The Demon King unleashed his immense power and used his colossal, mountain-like body, extending both hands toward the edges of the gigantic dimensional rift as he attempted to force it shut.
His hands gripped the boundaries of the rift, and he began pushing them toward one another with tremendous force.
The entire Ghost Realm trembled.
The gray sky shook violently.
Even the black mist started to fade in the areas closest to the Demon King's overwhelming power.
But...
Despite all of that...
He felt an enormous resistance coming from within the rift itself.
He frowned slightly and muttered in a low voice,
"It seems this will take some time."
The task was not beyond his abilities.
Rather, the rift was simply enormous. It had remained open for many years and had become part of the very fabric of that world, so it would require time before it could be completely sealed.
The Demon King felt a slight sense of irritation.
At that moment, he sensed two familiar auras approaching.
It was his wife, Mary, and his daughter, Lilith.
He looked at the rift once more.
Realizing that sealing it would take some time, he temporarily left it and quickly flew toward them.
As soon as Mary arrived, she looked at him with a frown and asked,
"Weren't you able to close it?"
The Demon King shook his head and replied,
"No, I can close it."
Then he calmly continued,
"But it will require some time."
He pointed toward the dimensional rift and added,
"During that time, I want you to strengthen your efforts in driving those creatures away."
"The fewer of them remain, the faster I will be able to finish sealing the rift."
Mary nodded in agreement.
Then she turned toward Lilith and gently said,
"Forgive me, my little one."
"I must handle this myself."
Lilith quickly shook her head with a faint smile. At last, she had understood the truth, and the misunderstanding that had existed between her and her mother throughout the long years of separation had finally come to an end.
She said,
"No, Mother."
"You should focus on this danger."
Then she looked at the dimensional rift and added,
"It is extremely dangerous."
"It must be eliminated as quickly as possible so that your Ghost Realm will no longer face any threat."
Mary laughed softly after hearing her daughter's words.
She felt proud as she saw how much Lilith had matured.
Then she said with affection,
"You truly are my daughter, my beautiful little one."
She continued with a smile hidden beneath her robe,
"You know how to distinguish between what is more important and what is less important."
"That is why..."
"You truly are my daughter."
Far away from Mary, the Demon King, and Lilith...
In Asgard...
Odin sat inside the Hall of Rulers.
It was the hall that he and his siblings had built atop the mountain from which Surtr had been born.
All the rulers and leaders of Asgard sat around him, discussing the kingdom's future and how it would progress over the coming years.
The meeting lasted for a long time.
Everyone exchanged opinions and strategies.
After lengthy discussions...
Odin decided to establish a clear hierarchical system for governing Asgard.
He began assigning responsibilities to the rulers.
He appointed Loki as the head of the intelligence network.
He appointed Hela as the commander of the royal guard and the one responsible for defending Asgard.
As for Freya, the only possessor of healing power in Asgard, he entrusted her with complete authority over the treatment and care of Asgard's people.
He also instructed her to select a group of the most skilled female warriors to form her own special team.
He assigned Neptune and Skadi to oversee the naval fleets that would be built in the future to expand Asgard's influence.
He appointed his son Apollo as the direct supervisor of the remaining rulers whose ranks were below those of Hades, Athena, and Poseidon.
Those three occupied a special position.
No one possessed the authority to issue orders to them except Odin himself.
After arranging the positions and distributing the responsibilities...
He looked at the rulers and calmly said,
"The meeting has ended."
Then he gestured toward the hall's entrance.
"You may leave now."
Everyone bowed respectfully.
Then they departed one after another.
Only Odin and his siblings remained inside.
Silence filled the hall for several moments.
Then Odin looked at them and spoke in a serious voice,
"I must enter a long period of seclusion."
He continued,
"I intend to reach the greatest level of power I can possibly attain."
"And I want to push every one of my abilities to their absolute limits."
He then looked at his siblings one after another and said,
"You must all do the same."
"The years ahead will not be easy."
"And when the Great War begins..."
"Only the strongest will survive."
Poseidon and his siblings carefully considered Odin's proposal.
Without question, they wished to reach the utmost limits of their strength and potential, and they believed that if they succeeded, they would become even stronger than the dragons themselves.
However...
They were not entirely comfortable with leaving the responsibility of Asgard in the hands of the younger rulers and their children.
Silence filled the hall for several moments.
Then Athena raised her head after a brief moment of thought, looked at Odin seriously, and asked,
"Are you certain about this, Brother?"
She crossed her arms and continued,
"If you do this, you are leaving all of Asgard's responsibilities in the hands of those youngsters."
"No matter how talented they may be, they still lack the experience we have gained over the years."
Odin calmly shook his head, showing not the slightest hesitation.
Then he replied in a cold yet confident voice,
"We were children as well when we accomplished everything we achieved, Athena."
He continued while looking at everyone,
"And do not forget that we are the children of Asgard."
"Our own children will guide and protect it just as we did."
"They will never learn to lead if we continue carrying every responsibility for them."
Athena remained silent for a moment, reflecting on his words.
Then she nodded in agreement.
Turning toward the rest of her siblings, she declared,
"I stand with Odin on this matter."
Poseidon and Hades looked at one another.
They remained silent for some time.
The decision was difficult.
But in the end, it was a decision made by Odin, the one with the greatest experience in governing Asgard.
After long consideration...
The two of them nodded in agreement.
They decided to place their trust in their brother's judgment.
And to leave the responsibility of Asgard in the hands of the new generation.
When Odin saw that all of his siblings had agreed, a faint smile appeared on his face.
He rose from his seat and said,
"Good..."
"Now we can begin our true training."
The moment he finished speaking, he disappeared instantly.
He headed toward a distant place where he would enter a long period of secluded cultivation.
His siblings did not hesitate either.
Each departed for a different location to begin their own seclusion.
From Odin's determination, they understood that the matter was of the utmost importance.
Therefore, they wasted no time on further discussion or elaborate words.
Instead, each of them set off toward their own goal.
Far away from Asgard...
And far away from the secluded training of its mighty rulers...
The Saintess of the Elves stood before the sacred tree of her race.
The tree was majestic and towering, radiating a tranquil spiritual aura that enveloped the entire area.
She stood before it and then knelt on the ground.
Clasping her hands together, she whispered softly,
"Please..."
"Please show me something."
She closed her eyes and continued,
"I want to know whether we should stand beside the dragons with all our strength in the coming wars..."
"Or whether we must follow a new master."
She remained kneeling before the sacred tree, pleading for any sign.
Time passed, yet nothing happened.
She gradually began to believe that her prayers would be in vain.
But...
Just before she lost hope completely...
A strange vision appeared before her.
She saw a figure completely cloaked in black.
She could not see the person's face.
Nor could she even determine whether the figure was male or female.
But she sensed a terrifying aura emanating from the body.
That black aura spread farther and farther, as though it were covering the entire continent of Mira.
The more it expanded...
The greater her fear became.
She realized that this was not the power of an ordinary king.
It was a power capable of changing the entire world.
The Saintess tried to observe more carefully.
She attempted to discover the figure's identity.
But she could not.
The mysterious individual was surrounded by dense darkness that concealed everything.
Suddenly...
The vision shook violently.
Everything before her became distorted.
Then the image disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared.
The Saintess opened her eyes at once.
Her breathing had become rapid.
She continued staring at the sacred tree, trying to understand what she had witnessed.
She could not identify the mysterious cloaked figure.
But she understood one thing with absolute certainty...
The continent of Mira would soon witness the rise of a new master.
A master possessing a terrifying power unlike anything the continent had ever known before.
And perhaps...
That being would change the balance of power among all races in the future.
(Author's Note):
Hello everyone! Thank you for your continuous support of this novel; your comments and interactions mean the world to me.
Stepping away from our story here for a moment, I wanted to share another project I've been working on with great passion. I have started publishing a webtoon (comic) on the Webtoon platform titled "Me and the Wolf."
It is a [Comedy / Fantasy] story about a miserable young man and a cunning wolf who is constantly getting him into trouble! If you enjoy my writing style and the way I build scenarios, I promise you're going to love this comic.
I would be so grateful if you could go check it out, subscribe to the series, and let me know what you think in the comments there!
🔍 Search on the Webtoon app for: [Me and the Wolf]