Chapter 37: A Garden in the Snow

Disclaimer: Until the day comes when Ichiei himself gifts me his prized work on a silver platter, I will unfortunately have to stick with saying that I do not own Highschool DxD. God damn it. The OCs are indeed mine (so stop leering).

Speech – "Hey, I'm Pierce."

Inner Speech – [Neat]

Thoughts – 'I'm dead.'

Spells – ~Jumon~

Jotunheim, Veiœr

A couple miles south of Menglöð's city laid a small fishing village. Run by a Lesser Giant by order of the Jötunn Chief, the village supplied the majority of fish that came in and out of Gastropnir. Giant oak ships that could house dozens of ordinary men were used as fishing boats by Jötunn to catch their equally massive prey. I leaned on the window frame of the inn we were staying at, watching a pair of father and son Giants heave a fishing net from the water. Hundreds of abnormally large carp and bass squirmed in the net. Thinking if all animals and fish were that size on Earth, world hungry probably wouldn't be a think.

'Though that would probably make hunting said animals much harder.' I thought, imagining a normal human trying to hunt a deer or boar two times his size and knew it wouldn't be pretty. 'Then there's human greed.' Lots of people tended to desire more than they reasonably need, many times achieving it at the suffering of others. The fact that the most prominent race in DxD makes that their entire business plan said enough. I looked back into the room of the inn; Vargas and Emma were calmly sitting on a couch across of the Dark Elf we found earlier today. Eventually finding out his name was Vincent (though the terrified murmurs didn't help) he led us to the location where Emma's father was supposedly was. While the Elf Princess wasn't fully trusting of the Dark Elf, if her subtle but very real glare was any indicator, she did choose to wait for evidence before passing any judgment.

"We're back." Melissa and Maven walked through the door, just coming back from their task. Emma took a momentary break from wanting Vincent to spontaneously combust into flames and turned to the duo.

"What did you find?"

"His claims checked out. While no one saw a large group of Dark Elves enter the mountain, Ymir's Breath started the day your father disappeared. Four years earlier than expected." Melissa said with a heavy tone and Emma's face fell. Vincent perked up.

"I-I told you I wasn't-"

"Quiet." Emma commanded and he shut right up, watching the Elf Princess pace. No one spoke as she continued doing this for another minute before ultimately sighing and sitting back down, looking defeated. "I-I don't understand. Why would he do this?" We didn't have an answer to that and I stepped forward.

"Did Elijah get back to you on his end?"

"He did and they aren't allowing anyone into Deublyg's castle…No one's heard from his clan." The mood of the room got heavy at Emma's words. I looked at the other members of the team before staring out the window again. Past the wide river that housed a number of Jötunn fishing, I gazed upon a mountain range. Stretching into the distance, the upper half of the mountain range was covered by a large blizzard. The blizzard, unlike a regular one that spreads out overtime, this one wrapped around the range like a dome. This was a naturally occurring event that happened every ten years in Jotunheim, Ymir's Breath.

The final resting place of the First Jötunn, Ymir did battle there and his body was left on the peak of the tallest mountain. The day he died, maybe as last 'fuck you' to his murderers, a blizzard erupted from his body and wrapped the mountain in an isolating space. The blizzard lasted for months and ended up killing Odin's brothers, Vili and Vé. The young God King of the Norse barely got away with his life. The Jötunn at the time built a grand grave for their progenitor and regularly brought offerings until one day, another blizzard erupted from the grave. While not matching in the sheer ferocity or power the one that trapped the brothers, it still nearly froze many Jötunns that came to offer tributes and locked the space of the mountain for a whole week.

This quickly became a trend. Every ten years, a blizzard would cover the mountain and some of the Jötunn race took this as a trial from the deceased Primordial. Young Jötunns would take a trip into the mountain whenever the blizzard came forth and would attempt to survive the ordeal. They coined the event Ymir's Breath. For thousands of years, the blizzard would come like clockwork and it never missed the time frame. It was always every ten years, no year more no year less. Until now that is when it came four years earlier.

The exact day Emma's father disappeared.

'…I wonder if there's an anime world where a coincidence is just that, a coincidence…none are coming to mind.' Wracking my brain for an anime that didn't use every little out of place event to further the plot (and failing miserably) the others talked about the situation at hand.

"Deublyg sure is something else, using his own family to lead his king into a trap is horrible and we've met some messed up people." Vargas said a scowl on his face. "Though I figured he'd try to be more subtle about their disappearance then just denying people entry."

"Actually, it makes perfect sense." Maven spoke and everyone turned to look at her, puzzled. "Think about it, as the General of the Flostenebris Family, he's the first line of defense against the Dökkálfar Faction. As such an important figure, what's the one thing he has to watch out for the most?"

"Assassins." Emma said realization in her eyes and the mage nodded.

"He could easily bar entry to his home and say it's so assassins can't use his family against him. Not to mention in the middle of this war, no one's going to go snooping in the General's personal business. No one has the time."

"Act likes something's wrong and people usually use their common sense to put the picture together, never coming close to the truth. Impressive, no offence." Vargas gave an apologetic smile to Emma and she gave a wry smile back.

"None taken…When Deublyg increased the security around his clan's domain around the time my father disappeared, I thought it was because he afraid for his family. I-I never thought-I mean, I spoke with his daughter days before it happened and he used them as bait. She worshiped him and he just…left them up there." Emma's voice sounded haunted, not coming to grips that the man her father respected above all others did this. "I-I don't know what to do." I frowned when the Elf Princess's aura started to fluctuate, showing her distress and I walked up to her. Kneeling down, I tilted my head.

"Emma, look at me." She did as I asked, albeit with great effort, and I took a deep breath. "I'll be honest Emma; I can't promise your father is alive. I can't promise we can stop your siblings from ruining your family or Talien gaining your kingdom. I just can't."

"…This is a really terrible cheering up speech." Melissa whispered to the others, getting a round of nods (even from Vincent). Sending a glare at them before returning to Emma, who looked worse than ever, I made a serious face.

"But we'll try. We'll try to free your father, try to save your kingdom and kick Talien out of Svartalfheim. Until every last option is used up, you won't need to do this alone. You have my word." I placed my hand on her shoulder. "And if that means going into a supernatural blizzard that makes Dimension Lost look like a malfunctioning fog machine then…I really need to watch who I give my word to."

The room got quiet after I finished, Emma blankly staring at me. She moved her gaze up at the others. Vargas gave a firm nod, Melissa twirled her daggers with a cheeky grin and Maven simply tipped her witch hat towards the Dark Elf. She said nothing as she looked back at me.

"…Thank you…" She bowed her head, the emotion in her voice leaking out. "Thank you so much, I…I don't how I can repay you."

"Let's work out the payment method after we've finished with Talien. Fair warning though, I'm not cheap." I smiled and stood up, Emma rubbing her eyes before gaining a firm look.

"I'll do everything in my power as a royal member to grant your wish, I promise."

"Good. Now, does anyone have a plan on how to get her father off that mountain without actually entering it?" I asked but sighed when everyone shook their heads.

"Like the legends said, space magic trying to go in or out doesn't work. Melissa also tried to enter the mountain through the Shadow Zone and failed." Maven said. "Menglöð may have some ideas on what could have caused it to come earlier but I doubt it."

"Go ask anyway, better safe than sorry." I said and they nodded, Melissa bringing Maven into her shadow. I turned towards the others. "We should ask the surrounding Giants if they have information on the mountain before going up." They may also know if any Jötunn have made a trip into Ymir's Breath. Vargas grabbed Vincent, who despite the obvious strength disparity, struggled and walked out the inn room.

"Lady Brynhildr spoke of you." I made to followed but stop at Emma's words. I looked back to see the Dark Elf observe me like I was a puzzle to figure out.

"What did she say?" Crossing my arms, I waited patiently for her answer. She didn't disappoint.

"She said that for the hundreds of humans that she's met, the hundreds of souls she's had to filter through and send to the Asgard soul system…you are by far the strangest, eccentric man she has ever met. Many things you do and say have no rhyme or reason. If there weren't the moments of common sense and morality you give off, she would honestly think you're mad." I gave an understanding nod at every word, seeing her point. I wasn't offended. Brynhildr hasn't spent all that much time with me, the only time we worked together was three months ago and it wasn't easy. From a stranger's point of view, I was crazy. Bipolar. Weird (the fact I enjoyed it half the time didn't help). I could understand the Chief Valkyrie's opinion.

"So she doesn't trust me?" Emma shook her head.

"She does. She just needed to figure out the method to your madness."

"Oh?" I said with an amused smile. "And what is that method?" Emma made the straightness face I've ever seen on a person.

"Complete and utter dumb luck." My smile grew.

"She told you to tell me this didn't she?"

"…Is she wrong?" Emma asked and I turned around, walking out the door.

Not even a little.

Highway up the Mountain

I softly landed on a hard, flat portion of the rock. The team landed next to me as I observed the wall of snow and wind that blocked our path (Vincent was dropped to the ground on landing). Menglöð had no idea what could have caused the early emergence of Ymir's Breath but she has sent some of her Jötunn to investigate. They learned that the blizzard wasn't as cold as the usual ones, allowing even adolescent Jötunn to survive a trip through the blizzard. They also figured out that many of the indigenous animals and monsters that lived on the mountain have become incredibly aggressive. While they would usually go into caves to wait out the hazard, they were now prowling around and trying to kill anything in sight. The Giantess thought it was because they didn't expect Ymir's Breath to arrive four years early and didn't get the chance to stock pile food but I had another guess.

'Deublyg sure is thorough.' Emma's father wasn't a fighter from how she described him. A decent father, a better leader but he was at a High Class Devil's level at best. Alone in the middle of Jotunheim with a bunch of monsters out for blood in a supernatural blizzard? 'I think I finally found someone whose luck is shitter than mine.' I wryly smiled as Melissa came closer to the snow and reached out with her hand to immediately it pull back.

"Damn, that's cold!" The Shadow Leopard's hand was covered in a thin layer of frost. She closed and opened to fist as she grimaced at the arctic barrier. "This is tame compared to normal?"

"Well, they are called Frost Giants. I'd find it weird if they didn't have a higher resistance to the cold then regular supernatural beings." Vargas commented and furrowed his brows. "Remind me again why this is a good idea?"

"Never said it was, it's just our best lead. Our only lead really." I explained as I took out a rope and walked to a nearby boulder. "All evidence points to Emma's father being on this mountain and whatever caused this blizzard isn't natural…as natural as a massive storm of snow and wind coming from a grave is." I wrapped the robe around the boulder and got to work making a tight knot.

"So you believe it's artificial? Or forced?" Melissa asked, not even a little curious to my current actions and I nodded.

"If we can find the source of why it's happening, we can most probably stop the blizzard." Whatever Deublyg did up there must have messed with the normal order of things and that's why this Ymir's Breath was so different like the increased duration or weaker frost. It stood to reason that fixing said problem will well…fix the problem.

"And what happens if we can't find the reason or worse, if Emma's father is…" Vargas lowered his voice for the last part, peeking over to the Dark Elf princess who was gazing at the blizzard in wonder.

"Then we use the Talisman I got from the Tournament to transport ourselves to Shinto Heaven." I said as I made another loop.

"And if that doesn't work?" Maven asked

"Then write on my tombstone that I died of frostbite and royal stupidity! Look, whatever spatial lock this place has, I doubt it could stop a Talisman that has a good amount of a Chief God's divine power. But let's avoid using that if we can okay?" The main reason Odin's brothers died on the mountain was because they used up a large portion of their power killing Ymir, a Primordial Jötunn who was pretty much Chief God Class and had to deal with a supernatural blizzard right after. Odin survived by the virtue of his instincts and genius magic. This Ymir's Breath we were facing was nowhere close to being that strong. "Anymore questions?" I looked around and stopped at Vincent weakly raising his hand.

"U-Um, why am I still here?"

"Oh, well-"

"Because you're a worthless Dark Elf who gave his family up to betray his king."

"…What she said." I said as I pointed to a glaring Emma. "That and you were the one to bring your family here; you're going to led us to where they are."

"I-" Vincent looked indignant.

"You get no say in this whatsoever, just to let you know." Not that it mattered. Fastening the rope around my waist, I heard Vargas' skeptical voice.

"You don't actually expect that to work do you?"

"Not really, I just want to try it for science." Picking up Jade (who was playing in the snow), I took out Dáinsleif and told everyone to huddle together. Activating Touki, I expanded it to cover the entire group and connected with Jade's powers. While it didn't give the same amount of protection and strength boost as a regular Touki can, it will protect us from the biting cold of Ymir's Breath. I then used Dáinsleif to cast a magic circle around us to further that protection.

Making sure we had everything we need one last time, we marched into the blizzard.

Svartalfheim

Adrian and Aindrea stood on a wall hundred of meters tall, overlooking a canyon that split the northern and southern sections of the realm. Co-built by the Elf kings of the Svartálfar Faction, this wall had a countless number of protection spells to stop the Dökkálfar Faction's advance (Samantha was in the medical center of the wall). Of course there were other entry points Talien's army could hit to enter but they were either too difficult to transverse, weren't key points to the Svartálfar Faction or weren't worth the effort to take over. This wall protected the main path into Northern Svartalfheim and it didn't have country sized barriers to stop flying or teleporting. This was something Emma's father was trying to convince the other kings to help create but they were wary that others would use it for their own personal gain during the war.

"This war would be over much faster if they didn't pull back their soldiers." A Dark Elf in silver army known as Curtis grumbled, having been assigned to keep the Demigod and Emissary alerted on the situation. "Can't they understand if this wall falls then that fake king will have a direct route to all their kingdoms? It's stupid."

"It's not like they didn't have a good reason." Adrian said, leaning on the edge of the wall and the Dark Elf scuffed.

"She survived in the end, didn't she?" Both teammates narrowed their eyes at that. Getting called over by a Dark Elf, they watched Curtis leave before turning to look at each other.

"I guess we know whose camp he's in." Aindrea snorted.

"He had me at fake king."

Adrian was personally flabbergasted by the siblings fighting, more so on how fast it escalated. Their squabble had split the subjects of the Flostenebris House right down the middle, one who followed the First Prince and the ones who adored the First Princess. The Prince's followers had the common characteristics of elitists, thinking the princess to be unfit for ruling and that other Elf Kings were nothing but fakes (even the ones in the Svartálfar Faction). The tension became even worse when one day, when the Princess came to the frontlines to oversee the situation; she was nearly killed by members of the Prince's faction. Instead, over a hundred Dark Elves were injured with dozens ending up dead. Many were soldiers of the other Elf kings and they pulled them back when they couldn't trust their own side not to shoot them in the back.

All things considered, they had their work cut out for them.

"Hey Adrian." The Emissary lifted his head to look at Aindrea and the Demigod pointed out into the canyon. "Do you see that?" Adrian examined the view and saw what he meant. They were far but he could clearly see groups of Dark Elves transverse the canyon with large metal contraptions behind them. The contraptions were shaped like canons but had multiples hand sized openings on the side (Adrian had to use magic to see that far). The movements of the unknown Elves were noticed by the soldiers on the wall and they moved closer to the edge to see what was going on. The Dark Elves moving the canons stopped to stare up at the wall and lifted their hands up.

Then hundreds of magic circles appeared across the canyon. A countless number of fireballs, ice spikes, lightning bolts and/or person sized boulders flew at the wall. Both Adrian and Aindrea took out their weapons, ready to negate some of the attacks from reaching the wall but it was unnecessary. The rain of magic was stopped short by an invisible wall, ripples going outward from the impact. As expected from a barrier created from the joint effort of multiple kingdoms, the barrier distorted greatly but didn't crack once from the barrage and went back to normal after a minute (even the wall barely shook). Cheers came from the soldiers on the wall, some cursing and spitting at the Elves in the canyon. The Emissary frowned at the disinterested looks the Elves in the canyon had. They weren't done.

"What the hell is that?" Looking over, Adrian saw a Dark Elf staring up into the sky and followed his gaze. Hidden way up in the clouds, a single Dark Elf floated in the air. It was a tall beautiful woman with short black hair, grey skin and black armor. A wide smile on her face, she waved her hand and a large portal appeared behind her. A warship the size of a five story building came flying out of it. Reminiscent of a Norse battle ship with a dragon head on the ram and sails, the rest of the boat looked like it was made from steel. The Dark Elf with black armor landed on the ram and placed one hand on it. Her aura was sucked into the dragon head and before anyone can react, a beam of light came out its mouth. The shaking was much more profound this time when it impacted.

"Those damn Dwarves made them a Skíðblaðnir!?" A cry amongst the soldiers sent them scrambling and Adrian's eyes widened when he saw the large hole left in the barrier. The hole slowly started to close but a bunch of chains hooked onto its edges, preventing it from mending itself. The Skíðblaðnir was making it ways over.

"What are you idiots doing?! Get to your stations!" A booming voice rang across the wall and Deublyg arrived with a batch of soldier. "Birger, get your men and have them focus fire on the breach, don't let them enter without a fight."

"Yes sir!" A Dark Elf with magician robes called a bunch of soldiers and started to separate them into groups to attack the ship. The General turned to a burly Dark Elf in red armor.

"Ulf, bring a number of soldiers and take out those men in the canyons. I need those anchors destroyed." The chains and hooks that stopped the barrier from closing came from the canons shaped contraptions. Ulf gave a wolfish grin before running off. Knowing that he understood, Deublyg's voice was projected next to Aindrea and Adrian.

"I hope you both can protect this wall from any enemies that make it through."

"We'll stop any intruders." Adrian promised and Deublyg gratefully nodded before flying to face the Dark Elf woman on the ship. While a part of Adrian thought that listening to a traitor's orders wasn't the best idea, there was no question that they needed to prevent this wall from falling. An explosion appeared in the air, the General and the woman sending magic spell after magic spell towards one another. They couldn't watch the fight for too long because the Skíðblaðnir reached the breach and was already halfway through.

~Tjald til Daga!~ Birger chanted and a large magic circle appeared in front of the ship's path, a number of soldiers adding their magic circles to his. A barrier around the Skíðblaðnir collided with the spell and it eroded away, leaving the flying ship vulnerable to dozens of magic spells that destroyed its sides. While it successfully stopped the ship's advance, enemy soldiers started to pile out of the ship.

"For the Glory of Dökká!" A Dark Elf in a black body suit yelled, holding up a glowing axe that was similar to Pierce's Demon Swords. Leaping into a group of soldiers, he maneuvered around the battlefield with grace that surpassed the average Dark Elf (which was high on its own). Every time his axe was swung, it left a streak of flames and multiple soldiers fell before he ultimately died due to being outnumbered. Hundreds of soldiers filed into the wall and they all had the same equipment the first soldier had.

~Praecipe Vigilis Exceptus est Scriptor!~ Aindrea chanted and a concussive blast came from the tip of his spear, sending a dozen Dark Elves flying. Not letting them gather their thoughts, the Demigod summoned his spectral spears and sent them across the wall. Piercing through chests, stomachs or heads, many enemy soldiers died under his attack. The sudden attacks made the enemies slightly falter, allowing the soldiers to push back the intruders. Groups of hostile Dark Elves flew to face Aindrea but were scattered by a fire spell from Birger. Aindrea stared at his leader.

"Just keep a cool head." Adrian rolled his eyes at the happy look the battle hungry Demigod gained. As Aindrea barreled into the chaotic battle and widely thrust with his spear, Adrian heard bangs impact the lower wall. Peeking over the edge, he saw the lower half being scaled by tall creatures with thick plated armor and sharp claws. "…I'm going to have to deal with that aren't I?" The continuous screams of men too busy fighting and dying answered the Emissary.

Giving a quiet sigh, a sunlight aura wrapped around Adrian and he leaped off the wall.

Same Time, Jotunheim

"How long is that rope?" Vargas asked in slight shock which was warranted since we treaded through a little over a mile of snow.

"It's a rope with an infinite length. I got it at the Yokai Festival."

"…Why would you buy an infinite rope?"

"Why not?" I shrugged and continued to release some of the line, my response leaving the Spirit Inheritor speechless. "Hey, does any of this look familiar to you?"

"N-No. It's difficult to tell over all the s-snow." Vincent stuttered out, rubbing his arms in a vain attempt to warm himself up. All around us was shining blankets of white snow, dense wind obscuring our vision and making the temperature colder. The supernatural blizzard didn't just lock the space and made the conditions one of the worse that could appear on Earth, it also dampened the senses. I could barely see a couples meters in front of us, our hearing would be flooded by the falling snow if it wasn't for the sound barrier Maven placed around us and even my Chi Vision was halved to its original range.

"Let's pick up the pace; we'll stop at a high peak to get a better view of things." We followed Maven's suggestion and I picked up the mage, Melissa piggy backing Emma. Vargas carried Vincent under his arm like he was luggage. We sprinted across the snow, leaving human sized paths (my infinite rope was being released at a rapid pace).

"I should have summoned Bell before entering." Vargas complained, lamenting on not bringing his White Stag.

"I'll remind you the next we enter a freak blizzard made from the corpse of a Primordial Giant."

"…You would find a way to make this a regular thing." He deadpanned

"Hey, I don't go looking for this crap, it finds me!" I exclaimed before sighing. "But tis is my life, it's truly a curse." Maven made a weird face at that.

"You sure seem to have lots of fun with that curse."

"Eh, sue me. I'm a glass quarter full kind of guy."

"…Don't you mean half full?"

"I'll let you know if it ever reaches halfway." We traveled another mile in snow before reaching a towering wall of rock. Placing Maven on back, I started to scale the cliff with the others right behind me. The reason we didn't fly was because flying too high in the storm will distort your sense of direction and before you know it, you're flying head first into the ground.

I had the bruises to prove that fact true. Slowly climbing so I don't fall to a non-fatal but still painful drop, I pulled the others up when we reached the top. There wasn't much of a difference compared to down on the ground besides the slight added sunlight from being higher elevated. That didn't mean we could exit if we somehow reached the top of the blizzard, it just didn't stop the sun's rays from coming in. Contrary to moving for so long we didn't get far, the mountain range was massive (like all things in Jotunheim) and we only reached the first peak.

'So that's where Ymir died.' I said and stared at a towering mountain in the distance. While narrower then Mount Olympus, it pierced through the clouds all the same. The mountain sat in the middle of a bunch of other mountains in the range, like a king among his servants. The blizzard also seemed to condense tightly around it which made sense since Ymir's Grave was at the top. "How about now, can you recognize anything?" I turned from the view and asked Vincent. The jittery Dark Elf took a hesitant step forward and scanned around. After a minute of searching, he lifted a finger towards a mountain in the distance.

"It's hard to tell because of the snow b-but I think that's the mountain he made me…" He slowed down at the end of his words. My attention was on his Chi when he was speaking and I nodded to the others. He was telling the truth. Getting ready to climb down and continue our trek, I stopped.

"What is it?" Maven asked, still on my back and I stared out into the snow.

"Something's out there." Melissa stared in the same direction and everyone else waited with cautious faces.

"Do you think it's my father? Or anyone else from Deublyg's clan?"

"No, it doesn't feel like a Dark Elf." It felt like a deer but mixed with the aura of a wolf. It also had malice coming off it in waves. I instantly knew it wasn't an animal. No animal radiates malice or hate, that's only something you feel from humans or supernatural beings. "Let's go." Whatever it was, it didn't feel strong but I wouldn't want to fight it in this blizzard.

We quickly got a move on after that. The next 3 hours were spent running over frozen lakes, tipped over trees and climbing the occasional mountain. The aura from before was long gone but I still felt the unsettling feeling of being watched.

"Hey look, there's a cave over there. How about we take a break for now?" Melissa pointed out a cave and almost everyone agreed immediately. Besides the Shadow Leopard and me, everyone else was dead on their feet. I was also feeling sluggish from constantly keeping up a team wide Touki (though it helped we weren't fighting) and Jade was tired from supplying her powers. Entering the cave first, I had Denki light up the darkness with his lightning and saw nothing inside. It wasn't very deep and only went a couple dozen meters. Maven placed a barrier around the cave to stop intruders and warm it up.

"Damn my feet are killing me." Vargas flopped on ground, rubbing his sore and frozen feet. "I'm starting to wish we brought Samantha with us."

"So she could heal you with her magic or…"heal" you with her "magic"?" Melissa said, looking proud of her word play.

"Melissa…that was terrible. Never do it again." Maven wasn't impressed.

"O-Oh shut up! I'd like to see you do better!"

"I bet you would." Not rising to the bait, the mage took out a blanket from her space ring and placed it down. She ignored the blushing Yokai and started to get comfortable. "Hey Pierce, you alright?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, I'm good. I'll take the first watch." I stood staring outside the wave entrance, watching the blanket of snow.

"Are you sure? I've expended less Chi then you; I should be the one watching." Melissa said, worried but I smiled and gave her a quick kiss.

"I'm fine there's no need to worry. I'll switch out with you in a couple of hours so go rest."

While her worried face didn't go away, Melissa relented and went to lie on Maven's blanket, Emma also coming to join them. Vargas leaned against a smooth boulder, placing the Sword of Damocles by his side. I sat on the ground, lightly stroking a sleeping Jade on my lap and Denki was crouched by my right. I observed the cleanly cut mark on my infinite rope. Around the time I felt that aura, my rope went slack and I pulled it in to see my rope in this state. Something intentionally cut it.

'I probably should have said something but what would that accomplish?' Nothing really. We know something is out there and I didn't expect the rope to work, it was more wishful thinking on my part. Keeping Chi Vision active while the others rested, I saw Vincent crouching in the corner. "So why did you do it?"

"H-Huh?" The Dark Elf looked up in confusion.

"Why did you trick your family into coming here? Did Deublyg buy you off? Did he promise you something and chose not pay up?" Vincent stayed quiet and I smirked. "Or are you just a coward who crumbled at the threat of death?"

"Fuck you."

"So you can bark. At least you got that going for you." I sneered at the Dark Elf and he went back to watching the wall. I didn't dislike the Dark Elf for being a coward, it wasn't an admirable trait but it wasn't enough to earn my disgust. It was the fact that he was Deublyg's great Granduncle and he helped the General trap their entire family in such a dangerous place. Deublyg was from a noble family known as the Göfugr and they had a history of churning out great warriors and strategist. He was the youngest Dark Elf from the Göfugr clan to earn a General rank and Vincent himself was ancient, easily living since the time when Odin was on his warpath. He has lived for so long, has seen so much and this is how he ended up? It was sad.

"You don't understand." I glanced at the elder Dark Elf, his eyes still on the wall. "We were once a glorious race, we had everything. Wealth, land, armies. Power. At our peak, we could match the Gods and we used that power to chase off that warmonger from our realm. Time and time again he tried; we would send him off like it was nothing." My eyes narrowed when he started to slightly shake and I tensed, ready to react if need be. "But then that fool got greedy. She wanted more and that's when everything went wrong."

"Well that's the thing about greed; it corrupts Man, Elf or God. It doesn't discriminate."

"That it does boy…that it does." Like a ship without sails, all the energy seemed to disperse from Vincent and he leaned against the hard wall. I observed the Dark Elf a bit longer before crossing my legs, getting ready to enter Zen Mode. I wasn't expecting that from the cowardly Elf. He didn't stutter once and had this fierce light in his eyes before it went away. I was curious on where that emotion came from but I had a job to do first, ancient stories on Odin's grim past can wait for later.

Keeping my Chi Vision active, I entered my sub-conscious.

5 Hours Later, Jotunheim

After sleeping and having some lunch, we exited the cave to find that night had settled over the mountain range. The snow being even thicker then it was during the day, we chose to take it slower and huddle together. Emma and Maven were kept in the middle of the pack with everyone else surrounding them (Vincent was forced to walk in front). Crossing a ridge that was close to our destination, I stopped when I felt the aura from earlier. Turning around but failing to see anything, I frowned when I felt it come closer.

"Something's coming." They stopped and scanned the area, on guard for any hostiles.

"Where's it coming from?" Melissa asked as she held her daggers.

"From over ther-" I blinked when I could no longer feel the aura. I created a dozen Chi Swords and sent them flying in the original location where I felt the aura. They pierced through the air, disappearing from our sight and an odd roar came shortly after. A shock wave came towards us, pushing away the falling snow and we got to see what my Chi Constructs hit. A 3 meter tall humanoid with brown fur stood in the middle of the area. It had the head of a wolf with deer antlers. It looked malnourished, the brown fur tightly packed around a skinny body and it held a staff with some sort of horned skull on top of it.

"A Shaman Wendigo?" We turned to Maven who was staring at the monster in shock and curiosity. "I heard they were incredibly rare, why is one on this mountain?"

"No clue...I'll go ask him." I walked forward and stopped a couple meters from the Wendigo. I tuned out the others telling me to come back. "Hey, how's it going? Crazy weather am I right?"

"…" The creature simply tilted its head.

"So yeah, we're trying to find a friend and we were wondering if you've seen them anywhere?" It just kept staring at me. "No? Okay then, thank you for your tim-."

"You're all going to die here." The Shaman Wendigo spoke with a demonic voice. I clapped my hands.

"So it does speak! And the first thing it says is a threat; you must fun at parties." I smiled and the Shaman Wendigo narrowed its eyes. "Believe me when I tell you this man, you won't win this fight so how about you scurry along and go back to doing whatever the hell man eating monsters do…besides the obvious." The Shaman response was very simple. He tapped his staff on the ground and dozens of piercing red eyes came from the snow, all glaring in our direction. I blankly stared at the Shaman Wendigo.

"We shall feast on your bodies and offer your souls to-" I couldn't hear the rest of what he had to say, probably due to using Dáinsleif to cut his head clean off but that's just me guessing. As the headless body hit the ground the Wendigos in the blizzard didn't waste time. Charging at us with reckless abandon, I slammed down on the ground with a Seismic Fist. The ground splintered around me, causing the first line of Wendigos to stumble and trip over each other.

~Flammis Acribus Malestrom!~ Maven blasted the enemies with a fire spell. It wasn't as searing or large as usual because of our location but it still burned a decent portion of them. Vargas expertly slashed at every Wendigo that came his way, body parts and mainly heads hitting the snow in question succession. Melissa stayed back to protect Emma and Vincent, making sure no Wendigo got past her. I was surprised though when I saw a Wendigo flank Melissa from her left and was sent flying by Emma's mace. The brutal weapon handling and the noble figure Emma gave off painted an interesting picture.

~VitaEnim Spirituum Est!~ Slicing a Wendigo in half, I jumped when a spectral being came from the body and bite my arm. Grimacing at the way the specter got through my Touki, I sliced through the body and watched it dissipate into (ghost?) ash. Healing the wound with Chi, I heard Vargas chant.

~Lux Dei.~ The Spirit Inheritor started to glow in a bright, holy light and the specter Wendigos around us started to scream in pain before turning to ash. I saw that the majority of the fallen Wendigos turned into specters before being destroyed by Vargas' Ode. My eyes widened when I saw the Shaman Wendigo standing to the side.

'Wait, didn't I kill him?' I looked over to where I originally killed the leader Wendigo and saw a lone monster without its head, a bit away from the other piles of bodies. Walking towards it to kill it again, a large shadow flew above us and the flapping of wings caught my attention.

"Oh what now!?" Melissa said, crushing a Wendigo's neck with a Chi coated hand and we looked up at the new arrival. A ten meter tall blue Dragon floated in the air, crystals littered its spine and golden sigils were on its arms and legs. We braced for any attacks but it never looked in our direction. The Dragon stared right at the Shaman Wendigo for a second before opening breathing an ice attack towards it. The Shaman lifted his staff and a black barrier blocked the attack.

~Manus Autem Squalent Abductis!~ Grabbing a Wendigo and slicing its neck, the Shaman chanted. A specter came from its body but it had a red aura around it. It flew at the Dragon, the legendary breath attack for some reason not affecting the intangible body and the specter latched onto its leg. The Dragon roared in pain, its leg being quickly corroded by the specter. I gulped when the Dragon's eyes started turning red and it's aura started to increase rapidly.

"Time to go!" I did not feel like dealing with a Dragon on Outrage today. Using their pissing contest as the moment to escape, we ran into the falling snow as explosions and roars rang out behind us. No one was actually injured from that battle but we didn't have the innate resistance to cold like the Wendigos and Ice Dragon, we each had a piece of frost on our bodies that hampered our movement. Thankfully, we made it to the mountain that Vincent pointed out soon after. 'And he better be right or else I'm sealing his magic and kicking him off the nearest cliff!' Finding a smooth path up, I led the way and we made it halfway before a problem arrived in the form of a small click under my foot.

"Holy-" The world's biggest bear trap sprung on me, the jaw easily reaching my neck and I activated my 3rd Order Strengthening Spell on reflex. The trap was modified by Norse Runes, having way more power then it reasonably should and I gritted my teeth from holding it back. Melissa and Vargas sliced the trap to pieces.

"Are you okay!?" The Shadow Yokai appeared next to me, worry all over her face.

"I'm fine." Rubbing my strained wrists, I stared up the path. "How much you want to bet there will be more?" No one stood forward to take that bet. Vargas summoned his Templar apparitions, making them take the lead. The next half an hour was spent watching the apparitions trip all types of traps like the bear trap from earlier to falling into spiked cages. Giving a small prayer of thanks to a Templar apparition that was smacked off the mountain by a massive boulder; we reached the top of the mountain.

"Is this it?" Emma asked as we looked around. There was nothing up here besides a dark cave that probably hasn't seen activity in years.

"Yes, this is where I brought my family." Vincent answered and I crossed my arms.

"Want to tell us anything important before we ent-" I leaned to the left as an arrow my height flew by me, getting stuck in the rock behind us. Turning to where the arrow came from, we saw a Jotunn in leather armor standing by the cave's entrance. He had a crossbow in one arm and a hammer in the other. His rough face but young and his tall figure was quite imposing. "…So who wants to say hello this time?" The other rolled their eyes and Vargas stepped forward, raising his hands in show of peace when the Jötunn pointed his crossbow at us (mine was better).

"Hey its okay, we're not here to cause trouble. We just want to find a friend of ours."

"I find that hard to believe." The Jötunn scuffed.

"It's the truth." Vargas pressed on when he stayed quiet. "Have you seen a couple of Dark Elves around here? Like her?" The Spirit Inheritor pointed at Emma and the Jötunn narrowed his eyes.

"And what if I did?"

"Then you can help us reunite a daughter and father, get rid of this freak blizzard and make it in time to participate in a supernatural war before brunch."

"…"

"…"

"…What is a brunch?" Vargas, Melissa and Maven face palmed as I explained the intricate workings of eating breakfast and lunch late in the morning. By the time I was done, the Jötunn lowered his crossbow and stared at us. "…Follow me." He turned to walk into the cave and we followed after him at a respectable distance. Walking for a minute, we came upon a large stone door with Norse symbols and the Jötunn pushed it open. A bright light came from the crack in the door and when it fully opened, we saw it was coming from the sun high in the sky. A wide open field of grass lied before us, a row of wood houses and a river flowed calmly next to them. I noticed how the center of the sky was blue but in the distance, it was a myriad of colors.

"What is this?"

"This is a separate space created by the Jötunn magicians. A sanctuary for young Jötunns who can't handle Ymir's Breath and take refugee here until the blizzard passes." The Jötunn answered, walking towards the row of houses. When we got closer, we saw a couple of Dark Elves, both young and old walking about. We stopped when heard something drop and turned to see a young Dark Elf staring at us in shock.

"Féla?" Emma gasped and the Elf Princess stepped towards her friend.

"E-Emma?" Féla looked equally stunned. They stared at each other before Emma pulled her into a deep hug, one the Dark Elf returned. "I-I thought you were dead."

"What? Why would you think that?" Emma looked at her friend in confusion.

"My father, after he trapped us here with your father I feared he would…" Féla scanned Emma's form for a second before smiling. "I'm glad you're okay." The Princess just smiled and hugged her again. We stood watching the scene from a distance away, smiling at their reunion.

"How beautiful, it's almost enough to move my blackened heart." I said, wiping an imaginary tear from my eye. "This is true friendship!"

"Friendship huh…" Vargas' gazed lowered to the way they locked fingers and the way Emma placed her face in Féla's neck, taking a deep breath. I understandingly nodded at what he was implied, sensing their intimate emotions with my Chi and leaned towards the others.

"So how do you think that's going work? I mean, she's a princess. Doesn't she need to pass on the bloodline or something?" He shrugged.

"Hell if know, I think with the war they have more important things to worry about."

"Oh please, royalty and nobles will always find a way to bring up irrelevant things no matter the situation." Maven said with distaste. "They're most likely keeping it a secret."

"Oohh, like a forbidden love? How romantic." I quirked a brow at Melissa's words.

"Is it really that forbidden? What happens if they get caught?" Will they get killed or exiled for loving the same gender like humanity has done occasion on before? With how many beings in DxD that can wipe out armies, cause natural disasters and be overall badass I find it very hard to believe some weren't openly gay. Condemning them for their sexual preference doesn't sound like a very good (or sane) idea.

"Most likely nothing, they'll probably just ask her to hide it. The Dark Elves were ruled by a matriarch in the past and she was known for getting around."

"Ah-hem." Emma cleared to get our attention and she nodded to a house down the street. "Come on, Féla says my father's here." We followed the Dark Elf to the largest house in the area and we met Emma's father, Eldon Flostenebris. The Dark Elf king was a handsome man with short black hair and sharp eyes. He carried himself with a noble's stride but anyone can tell he was happy to see his daughter with how his face lit up. Giving a bear hug to his daughter, he immediately started asking if she was okay, what was she thinking on coming to such a dangerous place, how were her siblings, etc. By the time he finished asking all his questions rapid fire (Emma barely got to answer half of them), he finally acknowledged our existence and thanked us for keeping his daughter safe. It was only when he got to Vargas that he discovered Vincent, who was using the large warrior for cover.

Then the King punched the elderly Elf in the face. I slightly winced at the way Vincent's face smacked the ground.

'For a guy who isn't good fighting, that was a quite a punch.' Knocking a couple teeth from the elder Dark Elf's mouth, Eldon glared down at Vincent.

"You sure have nerve, dragging my daughter here as well. Is this Deublyg's plan? Bring my family here one by one until he rules my kingdom?"

"Um, about that…" Eldon moved his gaze from Vincent and watched me as I scratched the back of my head. "It was our idea to enter the blizzard. And she agreed!" Adding that since his eyes hardened, he looked at his daughter for an answer. Emma gave a wry smile.

"I just wanted to find you father, it's…it's been awful since you disappeared."

"…Tell me everything."

Calling two Dark Elves to bring away Vincent, we sat down in the living room as Emma told her father about the current situation of their kingdom. Telling him about the siblings fighting for the crown, how the other kingdoms distanced themselves from the Flostenebris family because of their actions and how it was impacting the Svartálfar Faction's chances of winning, Eldon listened silently through it all. When Emma finished her father sighed and leaned back on his chair, looking incredibly fatigued.

"Where did I go wrong?" He asked but no one had an answer to that. "Was it my belief's? Was I too naïve? I just wanted our race to be above slavery and bloodshed but it seems like that's all we're good for." Emma kneeled next to her downcast father.

"It's not, we can be better but we need you for it to happen. We need to pull ourselves together and get back before it's too late, please." Holding his daughter's hand, he shook his head.

"I wish I could but we're not strong enough to get out of here. Those beasts will never give them up."

"Give what up? You know how to get out here?"

"Yes, we figured out what caused this blizzard but we can't do anything about it." Emma looked back at us and I stepped forward.

"Tell us." Quirking a brow at me, Eldon looked to his daughter who nodded in turn. He stood up and brought outside, heading towards a house that sat away from the others. The house was abnormally large, appearing more like a mansion if it wasn't for the simplistic design. Eldon knocked on the massive door and the Jötunn from before opened the door. His name was Veiði . While he was slightly surprised to see us, he didn't turn us away and invited us inside. Sitting us in the living room and giving us normal sized cups full of tea (Vargas approved), Eldon told him we came to help.

"Them?" He pointed at us and snorted when Eldon confirmed it. "I think you'll have better odds with the brats you're stuck with."

"Better odds on what? Can someone please explain already?" I asked, a little tired of the run around and Veiði turned to me.

"Have you ever heard of the Auðumbla and the Rime Stone, boy?"

"Uhhh, can't say that I have."

"In the early years of Ymir as the First Jötunn, he met a sacred cow and chose to travel with it. He would drink its milk when he was hungry, rode on it's back when he was tired and fought to protect it when danger arrived. The cow was called the Auðumbla. One day, when he was drinking from the Auðumbla's tit, the cow spat out a bright white stone. Fascinated by the rock Ymir discovered that he could breed life by offering the stone a piece of his flesh. Búri, grandfather of the Norse Gods was his first creation. For 3,000 years after he was a nomad and wanderer, littering the nine worlds with his creations. That stone was known as the Rime Stone."

"Was?"

"It lost its power long ago but he always kept it on his person, fastening it as a necklace. When he died on this mountain, the Rime Stone and the skull of the Auðumbla was placed on his grave to honor his memory...until a month ago anyway." No one knows how but Deublyg was able to rip out Ymir's soul from his body and split it in half, placing each in the skull of the Auðumbla and the Rime Stone. The act kick started Ymir's Breath and they were still in this mountain. "After much searching, we were able to find out that the Ice Dragon inhabiting this mountain has the Rime Stone. It never leaves its cave however so we've never had the chance to take it and we have no idea where the Auðumbla's skull is." Veiði finished speaking, leaning back on his seat. I made a weird face and looked to the others, seeing that they had the same expression.

"Is Auðumbla's skull a normal sized cow skull that's slightly blackened and would fit nicely on top of a man eating shaman's witch stick?"

"...What?" Veiði and Eldon said at the same time. Maven smacked me on the back of the head.

"We know where Auðumbla's skull is." Vargas clarified and they were shocked.

"Where?"

"A Wendigo Shaman has it and it uses it to great effect." I stood up and faced the Jötunn. "We need to know where that Dragon's cave is." He shrugged

"Sure but we need a plan of attack. We can't just walk in there without it. Do you have one?" My smiled threatened the split my face.

"Oh I thought you'd never ask." Doing the now nostalgic action of rubbing my space ring, I turned to see my chalkboard appear in the room. "Hello old friend, it's been too long." Giving the board a fond look, I grabbed a piece of chalk and started to write the title. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, its time for operation Jötunn Forecast! It is negative hundred degrees outside with 60 miles deadly winds and sure chance of frostbite. I recommend a sweater." I waited a second but furrowed my brows when no reacted. "What? No one has a witty comment?"

"Oh I got several-" Vargas was stopped by Melissa kicking his shin. "But we're kind of on a time clock so we should hurry...and ow." The Spirit Inheritor rubbed his armored shin while the Shadow Yokai shrugged.

"Fair enough. This operation has two teams. Team one will have Melissa, Maven, Emma and Eldon. Eldon will lead you three to the Ice Dragon's cave to which Melissa will use the Shadow Zone to sneak into." Melissa couldn't use the Shadow Zone to exit or enter Ymir's Breath but she could use them freely inside. "You are not to attack the Dragon, if you can steal the Rime Stone then escape right away. Maven and Emma will be for back up if the Dragon does find Melissa." I wrote team two. "The second team will have Vargas, Veiði and I. My Chi Vision is weakened by the blizzard so it stands to reason that tracking Chi Signature's would also be a struggle."

"So you need me to track the Wendigos."

"Precisely. You help us find their evil lair and me and Vargas will do the rest." Placing the chalkboard back into my space ring, I dusted my hands and stared at Emma's raised her hand. "Yes?"

"Where to we bring our objective when we get it? Do we bring it back here?" I shook my head.

"No, we bring it to Ymir's Grave and try to reverse whatever the traitor Elf did. If that's possible."

"I can." We all turned to Veiði who was ready to go, leather armor and all. "Get me both halves of his soul and I'll be able to fix this. I promise." I slowly nodded at his words.

"Any last questions?" I smiled when no one spoke and stood up at the same, resolve in their eyes. "Let's go pay our respects shall we?"

Vargas, a human sized Veiði and I walked through the snowy mountains. Giving Jade to the others, I had only Dáinsleif to protect us from the supernatural winds. Ignoring his comment of 'I'm all the protection you need!', I watched the Jötunn kneel down and inspect the area. While I didn't understand how he got any clues from all the untouched snow, we resumed our trek with him in the lead.

"If you want to ask then go ahead." Veiði said as he walked over a large boulder.

"Why are you so sure you can fix this?" I asked, having been on my mind since he said so. "Do you have past experience with Primordial Giant souls cut in half?" Veiði chuckled at that.

"No but considering I took care of that grave most my life, I have a certain connection with it." Vargas quirked a brow at that.

"You took care of that grave? I thought you were a hunter."

"All Jötunn learn how to hunt by adulthood, one way or another. I was but a child when I decided to scale the highest mountain in this range and Ymir's Breath happened. Alone and cold I kept going until my feet gave out from under me. A Jötunn grave keeper found me and brought me back to health. He asked for nothing in return but I was a particularity stubborn boy and wanted to repay his kindness. So he had me help protect the grave from the monsters and thieves that tried to enter. It was there that I met the progenitor."

"Ymir's soul spoke to you?" I asked but he shook his head.

"He didn't speak to me per say but I could feel his gratitude for protecting his grave and helping his grave keeper. From what the older Jötunn say, Ymir wasn't much a talker and more of a doer." Veiði brought down his scarf to show a Norse Sigil branded on his neck. "He blessed me. I didn't need to stay or protect his grave afterwards but I chose to take the mantle of Grave Keeper from my savior. I've been doing it for a 20 years." His tone got sadder by the end of it and I could guess why.

"You failed to protect it. That's why your out here, isn't it?" He grimly nodded.

"I let this happen, so its my job to clean it up." I hardly felt that was fair. Ymir himself "told" him that he didn't need to take responsibility for anything but that's his conviction, he'll do whatever it takes to uphold it. "We're here." We came to a large cave, the entrance showing a deep and dark corridor. Taking out Tyrfing so I have both Demon Swords out, I nodded to Vargas and Veiði. Taking the lead, we observed the area for any hiding Wendigos. The fact that the Shaman knows to hide auras means I couldn't completely rely on my Chi Vision. Vargas summoned his Templars to surround us but the darkness seemed to overwhelm the light the apparitions gave off.

'Maybe I shouldn't have also gave them Denki.' Then again, they arguably had the more dangerous mission and needed all the help they could get. We didn't wait long before a set of red eyes peeked from behind a rock and charged at us. While a quick slash from Tyrfing cut it down, it started the chain reaction. Dozens of Wendigos started to charge at us, some leaping from the roof while others came from behind.

~Leucaspidem Sanctus est Sanguis!~ Vargas summoned a large holy shield to stop the front charge. I sent a pillar of ice and skewered the line of Wendigos behind us. Commanding his Templars to push the shield, we started shoving the large group of Wendigos through the hall. Slashing any monster that got around, we came to a fork in the road that went left and right.

"Let's go right!"

"Why?!"

"Educated guess!" Using Sword Fury, I slashed a group of Wendigos in two. Leaving the severed monsters, we ran to the hall on our right and came to an wide cavern. There was nothing inside besides a large boulder that was smoothly cut in half. A mat lied in the center and on that mat was a hunched over Wendigo. As if sensing our arrival, it turned around and we recoiled at it's appearance. It was the Shaman Wendigo but it had multiple heads from other Wendigos on its shoulders. It also wasn't malnourished anymore and was even slightly bloated (from what I don't want to know).

"Ah, more meat. Good, I was getting hungry."

"Now now brother, you just ate. Leave some for the others."

"Like you ever share."

"..." We stood in silence as each head spoke, bickering over who got to eat first. I turned to Vargas. "I never want to meet a Hydra."

"Agreed." Channeling Chi into Tyrfing, I send a wave of destruction multi headed monster but a specter of a giant appeared in front of the shaman. The specter was as tall as a regular Jötunn, had long white hair and was built. It carried a staff and had long ropes. I heard a gasp from Veiði.

"Háttr..."

"You know him?" Vargas asked

"Of course he does." The middle Wendigo head spoke, sounding authoritative and smirked maliciously at Veiði. "He was the one who sent you away that day, hoping that you'd escape. I don't know who was the bigger fool, him for sacrificing himself or you for staying." The Wendigo heads started to laugh, causing me to frown and Vargas to hold up his Holy Sword. "Oh well, it's not like it matter." Tapping his staff, specters from wolves to Minotaurs filled the area.

~Lux Dei.!~ Using his Ode from earlier, the light obliterated the specters that got too close but the Shaman just chuckled. Waving his staff, a glow appeared around Háttr and charged at us, the light doing nothing. He swung his staff (which was more like a pillar in the Jötunn's hands) but I blocked it, my magic enhanced Touki and Demon Swords being able to block the specter's attacks. Veiði came to and started shooting the other specters, his arrows also containing magic. Vargas went to help Veiði while I fought Háttr, parrying his fast but overly wide swings. Jumping over a low sweep, I tapped his chest with the tip of Tyrfing's blade and sent him flying back. Landing on the ground, a hole appeared on its chest and it struggled to stand. The Shaman Wendigo didn't look bothered.

"You fight but you already lost."

"They truly are foolish aren't they?"

"Very fooli-" They disappeared from their location, dodging the ice pillar I sent at them. Reappearing a couple meters away, they gave me a deadpan. "It's rude to interrupt someone."

"So is going on a villain rant and wasting everyone's time but here we are." I smiled at the glare they gave me. Stopping said villain rant is even harder when they have multiple mouths to speak from. Before I could Chi Burst to the Shaman, he flew up and hovered above Háttr's specter. Waving his staff, white flames glowed in the Auðumbla's eye socket.

~Belgr Gleypa!~ Háttr was sucked into the mouth of the middle Wendigo, its body increasing in size soon after. Growing ten meters tall, it's muscles bulged and the staff grew as well. Cackling, the Shaman slammed a fist into the cave walls. The rock wall shattered under it's new strength, leaving a massive crater and even bigger smiles on their faces. "Hahahah, so this is what power feels like? It's incredib-"

"It's not." The Shaman stopped and turned to me, my face expressionless. "That's not real power, not even close. Greater strength is good and all but if it isn't yours then there's no point. Power unearned is power not trustworthy." The Shaman paused for a second before rage appeared in their faces.

"No! This is real power! I'm stronger then I was and I'm stronger then you!"

"Oh?" Giving an amused smile, I spread out my arms. "Then come prove it."

It was almost too easy sometimes. Not bothering to cast a spell or sent a wave of ghost energy at me, the Shaman jumped high in the air and swung down with it's staff. Cracks spread across the cave floor, starting from it's center and reaching it's corners. Large boulders fell from the roof and the entire mountain shook from the impact, threatening to bring it down. Vargas and Veiði stood in shock (mainly Veiði) among the splintered floor as the giant sized Shaman numbly stared at it's staff...which was perfectly blocked by my Demon Swords. It's muscular arms were bleeding.

"I-we d-don't-"

"I told you, you shouldn't trust power that you didn't earn." Rolling my arms from the sudden force of the Shaman's attacks, I smirked at the Shaman as it slowly walked backwards. "Let me show you my power." Chanting, a Norse Magic circle appeared on my chest and my Touki turned rose gold. Bringing Tyrfing and Dáinsleif together, I activated Sword Fury. In a last ditch attempt, the Shaman roared and lunged at me but two long beams of green, purple and rose gold met him instead.

Then the mountain came down this time.

2 Hours Later, Ymir's Grave

Atop the highest mountain sat a majestic gate that led underground. They called it Ymir's Grave but it was more like a beautifully made tomb, his massive coffin in the center of a long hall that could fill multiple football fields. Made from some incredibly rare and probably very expensive material, the coffin containing the First Jötunn's body rested on a podium. While the body caused the blizzard, it didn't spew out of it directly and formed around it, leaving a space of peace (like the eye of a storm) A bunch of offerings from past Jötunn who made the trek littered the grounds. We placed the skull of the Auðumbla by the coffin's side, it's size now dozens of meters tall. The reason it was a so small before was because the Shaman shrank it to make it fit easier on its staff. Standing next to the coffin that was a least a hundred meters long, I was very tempted to open it to see the Primordial Jötunn first hand but held myself back.

'I wouldn't want someone to disturb my coffin just to sate their curiosity...then again, I'm already dead at that point so why would I care?' As I internally questioned whether opening the coffin for a quick peek would be so bad, Vargas paced around.

"They should be here already. Do you think they got caught by the Dragon?"

"Unlikely, Melissa could hide from an adept Senjutsu user if she tried." Should I get a crowbar? No, that's pretty disrespectful...so bare hands?

"Then why are they taking so long? Do you think..." I gave Vargas a stern look.

"You know them Vargas, they've dealt with far stronger than a Ice lizard with a stone fetish. Just trust them." My words seemed to calm the Spirit Inheritor. I wasn't lying, the walk alone over here took the majority of the time and they weren't weak. Maven with her magic and Melissa with her Chi could face the Dragon even if it had Outrage. "Of course, if they don't come soon then we'll have Veiði take us to that Dragon's cave." That doesn't mean I didn't worry. Vargas smiled.

"Good idea."

"I know, now leave me alone so I can figure how to open this coffin without it being offensive."

"What?/Huh?" Veiði and I spoke at the same time. The Jötunn narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously (an action I mirrored) before he went back to making a Norse Symbol on the podium. It was ritual that he regularly did to commune with Ymir's spirit and its how we'll put the split souls back together. A couple minutes passed before a bundle of shadows gathered and Melissa walked out of it with the others.

"How can the snow filter into the shadows!?" The Shadow Yokai shook off the snow on her shoulders, rubbing them to warm up. Maven, Emma and Eldon were in the same boat.

"See, I told you they would be alright." I tapped Vargas on the shoulder and walked up to them. "How'd it go?"

"We got the stone, the Ice Dragon was sleeping and never noticed we were there." Melissa said proudly, causing me to pet her head. Jade jumped off Maven's shoulder to mine and Denki walked over to me, rubbing his head on my leg.

"Come, place the Rime Stone over here." Veiði said and Maven walked over, dropping the Rime Stone on the podium. It was 5 meters tall and the white shined like crystal. I could feel a pulse coming from inside of it with my Spiritual Energy. The Jötunn started to chant, placing a hand over the Rime Stone and the Auðumbla's skull. A white aura emitted from both objects, slowly being dragging out and combined together. Veiði sweated heavily, showing the great effort the task demanded. Soon, the white aura was completely taken from the relics and a ball of energy floated above the coffin. It dropped and spilled over the coffin, seeping into its edges. Veiði let out a breath and sat down. "It's done."

'Really? That's it?' The others had the same thought if their faces were any indicator. We walked to the front gate and there was no raging snow blocking our sight, a clear view of Jotunheim laid in front of us. I whistled at the view of Jotunheim's prehistoric forests and seas. I glanced over to see Eldon watching the view with an unreadable expression. "Happy to almost be home?"

"I-I am happy to see my family and subjects after this nightmare but...I just wish it wasn't under such conditions." His face saddened. "Maybe...maybe I shouldn't go back. We're losing as it is, my return may just make things worse."

"Probably. Or you could fix everything." Eldon looked at me with a puzzled expression and I shrugged. "Look, I know that things haven't been the best for you lately. Your kingdom is facing a war, your close friend betrayed you and your kids are making a bigger mess that borders on civil war."

"...You're terrible at this." The Elf King deadpanned but instead of responding, I pointed to Emma who was speaking with the others.

"But she came didn't she? She went to two different pantheons and through a deadly blizzard to save her father who she believes can save the place she loves. That's got to count for something." Eldon stared at Emma before a fond smile came on his face.

"Thank you."

"Any time." Clapping him on the back, we went to join the others. They planned to bring the rest of Göfugr clan here to transport them out of Jotunheim. We asked what Veiði will do if the Ice Dragon comes to take away both relics but the Jötunn already alerted the nearest Giant Chief (some Jötunn named Fasolt) about the situation and they will send troops to slay the Dragon. There was also a library of Norse magic knowledge within the tomb and Veiði offered us entry, much to Maven's delight. So, while Melissa and Vargas went to retrieve the clan with the Elf daughter and father duo, I stayed behind until Maven was done.

"I must thank you again for this, I would have never been able to retrieve both relics by myself." I waved my hand at his thanks.

"It was no problem, we were stuck here too." I stared up at the coffin and asked. "So how is old Ymir after that whole soul splitting thing?"

"It's the second most unpleasant experience he's ever had and hopes it never happens again." Veiði deadpanned and I chuckled, guessing what the first one was. "And he's grateful for everything you and your friends have done. If there's anything you want that's in my power, I will fulfill it."

"Anything huh..." I thought for a second before staring at the top of the coffin. "Well-"

"Besides opening the coffin."

"Oh come on, just a little peek!" I insisted but he crossed his arms.

"No."

"Urgghhh..." I groaned then pointed to the two relics. "Then give me one of them at least." They would be cool trophies but Veiði's face scrunched up.

"Absolutely not! Those are-" The Jötunn abruptly stopped and looked up at the coffin. His face went through a mix of expressions from puzzlement to shock and I leaned forward.

"What? What happened?" Veiði blinked before looking back at me and making an odd face.

"You can however much of the Rime Stone you want but leave Auðumbla alone." I was slightly stunned and pointed at the coffin in hesitation.

"D-Did he say?" The Jötunn slowly nodded and I stared at the Rime Stone in silence. Looking between the stone that birthed a race and the coffin of the First Giant, I had only one question. "...How much is 'however much I want'?"

Veiði's blank face was my answer.

20 Minutes Later, Outside Ymir's Grave

"Finally, I can't wait to get to somewhere warm and safe." Melissa said as she stretched and Maven snorted.

"Well we're definitely going somewhere warm." Getting a playful tap from the Shadow Yokai because of the comment, the mage scanned the area to see if everyone was here and frowned when she didn't see Pierce. "Hey, where's-"

"I'm here, I'm here!" He ran out of the gate, coming next to the team. "I'm finished getting everything." She quirked a brow at that.

"Finish getting what?" He smirked.

"It's a surprise." While that made the others curious, they chose to leave it alone and Eldon cast a teleportation spell. A large magic circle appearing under them, the group comprising of an Emissaries party and Elves exited the realm of Jotunheim. Inside Ymir's Grave, Veiði tended to the hall and watched over Ymir's body. The skull of Auðumbla sat alone on the podium.