Odin, who had been sitting upon the throne with her eyes closed, opened them in reaction to something unexpected.
She gazed into the distant void and muttered.
“She was alive?”
Odin had just sensed a connection to Linnea—a girl she had assumed died at Nidhogg’s hands long ago. Fearing the link could sever at any moment, she hurriedly traced Linnea’s location.
At the location she detected by following the connection through magic, Linnea—whom she had been searching for—and Sahwi, her face hidden by a mask, were locked in combat.
A situation completely different from what she had imagined: that Linnea would be held captive by Nidhogg.
Even after finding the Linnea she had truly been searching for, Odin’s gaze remained fixed on Sahwi, unwavering.
Odin’s eyes, having obtained a fragment of the All-Seeing, saw it.
The fragment of fate nestled inside Sahwi’s body.
“So it was here as well.”
She had expected as much, but she had not imagined she would discover it like this.
Odin observed the battle between Linnea and Sahwi to the very end.
And the moment Sahwi evaded Linnea and fled inside the Gate, she threw a fist toward the empty air.
“That’s it! As expected of the Valkyrie I chose!”
Odin felt pleasure for the first time in a long while at the sight of the Valkyrie she had chosen repelling a fragment of fate. Wondering if she had made an unseemly spectacle of herself, she looked around and sat composedly back upon her throne.
Only then did she notice something odd.
“Where did Nidhogg go?”
Clearly, Nidhogg was the one who had taken Linnea, yet even after searching thoroughly around her, Nidhogg was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, she found a human wearing Valkyrie armor she had never bestowed, and another human exuding an energy subtly similar to Nidhogg’s.
“What is that wench doing in our outfit, and what is that wench doing with power similar to Nidhogg’s?”
After Sahwi departed, Odin observed the humans gathered around Linnea, Sinsua, and Baekyeon.
She suddenly sensed her magic being dispelled by an immense force.
Odin knew this force all too well—not an intentional dispelling of magic, but her spell being crushed by sheer overwhelming power.
Dark and viscous in a way wholly different from the fragments of fate, this power seemed somehow lacking compared to what she had known. Its owner was none other than—
“N-N-N-N-Nidhoggggg…!”
Tremble, tremble—
Seized by fear that made her entire body quake, Odin reached a trembling hand into her bosom and took out medicine to swallow.
The effects of the medicine Freya had personally concocted soon took hold, forcibly calming Odin.
As her tension eased, Odin’s keen mind began to work, judging and sorting through the situation thus far.
Odin, having organized her thoughts in an instant, muttered.
“Still, seeing that she’s alive, she won’t die anytime soon.”
Odin did not know why Nidhogg had kept Linnea alive, but since she had survived until now, there must be a reason.
And the Nidhogg Odin knew was neither fastidious nor capricious, so things should be fine for the time being.
Having finished her assessment, she used magic to summon Freya.
The living Linnea, the fragment of fate that had appeared even here, and the reconstruction of Asgard still in its final stages.
The two had much to discuss.
***
I left the aftermath to the Association and entered the Gate where my main body resided for the first time in a while.
The Dragon’s Nest Gate was an Unmeasurable Gate; entry was impossible without the Association’s permission, so the interior was deserted.
On my way to my main body, I had already relayed the details of what happened outside to Ratatoskr through my main body.
Fortunately, Ratatoskr answered that she was confident in tracking as well.
In exchange, the giant’s cores she demanded for him had increased from three to four, but since I already had twenty, I did not particularly mind.
Passing through the forest with the three and heading deep into the Gate, the forest vanished, revealing a wide plain and my massive main body.
Ratatoskr, who had been hiding behind my main body, stepped forward and held out her hand.
“Hurry up and give them.”
“And I’m just supposed to leave them with you?”
I found her brazenly outstretched hand rather distasteful, but there was no reason to delay, so I had Sinsua deliver four giant’s hearts.
“The rest?”
“I’m going to eat them.”
“They won’t be much use.”
“But they should make a decent tonic.”
“Then I’ll condense the essences into one for you, so give me the rest for now.”
“Well, I was going to have them inspected before eating anyway…”
When I handed over all the remaining giant’s hearts as well, she sat down and examined the giant’s cores one by one as if appraising them.
And she picked out two from among them.
“These should be fine for them to eat.”
“Isn’t it too early?”
“The mana inside is lower than the other cores, so it’s fine.”
“Really?”
They all looked the same to me; I could not tell the difference.
Come to think of it, when hunting giants, there had been a few specimens smaller than the others.
I suppose these must be from one of those.
Ratatoskr tossed the essences separately extracted from the giant’s cores to Sinsua and Baekyeon.
“They’ll be somewhat useful if you eat them.”
“I shall eat it?”
“Thank you.”
In truth, it was tantamount to showing off with prey those two had mostly caught themselves.
The two swallowed the essences I gave them in a single gulp, then immediately sat down to control the mana surging inside them as though about to burst.
In the meantime, Ratatoskr set aside five giant’s cores for herself and gathered the rest in one place.
“Wait. Five?”
“I’m making them easier to eat. Think of it as a service fee.”
It seemed like she was taking more and more, but the condensed essence of power extracted from the remaining thirteen giant’s cores—
Ratatoskr picked it up and threw it straight into the main body’s mouth.
Gulp.
Well, they were giant’s cores, and with thirteen of them combined, the power was considerable.
I smiled in satisfaction at the sensation akin to a full stomach.
“But it’s still a bit lacking.”
“You hog lizard. No matter how you look at me, I’m not giving you these.”
“I wasn’t even asking for them…”
Ratatoskr hid the remaining giant’s cores behind her.
I had not even asked for them.
“You just watch after them. I’ll handle the tracking.”
“Oh, take this too.”
“Ugh, the smell…”
I handed the withered corpse of the black-clad I had brought here to Ratatoskr, who was trying to move elsewhere with the giant’s cores.
Ratatoskr pinched the corpse with her fingertips as though touching filthy garbage and went a short distance away.
I turned to look, but both Sinsua and Baekyeon were struggling to control their increased mana. Although Linnea appeared fine on the outside, she was still afraid of me, so none of them were suitable partners for a comfortable conversation.
According to Ratatoskr, it would take at least three days to set up the tracking.
Hmm, then what should I do until then?
***
Surprisingly, the three days passed in a flash.
While Ratatoskr recovered her strength with the giant’s cores and tracked the Main, Sinsua and Baekyeon spent their time adapting to their increased mana and physical abilities.
Linnea helped the two adapt, and thanks to her, both were able to adjust quickly.
And finally, I sat facing my avatar and had an important conversation.
The subject was precisely ‘how much power to give my avatar.’
A second Asgard with Odin and Freya at its center, whom I had learned of through the Valkyrie; gods and monsters from the world of Olympus, whom I had heard about through Via and who could cross over at any moment without surprise; and even the group of Main said to have received power from a fate of destruction.
Unlike what I had heard from Sinsua, far too many beings were appearing, and neither was their power ordinary.
Therefore, I could not help but feel that my avatar’s current power was insufficient, and I intended to give it additional strength, but how much more to give was my dilemma.
“It has to be stronger than Odin, right?”
“That goes without saying, but the problem is figuring out how strong Odin is now…”
“We ate Gungnir, after all.”
“Then she should be weaker than when she was over there.”
“Still, we can’t lower our guard.”
“Since our opponent is that sly old one.”
The conversation flowed naturally.
Since it was an avatar that shared memories and could return to oneness with the main body at any time if desired, this conversation was, in truth, more soliloquy than dialogue.
“And we have to consider Freya too.”
“How strong is she?”
“She is the captain of the Valkyries, so she should be stronger than your average god.”
“What about the other Valkyries?”
“Do we even need to worry about them?”
“That’s true.”
Odin and Freya were naturally gods to be wary of, but Valkyries were Valkyries no matter how strong they were.
Besides, I had to take such detours just to get out as an avatar; there was no way Odin and Freya could be wandering around outside in perfect condition.
Still, they were not opponents to be underestimated, and there was no telling what schemes Odin might have pulled.
After reaching a conclusion, I decided how much power to give my avatar.
“Then should we just go all out?”
“Wouldn’t it be good to give it as much as we possibly can?”
“Yeah, better too much than too little.”
I approached Ratatoskr while perched atop my main body’s head.
“What is it?”
“I was wondering how much power I can give my avatar.”
“Hmm… by your current standards, the limit would be about forty percent, I suppose?”
“Ack.”
“What’s with ‘ack’? That’s still plenty.”
What I had decided after much worry became meaningless.
Could I guarantee that around forty percent would definitely defeat Odin and Freya?
It looked like at least sixty percent would be necessary.
This too was speculation based on the assumption that Odin had lost Gungnir and her power was restricted by a system penalty.
When I told Ratatoskr this, she sighed.
“Sigh… Why do you think I set aside the giant’s cores?”
“Oh, no way?”
“Yes. I found a way to temporarily widen the passage and transmit power to your avatar using the giant’s cores.”
“You prepared all this while tracking the Main?”
“Unlike you, stupid lizard, I’m smart.”
“As expected of Ratatoskr. I had faith in you.”
I praised Ratatoskr appropriately and decided to first instill enough power in my avatar to produce an output of about forty percent, the maximum.
And on the fourth day, one day past the promised three.
Ratatoskr, who had been handling various tasks simultaneously, finally discovered the Main’s hideout.