In Britain, the Noble Phantasm: Divine Key

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Land of the Dead—Helheim

"teacher......"

Artoria stepped forward and looked at Slud, who was squatting on the ground crying. A hint of worry appeared in her holy blue eyes.

"Let her cry for a while," Yanan said calmly, arms crossed. "Suppressed emotions always need to be released; otherwise, keeping them bottled up will only cause more trouble."

Artoria hummed in agreement and stood quietly beside Anahn.

After a while, Slud gradually stopped crying and squatted quietly on the ground like a homeless little girl.

Anan took a handkerchief from the Rune Space, stepped forward, and handed it to Slud.

"......Thanks."

Slud took the handkerchief, whispered a thank you, and wiped the tears from her face.

"Don't worry, didn't they just say that death is not the final destination? You will definitely meet again in the future," Yanan said, patting Slud on the shoulder.

“Yes, I believe I will see them again in the future.” Slud stood up, looking at the crimson sea before her, a determined look appearing in her deep red eyes. “Definitely!”

After everyone had rested, Yanan walked to the front of the Crystal Bridge, his hand wreathed in black and white light, which instantly transformed into a knight's lance covered with holy lily patterns.

He plunged the Black Abyss White Flower into the crystal bridge surface, gently closed his eyes, and uttered a sound like chanting:

"I am black from the abyss, I am white descending from the clouds."

"Born before creation, existing after annihilation."

“I will give the water of the spring of life freely to those who are thirsty.”

"Black Abyss White Flower - Zero Rated Power - Holy Lance's Welwitschia, Liberate!"

Om-! !

The holy lily pattern on the Black Abyss White Flower was illuminated in an instant, and the pure white light instantly covered the entire spear. Then, a vast and boundless life force surged out and flowed into the crystal bridge along with the spear.

The power of creation from the Key of Creation, the Black Abyss White Flower, cannot be used on non-living things. Although the Rainbow Bridge appears to be paved with crystal, it is not actually an inanimate object. Instead, it is the vein of the World Tree, Yggdrasil, and a passage connecting the nine worlds. In a sense, it can be regarded as an organ of the World Tree, just like blood vessels in the human body.

If the World Tree hadn't died, the Rainbow Bridge would have been restored long ago.

Sensing that immense life force, a look of horror appeared in Slud's eyes.

In her knowledge, only a World Tree in its complete state could possibly nurture such a terrifyingly pure life force.

Could it be that this human who inherited the original runes also inherited the power of the World Tree?

If that's really the case, wouldn't that be terrifying?

A continuous stream of life force flowed into the crystal bridge, and from some unknown time, crystalline threads began to emerge from the broken gaps. They intertwined with each other, like a cocoon, and in the blink of an eye, the gaps were restored to their original state.

One, two, three... More and more gaps were filled, and the Crystal Bridge was restored to its original state at a visible speed.

Anan's face was slightly pale. The magic power required to repair the Rainbow Bridge was more terrifying than he had imagined. If his Black Dragon body had not been fully awakened, and if the environment here had not accelerated his magic power recovery, he probably would have been unable to hold on by now.

About thirty minutes later, as the last gap was filled, the Crystal Bridge suddenly burst into various bright colors. Upon closer inspection, it was found that there were exactly seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet. Each color was rich and vivid, extremely layered, almost exactly like a rainbow.

Anan immediately put away the Black Abyss White Flower, then drew the [Rune - Devour] rune, greedily absorbing the [True Aether] permeating the air to quickly replenish the magic power he had lost.

—Next, they will be setting foot in the legendary Land of the Dead, where they will most likely face Voodoo and even Zhu Yue head-on, so he must ensure that he is in peak condition.

As Slud watched Yanan's retreating figure, a hint of awe unconsciously surfaced in her eyes.

To restore the Rainbow Bridge to such a degree of damage single-handedly is a feat that even in the former Norse kingdoms, only a handful of gods could accomplish.

It can be said that based on this alone, Yanan is already worthy of the title of "god".

Was he really just a human? This question couldn't help but arise in Slud's mind.

After waiting another half hour, until his magical energy was restored, Anan nodded to Artoria and Slud:

"Alright, let's go."

The two women nodded and followed Anaen onto the Rainbow Bridge.

"Target: Helheim, the land of the dead. Activate!"

The moment the words fell, the surrounding scenery was instantly replaced by all sorts of bizarre and colorful lights, as if they were all wrapped in a giant cocoon, completely unaware of what was happening outside.

However, thanks to his powerful senses, Yanan could clearly feel that the external space was changing very rapidly.

After an unknown amount of time—perhaps a moment, perhaps hundreds of years—as all the colors gradually faded, Yanan and the others discovered that the surrounding scenery had undergone a dramatic transformation.

The area around them was no longer the crimson sea that resembled lava, but an endless black plain filled with all sorts of strangely shaped rocks and pale bones seeping from the cracks in the soil. The sky was covered by gloomy, dark clouds, and the wind that blew carried a biting chill.

There is no sign of life here; the whole world is filled with an aura of "death."

"Is this the legendary underworld? It truly lives up to its name," Yanan exclaimed.

“The power of the underworld has a very strong corrosive effect on all living beings. If we stay there for too long, our bodies will undergo some adverse changes, just like… those monsters from earlier,” Slud said solemnly.

"Don't worry, that won't happen." Yanan smiled and pulled out a necklace with a golden cross hanging from the inside of his armor.

An invisible force emanated from him, immediately suppressing the deathly power of the underworld around him.

"This is... that power from just now."

A hint of surprise appeared in Slud's eyes. This familiar power instantly reminded her of the golden chains that had previously rendered her powerless.

Unexpectedly, this power could even suppress the rules of the underworld... Slud couldn't help but smile bitterly to herself. It seemed that no matter what kind of problem she encountered, her new master could always find a way to resolve it.

They are even more omnipotent than gods.

"Remember not to stray too far from me," Yanan instructed, then turned and walked forward.

Artoria and Slud quickly followed behind him.

Following Nidhogg's instructions, Ananon proceeded towards the location of her true form.

Along the way, they encountered many monsters from the underworld. Although these creatures looked ferocious and terrifying, they were not very strong. In fact, they could be easily dealt with by Artoria and Slud without even Anaen lifting a finger.

Having strengthened her inner will, Slud finally regained her Valkyrie powers, and seemingly wanting to impress Anan, she fought each battle with remarkable decisiveness and sharpness, demonstrating impressive combat skills.

As Valkyries created by Odin, they possess remarkable talent in combat. Runes, which ordinary magicians might not be able to comprehend even in their entire lives, are their innate power. Furthermore, they were granted special authority by Odin, and their Noble Phantasm, "False God's Declaration," is a degraded copy of Odin's exclusive weapon, Gungnir. It possesses considerable power and, like Odin, is guaranteed to hit its target once thrown.

As a weapon of war, Valkyrie is almost flawless.

Even the God-Slaying Knights of Anan are far inferior to this Valkyrie force.

Unfortunately, with the demise of the Age of Gods, it is no longer possible to replicate such miracles in this era.

"Coo coo~~"

Hearing the voice coming from beside him, Anaen suddenly stopped in his tracks, glancing at Artoria behind him with a slightly surprised look.

Artoria's pretty face turned bright red, and she wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground.

She lowered her head in shame: "I'm sorry, teacher, I tried so hard to hold back, but..."

"No, it's not your fault, it was my carelessness."

Yanan slapped his forehead and gave a wry smile. Ever since entering the Norse kingdom, he had been preoccupied with Nidhogg and had completely forgotten about Artoria's supply problem.

Although he also possesses a dragon body, he is still a magician and can choose to activate or deactivate his Black Dragon body at any time. In addition, with some small tricks he has developed over the years, his energy consumption is actually not that great.

However, Artoria must eat large amounts of food every now and then, otherwise she will not be able to meet her body's needs.

However, the awkward thing is that because he came in such a hurry, he didn't have time to prepare any food.

He glanced at the eerily quiet surroundings. Would there be any food here?

"Nidhogg, do you know what food is available here?"

“Food? Then of course it’s the roots of the World Tree,” Nidhogg said without hesitation.

Yanan's forehead instantly creased with a few black lines: "I'm talking about the kind of food that ordinary people can eat."

"Hmm... If I remember correctly, there should be a plant in Helheim called 'Netherflower'. It usually parasitizes the corpses of very powerful monsters. Ordinary humans can eat it, and it's very filling. I've just heard that it's poisonous."

Anan didn't care at all; it was just a little poison, and he could simply purify it with the power of the Black Abyss White Flower.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Mortal Serpent—Jormungandr

According to Nidhogg, the Netherbloom is a plant that parasitizes the corpses of powerful monsters, so Anan must first find the corpses of those powerful monsters.

He sketched the runes of [Runes of Perception], and invisible magical energy spread in all directions, acting as his eyes and ears, bringing him information from afar.

Until one moment, an incredibly dense aura of death caught his attention, as striking as a lamp in the darkness.

"Found it... wait, this appearance..."

Anan seemed to have discovered something. He frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and then drew the [Rune - Space] rune, which instantly transformed into a spatial vortex as tall as two people.

He stepped inside first, and Artoria and Slud paused for a moment before following him.

The surrounding scenery changed in a flash. When the two women came to their senses, they found that the scenery around them had not changed, except that a towering mountain peak had appeared in front of them.

"Teacher, is there any food on this mountain?" Artoria asked curiously.

“This is not a mountain,” Yanan replied quietly, “but a corpse, and only a part of it.”

A corpse!?

Artoria's eyes widened in shock. What kind of corpse could be so large, and it was only a part of it?

Slud seemed to have thought of something, and a hint of horror appeared in her eyes as she looked at the mountain peak.

Anan snapped his fingers, and a layer of magical light, like ripples on water, appeared in the void, showing the shape of the mountain in front of him.

As Yanan clenched his fingers, the field of vision of the light screen was instantly widened and heightened.

Soon, the true appearance of the mountain peak appeared before the three of them.

"Just as I thought..." The moment she saw it clearly, Slud finally let out a long breath.

Artoria's mouth was slightly open, her eyes filled with intense disbelief.

It was an unimaginably long giant snake, its head facing the sky, its abyss-like mouth wide open, as if it were fighting a powerful enemy. There was a tear between its brows, as if it had been hit hard by some heavy object.

"The legendary serpent that coiled around Midgard, the giant python that devoured the mortal world, Jormungandr." Anan looked up at the insurmountable mountain peak, "I never imagined it would die here."

In mythology, Jormungandr and Thor were sworn enemies. During Ragnarok, they fought fiercely and ultimately perished together.

If I'm not mistaken, that scratch between his eyebrows should be from Thor's hammer.