Of course, shock was shock, but by now, Scathach more or less understood that Eresh and Rovi truly knew each other.
The wisdom of the Magic Mirror allowed her to analyze a great deal of information in an instant, countless fragments taking shape and piecing themselves together in her mind—the "Wild Hunt" returned from the void, and the goddess of the Underworld who had come from a foreign land.
They came from the same place.
They had known each other before.
"You are... the Sage from the Mesopotamian plain over a thousand years ago?" Scathach seemed to have discovered some secret, her red lips lifting.
She knew Eresh came from the Mesopotamian plain. Because of that, over the past thousand years, Scathach had also inquired countless times into information related to her.
So she knew many things and could make such a reasonable deduction.
Eresh, however, was still clinging tightly to Rovi before her, as though she were still in Uruk over a thousand years ago.
Long time no see, long time no see, long time no see...
I was so worried about you.
"I'm happy to see you again too," Rovi said with a smile.
"Mm..." As if realizing she might have gotten a little too excited, Eresh's face, buried against Rovi's chest, flushed slightly. A faint color spread to the tips of her ears, yet she was reluctant to leave.
She only held him tightly, letting out a soft, low whimper.
Yes, yes, very touching, but could you two maybe spare a thought for me?
Scathach let out a silent sigh from the side, watching the two "old people" act like a young couple in love.
Very soon, however, Eresh took a deep breath and drew back a little, lifting her face.
"Thank goodness... you're not hurt." As she spoke, her blushing face still showed a bright, delighted smile. "Mother Goddess Tiamat... she didn't do anything to you, did she?"
She "gave birth" to me all over again. Does that count as doing something?
Rovi glanced aside. "No. She was actually very good to me."
"Mm." Eresh slowly reached out and took Rovi's hand of her own accord. "Walk with me, like you used to."
"All right." Rovi nodded. "That works out. I also have many things I want to ask you, and many things I want to tell you."
The changes of a thousand years.
Their experiences over a thousand years.
These were all things that needed to be confirmed.
"Honestly, you really are just ignoring me." Scathach looked at the backs of the two as they walked away, brushing back her smooth long hair. A rather helpless expression appeared on her pretty, alluring face. She folded her arms, squeezing the fullness there, and as her gaze shifted aside, it met a pair of dark-purple eyes identical to her own. "What? You don't seem to be in a very good mood."
"Are you trying to tease me now?" The voice that answered Scathach was similar to hers—or rather, exactly the same.
Her long purple dress swayed, slender legs supporting her graceful figure. The Ski Goddess Skadi appeared at Scathach's side.
When Scathach had "gone" to the Norse lands to invite Rovi, she had used Skadi's body, but after entering the Land of Shadows, she had already changed back to her own true body.
In the process, however, Skadi had been brought inside as well.
There was no spring in the Land of Shadows, so the Ski Goddess naturally awakened.
She had been watching those two all this time.
Her emotions were rather complicated.
"Do you still have reservations in your heart?" Scathach raised an eyebrow. "From what I see, that man treats you quite well."
"I'm not a masochist." Skadi rolled her eyes. No matter what, she understood very clearly why she had ended up in her current situation.
First he framed her, then he treated her well.
Although she could not deny that, deep down, she had somewhat fallen, while conscious and clear-headed, Skadi still had reservations.
As she said, she was not a masochist.
"But the gods have already rejected you and regard you as a mortal enemy. Other than him, you have nowhere else to go, do you?" Scathach swayed slightly. "Hesitating like this is not my style."
"Then what do you think I should do?"
"Help him," Scathach said with a smile. "Whatever he wants to do, help him do it."
It had nothing to do with feelings, and nothing to do with reasons.
What Scathach wanted to see was... the transformation of the Age of Gods. What she wanted to see was the collapse of the great tree that supported the old myth.
"If an enemy lies ahead, then destroy them all!" Scathach's tone carried a faint chill.
Skadi murmured in thought. She could not be as forceful as Scathach, could not learn the essence of that warrior-like style no matter what.
"But it doesn't matter. I will always be your support, my other self." Scathach slowly reached out and embraced the goddess who shared the same origin as her, raising a smile.
Scathach wanted Skadi to help Rovi. It had nothing to do with feelings, nor with anything else.
It was only because the one she had always wanted to protect was "herself."
The life I can no longer experience...
can only be left to another "me" to feel.
"I understand." Skadi hesitated for an instant, but in the end, she nodded. "I know what to do."
The Ski Goddess took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and walked in the direction Rovi and Eresh had just left.
Scathach stood in place, revealing an inscrutable smile. "I have already slowed the flow of time in the Land of Shadows. By the time you leave this place, Ragnarok will be almost here."
"No need to thank me, Lord Rovi."
...
"I know. It must have been hard for you, right?" Elsewhere, within the deep and quiet boundary of the Land of Shadows, Eresh stepped lightly between the scattered rocks in black shoes. She turned her delicate face slightly, and as her long hair drifted and the hem of her dress swayed, she placed her hands behind her back, leaned forward, and looked at Rovi. "Rovi—"
It had indeed been hard.
Trying every possible method to die and still failing to die was rather exhausting.
Rovi told Eresh everything he had experienced, from Greece to the current Norse lands, without leaving anything out.
His adventures with the heroes. His reunion with Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Though when she heard about Rovi's inexplicable entanglements with those goddesses, Eresh's cheeks puffed up slightly—but she soon let it go.
Rovi was very honest.
Apart from a few things that absolutely could not be spoken aloud, he told her everything he could say.
She was dissatisfied with those tangled loves and grievances, yet happy that he hid nothing from her.
Eresh... was very happy.
The changing expressions of the mistress of the Underworld, her lovely face, were always reflected against the dark souls and firelight in the distance.
"The process was a little complicated. If you still want to hear it, there's probably a lot more..." Rovi spread his hands. "...Hm?"
Before Rovi could finish speaking, Eresh suddenly drew close once more. The goddess rose slightly onto her toes, lifted both hands, and held his head. Then, with a gentle pull, she drew him into her embrace.
Softness swayed, and Rovi was held against Eresh's chest.
"You worked hard," she said.
"You don't have to say any more," she said again.
"I'm very angry, and very happy," Eresh continued.
"But even so, I still..."
"Love you."
A thousand years was very long, and also very short. No matter what, Eresh loved Rovi as she always had.
This was the feeling she had been unable to say directly over a thousand years ago.
Even if both of them had already understood.
"Me too." Rovi swayed as he stood up, leaving Eresh's embrace, and reached out a hand. "Then from now on, are you willing to come with me?"
"Of course!" Eresh smiled. "No matter where you go, I'm willing to follow you."
The goddess took Rovi's hand.
"All right. Then close your eyes. It will be over quickly." Eresh closed her eyes rather nervously.
Under the dark light and shadow, the goddess's face with her eyes closed was exquisite and beautiful, her lashes trembling faintly with slight tension.
Rovi's gaze swept over those soft, red lips.
He leaned down slightly.
Their lips touched. Space and time changed. The enormous phantom of a Machine God manifested behind him, and as the seed in his chest burned fiercely...
The King of the Dead touched the goddess of the Underworld.
The entanglement of death and death gave birth to life.
The trace of life activity that had already manifested within Rovi's body rapidly swelled and expanded.
Only one step remained before he was "alive."
Eresh opened her eyes in confusion. What she saw was no longer the Land of Shadows from before, but a "primordial" landscape filled with lava.
This place was...
"Greek Tartarus. A domain I devoured," Rovi introduced from beside her. "From now on, you'll stay here—"
"Where is this?"
"Inside my heart."
"..."
"I still have many, many things to do, so I can't always talk with you. But as long as you're in here, I can come see you at any time."
Rovi was somewhat regretful that he had not brought Enkidu in with him before the decisive battle in Greece. But at that time, before obtaining the seed "gifted" by Chaos, he had been completely unable to open the gate to Tartarus.
As for Goldie, Rovi ruled him out entirely.
A child should go out and experience the world properly on his own. Dad did not have that much energy to help him.
"I understand." Eresh smiled and nodded. "I will stay here, watching over you and protecting you."
"I... I won't become a burden!"
The goddess of the Underworld looked faintly stubborn. "I can help you too!"
"All right." Rovi rubbed the goddess's head.
At least here, Eresh could always hear his "heartbeat." She would never be lonely.
After a little quiet warmth, Rovi's consciousness departed.
Watching the lava pulse before her, feeling Rovi's presence at every moment even though there was nothing around her, Eresh showed a rather happy expression.
Rovi... really is wonderful.
She thought that...
"Aaaaa—"
From deep within the lava, however, came a dazed, half-awake murmur.
It was as if someone were slowly waking.
"Wait, that voice is... Mother Goddess Tiamat!? Eh, eh, eh, eh!?"
Cries of shock echoed.
...
In the Land of Shadows.
Rovi opened his eyes again, and the darkness before him remained unchanged.
Mother Goddess should entertain Eresh properly... he thought.
But in his vision, a pretty purple figure stood there with composed grace, her dress swaying and her slender form upright.
"Skadi?" Rovi froze slightly. The person before him was not the Queen of the Land of Shadows, but the Norse Ice and Snow Goddess. "You're awake?"
Skadi, however, did not answer his question. She only said, "You want to overthrow Norse mythology, don't you?"
This attitude... seemed to have changed?
Rovi rubbed his chin. "So what if I do? So what if I don't?"
"I can help you." Skadi took a deep breath, her partly exposed chest rising and falling with it.
"Have you thought it through? Or did Scathach say something to you?" Rovi guessed it at once.
"She didn't—no, Scathach is also me. This is my own decision!" Skadi refused to admit it.
"As you like."
Rovi smiled. "But I do indeed need your help, Ski Goddess."
He reached out to Skadi before him. "The secrets of the gods that you hold are exactly what I need."
Rovi needed the secrets of the gods.
He would use them to pierce open the curtain of the old Age of Gods, to lift the veil of myth.
To let the seed burn into a vast blaze.
To let death recede, and life emerge.
To turn from death to life—and then welcome eternal disappearance.
Death had always been what he pursued.
"Hmph, hmph. I suppose you do have a little sincerity!" Skadi raised a smile. "From now on, I will tell you everything I know."
The Ski Goddess had finally fallen and become the "Demon King's" helper.
The pure snow-mountain no longer possessed the purity it had when it stood within the divine realm of Asgard. But for some reason, she felt... light.
What was the point of caring about anything else?
The snow-mountain was pure, yes, but it ought to be free as well.
"Mm-hm-hm. Now that is more like me." On the summit of the Land of Shadows, Scathach swung the crimson spear in her hand. Beneath the dark-purple glow, her graceful figure rose and fell with the wind. "The meaning of a god's existence is to be slain!"
"Then let's go." Their joined hands touched and parted. Rovi said, "We'll go back first, then talk."
"The time should be about right."
It was indeed about right.
In the Norse lands.
At this moment, which should have already entered spring, wind and snow suddenly began falling again, as though time itself had reversed.
On the Scandinavian Peninsula, countless people shrank back into their homes. The nobles who had planned to go out likewise stayed rationally inside.
Amid the drifting wind and snow, enormous figures faintly appeared.
"It has begun, Ragnarok!" On the sea at the edge, Loki stood upon a reef, revealing a smile, the corners of his mouth lifting all the way to his cheeks. "Do you see it, Jormungandr, my child?"
The sound of surging water rang out. The sea split open, and the giant serpent rising high enough to blot out the sky spat out an icy voice. "I am not your child, Loki!"
"Hohohaha! It doesn't matter. None of that matters!"
Underground, Nidhogg looked up and roared. The dragon's head ground its teeth, and the roots of the World Tree snapped there.
The pale trunk of the tree shook violently.
"ROAR!!"
The black dragon roared, raising wings from which countless corpses of the dead hung.
Nidhogg sounded the horn of Ragnarok.
On an island, ice formed layer after layer, encircling it. Beneath the chains that bound it to mountain-like boulders, the giant wolf responded with a howl.
In the sky, wind and clouds churned. The gods were terrified and afraid.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thunder split apart layer after layer, exploding with a crash.
Thor, God of Thunder, manifested among the clouds. In the White-Gold Palace, ravens danced wildly.
In Jotunheim, someone also opened their eyes.
"At last, this day has come!"
The will of the primordial giant Ymir, left behind in the world, manifested in the form of a giant and let out a roar.
---
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