Mother in Danger?

Three days later.

"Are you ready, Hyden?"

Reluctantly, Hyden glanced back at the estate, turned his head back, and nodded.

"Yeah."

"Then, let's go."

Arkhan snapped his fingers, and the surroundings instantly shifted. After a moment, they appeared on top of a snowy mountain. Biting cold winds carried snowflakes swirling in the air, an endless expanse of white in every direction.

"Wh-Why did w-we come here?" Hyden hugged himself, shivering.

Given his constitution, dealing with this level of cold should be a breeze. Yet, for some reason, he felt freezing, like an ordinary human.

"This is the location where the Norse Realms existed in the mortal world..." Arkhan explained while observing the surroundings. "But after Ragnarok happened, the Norse Realms got separated from the mortal world and this place got influenced by the lingering impact of Ragnarok, which is why it looks like this now."

"I-I see..." Hyden nodded with difficulty.

Arkhan wrote Primordial Rune in the air, and the void in front of him twisted as a portal appeared.

"Let's go."

Arkhan stepped in, and Hyden quickly followed.

The moment they entered the portal, the bone-chilling cold vanished, replaced by warm sunlight. The desolate snow-capped mountains were gone, replaced by an endless garden.

"Wow... It's beautiful..." Hyden couldn't help but exclaim.

"Esteemed guest, welcome to my domain." A deep, resonant voice echoed from above.

Hyden instinctively lifted his head and when he did, he almost fell backward.

A massive head hovered in midair, its profound eyes filled with wise light.

"Greeting, respected sage, Mimir." Arkhan nodded slightly, showing respect.

This massive head before them belonged to Mimir, the God of Wisdom from Norse mythology, the biological child of the primordial giant, Ymir, and one of the primordial gods of the North. His existence even predates Odin.

He owned the Well of Wisdom, and Odin had sacrificed an eye to drink from it.

Mimir was one of the few gods who survived Ragnarok, and even fewer knew of this fact. Arkhan, however, knew thanks to 'someone'.

"You carry Scathach's aura..." Mimir observed Arkhan and then sighed softly. "It's been a while since I've seen that girl. How is she these days?"

"Thanks to your blessings, my mother is well." Arkhan replied.

"Hoh...? Is that so?" Hearing the term 'Mother', Mimir's face bore a mischievous smile. "Being a mortal cursed with 'immortality' must be the most painful torment for her."

Arkhan chuckled and nodded, acknowledging Mimir's insight.

"If I'm not mistaken, this boy is the reason you've come to me." Mimir looked at Hyden, nodding slightly. "Indeed, he's a promising seed, worth cultivating."

"Do you mean... you agree?"

"Though I'm a god, spending time alone does get a bit boring." Mimir smiled gently. "Cultivating a hero from among mortals should be an interesting endeavor."

"Thank you for your assistance." Arkhan's face lit up with joy, bowing his head slightly.

Even though he had heard from his mother that Mimir was approachable, he didn't expect it to be this easy.

"Don't celebrate so soon, Scathach's child."

Mimir's face suddenly bore a sly smile.

"Your mother is in a somewhat dangerous situation right now."

===

Ireland.

Beneath the clear blue sky, the void slightly distorted.

Arkhan clad in silver armor emerged.

He looked down at the peaceful island below, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Doesn't seem like anything's wrong. Mimir wouldn't be tricking me, would he?"

He muttered under his breath, casually using detection magecraft towards the island, but no anomalies were detected. Next, he used Rune and Primordial Rune for further investigation, but the results remained the same.

"Guess I was just being paranoid... Oh well, better get going. It'd be bad if Mother found out I'm here."

The void twisted again and Arkhan's figure disappeared in an instant.

A dozen minutes later, two figures cloaked in black robes materialized from the void.

"That human is not simple. I sensed the aura of His Majesty from him." One of the black-robed figures remarked.

"That should be Arthur that 'He' told us about. Even His Majesty wielding Airgetlam and Claiomh Solais fell to him. We're no match for him." The other black-robed figure replied.

"Fortunately, he didn't discover the truth of this place."

"Yes."

However, as soon as they were done talking...

"Do you know Nuada?"

A stranger's voice suddenly resounded from behind them.

Hearing the question, the two black-robed figures felt a chill running down their spines while their scalps tingled.

Their figures vanished instantly, fleeing a kilometer away.

But before they could exhale in relief, a pair of large ethereal hands suddenly reached from behind, gripping both their heads.

"When someone asks a question, answer earnestly. Don't you understand even this basic courtesy?"

Too fast!

The two black-robed figures were startled. Realizing their predicament, their extensive combat experience made them abandon the idea of continuing to escape. One burning with fierce flames and the other surrounded by frost, both of them instinctively attacked the attacker behind them.

*Pu-chi! Pu-chi!*

Two golden spears instantly pierced through their chests. The flames and frost dissipated, and their aura immediately wilted.

"That power just now... Are you two gods from the Tuatha De Danann?" Arkhan's brows furrowed. When these two black-robed figures unleashed their power, he felt the same divinity as Nuada.

Divinity couldn't be disguised, especially between different pantheons where the differences were stark.

"Don't tell me, you also resurrected by Vortigern?"

The two gods remained silent, offering no response.

Arkhan's gaze turned cold. Two crimson feathers descended from the void, merging into the two's consciousness.

Just as he was about to probe their memories, the two gods suddenly emitted a painful grunt, and their bodies immediately disintegrated into countless particles of light.

Watching them vanishing into particles of light, Arkhan's expression gradually darkened.

"Is it some kind of prohibition that would self-destruct as soon as something touches their memories? Damn Vortigern, you are really well-prepared..."

Arkhan then turned to look at the calm and peaceful island below.

"So, what I see now is probably just an illusion, and the fact that even Primordial Rune doesn't react indicates that this power likely comes from the Holy Grail. Since that's the case..."

Two golden spears with trailing chains thrust downward. When they reached a position about five hundred meters above the island, the spearheads seemed to pause as if bumping into something.

The previously empty void suddenly rippled and the transparent bounded field enveloped the entire island soon appeared.

"Hmph! As I thought... Judah, destroy it." Arkhan snorted and commanded.

The golden necklace hanging on his chest swayed slightly and three golden spears soon flew out, stabbing at the transparent bounded field like golden lightning.

*Crack!*

The bounded field showed large spiderweb-like cracks, then exploded like shattered glass, revealing the true scene below.