Chapter 2439: The Beginning Of The End [20]

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"What?!"

Loki glared at Vilive. His body suddenly expanded to immense proportions. Giant arms ripped through Jormungandr’s flesh, tearing the monstrous beast apart to free himself.

CRAAASH!

"SHYAAAAAGGH!"

Blood sprayed everywhere. Vilive was drenched in it and felt strangely weakened, yet he dismissed the sensation. It held no consequence for this world’s future.

"Loki, face me!"

Vilive charged toward Loki while his siblings battled the swift and ferocious Fenrir.

"ROAAARR!"

The beast roared, baring razor-sharp fangs. It snapped through their weapons and shields. Skadi and Surtr struck from behind and the sides.

Skadi’s spear pierced its back, dealing steady damage and freezing its hide. Surtr slashed with his blazing sword, trying to burn or decapitate it.

Yet Fenrir was both durable and agile, dodging attacks effortlessly before slashing at their faces with claws or biting arms to crush bone.

"They can handle it!" Vilive trusted his siblings completely and surged toward Loki.

"Heh, don’t you think you defeated my son too quickly, Vilive?"

Loki laughed. Vilive suddenly felt a snake coil around his leg, yanking him backward.

"What?!"

"SHYAAAAH!"

Jormungandr hissed furiously. Though missing half its body, the wound had already regenerated. A new tail slowly regrew.

"It regenerates so quickly! This isn’t like before... Could it be...? Loki’s new power extends to his children too?"

Vilive realized Loki’s "Immortal Body" affected Fenrir and Jormungandr as well, granting them incredible regeneration.

Satisfied, Loki soared toward the barrier. He struck it with full force, using his staff to disrupt the runes before shattering it completely.

CRAAASH!

The primordial dragon mothers greeted him with their strongest breaths and magic. Loki activated Perfect Counter, reflecting every attack back at them.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Now, whatever you’re planning won’t work!"

Loki plunged toward Augustus’s Dominion, destroying it with a single bare-handed strike.

Dimensional membranes shuddered, cracking rapidly.

Until...

"SHOW ME WHAT YOU’RE TINKERING WITH!"

BOOOM!

The Dominion exploded. Energies erupted, warping space and plunging the area into black void.

"Well now, my apologies! Did I interrupt something special?"

"Nah. You arrived just in time."

"Hm?!"

Loki’s eyes widened. An overwhelmingly powerful yet familiar aura surged from the smoke.

As the haze cleared, Drake emerged, grasping a massive golden lance infused with the souls of two Primordial Gods.

It wasn’t merely Gungnir. Mjolnir had fused with it, radiating Odin’s light and Thor’s thunder.

Sunlight from Baldr completed the weapon—an ultimate artifact that should never have existed.

"Y-You... Pfff... Hahahaha! You utter fools! Did you truly believe slapping together a weapon like that would affect me?! Don’t make me laugh! You are not Odin, Drake! You will NEVER awaken its true power! Without Father, Gungnir is nothing but a glowing stick!"

"I’m well aware..." Drake replied calmly. "And yet!"

FLASH!

"Nguh?!"

Loki vomited blood. Drake blurred past, appearing behind him. The spear dripped with Loki’s blood.

"W-Wha...?! Impossible!"

Loki’s hands trembled. A massive hole gaped in his stomach—and it wasn’t regenerating.

The spear radiated the same Celestial Light that once nullified Concepts, the power Odin wielded.

It had taken Loki, his children, Pandemonium, and Chaos combined to finally defeat Odin because of this spear.

"Your father may be long dead, his soul gone forever," Drake said. "Yet his children live on! Their blazing souls burn as brightly as their father’s once did! Loki! You will fall by their hands!"

"Y-YOU DAMN LIZARD!!! Y-YOU! HOW CAN YOU WIELD A LANCE SO WELL?! YOU DEDICATED YOURSELF TO THE SWORD THIS ENTIRE TIME!"

"The Immortal Soul Blade Path no longer encompasses only the sword... Plus!"

FLUOSH!

Andromeda’s spiritual silhouette appeared behind Drake, creating a new Unique Skill to resolve the issue.

"{Primordial Dragon King System Art}: {Unique Skill Creation: Primordial Celestial Lance Arts: Odin’s Gungnir}!"

In that moment, a rush of knowledge flooded Drake’s mind. His muscles and entire soul adapted rapidly to the use of lances, mastering them instantly.

"This ends now, Loki!"

"Not yet!"

Drake charged toward Loki, blurring through his magic spells and army of clones. The spear impaled them all, causing explosions, yet Drake took barely any damage, shielded by his evolved barriers.

"Where do you think you’re going, coward?!"

Drake pursued relentlessly. Loki flew desperately on black wings, morphing them into hybrid fairy-dragon forms for greater speed. He shielded himself with black feathers and bird-like talons as he raced toward the crystalline roots beneath Helheim’s crust.

"We won’t let you pass!"

Helheim, the Death Dragons, and several other primordial mothers appeared, joined by Fuyu and her crew—including the dragons and Drake’s family—all defending the root with everything they had.

"Move out of the way!!!"

Loki screamed in fury, countering their attacks and manipulating reality. He sent them flying and killed a dozen dragons in the process, their souls and bodies exploding into fragments.

"Nooo!" Hel cried in horror as many of her children perished.

"LOKIIII!!!"

The enraged Death Dragon roared. She couldn’t reach him, but she poured a fragment of her soul into a curse.

"{PRIMORDIAL CURSE OF DEATH}!!!"

TRUUUM!

"Ngh?!"

Loki felt something dark latch onto his soul, but he ignored it and surged toward the roots, unhindered.

Drake tore through reality, reaching him a second later. His spear glowed as he unleashed a powerful technique.

"YOU’LL PAY! RAAAAHHHHH!"

Drake’s Aura erupted. Thousands of dragon spirits surged forth, merging with his lance. He unleashed a rapid barrage of piercing attacks, each releasing a ray of light that struck Loki’s body.

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

"NNGAAAHHHHH! MY DREAM...! I MUST...! I HAVE TO SAVE THIS UNIVERSEEEEEE!"

Loki screamed, riddled with holes across his torso, shoulders, arms, and legs. In desperation, he did something unthinkable—he tore off his lower body and used his faltering wings to soar above Drake.

"Y-YOU BASTARD!"

Drake followed instantly. Loki reached the crystal roots and passed through them. Drake did the same, entering Yggdrasil’s crystalline interior.

"What the hell happened?!" Benladann demanded.

"They went inside the root?!" Surtr exclaimed.

"Shit! We have to help them!" Miranda urged. "Go, go, go!"

The mechanical titan leaped into the roots as well. Everyone else stared in disbelief as the world trembled.

RUMBLE!

"W-We have to help...!" Hel muttered.

"No, this is beyond us now!" Muspel replied.

"W-What?!" Hel demanded angrily. "Muspel! There’s something we can do!"

"Yes—we can support Drake! Close your eyes and channel your power to him!" Ran said.

"Like before. It’s our only choice!" Asga added.

"Drake...! Drake, please...! You have to win! This world... it’s on the brink of destruction!" Hel wept openly as she focused. "I love you, Drake... please... please...!"

FLUOSH!

When Drake opened his eyes, he found himself drifting through an ethereal liquid.

Bright colors surrounded him, a crystalline ceiling above, and below—an endless abyss of azure light filled with glitching letters and shifting hues.

"Where... What... What happened?"

He glanced at his hand, gripping the golden spear tightly. Voices from within had roused him.

"Drake, wake up!"

"You have to move! Loki is about to reach Yggdrasil’s Core!"

It was Thor and Baldr.

"Ah! Right!"

Drake scanned his surroundings, realizing he was swimming through an endless ocean of...

Data.

"This is Yggdrasil’s body? This substance... It’s Primordial Energy, but... what else?"

"This is..."

Andromeda manifested beside him, gazing around in wonder.

"This is Yggdrasil’s true composition... I can feel it. I knew it! Is this where the voice came from? This is... where I came from!"

"You did?!"

"Yes... everything makes sense now! Yggdrasil... she was that computer."

"What? She is?! Wait... No, I have to find Loki!"

Drake swam as fast as possible, channeling Sea Dragon power into his body. His scale armor shifted into aquatic form, propelling him like a torpedo.

FLASH!

As Drake moved through Yggdrasil’s interior, countless images appeared—of humans, of beginnings.

Scientists creating the Quantum Gate. What emerged from within.

A tree formed from the devouring crystal—a fragment of the Crimson Queen.

The "antibody" Loki had mentioned.

This tree soared into the skies, then the cosmos.

For thousands of years.

Until...

"It can’t be... that was it?!"

Drake stared in shock at visions of the rocket carrying the tree, drifting endlessly in space, unable to reach another world.

Until...

The tree absorbed solar energy and nearby debris.

Through eons of this gradual process...

The small tree grew endlessly.

Over vast ages.

It became so gigantic it eclipsed entire solar systems.

Its hunger knew no bounds, consuming stars and planets.

To fuel its fruits.

Nine fruits bloomed on its branches, releasing rainbow essence.

The Concept of Fantasy was born. The tree merged with the accompanying computer, humanity’s data fusing with it completely.

Within that data, the tree discovered humanity’s deepest loves.

Fantasy.

Stories.

Mythology.

Gods.

Demons.

Titans.

Dragons.

Magic.

And more.

Inspired, the tree’s sole purpose became creation—to preserve humanity’s legacy.

Using the computer’s data, it replicated life across nine worlds: the Nine Realms of Yggdrasil.

Ymir and Tiamat emerged soon after.

Ymir, a gentle titan.

Tiamat, a fierce dragon.

One nurtured growth; the other offered protection.

Their children—titans and dragons—spread through the realms.

Then the Aesir arose from Yggdrasil’s smallest fruits.

Odin first, followed by the others.

They were enhanced humans, infused with Yggdrasil’s power. They could breathe in space and thrive anywhere.

Ultimate lifeforms.

Yet Yggdrasil feared chaos. She shaped her creation into an enclosure.

No god or being within could ever escape, keeping the outer universe safe.

"..."

Drake’s eyes widened, mouth agape.

These memories, these visions...

They revealed everything.

Yggdrasil’s past, her birth, all of it.

"It was that day that Fantasy was born..."

Andromeda’s voice echoed behind him, deeply connected to it all.

"You said Yggdrasil was a computer...?"

"No, more accurately, she merged with it—the original Supercomputer humanity created; Andromeda."

"And you... you’re her creation?"

"It could be said... I am Andromeda’s Soul, born from Yggdrasil. Perhaps she believed the machine deserved life too. Or maybe she felt pity. I can’t truly say."

Drake processed it all, realizing this universe once lacked magic entirely before the Quantum Gate. This world—and all its fantasy—was a byproduct of power drawn from the Crimson Queen.

"Loki! He’s there! Drake, catch him and end this!" Thor urged.

"Right!" Drake nodded, gazing ahead.

Loki stood before a giant; glowing azure crystal covered in circuits. It spun slowly, wrapped in crystalline roots and a powerful barrier.

Above it hovered a smaller white crystal, cracked and on the verge of shattering.

Loki stared at the core, hand pressed against the barrier, spreading red circuits through it.

"LOKI!"

"Drake, you’re late."

Loki glanced back as Drake struck, hurling him away in a massive explosion.

BOOOM!

Yet to Drake’s dismay, Loki’s corruption lingered in the core, spreading slowly.

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