix, and Lu.
The roughly one hundred adventurers who had come with us to the snowfield were all looking up at us as well.
Still wrapped in light, Solana and I landed on the grand staircase.
A moment later, Ymir landed at the entrance to the Grand Temple.
The morning sun shone down upon all of us. Ymir, who had grown to ten meters tall, stood there beneath the sunlight as well.
The titan shifted. For an instant, a puzzled expression crossed his face. As though he were wondering how things had come to this. The powerful monsters that had once followed Ymir were no longer anywhere on the snowfield.
“Oniichan”
Lu called out to me.
I desperately held back the urge to rush toward those familiar sky-blue eyes.
I steadied my breathing, planted my feet shoulder-width apart, and pointed my short sword at Ymir.
“Let’s put an end to this apocalypse.”
For just a moment, the snowfield fell completely silent.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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