Episode 41/Chapter 2: The highest branch (2)

TL: Tsubak

ED: Julsmul

The next morning, Tae Ho's group hurriedly prepared to depart.

They were escorted by the Valkyries with Rasgrid at the lead.

"It's regretful that we have to separate as soon as we meet, but we can't do anything about it as it's something this important. I will entrust Midgard to you."

She faced Tae Ho as she spoke. Rasgrid, who had received full authority over Midgard from Odin, was putting a warm expression like the Goddess of spring that didn't suit her nickname of the ice princess.

"I will be able to trust in you Rasgrid."

Rasgrid put a smile as Tae Ho also spoke while smiling. Reginleif extended her head behind her.

"Don't forget that i'm also here."

"Me too."

Gandur giggled and added. They were the usually magnanimous Reginleif and pleasant Gandur.

The always sincere Ingrid frowned and said,

"Show some etiquette towards the commander the three of you. In addition, didn't he receive the medal from Idun-nim?"

Ingrid always spoke politely to Tae Ho after he became a commander. Reginleif smiled bitterly as if it was troublesome and Gandur let out a sigh in front of her.

So in the end, Tae Ho had to be the one to step up.

"It's fine in informal occasions."

"He says so."

"Everything is good with you Ingrid but the only flaw you have is that you are too stiff."

Gandur and Reginleif added as if this was the opportunity.

"Ha..."

Ingrid just let out a sigh instead of rebuking and Tae Ho patted her shoulder while trying to console her.

The conversation with the Valkyries was a really enjoyable one but they didn't have the leisure to make it long. Rasgrid, who was just listening to the conversation, stepped up and stood in front of Tae Hos to give him a blessing before they split up.

"Let Odin's blessing accompany you in your path."

Rasgrid spoke shyly after blessing Tae Ho in his forehead. It wasn't because it was embarrassing to do so. It was because it was awkward to give Tae Ho a blessing of Odin when he would be travelling with him.

'The ice princess indeed.'

It was the hard headed Rasgrid, different from Ingrid.

Rasgrid finished giving her blessing while Cuchulainn thought. And then, Reginleif laughed magnanimously and stepped up.

"So i'm next?"

"Then, it will be me."

"I will go after you."

Ingrid spoke briefly as Gandur said while giggling.

"Let Tir's blessing accompany you."

"Let Ullr's blessing accompany you."

"Let Njord's blessing accompany you."

'I'm feeling dumb.'

Cuchulainn mumbled when he saw the Valkyries blessing Tae Ho in his forehead. This also happened the day before but he still felt that he got dumbfounded when looking at this scene.

After the blessings ended, Tae Ho stood on the magic circle Odin prepared with Adenmaha, Nidhogg and Merlin.

Odin gave a blessing to Rasgrid and the other Valkyries and activated the magic circle.

They needed more time to get out of Midgard compared to when they got in. Cuchulainn asked in a low voice while the light of the magic circle started to get stronger.

'Hey, you made it that way on purpose right?'

'What?'

'The warrior that had a Valkyrie meet him.'

Tae Ho shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't know what Cuchulainn was talking about.

'Ey, no way.'

'No way my ass. You did make it that way on purpose.'

It was, of course, half a joke. As the origin of the saga, the effects and ways it got stronger were decided automatically compared to the geass where the user could set up the conditions; it was hard to control it precisely.

The main reason 'The warrior that had a Valkyrie meet him.' took its current shape was mostly thanks to Heda as she had given a blessing every time she saw him.

'We will be able to solve the business in Midgard properly, right?'

Tae Ho asked in a low voice as if he was getting nervous.

Actually, the two of them were acting calm right now but even in this moment, battles against the giants would still be occurring in Midgard and in Asgard.

If they wanted to drive them back and protect Asgard, they had to successfully accomplish what they were entrusted with.

'It will turn out well. Rasgrid isn't the only one here, there are also quite a lot of capable Valkyries. There's also Siri and Bracky. In my opinion, only we should do things right.'

Cuchulainn spoke refreshingly as if telling him not to worry and then looked at the right of Nidhogg, who was sticking to Tae Ho.

'And have some interest to Merlin too. Don't you know how to respect your elders?'

'I am doing it plentily.'

'Yeah, right.'

Merlin shrugged his shoulders as he was made aware of Cuchulainn's gaze.

He had moved at a lower pace since they joined in Kataron as he had to assist Odin, who couldn't move properly, with several magics and mystical powers.

And after a while, the magic circle finished its preparations just in time.

"For Asgard and the nine realms."

"For Asgard and the nine realms."

The magic circle got activated after the two of them finished their greetings.

The door to Niflheim opened up.

&

"We arrived."

After they closed their eyes and opened them up, they saw that they weren't in Midgard but in Niflheim.

They were inside the floating garden of Hela where they had first departed from.

Merlin, who had visited Niflheim previously although only once, looked at his surroundings with a quite calm face but that wasn't the case for Adenmaha.

She was busy looking at the sky that was bright even though it didn't have a sun.

On the other hand, Odin who had started to gather information through the crows, spoke to Tae Ho.

"It seems like Hela is busy with her thing. It seems like we won't need to waste time. We will go to Ratatoskr immediately."

The crows scattered once again as Odin waved his hand. One of the crows sent to Hela and would probably reach her when they finished their business with Ratatoskr.

The administrator of the floating garden led them to the place Ratatosker was locked up.. He said that it was a prison made in a hurry by gathering the frost of Niflheim.

After they got out of the palace of Hela, they saw a rectangle building made of ice from far away.

When they approached it to a certain extent, Adenmaha pulled on Tae Ho's arm and whispered to him.

"Master, you remember what you promised me last night right?"

"You are going to do it for real?"

"Then I should do it for fake? I even got permission from Odin-nim."

Adenmaha spoke with eyes filled with enthusiasm as if she couldn't step back now. She had been holding it back since she had heard the story from Nidhogg.

'She is also really nice. That's why I like her.'

Cuchulainn's comment wa as precise as always.

And because of that Tae Ho nodded. He faced Adenmaha and said.

"Then, do my share too."

"Leave it to me."

Adenmaha clenched her fists and then glared at the prison where Ratatoskr was locked up.

&

The door of the ice prison opened.

This place was an empty cube, befitting of a prison.

Ratatoskr, asleep in a corner of the room, raised its head slowly as if waken by the sound of the door opening.

Adenmaha entered the prison and took a deep breath. She had already received permission but she turned to look at Odin once again, and Odin nodded towards her.

Odin and Tae Ho had already given her permission.

So the only thing left now was to actually do it.

Adenmaha held her breath and walked towards Ratatoskr. She didn't hide her resentment even a little bit and yelled.

"Hey! Are you Ratatoskr?"

"What are you?"

Ratatoskr asked with fierceness as if it was annoyed. It didn't know about Odin or Tae Ho but it thought that it had no reason to beg a girl that looked really weak.

But its guess was wrong.

Adenmaha smiled coldly and took one more step. She transformed from a Goddess to a sea serpent and yelled,

"I'm Nidhogg's senior!"

The sea serpent was small compared to Ratatoskr, that was tens of meters big and because of that Ratatoskr snorted once more but its guess was once again wrong.

Adenmaha's transformation didn't end yet.

[Saga: The owner of frost]

As soon as Tae Ho activated his saga, a flashy light started to cover Adenmaha.

Ratatoskr blinked in surprise. It raised its head unconsciously and looked at the existence that was looking down at it.

The owner of frost, Javier.

A frost white dragon.

Actually, the two of them were similarly sized but Ratatoskr was a squirrel and Adenmaha was a dragon. There was a wall that couldn't be surpassed between the two of them.

"This bitch! The ones like you have to get hit first!"

Adenmaha yelled sharply and then fired an ice breath. When Ratatoskr closed its eyes when the frost poured over its body, Adenmaha sweeped her tail as if she was waiting for it.

Adenmaha's full strength tail sweep hit Ratatoskr. Ratatoskr collapsed without being able to scream at the heavy attack.

But Adenmaha didn't stop. She flew up and then crushed Ratatoskr with her weight. She then climbed on Ratatoskr and hit with her head, tail and limbs.

"I was wrong! I'm sorry!"

"Empty words!"

Adenmaha ignored its words. Ratatoskr was the same kind as the Tyrant Bress.

A wicked and sly trash.

They only said that they were sorry when they were at a disadvantage or were in danger. There was no way their words could be sincere as they were just thinking of avoiding danger.

Adenmaha had heard what had happened to Nidhogg. It was painful just listening to it so she couldn't hear everything but it was enough with only that.

"Sa, save me! Save me Nidhogg!"

"You are looking for Nidhogg in this situation?"

Ratatoskr's words made Adenmaha further enraged.

The reason Ratatoskr was looking for Nidhogg was simple.

It was because it still didn't know what it had done wrong.

It didn't feel even a slightest bit sorry for Nidhogg.

Adenmaha didn't endure it. She hit Ratatoskr fiercely so that it wasn't even able to say the word 'Ni' of Nidhogg's name.

She continued for some time..

Adenmaha stepped on the head of Ratatoskr and took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Bad bastard. You're left this at this point because it was me. If it was Heda you would already be dead."

Ratatoskr just twitched under Adenmaha's feet.

"Whew."

Adenmaha let out a sigh and transformed into a Goddess. She approached Nidhogg, who was hiding behind Tae Ho with a scared expression.

"Nidhogg."

"Ye, yes."

Nidhogg's eyes weren't only looking at Adenmaha but also at Ratatoskr.

You could tell at a glance.

Nidhogg was sincerely worried about Ratatoskr.

It was a stifling thing. But that's why Adenmaha liked Nidhogg even more. She opened her arms and embraced Nidhogg.

"Tell me when someone bothers you from now on. Understood?"

"Ye, yes. I will."

Nidhogg entered Adenmaha's embrace. It was scary to see how roughly Adenmaha beat up Ratatoskr but she was always kind and warm. Nidhogg liked Adenmaha a lot.

Ratatoskr was collapsed in a corner, Nidhogg and Adenmaha were embracing each other and Cuchulainn said while looking at the scenes that made it a good mood,

'Adenmaha also has her temperament. That's why I like her more. I are really blessed.'

Tae Ho also agreed. Having met Adenmaha was a blessing as big as having met Heda.

'But saying that it would already be dead if it had been Heda. Does Heda have a temper too?'

While Cuchulainn thought of Scathach and mumbled, Tae Ho shook his head compared to what he did until now.

'She should have said that casually. You know how nice Heda is.'

'I think that the one that has fallen deepest in love isn't Adenmaha but you.'

Cuchulainn clicked his tongue and said.

And Odin, who was watching at all of this, started to walk slowly as if it was now his turn. He stood in front of Ratatoskr and said in a low voice.

"Ratatoskr."

"What! ....Why are you calling me?"

Ratatoskr held a breath as he saw who it was after yelling and then took a good posture.

But Odin didn't even snort towards that Ratatoskr. He just looked at it with his unchanging cold eyes.

"We are going to head to the highest branch. You must know the path to get there right?"

"Ah, I do but-"

"Lead us. We have some business with Hraesvelg."

Ratatoskr stood on its guard as soon as Odin finished speaking. It then stood up and stuck to a wall of the cold prison.

"Ah, no! I can't!"

"Why are you saying that?"

"Hraesvelg will try to kill me if he sees Nidhogg!"

Nidhogg, who was burying her face in Adenmaha's chest, raised her head when her name got called.

Adenmaha frowned and as did Tae Ho. They understood why Ratatoskr had said that.

And it was the same for Odin, but he just asked with a low tone with his unchanging eyes.

"How so?"

"Th, that's...anyways! I can't go there. Never. That crazy bird Hraesvelg will kill me. That's why I can't!"

Hraesvelg recognized Nidhogg as being a strong, and evil existence that was like the demon king that would bring destruction to the world.

Hraesvelg's old enemy.

The ancient dragon that showed its hatred towards the world every day.

What would happen if that Hraesvelg saw Nidhogg?

Nidhogg would greet shyly and Hraesvelg would get excited saying that he would duel his old fated enemy while putting the fate of the world in the line.

Nidhogg would certainly not be able to speak properly and stutter.

They didn't want to imagine what would happen after that. There was only one thing Hraesvelg would do when the things Ratatoskr had said over thousand years turned out to be lies.

That's why it couldn't.

It was impossible to go to Hraesvelg.

Ratatoskr denied fiercely. It yelled several times that it didn't want to go.

And that was a mistake.

Ratatoskr was forgetting who was the one in front of it.

"Ratatoskr, it seems like you are misunderstanding something."

Odin spoke with an unchanging tone but his voice made Ratatoskr choke. The terrible pain that surged from the rune of obedience made Ratatoskr realize who was the one in front of it.

The king of Gods Odin.

The merciless and cruel God of war.

"You don't have a choice."

If Hraesvelg was the disaster that would come in the future, then Odin was an existence that could put Ratatoskr into an even more terrible pain right now.

"Hi, Hiik."

Ratatoskr let out a terrified voice and looked around, but there was no one that would side with it. Nidhogg, who had might have stood up for it, was tied up. Adenmaha made Nidhogg bury her face in her chest so that she wasn't able to see anything.

Odin's eyes was silent.

And Tae Ho's and Adenmaha's gazes were also cold.

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

In the end, Ratatoskr yelled while crying.

&

"Wh, what is this? Why is it so big?"

"The real deal is bigger. Much bigger than that."

< Episode 41 - The highest branch (2) > End

TL note: Thanks for reading~