Episode 38/Chapter 5: Ratatoskr (5)

TL: Tsubak

ED: Julsmul

"So-"

"Wait."

It was when Ratatoskr was about to start telling the story that Tae Ho raised his hand to interrupt him and then turned to look at Odin and said,

"Odin, sorry for my impertinence, but can we move places first?"

The place they were at currently was the side of the World Tree. It had quite an inclination, but one could say that they were hanging on it.

It didn't matter if it was hard for Ratatoskr or not, but the problem was Nidhogg. She had used all her strength on passing the line, so it seemed like it was hard on her to even stay hanging.

Odin understood Tae Ho's words and then nodded while looking at Nidhogg.

"Right, this isn't a comfortable place to have a conversation. Your words are right."

They had to move places. It was impossible to find a place for Nidhogg to sit or lie down, but Odin didn't mind much. It was because Nidhogg wasn't the only one that had joined their group.

"Ratatoskr. Lead us to the closest cave."

The squirrel beast, Ratatoskr.

It had several caves in the World Tree. It was a beast that had lived for more than a thousand years, but as it was originally a squirrel, it couldn't throw away its natural habits.

Odin didn't simply order and activated the rune of obedience. Ratatoskr grew anxious at the pain that pressured his head and said hurriedly,

"Ah, I understand! I will lead you!"

Ratatoskr moved immediately, and Tae Ho moved from its head to Nidhogg's head.

"Nidhogg, are you able to move?"

"Yes, I can. Thank you for worrying."

Nidhogg's voice reached Tae Ho's head directly. Tae Ho lowered his posture and lightly touched Nidhogg's head. Ratatoskr, who was carrying Odin in its forehead, moved with utter haste.

The World Tree that pierced through Asgard, Midgard, and Niflheim was merely a part of the real Yggdrasil, but even that section alone was huge.

When Tae Ho reached the cave after being led by Ratatoskr, he looked at his surroundings with an amazed face. The cave was so big that there was still space remaining after Ratatoskr and the hundred-meter long Nidhogg entered it.

"For there to be a place like this. Amazing."

Tae Ho exclaimed unconsciously, and Odin said in a low voice,

"The roots of the World Tree are really vast. There may even be fairies that make caves like this and live in them."

"They are also in here?"

Nidhogg's eyes shone at the word 'fairy' and threw a question. She had appeared as the shape of a woman, her real essence, possibly because they'd entered a safe place.

Odin looked at Nidhogg with a satisfied look and answered,

"Not here. I will take you to them when we have the opportunity."

"Re-Really? Thank you. Odin-nim is kind."

Compared to Ratatoskr, Tae Ho and Odin were kind. As Nidhogg smiled brightly in joy, Odin smiled bitterly. It was because he thought of the misunderstandings he'd had about Nidhogg.

'There are many things I don't know.'

He had acquired copious amounts of knowledge for nine days by offering one of his eyes in the lake of Mimir, but it's not that he completely understood how this world worked. Odin was actually an incomplete existence.

"Ratatoskr, start speaking."

Odin ordered Ratatoskr after organizing his thoughts. Ratatoskr gulped dry saliva and opened its mouth.

"It's rumored that the King of Gods was bitten by the World Wolf and died. It seems like the Gods and the giants believe this."

It was unavoidable. Tae Ho and Odin had disappeared after the World Wolf gulped the two of them, and as they were in the roots of the World Tree, a place blocked from external communication, the giants and even the Gods of Asgard wouldn't have been able to sense Odin. It was obvious to think that he had died.

"Next?"

"Giant king.....so the Magician King, Utgard Loki, did something to the World Tree and inflicted tremendous damage upon Asgard. Even I don't know what he did. Hraesvelgr has also grown angry because the highest root that it lived in suffered damage."

"Hraesvelgr did?"

Nidhogg was the one that asked unconsciously.

The existence that always appeared in Ratatoskr's stories and the scary bird that really disliked Nidhogg.

Nidhogg ended up cursing Hraesvelgr because Ratatoskr forced it to do so, but it actually didn't really dislike Hraesvelgr. It was more curious as to what kind of existence it was.

But no matter how Nidhogg was feeling, Ratatoskr snorted and said,

"Yeah, it got angry saying that it was all your fault. It said that it would peck out your eyes when it met you."

"It's not my fault. I didn't do anything. I don't like things that hurt."

Nidhogg shrugged her shoulders and stammered. She had realized what pain was through the battle against Tae Ho, so she had shrunk even more after that.

Ratatoskr smiled once again.

"Reta.....kyaak! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Ratatoskr couldn't finish cursing and screamed while twisting its neck, but Odin didn't even blink once. He gave Ratatoskr pain for a few more minutes and then deactivated the obedience rune.

"Keep speaking."

"Freya! The Goddess of Magic, Freya, sealed Valhalla to block the attacks from the giants! And the Magician King took the giants to surround Valhalla!"

Ratatoskr spoke quickly almost as if spewing it out. Odin frowned.

"Certainly...so that's the reason why we can't connect with them?"

"Odin?"

Tae Ho, who was soothing the scared Nidhogg, called Odin's name. It was because he didn't understand how Valhalla had gotten sealed.

Odin let out a long sigh and started explaining.

"It's a similar thing to the Great Barrier spread in Midgard. It can block external interference and also interfere with the things sent from inside. You can think of it as completely sealing the gates of a castle and cutting off all communication."

'Master...'

Cuchulainn said in a low voice. It was a voice filled with anxiousness and relief.

Tae Ho also felt the same as him and let out a sigh of relief. He was worried since he couldn't connect with Idun even after having left the roots, but he could understand it if there was a reason like that.

"Don't worry too much. It's not a seal that will break that easily. It's only momentarily, but Idun and the others will be safe."

12 days.

It wasn't short, but it wasn't too long either. If it was Freya, she would be able to endure it for even longer. So that was why it was fine for now.

Odin finished speaking with Tae Ho and activated the rune of obedience. Ratatoskr, who was listening to their conversation, screamed at the sudden pain.

"Kyak! Wh-Why?!"

It didn't do anything!

But that was the problem there.

"Continue speaking."

Ratatoskr grumbled inwardly when Odin ordered it but resumed speaking immediately.

"The giants are trying to pierce through Asgard while surrounding it. It seems like they are planning to isolate Thor and the army of Valhalla that are fighting against the Frost Giant King!"

Now that they had sealed Valhalla, the only hope Freya had was in Thor who was outside.

They would capture Thor and cut off all hope. They would make Valhalla dry up and die.

Nidhogg blinked and admired Ratatoskr who'd explained as smoothly as a current of water.

"Ratatoskr is smart."

"Of course, do I look like a fool like...aaak! Yo-You are doing it for no re...kyak!"

Ratatoskr cursed and screamed and glared at Nidhogg with scary eyes. While Nidhogg said that she wasn't, Odin gave Tae Ho a rock that had a rune engraved in it.

"You will be able to control the pain with this. I will entrust it to you."

"Thank you."

As the rune was given to Tae Ho, someone who seemed to treasure Nidhogg at a glance, the squirrel put on a horrible expression, but there was no one that would side with it.

"I-I will keep speaking. So please...."

Ratatoskr grabbed its head and begged. Tae Ho glared at it with cold eyes for a moment and then calmly manipulated the rune. It wasn't completely deactivated but instead at a really weak level.

A pain that was endurable but would still harass someone.

Ratatoskr realized that begging would be useless and then continued speaking while shedding cold sweat.

"A great barrier was also set in Midgard. Hraesvelgr said that Feay made it too hurriedly, but anyways, the giants and warriors of Valhalla that weren't able to return are still fighting."

It wasn't good. Midgard was a real mess right now.

"What about Niflheim?"

"The giants also entered Niflheim to attack it. I passed through it while coming down here. The fight would have started by now."

Ratatoskr answered immediately Odin's question.

It was a story that made one's worry deepen.

But thinking about it, it was an obvious thing. Whether the barrier was spread or not, in the first place, Midgard couldn't help Asgard.

The only ones that could rescue Valhalla in this situation was both the army being led by Thor and Hela's army that was on standby in Niflheim.

That's why they would invade Niflheim and capture Hela. They would make Hela, the youngest daughter of Loki and sister to the World Wolf and Space Snake, submit to gain control over the army of undead.

Odin would do the same.

"Didn't you hear anything from Loki? The God of Fire and Lies."

"I don't know. There were no rumors about him."

"I understand. Rest for a moment."

He had heard almost everything he had to hear from Ratatoskr. When Odin finished speaking, Tae Ho decided to deactivate the obedience rune for the time being.

Odin turned to look at Tae Ho and said,

"Our first priority is going to Niflheim after passing through the lake of Mimir. We will rescue Hela and make her strength ours."

This was also an obvious thing.

But will that be possible?

The ones that were here was a superior-ranked warrior and a God that couldn't even move properly.

It was a thoughtless thing. It was like hitting a rock with an egg.

But Odin was also the God of War and didn't utter anything casually. Actually, Odin and Tae Ho did have some chances.

Because the two of them weren't alone.

Because Tae Ho had changed the plan to escape the roots which Odin had first come with.

"We have the ancient dragon-the black dragon, Nidhogg."

They have left its real body that reached 2 kilometers and could bring the end of a world in the roots, but they still had the body that was hundreds of meters large.

Nidhogg was the oldest dragon that existed in Asgard. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that it was the God of dragons.

'It fights really bad, but it doesn't matter as we have the best pilot.'

'The one that controls dragons'.

Tae Ho could share all five senses with Nidhogg. He could become one with it and control it.

The best pilot that could perfectly control the dragon that possessed the best physical body but couldn't fight at all.

"Nidhogg, will you help us?"

"Yes, yes. I will help Tae Ho master. I'm happy that I can be of help."

Nidhogg answered immediately at Tae Ho's question, and Tae Ho stroke her head.

"Thank you Nidhogg. Idun-nim will be grateful. Heda too."

"I know that name. I saw them in your memories. The most gentle Goddess in the world and the most beautiful Valkyrie."

'Just when did you brainwash her?'

Cuchulainn spoke with a lukewarm voice, but Tae Ho ignored him. He nodded instead and complemented Nidhogg.

"Right, you know it well. Nidhogg is smart."

"Hehehe."

"This retard... Kyak!"

Ratatoskr collapsed while being mad, but there was no one that cared for it besides Nidhogg. Tae Ho stroke Nidhogg's cheek once again and said,

"Nidhogg, when we go up, we will have to fight against the giants, but you just have to trust in me, okay?"

"Yes, I trust in Tae Ho master."

'Why don't you say oppa? That would be a better fit.'

Cuchulainn's bitter voice was ignored again.

Odin smiled bitterly and said,

"There's no time. Let's go to the lake of Mimir for now and organize ourselves there."

"I understand."

Tae Ho expressed etiquette while hitting his chest twice and then took Nidhogg to its body. Odin then ordered Ratatoskr,

"Ratatoskr, take the lead."

Ratatoskr nodded with a teary face and moved outside the cave.

Because of that, Odin was left alone for a moment, so he took a deep breath and looked at the sky. He envisioned the worlds that laid far beyond the ceiling of the cave and secretly thought,

'It's not enough with Nidhogg alone.'

What they needed to win-

The strength that had to be added to Nidhogg.

Nidhogg started to move slowly, and Odin turned to look at it. He thought of Tae Ho's back that was moving with the essence of Nidhogg.

Idun's warrior.

The existence that had made alterations to both Odin's and the black dragon, Nidhogg's, destinies.

Odin nodded slowly.

He saved the method that would be used in the decisive moment deep in his heart.

< Episode 38 - Ratatoskr (5) > End