In Britain, the Noble Phantasm: Divine Key

“So there really are snakes this big in the world,” Artoria murmured. “I can’t even imagine what it would be like if it were still alive.”

A hint of sadness appeared in Slud's eyes. Jormungandr was dead, but the great god Thor had not returned, so the outcome was self-evident.

Anann found many black flowers on Jormungandr's corpse. The roots were as white as bones, and the petals were printed with strange patterns, which looked like a crying face.

He questioned Nidhogg and confirmed that this was indeed the Flower of the Underworld.

Then Anaen used the power of the Black Abyss White Flower to purify the poison in the Netherworld Flower and handed it over to Artoria.

"Is this thing really edible?" Artoria asked, holding the Dark Flower, her face filled with confusion.

Although she is indeed someone who doesn't discriminate between meat and vegetables, this thing doesn't look like something edible at all.

"Don't worry, I've already removed all the harmful substances here, there won't be any problems," Yanan said.

Artoria hesitated for a moment, but finally overcame her psychological unease, put a flower of the underworld into her mouth, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it.

Then she ate more than ten Netherworld Flowers in a row.

"How are you feeling?" Yanan asked.

Artoria rubbed her stomach and said, "Although it tastes a bit awful, it can certainly fill my stomach."

Yanan tried one himself. It had almost no taste, and the texture was like sawdust, somewhat like the kind of black bread that only appeared in poor people's homes.

The only good thing is that this stuff can actually fill your stomach.

"There's nothing we can do for now, but we'll have to make do for the time being. When we get back, I'll have the chef cook whatever you want to eat," Yanan comforted him.

Artoria nodded. She wasn't unreasonable. Finding food in such an environment was already a very difficult thing. To be honest, she had even prepared herself to eat dirt.

Because of the time constraints, they couldn't stop to rest and had to eat as they walked.

After purifying all the collected Netherworld Flowers, Yanan put them into the alternate dimension, so that he could simply take them out after Artoria finished eating them.

Because he wasn't sure if the Dark Flower had any other properties he didn't know about, he kept a close eye on Artoria's condition the whole way, ready to intervene at any moment if he noticed anything wrong.

However, even after Artoria had destroyed all the thousands of Netherworld Flowers she had picked, he did not notice anything unusual about her.

It seems that apart from being slightly toxic, this thing is indeed without any problems.

Yanan gradually felt relieved.

After more than twenty hours of continuous travel, the three people who reached the top of a high mountain saw a huge pillar in front of them, stretching from the ground all the way to the infinitely high sky, as if supporting the entire world.

This was a scene that Yanan was very familiar with, because he had seen a similar scene in the mental world created by Nidhogg.

That is the anchor point that holds the image of the Age of Gods—the World Tree [Yogdrasil]!

"There it is!!" Nidhogg shouted excitedly, "I can already sense the presence of the real body!"

Having identified their target, Anaen did not hesitate at all. He immediately activated the runes and, with Artoria and Slud, instantly traversed a distance of several thousand meters, arriving at a small hill not far from the World Tree.

“The World Tree…” Looking at the withered World Tree, a hint of sadness appeared in Slud’s eyes.

Perhaps because she had witnessed so many miracles along the way, Artoria did not show the same great shock as before. She merely glanced at it casually before looking away.

Yanan lowered his gaze slightly and quickly spotted his target.

At the base of the World Tree, a colossal black dragon lay prostrate, its back covered by two rows of jagged bone spurs. Each scale seemed cast from molten iron, reflecting a metallic sheen. Its broad wings covered its back, and its entire body exuded an ancient and awe-inspiring aura.

The black dragon was surrounded by a white halo that resembled a cocoon. It lay quietly inside the halo, motionless, and it was unclear whether it was dead or asleep.

“Nidhogg?” Slud exclaimed in surprise. “It’s still here?”

She was naturally familiar with this despairing dragon that devoured the world; after all, it was a creature that even Odin couldn't deal with back then.

She never expected that even after so much time had passed, the other person would still be here.

She glanced at Yanan, wondering if her new master's purpose in coming here was for it.

"Phew~ I finally made it." Seeing that his main body was safe and sound, Nidhogg breathed a sigh of relief, then said with a troubled expression, "But what should I do next? As long as those rules are still there, I can't get out of them."

That halo was a barrier she created using the power of the World Tree. If she were to leave this barrier, she would be immediately obliterated by the power of the rules.

After all, as the embodiment of the rules, she had no chance of resisting that kind of power.

"Don't worry, I've already thought of a plan," Yanan said with a smile.

Actually, he had been racking his brains about how to get Nidhogg out of the rules, but the appearance of the Oath of Judah solved the problem immediately.

Judah's power of "restraint" can suppress all energy, including the Laws of the Law, which are the ultimate manifestation of physical laws. So a few rules are naturally no problem for him.

Although Nidhogg herself will be affected in this process, these rules only apply to the Norse kingdom. Once she leaves this place, she can roam freely and have her freedom to soar through the skies and leap across the seas.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get started!"

After hearing Yanan's story, Nidhogg could no longer contain his excitement.

The prison that has lasted for thousands of years is finally coming to an end!

Anan nodded slightly and walked step by step toward Nidhogg's true form.

"I never expected that your target would also be Nidhogg."

A deep voice suddenly echoed in his ears, and Yanan stopped in his tracks and turned to look in the direction from which the voice came.

Two figures were slowly walking towards them. One was a tall, beautiful woman with a white palace dress, long golden hair, and eyes of the same color. The other was a middle-aged man with a dignified appearance, wearing white armor.

“Votigeng, Zhuyue…” Yanan’s eyes narrowed slightly. “As expected, this matter is related to you.”

"Oh? You've already guessed it's us?" Vortigern stopped about 500 meters away from Anahn, looking somewhat surprised. "It seems you're smarter than I thought, and you're quite lucky too."

He looked at Slud, sized her up, and sighed softly, "You even managed to get your hands on a Valkyrie. I can't help but feel a little jealous."

Slud's face was very unpleasant. Not only did Vortigern's extremely aggressive gaze make her feel very uncomfortable, but what angered her even more was his arrogant demeanor and tone, which made him treat her like a commodity to be picked up at will in a shop.

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Black Dragon Body, Fully Unleashed!

Slud was very angry.

As a Valkyrie directly under Odin, the king of the gods, even the orthodox gods would treat her with utmost respect, let alone dare to criticize her like this.

He's just a mere human being; isn't that far too arrogant?

"You usurper, pay the price for your offense!"

Cold words escaped her lips, and the spear in Slud's hand suddenly shone with an incomparably dazzling light. Runes surrounded the spear, and an ancient and vast aura burst forth in an instant, hurled towards Vortigern like lightning.

"Go, 'Gungnir (Pseudo-God's Declaration)'!"

Zhu Yue raised her hand, preparing to take the spear, but Vottigeng, who was beside her, suddenly stepped forward and blocked her way.

"That gun has been imbued with the power to always hit its target once it's fired. Let me do it myself."

Vortigern stared calmly at the whistling spear hurtling towards him, making no defensive move.

When the spear was only twenty centimeters from his brow, he suddenly raised his right hand, grabbed the handle with lightning speed, staggered slightly, and then stood firmly in place.

"How is this possible?!" A look of intense horror appeared in Slud's eyes.

This guy actually managed to catch my spear with just one hand!?

"As expected of a Valkyrie created by Odin himself, her power is indeed not to be underestimated," Vortigern remarked, examining the spear in his hand.

However, to Slud, these words were full of sarcasm.

“In that case, I’ll give you a return gift.” Vortigern revealed a cold smile, turned the spear in his hand, and casually threw it toward Slud.

Bang--!!

The moment the spear left his hand, a cloud of sonic booms erupted, and the sharp spear tip headed straight for Slud.

A sudden, intense sense of crisis surged through Slud's heart, and she instinctively raised the round shield in her left hand to shield herself.

clang--!!!

With a deafening clang of metal clashing, Slud was instantly blasted back more than twenty meters, leaving two deep trenches in the ground.

Her legs trembled slightly, and she knelt down with a thud, panting heavily. Large beads of sweat dripped from her face as she looked up at Vortigern, her eyes filled with horror.

Yanan narrowed his eyes slightly. He hadn't sensed any magical fluctuations just now, which meant that Vortigern had unleashed that attack entirely through physical strength.

Moreover, judging from his relaxed and carefree appearance, he probably hasn't exerted his full strength yet.

This is truly an incredible thing.

He knew, of course, that Vortigern had become the God of the End, but even in the realm of gods, such a powerful physical body was already beyond the norm.

Moreover, Britain is now in the late Age of Gods, and the amount of ether is extremely scarce, making it impossible for Vortigern to possess such great power.

"You find it unbelievable, don't you?" Vortigern's golden vertical pupils stared straight at Anan. "You must be wondering right now where my power comes from."

Yanan crossed his arms and remained silent.

“Actually, it wouldn’t hurt to tell you,” Vortigern said calmly. “This power comes from Odin’s son—Thor, the God of Thunder.”

Boom—!!

The moment the words fell, a bolt of silver lightning descended from the sky and merged into Vortigern's body, its incomparably violent aura surging like boiling seawater.

Feeling this power that was once so familiar, Slud was instantly shocked and her eyes widened.

"This...how is this possible..."

Looking at Vortigern, who was bathed in lightning, Anan's expression also became more serious, and he said in a deep voice:

"You stole Thor's power?"

“Otherwise, why do you think I would have arrived here so late?” Voodoo said calmly.

“It seems I was right after all. You do indeed possess another power, and your fifteen years of hiding in the North are related to this power,” Yanan said.

It goes without saying that Voodoo Gon alone could never have stolen divine power.

“Compared to those dull idiots, you do possess commendable wisdom, but unfortunately, you discovered it far too late,” Vortigern said, clearly acknowledging Anahn’s words.

He extended his hand toward Anan: "I can give you a chance. As long as you swear allegiance to me, I can guarantee you a place in the New World."

"Are you so confident that you can win?" Yanan asked.

“I have never lost,” Voodoo said calmly.

"Is that so? That's quite unfortunate." Yanan stomped his foot, and a large crack appeared in the ground. The powerful recoil propelled him forward like a cannonball. "I have never lost before!"

"Out of control."