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Late Evening - Mid Winter : Atlas, Bahamut

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*Vwowowoom* The faint hum of the void feeding on mana filled my ears as I slowly drifted toward a small black diamond floating in an endless sea of nothingness. "Hooh..." -Well.. making that gate hurt a lot...-

At most, it had been five minutes since I spoke with the goddess, but in all honesty, it felt like an eternity.

About four minutes after we started talking, dragons from the city started to come into the academy.

. or what was left of it.. to investigate what had happened and look around for survivors.

Thankfully, the goddess noticed and told me about them ahead of time, giving me a moment to make a gate and slip into the void before anyone could spot me, but the process of making the gate was nothing short of excruciating.

-I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it hurts to think too fast, considering I just took the sword swing of a god straight to my brain.

. but geez...- I had been simply debilitated.

My thoughts had slowed to the point that a single, basic gate took nearly a full minute, and although my reserve was still filling, I felt like I would pass out at any second.

-But I need to make it to my room before I can do that...- Too worried about how everyone would react to me disappearing after making such a scene, I needed to at least let them know I was alive, while at the same time staying out of sight until my visible wounds had healed.

It would have been perfect if I could have simply gone straight to my room through a gate, but unfortunately, the void marker I made for the estate was in the back garden, and I simply didn't have the brainpower to calculate where my room would be in relation to it with any kind of precision.

-I won't be able to cloak myself either. ..-

My only option was to use the marker and take a gamble on whether a maid would be able to cloak me before too many eyes saw me.

-Thankfully, it's still dark... So, the odds may be in my favor...-

But it was wishful thinking.

Finally reaching the void marker, I wasted no time creating the gate, and after an excruciating minute, I finished and promptly closed it on myself. "Ack!"

*Vwoop* *WHAM* I only fell a few centimeters after coming out of the gate, but without any aura to spread my weight out, I slammed down and sank into the grass almost instantly.

-Ugh...- Just barely managing to keep myself from collapsing on the spot, I looked up and tried to find the nearest maid, but rather than finding one, I found almost a dozen staring at me with wide eyes.

They were all gathered in the garden, looking out toward where the academy used to be, likely wondering what was happening, but I couldn't tell if their looks of panic and shock were from what they saw over the horizon or the way I looked.

But I could not have cared less. Instantly spotting Chloe in the mix of maids, I locked eyes with her.

"Chloe.. come cloak me in light magic and walk me to my room.

.." I spoke with labored breaths before she hastily ran over and did as instructed.

"As for the rest of you, don't say a word about the way I look to anyone. . even Mother... Am I understood?"

Most of them instantly started nodding, and after glancing at the stragglers, they followed suit.

Seeing Chloe look up at me and indicate she was ready, I glanced back over the maids again. "If anyone asks about my condition, simply tell them I looked tired or exhausted... If I hear that someone said otherwise, I won't take it lightly..."

Finally motioning Chloe ahead, we started walking out of the garden, but before we left, I called a few more maids to walk with us to help spread my weight out and lighten my steps. Without them, I would have sounded like an elephant walking through the estate.

But once we got to my room and opened the door, the maids scattered, and a massive wave of mana washed into me. "Hooh..." -That feels good...-

Finally following Chloe inside, she hastily closed the door before running over to my bed and activating several artifacts, one of which being for mana accumulation. "If I had known you would come back in such a state, I would have prepared more..." She spoke with worry woven in her words.

"There is no need to worry yourself over an 'if'. This is already plenty..."

"My Lord..." She hesitated as she motioned me over and had me lay down. "How could I not worry."

Finally sinking into the cushion, a wave of drowsiness started overtaking my mind, and at the same time, Chloe ran into the corner of the room and picked up several items while changing to her dragon form.

"Could I clean you and treat your wounds, my lord?" She sounded a bit rushed as if knowing I was on the verge of falling asleep.

"Mhmm..." I immediately rolled onto my side before exposing my still-wounded belly. "Just don't leave anything in the wounds themselves.. even the deep ones... They'll heal.. on their own..."

The next thing I knew, I felt the gentle caress of a damp rag on my scales, and as if signaled by it, my heavy eyelids finally shut.

My exhausted body could finally rest.

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Early Morning - Mid Summer : Goldenflower | The Holy Kingdom

- Skuld, The Goddess of Oracles ~

It was the heart of summer, a season typically bathed in warmth, but somehow, a peculiar chill had settled that morning, as though everything was draped in a thin layer of frost.

*Sweep-Sweep* *Sweep* Glancing down at the sole caretaker of my church, I watched her diligently sweep up the dust and leaves that had settled in the main hall overnight before cleaning the dilapidated seats and washing the windows with a warm, unwavering smile.

But for once, I could understand her joy in doing what she did.

"Nanny, nanny!" The innocent voice of a child echoed through the hall as a young girl skipped through the main entrance with a handcrafted basket cradled in her arms. "Will we have breakfast together again? Mom fixed bread and jelly!"

"Hoho, only if you don't mind me taking the softest piece of bread." She spoke with a slightly playful tone before seeing the child's joy and turning back to the colorful window she was cleaning. "Just allow me a moment to wrap up here, alright?"

"Okay!" The young girl immediately pranced towards my statue at the front of the hall, making herself comfortable at its base before uncovering the steaming bread and grabbing the smallest piece. "Om..."

Her cheeks slowly turned rosy as she chewed on the warm bread and watched the priestess continue her cleaning, but after a moment, she looked straight up at my statue and squinted her eyes.

"Hmm..." After a moment of deep pondering, she joyfully hopped up onto her feet and looked up at me before spreading her arms wide. "Goddess of Oracles, Skuld, the Goddess that rains downtime and fate, what is my prayer."

"~Pfft...~"

The priestess instantly let out a chuckle. "Darling, it's 'the Goddess that reigns over time and fate, please accept my prayer'."

"Ah, right!" Quickly shuffling her stance, the girl looked up at me and spread her arms once more. "Goddess of Oracles, Skuld, the Goddess that reigns over time and fate, please accept my prayer!"

But there was only a moment of silence that followed her voice.

"I'm sure the goddess admires your spirit, but you must offer mana for her to connect with you." Finally finishing, the priestess set aside what she was using to clean and made her way over to the young girl.

But rather than the girl opening her eyes with a disappointed look, he pure smile and sparkling eyes didn't waver. "I know! I just want to make sure she knows I love her!"

A foreign warmth instantly found its way to my face as I instinctually smiled.

"Hoho, how cute!" The priestess immediately rubbed her head. "If you show that love for long enough, who knows! Maybe one day you'll become a proper priest!"

"Hehe~" Her smile filled the hall with warmth almost instantly, quickly thawing the frost that had formed on my soul as the early morning sun shed light through the colorful windows by the entrance.

It was truly a scene deserving of a painting. "Well, let's not dally and let your Mother's hard work go cold this morning, okay?"

"Okay!" With an innocent smile, the young girl wasted no time trotting back up to the statue.

But the moment she got there, the warmth in my chest vanished, and everything froze in place.

*Vwoom* The presence of a god appeared behind me instantaneously.

It was Eir, but I couldn't even turn around to face her.

"Skuld," her tone was frosty and stern. "What are you doing..."

Silence immediately wrapped around us before I slowly sat up. "I'm living."

"Living?" Indignation seeped into her voice. "Living?! While everyone around you dies, you are sitting back and simply.. living?!"

Her words pierced my soul like daggers of ice, but somehow, I didn't shy away that day. "If you were me, what else would you have done?"

"The least you could have done was give Vidar and Freya oracles-"

"You know that wouldn't have been possible," I spoke bluntly as I looked back at her.

"Freya's disdain for me was no secret, and Vidar never once acknowledged my existence after his mother's death.

If you really want to throw blame at someone, blame Odin.

All he needed to do was send them to me.

They would have listened..." Turning away, I looked back at the young girl below, happily reaching for a steaming piece of bread. "But he is too afraid of fate."

Eir instantly fell into silence.

"The Aesir is in shambles because of Odin, whether you wish to acknowledge it or not... The question now is whether you will remain loyal to a man who would throw his own son into a wolf's den because he cannot face his own fear."

Her eyes slowly widened. "You..."

"Haah… I'm going to leave the Aesir.. and hope the Fenrir are as merciful as Grace has said." As I slowly stood up, a vision surfaced in my mind, and my expression darkened. "I don't expect you to understand me yet, but maybe you will eventually… At least I hope…”

Giving her one last look, I saw her angered expression had washed with worry.

“I know you used to worry about me.. but this time you need to focus on yourself… Frigg is a powder keg, and Odin is a crazed pirate with a match. Whether you wish to take that as a warning or the crazed ramblings of a woman who lost touch with herself.. It’s up to you…

I just hope you don’t fall into the same hole the others did… "

*Vwoom* The moment I disappeared, my church, frozen in time, was wrapped in silence.

Excruciating silence.

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Behold, "The Queen of the Frost"