In ancient Norse legend, there is a huge ash tree that supports the heavens and the earth and allows all things to multiply.

On the branches of this tree, there are nine kingdoms of different races, with powerful gods occupying the highest kingdom of the gods, Asgard, while the evil giants have been banished to Jotunheim, the land of barren and harsh giants.

Nidhogg resides at the base of the World Tree, in Niflheim, the land of the dead. This kingdom is considered to be the place of death and the end, and it is the final destination for all.

In this mysterious and terrifying realm, Nidhogg built its lair, a cavern of boulders and darkness that was as terrifying as hell. There was a smell of death there, and demonic screams echoed between the rock faces, making people shudder.

It is said that in this world of the dead there is a river of great poison, Khvagmir.

When Nidhogg throws the corpses of the war dead into this poisonous river, the forces of death and toxins will turn the bones into various alien monsters or poisonous snakes.

Along with it, they will continue to gnaw at the roots of the World Tree, putting the World Tree in jeopardy, and the souls of the forest are terrified. For this reason, Nidhogg is also known in mythology as the "Horror Eater".

When the roots of the tree are eaten up by Nidhogg one day, the World Tree will collapse and the gods above the heavens will usher in the final twilight.

Of course, the reason for "Ragnarok" not to happen was that Nidhogg bit off the roots. Nidhogg's biting off the roots of the tree is only a harbinger of the arrival of Ragnarok, not the cause.

So he is the "trumpeter".

The real reason for the occurrence of "Twilight of the Gods" is the hatred accumulated over the years of war between the gods and the giants, so the two factions are destined to provoke a final showdown to end it all.

When Ragnarok arrives, it will flap its wings and fly across the battlefield laden with corpses, only to be crushed by the weight of the corpses and fall back into the abyss. Nidhogg is also one of the few creatures to survive Ragnarok.

However, at this moment, Char could clearly notice that there was something abnormal in this realm full of corpses.

For example, on the side of the trunk of the tree, there was a huge ice spear stuck in the ground, and the chill that exuded it froze the corpses around it.

There were ice crystals and large blocks of ice all around, adding to the chill, and there were even huge craters in some places, as if they had been bombarded by missiles.

It seems that there was a big war here not so long ago, and there may even be more than one.

Char didn't let Tai Sui go down, but looked at the other side of the desert, he got down from Tai Sui and flew to a place about a few dozen kilometers away from here.

There were a lot of small sand dunes there, and right on the back of the dunes, Hercules sat there and made a fire.

The flames crackled and burned, providing him with some warmth in the cold abyss.

Char slowly landed at Hercules' side, and Tai Sui followed closely behind.

Char looked around, "What about Catherine?" ”

"Dead." Hercules said, and then silently added a stick of wood to the fire.

Char raised her eyebrows in some surprise, "Is that dragon so difficult to deal with?" ”

"It's the other side of the story." Hercules said, "I suspect now that there must be something about it that makes it immortal, maybe some kind of power, some kind of magic, some kind of talent, or maybe it's something. Some kind of fate. ”

"Isn't there no death in the abyss?" Char laughed.

"It's not the same as death in the abyss." Hercules said, "In the abyss, the resurrection after death takes a lot of time, but unlike Him, He seems to be immortal." ”

Char also sat down cross-legged, and Enzo on one side also planned to get off the Tai Sui, but Tai Sui was so tall that he slipped directly off its back and fell to the ground hard.

But fortunately, the ground was full of sand, so he didn't suffer much damage.

He walked quickly to Char's side, and the burning fire dispelled the chill from him.

Then he looked curiously at Hercules in front of him, and he didn't pay much attention to it when he was on Tai Sui.

However, when standing beside Char, the brown-skinned man in front of him was really too tall.

Taller than any basketball player he'd ever seen in another life, like a giant, his knotted muscles gave the impression that he could kill two cows in an instant with a single punch.

He subconsciously approached Char, and the shock that the giant in front of him brought him even felt stronger than the white tiger, second only to the dragon just now.

But soon, he saw that the white tiger was also approaching him, and he didn't know if he was also scared.

Char spoke slowly.

"When it was eating the roots of the World Tree, both Odin and Thor tried to kill it, but it eventually escaped.

Even in the event of a disaster like Ragnarok, it was one of the few people who survived.

If He really exists immortal, I'm not surprised. ”

Char raised his hand, and the chalice appeared in his hand, and the wine appeared on his right hand, and he opened the cork of the wine and poured the wine into the chalice.

Hercules stared at the golden cup in Char's hand and said suddenly.

"That's supposed to be the Holy Grail, right? The cup that Jesus used to drink wine to his disciples before his crucifixion, which symbolizes his blood. ”

Hearing this, Enzo on one side opened his eyes violently and looked at the cup in Char's hand with a slight astonishment.

Char gently shook the wine in her glass.

"You know?"

Hercules nodded and said, "At that time, my name was Hercules, and after Greece was conquered by Rome, the Greek gods were absorbed into the pantheon of Rome.

Zeus was renamed Jupiter, Hera was renamed Juno, and all the Greek gods were renamed and became Roman gods.

Olympus still existed at that time, but that was also the last glory of Olympus.

And I met the owner of this cup once. ”

Hercules said.

"It was a bit of a surprise to me." Char muttered, "Olympus fell a little later than I thought. ”

"When Olympus fell, it was common sense that the tsunami should have taken half of the world away." Hercules said, "But it seems that a force has forcibly reversed all this." At that time, the gods were completely weakened, and it was not known who still possessed such great powers. ”

As he said this, Hercules also inadvertently glanced at Char, and it was obvious that he already had a guess in his mind.

In His understanding, the only person in this world who has this possibility is the person in front of him.

However, his inadvertence was apparently discovered by Enzo, who had been watching the giant.

His real age was very large, so he could understand the meaning of Hercules' words, and he could probably guess what his eyes meant.

Enzo couldn't help but glance at his side, the magician who claimed to be Merlin.

His expression didn't change, he just nodded silently, not as if surprised.

He was not surprised, because after hearing Hercules' account of the fall of Olympus and seeing the Great Maria Mountains, he probably guessed who had interfered with this level of calamity.

So he just took a sip of the wine calmly.

"What are you going to do next?" Char said, "A different opponent?" ”

"We've been here for a year." Hercules said, "She died about thirty times, and I told her to give up, but she vetoed it. ”

"Nighold is the being who blows the trumpet of doom, a precursor to the coming of Ragnarok, and he is immortal, perhaps." Char's eyes flickered, "He still needs to blow the trumpet once." ”

Hercules understood what Char was talking about and fell silent.

Suddenly, Hercules seemed to sense something, and slowly turned his head to look not far away.

"She's resurrected."

Char also turned his head to look not far away, his eyes narrowed.

Enzo followed their gaze, and on the hill, a teenage girl slowly climbed up the hill.

A smooth black hair is tied back casually, wearing a hunting suit that is easy to move, shirt, trousers and riding boots, very refined, and a pair of azure eyes are very eye-catching.

This girl must be the hero of their conversation, Enzo thought to himself.

Catherine looked at Char, "What are you doing here?" ”

"Let's pick a body." Char said, "By the way, let's find out if there is a suitable dragon, but it seems to have been done all at once." ”

Catherine frowned, "What do you mean?" ”

Char raised his hand, and the ice sculpture of Gayward appeared in front of them.

"Do you know him?" Char looked at Catherine.

Ekaterina shook her head.

"He's a dear friend of Dumbledore." Char said, "We grew up together and have been friends for more than 100 years. But at the same time, he is also the Dark Lord, Gaward Hognids. ”

"Hognid?" Catherine's brow furrowed even deeper, "He's still alive?" ”

Hogwarts has a history of magic course, which is an elective course to let people understand the history of the wizarding world, and Catherine also signed up for this class in order to complete the credits quickly.

And in these history lessons, there are stories about the Dark Lord.

As far as she knew, many parents in the wizarding world now use the name "Hognids" to scare disobedient children.

It can be said that it has truly achieved "children's stop crying".

"Many people thought he was dead." Char laughed, "However, he is indeed alive and has been saved by Dumbledore to deal with some of the dragons that have escaped. After all, in the wizarding world today, he and Dumbledore are two of the most powerful mages in the world. ”

"You must not have been counted." Ekaterina said.

Char's eyelids were closed, but there were no words.

However, after seeing the meteorite fall, Enzo was completely sure of Catherine's guess.

"What's wrong with him?" Ekaterina asked as he walked down from the dunes.

"Fighting a dragon, but poisoned, healing magic is useless, and it is estimated that there are no herbs to cure this toxin now."

"So powerful?" Ekaterina said with a frown.

"Ask him." Char looked at Hercules, "He's just experienced that poison. ”

Hercules obviously knew what Char was talking about, and he nodded.

"The top notes are intense, the middle notes are long, and the finish notes are particularly fierce and aggressive."

What about you put this perfume aside, Enzo complained in his heart.

She looked at Char, "So you brought him here to make him kill himself here, right?" ”

"It's useless." Hercules said, "Unless he enters the abyss in good condition and dies in the abyss, his resurrection will only be a "restoration," and the cycle will follow."

Unless he enters the abyss in a soul state, but in that case, he belongs to the "dead", and the dead cannot easily leave here, and will be bound by the rules here. ”

Char could understand what Hercules meant.

This is equivalent to an archive, which is automatically rolled back after death, but the abyss you enter after being poisoned is equivalent to saving a file in the abyss, and when you roll back, it is naturally the state when you are poisoned.

Of course, Char thinks that there should also be a function of automatically updating the save in the abyss, otherwise, according to the logic of the save, every time Catherine dies, she will return to her original state.

But now her strength and age are really growing here.

However, obviously, even if there is an automatic update of the save, as long as Gayward's state is not cured, it will not be able to use the lifeless and lifeless nature of the abyss to resurrect.

"That's what I didn't know until I returned to the abyss after fighting that Bashim's poison." Hercules said, "I wanted to recover by suicide, but I found that the poison in me had not been solved at all. ”

"Are you still poisoned?" Char said.

"It's almost metabolized." Hercules said, "Although Olympus fell, there were many good things left behind. ”

Char nodded, "But my purpose is not to let him die here. ”

"And what do you want to do?" Catherine asked.

Char raised his hand, and a calcified piece of wood stuck in the ground flew over.

The calcification of this wood is so severe that if it weren't for the fact that it had a wooden shape, almost the first day anyone who saw it would have thought it was a bone.

Char raised his hand, and a wave of magic gradually covered the bone.

Soon, in the stunned expressions of the people around them, the bone began to change, limbs and heads grew, and a human with white skin like bones appeared in front of them.

He looked around in confusion, until he saw Char, and then bowed respectfully to him.

"Master."

"This kind of magic is a way of applying additional magic, which is called personality addition." Char said calmly, "After attaching a personality, the object will have memories, take on the form of a human, and can also use magic, and the extension of this personality has a more advanced application. ”

Char looked at Catherine.

And Catherine slowly spit out a noun.

"Personality transplantation."

Attach your personality to a specific target to get the new body you want, and as long as the body is suitable enough, you can complete this magic.

In Fairy Tail, Erin used this magic to transplant her consciousness to Wendy.

Catherine turned her head to look at Gai Ward who was frozen under the ice on one side, "That's what you're for, to give him a new body?" ”

"What kind of body do you want to give him?" She said.

Char turned his head to look into the distance, "There, isn't there a ready-made thing?" ”

Catherine opened her eyes, she obviously understood what Char meant, she shook her head and said, "This is impossible, Gaiward is a soul of more than a hundred years at most, and the dragon is a soul that has lived for tens of thousands of years, if the former is attached to its body, then it is easy to be devoured by the latter." ”

"Then seal or erase that soul." Char said calmly, "There is always a way, it is immortal, but the soul is not immortal, right?" ”

Catherine was lost in thought, and after a moment she said, "Aren't you afraid? ”

Char raised her eyebrows and smiled, "Afraid of what?" ”

"He was the Dark Lord." Catherine said, "Many people died at his hands, and you are not afraid, after obtaining this body, he will lead the future in another direction?" ”

Char slowly raised the corners of his mouth, "Are you afraid?" ”

"If you don't come, I've figured out how to beat it." Ekaterina said.

She turned her head slowly, as if intending to see through the white sand dunes into the distance.

"I have a magic. A magic that restrained him from dying. ”

"Then there's no need to be afraid, is there?" Char slowly got up.

Catherine was silent for a moment and then nodded, "You're right. ”

Char looked at the ice sculpture on one side of Gayward, "Did you hear that?" Gai Ward. ”

Under Enzo's gaze, Gayward inside the ice sculpture slowly opened his eyes, the heavy bags under his eyes showed that he was very weak, and the godless eyes made people feel like zombies were opening their eyes.

At the same time, a muffled voice was heard from inside the ice sculpture.

"I hear you."

"What's your idea?" Char said, "Do you want to be a human, or a monster?" ”

"The human body is actually easy to find." Char added, "I can also give you a body with a magical talent that is more powerful than your current body." ”

The person inside the ice sculpture slightly hooked the corners of his mouth, and a low chuckle came from inside the ice sculpture.

"Professor Merlin, did you know me on the first day?"

Char didn't answer.

"From the moment my mother died, I had no fear." Gayward said calmly, as if he were talking about something insignificant.

He looked like a dying corpse in the ice sculpture at the moment, and the smile on the corner of his slightly raised mouth, combined with his name as the Dark Lord, made his words so creepy at the moment.

However, only Char knows that it is not so much that he has given up human nature, but that it is all the weakness of human nature.

"What monster do you want to turn me into?" Gaiward said.

"A dragon." Char said in a deep voice, "One. The black dragon that brings Ragnarok. ”

Hearing this, Enzo's eyes widened violently, and he looked in the direction they had just come.

It was only after hearing this moment that he truly realized Merlin's plan.

(End of chapter)