Whew-

Sweet winds blew over Niflheim, and a light red mist enveloped the world. When Ryan stepped over the boundary wall and looked at what was in front of him, he thought for a moment that he had come to the wrong place.

The original Land of Fog was cold and bleak. As one of the realms that existed before the birth of the World Tree, it is the opposite pole of fire and ice to Muspelheim, and is shrouded in thick fog all year round.

Snow and ice cover the land of Niforheim, and there is no light, no temperature, only the spring of Hvagmir, the world's first spring.

This was originally a forbidden area for life, only the people called the 'Nibelungen' survived here, but now, the original inhabitants did not know where they had gone, and everything seemed so 'vibrant' in front of Lane.

Brightly coloured plants bloom on the ground, swaying in the wind. Animals and birds roam the woods, sometimes drinking from the riverside water. If you don't consider the black and red colors intertwined on the horizon, Ryan even thinks that he has come to the world of Kaos in the Second Age, where all spirits live on the earth, and there are no natural disasters and monsters.

"It's really harmonious to look at, but it's a pity that everything is an illusion."

Although the scene in front of him was so real, Ryan was not deceived. From a spiritual point of view, nothing of this seemingly normal scene is normal. All the beings in front of him, including animals and plants, were indeed living creatures, but they were only their bodies. And the consciousness of these beings is so similar and unified.

Or rather, they do not have their own independent minds, but become part of another pan-consciousness.

And their subjective consciousness

Ryan looked up, and in the middle of Niflheim, a giant tree that connected the heavens and the earth stretched its scarlet foliage, swaying in the breeze.

This change seems irreversible, at least for the absence of authority. Of course he could, he could have simply cut off the hand and replace it with a new one, but that would not happen until he got back to Kaos, and it made him sick.

"You should already be aware of His nature, do you really think you can solve Him?"

His expression remained unchanged, and after two shallow moves with the giant tree, Ryan finally looked in the direction where the Dark Lord was.

The source of the sound was that above the giant tree, another slender branch cut through the space and went straight into the dark sky in the distance.

"Ryan, what else are you looking at?"

This is the power of life on the material side, but it is not manifested in a normal way. Obviously, no matter what changes have taken place now, the predecessor of this 'tree' is the shell of the World Tree Yctrasil, so he undoubtedly has terrifying powers in the realm of [life], but he is facing another god who holds both [life] and [death].

As if sensing that his attack had been erased, another invisible thought swept through the world. Ryan felt like he heard someone talking, first one or two, then thousands, then billions. This is not an illusion, but a real call, all the dead lives in the whole of Niforheim.

Based on past experience and the fragmentary information previously parsed from the spiritual pollution, Ryan already knew the origin of the giant tree in front of him.

There was a tremor in the sky, followed by the voice of Erebos, who had apparently noticed the scratches on the interface and discovered Ryan's presence.

With a sneer, Ryan's robe shook, and a little black light swept across a radius of hundreds of miles in an instant, and everything he touched turned into dust in an instant. But at the same time, from the main body of the 'gaze' in the dark, a special force ignored the space and directly acted on Ryan's body.

With the 'gaze' of the 'tree', the birds, the beasts, the swimming fish, and even all the life around Ryan, even the water in the river, the fog in the air, the whole world 'looked' at him. This scene was enough to make mortals lose their minds, and even ordinary gods felt silent fear, but Ryan was unmoved.

"Then you can leave, He really can't do anything to you, but I don't think we can do anything to Him."

The attack on him by the Tree had always been a temptation, and the other outsider who had come in first was the real target.

"I knew that. The death of a world does not give birth to anything good! ”

"It's a nuisance."

At this moment, Ryan felt the longing and fear of the Eye of Odin in his sleeve, which came from the essence of the World Tree and the external high power it absorbed. Originally, they may have the same root, but now, they are two separate beings.

The life and death of this 'tree' is the fall of the spirit and the immortality of flesh and blood.

It's just that in the dark, Erebos looked like his left hand had given birth to his own will, and his face was still a little gloomy.

"This style of painting really doesn't match classical mythology at all. Compared to that, my spiritual realm is like a pure land. ”

That's a different kind of death. Ryan was shocked to find that this existence entrenched in the wreckage of the Nine Realms was actually a surprising match with him in terms of authority, but the two sides took completely different paths.

His divinely rich flesh throbbed for a moment, but in an instant it returned to calm.

"Settle Him with me, or I'll just get out of here. This monster is terrifying, but you don't think he can do anything to me. ”

For the first time, Erebos had a very direct ill feeling towards a being, and it had nothing to do with it, he just wanted to destroy it.

The Nine Realms are dead, this is the result in front of us, and what exactly caused Ragnarok, which would have only killed gods, to evolve to this point, is still unknown. But just as a powerful god dies and can often give birth to other gods or creatures in his body, when a world dies, it also gives birth to some terrible beings.

That's why He is a 'living creature.' Flesh-and-blood material poured out of the wound, trying to fill the gap, but with limited effect. In addition to this, the wound continued to flow out of the wound like blood, which fell into the base of the tree, merged into a poisonous spring, and then flowed down twelve rivers through the entire territory of the Land of Mist.

It says it's a tree, but it's more like a living thing in the shape of a tree. In the middle of the earth, surrounded by countless lives, Ryan saw the source of it all.

"Boom-"

Then, of course, this spiritual impact is easily smoothed, purified, and broken down in the presence of the spiritual master, and then the information contained in it is learned.

"You don't look good, Erebos."

Not a single root, but a complete, real giant tree. His roots were rooted in the earth, his trunk supported the firmament, and his six huge branches danced in the wind, looking magnificent and perfect.

Standing in the air, looking at the twisted and 'beautiful' giant tree, Ryan felt more and more frightened.

As Ryan had just seen when he entered the Land of Mist, the boundless darkness occupied a third of Niflheim, and it swallowed everything that came close like a giant black hole. But Lane could notice that the vast dark realm was receding.

If the stalemate continues, it is simply self-evident who will win.

With one step, Ryan's figure disappeared in place, but the power of the void did not affect the spread of the thought in the slightest. It crashed directly into Ryan's spirits, and the dead beings were called to speak of their past insignificance, their present 'greatness', their truth about the essence of life, and then 'invite' Ryan to be a part of them.

Every branch of Him, every vein of the leaf, seems to be divided according to the golden ratio, showing a natural beauty that makes all the beings who see Him unconsciously attracted to it. However, on his trunk, there is a visible penetrating wound that destroys the entire structure.

In the spirit realm, he could do something similar.

Buzz –

With a crossover of authority and no absolute disparity in power, his invisible influence on Ryan was of course ineffective. Of course, correspondingly, life and death are also difficult to cause damage to this giant tree in turn.

Four thick branches cut through half of the interface, plunging from the center of the world into the black curtain, churning in it. The red mist containing the breath of life continued to plunge into the dark realm, allowing the other party to swallow itself. But Ryan could notice that as time passed, a little activity grew in the darkness.

In the distance, Erebos' voice came again, and although he was downwind, he still sounded calm. In fact, apart from being overshadowed by the Scarlet Giant Tree in an unfamiliar situation at the beginning, he did not suffer any direct damage.

Ryan's face became serious, for the large, brightly colored tree seemed to notice another outsider as well as the call of Erebos. Although He did not have eyes, at this moment, He 'looked' to the place where Ryan was.

A few of the escapes fell on innate curiosities like Odin's Eye, and not surprisingly, there were probably similar ones in other realms that Ryan hadn't visited, but the remnants of the dead world attached themselves to the disintegrating trunk of the World Tree and finally landed here.

In the original mythology, the fall of Yggdrasil was only the opening of Ragnarok, but here, it was destroyed at the same time as the Nine Kingdoms. Therefore, its remnant body has a special symbol, and has become a carrier that carries the afterlife of the Nine Realms, and the scarlet giant tree in front of it is the product of the combination of the two.

The world's instinctive desire for continuity has brought the World Tree back to life, albeit in a different way. The giant tree at this moment is like some kind of alternative primordial god, and as for why it does not seem to resemble normal gods, it is not because some creation outside the world has affected them, but because the world is like this, and it has both order and chaos at the same time.

When the world is complete and healthy, the aspect of order tends to prevail, as is the case in the world of Kaos; But when the world is about to be destroyed, chaos will prevail and eventually everything will become disorderly, as is the case with the giant tree in front of you.

He was born with the 'death' of the Nine Realms and Yggdrahir, as well as the instinctive desire for 'life' in both, but the way He pursued 'life' was obviously somewhat unacceptable to normal life.

He tried to assimilate everything into a part of himself, and then perpetuate his existence for eternity. He has inherited the 'inclusiveness' of the world, so He does not destroy any life, but only merges with them, just as He is now conscious - it is made up of the instincts of the Nine Realms, the hazy mind of the World Tree, and all the life of Niflheim, which is why Ryan refers to each other as 'he'.

But at this moment, Ryan looked at the crystal branches that cut through the space and poked towards him, and couldn't help but secretly give the other party a nickname.

[Ancient Hate: Mother Tree of Flesh and Blood] is undoubtedly a very apt name.

In this interface, which has been assimilated by the other party for tens of thousands of years, he no longer expects to find anything valuable.

Continue to test the power of the mother tree, and then wait for the Kaos world to transform and seal it, after all, this kind of life is absolutely difficult to be tolerated by this world.

······

Just as Ryan stepped into the Land of Mist, at the edge of Niflheim, in a huge glacier more than 10,000 meters high, a huge black shadow moved again.

The roots of the World Tree in the Land of Mist were originally rooted in the Spring of Hevagmir, and the water that flowed from the original spring of the world was not only rich in toxins, but also bitterly cold.

It flows in the equally cold Land of Mist, and then forms glaciers large and small. The largest of them all, a huge black shadow curled up in it.

He had already awakened from his slumber when the first visitor appeared, and now with the appearance of the second, he was even more determined in his thoughts.

Since the day the world was shattered, after witnessing the birth of the giant tree and the death of the gods, this dark shadow has been sealing itself in the glacier, waiting for a turnaround. Tens of thousands of years have passed, and he is close to giving up, but he didn't expect that the turning point will finally come.

It's just that his life has also come to an end. Although he is a god-like existence in the Nine Kingdoms, the gods in this realm are not eternal.

He is Nidhogg, the black dragon who symbolizes despair, but now, only he is the one who truly feels despair.

"Gods from outside the realm, they're too late"

It's not because of aging, although the gods of this realm do get old, tens of thousands of years are not enough for Nidhogg to reach the end of his life.

It's just that there is a huge wound in his body, which is constantly consuming the little life he has left. What's more, the black dragon, who is brutal by nature, had no intention of putting himself in the hands of other beings.

"I'm not going to stop there, though."

The hideous mouth opened, as if laughing, but it only looked terrifying. Nidhogg looked in front of him, where there were thousands of eggs of various sizes.

Although he was probably due to the great tree that he ended up today, Nidhogg is now thankful to him. At least from the mental fluctuations that the other party unconsciously escaped, in addition to the temptation that made him want to throw himself into the other party's arms, there was also a lot of knowledge related to life. Over the course of tens of thousands of years, Nidhogg has learned another way to perpetuate his existence.

For the Mother Tree of Flesh, any being that is assimilated by Him is a part of His life, and without the corresponding authority, Nidhogg cannot do this, but he can simplify it a little and complete it in his own way.

So he used his own blood to create these dragon eggs in front of him, these newborn dragon eggs have no attributes, no bias, they will change with the new environment he comes into contact with later. This ensures that no matter what the environment of that unknown new world may be, these created beings will be at the top of the food chain.

And as their creators, when this new race lives on in another world, they can become an anchor for Nidhogg, awakening his lost consciousness. As for how long it will take, it is unknown.

"You will be born strong and live long, but at the cost of multiplication. However, it is also a necessary sacrifice, after all, survival is the first priority, and compared to the weak race, it is easy for the strong to continue. ”

At the heart of the glacier, Nidhogg spreads its wings. The massive black dragon began to shatter, his flesh and bones falling to the ground, merging into each egg.

The few closest to him gained the most power, and their aura was the most powerful.

"You come from me, and you will make me."

Eventually, only the illusory shadow of Nidhogg was left in mid-air. Seeing all this, he mustered the last of his strength and released a trace of breath beyond the glacier, attracting the attention of the two outsiders.

"One day, when I return to the earth, I will no longer be burdened with the mission of destruction that I was born with, but will become the master of the new world by my own will."

The next moment, when the phantom dissipated and the glacier shattered, the breath released here instantly attracted the only three lives in this world. The three wills swept over the place full of dragon eggs one after another, and they noticed the special here, and then they all stretched out their 'hands' to this side.

However, at this moment, a crack opened in the sky, and the sound of the law echoed through the interface.

Zheng –

"It's . Kaos's erosion of the Nine Kingdoms is complete? ”

First, he tacitly agreed with Erebos to block the branches of the mother tree, and Ryan had just taken away a few huge dragon eggs, but a sudden change made him stop his movements.

The barrier between Niforheim and the Void was shattered, and the laws of Kaos replaced everything that was old. But it also meant that the short feud was over.

At this moment, the endless chain of laws poured in from the outside world, tied between all things, and replaced the original rules. The [Secret] on Ryan's black clothes took effect, and all his existence disappeared into this world; On the other side, the darkness that used to occupy a third of the world has disappeared without a trace, leaving only the potholes that look like they have been dug into the ground.

Only the chaotic Scarlet Giant Tree still showed its presence, and then it was regarded as a target by countless chains of laws, bound layer after layer.

He was still struggling and fighting, but the outcome was already predictable.

After a slight gaze, Ryan dodged and disappeared in place, and then appeared in the void outside the realm.

He could see that the fragments of the Nine Kingdoms had been worn out of resistance, and the chains of order dragged them toward the distant world.

The black mist gathered around him, turning into a familiar figure, but for some reason, Erebos's left hand was still wrapped in a cloud of mist.

"What did you find, a head?"

The barrier of the Nine Realms has been opened, and now the situation inside is unobstructed. The Lord of Darkness could easily see that the interface that Ryan had patronized before looked intact.

Coupled with this huge head floating on the side, it is not difficult to guess that Ryan was probably lucky to meet the aborigines who could communicate, and then obtained a lot of more accurate information from him.

"Yes, a useless head, but at least it knows something."

Looking at the interface moving in the void, Ryan casually dealt with the Lord of Darkness.

A short expedition that seems to have gained a lot, but there is more to be known, but the rest of the matter is left to be solved in the world of Kaos.

With so many strange things, I don't know what the heroic epics of mythology will become in the future.

Under the guidance of the gods, it is unknown to fight against the resurrected ancient evils, thwart the plots of the extraterritorial gods to destroy the city-states, or destroy the secret cults hidden beneath the kingdom.

But that's all mortal things, and what really gives Ryan a headache is the huge flesh and blood mother tree.

"There's nothing to see about it, I just hope that the world that has never done anything good will be useful this time."

That said, but looking at the giant tree that was still struggling to resist, Ryan had little hope for it.

(End of chapter)