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“…Step”

“Step step——”

Soon, the sound of footsteps grew from quiet to loud, coming from the passageway, and Laine’s figure quickly appeared here.

Entering the grand hall, Mimir immediately looked towards this unfamiliar deity, but Laine did not look back at him.

What directly attracted Laine’s gaze was not the immense head, but rather a flame that provided light to the entire hall.

It flickered in midair, using the void as its fuel, and burned eternally unchanged. Laine could feel that this flame was extraordinary.

“This is an undying flame born in Muspelheim, the Country of Flames, one of the two most primal realms among the nine major worlds; the flames of that land often possess some exceptional powers.”

“Even if the very essence of Asgard has ‘died,’ it remains unaffected and continues to burn. In contrast, those outside have long since been extinguished.”

A deep, aged voice spoke up, explaining the origins of the flame before him to Laine. As expected, the robed deity shifted his gaze in the direction of the speaker.

“A head, but with life sealed within. I must say, your manner of existence is quite interesting.”

Calm in demeanor, Laine sensed traces in Mimir’s skull that were somewhat similar to witchcraft.

Compared to the still-primitive Chaos, the nine great worlds that had gone through prosperity to destruction evidently had a splendid civilization, and magic was one of its most dazzling gems.

Even the war between Asgard and Vanaheim stemmed from this—the Vanir goddess Gullveig came to visit Odin.

Her words showed no respect for the Divine King, and according to later legends, it is said she came to boast of her magic power, or to argue which of the two deity races deserved more worship from humans. In the end, when Odin felt offended, he was the first to hurl his spear at her, and the gods all took their turn attacking her, but to no avail.

They killed the goddess three times, but she resurrected herself three times using the power of magic. Ultimately, Gullveig strode back to Vanaheim, sparking the war between the two great realms.

“Heh, those are just some old events. If possible, I wouldn’t want to continue in this state either.”

Trying to show a friendly smile, what appeared on Mimir’s face instead seemed fierce and frightening.

“Strange deity, I don’t know where you come from, or why you have come to Asgard’s Golden Palace? Perhaps I can offer you some assistance.”

Without expressing any opinion on the giant’s words, but considering that the other party was indeed more familiar with this place, Laine asked:

“I am here to find what the owner left behind, as well as the source of the Rune Symbols engraved on the palace.”

“And… what happened here, and where did the original owners go?”

His heart stirring, Mimir quickly picked up on the key information from Laine’s words. He seemed to have never heard of the existence of the Divine King Odin, nor knew the name of the Rune Symbols.

Any deity from the nine worlds couldn’t possibly be so ignorant, perhaps…

“Of course, what you seek is all in the treasury left by the Divine King; I know where it is and can show you the way there.”

The smile on Mimir’s skull became even brighter—he felt he finally had hope of leaving.

“However, the vault has been sealed; without the correct method of opening it, its contents will scatter into the void, never to be found again. I can try to help you think of a way to open it, as I understand the owner of this place, but it will take some time.”

“As for why this place has become like this, I’m sorry, I am not very clear either.”

“Not clear?”

Raising an eyebrow, Laine said:

“As a part of this place, you’re not aware of what has happened to your own location?”

“Yes, I can explain the specific situation to you one by one.”

“Then let’s talk on the way. You guide me, and before we find that vault, you can recount your past as much as you like.”

With a wave of his long sleeve, Laine gathered the undying bright flame into his sleeve, then had the tray holding Mimir’s skull come to his side.

As a Titan, Mimir’s head was still several times larger than a normal person’s after being processed with rituals and herbs; it looked strangely eerie.

“As you wish, I will recount the past to you.”

Having agreed, Mimir pointed in a direction and then began to tell Laine of his experiences.

Walking on the road to the vault and listening to the head’s narrative, Laine gradually came to understand the history of this place.

Most of the history of Asgard was similar to later myths, with only some parts deliberately obscured or misinterpreted by Mimir, who also blackened the existence of some gods. Still, Laine, comparing it to the accounts in Scandinavian mythology, easily distinguished the truth from the falsehoods.

However, he kept a poker face and didn’t point out any issues; instead, he continued to play the role of an Outer Deity who knew nothing of this land.

The original life of the world, the Titan Ymir was born at the intersection of ice and fire; the birth of the World Tree; the appearance of the nine realms; and even the elves, dwarves, titans… it was all no different from mythology, until the Twilight of the Gods came.

Unlike the records of later generations, this time, faced with the inevitable disaster, the gods did not accept their fate passively but tried all kinds of resistance. Ultimately, before the twilight was upon them, the Divine King Odin seemed to have truly found a solution, or perhaps discovered something unexpected.

In any case, he secretly gathered the gods, but this time the assembly didn’t occur within the Golden Palace, so Mimir didn’t know what they discussed.

After the assembly, Odin briefly returned to the palace, then left the Golden Palace alone; the other gods also departed one after another.

What followed was the disintegration of the roots, the collapse of the World Tree, the disintegration of the nine realms, and everything fell into oblivion.

According to Mimir, all this happened around seventy to eighty thousand years ago.

“Seventy to eighty thousand years… ago?!”

He committed the number firmly to memory, and a ridiculous hunch began to take shape in Laine’s mind, but he immediately pushed it aside. Not just because Mimir’s narration had come to an end, but because he had arrived at his destination.

“Is this the treasure vault of the Golden Palace, the Divine King’s treasury?”

Looking at everything before him, Laine was somewhat skeptical.

“Of course, actually there are many vaults in the Golden Palace, but this is the most crucial one, also the only one that still exists. The rest, even if the vaults themselves are still intact, the treasures inside them have probably, like the common extinguished Immortal Flame in the Golden Palace, lost all their power.”

“However, to open it, the correct method is still required, otherwise, once the vault collapses on itself, then nothing will be gained.”