You and me under the world tree

If nothing is done, the fire may burn directly outside.

What's even more frustrating is that this is actually already in a state of 'control'.

In Hodder's eyes, Utgarde's soul is now inseparable from the 'primordial fire', and even serves as a 'protective shield'.

It's a pity that this kind of protective cover can't completely cover the flames.

"Hey! Don't look! Give me a hand!"

Seeing that Hodder was silent all of a sudden, Utgard couldn't help feeling a little anxious.

When he was still in his body before, he didn't feel anything special.

But now that he was in the state of the soul, he felt that inexplicable pulling force.

Obviously, the so-called ground is under his feet, but he has such a strange feeling of falling.

'crash'

Almost subconsciously, Utgard used magic, and he wanted to try to stabilize his state.

However, it was useless at all, that feeling of falling was gradually becoming irresistible.

"I'm going to 'fall'!"

However, before he finished speaking, he heard a certain voice.

"Lord?"

Certain voices seemed to be lingering in his ears at this moment, and in an instant, his struggle disappeared.

Before his eyes, something seemed to appear directly below.

It's not the ground, it's just a white, unknown world, and there is a woman standing there.

That was the figure in his memory, and she was standing there.

"Lord, I'm here."

"Val..."

That's Gullweger!

He saw it, and that was her, and there she was!

Almost subconsciously, he began to reach out his hand, but this scene looked not so good in Hodder's eyes.

He could clearly see that Utgarde's soul was rapidly becoming transparent, as if it was about to disappear completely.

At the same time, the original fire wrapped in the depths of the soul became more and more intense.

Then, Hodder felt a tremor from the depths of his soul.

Moreover, he wasn't the only one trembling, the whole earth seemed to be shaking.

This is... a scream?

Not only the life in this world, but even the world on this side trembled.

"Tsk."

Just like that, Huo De directly inserted the rune sword in his hand on the ground, and his hands began to dance rapidly.

During this process, he was not idle, but turned his attention to the giant king on the other side.

"Diaz, do me a favor. You help take care of his body, fix the body's 'vitality', and don't let Utgard really 'die'."

The vitality of giants is actually much more tenacious than humans.

Even if their souls are directly pulled out of their bodies, their bodies can still maintain a living state for a period of time.

And during this period of time, they only need to use their own magic, or just let the soul return to the body, then it is very simple to come back to life.

Even, this is something that can be done with just a little magic.

'Crack'

Diaz snapped his fingers casually, and Utgard's huge body that fell to the ground started the most basic repair.

The wound pierced by the rune sword was also completely healed.

"Need help?"

Seeing that Hodder had drawn a rune shield visible to the naked eye, Diaz asked.

"Ah."

Although he hesitated a little at first, he still nodded.

"Can you understand the sequence of runes on the previous scroll?"

"It's not difficult."

"Did you remember that?"

"Ah."

"Then let's work together to control Utgarde's soul. I'm in charge of maintaining it, and you are in charge of strengthening it. Don't let him be 'sucked away' by this land."

Almost at the same time, the giant and the human wizard shot at the same time, and the runes all over the sky gathered into a magnificent protective shield, thus trapping Utgarde's own soul in it.

Looking at the runes floating in the air without any support, Huo De took a deep breath:

"Help maintain it."

Diaz then took over the reins of the magic.

As for Hodder himself, he began to draw other runes, which he needed to strengthen and control a second time.

And under the effect of magic, the 'protective shield' that was temporarily built before condensed into the appearance of crystal.

At this moment, Utgarde seemed to be enclosed in a crystal.

"Is this your special soul stone?"

"Yes, a purely magical creation."

Seeing that Utgard's has been closed, Hodder finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"It has perfect insulation from the inside, but it has a weakness."

Having said that, Hodder lightly poked the solid magic crystal stone.

"Because it is a purely magical thing, it looks a little fragile on the outside, but it is just a mold itself, so don't worry about it."

Having said that, he pursed his lips and tapped the temporary soul stone again.

"Utgarde, are you still there?"

Howard asked.

"..."

For a moment, there seemed to be no sound in the crystal.

Obviously Utgard's soul was preserved, but that kind of silence that didn't respond at all made Hodder feel a little bad.

"Hey, Utgarde! Are you there!"

"I'm here."

Just after Hodder was thinking about whether to use magic to detect something, Utgard's own voice finally came from the large temporary soul stone.

However, what was revealed in this voice was endless exhaustion.

"You sound like you're not doing well."

"I……"

Utgarde sounded hesitant.

"I saw Val before."

Epilogue [-]: Casting

Val?

Who?

After hearing what Utgard said, Hodder was stunned for a while, because he had never heard of this name before.

But soon, Diaz gave the answer.

"It's Gulveig, that's what Loki used to call her."

Is that a nickname?

No, what did Diaz just say?

"Gulweger?"

Is it the Gullweger I know?

For a moment, Hodder wanted to ask directly.

But his sanity stopped him from asking such a stupid question after all.

"I remember Gullweger already..."

"She's dead, I know that."

Before Hodder could finish speaking, Utgarde's voice came from the crystal clear soul crystal.

Although it was enclosed inside, he could still hear the voices outside.

"Gulweger will not come back, I know all this."

Even though Utgard said so, the words seemed so pale under his weak tone.

The reason why he said this was not to state the well-known fact, but a kind of self-hypnosis.

Utgarde was forcing himself to accept this realization.

"She's gone, I know that."

Eventually, his voice became hoarse.

"But, I did see her."

"..."

Listening to Utgarde's pale and plain words without fancy decorations, Hodder sighed softly.

He felt as though he could understand why.

"If there is no way to go to Helheim, then the dead will return to heaven and earth, and life will return to the world tree Uktrasil."

Having said that, Hodder looked at the closed soul crystal again.

From his angle, he could even clearly see Utgarde's dejected and sad expression.

"I'm not trying to comfort you, I just want you to recognize the facts... What you see may be just an illusion, a temptation to return to the 'source'."

"..."

Facing what Hodder said, Utgard didn't respond in any other way, and he just kept silent.

It seemed that he didn't know whether he was sorting out his thoughts, or just pretending to be stupid to escape.

But no matter what, Hodder couldn't just leave him alone.

"I won't say anything about Gullweger, Utgarde."

He emphasized the name of the giant that was sealed in the soul crystal.

Not Loki, not Lord, but Utgarde.

What this name represents is the giant who spent thousands of years in Jotunheim.

He has people he is familiar with, friends, and lovers.

"Don't forget, there is still someone waiting for you, she is outside."

Hearing this, Utgarde finally raised his head again:

"I know."