I was taken aback .
“….Redo?”
Lu—no, Freyja’s words hung in the air, leaving us confused.
“Freya-sama, what do you mean…”
The goddess residing in my sister’s body smiled.
“It’s a rather long story. And…just call me ‘Freyja’ from now on, Hero of the Horn.”
I looked around the room.
We, surrounding Freyja-sama—no, Freyja—were divided into two groups. Standing at the front, me, Mia-san, Felix-san, Pauline-san, and my mother were all confused. Everyone tilted their heads or frowned, unable to grasp what was going on. But the gods in the back all looked stern. Solana, standing next to me, is also staring wide-eyed at Freyja.
Solana was the first to respond.
“Freyja… Do you understand what that truly means?”
In Lu’s form, the goddess lowered her head slightly.
“Of course. I understand it well enough. Even if it meant betraying humanity, Odin had already made his decision.”
And so, Freyja continued. She lowered her gaze and looked out the window, her expression distant.
“When I discovered his scheme, I fled the heavens, taking with me the key—the Power of Creation.”
When she turned back toward me, her green eyes burned with unshakable resolve. Placing both hands over her chest, the goddess spoke again.
“I am the Goddess of Fertility. Before the world was covered in the ice of the seal, Odin took me into the heavens for protection.”
Freyja’s voice did not waver as she went on.
“So that the people who escaped the sealing ice could preserve their lives. As a fertility goddess, I granted them the blessings of crops.”
I remembered the myth passed down only among the royal family. It told of a goddess who shielded us from the biting cold of the ice—preserving our lives when the world had nearly frozen over.
So it really had been Freyja. To maintain a lush land like Flocia, pushing back the sealed frost, perhaps the power of a fertility goddess had been necessary. In truth, within the dungeon in Flocia, water was purified and fertile fields were cultivated.
Everything pointed to her.
“At that time, there wasn’t even a kingdom called Asgard yet. The descendants of the humans who fought against the harsh environment and the monsters that escaped the Seal on the surface are what you now call the nobility.”
I caught my breath.
“They say powerful skills tend to appear more often among nobles….”
“That is likely because they descend from bloodlines that survived such an age. In the kingdom’s earliest days, combat skills were essential. And Odin, taking the name Odis, spent nearly two hundred years guiding humanity to create a new mythology—and the Kingdom of Asgard itself.”
It was the continuation of the myth the god had once shown me. Or perhaps, it was the true history of the kingdom’s founding.
“Many gods who once held great power are now sealed within the ice and forgotten. Thus, all the people of the kingdom became followers of Odin. In that way, Odin came to possess an enormous number of believers.”
Freyja’s gaze grew distant, as though she were looking back across centuries.
“And through them, he recovered the magic power he had lost in the sealing.”
My eyes met Solana’s.
A god and a human forming a bond and through that connection, it strengthens divine power. It was similar to the vow I had made to become the “Kindest Strongest”. Odin had done the same. However, its on a scale far beyond mine. Over the course of centuries, he forged bonds with all the surviving humans and reclaimed his power.
Come to think of it, receiving skills from the god Odis in exchange for offering faith—it wasn’t any different from the way Solana and I did things.
Freyja continued,
“Once Odin had gathered sufficient magic power, he granted me a portion of it, along with the ability ‘Creation,’ and commanded me to make another world.”
“W–wait a second!”
Without thinking, I stepped forward and waved my hands. The scale of this conversation had just leapt to an entirely different level.
“Uhm, I’m not even sure where to begin asking.”
I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my forehead. Some of Freyja’s revelations confirmed suspicions I had long held. But at the same time, they had given birth to countless new mysteries.
“S-So, to begin with, when you say ‘redoing the creation of the world’ you mean, actually creating a brand-new world?”
“That is correct.”
“And Odin gave you the magic power for it, along with the ability ‘Creation’?”
“Yes. It was then that I learned of Odin’s true scheme.”
I paused to think.
It was something small—almost insignificant—but something about it caught at the edge of my mind.
Solana was the one who spoke next.
“Hmm. Yet in the end, Freyja escaped with that power intact. Did Odin never intend to carry it out himself?”
“I do not know that much…. However—”
Freyja shook her head slowly.
“It seems Odin intended to control me with his vast magic power. It resembled seiðr magic and I am no stranger to spells that manipulate the heart. Before I could be reduced to a mere puppet acting upon his commands, I reclaimed my freedom and fled the heavens.”
Her green eyes swept across us both.
There was no hesitation in them—only fierce determination.
She had escaped not merely with her life, but with the power to create a world.
“To conceal my whereabouts from Odin, I divided most of the magic power meant for creation into a duplicate vessel. And I continued to reside within those who possessed bodies capable of housing a god—like this girl, Luisia. I’ve been waiting, for a very long time, for the moment of awakening.”
Moisture gathered in the palm of my clenched hand. I had known that Lu was entangled in something immense. But perhaps the scale of it far exceeded anything I had imagined.
Calm down.
I drew a slow breath deep into my belly. This was like a negotiation—start by confirming the basic premises.
After glancing at the others for silent permission, I spoke.
“Please explain it to me once more. What exactly is this ‘redoing of creation’?”
“Just as the words imply, i means remaking the world. The gods shaped this world, and now you dwell within a portion of it. To ‘redo creation’ is to craft another one—an entirely new world.”
For a moment, my mind went completely blank.
“Create a world?”
“Yes. To create another world, separate from this one. And only the gods, along with the heroes chosen by Odin, would dwell there. And then—”
Freyja faltered, her voice trailing off ominously.
My own voice trembled as I forced the question out.
“W-what about everyone else?”
“The remaining humans would be left behind in this world. A world abandoned by the gods and the heroes. They’ll be left to coexist with the monsters.”
When the shock is truly overwhelming, I did not even feel goosebumps.
“Only Odin and the exceptional among humanity would migrate to the new world. Even if they were to return here by some means, it would likely require waiting another thousand years.”
It was a wonder I didn’t stagger.
I stood there, numb.
“That means….”
My voice faltered. Solana finished the thought for me.
“Is Odin abandoning this world?”
The Sun Goddess’s eyes blazed like molten gold.
“Yes”
“Why?!”
“The enemy is the monsters. And yet we produce monsters from among our own allies as well. With that in mind, can you not understand the Chief God’s judgment?”
“.…!”
Freyja’s faint, sorrowful smile revealed everything.
She did not share Odin’s view—that much was clear.
And yet…. perhaps, just a little, she understood the reasoning behind it.
From the corner of the room, the Thunder God, Thor spoke up.
“It was that bastard Ymir. He can turn humans, dwarves, any living thing, into monsters. And in the last apocalypse, we never truly united in the end. Those who betrayed us became monsters.”
His voice rumbled with anger, like distant thunder.
“The monsters never run out. Because they’re born from our own ranks. Heh…. so that’s the logic, is it?”
Thor clicked his tongue.
“Damn it. I thought we’d learned what unity meant in the land of the dwarves. But it seems Odin never counted on that.”
And so, he would cast this world aside.
Was that truly the conclusion reached by the god we had revered as Odis-sama?
A sharp tap echoed as a staff struck the floor.
Pauline-san clutched her staff tightly, as though using it to keep herself standing, her fingers wrapped around it in a white-knuckled grip.
“T-that can’t be…. that would mean…!”
My mother, standing beside me, staggered as well and collapsed onto a chair in the corner. Her face had gone deathly pale. For someone who had served Odis-sama, this must have been utterly unimaginable.
It wasn’t just her. I was shaken to my core as well. No matter how much I wanted to deny it, Freyja’s clear, gentle smile made it feel as though she was speaking nothing but the truth.
Pauline-san cleared her throat.
“—My apologies. I lost my composure.”
Freyja turned her gaze back to me.
“Rion, the reason you are granted the skill Alarm was surely so that, in time, you would draw out the power of Unsealing and awaken me—the goddess who fled with the power of Creation—who lay sleeping within your younger sister. .”
Solana spoke up, her voice low and sharp.
“So…. Odin had already discovered that you were dwelling within Luisia.”
I realized it then.
This meant the skill was essentially a seed. Plant it within a human, wait for it to sprout and grow, and eventually it would bear fruit. I had nurtured the power of Awakening that Odin had given me.
And in doing so, I awakened the goddess who had taken residence in Lu. After that, all Odin would have to do was reap the harvest.
I remembered hearing that Odin had gathered skills from other gods and scattered them among humans. The gods had once said that humans grow fast.
Perhaps the Awakening skill in Odin’s hands wasn’t yet strong enough to rouse a god or the power of Creation directly. It had to take root in a human and mature there first.
I recalled how Odin had always looked down on us from above.
Was he searching all this time for the Freyja who had fled? For years…. no, centuries?
I spoke, my voice steady despite the weight of the revelation.
“.…So Lu is being targeted by Odin too? To reclaim the ‘Power of Creation’?”
Freyja nodded firmly.
“Yes. Luisia’s skill, Miko, is a skill that wields the power of the god dwelling within her. Now that I have awakened, Luisia can exercise the ability of Creation. And—”
The goddess raised her hand, letting her gaze soften as it fell upon her small palm.
“Miko is also a kind of cage. I am already a part of Luisia’s skill. I can no longer leave her side.”
Thor crossed his arms, his voice heavy.
“For Odin, that means, if he captures Luisia, Freyja can’t escape.”
I lowered my eyes, shivering despite myself.
If Odin were to regain the Power of Creation, a new world would be forged—and our world would be abandoned. If Ymir were to gain the Power of Creation, that terrifying monster would grow even stronger—and it would come for us. This world… it would be devoured.
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
“I can’t let it go to either of them.”
Lu—my sister—or any human, for that matter, should never be a tool for a god.
I lifted my gaze, and Freyja’s eyes met mine. The goddess offered a small, sorrowful smile.
“While I was hiding among humans, I wanted Odin to see them. To witness how people live, how they go about their days… and in seeking me within them, perhaps he would understand.”
But that wish had failed, hadn’t it?
If Odin’s thinking hadn’t changed at all, then….
Freyja’s smile vanished, replaced by the unflinching green of her eyes staring straight at me.
“Rion…. you cannot let Luisia fall to either the monsters or the Chief God.”
I squeezed her hand tightly and nodded.
I wanted to stay in this world—with Lu, with my mother, with the gods, and with my friends.
Now, I held my sister’s hand—or rather, Freyja’s hand.
“I’ll protect her. Absolutely. Both you and my sister!”
Freyja let out a soft, gentle laugh.
“Thank you. You are a fine warrior.”
There was a trace of someone familiar in that smile…. My father or perhaps its someone I had parted with in Flocia. My chest tightened just a little.
Freyja released my hand and pressed her right hand to her chest.
“Soon, Luisia will awaken.”
She left the rest unsaid.
The goddess sat on the bed, and when she opened her eyes again, they had turned a pale, sky-blue.
“Hn?”
Lu blinked rapidly, and I held my sister close.
“It’s alright, it’s alright….”
I will protect her. Absolutely.
We aren’t just going to be crushed. No, we’ll show Odin and Ymir what we’re made of.
—— ——What a resolve!
At that moment, the horn in my pouch trembled.
I remembered.
The gods we had encountered on our adventures weren’t just Freyja. Even if the myths were filled with despair, we had found hope along the way.
I pulled the horn from my pouch and shouted the name of that god, the one who bore the power of Awakening.
“HEIMDALL!”
The alarm horn, the Gjallarhorn, was enveloped in the glow of awakening.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next
Yume Neiji's Works 