The next day.

"Cirrus, wake up," Circe said, kicking Cirrus’s leg and waking him up.

"Hmmm… Is it time?" Cirrus groggily says.

"Yes, the antidote should work." She said, holding an orange bottle. "We made some spares in case of emergencies."

"Well, I guess I’ll get going. Hmm!!" he stretches' while still in bed. "You ready?"

"As I ever am, oh, I told Loki and Freya the conditions on when they can start to pack up, so there is that."

"Hmm… And Ais?"

"I am here," Ais said, walking up next to Circe. "Riveria is talking with the Dark Elves, and it seems we're all waiting for you to clear it out."

"Were you just looking at me while I was sleeping?" Cirrus gets up.

"You have a calm, sleeping expression."

"Hmm. It's weird coming from you?"

"?" Ais tilts her head. "Is it? You are a close friend. Loki said that we are like birds of a feather."

"That's a fair assessment," Circe said. "But you two are like a brother and sister."

"In what ways!?" they both said, wanting Circe to explain herself.

"Cirrus is like the older brother who moved out when the little sister, Ais, was born. You guys get along fairly well, but you don't really talk a lot with one another, only on occasions."

"..." Ais and Cirrus look at one another.

"Yeah, I see it," Cirrus said.

"I as well," Ais said. "Cirrus, can I call you—"

"Ah, I don't want people giving me weird looks."

"What kind of looks?"

"Anyway." Cirrus wanted this conversation over. "Let’s get started. Ais, you know the plan we discussed on our way here?"

"Yes, I am ready, big brother!"

"We will discuss this later. (Theïká Panoplía: Aethon.)"

 

Under the massive tree, eating the sap from the sacred tree and slowly drinking the Eitr along with it.

Sip~

Sip~

She could not drink it all down, as it was so potent that it required her to slowly consume it and adapt it to herself. It also just tasted horrible, so the tree sap made it taste better.

"Huff! Huff! Huff!" She takes a break before sipping slowly. "Sip~"

Wu could see something flying high into the sky off in the distance. She narrowed her eyes to see a large bird flying with a blond woman.

"Hm?"

Wu’s eyes widen. The only one with blonde hair who would be here would be Aria’s daughter, and by extension, Cirrus.

"Heh… Hehahaha!!!" She laughed with joy. "You’re here at last!!" She quickly rushed inside.

Her smile grew wider and wider as she went down into the tree.

"Cirrus!!!!!" The smile grew to the point where the muscles bled from how far stretched they were.

Wu’s appearance drastically changed after 3 years; her hair was now a nauseating purple and green like moss, and her attire was taken from the homes in the village she took. Overall, her appearance turned more towards Lovitar than anything else.

She went as far deep into the tree as she could, down into the treasure room.

"I’ll kill you!! I’ll kill you!!!!!" She grabbed the bottle of Eitr she left so as not to accidentally drop it and drank it whole.

"!!!!!!!"

Her body violently reforms. Extending and retracting. It was as if her body was rejecting it in the most visceral way possible, yet she gritted her way through the pain.

As it slowly subsided, she now had a bleeding smile of joy.

"Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A maniacal laugh echoed through the dark, poisonous nest she made, as her body was now both degenerating and regenerating cyclically.

"Come!! Come!! I’ll wait for you!!" Her body then began to sweat a purple and black liquid.

 

High in the air, Cirrus holds Ais by her waist, high above the clouds.

"You ready?" Cirrus said.

"I am," Ais said, nodding.

"Then show me how far you have grown, Ais!" From his shadow, a wide enough metal sheet drops. "(Sing)!!"

Cirrus lets go of Ais as she lands on the metal sheet, held up by Cirrus’ magic.

Cirrus flies up as Ais draws her sword.

"(Awaken, tempest)!!!!!"

From the jump, a powerful torrent of wind covered Ais.

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!

The wind wrapped around her sword, and she swung her sword around as if it were a lasso.

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!

The wind went in a circle, gaining more speed and force.

"Grrrrr!!!!" Ais gritted her teeth as she focused on her output.

‘It’s almost there!! I know it!! I can feel the natural wind gathering!!’

Over the past three years, Ais, having witnessed what Cirrus did in Olympia, wanted to do that. But to achieve that, she would need to polish her magic, so whenever it was the Loki Familia's turn for their expedition, Ais would always, without missing a beat, ask Cirrus for lessons. The results were very much to her liking.

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!

A massive cyclone formed over the forest. Ais's command of her wind was masterful, but along with Ariel and Ais’s essence, her sense of touch extended through the wind, for a more delicate and precise command that Cirrus couldn’t achieve.

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!

It uprooted several trees, along with the miasma, into the eye of the storm. Even some of the nearby buildings lost bits and pieces of their homes.

"Guh!?" The poison started in Ais.

"Drink," Cirrus said before her with the antidote Circe and Heith made.

Ais opens it and drinks it.

"Ugh! It tastes like green peas." She made a displeased face.

"Heh. Get on my back. I’ll finish the rest."

Cirrus turns around, and Ais jumps on his back. Fafnir snatches the metal sheet.

‘Circe, are you over Odin’s town?’

‘I am. I am setting up the barrier right now.’

‘Good.’

Cirrus flies a bit higher as Circe uses some of his magic to form the barrier. He holds his hand out.

"(Sing)."

His magic circle flickered into formation, and a massive and wide blast of electricity burned through the collected miasma.

CRAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!

"Fafnir disperses the cyclone," Cirrus said, descending.

Fafnir shot out at top speed, breaking up the cyclone.

Landing back on the ground, Cirrus hands him a mana potion.

"Here, I’ll go on and finish the rest."

"Thanks." She takes the potion from Cirrus. "Are you not affected by the miasma?"

"No, my Immunity is just enough to not be affected." He walked towards the town that once belonged to the Odin Familia. "You can go back, Ais, or stay here, Ais. It won’t take long."

Ais nodded and left with some hesitation. She wished she could at least speak with Wu. That wish isn’t something that would come true.

Walking to the barrier, Fafnir returned into his shadow.

 

Circe opened a small area for Cirrus to enter.

Tap!

Tap!

Having surrounded the whole town with a barrier, the miasma spewing from the base of the tree began to build up slowly.

Cirrus kept walking unaffected.

Tap!

Tap!

He looked at the town that Odin made and found it very simple yet impressive. He could see that it was constructed to be very easy to repair and suitable for both summer and winter.

The layout of the town also impressed Cirrus.

‘I need to take note of this, damn, Hecton is back with Malion. Oh, well.’

He arrived at the Odin Familia home; it looked similar to the home Odin built after Wu kicked or forced them out.

"Hm."

Walking through the home, he walks out to the back.

"Oh." He looks up at their tree.

According to Malion, while her people’s sacred tree was called Yggdrasiljóð, the tree before him is called Yggdrasil. The dark elves within the Lionash Forest used to live here, but the Odin Familia came and kicked them out. They took a branch of their sacred tree before they left and named it Yggdrasiljóð.

Despite enduring the poison, Yggdrasil stood as healthy as one could.

"Fafnir, take a branch or two."

Fafnir shot out again quickly and cut off a rather large branch before returning it to Cirrus’ shadow.

"A lovely gift for your wife, master," Fafnir said.

"Very. I’ll reward you." Cirrus takes out the magic tool he used on Thetis, now improved. "Do you wanna do it?"

Fafnir grabbed the gloves from Cirrus’ sleeves.

"Thank you, master; I will enjoy that very much."

Cirrus walked up to a rotted, thick wooden door with runes on it. He went down into the poisonous roots of the massive tree. He could smell the rot of decay and poison in the stagnant air.

‘…I wonder how well she and Lovitar would have gotten along?’

He descended into the lair, and more and stronger poison began to get to him. Not that it poisoned him, but that the smell was overwhelming him.

‘Geezus fucking Christ what the hell has she been doing for the last 3 years? Shutting herself in and festering in this shithole?’

‘Cirrus I am heading back; should I tell them to start packing up?’ Circe asked.

‘Yeah go on and tell them.’

 

He delves deeper and deeper; his resistances have been working to resist the poisons so far. After 10 minutes of walking, Cirrus arrives at the bottom, where they're sitting on a pile of poison-drenched gold coins with weapons and armor littered around Wu.

"Cirrus…" Glared daggers at him. "I have longed for this moment!!! I longed toiled in shame!!! It was one thing to be defeated by the likes of you but by a bunch of randoms! It was a stain I couldn’t forgive even until death!!"

Her appearance was a stark contrast between when he met her and now. She lost that childish pride and became an adult wallowing in sorrow and anger.

"So you worked to strengthen your poison just for me? I’m very flattered." Cirrus lightly smiled.

Wu looked him up and down, and the ends of her mouth stretched back in anger; her eyes narrowed as well.

"Why aren’t you struggling to breathe!?" she said angrily. "It has the poisonous ash of the Behemoth!! The poison from the tainted Spring of Life!! Increased by every other poison I come across!!"

"You know I fought a monster who tried to kill me with several unknown diseases, right? my Immunity rank is B."

"I know you will be hard to kill, so how about this!! (Hate, hate, the sin within you. By my law I shall draw for your punishment. Bathe in the jar of poison of an exuberant banquet. Go and melt to the marrow of your bones.)!! [Senshibankō no Kokuhatsu]!!!"

Her magic circle appeared under her; black water sprang from under her, filling the lair quickly with poisonous liquid.

Cirrus quickly chanted.

"(Theïká Panoplía)! (Sing)!!!"

Under him, his magic armor equipped itself as a fortress of thunder, covering him. The liquid hit the lighting, and steam came out. Cirrus drew Gram.

"Full release!!"

Crack!!!

As the sword glowed, Cirrus cut through the liquid and thrust his sword into Wu’s stomach, just below where her core is.

The black liquid quickly stopped and evaporated.

"D-dammit!!" she then spits at Cirrus, hitting him on the cheek. "You fucking monster!! I wish you had killed me back then!! So I wouldn’t have to suffer this humiliation!!!" tears were running down her cheek.

Cirrus wipes the poison from his cheek with his thumb and looks at it.

"My... it seems this poison is very strong." His thumb and cheek were numb, with them turning purple, green, and back to normal. His armor was healing his body fast enough to fight off the poison. "Too bad you weren’t in the dungeon to grow stronger."

"Well!!" She has her arms out. "Go on!! Kill me!!"

"Sure, but she will do it."

Under him, Fafnir emerged like a soul grasping for salvation.

"!?" Wu shudders as they gain more of a humanoid appearance.

"Do you not recognize me?" Fafnir fully formed and gently touched just above where Cirrus stabbed Wu.

"You... who are you!"

"Xuanlong."

"!?" She shudders again. "X-Xuanlong!? I thought you were—"

"You were wrong. I have to thank you for feeding me and granting me a name. But since I have yet to find my creator, you will settle for now."

"W-wait—Thrust!!"

Fafnir thrust her hand, grabbing Wu’s core.

"Gasp!?" Wu felt Fafnir’s hand on her equivalent of a heart.

Just like Thetis, red circuits spread through Wu’s body.

Cirrus retracted Gram.

Wu stared at Fafnir and Cirrus, fury washing over her.

"I… I curse you!!! I CURSE YOU EVEN UPON DEATH!!! I CURSE YOU, CIRRUS ZEPHYR!!! YOU WILL DIE BY THE VILEST OF POISONS!!! YOUR EYES WILL BLEED AND YOUR LUNGS WILL FILL WITH PUSS!!! I CURSE YOU XUANLONG!!! YOU WILL HAVE YOUR HEART RIPPED OUT!!! DAMN, YOU BOTH!!! CIRRUS!!! XUANLONG!!! YOU HAVE RUINED ME—"

The circuits covered her fully; they glowed green.

"Goodbye." Fafnir then ripped her core out without a second's hesitation.

Wu looked at her with fury and hatred in her eyes.

"I… Curse…" She slowly began to turn to ash. "You… both."

She slid down Fafnir and fell to the ground.

Thud!!

Both of them look at her body to find it is not breaking down as quickly as Thetis.

"Seems it worked better," Cirrus said.

"Master here." Fafnir hands him Wu’s core.

Cirrus looks at the black and purple core of Wu.

"Hm. If or when the body breaks down, burn her."

"Very well, master." She nodded. "Master, I have to, but what are you going to do with it? Add it to White Night?"

"No… I think I’ll hold on to it for a while and think about what I’m going to do with it. Maybe it’ll be Haku’s sword? He does want to surpass me, and I think it would fit him pretty well, no?"

"Given her feelings towards you, I would agree, but her magic is..."

"Well, we have time to think."

"Hm," she nods. "Oh, master, should we not take some stuff from this treasury?"

Cirrus looks at it and finds it still covered in poison.

"No, I’m good." He then takes out the orange antidote Circe made and drinks half of it. "Here, drink this in case you are affected."

"Thank you, master."

She returned not 20 minutes later.

 

After coming back up, they return to base to find it already packed up. Cirrus, having already come to finish his business, left first, leaving Loki and Freya at their request.

They wanted to mess with Odin a bit more.