Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 47 Destiny

“You created this world, you brought it to ‘birth,’ so this world is destined to ‘die,’ and the ‘death’ of the world… is Regaluk.”

Although they were facing the enemy who killed their father, and it seemed that there should be an irreconcilable hatred between them, the two of them acted as if nothing had happened, and continued to talk calmly. The wise giant even slowly explained his confusion to Odin.

It's been too long, countless millennia of grudges. Everything has long since settled. With the death of Ymir, the progenitor of the frost giants, and with the birth of the World Tree and the formation of the Nine Worlds, long before the birth of heaven and earth, when all things were in chaos, the grudges between the ancient gods and the ancient frost giants that had lasted for countless years had long been wiped clean.

"In this world, there are two inevitable and inescapable destinies, or rather, it is because of these two inevitable destinies that this world was born."

"Of the two predetermined destinies, one is the birth of the world... My father, Ymir, the progenitor of the frost giants, was destined to die at the hands of the three brothers Odin, Vili, and Vy, and to become the World Tree. This was his destined fate, for if he did not die, the world would not have been born."

“My father Ymir knew this fate and tried to break free from it. His power far exceeded the imagination of all the gods and giants, and he once seemed to be able to escape this destiny, seeing that faint hope. But your brother—Loki—was far more intelligent and cunning than anyone else could imagine. He utterly shattered the giants' hopes, ultimately causing Ymir to be defeated in vain by you three brothers. His corpse transformed into the World Tree, supporting the entire Nine Worlds…”

As he finished speaking, Mimir's voice underwent a subtle change for the first time, sounding both wistful and melancholic.

Listening to Mimir's words, Odin remained silent. Having personally experienced that battle, he knew very well what a magnificent and epic battle it was. He was still young at the time, and even now he still clearly remembers that deep sense of despair and the feeling of being powerless and insignificant. When he forgot all distractions and chose to fight to the death, he came to his senses and found that his divine spear Gungnir had already pierced the chest of his opponent. The seemingly invincible progenitor of the frost giants had no choice but to collapse in front of him.

"And now, Odin, another destiny is about to descend... or rather, from the moment this world was born, this destiny was already predetermined, and no one can defy it. All the living and the dead in the entire universe are destined to be destroyed under Regaluk—the Ragnarok."

Mimir looked at him, her tone extremely calm.

Odin's expression shifted between light and shadow, and he asked again.

"Is there really no way to stop Regaluk from arriving?"

Mimir shook his head.

"Odin, can you grant a mortal eternal life, making him immortal?"

Odin opened his mouth as if to speak, but then seemed to realize something and stopped.

The aged, wise giant looked at him and nodded.

"So you understand now... Is a mortal with eternal life, who never dies, truly still a mortal?"

"Is the universe that has escaped the fate of cosmic death truly the same universe that you hope to see and strive to maintain?"

But Odin still said with resentment.

“But I can postpone this fate.”

His gaze was filled with resentment, and his face, no longer young, was now full of stubbornness and obstinacy, just like that year... that spirited young god who was not yet the God King.

Mimir nodded.

"Yes, you can indeed try to postpone this destiny, or even delay it indefinitely, just like you imprisoned the giant serpent and the demon wolf. They are a hidden danger to the entire universe. If you hadn't imprisoned them decisively, Ragnarok, which would have destroyed the entire universe, would probably have already arrived with their greed and violence. But in other words, as long as they cannot break free from the shackles that imprison them, Ragnarok will never come to pass."

Surprisingly, Mimir agreed with Odin's view, but then...

"But... do you really think that this will allow you to escape the inevitable fate of Regaluk—the fate of all gods and living beings?"

Mimir's aged eyes gazed at Odin, the king of gods, before him, and he spoke, word by word.

His expression turned indifferent and cold.

"The last person to try to escape his fate in this way... my father, Ymir the Frost Giant, died by your divine spear."

Odin was speechless.

Mimir ignored Odin's expression, turning instead to look at the Well of Wisdom beside him. He remained silent for a long time, then suddenly murmured a sentence, seemingly out of nowhere: "The past mind cannot be grasped, the present mind cannot be grasped, the future mind cannot be grasped..."

His voice was low and heavy, as if carrying an immense sense of sorrow and inexplicable sadness when he spoke.

Odin thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"I've never heard of that phrase before."

"Of course you've never heard this, because the person who said it never existed in this universe, never even in any time or space. He never existed."

Mimir closed his eyes and murmured softly.

“Odin, you have connected yourself with the Well of Wisdom, and thus know what has happened in the past, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future in the universe… But I, having drunk my fill of the Well of Wisdom, can know what has never happened in the universe and will never happen.”

"Just like Loki's sudden idea of ​​a 'world monetary system,' you have never seen that future, so you cannot understand or know that that sudden idea will give birth to a monster called 'capital,' and that a mortal will write 'Das Kapital' for it."

“You can see Regaluk, the day of Ragnarok, fearing this future, trying to escape it, fighting against it, but I know deeply that you will eventually bow down before this future, lower your pride as the king of gods, and admit your defeat.”

“Odin, I proclaim this future to you because I have come to understand the inevitability of this destiny. In the countless possible futures and the infinite possible pasts, you have not even the slightest chance of success.”

"Just like in the past, during that protracted war between the Aesir and the Vanir, I was given to the Vanir as a hostage by you to end the war, but in the end, my head was cut off, and the Vanir, feeling deeply deceived, returned my head to the Aesir..."

"Take the giant serpent Jormungandr for example. It may not necessarily devour the sun. It may simply grow slowly on the seabed until it coils itself around the ocean, biting its own tail with its mouth, unable to move..."

"Even if it were your brother—Vi, he didn't die in the war with Ymir as you remember him. Instead, he should still be alive in this world..."

"And then there's Heimdall, the guardian of the gods. In some past lives, he wasn't created by the combined power of the gods, but was originally conceived by the nine daughters of the old sea god Aegir, the daughters of the waves..."

"..."

Mimir rambled on, spouting all sorts of absurd and unrestrained words, both real and illusory, while Odin listened with a furrowed brow.

"Mimi, what exactly are you trying to say?"

The wise giant looked at him and then sighed sadly.

“Odin, the king of gods, what I want to say is that even in the countless possible pasts and countless possible futures, I have never seen anything that could escape these two inevitable fates.”

"No matter how many possibilities there are, they cannot escape these two destined fates. The arrival of Regaluk is unavoidable and irresistible."

"From the moment this world was born, everything was already destined, and all struggles... were in vain..."

As he spoke, the weariness on his face grew deeper, and his voice became slower and slower.

Then, the elderly giant fell asleep leaning against the Fountain of Wisdom.

Odin gazed at Mimir before him, his expression shifting between light and shadow. Finally, he exhaled deeply and whispered to the sleeping giant.

“Mimi, the God-King will not and cannot submit to any power, not even fate.”

With that, he resolutely turned around and headed back the path he had come from.

Behind him, the sleeping old giant leaned against the Fountain of Wisdom, sleeping peacefully as if it had never changed since time immemorial.

Much later, a wistful sigh seemed to echo in the air.

(End of this chapter)