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IBHJ Chapter 687
🕑 Added 2024-01-27 00:38:53 +0000 UTCAs the rainbow bridge gradually rose, Shirou's sight changed as well. Looking down from the great height, one could see all of Midgard sprawled out below - an endless expanse of pure white snow, with no other colors in sight, as if having stepped back in time to a prehistoric ice age.
But the land of the gods, Asgard - blessed by divine beings - must be a wonderful place just as Gelda claimed, resembling a dreamland, a land of eternal spring. However, the moment he set foot in Asgard after the rainbow bridge rose to the top, he realized this was far from the truth.
A towering wall surrounded Asgard - said to have been built by a giant when the city was founded. Impenetrable; the proud barrier of the gods. However, the giant met his end at Thor’s hands and Mjolnir when the wall was built.
This rampart, infused with divine blessings, should have radiated boundless sacred light. Yet now it was cloaked in ice and snow, reduced to little more than a snowbank. In truth, it was not just the wall - all of Asgard was smothered in frost. Only the withered gardens, dilapidated temples and shrines indicated that this legendary realm was once prosperous.
The heavy snows had swallowed everything, submerging past splendor. Asgard resembled a land ravaged by endless winter, its sanctity frozen away.
Fortunately, Asgard was so vast and high up that the people of Midgard couldn't see its current dilapidated state. If they caught a glimpse of the once glorious realm now fallen to ruin, those still longing for Asgard's former prosperity would likely despair and lose all will to go on living.
In the distance, a temple radiated faint light through the snowfall, like a struggling firefly in the darkness – weak, yet persisting. This temple was once the temple of the Allfather Odin. Now it served as Skadi's bedchamber.
Thrud led Shirou towards the temple. As they walked, he quietly observed the cold Asgardian landscape. Amidst the ice and ruins left behind by the gods, there were no other signs of life besides their own footprints in the thick snow.
He found it very strange and couldn't help asking her, "Thrud, does Asgard not have Valkyries guarding it?"
"There are, the A-model Valkyries guard it, and are responsible for operating the Valkyrie Network."
"Then where are they? Why haven't I seen any?"
Hearing this, she raised her hand, pointing to a building in the distance. "They're in Valhalla."
Valhalla - the Norse equivalent of the Throne of Heroes. However, unlike the Throne which existed outside of time and space as a collection of records, Valhalla was a divine construct unique to the Nordic regions, affected by the flow of time. It was the hall where Odin received the spirits of fallen warriors.
However, the Hall within this Scandinavian Connection Point now seemed to have some key differences from the one described in Norse myths. This was likely related to events from two thousand years ago when Odin and the other Norse gods disappeared.
Shirou followed Thrud's pointing finger towards Valhalla, expecting to see a grand hall. Instead, his eyes landed on an enormous steel fortress, extremely sci-fi in style, standing tall against the sky.
His mouth twitched violently. Although he had mentally prepared himself, this abrupt clash of artistic styles was still too ridiculous!
The ancient ruins and temples gave off an aura of the primal Norse gods. But this so-called "Valhalla" giant fortress had forcefully yanked the atmosphere into the futuristic era.
He was at a complete loss for words, not knowing what to say. But he also felt it was perfectly normal. After all, in the Nasuverse, the Greek gods...were aliens!
"Are all the A-model Valkyries stationed in Valhalla?"
She nodded. "Yes, they are."
"From what I know, the Valkyries in Valhalla are supposed to lead the spirits of fallen warriors to their afterlife."
"That's how it was two thousand years ago," Thrud said, her eyes distant as memories flooded back. "Back then, Odin transformed his residence into Valhalla and had us Valkyries gather heroic human souls from Midgard to prepare for Ragnarok..." She shook her head. "But Ragnarok never came. Instead, Allfather and the others disappeared. So Valhalla's original purpose was lost, and it became the Valkyries' headquarters instead."
"Speaking of which, how exactly did Odin and the others disappear?" he asked with concern. This was clearly a pivotal moment in this world's history, one he deemed greatly important. And he was also rather curious.
She shook her head. "I don't know."
"Were there any omens before their disappearance?"
"As for omens..." She raised her hand, pointing to something even higher than Asgard in the sky. "The day before the Allfather vanished, that thing appeared in the sky."
The Black Ring huh... He nodded in understanding before asking, "Any idea what that is?"
"We don't know anything about it either," Thrud admitted. "For the longest time, even the Valkyrie Network couldn't analyze that thing. It was only when Chaldea visited recently that we learned it's called the 'Black Ring', something created by the 'Council'. So Lady Skadi decided to trust Chaldea and ally with them, having their help protect one of the gates from Surtr."
As expected, her knowledge was limited. Shirou nodded silently. Truthfully, back in Romania before beating the Devil's Bodhisattva, he had taken a look at the Black Ring using Eternal King's All-Seeing Eyes. But unfortunately, he couldn't glean anything from it. Clearly, though the All-Seeing Eyes were omniscient, they could only reveal things created on or related to Earth. Anything beyond was a blank.
After all, at these highest levels of the Nasuverse, they were either Outer Gods, Beasts, or aliens posing as gods.
Now, he could only hope Skadi would provide some useful information. Still, from the bits Thrud revealed, he learned one useful piece of information - the types of Valkyries.
There were A, B and C model Valkyries. The C models were the mass-produced combat models, like those green-haired Valkyries. The B models were the red-haired strategist support models. And it seemed the A models were the technical Valkyries maintaining the Valkyrie Network.
Thrud had the other eight Valkyries take the recovered clones' bodies to Valhalla for repairs. Clearly, Valhalla had become the military headquarters.
She then contacted Ortlinde and led Shirou towards the Great Temple.
Asgard was a floating landmass, nearly the size of Midgard. Still, after a brisk journey, they soon arrived at the majestic Great Temple.
Even more impressive than Shirou's old palace, Skadi had clearly turned the Great Temple into her office for political affairs.
Ortlinde received them inside.
Skadi was asleep on the golden throne, looking every bit the regal Snow Queen. Meanwhile, Ortlinde and several A-model Valkyries were hard at work inside the Great Temple. Thanks to the Valkyrie Network, their efficiency far outstripped that of his old empire's workers. Sure, they were ancient beings, but they had all the capabilities of the modern information age at their fingertips.
Thrud and Ortlinde traded updates on the situation. Nearby, Shirou couldn't take his eyes off Skadi's sleeping form atop the throne.
He didn't actually have much of an opinion about Skadi. It was just that she bore the same face as Scathach, so he couldn't help but steal a few extra glances. After all, he had dreamt of the old granny not long ago...
After getting brought up to speed by Thrud, Ortlinde turned to him with a smile. "Welcome to Asgard, Your Majesty. Regarding Lady Hildr's behavior earlier, please accept our apologies. That child is filled with guilt and anxiety. You see, an enemy invaded Asgard not long ago, so she feels responsible for strengthening Asgard's security."
Shirou pulled his gaze away from Skadi and met Ortlinde’s eyes, shaking his head. "It's fine. She was just doing her duty and I fully support that. But... someone invaded Asgard before?"
"Yes, but Lady Skadi handled the invader personally,” Ortlinde replied. “There was no major incident."
Shirou chatted with Ortlinde for a bit. He discovered she was very different from Thrud's directness and Hildr's stubbornness. Instead, she spoke very diplomatically and smoothly. No wonder Skadi had her managing the core regions.
After chatting for a bit, she said solemnly, "Your Majesty, you have that stone slab from Nidhogg now, right?"
"It's in my hands. What about it? Is that thing important?"
In his two conversations with Ortlinde so far, she had brought up that stone slab from Nidhogg repeatedly, so he was quite curious.
"It's not that important, just a powerful mana crystal. It can help reduce Lady Skadi's mana expenditure," she explained simply.
"I see," he nodded without doubt. Ortlinde's tone was calm and her logic sound, so he nodded and said, "My apologies, I already used that stone slab."
"You used it...?" she was stunned.
"Yes," he nodded helplessly. "You contacted me too late. After killing Níðhǫgg and seeing such a mana crystal drop... Well, without a Master's mana, Servants fade easily. And I can use high concentration mana crystals to replenish myself, so I ate it."
Ortlinde: "..."
"You ate it...? You actually ate it...?" She was completely stunned.
Comments
JeanMartin Freites
Even if there were a few questions unanswered, there was certainly quite a lot to learn here.
