Published at 9th of May 2019 6:57 pm

Volume 1, Chapter 10

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

During that time.

Oogami Hikaru was dreaming.

No, it would be more accurate to say that it was a vision of the future.

Where is this──?

When he came to, he found himself in a different world.

It was not Japan. Perhaps not even Earth.

Fire and ice, the vast expansive ocean surging with large waves. And a giant tree like a wall, growing tall without end.

The world looked as if the sphere and ellipse were merged together and split, and there existed no concepts of up, down, left or right.

There was a war taking place.

Between the gods and giants.

Between a demon wolf, a giant serpent, a fairy and the dead.

War hammers scattered the sparks as the thunders raged about, and war maidens spread their wings in the sky.

Exactly something worthy of being called a great war.

A crucible of destruction, radiating so much energy it reminded of the ending of the world.

“Twilight of the Gods.”

Someone suddenly spoke those words.

That someone had been standing besides him unnoticed.

It was the gal beauty──the goddess of destiny, Norn.

“‘Sup, Odin-sama. Finally woke up, have we?”

“Mmm...Yeah…”

Hikaru blinked his eyes, and then, he suddenly remembered it.

What, you ask? Everything. The origin and the past of the present world which was deemed as the Mythical World.

“I had a dream, Norn.”

“Oh? What kind of dream?”

“I had reincarnated into a different world. There was a country called Japan there. It was a small island-country, however it was still a nice country. And there, I lived as a relatively normal boy. Not as a god but as a human.”

“Hmm. That piqued my curiosity a bit. Can you tell me more about it?”

“It’s nothing that interesting, you know?”

“No worries. Please do tell.”

“Then, I shall. I lived in that world as an ordinary human. I had no special characteristics. I was quite an ordinary guy; my face wasn’t especially good, and nor was I tall. My only redeeming feature was the fact that I was always smiling.”

“Ooh? But y’know,from what you have told me so far, isn’t he quite like you, Odin-sama?”

“Is he?”

“Totally. He sounds exactly like you. Odin-sama, if it’s about average looks, you have everyone beat at that in the entire Asgard.”

“Ahaha. That’s a harsh way of putting it.”

“And the fact that he’s always smiling is also totally like you, Odin-sama.”

“Well, I still have my position as a great god to consider. Even if I look like this, there are actually a lot of people paying attention to me. In a way, you need to take the political consideration in mind when you stand at the top of the gods.”

“But even so, Odin-sama is the number one for me, y’know? You love wisdom and are loved back, you are the war god who discovered the secrets of the runes. You are the wielder of Gungnir, a great strategist who devised the strategy for the approaching final war. In the end, it’s all thanks to your existence that we gods are still here today.”

“But still, I lost.”

Hikaru said as he gazed ahead.

A war was unfolding.

The god of lightning, Thor, swung his warhammer, while the giant serpent, Jormungandr, bared its giant fangs.

The flame giant, Surtr, brandished his sword and the elven king, Freyr, answered his challenge to the death.

The marching forces of the giants crossed swords with the forces of the dead. Steel met steel and shed sparks, blood spurted like fountains, and the war cries, mixed with the death agonies covered the place.

“I lost.”

Hikaru repeated once more.

“And quite utterly at that. Even after I made an army made out of heroic spirits that I gathered in Valhalla, they didn’t prove to be much use in the end. I had prepared as I could for Ragnarok, but I failed to preserve the age of gods.”

“Can’t be helped.”

Norn said quite indifferently.

“Both wisdom and bravery have their rises and falls. Like, as long as something exists, it can’t escape the end. We call ourselves gods so self-importantly, but that’s the kind of existences we are, in reality.”

“You are quite pragmatic, Norn.”

“I’m a goddess of time and destiny, after all. That’s natural.”

I see, Hikaru nodded in response.

Well, some things were indeed like that.

The sense of values of the gods was quite lackadaisical compared to the human ones. Their proximity to primordial and the greatness that comes with power made them act that way.

“...So?”

Hikaru asked the main question.

“What is this? The scene I’m seeing right now──if my memory serves me correctly, Ragnarok should have ended long ago.”

“This is Ragnarok the Second.”

Norn said.

Even with the scene of the ceasing world before her, she was still acting the same.

For her who governed everything about time, every concept was equal, be this moment or another, the downfall or the rise, or even life and death.

As she was someone who nurtured Yggdrasil──the very world itself, both existence and nonexistence were equally precious for her.

“I don’t know about the human world, but we gods wouldn’t perish just by losing once, y’know. We are doing it all over again, naturally. We’ll do it as many times as needed, until we win.”

“Is this the so called parallel world theory?”

“Uhhh, I guess you could call it that?”

“Then, is it more like a world that loops again and again? The one that would go on for eternity until it find the most optimal conclusion.”

“Uhhh, I guess that wouldn’t be wrong either?”

“Oh, I got it. This is basically the imaginary Ragnarok space as the three sisters called it.”

“Well, that’s kinda different too.”

“...Okay, I give up. I have no idea.”

“Well, like, you don’t really have to understand it.”

Norn laughed and Hikaru shrugged his shoulders.

“Even I can’t understand it and I have soaked myself in the Fountain of Wisdom. We gods really act all high and mighty, but we are actually quite insignificant.”

“But that simply means that this world is that much profound, doesn’t it?”

“I’ve been thinking about this since long ago, but aren’t you the strongest, Norn? Since you govern over time, doesn’t that basically mean that you hold the key to every possible phenomenon?”

“But in exchange, I can’t do as I please. As this power has restrictions, the reason I separate into three sisters is also for the separation of powers, as humans call it.”

“By the way, you were also there in that dream I saw. I spend fun days along with Urdr, Verdandi and Skuld.”

“There is a thin line between dream and reality. Looking from that world, this world would be the dream instead. Moreover, I am the goddess of time and destiny. Past, present and future all fall within my field. I suppose I would be neglecting my duty if I didn’t exist everywhere, or I guess I should say it would be a contradiction.”

“I see. Then that other world is not a dream but a reality, huh──And in short, what happens on this side can interfere with that side.”

“Exactly. If this world perishes, so will that one. They are like the two sides of a coin, so if one side is damaged, the other one wouldn’t continue to exist either.”

Norn laughed and Hikaru shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, for Odin-sama, this reality is more like a transient illusion. Nothing really changes even if you know the truth.”

“You are right. I have work to do in that world──although, if I go there I would forget everything about this.”

“Well, that’s not a problem. Me on that side guides you in her own way, right? And moreover, me on that side and me on this side aren’t exactly identical beings.”

“You are so confusing.”

“Please forgive me on that part.”

“We are the same in that regard after all, right?”

“Eeexaactly.”

Norn laughed and Hikaru shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, I’ll be going now. It’s about to reach the part where Loki defeats Heimdall.”

“As expected, even you can’t stand and watch how your world ends, can you, Odin-sama?”

“I’m going now to prevent that from happening. In order to obtain the possible future in the worlds of possibilities──In order to find that one in a million, one in a billion hope, my being has crossed the dimensions. Leaving all my power and memories behind.”

“Yup. Well then, I’ll leave the other world in your hands. You understand what needs to be done right, Odin-sama?”

“I do very well. One is to regain my memories and power in that world.”

“And another?”

“To join in marriage with Loki and overwrite the Ragnarok future.”

“Yeaap. A perfect answer.”

Norn laughed and Hikaru shrugged his shoulders.

“But you know. Who would have thought that the best kind of solution would be for me to marry Loki.”

“There is a concept of political marriage in the human world. Loki is like Hisoka from Hunter × Hunter,so depending on how you handle it, he can end up as either the ally or the enemy.”

“But Loki is fundamentally a guy.”

“That’s just how it is circulated in the human world, isn’t it? There’s no real distinction between a man and a woman in the gods’ world. And the fact is, Loki was reborn as a girl in that world.”

“And took on that clumsy tsundere attribute, on top of it.”

“That’s the specialty of the Trickster, after all. It was always hard to guess how things would turn out when it came to him, so I say nothing’s changed.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

Hikaru watched as the world before his eyes headed towards its ruin.

Loki.

The most wicked evil god in Asgard.

Heimdall who opposed him was the god of light in charge of protecting Asgard, but it was obvious at a glance that he was having a hard time against him. Even the owner of the Gjallarhorn was at a disadvantage against the assaulting calamity that had turned into an avatar of ruin.

Loki.

He bared his fangs like a demon, like a mad beast, and laughed loudly with bloodshot eyes as he swung his bloodstained sword, someone who was once his friend and a sworn brother.

Many things had happened.

And due to them, he had turned hostile, and brought about Ragnarok──but that is a story for another time.

If he had to sit and wait for the destined Twilight to come, then why not try clinging to to that one possibility, however infinitely small it may be.

Odin and Loki.

And if it was possible for them, who ended up parting ways, to walk hand-in-hand once again, that would surely bring with it a bright future for all the comrades that had been divided into friends and foes.

“By the way, Norn.”

“What’s up?”

“Before I return to that world, care to lend an ear to my monologue? Rather than monologue, maybe it’s more like idle complaints? Or even a consultation? Depending on how you look at it.”

“Sure, sure. What do you wanna talk about?”

“About the past. Not of this but that world.”

“Sure sure. Go ahead, go ahead.”

“My name is Oogami Hikaru. And as I said before, I am a normal human. I was born in a relatively normal family, grew up relatively normally and had been living a relatively normal life.”

Thus, he started his narration, as he gazed towards the Ragnarok unfolding before his eyes.

Etching it all deep in his mind, his own failure, and the miserable and catastrophic future.

“And well, I have a childhood friend that I like, and down to earth parents that let me do as I please; honestly, I’m blessed in every way──In addition, the fact that I’m originally Odin makes me quite an oddball. But even so, my life still falls under the “Normal” category. Even if I get in disputes, they are never the matters of life and death, and even if sad things happen, they wouldn’t make me lose all my hair either. Each and every day is like a bath at the perfect temperature.

I was happy.

I was truly blessed with luck.

I am fully aware that there aren’t many people who lead a life like my own. I haven’t been born with any handicaps that dragged me down, and nor have I ever looked for people happier than me with bloodshot eyes and thrown curses around.

I was satisfied with what I had.

I was blessed to be born with such a fate, after all.

If everything went smoothly──and I think there was nothing that could really happen with such a life──then like any other normal person, I would date my childhood friend, and I would get married and make a family with her, then we would have children, raise them, then I would grow old, and finally, I would pass away surrounded by my family. I think I have obtained the greatest happiness possible, with all my being, all my power and all my soul.

It’s worthy of the guts pose.

That was quite unexpected, huh.

But yes, my face at that time would probably have the most peaceful expression with the best smile you could find.

But you see, Norn.

I’m going to say something really harsh now.

It was really, really boring.

It was awfully, unbelievably boring, to the point that I thought I would die of too much yawning.

No, I understand how that sounds. I did say it, after all. That I was going to say something harsh. The gluttony at its best, or the haughtiness of someone who has it all, call it whatever you want. That’s how it actually is so I can’t complain.

But it’s still the truth nonetheless, hence why I say it.

I’m confessing without trying to cover it.

That peaceful happiness was boring to the point that I got fed up with it.

I accepted that peace, I was thankful for that good luck, but somewhere deep down, I always kept thinking:

I hope this world just breaks apart.

I hope everything turns upside down, all sense of values get reversed, and both the peace and tranquility just gets blown apart.

Somewhere if not here, someday if not now, I want to see it with my eyes, experience it with my body.

And then, my wish came true.

Urdr, Verdandi and Skuld──Norn appeared before me.

I have finally obtained the “unordinary life” that I always dreamed of.”

Hikaru said, with a gentle smile on his face, the expression of peace and tranquility that he never let go of.

“And so?” Norn urged him, “How did it feel for your dearest wish to come true?”

“It was scary.”

Hikaru answered immediately.

His face still full of calm.

Maintaining his constant expression of peace and tranquility.

“When the world finally gets overturned, only then you realise the significance of the situation. After all, it’s not proper anymore, my current life, that is. I’m honestly worried whether Sakura can properly follow me along. Now I feel nostalgic of the times where I used to spend days in delusion. Those delusions actually came true, and yet I’m still perplexed at myself who had finally obtained that ‘unordinary life’──What do you think? I’m really strange, after all, aren’t I?”

“Yup.”

Norn nodded.

With her usual gal-like face which made it look as if she wasn’t thinking about it at all.

“You’re really strange. If your wish came true, you should be making merry with your hands raised, y’know. I’ll ask this just in case, Odin-sama──Hikaru-cchi couldn’t be thinking of returning to his former life, right?”

“Nope, he isn’t.”

“Then, you already have the answer, right?”

“Yup. I will stick to the position I was given. I will live my life as the reincarnation of Odin to the utmost.”

“Right~? There’s clearly no other option there, is it? What Hikaru-cchi is saying is basically asking for the impossible, isn’t it? As they say, honey is sweet, but the bee stings.”

“You sure cut me down with a single stroke.”

“I’m just saying the truth. Well, Odina-sama has always been the most humanly god among us. That’s why you were able to instead ‘stand at the top of the gods.’”

“But I ended up causing Ragnarok, in the end.”

“Well, you can reflect on that as you like. The possibility to rewrite the future of the demise has been left in the shape of Oogami Hikaru. As the representative of both gods and humans, you can go ahead and follow the path you wish to follow.”

“You always point out the truth.”

“So, is there anything else you wanna talk about?”

“Nope.”

Hikaru shook his head.

And then, he continued, while observing the disastrous scene of the final war with a calm and tranquil expression.

“That’s all. We are ending the talk here. Thank you, for listening to my silly complaints.”

“You’re welcome.”

“But still, I can only leave things to take their own course. I won’t have my memories or my power when I return there, anyway.”

“Having them would instead make you too overpowered. We are the way we are now exactly because we are neither all-powerful nor all-capable.”

“That’s also true. ...Then I’ll be going now. I am a transient existence now, I can’t materialize here for too long.”

“Sure, sure, see you later. ...Well, don’t be too stiffly and take it easy. This has been sort of an experiment from the start, and Odin-sama on that side is something like a mayfly, so to speak. It won’t be a problem even if there are no fruits. To be extreme, there’s also the choice to stay in that world without returning here, and live a fun and happy──”

Hikaru couldn’t hear her words to the end.

He once again fell into slumber, all while thinking about what tomorrow would bring for breakfast.

Share