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IBHJ Chapter 717
🕑 Added 2024-02-18 02:30:42 +0000 UTC"That's right." Sigurd nodded. "Being from Northern Europe, I can sense that this is clearly a pruned world."
Shirou was taken aback. Could this be a Lostbelt? He was quite familiar with the concept of pruning. After all, it was central to the plot of FGO. In addition, when establishing his kingdom, he had worried deeply about being pruned from Proper Human History.
The primary timeline consisting of worlds not discarded is called Proper Human History, also known as Pan-Human History. Worlds pruned from this main timeline, cut off even from Parallel World Theory, are termed Lostbelts. Essentially, no one except Enlightened Beings can escape pruning.
Pruned worlds would be tossed into the cosmic trash like garbage. And the Outer Gods used Fantasy Trees to allow the discarded worlds to rebuild themselves into Lostbelts - the core premise of FGO.
But that shouldn't be the case. There's no Fantasy Tree from FGO here, nor were there Outer Gods, only the Black Ring of the Council. Where could this Lostbelt have come from?
"I cannot forgive it! Even in this false world, that such a disgusting thing is called Valhalla still exists. Before it harms her, I must destroy it!" Sigurd clenched his fists tightly, his entire body emanating terrifying murderous intent.
Hearing this snapped Shirou back to attention. He asked curiously, "Valhalla is disgusting?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Sigurd's tone grew somewhat uncontrolled. "Eternal King, while you were hiding in Valhalla, didn't you notice its true nature?"
As an Alter, Sigurd's emotions were already unstable. This brief exchange seemed to have triggered them further. He stared at Shirou, eyes bloodshot, and said rather manically, "That thing's a whirlpool! Once you're caught up in it, you can never break free!"
"Odin and the gods deceived warriors with sweet words, appealing to their honor and gaining their trust with empty promises. They made those men sell their very souls for the sake of the gods. Then the gods threw them into Valhalla, forcing them to fight over and over again in Odin's name. Even in death they find no peace, instead being reborn in Valhalla to repeat the cycle. Again and again and again! Never to be free... Used by Odin as mere tools and weapons, endlessly, with no end in sight. Pleading is futile when all that awaits is death followed by resurrection followed by more missions, repeated ceaselessly. In the end, the soul itself becomes fragmented from the endless violence, no longer recognizing or remembering itself. Just a hollow tool..."
Sigurd's manner grew somewhat deranged.
Seeing him spiraling into madness, Shirou frowned and called out firmly, "Sigurd!"
Only then did Sigurd regain his senses, dropping the crazed expression and apologizing: "Sorry."
“It’s okay,” Shirou said, shaking his head. “This place is different from the one in panhuman history.”
“Yes. With Odin and the others gone early on, this world is much better than reality,” Sigurd replied. As he spoke, he turned to leave, adding, “I’ll go get ready now. See you later.”
Shirou watched Sigurd depart without a word.
It seemed the true nature of Norse mythology was not what it's supposed to be. Just seeing Sigurd Alter's brief madness was enough to see how bad it was.
However, from Sigurd’s account, there was seemingly little difference between this Norse Connection Point and that of panhuman history.
In fact, there was no fundamental difference in the overall level between Lostbelts and panhuman history. Just a few key turning points had shifted, causing those worlds to be pruned.
This also meant that what happened with Valhalla and the Valkyrie clones likely occurred in panhuman history as well. The only real difference was that in panhuman history, Ragnarok came to pass and gods like Odin were destroyed. Whereas in this Connection Point, Odin and the other gods had disappeared prematurely.
The two timelines diverged there.
Shirou still didn't understand the full truth behind the Black Ring and the Council, but he believed he would figure it out eventually.
As he turned to leave, Shirou suddenly caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. With his keen vision, he spotted two large lumps of snow underneath a snowdrift near Valhalla, squirming slightly. A clump of snowflakes fell away to reveal a green ponytail.
...
After Sigurd and Shirou had left, Hel sealed off the Grand Temple.
She walked over to the mural behind the throne, drawing a few Primordial Runes in the air. As the profound runes emerged, they seemed to activate some special mechanism within the mural. The eyes of the giant's severed head radiated an eerie glow.
Hel stared into those two eyes. In the blink of an eye, the world transformed around her. The Grand Temple disappeared, and she found herself surrounded by an icy wasteland covered in snow and ice, resembling the scene depicted in the mural.
Hel wasn't surprised. Like Skadi, she was one of the goddesses brought to this Connection Point, where she had resided for over two thousand years now. She knew all the secrets that this place held.
On the icy island, glaciers stretched endlessly as raging waves crashed along the coast, occasionally sweeping icebergs out to sea.
In the distance, a thick red liquid flowed down the surface of a giant iceberg, passing over the crystalline ice and eventually spilling into the ocean below, staining it a gruesome bloody red.
Hel knew this was no ordinary sight. She followed the bloody trail towards the iceberg shaped strangely like a giant.
As she approached, she entered through a small opening at its base, stepping inside the iceberg itself.
Inside was a hidden paradise—not cold ice, but a lush forest with butterflies fluttering about and birds singing among fragrant flowers, a stark contrast to the barren icy wasteland outside.
In the center of the forest stood a magnificent, gigantic tree, towering like a giant.
Hel gradually approached the massive tree.
As she drew nearer, she heard a woman's voice:
"Fufufu...I suppose it can't be helped that I'm late. That Ice Queen Skadi was quite difficult to deal with, after all."
It was a strange, alluring voice.
As expected—she's here, Hel thought.
She hurried through the forest toward the voice.
Beside an enormous tree stood an oddly dressed woman in pink, leaning against the trunk and speaking to no one that could be seen.
The woman radiated beauty and charm. Yet, black cow horns protruded from her head and three pink moles dotted her brow, giving her an almost devilish appearance like that of a heavenly demon from Buddhist tales.
More bizarrely, though she seemed engaged in conversation, there was no one else present—she appeared to be talking to thin air.
Yet Hel found this last quirk the least strange of all, for this odd woman was none other than the Beast III who'd escaped Asgard's prison when Skadi was weakened—Kiara, the Beast of Lust!
"Oh my, it seems we have a guest," Kiara noticed Hel and halted her one-sided conversation, turning to regard the new arrival with a faint smile.
Hel made no attempt to hide, striding openly into view.
"What a pleasure to meet you," Kiara pressed her palms together in greeting. "I am Kiara, also summoned by our Master. I suppose that makes us comrades of a sort."
"I sense no divinity in you whatsoever," Hel appraised coldly.
"Now now, one with the heart of a Bodhisattva is a Bodhisattva. And likewise, one with the heart of a god is a god," Kiara replied, still smiling.
"How did you find this place?" Hel demanded.
"I simply followed along the same way you led that cute pink girl here to cut off Skadi's power source," Kiara tittered.
At this, Hel raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You followed Hildr here? So Asgard's prison didn't affect you?"
"Such trivial spells could never hold me," Kiara replied, smiling. "Though this place was difficult to find. And dealing with Skadi herself proved troublesome."
Hel gazed at her in disgust—she disliked Kiara's overly sweet and disgusting behavior. Especially the way those eyes kept leering at her body's sensitive areas.
Normally she would have fought Kiara for such insolence. But now was not the time. Kiara was dangerous, and Hel had her own objectives that took precedence over losing her temper.
She turned back towards the giant tree. "Father, why have you summoned a Beast at a time like this?"
No response came.
Kiara laughed. "Obviously, it's because you failed in your duties, so Ogelmir summoned me instead."
"You've no right to speak of this!" Hel snapped.
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JeanMartin Freites
And so the meeting with the Beast finally takes place.
