Chapter 263: Chapter 21
Deep within the boundless core of the Nordic Universe, beyond the reach of stars and the song of creation, there lay an unspeakably vast and ancient being, its form incomprehensible to mortal or divine minds alike.
Its body was a writhing ocean of shadows, its skin a tapestry of darkness studded with countless eyes that blinked and mouths that whispered in tongues that predated existence itself.
For centuries since it was left here, it had slumbered, coiled within the abyss like a forgotten god, dreaming of the end of all things, until, without warning, it twitched.
A ripple passed through the void, a disturbance, a vibration that did not belong anywhere in this universe.
The being stirred, its innumerable eyes flickering open one after another, casting pale and malignant light upon the fabric of the cosmos.
Something foreign had entered this cosmos, something powerful, something that did not belong to the Norse order of creation.
The being’s countless mouths murmured in unison, a chorus of whispers reverberating through the void.
"A foreign force... has interfered with the feeding..."
Its attention shifted, extending its consciousness like tendrils through the layers of reality until it reached the realm of Helheim, where an unnatural radiance burned amidst the endless darkness.
What it saw made its vast, formless body quake with a mixture of curiosity and rage.
Tens of thousands of gods, unfamiliar and alien, were locked in combat beside the Norse deities, their divine essences pulsing with a harmony that did not belong to this world.
It was angered. It wanted to tear apart those foreign gods to dare and interrupt the feeding...
But then, its eyes froze.
Amidst the battlefield, seated upon a grand obsidian throne that seemed forged from the bones of the void itself, was a man.
A being of such calm and composed divinity that even the darkness recoiled from his presence.
A crimson dragon loomed protectively behind him, its every breath a storm of fire that incinerated legions of abominations with terrifying ease.
The man did nothing, he simply sat, as though the battlefield existed only as a distant curiosity.
But then the impossible happened.
The man turned his head slightly, and his gaze, those cold, unyielding violet eyes, locked directly onto the entity hidden at the center of the cosmos.
For a brief instant, every eye and mouth on the entity’s body froze.
The void trembled as it wondered.
Can he see me?
It recoiled, its vast mind reeling in disbelief.
No being within the confines of the Nordic Universe should have been capable of perceiving its existence, let alone meeting its gaze.
Yet this man, this calm, silver-haired god, was staring directly into its essence, as though the boundary of universes meant nothing to him.
A low, distorted rumble echoed through the abyss as the entity’s consciousness surged with alarm and fury.
Its countless mouths opened wide, releasing a guttural roar that shook the roots of reality.
The entity began to move, its black tendrils weaving through dimensions, gathering waves of darkness and malice to crush the intruder.
The first wave struck like a flood of nightmares, yet before it could even near the obsidian throne, the crimson dragon roared, its breath erupting into a storm of scarlet flame so powerful that the darkness evaporated into nothingness.
The entity tried again, and again, weaving its corruption into ever more complex assaults, time-warped beasts, curses forged from decayed universes, tendrils of entropy that could unmake stars, but no matter what it sent, the result was the same.
The dragon annihilated them effortlessly, its power rippling across realms, every beat of its wings shaking the underworld itself.
Finally, the entity halted its attacks.
Its eyes, uncountable and unblinking, focused once more upon the throne and the man who sat there so calmly, now resting his chin upon one hand as if bored.
The entity’s thoughts churned, its vast intellect running through possibilities and calculations that defied comprehension.
This man... he is different. Not bound by this cosmos’ laws, not part of this creation. His existence transcends the framework of this universe.
He is not a what one considered to be a god... he is something higher.
A shudder ran through the infinite dark. For the first time in countless years, the being felt something akin to apprehension.
It decided not to provoke the man again.
Silently, it withdrew its tendrils and began to observe instead, watching as the foreign gods and the Norse stood united under the calm shadow of the man on the throne.
In that moment, the great entity realized a truth it had never considered before, perhaps, for the first time in its existence, it was the one being watched.
*
*
*
Hades’ eyes pierced through the endless void, cutting across countless layers of reality and illusion until they met the presence that lurked within the center of the Nordic Universe.
His gaze, calm yet suffused with authority, locked onto the colossal, nightmarish being, an entity so vast and so alien that its form defied all logic, a mass of writhing darkness covered in countless eyes, mouths, and ever-shifting appendages that bent the very laws of existence around it.
He could feel it, the raw, unrestrained power pulsing from that thing.
It was stronger than the entity that once invaded his own universe, the one that had tried to devour creation itself.
But that strength was not surprising; the Primordials had fought and contained that earlier monster, delaying its feeding and finally killing it before it could reach its full potential.
This one, however... had already consumed nearly the entire Nordic cosmos.
Its presence was heavy, suffocating, and ancient, like a living concept that had forgotten what it meant to die.
Still, Hades’ expression remained cold, unreadable.
His power, deep, absolute, and calm like a storm before eruption, was far from being shaken.
"So this is the core of the Norse corruption..." he murmured, his tone carrying neither fear nor awe, only the weight of inevitability. "No matter the universe, the rot always takes form."
Just then, a soft, ethereal voice brushed against his mind, resonating through the void like a whisper carried by starlight.
"Hades," Hecate’s voice said, steady and soft, "the preparations are complete. The circle has been stabilized. We may begin at your command."
Hades’ eyes flickered faintly, his aura shifting.
The shadows around him deepened, pulsing in time with his heartbeat.
He slowly rose from his throne of obsidian and voidstone, each movement releasing ripples of divine pressure that spread like tidal waves across the shattered skies of Helheim.
His dark purple aura blazed to life, a force that distorted light itself, making the surrounding space tremble.
"Very well," he said, his voice echoing across worlds.
He raised his right hand into the air, fingers curling slightly as if grasping something unseen.
The universe seemed to tense, the fabric of time stretching and protesting under his will.
Then, with a slow, deliberate motion, Hades clenched his hand, and pulled.
In that instant, a scream tore through the cosmos.
It was not a sound but a concept, an existential shriek that made even the gods’ souls quiver.
The sky of Helheim cracked, time stuttered, and every living being—god or abomination alike—froze in horror as the fabric of reality itself convulsed.
Then, from the wound in the heavens, a void tore open, an endless abyss from which an enormous shadow began to emerge.
It was a colossal figure, formless yet defined, with countless eyes blinking in unison and mouths wailing across dimensions.
Its mere arrival distorted gravity, space, and even the divine essence of those who gazed upon it.
Back in Asgard, Odin’s palace shook violently.
On his throne room, the entire hall trembled, and Odin, sitting upon his high throne, felt his blood run cold.
That aura... that cursed, ancient aura—it was unmistakable.
He rose to his feet in disbelief, his one remaining eye widening.
"No..." he breathed, his voice cracking slightly. "It cant be... Ymir? How is this possible?"
Ymir, the Primordial Giant, was the first being to emerge from the void of Ginnungagap, born from the meeting of the icy rivers of Niflheim and the scorching flames of Muspelheim.
He is a colossal and Primordial entity whose very existence bridged chaos and creation, for from his sweat came the first of the frost giants, while the cosmic cow Audhumla nourished him with her milk as she licked the salty ice that revealed Buri, the ancestor of the gods.
From this ancient and formless chaos, Odin and his brothers, Vili and Ve, descendants of Buri, arose as the first gods, beings who embodied will, order, and purpose.
They looked upon Ymir and saw in him the embodiment of the raw and untamed forces that must be conquered for creation to take shape.
They struck Ymir down, his blood flowing in torrents so vast that it drowned nearly all the frost giants, and from his immense corpse, they forged the cosmos itself.
His flesh became the earth, his bones the mountains, his blood the seas, his skull the sky, and his brains the clouds, thus transforming the body of chaos into the ordered world of the nine realms.
From Ymir’s eyebrows they built a wall to encircle the world of men, protecting it from the remnants of his kin.
And in this act of divine dismemberment, Odin and his brothers established the first law of existence: that creation can only arise through sacrifice, and that from destruction comes structure, from death, life.
It was already a long forgotten memory for Odin.
How could that being still survive? What’s more, be the cause of the corruption of their universe!?