I stood on top of the glacier, facing Ymir. The unnatural cold seeped deep into my body. My legs trembled, and my teeth chattered.
The enormous glacier stretching out around me wasn’t made of real ice. The freezing magical power filling the space had gathered together, merely taking on the appearance of ice. The tremendous cold was probably caused by the magic itself draining the heat from my body.
But the biggest reason I was trembling was fear. The titan standing before me shattered everything I needed to fight back—the will to fight, my resolve, everything.
Ymir had reclaimed his heart. His body, which had been only about two meters tall, continued to grow larger. With the power he had regained, he was creating an entirely new body. His disheveled golden hair looked like flames, while the muscles rippling across his body twisted like mountain ranges.
Beneath his glowing eyes, a mouth lined with fangs slowly opened.
—WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The roar nearly blew me away!
I lowered my body and hid in the shadow of a massive chunk of ice.
My entire body was shaking violently.
“Status.”
I whispered the words under my breath, willing them to come true, almost as though I were praying. But I could no longer hear the voice of God. Not even the slightest information came to me—not about divine blessings, not even about my level.
“Status. Status…!”
Someone, please answer me.
Let me hear your voice.
When I looked up, I could see a light far, far away.
It was probably the rift through which Ymir and I had fallen. Ymir had torn through space itself and dragged me from the world I had known into this place. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much distance lay between us and the world below.
The Golden Flame that had once enveloped my body had already disappeared as well.
Had I lost the voice of God and those divine blessings because of this space?
“…No.”
My body trembled. I’m scared.
The Kingdom of Asgard was already impossibly far away. My companions were gone. God was gone—
Solana’s gone, too.
There’s nothing around me but absolute emptiness.
A foothold formed from condensed, freezing magic. A distant glow of scorching magical energy, far beyond me. That was all. This is a place where no living creature was meant to exist. And I was alone. Stranded here with Ymir, whose power had been restored completely.
A chill ran down my spine, and I turned around.
Ymir was looking down at me.
The body that had once been around two meters tall had grown to more than three meters. His rugged face, as though carved from stone, twisted into a grin. The sheer intimidation radiating from him had grown far beyond what his increased size alone could explain.
Ymir swung his arm.
The glacier shattered and I was sent flying.
I managed to brace myself.
But Ymir chased after me and drove his foot into me.
“—!”
The impact felt as though my body were about to explode. I was hurled away, rolling endlessly across the frozen ground. Jagged shards of ice tore into my body, ripping open my back and legs.
I forced myself upright.
Thick blood trickled down from my forehead.
Every part of my body hurt.
“Y-Ymir…!”
My voice came out hoarse.
Get up.
Draw your short sword.
Even if it’s just an act, make it look like you can still fight!
My mind screamed at me.
But my body wouldn’t move. Something vital that connected my heart to my body—something that could be called the will to fight—had already snapped.
“Hm.”
Ymir rested a hand against his chin as he looked down at me.
“Has your heart been shattered?”
Dark crimson flames ignited in both of his hands. Ymir brought them together, forming a massive fireball nearly as tall as he was, then hurled it straight at me.
I’m dead.
That was what I thought.
Pathetic as I was, I couldn’t even dodge. I would simply be killed while trembling from the cold and fear.
But that didn’t happen.
“Hah… hah…”
I repeated short, ragged breaths as I dodged the explosion.
I kept my body low. I still couldn’t raise my short sword, but at the very least, I glared at Ymir.
There was a warmth in my chest.
What should I do?
I asked myself.
I set my feet shoulder-width apart. Lowered my hips. Kept my eyes forward. Calmed my breathing.
Everything Father had taught me—all the things I had practiced, reviewed, and trained over and over again—came flowing back into my mind like a clear stream.
What should I do?
The God of Hunting had taught me how to gauge an opponent.
The God of Mischief had taught me how to use deception to gain the upper hand in battle.
“…You’re strong, Ymir.”
My voice trembled.
I’ll let him know that I am afraid. Make him underestimate me. Buy time by keeping him talking.
I remembered how the God of Thunder had once pointed toward my own chest. From that god, I had learned the courage to stand against something far greater than myself.
“Are you afraid?”
Ymir asked the question.
The corner of my mouth twitched.
“Of course I’m scared…”
But unlike before, a way to deal with it came to mind.
My body remembered. It remembered all the adventures I had been through.
The God of Medicine had taught me about healing and potions.
That’s right.
Recovery wasn’t limited to skills alone.
I reached into the pouch containing the awakening horn, Gjallarhorn, and pulled out a healing potion. I took it into my mouth. It wasn’t anything like the White Flame, but the pain eased just a little.
Ymir grew even larger. Five meters tall.
A fist like an iron ball came swinging toward me.
“—!”
I’ll keep the momentum and internal resolve strong here, while preserving the subtle ambiguity around why Ymir protects the bracelet.
I took the blow and jumped backward at the same time. For now, all I could do was study my enemy and hold out.
Even as I was sent flying, I kept my eyes wide open.
Find something. Anything that could turn this around.
I would never give up.
I had to return to Lu, to Solana, to everyone.
I couldn’t let things end in this darkness.
Then I noticed something about Ymir’s left arm. His enormous body was continuing to grow.
And yet—the bracelet Lu had placed around his left arm was still there. It hadn’t shattered. Even as his arm grew thicker and thicker, the bracelet remained in place, still restraining it.
—WOOOOOOOOOOO!
As my feet touched the ground, Ymir let out a roar.
His enormous eyes rolled toward the bracelet. His right hand moved toward his left arm.
I thought he was going to tear off the troublesome bracelet.
But Ymir didn’t. Instead, he tightly grasped the bracelet around his left arm. As though he were protecting something precious.
“…You’re not breaking it?”
Ymir had said it back on the surface.
He had spoken of the strength of the people who had created the bracelet. He had even said that he wanted to devour that strength—to learn it for himself.
Something Ymir wanted to know.
Something we had that monsters did not.
Not something possessed by creatures who were either ruled or ruled over, but something that existed only within us—within gods, humans, and dwarves.
The Primordial Titan had spent a thousand years repeating the same thing because he wanted to obtain it. Because he didn’t want to keep repeating it for another thousand years.
And so—
“Are you hungry?”
I looked up at Ymir, who had grown to nearly five meters tall.
We stood facing each other upon the great glacier.
“Ymir, you…”
It wasn’t enough to simply defeat him.
I didn’t want it to be that way. I had to understand this monster. Somehow, I felt that the final battle of this apocalypse would never end otherwise.
A low “ooooh” echoed through the void, like the howling of wind.
Another warmth kindled within my chest.
The Kindest and Strongest.
I remembered the very first vow I had made to the Goddess.
The golden aura that had once disappeared from my body—the ability Golden Flame—began to envelop me once more.
“So that’s it…”
After falling into the void, my heart had been thrown into turmoil.
Perhaps Golden Flame had disappeared because its time limit had run out. Or perhaps it was because of the cold magical power filling this place. On top of that, I could no longer hear the Voice of Goddess that told me my status.
I had thought that meant the divine blessings I had received were gone as well. But divine blessings had always strengthened my physical abilities.
If I had truly lost them completely, I would have been rendered incapable of fighting after those first few blows. The gods’ blessings are still with me.
“Status.”
Even when I called for it, there was no voice.
Most likely, it was a matter of distance.
The Voice of God was the words of the Goddess Norn in the celestial realm. Her voice simply couldn’t reach this deep within the Primordial Void.
But I wasn’t alone.
“Wake up!”
I couldn’t hear the voice of God. But spirits burst forth from the crystal of my short sword and from my gauntlet.
“Pii!”
“Woof!”
The wind spirit Sylph.
The fire spirit Salamander.
The water spirit Undine.
I relaxed my lips into a faint smile.
“Thank you.”
The loneliness had faded considerably.
The skill Alarm is still available to me. Then surely I could use my other blessings as well.
Blessing of the God of Thunder.
Blessing of the God of Hunting.
Blessing of the God of Medicine.
Blessing of the God of Mischief.
And—
Blessing of the Sun.
The strength everyone had given me was still alive within me.
I raised my chin and met Ymir’s gaze.
“I’m going to defeat you.”
I stood tall, chest out, and declared it to the primordial titan standing in my way.
“Ymir, your ‘hunger’…”
I told him.
“It’s loneliness.”
I paused.
“There probably isn’t anyone who would make something as strong as that bracelet for you—something made with so much feeling.”
Magic is the power of imagination. The power to give form to one’s feelings, just as Loki had told me.
The hardness Ymir felt in the bracelet was the strength of Lu’s desire to protect me itself.
The primordial titan closed his eyes. He remained silent, as though savoring my words.
“…If I devour it, will I obtain it?”
I shook my head.
For the first time, I felt sorry for this monster.
“You won’t.”
I lowered my stance and prepared myself.
“You can’t do it alone. You have to cherish someone.”
“I see,” Ymir simply replied.
I steadied my breathing and faced the primordial titan.
The moment I kicked off the ground, a voice burst inside my head.
—Rion!
I looked up in surprise.
Far, far above me, the rift in space through which we had fallen gaped open.
For a moment, I thought I could see the warm light of the sun beyond it.
—I am always with you.
—I swore I would be.
Heat filled my chest.
The short sword that had been trembling in my hand steadied. And I could tell that Ymir had become slightly more wary of me.
“Why…?”
I am happy.
I felt reassured.
But you should have been battered and exhausted yourself.
—That does not matter now.
—More importantly, I still cannot determine your location.
—I came with everyone to just before the rift, so my voice can reach you, but I cannot tell where you are.
—Give me a signal!
The moment I heard that, I knew what to do.
I opened the pouch remaining on my right side and pulled out the awakening horn, Gjallarhorn.
I raised it to my lips and blew.
Wake up!
The high, piercing sound of the horn, a call that stirred the gods to action, rang out through the void.
And then—
golden light descended beside me.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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