Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

Knowledge thus turned mad, sacrifice became slaughter, burden transformed into corruption, and shadow merged with Life—one was animated, the other infused with curse and contamination.

Moreover, as a creation of the Nine Realms, it did not possess the immortal nature of the innate deities like Chaos, but the power that blended in was extremely dreadful. It seemed related to the Death of the world, and thus, it gained a similar status.

Indestructibility is the most basic characteristic of this level. The immortal nature of the gods was also because of the gifts from a complete world, which left Laine at a loss as to what to do with it.

“It needs to be divided.”

Muttering softly, Laine realized that he would probably have difficulty directly using this power. He needed some other method to handle it. Moreover, the most critical point was that he did not intend to let the power in this eye continue to merge.

Such a dangerous thing was better kept apart. Should it fully integrate everything, it might truly become a special existence a notch above mighty Divine Power. At that time, the energy needed to subdue and utilize it would be untold.

Having made a decision, black and white color immediately suffused Laine’s hand. The essence of Samsara was never the combination of [Life] and [Death] but the transformation and cycle between the two.

Under his control now, the black and white colors joined end to end, slowly leaving a mark on the Eye of Odin. It would henceforth continuously extract its host’s power, turning it into the force that sealed it.

This seal was rough, but it was enough to block the awakened eye temporarily. As for a more refined seal, Laine did not know how to create it.

“Next, it’s time to cut down the tree.”

Sighing, there was no doubt that in front of Laine, the second section of the roots of the World Tree also hardly spoke of any vitality; All that it had left had been absorbed by the Eye of Odin.

Therefore, Laine had no choice but to fell this severed root just like before and then collected it entirely; after all, even if it had lost its vitality, this was still a rare treasure in the world.

“It seems Yggdrasil is truly dead. Compared to these two locations, the roots in Niflheim are impossible to contain any vitality.”

Seeing this, Mimir also felt somewhat sentimental. Compared to the two realms that Laine explored, the main root in the Mist Country had always been gnawed by Nidhogg the Poison Dragon; even without the collapse of the Nine Realms, it was doomed for Destruction. Now there was no need to say more.

“Perhaps, but regardless, I must go and see for myself.”

“And if it really has died, it might not necessarily be a bad thing.”

Quickly, Laine gathered the root segment.

“There’s not much time left. The Nine Realms being corrupted by Chaos should be roughly at the same pace. It’s a pity; I was hoping to witness the pinnacle of magic skill in Vanaheim, but it seems there won’t be a chance for that now.”

Laine’s tone did not carry much regret, after all, the Nine Realms and the smaller fragments were being eroded and assimilated by Chaos, not directly destroyed. If he could not see them now, there would eventually be a chance to see them later.

“Where did you say the burial ground was? Are there any other valuable places in Jotunheim?”

“Of course, please follow me. In fact, apart from the burial site of the mighty Titans, the dwelling place of Bergelmir, the progenitor of the frost giants, should also have some things worth noticing.”

Going with the flow, Mimir immediately led the way for Laine.

For tens of thousands of years, he had remained alone in the desolate Golden Palace, ignorant of the changes in the outside world. But now it seemed the nine great realms might already be devoid of living creatures.

Now, the only thing he wanted to do was leave this land of the dead and head for the world where this Outsider resided.

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“Tear——”

In the dark void where no medium carried sound, this tearing noise was still distinctly audible.

On the dark blue fragment, a scratch appeared and Laine stepped out.

“Is this the world where Your Excellency Laine resides, at the very beginning of creation?”

Having just explored two regions, Mimir floated beside Laine, looking at the quiet expanse of void, feeling somewhat surprised.

Previously, Laine had directly entered Jotunheim from Asgard since there had been connected regions between them before the separation. However, to enter the land of mist, it was necessary to transfer through the void.

Therefore, it was only now that Mimir realized where the fragment of their realm had actually arrived; he had thought that beyond the fragment lay a vibrant, whole world, but instead, it was such a scene.

“No, this is beyond the world. The true Chaos is not inferior to the nine great realms. In fact, it’s much larger.”

Laine casually responded, glancing around.

The specks of fragments had vanished, leaving only the core of the nine great realms persisting. However, the chains formed from the rules of Chaos were becoming denser. The remnants would probably not hold out much longer.

He focused his attention on Svartalfheim, the place Erebus had entered before and the homeland of the Dark Elves and Dwarves, who excelled in smithing and possessed a unique system of magical spells. But Laine found that, even across a barrier, he could sense an empty space there.

Clearly, unlike Laine, who had a purpose, The Dark Overlord had taken the simplest and most brutal approach—he appeared to have ‘uprooted’ places that seemed valuable.

This, however, had slowed him down considerably compared to Laine. If nothing went wrong, he had just left this place, and his second target…

“Is it a repetition?”

Looking at Niflheim, the misty realm clearly recently entered by someone else, Laine felt no urgency about being a step behind.

If the first two realms were truly for the sake of treasures, then the last one was not the case. In later myths, it was precisely because Nidhogg gnawed through the roots of the World Tree that the Twilight of the Gods occurred. Now, with the ‘twilight’ of the Nine Realms even more terrifying, what kind of changes would this place undergo?

“The World Tree…”

Sensing the presence of the Eye of Odin in his sleeve, Laine parted the barrier of the realm and stepped into the land of mist.

No matter what it was, he had to see it for himself. Besides, this time, someone had gone before him.

Thus the next moment, when Laine set foot on the soil of Niflheim, he was greeted by a sky filled with black and red.