Chapter 452 Let go of that girl!
Asgard, the fairy palace.
As the colorful light of the Rainbow Bridge flashed, Loen stepped out from the atrium world.
"Lord Loki, you are back!"
The two Asgardian guards hurriedly saluted respectfully, their tense bodies relaxed a little, and a touch of joy from the bottom of their hearts surged to their brows.
Luo En nodded and asked in a deep voice:
"And your majesty?"
"Still in the Golden Palace..."
"How long?"
"Half a year, I guess..."
The two guards replied with a wry smile, their faces then becoming shrouded in gloom.
Ever since that God King went to pay homage to the three goddesses of Norn, he came back and went into the Golden Palace without saying a word. He stayed alone in the hall, drinking day and night, and was drunk all day long. He neither accepted anyone's request to see him nor paid attention to the affairs of the Fairy Palace.
During this period, even when several groups of giants tried to pass through the Iron Forest in the atrium and invade Asgard, His Majesty turned a blind eye to it, as if nothing in the outside world could arouse his interest.
If Lord Loki had not been guarding the Middle-gard world and repeatedly driving the giants who sneaked into the Iron Forest back to Jotunheim, the consequences would have been disastrous.
But even so, without Odin, the king of gods in charge, Asgard lost its order and gradually became a mess, and the Aesir were also in panic.
"Lord Loki, it's good that you're back. Please persuade His Majesty."
"Yes, you are his blood brother. I'm afraid that only you will be listened to by His Majesty."
The two Asgardian guards looked at Lorne with hope and made a sincere request.
Luo En nodded slightly, without saying anything more, stood up, left the Rainbow Bridge, and came to the gate of the Golden Palace.
As if to seek some peace and quiet, the gate was blocked from the inside by several runes, and ordinary Aesir had no ability to enter.
However, this certainly did not pose any problem for Loen, who also mastered the runes.
He traced the door with his fingers, untied the rune restriction on the door, and stepped inside.
As soon as he entered the room, the strong and nauseating smell of alcohol filled his nose. The huge palace was almost covered with broken wine vessels, leaving him with nowhere to stand. On the cold and hard throne, a figure with messy hair and beard and wine stains on his loose robe was sleeping soundly against the back of the chair.
After not seeing him for half a year, the once high-spirited figure has become hunched over, with gray hair, and a heavy atmosphere of desolation surrounding him. From a distance, he looks like an old man who is about to die.
As if sensing the arrival of an outsider, Odin on the throne opened his sleepy eyes and looked at the person who came into the hall. He turned over lazily and muttered vaguely:
"Loki? You've come just in time. Do you have any newly brewed mead? Bring me another 100 jars!"
"Did you know that several waves of giant spies almost broke into Asgard?"
Lorne asked calmly, his voice low.
Odin yawned and said casually:
"It doesn't matter, come if you want, just don't disturb me while I'm drinking."
Then he stood up from the throne, staggered down the steps, bent down to pick up a piece of broken pottery that still contained some residual wine from the ground, and wanted to take a few more sips to satisfy his craving.
However, a divine force came and knocked the pottery shard in his hand away, and a faint cold snort sounded in the hall:
"Is this how you do God King?"
"A king whose divine career is doomed to destruction?"
Odin sneered and shook his head, with a mocking look in his one eye.
"Aesir will prosper in my hands, but it will also perish in my hands. This is the fate I got from the three goddesses of Norn. Anyway, the ending has been determined, why should I work hard for a world that is bound to be destroyed?"
Lorne stared at the depressed Odin in front of him and asked quietly:
"So you created Asgard just to witness its destruction? Is this the answer you got from fate?"
"What else? Continue to struggle for this doomed divine cause? It's all meaningless..."
"There has never been any real immortality in this world! This is true for life! This is true for kingdoms! This is true for divine deeds!"
Loen couldn't help but raise his hand to interrupt Odin's self-pity and snorted coldly.
"If everything is meaningless, then you shouldn't have rebelled against Ymir in the first place!"
"If this is meaningless, then you shouldn't be sitting here right now!"
"Wouldn't it be better to open the gates of Asgard, kneel at the feet of the giants, and let them rule the nine realms?"
Odin's face flushed red as he was provoked by this, and he suddenly became a little angry:
"Then what can I do? What should I do? I asked the three goddesses of Norn, and the fate of [Ragnarok] cannot be defied!"
"Destiny cannot be defied? Bullshit!"
Once again, Lorne rudely interrupted Odin's self-pity and asked back in intolerable frustration.
"What's the ending that hasn't happened yet?"
Odin's body trembled when he heard this, and an excited light burst out in his deathly gray eyes.
That's right! How can an ending that hasn't happened yet be predetermined?
"Can fate really be changed?" Odin's voice trembled a little.
“Before reaching the end, everything is just a possibility. When the process you write deviates too far from the answer, the ending may not be interpreted in a different way!”
Lorne paused and continued to ponder meaningfully.
"As I said, there is nothing truly immortal in this world. This is true for divine deeds and destiny! If you don't give it a try, how would you know that the divine deeds you have worked so hard to build will be defeated by a few lines of destiny?"
At this moment, after listening to Lorn's words, Odin's hunched back instantly straightened up and he laughed loudly:
"Loki, you are right. How can the divine work I created be defeated by a few words of fate? If they want it, then they can take it with their own ability!"
Looking at Odin who had regained his fighting spirit, Loen maintained a smile on the surface, but his heart was a little complicated.
As someone who has personally overturned his own destiny, he undoubtedly has the most say on these issues.
But at the same time, these were the words he should never have said.
But many times, emotions often break through the limitations of rationality.
Just as Lorne was secretly feeling annoyed, Odin, who had swept away his decadence, stepped forward and asked:
"Speaking of which, how are those humans in the atrium doing?"
"They have learned to hunt in groups and use fire to cook food, as well as to build houses and grow crops on the land. They are basically self-sufficient now. If they reproduce for a few more generations, they should be able to form a certain combat capability."
After coming back to his senses, Loen answered truthfully, with a hint of complacency in his tone.
With his experience in managing human populations, he was naturally familiar with the job in Northern Europe this time.
Upon hearing this good news, Odin couldn't help but be overjoyed:
"Really? Then I have to go and see these little guys on the ground. As long as they can grow stronger and protect the Midgard world, our plan to unify the nine kingdoms can move forward step by step."
"It just so happened that when I arrived, the wheat in the fields had already matured, and they were preparing to use this harvest as a sacrifice to the gods."
Loen glanced at the broken pieces of wine jars scattered all over the hall, a hint of mockery appearing on his face.
"The new wine made from grain has a unique flavor."
Odin, who loves alcohol, immediately became salivating when he heard this, and his face was full of eagerness to try:
"So what are you waiting for? Go!"
Then, the Aesir God King couldn't wait to grab Loen's arm, walked out of the Golden Palace, and headed straight for the Rainbow Bridge.
~~
Midgard World, Heather Island.
Two figures, one old and one young, walked out of the colorful light band and looked around.
There is a vibrant wilderness nearby, with lush flowers and plants growing on both sides of the road.
In the cultivated fields, the mature wheat ears have become full and golden. The breeze blows past, raising waves of golden wheat, bringing with it the aroma of wheat grains and the fragrance of soil.
Odin couldn't help but watch in fascination. He subconsciously came to the edge of the wheat field, grabbed a few plump ears of wheat, rubbed them in his hands, and then stuffed a handful of husked bright yellow wheat grains into his mouth and chewed them with a crunch.
Although the taste was not sweet, the ether factor contained in it and the feeling of fullness it brought made Odin's eyes light up.
As a god-king who drank from the fountain of wisdom, he naturally understood the importance of this crop to the development of human groups after its widespread cultivation.
Due to their congenital physical deficiencies, humans do not possess the same physique and magic power as the Aesir, Giants, and Elves, so it is difficult for them to obtain enough food through hunting.
However, wheat can be planted in large quantities to meet the nutritional needs of the human population in the early stages of growth.
With these things, plus their excellent breeding ability, humans will surely be able to quickly gain a foothold in the atrium world.
"Stranger, isn't it a waste to eat wheat like this? We need to cook and make wine."
At this time, an old man wearing coarse linen clothes and with an ancient face beside the road tapped his cane and scolded in a bad mood.
Odin smiled casually, but was not annoyed.
The flow of time in the Asgard and the Atrium is not the same. During the days when he was in self-isolation, the human beings on the earth had already gone through several generations of reproduction and naturally would not recognize him, the former creator.
What's more, he and Loen used rune spells to hide their identities and divinity when they went to the mortal world this time.
Looking at a village surrounded by wooden fences standing in the sunset in the distance, residents carrying bundles of wheat in and out, with excited and satisfied smiles on their faces, Odin clapped his hands and smiled:
"Old man, we are ignorant. How about you take us to have a taste? Don't worry, we will pay you."
"You've come at the perfect time. Today is the Harvest Festival. We'll have plenty of wine and wheat food tonight! To be honest, our Heath Island was the first place to grow wheat. It was Lord Loki who taught our ancestors to use fire to cultivate the land here. The tradition of the Harvest Festival was also passed down from us."
The old man took the small piece of gold thrown by Odin, and immediately smiled and became much more enthusiastic.
"Come with me. I have an empty room in my house. If you don't mind, you and your son can stay there for one night?"
“…”
The smile on Odin's face froze, and he looked at his "son" beside him with a depressed look.
In order to drink the Fountain of Wisdom and sacrifice the World Tree, he paid a heavy price. Not only did he lose an eye, but his face also became much older. Standing next to Lorne, he and Lorne looked more like a father and son than brothers.
In that case, then...
"Don't try to take advantage of me!"
Loen glared at Odin who was about to speak and cursed with a smile, thus killing the blood brother's bad intentions in advance.
Having his thoughts seen through, Odin had no choice but to shut up and honestly explain the relationship between them.
brother?
The old man looked at the two people of quite a big age difference strangely, tactfully did not ask any more questions, and enthusiastically led them into the village.
At night, a bright bonfire was lit in the village square.
The old men who presided over the sacrifice were dressed in their best clothes. They presented the heads of the prey, full ears of wheat and freshly brewed beer to the altar as sacrifices to the two gods who created and protected them, and sang the ancient and sacred blessing:
"The world was born in fire,
The blood of the gods flows in us.
Remember there were nine worlds then,
Nine female giants each occupied one side.
There is also an ancient ash bark tree,
His name is Yggdrasil.
Huge and unmatched, it supports the sky and the earth.
Divided into three realms: heaven, earth, and the underworld,
The twisted roots penetrate deep into the earth.
When our god Zubli was alive,
Before the beginning of heaven and earth, everything was not yet established.
There is neither sand nor sea,
There are no cool waves..."
The excited villagers gathered around the blazing bonfire, drinking, enjoying food, and singing in rough and desolate tones, narrating the history of this land that was sacrificed with blood and born with fire.
Buzz...
Amid the invisible vibrations, tiny specks of golden light emerged from the trees, humans, fires, and fields, and quietly gathered into the bodies of Lorne and Odin.
As the divinity and divine power in his body suddenly increased, a gleam of light instantly burst out from Odin's one eye.
Humanity’s faith and sacrifice can actually bring about substantial enhancement of the divinity and power of the gods!
And this was just a small sacrifice in a village with less than a thousand people.
If the human race filled the entire Midgard world, the improvement they brought to the Aesir gods would be immeasurable.
At this moment, Odin, who had realized this, was extremely excited, and looked at the faces of people under the firelight eagerly and greedily.
These are not humans at all; they are clearly the food planted by the Aesir in the Midgard world!
Just as Odin put down his wine glass and prepared to enjoy the offering provided by mortals, he found that only a small part of the power of faith flowed to him and Lorne, and more of it poured into the fields outside the village.
"This is a harvest festival. We don't have powers related to harvest and plants, so we can't fully absorb it."
Lorne, who was standing by, told Odin some experiences about the power of faith through secret voice transmission.
Odin heard this and felt pained as he watched the power of faith dissipate into the fields outside the village:
"Isn't that a waste?"
"Not necessarily. Maybe there will be other gains."
Lorne blinked and pointed to the fields in the distance where streams of light converged.
A subtle divine fluctuation is brewing and condensing on that land.
What?
Go check it out!
Odin's heart moved, he winked at Lorn, and immediately left the table and ran to the fields outside the village on the grounds that he was drunk.
At this time, along with the harvest festival, the power of faith rose from different human villages and finally converged on the fields outside the village.
Because it was the first place to grow wheat, the land here has long been sanctified.
Specks of light overflowed from the soil, grass, and straw in the fields, blending with the falling power of faith, and gradually gathered into the outline of a canine creature between the ridges.
The little figure seemed to have just woken up from sleep, and its amber eyes looked at the world around it curiously.
Mmm, smells good...
Then, a brown head emerged from the straw, opened its mouth and took a wheat ear that exuded the wheat fragrance into its mouth.
However, before it could take a bite to taste the food, a hand suddenly grabbed the back of its neck and lifted it up into the air from the straw pile.
"It's really hard for me to find you, little guy."
Loen spoke with a smile, looking curiously at the divine life in front of him that was born from the power of faith.
This is a little brown thing, exuding a strange fishy smell that only animals have; she has two sharp milk teeth in her mouth; her bright eyes are like pure amber, full of curiosity and ignorance about the world, she has a pair of pointed ears, and the front of her tail has white hair.
Wolf?
Lorne scratched the little guy's chin, his eyes thoughtful.
In some myths and sects that worship nature, people generally imagine that the grain spirit changes into wolves or dogs. In customs related to the harvest, dogs and wolves are the incarnation of the grain spirit. In many places in Mecklenburg, Germany, the saying of "Grain Wolf" is particularly popular. They say that the wolf is sitting in the last handful of grain, and whoever cuts or bundles this handful of grain "gets the wolf", that is, he has touched the god of the harvest and received his blessing.
In this way, people hope for a good harvest and a prosperous life in the coming year.
Apparently, the long-term sanctification of the harvest festival allowed such a little creature to be born from the land of Heath Island.
So, male or female?
Out of curiosity, Loen couldn't help but lift up the little wolf cub in his hand, ready to take a look.
"Let her go, you rude bastard!"
At this moment, a low scolding came from the fields in the distance. Under the moonlight, a graceful figure in plain clothes holding a rattan stick appeared, her face as cold as frost.
Sensing the vigorous life divinity in the other person's body and the dressing style that was different from that of the Aesir, Loen's eyes narrowed slightly.
Outsider?
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
