"Now that we have that out of the way. Cassandra will begin to explain the rules of this "engagement" to you. Cassandra."  Before I could even respond to her last statement Bridget handed the conversation over to one of the women behind her who had remained quiet during our earlier conversation.

Cassandra had long silver-gray strands of hair that possessed a violet hue and magenta-colored eyes. Her figure was slightly more voluptuous than Bridget's and she gave off an antagonistic air as if my death was all she could wish for.

The hostility in her eyes was something I had only ever seen once before.

As she stepped forward to stand beside Bridget she opened her mouth to speak, "The rules were made with the goal of preventing you Asgardian Immortals from doing as you so please and spreading chaos throughout the world, and consist of the following. While you may foster your own forces they may only consist of reincarnated Asgardians that have Awakened their memories."

"Your main battlefield will be The New World where countless Demonic Beast currently reside. If you do launch attacks outside of The New World it can only be against the strongholds of other Immortals¹

An Immortal is a Deva who succeeded in establishing their Internal Worlds successfully birthing intellectual lifeforms within.

They are truly Divine Beings who were a cut above anyone else. They could draw nearly endless reserves of power from their Internal Worlds.

. In order to keep the non-reincarnated individuals of this world from interfering, the Angels will be informing the various branches of the church to dissuade people from interfering in your affairs."

"Us Worldguards will also warn away all those coming from other belief systems. If they chose not to listen to our warnings and instead antagonize you anyway, you are allowed to retaliate in any way you see fit as long as it doesn't cross certain boundaries to be further expounded upon at a later date. The rules will be subject to change as the battle progresses, and we will inform all Immortals of any of these changes as they come up. Understood?"

I thought over Cassandra's words before nodding in confirmation, "I understand."

"We anticipated that you may need some time to recover after you Awakened before you reached a state wherein you could undo the seal. Is that the case?" Bridget asked.

"It is. I will need anywhere between 3 and 5 years to forcefully Awaken everyone, and another 10 to 15 years to completely undo the seal. Is that acceptable?" I spoke after giving the matter some serious thought.

"Very well, then we'll be going. Expect someone to be sent to check up on your progress every once in a while." She spoke flatly before turning to descend the hill with the others following behind her.

After their silhouettes disappeared from view I lifted my head to look up at the still rising sun located over the eastern horizon.

I then opened my right eye which had been fully healed and allowed sunlight to flood into it.

I released a deeply held sigh as countless thoughts flooded my mind.

I stretched my arms to both sides as I slowly closed both of my eyes and mumbled, "This is very likely to be my last moment of peace for a long while yet."

***

"So that was Odin." 

Monika tilted her head ponderously as she walked through a majestic forest alongside Bridget and the others.

She had short blonde-colored hair dyed with streaks of crimson red.

Her figure was as voluptuous as Cassandra, though she was slightly shorter in stature.

She had big round eyes that were a pale brown color and gave off a dangerous light.

"What about him?"

Charlotte looked over at her in confusion.

Charlotte possessed a petite figure. Her eyes were a clear blue color and she had short ash-gray hair with a single streak of crimson red, similar to Monika.

"Nothing really, it's just... Well, he seemed to be quite desolate, and lonely."

Monika spoke woefully.

"I would assume so. Most of the other Asgardian Immortals possess no small amount of resentment towards him for trapping them in this endless cycle of death and rebirth. And for that, he doesn't really have anyone to blame but himself."

Annabella spoke in a slightly dismissive tone.

She had a tall and slender figure, light brown hair tied in a ponytail that reached down to her lower back, and crimson red eyes.

"I'm sure he expected such an outcome when he resolved himself to send everyone into this endless cycle."

Elizabeth added.

She possessed short silver white hair with a blueish hue and icy blue eyes. Her figure was slender and she possessed an aura that was both pessimistic yet hopeful in nature.

"I suppose you all are right. But, I still think he deserves some form of companionship. What do you think Ember?"

Monika continued to ponder before looking over to ask Ember.

Ember had grayish-white hair and amber-colored eyes. She had a seductively curvaceous figure and gave off a bewitching and playful air.

"Huh?" Ember turned over in confusion before coming to her senses, "Oh... I wasn't thinking about any of that I was just thinking about how fun it would be to play with him for a little while."

The bewitching light flashing in the depths of her eyes intensified as she gave off a bubbly laugh.

The others could only smile wryly as they shook their heads.

Bridget and Cassandra remained silent as the others chatted about various topics and instead focused on leading the way through the forest.

The seven of them soon entered a clearing surrounded by tall trees that reached a few hundred feet tall, forming a canopy that limited the amount of light that reached the ground.

In the middle of the clearing sat a castle constructed from stone. 

It possessed numerous towers and gave off a fantastical air.

As they approached, the castle doors swung open.

When they entered the castle, the first thing to enter their field of view was the statue of a bearded man with indiscernible features standing before a mystical tree that was tens of times his size.

They all came to a stop before the tree and bowed with a palpable sense of reverence.

The man was God, the creator of The Three Realms, and the tree was his World Tree, which had long Transcended the state of being a simple Primal Soul to become the Heavenly Will that now governed The Three Realms and their countless sub-realms.

He was the first being to come into existence.

As soon as he did he had already reached the Transcendence Realm, transcending the concepts of space, time, life, death, creation, destruction, and even order and chaos, reaching an entirely incomprehensible state of being.

They possessed the utmost respect and reverence for him not only because he had Created The Three Realms from nothing but Primal Source energy; but also because none had reached his state of being since the beginning of time countless millennia ago and none would for the rest of eternity.

As they rose from their bows a brown-colored owl flew in through the castle doors now located to their backs.

Following behind the owl were two blurry silhouettes.

As the castle doors slowly closed the two's appearances became distinguishable, both of them being a woman of exceptional beauty.

The one on the left possessed yellow blonde hair and crimson eyes. She wore a high-collared navy blue cape that obscured the bottom half of her face, a navy blue mini dress, and a pair of black tights.

The one on the right possessed short, wavy gray hair. She had big round eyes that were stormy gray in color and emitted a sense of amiability and curiosity. She gave off both a spirited and seductive air and possessed a slender figure.

She wore a navy blue jacket that stopped just below her chest over a white-colored dress. She wore a pair of gray thigh-high boots over gray stockings.

"Hello Clara, McKenna. Where are Edith and the others?"

Bridget was the first to greet them with a radiant smile as the impassive and frosty exterior she had maintained in front of Odin melted away.

"They went to visit England under the guidance of the Cherubim. She wanted to visit her homeland and see what had become of it so they went with her." McKenna spoke spiritedly.

"Did she take the Thrones as well?" Elizabeth asked.

"No she just took one of them, the others went out on their own in order to take a look around." McKenna shook her head in denial.

"Got it." Elizabeth nodded in understanding before asking, "Where are the two of you coming from?"

"We took a trip to Dawn located just a few hundred miles east of here." Clara suddenly spoke.

"How was it?" Charlotte stepped forward and asked out of curiosity.

"It was a nice trip, but sadly the city didn't compare to any of the higher ranking ones in Eden." McKenna seemed slightly dispirited.

"Well, you can't really expect more from it as it has only had 20 or so years to develop compared to the countless years the cities of Eden have had to thrive in addition to the vast resources within Eden itself," Elizabeth interjected to assuage McKenna's disappointment.

"Well that's true... And it was a good trip no matter the case because we got to see some interesting people and places!" McKenna regained her usual cheerfulness as she released a heartwarming smile.

"Oh yeah, like what?" Bridget asked with apparent interest.

"There was a bow-wielding woman in a snow-capped mountain range not far from Dawn fighting against an 8th Tier Ice Dragon with an 8th Rank Nine Hells Frost Bloodline. She possessed a Bloodline of undetermined Rank and appeared to have just reached the 8th Tier. She was apparently fighting the Dragon solely as a means of training with no intention to killing it." McKenna's eyes flashed with radiance as she chattered on.

"Did you determine her race?" Bridget asked attentively as it was more than likely for that woman to be one of the Asgardian Immortals.

"I believe her to be Devaum. She cultivated a unique path that was neither fully Human nor Deva." Clara spoke up.

"Then we can neither confirm nor deny if she is one of them," Cassandra spoke for the first time since explaining the rules of the final battle to Odin.

Her tone was even more apathetic than Anabella's yet they could all sense a sisterly warmth from it.

She looked at Clara and asked, "Can you take me to the mountain range you saw her in?"

"Of course, follow me." Clara nodded in response before turning around to lead Cassandra to leave the castle.

"Anabella, go with them," Bridget followed the two with her gaze before speaking as the castle doors swung inwards to let them out.

Anabella nodded in understanding and followed after the two of them.

The others watched as the three's silhouettes quickly vanished from view.