Four days later, the expedition party returned.

"Ai, Finn, I leave matters to you. I need to go and deal with her." Cirrus said, rushing off.

"Ais, Riveria, go with him." Said Finn. "If it’s Miasma and the Dark-High Elf Forest, he would need some help to clear those out."

"Understood." they both said.

"Meet me at the northwestern wall when you are ready," Cirrus said, heading off to his home.

While he rushes home, Vesta speaks to him.

‘Cirrus.’

‘Vesta. Did something happen?’

‘No, I just wish to tell you that now that you are back on the surface, I am sure you will meet Odin.’

‘Likely, I wanna let out my anger at his weapon, Gram.’

‘Well, you should try to make a deal of some sort; he knows more about Elpis than I do.’

‘Because he has a mighty need for knowledge?’

‘That yes and the fact he took in Elpis’ power and died. That is how he lost an eye. He also, along with several others of Heaven's brightest, looked into it.’

‘Like who?’

‘Odin, Athena, Sarawati, Brigid, Ganesha, Metis, Nabu, Enki, Anansi, Omoikane, Frigg, Thoth, and Seshat.’

'Why didn’t you tell me this sooner!? I could have gone and found them and asked them what they knew!’

‘Because they know about me. All of them abandoned the research into Elpis, all but Odin.’

‘Even Anansi?’

‘Even him. There was only so much one could research without a guinea pig.’

‘And that was Odin?’

‘Yes, he is the only one who bit the bullet and took Elpis into himself, then he shortly exploded, leaving only Elpis behind. Thus it was given the title The Power That Can Kill The Gods.’

‘Okay so… What? Does he know the ins and outs of Elpis? Why didn’t—Oh right, he’s Odin.’

‘Yes, he hoarded the knowledge for himself. Of course, every other god wished to see what he saw, but they didn’t wish to take a chance and lose a body part forever without knowing the outcome. So they all sealed it without Odin’s knowledge and were given to Hestia, where she used the Heavenly Flame as its guardian.’

‘Okay, so how do you know it can bring out one's zenith?’

‘They put Elpis into a rock, and it turned into ■■■■■.’

‘What the fuck did you say? How did you even make that sound?’

‘They then put it into a sacred animal, and... well, it began to grow too strong, so they quickly slew it with the help of several other gods. So Odin is your god to learn more.’

‘I am not happy about asking him something.’

'No one is. It’s a kind of shared feeling.’ 

 

When arriving back first, he went to check on Malion.

"Are you alright?" he said, entering the room with Artemis and Malion.

"Cirrus, you're back far quicker than expected," Malion said, surprised. "And why wouldn’t I be alright?"

"The child."

"I did not go near the miasma, and I already went to get checked."

"Are you going to her home forest?" asked Artemis.

"I am. Wu has managed to stay away from prying eyes for long enough. I am sorry you can’t come." He said, looking at Malion.

"That is fine. I have told some of my people you will be coming eventually. Also, when you are there, see if you can’t get a good branch or two from my forest's sacred tree. If it's not already dead, that is."

"I’ll try. Did you tell your parents of your marriage?"

"No, I plan to never tell them."

"… Alright but—Hm?" Cirrus looks around. "Art, where are the kids?"

"Hecton and Fafnir are watching them right now. Haku is playing in the district while Calli is reading in the library, catching up on her studies."

"Hmm… It’s a shame I have to go so quickly, but Ai will be done with selling the loot and informing the Guild of the progress we made. I’ll try to get back as fast as I can."

"Be careful, alright." Said Malion.

He nods and walks briskly up to the rooftop.

"Fafnir!!!" His shout rang through the whole home and two other towers.

In the second tower’s library.

"Dad!!" Calli said, turning her head.

She got up from her seat and ran towards the main tower.

Callisto’s shadow shifted and shot through the shadows of the tower’s interior, reaching the rooftop.

Fafnir appeared from the shadows like a bottle of ink spilling over.

"Master." She said kneeling.

"I’m sure you know of Wu, correct?"

"Yes, Lady Artemis and Lady Malion have informed me. Shall we go?"

"Yes, but we have two other people to bring, Ais and Riveria."

"The Nephilim and the High-Elf. Where?"

"The north-western wall."

 

As Calli runs across the bridge to the first tower, she looks up at the tower to see a streak of black go across the sky.

"…Pretty. Oh! I gotta hurry to Dad!" She quickly ran ahead.

When she reached her parents' room, she slammed open the door.

"Dad!!!" she shouted with starry eyes.

She looks to find only her mother and Malion.

"Callisto Zephyr!!" Artemis shouted. "What did I tell you about slamming open the door and knocking!"

"S-sorry Mom! But I heard Dad, so I came running! But…" She scanned the room again. "He isn’t here." She said this with a disappointed expression on her face.

"You just missed him, sweetie. Something came up, and he needed to leave as soon as he came back."

"Aww!! When will he be back?"

"I don’t know, but he will be back soon."

"Hmm… It’s not fair!!"

"Nothing in life is. Go back to studying now. I will bring up your favorite."

"Really!"

"Yes, now run along."

Callisto immediately turned and slammed the door behind her, rushing back to the library.

Traveling at unbelievable speeds, Fafnir, Ais, and Riveria stood behind Cirrus, holding him tightly with his arms crossed.

Swish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"So, do you usually travel this fast?"

Swish!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Swish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The wind was being cut with the speed Fafnir was flying, leaving contrails and white streaks cutting into the sky from the points of her six wings.

"I wonder how much ground we are covering?" asked Riveria as she held onto Ais’s shoulders.

"About 3 days’ worth by now." Said Ais behind Cirrus’s back.

"Fafnir, you know where to go, correct?" said Cirrus.

"Yes, Lady Malion has informed me of the location and direction. It will take about 2 full days of travel at this speed to reach the location." Fafnir said.

"Then we are going to sleep on your back?" asked Riveria.

"No, we will not stop for you to sleep." She said. "Master, could you use your armor? With it, I can cut the time in half."

"Hm, very well. (Theïká Panoplía: Aethon)."

His magic circle appeared before her, and she flew through it. The armor-clad dragon's body. Now feathers covered her, along with another pair of wings.

With another flap of her now 8 wings, she travels at an even greater speed than before.

 

Frontier, Odin Familia’s home outskirts.

"So how goes the antidote?" asked Loki, entering Circe’s tent.

"Hard." Said Circe, mixing and writing the things down. "This poison is so damn resilient, it’s a pain in the ass to find a way, especially with such limited resources. Even the equipment I have brought is barely enough to make slow progress."

"So leave." Said Heith to help Circe in her work. "You’re walking around here with no protection, Lady Loki."

"Fine, but it is a sight to see. The red and golden witch is something." She said while leaving.

"Circe," Heith said. "How long do you think it would take to make an antidote within a reasonable time?"

"Long enough that your grandchild will have gray hairs."

 

Leaving the tent, Loki went to Freya’s tent, where she was drinking.

"Your child is pretty good at being able to keep up with that genius." Loki went and sat down. "Albeit she is a spirit, so..."

"She has been working tirelessly to reach her levels of skill to get more rest," Freya said, swirling her glass of wine. "Circe is certainly charitable enough to let Heith learn from her."

"How unfortunate she has to work even harder to even get rest." Loki gets the open bottle and pours herself a drink. "Odin’s kids have been skulking around, you know."

"Yes." She took a sip of her wine. "Dull children, even the dullest of yours, still outshines theirs… but the emerald child, she shines like your Sword Princess."

"Is that so?" Loki then sat back and kicked up her feet. "I’ll be sure to keep an eye on her."

Allan stood guard outside the tent. His gaze was sharp enough that most would go the other way to avoid it, but two people did. A man with a sword similar to Cirrus’ and a woman with a gold-tipped spear with runes written on it.

‘Annoying weaklings.’ Allen thought, annoyed by the two’s persistence. ‘They're stronger than the rest of the rabble. If they think they can beat us for their shitty old god...'

"Heh~" A smile grew on Allen’s face.

‘I wonder how far their eagerness goes? I hope they try to do something. I wanna bash their annoying face in.’

 

Odin’s temporary home.

"And that is the report, sir," said a Familia member reporting back on what the Loki and Freya Familia were doing.

"Hmm… That spirit has been putting in work." Odin scratches his beard. "How is the barrier? Are the runes still well maintained?"

"From what we have checked, when she uses her barrier, it eases the burden off the runes. Making the area where she goes in and leaves stronger than the rest."

"Brynhildr’s flame damages the runes and area…" He gets up from his throne and walks off.

"L-Lord Odin?"

He walks into the room and shortly comes out with a piece of parchment, a quill, and ink.

He quickly scribbled and rolled it up.

Then he grabbed a candle and dripped the wax onto it to seal it. From his thick feathered cloak, he plucked a single black feather and placed it in the wax as it hardened.

"Deliver it to her." He walks back to his throne and sits back down.

They came up, took the parchment, and left quickly.