Survival in the game world begins with Biochemical 2

Chapter 866 Nidhogg the Poison Dragon
Fisk, that is the name of the heroic captain with unique armor and weapons.

If Li You remembered correctly, according to the game's setting, this person seemed to be a farmer before his death, who died heroically defending his land and was selected to enter the Hall of Heroes.

That's why his weapon was a large scythe.

This scythe is not only for slashing, but the blade can also rotate, transforming the entire weapon into a spear, thus enabling different fighting styles.

As a Heroic Spirit who can appear independently in the main storyline and has a boss-level health bar, Fisk's strength is indeed far superior to other Heroic Spirit captains and comparable to weaker Valkyries.

That's all there is to it.

“Ahhhh——!!”

A crisp clanging sound echoed, and Fisk's great scythe lit up with the indigo light of a rainbow bridge. The blade flipped upwards, transforming into a spear that thrust out fiercely!

Fisk roared, his magic surging, even his dark gold armor trembled, clearly indicating that he was using his full strength.

However, a broken longsword shimmering with purplish-black magical light swung by, blocking his thrust with little effort. In fact, a strange recoil force emanated from the sword, invading Fisk's body along with his magic, causing his power circulation to slow down for a moment.

"clang!!"

Fisk was jolted, his attack halted, and the longsword was immediately sheathed by its wielder. Then, in a flash, after a quick iaido-like move, a terrifying purplish-black blade of light was unleashed and slashed down at Fisk!

Sensing the terrifying aura emanating from the blade, Fisk was greatly surprised. He quickly gathered all the magic power within him and activated the power of the Rainbow Bridge to block the attack.

However, the moment the blade struck, Fisk realized that he had underestimated its power.

The handle of the scythe he used to defend himself was instantly severed, and the remaining blade light mercilessly struck his armor. The heavy armor, which was unique even among the Heroic Spirit Captains, was also cleaved in two with a single strike!

Fisk was terrified and at a loss for what to do. Having lost his weapons and armor, he had exhausted all his options.

Moreover, he had no time left. After the black longsword cleaved through his weapon and armor, the slender figure opposite him appeared beside Fisk in a flash. With a flick of her wrist, a strange dagger appeared in her hand and, under Fisk's shocked and furious gaze, pierced his chest through the gap in his armor.

Fisk immediately felt a strange power containing the intent of death surge into his body. All his resistance was powerless in the face of this power. He didn't even have time to think for a moment before his consciousness was annihilated.

From the outside, Fisk's body appeared to be instantly engulfed by a black and red flame, turning into ashes.

The fragments of dark gold armor clattered to the ground, and V toyed with the black sword in his hand for a moment before putting it away and looking towards Li You:

"nailed it."

Li You was already confident in V's and his companions' current strength, so he was not surprised at all. However, Freya was somewhat shocked to see V defeat Fisk so easily.

She had met V once before, but although V was quite powerful at that time, he didn't have this kind of ability.

Now, this woman who used to follow Li You has actually been able to easily defeat a heroic spirit captain who is comparable to a Valkyrie, which can't help but surprise Freya.

However, she reacted quickly and guessed that Li You's companions must have also gained something in the Hall of Heroes.

Freya's guess was indeed correct.

V sheathed the broken sword, picked up the upper half of the scythe left by Fisk, and the few remaining pieces of armor after being burned by the destined death, and came to Li You: "Do you need these?"

In fact, both the Shattering Blade and the Lightning Moon Shadow are weapons imbued with powerful magic, capable of instantly enlarging or shrinking at the user's will, without needing to be carried on their person.

Just like Pandora, a magical artifact that V had always possessed but which she now rarely used, she shrunk it down and put it into her magic pocket.

But V seemed to have a particular fondness for those two long swords, one black and one green, so he always kept them hanging at his waist and never put them away.

Li You could guess most of V's thoughts, so he didn't say much. He took the scythe and armor fragments from her and nodded.

Freya knew Li You's plan: "These are all made of perfect Asgardian steel, which is perfect for the dwarf brothers."

Perfect Asgardian steel is almost the highest-grade material in the game, but in the armor that the Brock brothers want to forge, it can only be considered a basic material at best.

V casually took out the black knife again. She didn't particularly like this weapon, seemingly because she thought it wasn't aesthetically pleasing enough. She handed it to Li You, saying, "Here you go."

Li You refused: "Keep it with you. I've re-infused this sword with the power of destined death, so it will still be effective even against the Aesir gods."

V thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay, I'll keep it, just in case."

Fisk was the last remaining heroic warrior, because Li You mercilessly used the Fated Death on them, so not a single soul successfully left this kingdom.

They wiped out several squads of heroic warriors, including Captain Fisk. Even Odin would feel the pain of this loss for a long time.

After all, if these heroic warriors were deployed to other battlefields, they would be equivalent to an infinite army, capable of being resurrected even after death, making them difficult to eradicate.

But Li You burned all their souls to ashes, which was tantamount to digging up Odin's roots.

He had known this all along, and Freya quickly understood Li You's intention, her eyes flickering slightly: "In this way, Odin's loss is not just a few small teams, but is equivalent to losing half of the Heroic Spirit Legion on the battlefield of Ragnarok!"

"If he could send out more heroic warriors for us to kill, the war would probably be even easier!"

However, Freya sighed as she spoke, "But unfortunately, Odin isn't that stupid. There have been precedents before, and with the loss of the heroic warriors, including Fisk, he will definitely realize something is wrong, and it will be difficult to have such a good opportunity again."

Li You said, "If Odin really reduces his manpower, then Vanaheim's predicament will be resolved, which would be a good thing."

Despite her hatred for Odin, Freya still longed for her homeland and nodded in agreement: "Indeed!"

Without further ado, after a brief look at the village, Li You and his group, guided by Freya, passed through various ruins and arrived at the central house behind the village meeting hall.

Ahead, there is an exquisitely built stone house, the entire building blending into an ancient tree on top, seemingly having weathered hundreds of years of wind and rain without anyone approaching.

"This is it, the core of the curse on me, and also... my home."

Looking at the stone house, Freya's bird-like eyes revealed a sense of nostalgia. "I was born here, and Odin chose to place the core of the curse here, just to desecrate my last memory of my homeland."

Freya circled around the room several times before finally stopping atop a collapsed shelf and chanting, "(Old Norse) Opinbera."

As the power of the incantation reverberated, inside the stone house, withered and twisted tree roots emerged from the void.

These roots are slender and dry, yet they exude a vigorous vitality. Each root has a different color, such as the dark green representing Helheim, the reddish-brown representing Muspelheim, and the ice blue representing Niflheim... Needless to say, these are the roots of the World Tree, and each represents a key part of a country.

There are eight tree roots of different colors in this stone house. They were pulled out from the cracks in the World Tree and tied into a knot here.

This is the core of Odin's curse on Freya.

Freya looked at the knotted tree roots, and her eyes once again revealed a deep-seated hatred.

Although she realized her mistakes and gave up seeking revenge on Li You and Kratos, her years of pain, sorrow and hatred still needed an outlet.

Odin, the culprit behind all this, naturally became the object of her greatest hatred; this was not an attempt to shift blame or shirk responsibility.

So at this moment, looking at the core of the curse that had bound her for so many years, Freya opened her mouth and spat out several rune stones.

These runestones were the ones she prepared before setting off, which would allow her to fight against the power of the curse and temporarily regain her human form in other kingdoms outside of Midgard.

Now was the time to use them. With Freya activating her last bit of magic, the runestone emitted a dazzling light, enveloping her bird-like body. After a flash of light, Freya's true form reappeared before Li You and his group.

She took a deep breath before saying, "I can be freed from the curse if I destroy these tree roots. But only I can touch them; no one else can do it for me."

It was for this purpose that she prepared these runestones.

Without delay, the runestones Freya had prepared were now flying around her, but the magical energy on them was constantly weakening, clearly not lasting much longer.

Freya said no more and went forward to break the tree root.

However, at this moment, Li You suddenly spoke up: "Wait. If I'm not mistaken, these are the core roots of the World Tree, right? If so, will 'that' thing also appear?"

Freya was immediately startled: "That's really possible! Then we..."

Li You smiled, turned to look at his companions, and among the three, Youzi stepped forward without hesitation.

Although Yuzu didn't say a word, Li You naturally understood what he meant: "Then I'll leave it to you."

So Yuzu immediately took two steps forward and approached the knotted tree root.

These tree roots did not react when Freya approached in the form of a bird, but as Yuzu got closer, they immediately emitted a bright halo!

The next moment, a roar seemed to come from the void, and a rift in the boundary instantly tore open in front of the tree roots, from which a huge beast pounced out!

Because of its astonishing speed, bystanders didn't even get a clear look at the beast's form; they only saw that it had a snake-like body, two claws, and a gaping maw like an abyss.

However, at this moment, Yuzu stepped forward without hesitation, and in the blink of an eye, her body grew to a gigantic size, transforming into another form of the third stage: the Wood Dragon form.

The shape of this Yuzu form was somewhat similar to the giant shadow that had charged out, and its size was in no way inferior to its opponent's. Yuzu roared, grabbing the beast's jaws with both arms and desperately trying to pry them open!
The giant beast was still halfway through the rift, its body hanging precariously at the edge. If it weren't restrained, it could retreat at any moment. But now, with Yuzu holding its massive jaws, it had nowhere to go.

Li You glanced at the giant beast, his eyes flashing, and immediately said, "Drag it out!"

With a low growl, Yuzu exerted force with both arms and leaned back, actually managing to pull the giant snake out of the rift between the realms!

"Boom-"

Yuzu dragged the giant snake out of the stone house, then slammed it heavily onto the ground. At that moment, everyone finally got a clear look at its appearance.

It was a colossal beast with a snake's body, two legs, a thick and long body, and a lizard-like head. Its entire body was light gray, but its head, scales, claws, belly, and tail all shimmered with an indigo light.

This light is similar to the power of the Bifrost used by Heimdall and the Heroic Warriors, only its color is lighter and closer to blue, because it is the ability of the behemoth itself, not cast with the help of the Bifrost of Asgard.

However, in terms of their nature, the two are indeed not that different.

Freya's face darkened when she saw the giant beast appear, because she knew very well who it was.

“…Nidhogg!”

Yes, this strange giant serpent creature, somewhat resembling a skeletal giant lizard, is the true form of Nidhogg, the venomous dragon, in the new God of War universe.

In the Norse mythology that Li You knew, Nidhogg was a venomous dragon that lived at the roots of the World Tree and gnawed at its roots. It was said that Nidhogg biting off the roots of the World Tree was a harbinger of Ragnarok.

—Speaking of which, there seem to be too many omens for Ragnarok.

However, in the new God of War, the story of Nidhogg in the Norse world is different from what Li You knows.

In the new God of War, Nidhogg's mission becomes protecting the roots of the World Tree. It is a resident of the World Tree's roots and can be considered a neighbor to Li You and his friends.

Nidhogg gave birth to its children at the roots of the World Tree, making the World Tree its home, and thus Nidhogg took on the mission of protecting the roots.

But Odin took advantage of this, tying the roots of the trees representing the eight kingdoms into a knot and placing it in Freya's former home to prevent her from leaving Midgard.

Even if Freya wanted to break the curse, she would have to face Nidhogg, the poisonous dragon guarding the tree roots, when she arrived at the base of the tree.

Nidhogg will protect the roots of the World Tree, wherever they may be.

This was Odin's last line of defense.

The dragon Nidhogg is not very intelligent, and trying to communicate with it would be futile. The only way to lift Freya's curse is to kill the dragon.

Li You was fully aware of the above situation.

Although Nidhogg did not wreak havoc on the world and even played a significant role in the original mythology, its fate remains unchanged to this day.

So when Yuzu's wooden dragon body dragged Nidhogg out of the World Tree rift, he said no more and nodded, "Let's finish it off."

Yuzu immediately let out a furious roar filled with fighting spirit!

"Roar--!!"

(End of this chapter)