Chapter 78

Allfather smiled broadly, showing his teeth.

The thrilling pain, the cold air, even Freya’s killing intent were all incredibly welcome.

All of these were proof that he had reached the middle realm.

“I’d like to enjoy this sensation a bit more… but it seems difficult as my body is in no condition.”

Allfather was greatly disappointed as he felt the limitations of his body. The warrior’s body wasn’t sturdy enough to contain a god’s spirit.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely unrelated to Allfather’s rough treatment of the body. How could it be fine after plucking out a perfectly good eye?

Freya pointed at Allfather and scolded him.

“That’s why you shouldn’t possess a body that doesn’t match your level. And why did you pluck out the eye, don’t you see our darlings are scared because of that?”

“Uh… us?”

Skadi asked back in puzzlement, pointing to herself and Sira. They weren’t such naive shamans to be frightened just because an eye was plucked out.

They were already tough women who had seen their fair share of gruesome sights…

“Um, Freya. We’re fi-“

“Hmm, indeed it’s not a pleasant sight.”

When Wendigo nodded and supported Freya’s claim, Skadi swallowed her words as if she had never said anything.

As Skadi smiled faintly, Sira sighed.

It was already maddening that a self-proclaimed god had plucked out his own eye, but now even Skadi, the most calm and sensible one, was starting to lose it…

Allfather pointed at Sira, who was sighing, with a sly smile.

“That young lady’s reaction isn’t scared at all? And if they were to be scared, wouldn’t the ogre next to you be scarier than me?”

“?”

“Indeed, you have strong prejudices, as expected of an old person, no, an old god. Gulmag is a kind ogre.”

Wendigo lightly countered Allfather’s point. Allfather looked at Wendigo as if that couldn’t be true, but he didn’t back down from his assertion.

Honestly, Gulmag was more sensibly kind than Allfather, who plucked out his believer’s eye while alive.

Wendigo glared at Allfather and warned him:

“Your body doesn’t look good either, so I’d like you to get to the point quickly.”

“Oh my, I’m sorry. I got carried away with idle talk in the excitement of returning. By the way, before we get to the main point… how about sending those young ladies out?”

“You mean Skadi and Sira? Why?”

Wendigo didn’t let down his guard. The gods of the North were bad guys acknowledged by Freya.

It wouldn’t be strange for such beings to try something with them while they were separated from him.

Sensing Wendigo’s wariness, Allfather explained to Wendigo with a sour expression.

“The story I’m about to tell is quite an old one. I don’t mind them listening, but… honestly, I don’t think the shamans will just listen quietly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Shamans with piqued curiosity tend to chatter like cuckoos. Unfortunately, with my body, if I try to answer all their questions, I’ll die before I can get to the main point.”

“Surely they wouldn’t… they would, wouldn’t they.”

Flinch.

Allfather’s sharp guess made Skadi and Sira turn their heads with awkward faces.

Wendigo looked at them with a dumbfounded expression.

Even so, to think they were planning to ask questions when anyone could see it wasn’t normal…

They blushed and made excuses.

“There are so few records about gods in the world…”

“It’s even a being whose name we didn’t know. It’s unavoidable curiosity for a shaman.”

Honestly, Wendigo, who was far from such intellectual curiosity, found it difficult to understand them, but…

Blood is thicker than water, so Wendigo decided to accept their excuses.

“Indeed, the curiosity of shamans is an unavoidable instinct.”

“Are you doubting me? Although I’ve fallen so low that I couldn’t even leave my name, no one in this winter land could lie using my name. If you want, I could even swear-“

“Good. Swear that you won’t try anything with those two.”

“……”

Allfather was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Wendigo to come on so strongly.

Those who deal with gods were usually high in status and ability.

Naturally, such people would think ‘If a god is saying this much, it must be believable’ and let it pass when gods mentioned oaths…

‘Do spirits these days have no desire for honor?’

Allfather’s judgment could be considered half wrong. Even after the gods disappeared, spirits were still arrogant and obsessed with strange honor.

However, Wendigo didn’t have much desire for honor and didn’t believe in something as unclear as honor.

‘Among those I’ve met so far, it’s rare for someone not to mention honor.’

The boar, Oneton, and even the shamans who came with threats in the name of deals, all had their own sense of honor.

However, in Wendigo’s eyes, honor was nothing more than an accessory. There were too many who would kill someone and say it was unavoidable for honor.

‘I can’t entrust the lives of my people to such a thing, and there’s no reason to.’

Wendigo glared at Allfather as if telling him to swear quickly.

Those who think of themselves as honorable find it difficult to take back their words.

Allfather swore with a sour expression.

“I swear by the Creator, my father and mother, that I will not extend my hand to Skadi and Sira…”

“I’d like you to swear more clearly. Extending a hand can be interpreted too ambiguously.”

“……”

Allfather looked at Wendigo with a dumbfounded expression.

What kind of guy is this…?

Watching this scene, Freya felt completely refreshed, as if she had drunk ice-cold water.

‘Hehehe. Wendigo, you were so annoying as an opponent in verbal sparring, but at times like this, you’re really lovable!’

Freya looked at Wendigo with a gaze full of goodwill.

Wendigo felt that gaze and was puzzled. He couldn’t understand why Freya suddenly showed goodwill.

‘Is she crazy?’

A short and rude thought that would make Freya scream if she knew crossed Wendigo’s mind.

Only after Allfather made a clear and complex oath regarding Skadi and Sira could he finally converse with Wendigo.

---

Allfather began to tell an old story to an audience that was hard to imagine: two spirits and one ogre.

At first, Wendigo thought it wouldn’t be very helpful. What he lived in was not the past but the present, and what he needed to care about was the future.

However, Wendigo’s thoughts gradually changed as Allfather’s story grew longer.

“So… the children of the Creator who created the world are gods, and they were banished because they caused a lot of trouble?”

“You could say that. The Creator was the most benevolent being, so He couldn’t just watch as the middle realm fell into chaos.”

“But couldn’t He have made the gods good from the beginning?”

Wendigo doubted Allfather’s unbelievable words. Logically, if the Creator didn’t want it, there was no reason for his children’s personalities to be a mess.

However, Allfather shook his head and spoke.

“The Creator was omnipotent but not omniscient. The void He used as material to shape the world was already tainted with evil.”

That’s why the world was indiscriminately born with evil people, good people, and those in between. Even the gods couldn’t escape this law…

Wendigo asked Allfather, puzzled:

“Then are spirits’ personalities messed up because they’re tainted with evil?”

“Hahaha. Indeed, spirits’ personalities are quite messed up. It seems that hasn’t changed from the old days to now.”

“Correct. Spirits, bad personality.”

“… Why are you looking at me?”

Freya grumbled at the sharp gazes coming from around her, and Allfather burst into laughter while fiddling with his empty eye socket.

“Spirits’ bad personalities aren’t because they’re tainted with evil, but because of the law of survival of the fittest. That law is the strongest law that came into being as soon as the world was born.”

‘Indeed, spirits basically look down on the weak.’

To follow the law of survival of the fittest, one needed the ability to judge whether the other was weak.

Naturally, spirits born from nature, who were nature itself, couldn’t help but be strongly influenced by this law.

Moreover, since they were surrounded by beings weaker than themselves, it was a natural progression for spirits to become arrogant and cunning.

“Well, let’s move past these boring old stories. It’s good to learn from the past, but there’s no reason to postpone problems that need to be solved right now.”

“Right. Why did you appear in the forest? You weren’t interested before you were banished by the Creator.”

Freya glared at Allfather with a displeased expression.

Although his personality might have mellowed after living as an exile for a long time, his essence hadn’t changed.

The essence of being a war god who praised the tragedy of warriors and enjoyed watching dozens of lives end.

Allfather snorted at Freya’s question.

“Freya, are you really going to pretend you don’t know? Don’t you truly understand what it means that I’ve returned?”

“You two, stop talking about things only you understand. We’re young, so we don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Gulmag scolded them with a frustrated expression.

Allfather pointed at Gulmag and said:

“Where did your high intelligence come from?”

“From a strange fruit.”

“Yes, a fruit. That’s the fruit of wisdom that only grew when gods walked the middle realm. It’s a mysterious fruit that makes anyone realize intelligence and awaken to good and evil.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Wendigo urged Allfather.

This old god seemed so happy to return to his homeland after a long time that his tongue was too long.

“The banished gods have started returning to the middle realm, and the awakening of the fruit of wisdom and relics is just the beginning of it.”

Allfather looked at Gulmag and tapped his head once, then tapped a stone fragment he picked up from the ground once more as he spoke.

Throwing away the stone fragment, Allfather drew runes in the air to create a large circle and several circles surrounding it.

Allfather pointed to the largest circle and opened his mouth.

“This circle is the middle realm. The biggest, greatest, and most perfect place. It could be said to be the most interesting and enjoyable place of all.”

“What about the other circles?”

“What else? They’re the dimensions the Creator separated for the banished children.”

Lines extended from the various dimensions surrounding the middle realm towards the middle realm.

Wendigo realized that this represented the connections between the middle realm and other dimensions.

“It seems gaps have formed between the dimensions.”

“Yes. You could say it’s the result of efforts to return to the middle realm. However… it’s not enough for the gods to return to the middle realm.”

“So that’s why you’re possessing a warrior’s body instead of descending directly.”

Allfather nodded. Naturally, Wendigo became suspicious.

What on earth was the reason for coming to the forest?

“It’s suspicious. The forest people have faint faith in the old gods, so what’s the reason for coming to this forest?”

“You’re asking the obvious. Of course, I came to find you, didn’t I?”

Allfather’s single eye shone as he extended his hand to Wendigo.

“Would you like to do great things with me?”

“……”

Wendigo looked at Allfather’s hand.

Then he looked at Freya’s face, then Gulmag’s face, and…

“… Truly, this is the first time I’ve wanted to decline an offer so much.”

Wendigo moved away from Allfather with disgust. There was no need to even smell it.

This guy was clearly a con artist.