Stupid Odin

The Tuatha Dé Danann were delighted to be rid of Bres. They summoned Dian Cecht's son, the god of healing, to craft a hand of flesh and blood for Nuada. This became the renowned Silver Hand.

This arm, though clearly made of silver metal, was full of vitality. Every muscle, every inch of 'skin', mirrored the shape of Nuada's other arm perfectly.

To celebrate, the Allfather Dagda brought out his magical cauldron, one of the four treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann. It hailed from the four cities of their former divine realm, the 'Sky', and possessed the wondrous ability to conjure food from nothing.

"To celebrate Nuada's return as our leader, let us feast!"

These naive Tuatha Dé Danann genuinely threw a celebration, planning a seven-day festival. None of them seemed to think that the disgraced Bres would pose a problem. Except for two transmigrators...

The next day at noon, Beowulf and Siegfried sought out Nuada.

"Good day, Great God-King!"

"Ah, it's you two! Come, have a drink." Nuada, once again elevated to the position of God-King, felt favorably disposed towards these two divine servants who had stood up for him in his time of need, inciting the gods' hatred of Bres.

Nuada had already marked them as confidants, especially Beowulf, who had followed him for so many years. He absolutely trusted Beowulf.

Unexpectedly, they both urged Nuada: "Your Majesty, please prepare for war immediately."

"War? War with whom?" Nuada was bewildered.

"With Bres!" Beowulf declared.

"Don't be absurd. Where would that fellow get an army? Surely he wouldn't dare challenge the entire Tuatha Dé Danann alone?"

Siegfried interjected, "What if he allies with the Fomorians?"

"Impossible! Why would those chaotic giants listen to him?" No matter how the two men tried to persuade him, Nuada wouldn't listen. When they persisted too much, Nuada even had them politely 'escorted' from the temple.

This was a limitation of thinking.

Normally, the Fomorians would have no reason to help Bres. But Bres was a half-blood, and his father happened to be one of the Fomorian chieftains!

It wasn't that Nuada hadn't considered the possibility of war, but he had just regained power and was in a period of general amnesty, trying to gather everyone's loyalty. He figured it wouldn't be too late to discuss the matter after the seven-day feast concluded.

None of the Tuatha Dé Danann expected Bres's revenge to come so swiftly!

By noon of the third day after Bres was ousted, a massive giant army emerged from the beaches, assaulting the Tuatha Dé Danann on the Emerald Isle.

In the epic, the first great battle between the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomorians is known as the 'First Battle of Mag Tuired'. This, then, was the 'Second Battle of Mag Tuired'.

In this life, it couldn't be said that the Tuatha Dé Danann were completely unprepared.

At least two people were prepared.

Siegfried, leading his divine servants, had done nothing for three days but keep watch on a high mountain near the Emerald Beach, the most suitable landing spot near the divine residence.

And he found them.

"Woooo..." As the long horn sounded from the depths of the sea, the ocean stirred.

Countless giants appeared on the shore, their massive figures forming a long skirmish line that stretched as far as the eye could see.

They were so tall, so numerous, and with the turbid, chaotic water elements bound by the 'Ocean' talent swirling around them, they seemed like incarnations of the chaotic sea, beginning to erode the boundary between land and ocean.

Siegfried's subordinates were horrified and quickly notified Siegfried.

The great hero, having transmigrated, naturally lit the beacon fire as agreed with Beowulf.

The beach was only a few kilometers from the Tuatha Dé Danann's residence.

Without Siegfried's warning, these Tuatha Dé Danann, reveling day and night, would surely have been caught completely off guard.

When Beowulf rushed to the temple again to inform Nuada, Nuada initially thought it was a clumsy lie.

"Your Majesty! Why would I fabricate a lie? If this is false intelligence, Your Majesty can cut off my head! I would die without regret!"

Seeing Beowulf's impassioned plea, Nuada finally sent another of his confidants on horseback to the beach to confirm.

Although a little time was wasted in the round trip, Nuada finally confirmed the fact of the Fomorian invasion. This bought him some valuable time to assemble his forces.

"Woooo..."

The horns blared!

The sounding of the emergency military horn left the Tuatha Dé Danann quite bewildered.

At least with the warnings of the two great heroes, Nuada didn't allow his main city to be ambushed by the giants, as in the myths and legends.

It was a little better than in the myths and legends, but only a little.

The panicked Tuatha Dé Danann were like a flock of chickens with a weasel in their coop, only knowing how to squawk in fear, without any semblance of order.

To make matters worse, this scene was seen in its entirety by a pair of Eyes of the Sky, which further projected the image back to the Silver Palace in Asgard.

Seeing this on the huge mental projection 'screen', Thor frantically complained: "Father, these Tuatha Dé Danann are so trash, we can completely crush them all the way and kill these guys and the chaotic giants together."

Thor's statement was endorsed by the giant representatives, including Hyrrokkin, the strongest giant on the surface: "That's right, that's right."

Even the more practical gods like Freyr and Tyr frowned. These Tuatha Dé Danann really didn't seem to measure up.

Hela stepped in to smooth things over: "We can't just see their shortcomings. They were ambushed because they were celebrating. Didn't that make you think of anything? After you spend a night indulging in the Palace of Joy, you're not much better than them."

Hela's rebuttal made Thor and the other wastrels blush.

Loki rarely offered a complement: "Praise Heimdall!"

The gods followed suit and shouted: "Praise Heimdall!"

The Asgardian defense force, led by Heimdall and the bow god Ullr, along with the Valkyries and a host of divine servants, were the greatest contributors to their ability to rest easy.

Even though Heimdall was guarding the Rainbow Bridge and had been specifically asked to listen in, he now showed a knowing smile. He bowed slightly towards the Silver Palace. The gods might not see it, but his father, Thrym, would definitely sense it.

At this time, Thrym, sitting on the throne of the Supreme God, spoke: "Perhaps you look down on the Tuatha Dé Danann, but I must remind you all that their magic and shapeshifting abilities are exactly what our gods need. Moreover, as the Celtic world is connected to the Jötunheimr world, we don't need to excessively destroy and slaughter it."

"Yes!" The gods and giants put away their contempt and continued to watch seriously.

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ps: I have a bit of a cold these past two days. Updates are less frequent, sorry!