Chapter 904: How Long Was I Gone?

Vergil watched Freya and Freyr hugging for a few seconds before clearing his throat quite deliberately.

The sound was not particularly loud, but it was enough to break that rare moment of affection between the siblings.

Freya looked up at him with an expression that clearly asked whether that had really been necessary, while Freyr still seemed torn between enjoying the hug and trying to understand why he had woken up in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by people who apparently knew much more about his own life than he did.

Vergil pointed at the floor with two fingers.

"I suggest you sit down."

Freyr raised an eyebrow.

"I’m perfectly—"

"Three."

Freya looked at Vergil.

"Two."

Freyr tried to stand completely.

"One."

His legs simply gave up.

The god dropped onto his ass with a dull thud, remaining completely still for a few seconds as he tried to process the betrayal of his own body.

Freya brought a hand to her mouth.

Alvitr quickly turned her face away, her shoulders trembling slightly as she fought back a laugh that clearly would not have been appropriate for a professional healer.

Vergil crossed his arms.

"Well, I tried to warn you."

Freyr looked at his own legs.

"But I was fine five seconds ago."

"You just rebuilt an absurd amount of divine energy, muscle tissue, and who knows how many artificial years of wear in a matter of seconds."

Vergil tilted his head.

"Give your body time to realize it isn’t dead anymore before trying to walk."

"I wasn’t dead."

"You looked dead."

"That doesn’t help."

"It wasn’t supposed to."

Alvitr finally regained her composure and knelt near Freyr, quickly checking his pulse and the circulation of divine energy.

The transformation caused by destroying the runes was still astonishing.

Only minutes earlier, there had been practically no detectable divinity inside that body.

Now she could feel divine energy flowing through muscles, organs, and spiritual channels again, although it remained extremely disorganized.

"He’s right," Alvitr said. "Your energy returned too quickly. Your body is still readjusting. If you force movement now, you’ll probably fall again."

Freyr let out a defeated sigh.

Vergil then looked at him more seriously.

"Do you remember anything?"

The question partially erased the humor.

Freyr became thoughtful.

His eyes drifted away from the people around him and toward some undefined spot on the floor, as though searching for a sequence of memories that simply did not exist.

After a few seconds, he slowly shook his head.

"No."

Freya immediately became attentive.

"The last thing I clearly remember is Vanaheim."

Freyr ran a hand through his hair, frowning.

"I was looking for some way to undo your sealing. I had found old references to several routes between worlds and wanted to investigate before Odin noticed."

Freya fell silent.

So did Vergil.

Freyr kept trying to pull at the memory.

"After that... I remember..."

He stopped.

Nothing came.

"No. That’s it."

Then he finally seemed to truly pay attention to where he was.

He looked at the walls.

At the structures of Sparda visible beyond the entrance.

At Alvitr.

Then his eyes moved toward Freya.

He froze.

Freya no longer carried the same divine signature he knew.

Her power still held remnants of that ancient nature, but it was clearly mixed, transformed, filled with a demonic essence that now felt as natural to her as divinity once had.

Freyr slowly pointed at her.

"Wait."

Freya blinked.

He turned toward Vergil.

Then back to Freya.

"Who are you?"

Vergil raised an eyebrow.

Freyr pointed at him more insistently.

"You. Who are you?"

Vergil opened his mouth.

Freyr immediately turned back to his sister.

"And when did you become—"

Vergil and Freya looked at each other.

Neither answered immediately.

Vergil tilted his head slightly.

"Your brother’s kind of slow, isn’t he?"

Freya sighed deeply.

"I’d like to say he’s adopted, but we’re twins."

"Yeah."

"CAN YOU TWO STOP TALKING LIKE I’M NOT HERE?!"

Freya turned toward him.

"You only just realized I’m a demoness after hugging me, arguing with me, and trying to decapitate Vergil."

"I WOKE UP IN AN EXPLOSION!"

"That doesn’t explain everything."

"It explains a lot!"

Vergil seemed to consider that.

"A little."

Freyr pointed at him again.

"You still haven’t told me who you are!"

Vergil was about to answer when fast footsteps came from the outer corridor.

The ritual’s explosion had been large enough to draw the attention of a considerable part of the area, and two very familiar signatures were approaching quickly.

Brynhildr entered first.

Sigrun appeared right behind her.

Both were prepared to find an attack, a ritual failure, or some creature invading Sparda.

Instead, they found Freyr sitting on the floor with an extremely confused expression, Freya arguing with him, Vergil watching the situation as though it were perfectly normal, and Alvitr still surrounded by the remains of a partially destroyed ritual.

Brynhildr slowed down.

Sigrun observed the scene for a few seconds.

"What happened here?"

"Long story," Vergil replied.

Alvitr stood and approached the two.

Having known both of them for ages, her posture immediately became more relaxed.

"The ritual reacted unexpectedly. Freyr was carrying a much more complex runic structure than we thought. When we destroyed the core, there was a discharge and..."

She looked at the man sitting on the floor.

"He was restored."

Sigrun looked at Freyr.

Then at Alvitr.

"Completely?"

"Physically, almost. His divine energy returned, but it still needs to stabilize."

Brynhildr nodded, satisfied that there was no new emergency.

Alvitr took advantage of her presence to ask:

"And Helheim? How are things there?"

Vergil froze.

It was subtle.

But Brynhildr saw it.

Alvitr saw it.

Sigrun too.

Vergil slowly turned his head toward Alvitr.

The Valkyrie blinked.

"What?"

He then turned toward Brynhildr.

His mouth opened.

No words came out.

Brynhildr held his gaze for two seconds before starting to smile.

"You forgot."

Vergil pointed at her.

"I didn’t—"

"You forgot."

He closed his mouth.

Freya started laughing.

Vergil ran a hand over his face.

Brynhildr decided to spare him.

"I already handled everything."

He lowered his hand.

"You did?"

"Yes. All recovered Valkyries were examined. Those who were in condition to wake have already awakened and were taken to resting areas. The others remain under treatment to prevent spiritual shock or problems caused by how long they stayed dormant."

Vergil visibly relaxed.

"Whew."

Brynhildr raised an eyebrow.

Vergil sighed.

"I completely forgot after the mess with Niddrog and Yggdrasil."

The commander remained silent.

So did Sigrun.

Alvitr blinked.

Freya, who knew only part of the story, slowly turned her head toward him.

Brynhildr was the first to ask:

"What do you mean, Niddrog and Yggdrasil?"

Vergil opened his mouth to explain.

He did not get the chance.

"He got himself some company."

The voice came from directly behind Brynhildr.

The Valkyrie jumped so suddenly that her hand immediately went to her weapon.

Sigrun also spun around, taking a combat stance through pure reflex.

Standing there was a blue-haired girl.

Niddrog had manifested without producing almost any detectable presence, probably because she was emerging directly from her spiritual connection with Vergil.

Her long hair fell around her body, her eyes carried that shameless curiosity, and she seemed completely unaware that she had almost caused two experienced Valkyries to attack her by instinct.

She raised one hand.

"Hi."

Brynhildr remained still.

Niddrog smiled.

"I’m Niddrog."

Silence.

Brynhildr blinked.

Sigrun slowly lowered her hand from her weapon.

Alvitr went completely still.

Freyr, still sitting on the floor, turned his head toward her.

Freya closed her eyes.

Brynhildr looked at Vergil.

Then at Niddrog.

Then back at Vergil.

"No."

Vergil raised an eyebrow.

"No what?"

"I don’t want to know."

"You asked."

"I regret it."

Niddrog tilted her head.

"Why?"

Brynhildr pointed at her.

"That is Niddrog?"

"Yes."

"The one who devours Yggdrasil’s roots?"

"Yes."

"The creature that appears in practically every Asgardian record as a draconic calamity?"

Vergil thought.

"Probably."

Niddrog puffed out her cheeks.

"I’m not a calamity."

Freya looked at her.

"You eat the World Tree."

"The roots are tasty."

Brynhildr stared at her.

Vergil shrugged.

"That is exactly what she told Yggdrasil."

Sigrun closed her eyes for a few seconds.

"Vergil."

"Hm?"

"You entered Helheim to look for Freyr."

"Yes."

"You found thousands of missing Valkyries."

"Yes."

"You ended up inside Yggdrasil."

"Yes."

"You fought Niddrog."

"Not exactly by myself."

Niddrog immediately pointed at him.

"He sent two crazy dragons to beat me up."

From inside Vergil, Crymsaria answered:

"YOU HIT BACK TOO!"

Niddrog looked at his chest.

"You started it!"

Nivara muttered something about both of them shutting up.

Brynhildr pinched the bridge of her nose.

"And now she’s with you."

Vergil nodded.

"Temporarily."

Niddrog raised one finger.

"Until Yggdrasil repairs the roots they destroyed."

Vergil looked at her.

"You destroyed them too."

"But they’re my roots."

"They’re not."

"I eat them, so they’re kind of mine."

Freya let out an involuntary laugh.

Brynhildr looked as though she were reconsidering several life choices.

Sigrun, in contrast, observed Niddrog with genuine interest.

"How did she end up connected to you?"

Vergil took a deep breath.

"Yggdrasil temporarily linked her soul to mine so she could enter my inner world."

Brynhildr went completely still.

Freya looked at Vergil.

Alvitr looked at him too.

Even Freyr seemed to momentarily forget his own confusion.

Sigrun was the only one who asked the obvious question.

"You put a third dragon inside your soul?"

Vergil pointed at Niddrog.

"Temporarily."

Niddrog smiled.

"He’s comfortable."

Vergil slowly turned his face toward her.

"Don’t say it like that."

"Why?"

"Because it sounds wrong."

"But it’s true."

Brynhildr started laughing.

She could not help it.

Vergil looked at her.

"You’re enjoying this."

"After everything you put me through in Helheim, a little."

Freyr raised one hand from the floor.

"Can I ask a question?"

Everyone looked at him.

He pointed first at Niddrog.

"That is Niddrog."

"Yes," Freya replied.

Then he pointed at Vergil.

"That guy has her inside his soul."

"Yes."

"You became a demoness."

"Yes."

"Mjölnir is with him."

Freya nodded.

Freyr stared at the hammer hanging from Vergil’s waist.

Then looked around again.

"How long was I gone?"

Freya opened her mouth.

Vergil answered first.

"Long enough for Asgard to lose practically everything."

Freyr went pale.

Brynhildr smiled.

"You have a lot to catch up on."