Shadow of the Beautiful World

In the spiritual world of Fire King Surtur.

In this burning world residing in the rusty skull, Merlin, who brought an ultimatum, is confronting the Lord of Fire.

In the sea of ​​lava under the sky, Surtur maintained the posture of raising his sword and slashing.

This black giant sword with spikes and notches on its blade, and entwined with scorching flames is famous among the stars.

It's called Twilight Branch.

Sword of Firelord Surtur.

According to the ancient prophecy of Asgard, Surtur, the Lord of Fire, will use this sword to pierce the heart of the Asgard world, completely destroy the realm of the gods, and bring the twilight of the fallen gods to the mighty Asgard. Gardians.

The prophecy of Ragnarok appeared as early as the birth of the Asgard dynasty.

What makes it different from other nagging prophecies is that it has a very wide range of spread and is not limited to Asgard and Muspelheim.

In fact, the entire world in the territory of the World Tree, and even the stars, have the shadow of this prophecy.

The Asgardians believed in this prophecy, and even evil gods like the big snake and Hela would fear the Ragnarok that was said to be brought by Surtur.

Odin pretended not to care, but during the conversation between Merlin and Odin, he could also feel that the God King himself actually believed in it and was worried about this legendary prophecy.

Under Merlin's watchful eyes, the flame giant standing in the sea of ​​lava said in a low voice:

Can you help me? Are you willing to help me? Help me realize Ragnarok and destroy Asgard?

No no no.

Merlin waved his fingers, and he said seriously:

I'll just throw you into the eternal fire, and you'll have to do the rest yourself!

Okay! That's it!

The huge black sword retracted into the sea of ​​lava, and the King of Fire had no extra bargaining at all. Its body sank into the sea of ​​magma, as if it wanted to return to the tumbling magma.

I promise you, after you put my skull into the eternal fire, our contract will be established!

It popped out a string of flames dancing sparks from the fingertips, intertwined with the orange light in front of Merlin's eyes. In the intersection of scorching heat and shadow, the two quickly reached an agreement.

This kind of crisp and neat demeanor surprised Merlin.

The king of vanity asked:

Don't you ask me what I asked you to do? Trust me so much?

It's not necessary.

Surtur sank under the sea of ​​magma, and it said in a low voice:

As long as Ragnarok!

Only Ragnarok!

My existence is for the arrival of that moment, other than that, everything is meaningless to me!

Lord Raven blinked his eyes.

He said:

That was just a prophecy.

Yes, that was just a prophecy.

The flame giant submerged in the sea of ​​magma raised his head. Under the flaming skull, the eyes shone with burning light, and there was a solemn halo on the expressionless face.

I was born by that prophecy, I am by that prophecy, that's the mission, that's everything...

You can't understand it because there has never been such an important thing in your life that deserves your full attention.

In a lying posture, Surtur was suspended in the tumbling, endless magma sea, like a big man swimming on his back.

It seems to enjoy the current state, it said a little lazily:

Skadi wants to use me, just like you use me, and I don't care about being used.

You see me as a weapon, but you don't know that every swing will bring me one step closer to my goal.

Now, there is only one step away from that future, just like a beautiful phantom, you only need to reach out and grab it lightly.

boom

The Fire Lord let out an onomatopoeia of explosion.

It grinned with a flaming grin, and it said:

Everything turns to ashes, right in front of you.

Wow.

Merlin let out a dry admiration.

He said:

So your life exists because of a prophecy, and fulfilling that prophecy is the only reason why you exist here.

Friend, your outlook on life is really distorted and extreme, do you know that?

Maybe.

Surtur said in a lazy tone that didn't match its fierce appearance:

If I am destined to bring Asgard its doom, then I will take that wail as a compliment, and I will enjoy the feeling of shattering the world.

Actually, to tell you the truth.

Merlin seemed to be chatting with Surtur, he said:

For a while, I also have a feeling that there is always one thing in this world that needs me to do, and only I can do it.

Do you understand? Before I finish that thing, I will not die, nor will I fail. I think this is very similar to your life, Surtur.

No, it doesn't look like that at all, but I don't mean to argue with you either.

The Fire Lord snorted, stared at Merlin, and said:

What I'm more curious about is, have you found that thing?

Of course I found it.

Merlin pointed to the sky, and he said:

And I'm working on it, like you said, with all my heart.

Fine, fine, that's fine.

The King of Fire sneered, and he slapped the sea of ​​lava casually, causing thousands of waves to appear on the sea of ​​destruction. He stared at Merlin and said:

Then you are a happy person. People with goals are happy.

I won't let time go by, and I won't feel that I have nowhere to go. Abandon all unnecessary thoughts and hesitation, and keep moving forward along the road...

May you, like me, reach the end of your mission as soon as possible, my friend.

For Surtur's blessing, Merlin didn't know what expression to use to respond.

He could only shrug his shoulders, turn around and quickly leave this lava sea of ​​consciousness.

In the rapid rise of will, Merlin was quite emotional.

This group of stars is really miraculous, they can always breed such strange lives, this Lord of Fire who dedicated everything to an illusory prophecy is really weird.

but...

But it's not shocking.

He had wasted enough time with the fire giant, he had to go, there were other things to do.

As Surtur said, Merlin has already walked on this road, and he can no longer turn back.

Now, put aside your worries and just move forward.

—————————————————

Niflheim, Frozen Fog Forest.

This is the only way to the underworld from the cold mountains, where Thor and Loki once went deep into the underworld.

The temperature here is extremely low, and it is full of strange creatures that cannot be freed from the call of death.

During the time when Merlin died, the magician lady Zatana Zatara transferred the nightmare that was about to break through the wall to this barbaric world with the help of the nightmare tree.

The nightmares derived from the fears and nightmares of all living beings broke out in Niflheim, giving birth to a personified will.

But before that guy could cover the world with fear, Nightmare himself, together with the frozen fog forest that gave birth to it, was wiped out by God King Odin with the Spear of Eternity.

But the existence of such a conceptual level as Nightmare is not so easy to be completely annihilated.

It has to be said that Zatana's self-rescue operation was very successful.

Although the nightmare is not dead, it is still trapped in Niflheim, and cannot connect to the nightmare dimension, which makes the nightmare's power grow very slowly.

It had to join Skadi's dark coalition and sent its own servants to attack Asgard.

But the purpose of Nightmare's invasion of Asgard was not to avenge Odin.

It has another purpose to go to Asgard. It wants to use the rainbow bridge that can pass through the stars to send its remaining body and will back to Midgard.

Yes, it's going back to Earth!

Nightmare is the dark power extended by the mysterious Sandman in the dream dimension due to the continuous accumulation of nightmares. It was born from a higher level of existence, feeding on nightmares and fears, and constantly growing itself.

There is no concept of terror that can be eaten by nightmares.

In theory, it could draw the fear it needs from the lives of Niflheim, and indeed Asgardians

But the problem is that there are too few Asgardians.

Moreover, the people of Shenyu are born with strong physique and will, which makes them rarely have nightmares.

For Nightmare, being in these worlds is too bad, like being stuck in a desert without food.

In previous eras of recovery, Nightmare would always choose Earth as his base camp.

There are a large number of people on earth, and their will is weak. They are easily pushed into fear and panic by external forces, just like a glass of wine that can never be drunk.

It just sits there, for Nightmare to sip.

That world is where Nightmare likes to be.

And now the continuity between it and its source of power, the nightmare dimension, is cut off by a weird little dream world.

Nightmare wants to regain her own power and truly be free from the Sandman's dream dimension, so she must find a way to break through the barrier of that dream world.

It met the owner of that dream world once, and it knew that Zatana Zatara was from Earth.

It has to go to Earth!

On the one hand, absorb fear and powerful self.

On the other hand, he managed to find Zatanna and enter her dream world, thereby re-establishing his connection with the nightmare dimension.

But it's hard.

In the deep mountains of Niflheim, vines like nightmare trees, with black branches and dark red runes on the branches, grow in the dense forest, entangled with those towering trees, forming a tree-like House-like structure.

They are densely intertwined, making the already hazy light in the dense forest seem to be absorbed by a black hole.

And among the vines emitting ominous fluorescence, a group of nightmare believers wearing hoods gathered here. In the deepest part of the vine forest, a severely burned tree was wrapped in it.

Only the trunk was left, and on the black and gray bark of the trunk, there was a vague human face.

This is the body of Nightmare. The thunder thrown by Odin almost completely destroyed it, but there is still the last trace of power left, allowing Nightmare to escape from the disaster.

Honorable master, we have urged the goddess of winter to speed up the progress as much as possible.

A nightmare priest respectfully said to the burning tree:

She also promised us that once the Asgardian defense line is broken, she will immediately help us capture the Rainbow Bridge.

But... from what our brothers have seen, the goddess did not change the war plan. The goddess Skadi insisted on her strategy. She gathered all the vanguard legions together.

The tall priest made a muffled sound under the hood, as if the darkness was roaring.

It is clear, master, that she has deceived us.

In other words, she only cares about whether she can defeat the Asgardians, whether she can kill Odin, her desire for us, and your needs, she doesn't care.

The bad news made the weak Nightmare extremely dissatisfied.

But it has never exceeded its imagination and thinking.

On the trunk of the burned tree, the blurred face opened its eyes and said:

Let her go.

The voice of nightmare haze echoes in this dense forest, it says:

Let her attract the attention of the God King for us, and let her fight to the death with the God King... What we desire, we will do it ourselves!

Get my minions ready!

The voices of nightmares are like fidgeting fingers. These nightmare priests twitch in their minds, projecting more taboo secrets and knowledge into their already chaotic brains, and implanting their own will into them by the way.

We will follow her, step into the land of Asgard with the dark coalition forces, and capture the Rainbow Bridge, we will do it ourselves!

I promise you, my loyal followers!

In that new world, you'll have it all, you'll have it all! Go, call my followers! All!

Nightmare priests did not dare to disobey Nightmare's order, and they quickly disappeared into the dark forest.

You can't get anything done by relying on them.

A childish voice sounded above the Nightmare Tree, she said:

Heimdall, the most valiant general in God's Domain, guards the Rainbow Bridge. He is not as powerful as Odin, but he is not something that can be dealt with casually.

The gap in strength cannot be made up by fanatical loyalty or risking one's life, Your Excellency Nightmare.

Hella?

The eyes on the trunk of the Nightmare Tree opened, and it looked at the little goddess of death sitting on the branch above, swaying its little feet, and driving away beside it was a warrior in a dark hood and holding a warhammer.

Nightmare snorted and said:

Why don't you hug Skadi's leg tightly, what are you doing here?

Skadi disappointed me.

Little Hela acted in her true colors without any pretense, she said very bluntly:

She doesn't know how to lead us at all! She only has Odin's life and death in her eyes, and she will lead us to hell.

I don't want to follow her anymore. After entering Asgard, I will part ways with her. I can help you capture the Rainbow Bridge. I grew up there, and I am very familiar with the terrain there.

I can even lure Heimdall away for you.

Hella held out a finger, and she said:

But I need you to do two things for me.

tell me the story.

Nightmare didn't care about what Hela said, and it didn't express its position immediately. It said:

Let me see you what do you want from me?

It's very simple.

Like a nimble monkey, the little girl jumped down from the branch.

She landed in front of the nightmare, and said to the feeble spirit:

First, take away all the cultists you left in Niflheim! This is my territory! Niflheim and the connected underworld, this is my land.

I don't like those cultists, and the stink of nightmares you left here!

The little girl waved her finger and screamed loudly:

Take them all away!

anything else?

Nightmare asked noncommittally:

What about the second thing?

The second thing is easier.

A cold light flashed in little Hela's big eyes, and she said:

After we all arrive in Asgard, there is a small matter that requires you to cooperate with me. At that time, follow my wink and act!

Hehe, little Haila has also started a conspiracy like others, and she still speaks well.

Meng Meng didn't reply immediately, but instead said in a strange tone, with a hint of sarcasm:

But do you take me for a fool?