Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Then tell me, who is Odin?"

Hayato casually posed a question, silencing Mimir before he could finish his sentence. He replied curtly, "I already told you, I've never heard of such a name. Even a wise man like myself, possessing extraordinary insight, doesn't know it. I guarantee that nothing on this land knows what this 'Odin' you're talking about is—"

“Ha, quite the opposite, I know that name.” Just then, as if deliberately slapping Mimir in the face, Loki suddenly spoke up, “That’s my blood brother with whom I have sworn an oath, of course I know who Odin is.”

Although Loki, whose magic had been drained, couldn't cast a single spell at the moment, and even just sitting up from the ground had taken a lot of his energy, he sat on the ground with his hands bound, his face pale and panting heavily, and said, "But to gain something, you have to lose something else. How about I use this answer as the spoils I owe you? Let's even things out."

Hayato was too lazy to negotiate with Loki. He was more curious about what kind of backstory the AI ​​could come up with, so he asked, "Tell me about it?"

Seeing Hayato nod, Loki didn't keep him in suspense and immediately said, "The world was originally a chaotic void until three gods killed the primordial giant Ymir, creating heaven and earth and all things. From Ymir's heart grew the World Tree, connecting the nine worlds. Odin is one of the three gods who created the world, representing 'wisdom,' while the other two gods represent 'spirit' and 'will,' respectively."

"Then, in order to bring wisdom back to the gods, Odin stole mead and drank it, gaining sharp eyes that could see all things. He then exchanged his right eye for the Well of Wisdom, learning the most profound and mysterious way to obtain it. He offered himself upside down on the World Tree and found the existence of runes."

Hayato frowned, and seeing Loki stop, he said, "I've heard all of this in mythology countless times. Is that all?"

"Don't rush, I haven't finished yet. The most important thing is coming up, and I'm only telling you this." Loki raised his bound hands and beckoned Hayato to come closer. Mimir, though very curious about what they were whispering about, didn't go over to eavesdrop, but just looked around unhappily.

Loki whispered in Hayato's ear, "Actually, you're not from this world, are you? But this world exists because of you. Doesn't the myth I just mentioned sound familiar? Three 'gods'—wisdom, spirit, and will—attack a single target."

Why are you able to easily understand the meaning of runes?

"Why are you drawn to the fragments of 'Gungnir,' crafted from branches of the world?"

"Why can you so easily control the 'Gungnir Fragment' that you just acquired?"

"There's only one answer: the human who calls himself 'Dan Kuroto'!" Loki's voice rose as he looked at the game ID displayed above Hayato's head. "You are the true creator of this world—Ymir!"

"The Odin you seek? He pierced himself with 'Gungnir' and hung upside down from the World Tree, offering himself to himself. In giving the world runes, he also caused himself to disappear from the world, becoming an existence that overlooks the entire world from somewhere outside! And the shattered 'Gungnir' is the best proof!"

In the real world—

"Ah-"

The game pod opened, and Kaiba sat up, easily adjusting to the gravity of Earth returning to reality. However, he still impatiently stretched his arms: "Is my movement sluggish compared to 'Duel-Links'? Damn gravity!"

"Huh? Has Hayato entered the game too?" Kaiba asked, looking at the game pod next to him that was in operation.

The one who answered him was Keihei, who turned around in his swivel chair: "About ten minutes after it started running, around the same time the students who were experiencing the game and helping us with the testing set off, Hayato-nii went in, and it's been about ten minutes since he went in. Didn't you run into Hayato-nii in the game, brother?"

"By breaking free from the constraints of the physical body and acting solely with pure thought and spirit, the human mind can accelerate at least ten times within safe limits. This is the deepest secret hidden in the 'Duel-Links' world: the time flow difference between the virtual and real worlds is as high as ten times. Even if there is only a one-second difference, ten seconds have already passed in that world."

Kaiba stepped out of the game pod and glanced at the large screen in front of Keihei. "Therefore, even everything in the 'Duel-Links' world that can be monitored here is not real-time; at most, it can only be considered a recording of what has already happened."

“Retrieve Hayato Kobayashi’s actions over the past ten minutes, no, one hundred minutes, and break them down into segments of ten minutes each.”

As Kaiba finished speaking, without seeing Keihei press anything, the large screen automatically began to shrink the other previously displayed images and place them in a corner, leaving a large space to display Hayato's actions over the past hundred minutes.

With the technology of Haima Group, it already has a fairly mature voice control system. Otherwise, how could the images of Duel-Links be commanded by the duelists? The intelligent monitoring system used to monitor the world of "Duel-Links" is also equipped with voice control.

And since the person who contributed the most to the editing of this system was not Kaiba but Keipai, Keipai naturally took the naming rights from Kaiba, who only had "blue eyes" in his head, and named it "Hilderskelaf," the supreme throne of Odin, the king of gods in Norse mythology, located in the Silver Hall, which can monitor everything in the nine realms.

—Then Hayato complained that the name was too long and no one would remember it, and that it would be better to just call it the Supreme Throne.

As if sensing something, Hayato frowned and glanced at the empty space, then remarked, "Monitoring the entire world... Kaiba? Wait a minute, if Odin, who represents 'wisdom,' is a Kaiba, then Yugi represents spirit, and Jonouchi represents will?"

"What kind of wish-fulfillment fantasy is this? After Kaiba lost a card game to me, he just had the AI ​​create a world where I got beaten up by the three of them, right?" Hayato then looked at Loki. "But how do you know so much about it?"

“Everyone has their own intelligence network, doesn’t they? You don’t need to know how I know; you just need to know what I know,” Loki said cryptically. “Perhaps you’re just asking me about Odin out of curiosity, but there’s something you’ll definitely be interested in: now that Odin has given himself to himself, his position—the position of God-King—is vacant!”

"We are currently in a period of vacancy for the throne of the heavens. Anyone in the Nine Realms who can defeat the other competitors can rightfully ascend that supreme throne and become the king of the Nine Realms. With your power, you are fully capable of doing this and defeating the other nine world kings!"

"Odin is nothing but a skeleton in a tomb; he can be replaced!"

"Perhaps the Jade Emperor and the others would be interested in such an epic adventure? But to be honest, I'm not very interested. You've got the wrong person to fool." Hayato had no interest in Loki's talk of ascending the throne. He was more interested in finding the danger that Darkness had mentioned in his threats than playing games.

What kind of enemy has been drawn to this world? With that thought in mind, Hayato glanced at Loki, or rather, Loki who was still in the disguise of [Shadow of the Kings - Lopt].

"!"

"Jūdai? That's a child's name. But judging from what you're saying, wouldn't it be more appropriate for me to ask him for it?" In Loki's view, Hayato, whom he regarded as "Ymir's reincarnation," clearly had a grudge against Odin and the other gods who created the Nine Realms. However, he did not expect that Hayato had no interest in replacing Odin at all. Since he could not defeat Hayato and could not take the fragment of "Gungnir," it seemed that he could only find another way to find other candidates to defeat the king of the Nine Realms.

But just as he was thinking about how to escape to find that brat named Jaden, and what to use to replace the fragments of Gungnir, Hayato suddenly said, "By the way, Loki, what did you just say?"

"Uh, would it be more appropriate for me to go find Judai?"

Hayato shook his head: "Not that sentence, go a little further back."

"Tenth generation, a child's name?"

“It’s okay, Judai’s name isn’t Camus. Let’s go a little further ahead.”

Loki looked at Hayato suspiciously and tentatively said, "Odin is nothing but a skeleton in a tomb. Can he be replaced?"

“Good, you’re absolutely right. His Blue-Eyes sword… I mean, his Odin’s Gungnir is invincible, but my sword is no less formidable!” Hayato slapped a fragment of Gungnir and summoned back the “beginner’s longsword” he had casually tossed aside somewhere. “The time has come, let’s rise up today!”

"Tell me quickly what kind of beings are the world kings of the Nine Realms!"

Although Hayato suddenly started speaking in a strange, semi-classical language that Loki couldn't quite understand, and couldn't comprehend why he had suddenly changed his mind, wasn't that good enough? It saved him the trouble of racking his brains over the changes in the plan. He was quite happy to explain it to Hayato, and even picked up a twig to draw supplementary explanations on the ground.

"These nine realms are currently ruled by nine beings who have declared themselves kings since Odin's disappearance. One of them is Frey, the sun god who guards the fairy realm of Alfheim, though he has now changed his name to Frode."

"The ruler of Jotunheim is Utgard Loki—it should be noted that he has nothing to do with me, it's just a coincidence of names; he also voluntarily dropped the name 'Loki' and changed his name to Utgard;"

"The snow-covered Niflheim is now occupied by that creature that crawled out from under the roots of the World Tree. Yes, you guessed it, that poisonous dragon Nidhogg, who has even become the king of one of the Nine Realms."

"Meanwhile, Muspelheim, the land of fire opposite Nidhogg, was targeted by the fire giant Frim. That fool, after becoming queen, arrogantly tried to invade Nidhogg and expand his territory, frequently clashing with Nidhogg. He even renamed himself after the still unfinished underworld ship, 'Nagirfa'."

"And in Midgard, the World Serpent Jormungandr surrounds this gathering place of the Nine Realms' riches, storing them away in his own cave."

"Frey went to the Elven Kingdom, and his sister Freya naturally returned to Vanaheim, the home of the Vanir gods, to become queen, changing her name to 'Queen Mador.' Meanwhile, the queen of Helheim, the underworld at the lowest level of the World Tree, was named Hela, but she has now changed her name to 'Hel.'"

"The dwarves of Svartalfheim are the most unique. They successfully repelled the invasion of other nations by forging a massive machine together. That machine is the king of their world—the [Dwarven United King]."

"And lastly, there is Asgard, where the Aesir gods reside at the highest point of the Nine Realms. Unfortunately, to get there, one must pass through Alfheim, which is guarded by Frey. Even I don't know who the king of Asgard was after Odin disappeared and took his place."

Discarding the branch, Loki looked at the World Tree drawing on the ground and concluded, "The gods who wield the power of creation, and the kings who bring destruction to other kingdoms and even their own worlds at will—these contradictory aspects coexist in these nine world kings."

“Some people think that these nine kings should be called ‘Generaider Bosses,’ but I believe that these nine kings are just participants in the war for the position of king of the nine realms.”

"I call the participants in this battle of kings the [Kings' War]!" said [Shadow of the Kings - Lopte].

Chapter 1333 Taking shortcuts is taking a longer route

"what?!"

The [Dragon of Light and Darkness] behind him was idly picking at the dust under his fingernails. Manjoume, looking at the World Tree which was now extremely close, shouted at the person blocking his path with a somewhat distorted expression, "What do you mean by saying I can't pass through here?"

Perhaps it was because everyone else who used mounts to travel had been able to get closer to the World Tree by passing through the sky, the ground, the water, the forest, and even through the girl's skirt (scratch that), but only Manjoume was intercepted by this inexplicable guy in front of him.

He was flying peacefully in the air on the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] when suddenly this burly man, who was hiding behind a cloak, crashed into him from the sky. If the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] hadn't been strong enough to catch him in mid-air, he would have been killed by the crash.

Even though he remembered that this was not the real world but a virtual world, Manjoume was still angry at being suddenly attacked and was about to lash out at the other party, but to his surprise, the other party coldly told Manjoume that passage ahead was prohibited.

“I hate saying the same thing twice to the same person, because if someone has to say it twice to understand it, it means they’re not very bright. Please don’t make me say it a second time.” The cloaked man’s words seemed polite, but his tone was quite cold. “In order to maintain the current stability of the Nine Realms, no living being is allowed to approach the sleeping place of the King of the Central Court. This is an absolute mission given by our King.”

"Absolutely no living beings are allowed to approach? What are they then?" Wan Zhangmu pointed at the other students flying across the airspace on various mounts and said with dissatisfaction, "They can get through but I can't? Today I'll see who can stop me!"

As he spoke, Manjoume rolled up his sleeves and prepared to pull out his deck and summon some more monsters to bolster his team.

The cloaked figure ignored the threat from Wan Zhangmu, merely glancing coldly behind him and saying, "I am just one of the king's close attendants, only responsible for intercepting those whose power surpasses that of the other soldiers. Those people are not under my jurisdiction."

"Other soldiers?" Wan Zhangmu was stunned. He looked up at the sky again and saw that almost instantly, countless golden rays of light flew up from the ground, passing through the mounts of those people in the sky and even the people themselves. A large group of people was wiped out in an instant, with nearly one-tenth of them being eliminated. The flying rays of light made a sharp turn and began to harvest the rest of the people.

Not only in the sky, but the golden rays also swooped down into the forest, smashing down trees that blocked their path, seemingly hunting down those who traveled the land route. The same was true in the river not far away. Manjoume witnessed a student from the Obelisk-Blue dormitory riding a [Seahorse] being directly smashed to pieces by the rays and disappearing without pain.

Because the target had already been smashed, the golden light slowed down slightly, allowing Wan Zhangmu to see the true form of the light. It was actually an "Angel Knight" wielding a long sword and shield as tall as his body, fully armed from head to toe, and with beautiful golden wings on his back!?

Asuka, riding the [Ancient Saint Dai - First Dragon], wasn't immediately chosen as a target because she was carrying three people and had set off later than the main group. However, she still felt a chill run down her spine and subconsciously became angry at the "deaths" of her classmates as she watched them being "slaughtered."

Before she could even calm the panicked Momoe and Junko, she stood on one of the claws of [Ancient Saint Dai - First Dragon], summoned the next-generation Duel Disk on her left arm, and immediately called upon her strongest [Cyber ​​Angel] - [Cyber ​​Angel - Mijuu-] to guard her in front of her against any possible attack.

Unexpectedly, a boy from the Sun God-Huang dormitory who was being carried away by [Molinfen] and trying to escape was "killed" by the golden light less than ten meters away from Asuka. However, the "Angel Knight" only glanced at Asuka and the others, without making any move, and quietly hovered in the air.

Unsure of the other party's intentions, Asuka proceeded cautiously under the protection of the [Electronic Angel - Miakaru-], but unexpectedly, the [Ancient Saint Dai - Shiryu] beneath her moved slightly, and the "Angel Knight" immediately raised the long sword in his right hand with a "whoosh" and pointed it at Asuka, as if he would attack if she moved again.

Frowning, Asuka tried to get [Ancient Saint Dai - Shi Long] to step back a little. Just as she expected, the "Angel Knight" also lowered his sword a bit as [Ancient Saint Dai - Shi Long] did, and then raised his sword in sync with [Ancient Saint Dai - Shi Long] when he tried to get closer again.

"Those 'soldiers,' do they only attack enemies that enter the designated area?" Manjoume turned his gaze away from the sky, about to continue, "But I, Manjoume, am different from those other small fry. My words—"

The sudden cessation of his speech was naturally for a very specific reason. After all, who could remain calm when they found themselves being held by a dozen knives?

The man who blocked Wan Zhangmu casually lifted his cloak, revealing armor that was the same as that of the "Angel Knights," but with more elaborate details and many ornate decorations. He slowly raised his sword and, together with the other soldiers, surrounded Wan Zhangmu, saying, "If anyone insists on breaking in, we will fight to the death to let them experience the sharpness of our swords."

What were you trying to say?

Stiffly turning his head to avoid provoking these dangerous creatures with any large movements, Manjoume glanced behind him, intending to call for help from the [Dragon of Light and Darkness], only to find that she was also surrounded by a dozen or so "angel soldiers." Although they might not be able to stop her, they could at least prevent Manjoume from receiving immediate assistance from the [Dragon of Light and Darkness].

"—What I just said is true, but I, Wan Zhangmu, am not like other small fry. My words are very clear on what 'a wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall' means." Sweeping away his previous arrogance, Wan Zhangmu said seriously, "There is an old saying, 'Wei Junjie is a materialist,' of course I will not go into such a dangerous place."

"Can't I take a detour?"

Although it was frustrating that he couldn't pass through the area ahead directly, it didn't matter much that Manjoume took a longer route. This was not only because even though he was slower, he was still much faster than Judai, who was still walking slowly behind him, but more importantly, taking a longer route wasn't tiring—after all, it was the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] who was traveling, not himself.

Just as Manjoume was thinking this, he heard the “Angel Knight” who seemed to be the leader, who had stopped him, say: “The place where the King of Midgard sleeps is the entire Midgard. The area around the World Tree is a forbidden zone. Even if you take a detour, you will not be able to find a place that can pass through our guards to get close to the World Tree.”

"Huh? So you're saying I can't possibly reach the World Tree?" Even with a knife pointed at him, Manjoume couldn't help but get angry. "What kind of king is so great that he can't be woken up even when he's asleep? What if I insist on trying?"

Upon hearing Manjoume's words, the Knight Commander pointed into the distance and asked Manjoume, "Can you see that?"

Glancing in the direction the other was pointing, Manjoume said disdainfully, "Such a long row of mountains, would I be blind if I couldn't see it?"

“That is part of the sleeping King of Midgard’s body,” the Knight Commander said solemnly. “Theoretically, if you dig through that mountain, you can see the true body of the King of Midgard buried deep underground, and then you can try to attack that body, which is as strong as the world, to awaken it. But the prerequisite is that you can penetrate the scales that are strong enough to block Thor’s hammer and the skin that is as thick as the earth to damage its true flesh.”

"...Actually, I was just saying it offhand. I also really dislike people who wake me up for no reason." Manjoume decisively abandoned his previous idea and muttered, "What kind of thing is so powerful, with such a big body and scales?"

He hadn't expected the cold, mechanical angel knight before him to answer, but to his surprise, the other actually spoke and gave the answer: "King Jormungandr."

"...Wait a minute, who? Jormungandr?" Manjoume asked again, somewhat uncertainly, "The World Serpent from Norse mythology?"

The answer to Wan Zhang's question came from the Knight Commander's cold gaze, clearly indicating that, as he had said before, he would not say the same thing twice to the same person.

“I wanted to complain when I first saw the World Tree, and now Jormungandr has appeared too? Jaden must be very excited when he finds out, since this is the background of the ‘heroic epic’ he’s been dreaming of.” Manjoume said, frowning in annoyance.

No wonder their journey here was so smooth, without any special restrictions or events; they were just waiting here for the first group to arrive. The problem now is that these "angel knights" are blocking everyone from entering Jormungand, the place inexplicably known as the "King of Midgard," but the first and only quest and guide they receive after entering this virtual world is to go to the location of the World Tree.

Is fighting our way through the enemy lines the only option?

Just as Manjoume was troubled, the knight commander suddenly spoke up: "To reach the location of the World Tree, you don't necessarily have to go directly from the Central Court, because it is connected to the Nine Realms and you can also reach the location of the World Tree from other worlds."

"Sounds really good. I couldn't even get through your blockade, and now you're letting us go to other worlds, huh?"

Asuka, who descended from the sky, clearly heard Manjoume's strange and sarcastic remarks. Instead of continuing the confrontation with the soldiers in the sky, she immediately came down to the ground after noticing that Manjoume was surrounded, to see if he needed any support.

"Other worlds? What do you mean?"

"This virtual world seems to be based on Norse mythology. I originally thought it was just a recreation of the World Tree, but I didn't expect it to include Jormungandr, the Nine Realms, and so on." Manjoume complained when he saw Asuka's arrival. "This girl said that the place in front is where Jormungandr sleeps and we are not allowed to enter, but we can go to the location of the World Tree from other worlds."