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The Calling of Wrath - Book 2 - Chapter 5 - Ragnarök

Added 2022-09-12 23:59:50 +0000 UTC

Sorry for the delayed chapter. I've been busy with classes recently.

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The World Tree
Year 820 | Month 2 | Day 29

All three of the kings grit their teeth at the words coming out of the large dragon.

‘That bastard really doesn’t give a shit about the inhabitants of the plane…’ Archibald thinks while trying hard not to express his thoughts on his face but only mostly succeeding.

The ancestor narrows his eyes on the three kings before continuing, “The reason for the System sealing itself away is entirely due to Ragnarök.”

All three of the kings stare at the ancestor with interest obvious on their faces.

Nidhogg stares at the three of them, followed right after by the various sacred beasts around them – each of them having different appearances – before continuing, “Before I get into what Ragnarök is, I should explain how monsters are formed.”

“Unlike with how some of you humans might have thought, monsters are not a product of the System. Monsters are instead created by the merging of a particular type of energy called Sin energies – which are created individually for each Sin whenever a large amount of that Sin is present, whether Wrath, Pride, Greed, Sloth, Lust, Envy, or Gluttony – with the natural elemental energies found in each of the planes,” the dragon says while slowly raising one of his clawed hands and manipulating the various elemental energies above it, making dozens of small balls of different colors float around above his hand. “Sin energies themselves are not well understood and break the laws of the System entirely. However, as it should be, throughout most of time, the Sin energies have been limited thanks to the Protectors’ influences on their planes.”

Unbeknownst to the dragon, Archibald digs his fingernails into the palm of his hand at the terms ‘Sin energy’ and ‘Wrath’ in an attempt to keep his reaction completely unnoticed.

“But that all changed when the Protector of the plane known as Hell was slain several millennia ago,” the dragon continues in a more melancholic tone than before. “This happened thanks to an irregular within the System – someone whose powers and abilities broke through to level 100 on their own, without any extra assistance from the System. And ever since then, the Sin energies within existence began to go into disarray, starting within Hell.”

The three kings share a glance before focusing on the dragon again.

‘Sin energy… Cassandra…’ Archibald thinks with a frown.

“More and more Sin energy began to appear, causing a greater number of monsters along with it. Until eventually, three strange lifeforms began to come into existence – each of them coming from two or three different types of Sin energy mixing with the elements around them,” Nidhogg continues while lowering his claws again and dispelling the magic. “This is what was called Ragnarök.”

Archibald’s eyes widen at that before muttering, “Jormungandr?”

The dragon’s eyes immediately lock onto his and he nods, “Correct. The serpent forever locked within the grand ocean is indeed one of the three beings that were created by the Sin energy.”

Both Slycaria and Valtar turn their gaze, along with many of the sacred beasts, towards the ocean beneath the tree. Meanwhile, the dragon continues speaking, “The other two beings – Fenrir and Fafnir – were also sealed away, just like the serpent. However, Fenrir was sealed away in a spatial dimension created by the System during its lockdown, while Fafnir was turned into the World Tree itself.”

This time, the gazes of every last being – human and sacred beast – turn to stare at Nidhogg in shock.

“The World Tree is a monster?!” “What?!” “Why are we spending our lives to protect it then?!”

“Silence!” Nidhogg shouts, his voice echoing throughout the entire tree and startling the many sacred beasts not in attendance at the meeting. He then lowers his voice and explains, “If someone were to try to destroy the World Tree, then it would only serve to awaken the sleeping dragon within, making it return to its original form.”

“But what about the World Tree Sap that we’ve been consuming?” Slycaria asks with a scowl on his face.

Nidhogg turns his gaze to the king and says, “That Sap is a byproduct of Fafnir’s lifeblood and the energy that runs the System merging in an attempt to weaken the dragon before he eventually escapes.”

Rounds of whispering voices fill the hall, but Archibald’s voice drowns them out as he says, “So our consumption of the World Tree Sap has been slowly weakening Fafnir this entire time? Does that mean he’s already been weakened enough for us to fight him?”

The dragon shakes his head with a solemn look before saying, “Unfortunately not. Fafnir is by far the strongest of the three, with him having been formed from the three Sins, Wrath, Pride, and Greed, with a specific focus on Wrath. It is why he was the only one that was turned into a World Tree while the other two were strictly sealed away.”

A shiver runs down the spines of many of the participants in the meeting at the thought of a dragon influenced by those three Sins.

“Jormungandr was the weakest of the three, with him only being formed from the Sins of Sloth and Pride,” Nidhogg continues before looking up at the sky, “whereas Fenrir was formed from the Sins of Sloth, Envy, and Gluttony.”

Silence fills the World Tree as all of the participants of the meeting take in the knowledge given to them by the Protector of Midgard.

Meanwhile the dragon himself focuses his gaze upon a single duchy within the Liathtria continent, where a woman with a mask over her face and a red cloak can be seen killing monsters within the Dark Forest with a group of adventurers.

‘It appears she is still growing,’ he thinks to himself slowly while watching her fight. ‘I just hope she can grow quickly enough to deal with Fafnir before he is released.’

Nidhogg watches her fight for a few minutes before looking down at the heart of the tree and thinking, ‘Such a miserable situation, having to rely on a former human to do my job…’

A short amount of time passes until Archibald finally speaks, “If this is the case, then shouldn’t we finish dealing with the invaders faster so that we can help with this?”

The dragon looks at him with disdain and snorts, “As if you could do anything against one of the three Sinful beings.”

He then turns to once again look at the only living Wrath being in the universe that is not Fafnir.

“At Fafnir’s current strength, the only being that might be able to retain their sanity around him would be an Incarnation of Wrath,” Nidhogg mutters out loud.

Archibald follows his gaze and his words before parting his mouth slightly in shock and thinking, ‘Shit.’

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PS: Yes I know Fafnir is not part of Ragnarök in mythology. I just thought Fafnir would work better for the story, seeing as dragons feel better to represent Wrath.

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