-----
"Brother..." the warrior carrying the hammer sighed, his expression conflicted and sorrowful as he gazed at Oberon.
"Loki! Youâve returned?! After everything youâve done?!" the other figure roared, pointing his bow at Oberon while manifesting arrows of brilliant divine light.
"Hah... My, if it isnât my dear siblings, Thor and Baldr! It has been ages. How has death treated your souls lately? If it wasnât for Oblivion, you wouldnât even have the privilege of existing after death. I must admit summoning him was our first and greatest mistake. The Concept of Oblivion... it should never have been brought into this universe. Itâs a cancer devouring everything."
"If it wasnât for him, this entire world would be gone..." Thor muttered angrily, gritting his teeth. "Weâve all committed grave mistakes! But weâve spent this entire time trying to repent for what we did! Our father will never have this chance. You let him die under Pandemoniumâs wrath!"
"I did it? Hah! Now weâre shifting blame when it was all his fault for what he did to that child? When I suggested letting him die, because the concept of Hell should never exist in this universe? You never listened to my words! It didnât stop with Oblivion. Then Pandemonium, followed by Chaos! And that other woman, Heaven and Earth!"
"It is true we summoned them out of greed for power, and it is true they went berserk because of us," Baldr admitted. "I take all the blame, and I will continue repenting for eternity if necessary... However, we promised Father we would protect this world, even with our dying breaths or our broken souls if needed."
"Hah! Thatâs rich coming from you! I still canât believe youâre saying this now, Baldr, when you were the most arrogant of us all!"
"That wicked monster brainwashed you that day! You stopped being our brother then!" Thor roared.
"The Crimson Queen enlightened me that day. She revealed the truth about Yggdrasil and the power of Fantasy! When you summoned the Four Concepts, you brought chaos to this universe. Youâre destabilizing everything! Destroy the world? Hardly! Iâm only trying to clean up the mess you all made! In fact, none of you should even exist right now! Fantasy is a Concept that should never have been bornâa cancer eating away at the universeâs very roots. The Crimson Queen was merely the antibody. Humanity was the virus that had to be eliminated when they tapped into the Quantum Gate!"
"Humanityâs legacy has nothing to do with whatâs happening now, Loki! This world is not Earth!" Baldr said.
"Itâs a byproduct... Born from their mistakes and humanityâs relentless desire to live, despite knowing they are this universeâs bane... Drake, I bet youâre confused. But I know youâre piecing it together too! Do you see it now? What is all this about? What my battle has been about this entire time?!"
"..."
The Quantum Gate, humanityâs first attempt to reach other Parallel Dimensions.
The Crimson Queen, the interdimensional entity that invaded Earth through the Quantum Gate, crystallizing everything and destroying humanity.
Somehow, that was connected to what was happening right now?
Oberonâno, Lokiâknew all of this?
Drake couldnât believe it.
But what was this about humanity being a virus to the universe?
The Crimson Queen as some sort of antibody?
"This universe is collapsing! All of it will be destroyed, and once reality begins to bleed out, THEY will grow even stronger. You wonât be able to stop THEM! Itâs far better to end it all now, to let the other life in the universeânot the one created by Oblivion, but the naturally occurring life across thousands of planetsâexist in peace, away from humanityâs mistakes! Quintillions of living beings will die because of your fault! Donât you see how noble my cause is?! Iâm only trying to save this universe! From all of us!"
Drake felt utterly confused. He didnât even know what to believe anymore.
Was he a cancer?
Was their existence destroying the universe?
And who were "
THEY
" that Oberon spoke of with such fervor?
It felt like he was finally descending even deeper into madness, rambling like someone delirious.
And yet... why did it all make a twisted kind of sense?
"Dragon King! Do not listen to his words! Theyâre half-truthsâlies coated with undeniable facts that donât justify the extremist path heâs chosen! He has gone mad and is nothing but a puppet to the Crimson Queen!"
Hel tried to reach Drake, to pull him back to his senses.
"I am no puppet. She never controlled me. She only revealed the truth. Drake, I know youâre not too stupid to see the correct side. I have brought you here so you could hear it from them first. See? Do you see it now? What Yggdrasil has birthed? What humanityâs legacy truly is? Do you want the universe destroyed? For all life in it to end? Come with me. Help me defeat them. Weâll end this world, and then weâll travel to the edges of the stars to destroy Oblivion together."
Drake remained silent, but memories flooded his mindâeverything he had experienced in this new life, his family, his children, his friends, his home.
"I donât want the universe destroyed, but I donât want to destroy this world either. I have a family here; one I must protect. Iâll find another way to solve this, Oberon. Thereâs no need to destroy everything. Youâre taking things too far!"
"Hah... I expected nothing, and you still disappointed me, you brainless lizard. All of you..."
Oberon raised his hand. A golden scepter suddenly appeared in his grasp, unleashing shockwaves of primordial magic.
"He got Laevateinn?!" Thor cried.
"I thought that weapon was destroyed! How?!" Baldr gasped.
"Hah, Deus fixed it for me. He asked Augustus! Isnât it hilarious? He really thought my weapon was his, but he didnât even notice when it vanished from his hand. My precious Laevateinn responds only to my call and my voice. Mjolnir and Gungnir are destroyed now, by the way. So donât hope for your shiny hammer back, Thor."
"Mjolnir is more than a hammer. It is part of my very being. I wield its soul! And thatâs more than enough to smash your head, brother!"
"Hahah! Why donât we settle this old rivalry today, eh, Thor? Come at me."
"LOKIIIII!"
RUMBLE!
-----