“This happened because of me. Because I couldn't bring myself to kill him. Because I didn't want to believe in the future I knew to be inevitable. The future the waters of the well showed me countless years prior.” I gave voice to the undeniable truth from my position on Sleipnir’s back as he stood in the overcast sky of the Asgardian Realm, gazing down upon the destruction my past weakness and indecisiveness had brought about. 

I had witnessed this scene countless times in my dreams. And now, I watched as it played out in reality. Countless cities were reduced to rubble one after another, and the ground was torn asunder by armies of Giants. I silently bore witness to countless families being torn apart by indescribable violence and destruction as some of them did their best to flee to the farthest reaches of Asgard and others fought until they breathed their last.

This chaotic battle brought destruction to the entirety of Asgard.

Even the mighty tree, Yggdrasil, Asgard’s Core which had remained stable for countless years, had begun to tremble as massive rifts appeared on the world’s surface.

"Hai...", I released a sigh of lament before patting Sleipnir's neck and saying, "Come we must get to the city before Loki. We cannot allow him to achieve his goal. Otherwise, it won't be just Asgard, but all of The Three Realms that will be affected by his schemes."

"*******" Sleipnir released a sound of confirmation before turning north and running in the direction of Yggdrasil.

As he ran our figures became illusory and space parted before him. 

In mere moments we traveled countless miles and arrived in the airspace above the city of Asgard. 

The sky was overcast with dark clouds and the battle here was even more destructive than the battles elsewhere in Asgard. 

The Eastern wall had almost completely collapsed due to the fighting as an army of Giants headed by Loki's children charged into the city, their bloodlust soaring high.

 Countless buildings had begun to crumble as blood of various colors painted the city, and earth-shaking explosions rang out ceaselessly. The bodies of countless Deva haphazardly spread across the battlefield.

As Jormungandr used its giant body to wreck destruction and created tsunamis of water to wash away its enemies, lightning suddenly flashed in the deep recesses of the sky. An ear-shattering explosion sounded out as a figure clad in silver armor flew downwards from the sky followed by an overwhelming wave of lightning. 

The figure crashed into the sea serpent's side, eliciting an ear-piercing shriek as the smell of burned flesh proliferated throughout the air.

In that moment everyone instantly knew that Thor had arrived on the battlefield and inevitably set his sights on the sea-serpent.

In the following moment both our allies and enemies made room for the two natural disasters given flesh to duke it out.

Elsewhere Nidhogg had turned a section of the city into a domain of Darkness and Death as her subordinate Dragons reaped countless lives further adding to the chaos of the battlefield. The Rays of Divinity radiating off of her body were a mix of jade green and jet black in color and caused a wave of insurmountable fear to form in the minds of her enemies.

Though some of the more powerful Valkyries were leading the charge against Nidhogg and her ilk, due to some of the current circumstances they could only exert a small half of their strength.

I felt the urge to step in to help them but resisted it as I knew that there was somewhere else I needed to be or our entire purpose for fighting this war would cease to exist.

The World Domains of various powerhouses continued to clash as flashes of Divinity erupted everywhere.

I cast a final, fleeting glance at these battles as I directed Sleipnir towards the only place seemingly devoid of battle, a heaven and earth connecting mountain located at the city center. The mountain was only half the size of the projection of Yggdrasil located further north; yet even then it possessed a suppressive aura with its peak piercing countless layers of clouds.

Our figures once more became illusory as Sleipnir ran across the sky.

As we approached the airspace around the mountain the force of gravity that pressed downwards upon us increased exponentially and the surrounding space became denser, causing Sleipnir's speed to slow as if he had stepped into a quagmire.

Noticing this Sleipnir made a noise similar to a snort and his eyes flashed with a silvery-blue light.

Divine Might then erupted outwards as lightning manifested around his hooves. His speed instantly accelerated past the point of comprehension, and in the next instant, we appeared at a mountain entrance located at the base of the mountain's southern end.

In the instant following that one we had already traveled so far into the mountain’s depths that natural light no longer illuminated the path.

The mountain's suppressive effect had continuously increased in strength. Yet, conversely to what one would assume Sleipnir's speed had continued to increase as he pushed his Authority to the limit and channeled all of his Divinity into his many legs.

As we moved forward, I took a moment to look behind us, and all I could distinguish was a stream of silvery-blue light trailing behind us.

I then turned back around to look in front of us and found that we were already nearing the end of the mountain path located at the entrance to the mountain’s core area.

When the hall came into view Sleipnir began to decelerate, coming to a complete stop directly before the entrance.

I slid off of Sleipnir's back and entered the mountain’s inner sanctum which resembled a grand hall as my Divine Armament Gungrir manifested itself in my hands.

The spear was around 7 feet long, crafted completely from black metal. It released an aurora of silver and gold light and a suppressive Divine Might comparable to if not greater than the one we had originally felt in the airspace above the mountain.

The spear’s shaft was around 6 feet long and as thick as a baby's fist. Its slender blade was around 8 inches long and 4 inches wide at its widest point, giving off a sharp and penetrating aura. The entire spear was decorated with various Asgardian Glyphs that represented my Authority.

After the spear manifested itself I took a look around the hall. The hall’s diameter was around one mile and the ceiling's highest point was a few thousand feet above the ground while the lowest was just several hundred feet lower than that. 

There were several other pathways leading into the hall, all marked by archways a few hundred feet tall.

Golden orbs were arrayed across the hall at set intervals, releasing rays of soft light. But, other than that the hall was completely bare.

I walked over to the center most point of the entire hall in silence, Sleipnir following closely at my side.

When I reached my destination I looked downwards and located a 4-inch long and millimeter thin slot carved into the hall's floor.

My face turned solemn as I held Gungrir aloft in my hands before turning it over in my hands so that the tip of its blade was perpendicular to the ground.

I then stabbed downwards and the blade of my spear sunk downwards into the slot seamlessly with a "chink" sound.

After it did a circle of silver light rippled outwards and a dull rumble echoed throughout the entire mountain.

An unceasing stream of Divinity then flowed out of my Internal World and into the spear before streaming into the mountain itself.

The entire mountain began to tremble as a Magic Formation composed of countless Ancient Asgardian Glyphs came into existence. 

The Magic Formation was silver in color with hints of gold and covered the floor of the entire hall. The Magic Formation began to rise upwards as the golden orbs hovering in the air above me began to descend before eventually fusing into the Formation.

"**************" I spoke in an ancient Asgardian language while mustering all my strength to turn the spear to the right.

The hall’s floor then rotated in a clockwise fashion and a massive force seemed to split the mountain in half.

As the two halves of the mountain separated from one another the entire city quaked, causing everyone within to look in this direction with varying emotions flashing across their faces.

The ground beneath my feet began to move upwards into the sky above, soon becoming a pillar of black rock that connected Heaven and Earth, even taller than the mountain from before.

As it did Thor roared out, "Father, don't do it! If you release the seal Fenrir will be released and Loki will be able to take everything he wants! All of this death and destruction will have been for nothing!"

As his voice resounded he indicated to the city whose walls had been obliterated, its once glorious palaces in ruins, its sky-scraping high rises burned down, and the corpses of countless Asgardian citizens and soldiers strewn about.

As he was distracted Jormungandr recovered from his previous strike and condensed a giant ball of Divinity in between his jaws. His fins lit aglow with with a greenish-blue light and his Divine Might engulfed the area thousands of miles around him. A complex Magic Formation then formed before his mouth. In the next instant countless water arrows shot forth at a speed nearing that of light.

This entire sequence of events took place in a fraction of a second leaving Thor no chance to interfere as Jormungandr acted to reap the lives of countless Asgardian soldiers engaging in battle with Giants.

Seeing that he could do nothing to save them his rage boiled over as a countless bolts of Primordial Lightning came into existence around him.

He lifted his hammer upwards and all the lightning was instantly gathered within as he leveled a chill-inducing glare at Jormungandr before launching his hammer forward with all of his strength. 

The hammer penetrated countless layers of space and struck the right side of the sea serpent’s face, completely pulverizing its eye. Lightning then ravaged the sea serpent's body causing it to release an ear-splitting shriek.

Thor then turned around expecting to see countless Asgardians be pierced through by water arrows.

But when turned he witnessed a completely unexpected scene as the water arrows changed their trajectories and impaled the surrounding Giants instead.

At that moment Freyja appeared at his side. Her hair was a pinkish red color and she had golden-colored eyes and thin lips. She donned a set of royal blue shrine maiden robes that showed off her slender yet curvaceous figure. She wore an intricate golden necklace that was inset with red-colored gems and gave off a formidable sense of Divine Might. A pair of fox ears graced her head and a bushy tail extended from her waist.

"This is the only way Thor. The others have already gone to Niflheim, Midgard, and the rest of the Realms in order to stall the Giants for as long as possible, but even now no one has spotted Loki. This means, that he is either on his way here or has already arrived. As such you need to hurry up and go finish off that sea serpent or else we won't be in a good position once Loki makes his move." She spoke with a natural sense of elegance and a tone that seemed to infuse warmth into one's soul.

Thor looked over at Jormungandr and found that the Sea Serpent’s body had stopped spasaming and his face was almost fully healed.

He stretched out his hand and Mjolnir reappeared in his grasp. He cast a final glance of reluctance in my direction before rushing off to engage in a struggle of life and death.

My and Frejya's gazes locked before she nodded her head in encouragement and went to support the Valkyries facing Nidhogg.

I stood atop the massive pillar and bore witness to a scene I had never wanted to come to fruition.

I released a final sigh of regret before steeling myself to continue onwards with what needed to be done.

My eyes then lit aglow with a silver and gold light and my soul floated outwards to combine with the Magic Formation.

"I Odin, who has used myself as the cage which binds you, now activates this Magic Formation to release you from your bindings; The Mighty World Devouring Wolf, Fenrir!" 

My voice resounded across the entire city and then the rest of the Asgardian Realm before traveling to the rest of the worlds bound together by Yggdrasil.

The Magic Formation then expanded to cover the sky above all of Asgard. 

The Golden Orbs within the formation released golden beams of light into the ground below.

I was instantly overcome with a soul-searing pain and my vitality began to burn away, yet my gaze remained steady as I continued to empower the formation.

A wave of golden light instantly surged outwards as my Internal World was Manifested, before dissipating to reveal a seemingly endless plain full of roaming wildlife.

I removed Gungrir from the slit in the ground and focused the Flow of My Divinity, thereby entering a state of Ascension with one of my eyes turning silver and the other gold. My body then began to give off intersecting rays of gold and silver light as my vitality began to burn away with even greater intensity as a result of maintaining the Formation and entering a stage of Ascension simultaneously.

The rays of light condensed into aura flames that surrounded my body and the sense of Divine Might radiating off of me increased exponentially.

The Formation continued to hang in the air above me as the pillar standing beneath me transformed into my World Tree.

Twelve massive spheres of light comparable to Suns now hovered in the air around its crown; giving off palpable auras of suppression which culminated in a single ruinous wave of Divine Might seemingly capable of reducing the entire world to ashes.

After the tree appeared my figure momentarily vanished before I reappeared at the base of the tree.

I placed my free hand against the tree's bark and closed my eyes as I moved my mind.

A single ray of light extended from my forehead and penetrated into the deepest recesses of the tree's trunk.

The world seemed to slip out of existence for one one-millionth of a second before reality set back in and a massive ravine appeared to the north of the city, stretching on for thousands of miles.

Light failed to penetrate the countless layers of darkness within the ravine. 

After the Ravine appeared I removed my palm from the trunk of my World Tree and teleported to the airspace above the ravine. 

I reached my free hand forwards and made a grabbing motion towards the ravine, and as I did a drawn-out "swooshing" sound could be heard as a platform constructed from gray stone rose from the ravine's depths, accompanied by a seemingly all-devouring force.

The platform soon reached the surface and revealed the source of the all-devouring force to be a golden wolf whose size was not in any way inferior to Jormungandr, curled up in a deep sleep.

Its fur carried a metallic luster and a crystal horn giving off rays of crimson red light graced its forehead.

Laying eyes on the wolf a complex array of emotions flashed across my mind before I once more vanished and reappeared on the platform next to the wolf's sleeping form.

When I arrived before it the wolf instantly awoke from its slumber and cast me a cursory glance.

At the moment following the wolf's awakening darkness covered the world as a figure seemingly materialized out of thin air above Fenrir.

He wore a set of dark green battle robes and a leather helmet featuring a pair of horns emitting a black luster.

He gripped a black spear as long as my own, yet his was more rustic in nature and gave of an aura of bloodthirst.

His black eyes emitted a mischievous yet penetrating light while the rest of his facial features seemed to be obscured by a cryptic mist.

The moment the figure materialized he raised his spear before him and prepared to thrust it downwards as if to end Fenrir's life.

In that same instant, I appeared directly in front of the figure and thrust my own spear forwards as if to penetrate the space between his brows.

Gungrir moved through the air accurately at a speed rivaling that of light. But, just as the spear's blade pierced through its target, the figure dissipated in a cloud of black light.

In the next instant, the figure appeared at my back having changed the trajectory of his strike to pierce my heart through my back.

"Heh! You're truly getting old Odin, falling for such a simple trick. Just a few thousand cycles ago you wouldn't have made such a rookie mistake. Or is it just that you care about this poor little wolf so much you're willing to risk everything to save its miserable life? Well, no matter. Because as I see it anyway I look at it, both of you are going to die today." The figure's cold voice resounded in my mind.

As the spear appeared I felt an overwhelming sense of death and my body reacted before my mind, just barely managing to move a few inches to the left, causing the spear to miss its intended target as the blade tore through my body.

Black rays of light then rushed into my body, seeking to corrode my entire existence and eat away at my remaining Vitality.

But nonetheless, I gave a dauntless smile as I spoke, "There is no denying that my progress has stagnated in my old age, as I should have been able to avoid such a strike even with my Divinity in such a weakened state; but you would truly be remiss if you think I am fighting this battle alone Loki."

After a momentary expression of dauntless fear and untold glory, realization flashed through his eyes and Loki withdrew his spear as he turned to run.

But, it was already too late for that.

His body was suddenly bound by rays of cryptic light as a woman looking about 70 percent similar to Freyja appeared in the air above, a hand outstretched in his direction.

She had amethyst-colored eyes and red hair. Her curvaceous body was concealed within a set of pure white robes and she gave off an inherent aura of nobility. A pair of fiery red wings reminiscent of a falcon extended outwards from her back.

At the same moment the woman made her move Fenrir (the wolf on the platform located down below) took action as well.

Her tail swung through the air like a golden streak of lightning that struck Loki square in the chest, blasting him thousands of miles away as the sound of bones breaking echoed out.

She then ran over to my side as her body shrunk down to a size closer to a normal wolf.

I looked over to the woman in the air and asked, "Frigg, can you keep him tied down?"

She nodded in response and spoke," I can give you a few minutes, as you know Loki's abilities function as a natural counter to Sedir, and Fate doesn't have much hold over him."

"Thank you, a few minutes should be enough to get this done," I spoke my thanks as she turned to fly after Loki.

I then turned my attention to Fenrir who looked at me with sadness visible in her emerald green eyes.

At this point, my body's vitality was almost completely drained as my Divinity was continually burned by the Formation and my life force dwindled under the effects of Ascension. Not to mention Loki's Divinity eating away at, my body, Soul, and Anima.

Not even we naturally gifted Deva who had supposedly limitless Vitality could easily handle such injuries.

As my aura flames had dwindled and my presence continued to weaken; I pressed my hand against my chest and blood dripped from the corner of my mouth while I leaned on Gungrir.

I moved my mind and called out to Sleipnir.

He soon arrived at my side, looking at me with the same sadness and reluctance, that was now apparent in the eyes of Fenrir.

"Fen, you must change to your human form and ride Sleipnir to safety before the rest of the giants make their way here. The others won't be able to hold them off forever. You must travel to either Eden or The Holy City. The Angels and Worldgaurds will do their best to protect you from the influence of Loki and his ilk."

Both Sleipnir and Fenrir nodded in reluctant agreement before Fenrir's bodies released a wave of golden light and she underwent a transformation, taking on the appearance of a teenage woman with blonde hair and emerald green eyes.

She possessed a slender figure with an air of budding sex appeal.

As she lacked clothes I gave her a set of red robes that adjusted themselves to fit her perfectly.

She then climbed onto Sleipnir's back and they both cast me a final glance before Sleipnir turned and ran even further north.

I watched as the two eventually disappeared into the distance.

When they left I mustered the last of my strength and made my way back to the base of the tree.

As my Soul, Vitality, and Anima continuously suffered from further overdraft the World Tree representing my Authority had also shown some signs of decline with few leaves falling downwards even as they released world destroying senses of power.

I looked the tree over one final time and released a sigh of regret before my eyes filled with steely resolve.

I closed my eyes and focused, channeling all of my power remaining power and vitality into the point of light representing my Anima.

The aura flames that surrounded me once more surged upwards surpassing their previous state and becoming a massive sun. But, this time instead of being silver and gold, they were completely translucent giving off a sensation of complete balance.

The 12 Spirit Beings representing the twelve elements I had Authority over as The Primordial Sovereign of Balance descended from the 12 suns surrounding my World Tree.

Their eyes were filled with the same resolve as my own as we all synced our minds together with a single goal in mind.

As we did the Magic Formation in the air above once more began to expand. The golden orbs of light arranged within moved to encompass not only the Asgardian Realm but all of Yggdrasil and the Realms it tied together.

The 12 suns themselves then began to radiate an even greater pressure as they began to rotate.

The World Tree released countless rays of multicolored light that ascended to the sky and came together to form a single Divine Edict.

All fighting ceased as everyone looked up in confusion as the Divine Edict appeared in the center of the sky.

At that moment a white light swept across everything and the Anima of every being within the Realm created by Yggdrasil was imprinted with the Divine Edict before vanishing.

And so began a cycle of endless Rebirth.