Odin seemed used to this. A thin thread of Aether spilled from her palm, and Aphelia’s stormed heart slowly stilled.

“So… it was fake?”

She lowered her head, mind replaying everything, and the words came out as a murmur.

If it was fake, why had it felt so real? That cold‑cloaked Reaper. That arrogant Demon King who ended like a saint. And that…

She saw the blaze again and shook her head. She had only peered past a dome, yet an endless star ocean etched itself into her mind.

“It wasn’t fake after all…”

She had no proof, only the feeling. That memory felt carved into her soul. If it were false, it wouldn’t have bitten so deep.

She rose and looked out through the vast cave mouth.

“This is already the Land of the Dead,” Odin said, coming to her side. “It’s just the rim. We keep moving to enter Niflheim.”

Azure Thunder crawled from Odin’s fingertips, drifted into the air, and lit up several zones on the wasteland like floating markers.

“It does fit its name. Barren as bones.”

Aphelia let out a small laugh. The place was so bare she couldn’t sense a breath of life.

“Once we enter Niflheim, you might think differently.”

The azure Thunder unraveled into mist and spread across the plain.

As the mist seeped in, the giant rocks began to shiver. Aphelia’s wry smile returned. So much for no life—life was everywhere.

Inside the real jagged boulders, countless massive beasts, no different from the rocks, snapped open scarlet eyes. They swept the horizon. Wrapped in Aether, they didn’t see the trio at all.

“So? A change of heart about the Land of the Dead?”

Aphelia let out a bitter chuckle. If anything changed, it was for the worse.

“We have to cross this to reach Niflheim’s gate. Don’t worry. These beasts aren’t a threat. They’re lazy as sin.”

Odin’s Aether shaped wings and settled on her back.

“Lazy? Wait—Odin, what are you doing?!”

She moved behind Aphelia and gently pulled her along, and a bad feeling prickled.

“These beasts, once startled and they find no target, chalk it up to a trick of the eye. Next time, they won’t stay wary. I just poked them with Aether and they didn’t spot us. Ready, Aphelia?”

Odin smiled kindly and nudged her to the cliff’s lip.

Cold wind whooshed around them. Even Aphelia’s breath caught at the drop.

“Of course—we fly down.”

“Don’t—!”

After a very spirited flight, the three passed through the beast‑ridden zone safe and sound… not.

“I swear…”

Aphelia was clamped in a rock beast’s jaws, her mood a tangled knot.

How did that happen? Blame Uroboros, the odd one out.

They were flying straight, the herd quiet. Aphelia had finally exhaled. Then Uroboros cut past overhead at insane speed.

That glide slapped the whole herd awake. They rioted. One beast snapped Aphelia mid‑air and yanked her down.

“Damn you, Uroboros…”

Even Aphelia cursed, cheeks hot with indignation.

The thing couldn’t harm her, but its bite was bizarre. She couldn’t pry it open. Its mouth was nothing like its docile shell.

“Why are there tentacles in its mouth?!”

Odin winced, embarrassed, yet she didn’t dare strike with Thunder.

Ugly as they were, these were the pets of the three fairies who guard Niflheim’s magic gold. Kill them, and those three—petty as needles—would never let it go, even if Odin had once ruled the divine realm.

Aphelia wouldn’t wait to be chewed. Odin still held back. Uroboros floated like a spectator, not lifting a finger. Tentacles kept prodding. Her temper snapped.

“Enough!”

Crimson Flame erupted. The always‑reliable Crimson Fire didn’t fail her. The beast’s head burned to ash, its shriek rippling the herd. Aphelia tore free.

She couldn’t fly, so she hit the ground hard. The beasts saw a comrade die and thundered at her like an avalanche.

Seeing the stampede, Odin steeled herself. Azure Aether gathered in her hand, a storm coiling, ready to break as raging Thunder and scour the earth.

That mass would pin her down unless she culled it. She couldn’t get Aphelia airborne otherwise.

“Odin, which way?!”

Crimson Flame coiled around Aphelia’s hands. She was set to carve a path. After the Demon King mess, her nerves were raw. She needed to vent.

Odin sighed, then pointed to the eastern rock canyon and shouted, “Head east! We’ll wait there!”

“Got it!”

Even as she answered, Crimson Flame surged into a vast sea of fire. She shaped Bracer Gauntlets from flame and charged, pummeling the rushing beasts.

She had never wielded the power of Crimson Fire so wildly. Anger made it sing. Everything flowed, no friction.

The blaze in her chest hammered into scorching strikes, and she poured it out on their bodies.

She couldn’t fly, but her body was far beyond normal. One light leap brought her level with their heads. Her right fist, burning with Crimson Fire, shot straight.

A slender arm, a falling giant. The rock beast slammed flat.

“Ora ora ora!!!”

Her fists blurred. Skin hard as cliff‑face split into craters. Black blood geysered from shattered hide, only to evaporate in the heat.

The herd went feral. They roared, and blinding beams lanced out. Aphelia braced, stepped on a collapsing beast, and sprang.

The beams tore past beneath her. The shockwaves ripped their formation, and she found breathing room.

If only she had the Ghostface Vambrace…

The thought surfaced on its own. With that divine weapon, these beasts would be nothing.

A tremor answered from within.

A green gem—the heart of Primordial Soil—slid free from her body and hovered above her forearms.

“This is…”

It drank her Crimson Flame like a whirlpool. Power gathered hard and fast. A mad idea flashed. She dropped all limits.

In an instant, the sky seemed to stain red, then snapped calm.

Only Aphelia knew what churned in that strange beat. Letting go, she felt herself cross layered spaces. The kaleidoscopic blur nearly swallowed her.

Unbound, Crimson Fire was ready to drown the heavens in flame. The core of Primordial Soil surged with a stronger pull and swallowed it whole.

Her power almost slipped the leash. The title ability she’d gained before losing her strength flickered awake for a heartbeat. Driven by Crimson Fire, it spiked to the extreme. Time itself felt skewed.

And then another shock.

“Crim… Sakura?!”

The crimson gauntlet now sheathing her arms made her think of the Valkyrie’s Ghostface Vambrace. After a close look, she knew it wasn’t the same.