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Chapter: 221

I put the eye I pulled out from Odin into a small box.

With this, I would be able to gather all of Baal’s body… Hmm.

For now.

“Don’t just watch, come here.”

I casually gestured, and at that moment, two gods who had been hiding far away and spying on Odin and me were dragged right up to me.

To be precise, it would be better to say that their location and mine were swapped. Anyway.

“Was it Hermes and Ares?”

“It’s Mars!”

“Oh, my bad. This guy just recovered and his mind’s all over the place.”

Hermes hastily grabbed Ares by the back of the head and pressed down. Hmm. Mars… Well, it doesn’t matter what the name is.

“I won’t ask how you snuck into this battlefield. You must have blended in with the others.”

There were definitely more than just a couple of outsiders who came into Paradise for this war.

Even getting into Paradise directly from the Underworld wasn’t easy, so I had to open the door myself, just like from other places.

“The reason you two came here is… this, right?”

I held up the box in my hand, and Hermes and Ares didn’t respond.

Well, I could guess just by watching their eyes move.

“I know exactly what you’re worried about. You’re concerned that you won’t be able to offer me this piece of Baal and won’t get a ten-year grace period, right?”

“If you know, then this conversation will be quick. We won’t even ask for such an impudent thing as the piece of Baal. We would just like to have the grace period since you’ve received it, won’t you?”

Hermes said politely, bowing his head. Hmm. A grace period.

Well, I suppose I could grant that.

“I’ll grant you a ten-year grace period. After that, what happens will be your responsibility, so go tell Zeus.”

I said, tucking the box into my robe.

“If you don’t want to end up like Odin, you should behave.”

At my words, Hermes and Ares looked at Odin, who was lying on the ground.

Having lost one remaining eye, the crows who used to observe the world for him were gone, and he had lost all wisdom too, becoming a foolish god.

“Then… I suppose I’ll need to tidy up, so you uninvited guests need to take your leave.”

“Uh! Wait a minute!”

Hermes tried to say something, but it was already too late.

The two gods vanished from Paradise in the blink of an eye. I dropped them near Olympus, and I figured they would take care of the rest.

Now then.

“It’s cleanup time.”

If I had joyfully smashed things up, I needed to finish it off neatly.

I looked at Odin, who had become a blind god, writhing on the ground.

For now, I hadn’t taken his life. Hmm. Should I kill him? Or should I make him live in a state so miserable he wishes for death?

Either way works, but hmm.

I grabbed Odin’s head, who could hardly even get up.

The blind Odin. All the wise wisdom he once had was completely gone, swallowed by madness.

To this sight, I asked in a low voice.

“Odin. Do you want to live?”

At my question, Odin was silent for a moment. His eyes were blind, but his ears should still work just fine, right? Is he deliberately refusing to answer?

Well, in that case. I might as well just kill him cleanly.

But after a short moment, Odin finally moved his lips.

“Kill me…!”

Oh, now that’s a line I’d love to hear from a captured knight! Throw a “cough!” in there and it could score extra points, but let’s set that minor detail aside.

“Is that what you wish for?”

“Yes. I’d rather die. I don’t want to live having lost everything.”

Hmm. He wants to die, huh? So that’s the case?

In that case.

“No.”

“What?”

“Why should I do as you wish?”

I lifted Odin into the air. A weak remnant of a god who had lost everything, even the spear he once held.

No longer even able to be called Odin, just a fragile old man.

Right. The fall of the Aesir began with this person, so let’s give him a new name.

“I’ll take the name ‘Odin’ away from you. Because of you, the Aesir fell, and I’ll give you a name more fitting for the starting point of that downfall.”

“Stop! I mean it!”

“Loki. I’ll give you the name ‘Loki.’ I’ll cover you with the god of lies that you became after losing all wisdom.”

Fortunately, there was no god named Loki at the time. So by covering Odin’s existence with that name, I could add a new layer.

It’s pretty amusing to think that the wisest god, who once led the Aesir, got overshadowed by a name that represents deceit and the reason for the Aesir’s downfall, right?

I thought about giving him a name associated with blindness since he became a blind god, but that god was a renowned warrior, which makes it a bit tricky.

So, I ended up assigning the name of the instigator of the Aesir’s downfall instead.

Having lost all wisdom, what remained was only shallow tricks and lies. The existence that brought about the downfall of the Aesir.

“You shall live on, compounding lies with lies. You will wander forever in darkness without witnessing a shred of light. The name of the Aesir will only be shared among a select few, and the cause of such a downfall will be your foolishness.”

“Stop! Stop now!”

“Rejoice! You have become the one to lead all gods that follow you into ruin. Many will fear and refer to this series of events as ‘the twilight of the gods,’ Ragnarok.”

The former Odin. Loki curled up in agony and screamed, but his screams couldn’t drown out my voice.

“Loki. A being created from lies. You’ve lost even your deity status, and you will continue to exist just to survive. You will achieve nothing. You will not be genuine in any way. You will never see a shard of light. And if you do see light, it will be your end.”

I wrapped curse after curse around Loki. To become an existence that has lost its divinity, living only to crawl on the ground.

That was the punishment I, who was once Odin, was delivering to Loki.

A life of pain and misery, rather than a comfortable death.

“Just kill me! I beg you!!!”

“Now, go on and live. Live a never-ending life in pain and sorrow. Cry out for my forgiveness every day. When your screams once again reach my ears, I will decide whether to look upon you and end your life.”

Thus, Loki was sent down to the earth, having lost his divinity, now an existence that could do nothing but deceive others.

Now then, I guess I should check back on this in about a thousand years.

I picked up Odin’s spear, Gungnir, lying on the ground. Hmm. This spear possesses the power of a god, so I shouldn’t handle it carelessly…

After stashing Gungnir, I surveyed the now-concluded Paradise.

Well. For now, let’s clear this area for something else. This scenery doesn’t suit Paradise. Let’s arrange it as an afterlife for dragons… and while I’m at it, let’s make it so that it protects Paradise… Hmm. I’ll think about that later. For now, cleanup is the priority.

With that, I lightly soared towards those who had emerged victorious from battle.

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“And so, the gods burdened by the name of the Aesir vanished due to Ragnarok,” the Dragon Priestess said, halting my hand that was scribbling in the notebook.

“Ragnarok…?”

That name rang a bell somewhere.

So, surely…

“I feel like I’ve seen that name in the myths of giants…”

“Giants? Isn’t that obvious? The giants’ god must have participated in that war and told of those events.”

I didn’t remember the specifics, but it seemed like the story was about the gods being obliterated by the giants.

As I investigated that story, I felt that the name Odin had popped up among a few names I had glimpsed…

“Are you saying that really happened? I thought it was merely a giant’s tall tale?”

“It was a tall tale, but not entirely false. The giant’s god didn’t do everything; he merely received a part of the deity status of the thunder god among the Aesir as a reward for participating.”

“The giant’s god, was it… my father, the giant?”

“Exactly. That god had originally had the aspect of a thunder god, but he grew stronger by receiving a part of the deity status held by the thunder god among the Aesir… Well, that’s not the story for now, let’s move on.”

The Dragon Priestess cleared her throat softly before continuing.

“Thus, due to the twilight of the gods, Ragnarok, the Aesir gods vanished. Of course, not all gods were gone, but most of them either changed their names or entrusted themselves to other gods to survive.”

“So, the surviving gods are the Divine Hall now?”

“No, that’s not it. There’s still one left, isn’t there?”

I nodded slightly to the words of the Dragon Priestess.

Ennead, Lokapala, and Aesir.

With those three gone, what remains now is…

“Olympus…”

“Right. Those guys are still around.”

The Dragon Priestess said with a small smile.

“The folks from Olympus must be rejoicing at having survived. With all other godly powers completely vanished, they must think there’s no one left to compare themselves with.”

“But, I don’t recall having heard of the name Olympus.”

“Well, it has vanished.”

“Vanished?”

The Dragon Priestess spoke as if it were obvious.

“They disappeared because they were taken down by the god they attempted to elevate to kingship.”

“The King of the Gods… Baal…?”

“To be precise, it was the soul that had been Baal. But that name should be well-known even among humans.”

The Dragon Priestess said, a faint smile on her face.

“Rychlen.”

A name that no human could be unaware of, the name of the hero chosen by humanity.

 

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