Mythology: Spiritual Ruler

Hu——

A sweet wind blew over Niflheim, and a light red mist enveloped the world. When Ryan crossed the boundary wall and looked at everything in front of him, he thought for a moment that he had come to the wrong place.

The original Kingdom of Mist was cold and bleak. As one of the countries that existed before the birth of the World Tree, it was the other pole of ice and fire opposite to Muspelheim, and was shrouded in thick fog all year round.

Snow and ice covered the land of Niflheim. There was no light, no temperature, only the spring of Hvergelmir, the first spring in the world, winding and flowing.

This was originally a forbidden area for life. Only the ethnic group called "Nibelungen" lived here, but now, the original residents did not know where they had gone. In front of Ryan, everything seemed so "vibrant".

Various colorful plants bloomed on the land, swaying in the wind. Animals and birds shuttled through the woods, and sometimes drank the river water by the roadside. If we ignore the black and red colors interweaving in the sky, Ryan even thought he had come to the Chaos world in the Second Age, where all spirits lived on the earth without all kinds of natural disasters and monsters.

"It looks so harmonious, but it's a pity that everything is an illusion."

Although the scene in front of him was so real, Ryan was not deceived. From a spiritual perspective, this seemingly normal scene was not normal at all. All the existences in front of him, including animals and plants, were indeed living things, but that was just their bodies. And the consciousness of these lives was so similar and unified.

Or more precisely, they did not have their own independent thinking, but became part of another pan-consciousness.

And their main consciousness

Ryan looked up, in the center of Niflheim, a giant tree connecting the sky and the earth stretched out its scarlet branches and leaves, swaying in the breeze.

"Boom--"

"Ryan, what are you still looking at?"

The sky shook, followed by the voice of Erebus. Obviously, he had noticed the traces of the interface being scratched and discovered Ryan's existence.

The source of the noise was on the giant tree, where another slender branch cut through the space and went straight into the dark sky in the distance.

It was called a ‘tree’, but in fact it was more like a tree-shaped living creature. In the middle of the earth, surrounded by countless lives, Ryan saw the source of everything.

It was not a root, but a complete, real giant tree. His roots penetrated the earth, the trunk supported the sky, and the six huge branches danced in the wind, looking magnificent and perfect.

Each of his branches and veins seemed to be divided according to the golden ratio, showing a natural beauty that attracted all the lives that saw him unconsciously. However, there was an obvious penetrating wound on his trunk that destroyed the overall structure.

This is also the reason why he is a ‘living creature’. The wound was filled with flesh and blood, trying to fill the gap, but the effect was extremely limited. In addition, the wound continued to flow out liquid like blood, which fell into the roots of the tree, merged into a poisonous spring, and then flowed through the entire territory of the Kingdom of Mist along twelve rivers.

At this moment, Ryan felt the desire and fear of the Eye of Odin in his sleeve, which came from the essence of the world tree and the external high-level power it absorbed. They may have originally had the same roots, but now, the two are two independent existences.

"I know. The death of a world will not give birth to anything good!"

Ryan's face became serious, because with the call of Erebus, the huge and bright giant tree seemed to have noticed another outsider. Although He did not have eyes, at this moment, He still "looked" at where Ryan was.

With the "watching" of the "tree", birds, beasts, fish, and even all the life around Ryan, even the water in the river, the fog in the air, the whole world was "looking" at him together. This scene was enough to make mortals lose their minds, and even ordinary gods feel speechless fear, but Ryan was unmoved.

In the spirit world, he can also do similar things.

"This style of painting is really not in line with classical mythology. Compared with it, my spirit world is like a pure land."

With a sneer, Ryan's robe shook, and a little black light swept across a radius of 100 miles in a ring, and everything it touched turned into dust in an instant. But at the same time, from the main body of the "watching" in the dark, a special force ignored the space and acted directly on Ryan's body.

His flesh and blood rich in divinity jumped for a while, but returned to calm in an instant.

This is the power of [life] on the material side, but the way it is expressed is not very normal. Obviously, no matter what changes have happened now, the predecessor of this "tree" is the body of the world tree Yggdrasil, so He undoubtedly has extremely terrible power in the field of [life], but He is facing another god who controls both [life] and [death].

In the case of overlapping powers and no absolute gap in strength, His invisible influence on Ryan was naturally ineffective. Of course, correspondingly, life and death would hardly cause harm to the giant tree in turn.

Buzz——

As if sensing that his attack had been erased, another invisible thought swept across the world. Ryan felt as if he heard someone talking, first one or two, then hundreds of thousands, and finally billions. This was not an illusion, but a real call from all the dead lives in Niflheim.

That was a different kind of [death]. Ryan suddenly discovered that this existence entrenched in the remains of the Nine Realms was surprisingly compatible with him in terms of authority, but the paths they took were completely different.

The life and death of this ‘tree’ was the fall of the spirit and the eternal life of flesh and blood.

With one step forward, Ryan’s figure disappeared on the spot, but the power of the void did not affect the spread of that thought at all. It directly hit Ryan’s spirit body, and those dead beings told about their past insignificance and their current ‘greatness’ in their calls. They spoke the truth that was rich in the essence of life, and then ‘invited’ Ryan to become a part of them.

Then, of course, this spiritual shock was easily smoothed, purified, and decomposed in front of the spiritual master, and then the information contained in it was learned.

“What a trouble.”

Without changing his expression, Ryan finally looked in the direction of the dark master after a few moves with the giant tree.

"You don't look good, Erebus."

The attack of the 'tree' on him just now was just a test, and the other outsider who came in first was his real target.

As Ryan saw when he just entered the Land of Mist, the boundless darkness occupied one-third of Niflheim, and it swallowed all the nearby existences like a huge black hole. But Ryan could notice that this huge dark area was constantly retreating.

Four thick branches passed through half of the interface, directly inserted into the black curtain from the center of the world, and kept stirring in it. The red mist containing the breath of life continued to pour into the dark area, allowing the other party to swallow itself. But Ryan could notice that as time passed, a little activity gradually grew in the darkness.

If the stalemate continues, it is self-evident who will win.

"Deal with him with me, or I will leave here directly. Although this monster is terrible, you don't think he can really do anything to me."

In the distance, Erebus's voice came again. Although he was at a disadvantage, he still sounded calm. In fact, apart from being tricked by the scarlet giant tree at the beginning when he was unfamiliar with it, he did not suffer any direct harm.

It was just that in the darkness, Erebus looked at his left hand, which seemed to have given birth to his own will, and his face was still a little gloomy.

This change seemed to be irreversible, at least for beings without relevant authority. Of course, he could simply cut off this hand and replace it with a new one, but this would have to wait until he returned to Chaos, and this kind of thing itself made him feel disgusted.

This was the first time that Erebus had a very direct dislike for an existence. It had nothing to do with interests. He just wanted to destroy Him.

"Then leave. He really can't do anything to you, but I don't think we can do anything to Him."

"You should have noticed His nature. Do you really think you can solve Him?"

Standing in the air, looking at this twisted and "beautiful" giant tree, Ryan became more and more frightened.

Based on past experience and the scattered information previously analyzed from mental pollution, Ryan already knew the origin of the giant tree in front of him.

The Nine Realms are dead. This is the result in front of us. What caused the Ragnarok, which originally only killed gods, to evolve to this point is still unknown. But just like when a powerful god dies, his body can often give birth to other gods or creatures. When a world dies, it will also give birth to some terrible existences.

Some of the scattered ones fell on natural wonders such as the Eye of Odin. If nothing unexpected happens, there may be similar ones in other realms that Ryan has not been to. However, the main body of the dead world's remnants is attached to the collapsed trunk of the world tree and finally fell here.

In the original myth, the collapse of Yggdrasil was just the beginning of Ragnarok, but here, it is heading towards destruction at the same moment as the nine kingdoms. Therefore, its remains have a special symbol and become the carrier of the remnants of the nine realms after death. The scarlet giant tree in front of us is the product of the combination of the two.

The world's instinctive desire for continuation makes the world tree reborn, although in another way. At this moment, the giant tree is like some kind of alternative primitive god. As for why He does not look like a normal god, it is not strange. It is not because of any creation outside the world that affects them, but because the world is like this. He has both order and chaos.

When the world is complete and healthy, the order side often dominates, as is the case with Chaos World; but when the world is about to be destroyed, chaos will prevail, and eventually everything will become disordered, as is the case with the giant tree in front of him.

He was born with the "death" of the Nine Realms and Yggdrasil, and the instinctive desire for "life" of both, but the way He pursues "life" is obviously not accepted by normal life.

He tries to assimilate everything into a part of himself, and then use this to eternally continue his own existence. He inherited the world's "tolerance", so He would not destroy any life, but would merge with them, just like His current consciousness - it was composed of the instincts of the Nine Realms, the hazy thoughts of the World Tree, and all the life in Niflheim. That's why Ryan called him "He".

However, at this moment, Ryan looked at the crystal branches that cut through the space and reached out to him, and couldn't help but secretly gave him a nickname.

[Ancient Hatred·Mother Tree of Flesh and Blood], this is undoubtedly a very appropriate name.

In this interface that has been assimilated by the other party for tens of thousands of years, he no longer expects to find anything valuable.

Continue to test the ability of the mother tree, and then wait for the Chaos world to transform and seal it. After all, this kind of life is absolutely difficult to be tolerated by the world.

······

Just when Ryan stepped into the Land of Mist, at the edge of Niflheim, in a huge glacier over 10,000 meters high, a huge black shadow moved again.

The roots of the world tree in the Land of Mist were originally rooted in the spring of Hvergelmir. The water flowing out of the first spring in this world is not only rich in toxins, but also freezing cold.

It flows in the equally cold Land of Mist, and then forms large and small glaciers. The largest one of them has a huge black shadow curled up in it.

As early as when the first outsider appeared, he had already awakened from his slumber. Now with the appearance of the second one, his idea has become more firm.

Since the day the world was destroyed, after witnessing the birth of the giant tree and the death of the gods, this black shadow has been sealing himself in the glacier, waiting for a turnaround. Tens of thousands of years have passed, and he was close to giving up, but he didn't expect that the turnaround would finally come.

But his life has come to an end. Although he is a god-like existence in the nine kingdoms, the gods in this world are not eternal.

He is Nidhogg, the black dragon that symbolizes despair, but now, he is the only one who truly feels despair.

"The gods outside the world, they are too late"

It's not because of aging. Although the gods in this world do get old, tens of thousands of years are not enough for Nidhogg to reach the end of his life.

It's just that there is a huge wound on his body, which is constantly consuming his remaining life. What's more, the black dragon, who is cruel by nature, didn't intend to hand himself over to other lives.

"But I won't stop here."

The ferocious mouth opened, as if smiling, but it only looked terrible. Nidhogg looked in front of him, where there were thousands of eggs of different sizes.

Although he was in this situation today, it was mostly because of the giant tree, but Nidhogg was now somewhat grateful to it. At least from the spiritual fluctuations that the other party unconsciously emitted, in addition to the temptation that made him want to throw himself into the other party's arms, there was also a lot of knowledge related to life. In these tens of thousands of years, Nidhogg learned another way to continue his existence.

For the flesh and blood mother tree, any existence assimilated by it is a part of its life. Without the corresponding authority, Nidhogg could not do this, but he could simplify it a little and complete it in his own way.

So he used his own bones and blood to create these dragon eggs in front of him. These new dragon eggs have no attributes and no bias. They will change with the new environment they come into contact with later. This ensures that no matter what kind of environment the unknown new world is, these created lives will become the top existence of the food chain.

As their creators, when this new race continues in another world, they can become Nidhogg's anchor and awaken his lost consciousness. As for how long this will take, it is unknown.

"You will be born strong and have a long life, but the price is the difficulty of reproduction. But this is also a necessary sacrifice. After all, survival is the first priority. Compared with weak tribes, it is easier for the strong to continue."

In the core of the glacier, Nidhogg spread his wings. The huge black dragon began to break, and his flesh and bones fell to the ground and merged into each dragon egg.

Among them, the ones closest to him gained the most power, and their breath was the strongest.

"You come from me, and you will also make me."

In the end, only the illusory shadow of Nidhogg was left in the air. Looking at all this, he mustered up his last strength and released a breath outside the glacier, attracting the attention of the two outsiders.

"One day, when I return to the earth, I will no longer bear the innate mission of destruction, but will become the master of the new world with my own will."

The next moment, when the shadows dissipated and the glaciers shattered, the breath released here instantly attracted the only three lives in this world. The three wills swept through the area full of dragon eggs one after another. They noticed the specialness of this place, and then reached out their "hands" to this side at the same time.

However, at this moment, a crack appeared in the sky, and the sound of the law echoed between the interfaces.

Zheng——

"Is this. Chaos's erosion of the nine kingdoms completed?"

First, he and Erebus tacitly blocked the branches extending from the mother tree. Ryan had just taken away several huge dragon eggs, but the sudden change made him stop his actions.

The barrier between Niflheim and the void was broken, and Chaos's law replaced everything old. But this also means that this short battle is over.

At this moment, endless chains of laws poured in from the outside world, bound between all things, and replaced the original rules. The [Hide] on Ryan's black clothes took effect, and all his existence disappeared from this world; at the same time, on the other side, the darkness that originally occupied one-third of the world had disappeared without a trace, leaving only the pitted ground that looked like it had been dug three feet deep.

Only the scarlet giant tree with chaotic thoughts still showed its presence, and then it was regarded as a target by countless chains of laws and tied up layer by layer.

He is still struggling and resisting, but the result is foreseeable.

After a brief gaze, Ryan disappeared from the spot and then appeared in the void outside the realm.

He could see that the fragments of the nine kingdoms had been wiped out of resistance, and the chain of order dragged them to the distant world.

The black fog gathered around him and turned into a familiar figure, but for some reason, Erebus's left hand was still wrapped in a cloud of fog.

"What did you find, a head?"

The barrier of the nine realms has been opened, and now the situation inside is clear. The Lord of Darkness can easily find that the interface that Ryan visited before looks very complete.

Coupled with this huge head floating on the side, it is not difficult to guess that Ryan was lucky enough to meet the natives who could communicate, and then learned a lot of more accurate information from him.

"Yes, a useless head, but at least it knows something."

Looking at the interface moving in the void, Ryan dealt with the Lord of Darkness casually.

A short adventure seems to have gained a lot, but there are more unknowns. However, the remaining things will be left to be solved in the world of Chaos.

With so many strange things, it is unknown what the heroic epics in the myths will become in the future.

Under the guidance of the gods, it is unknown whether to fight against the revived ancient evil things, thwart the conspiracy of the evil gods outside the domain to destroy the city-state, or destroy the secret cult hidden under the kingdom.

But those are all mortals' affairs. What really gives Ryan a headache is the huge flesh and blood mother tree.

"There is nothing to see here. I just hope that the world that has never done anything good can be useful this time."

Having said that, Ryan did not have much hope for it after looking at the giant tree that was still struggling to resist.