Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 65 Facing Fate
(I'll try to update around 6 PM.)
"Jormungandr, or rather... Meng, in your eyes, what exactly is destiny?"

Meng, this name isn't very familiar, but for the giant serpent, it holds a rather special significance...

This is the name he used when he was a human in his previous life.

His eyes, which had been closed, slowly opened again, and then he looked down indifferently at Loki, who was as small as a speck of dust in front of him.

"Hmm? Interesting, you know my former name?"

The serpent's deep voice seemed to be laughing in Loki's ear, but it was hard to say whether the laughter was filled with interest or something else.

As Loki silently gazed at the enormous monster before him, a colossal creature whose entire body was almost entirely concealed in the seabed, yet whose mere exposed head formed a majestic underwater mountain range, Loki's expression remained unchanged as he calmly spoke.

"Of course I know, because you are a soul I pulled from another world..."

As Loki spoke, a strange expression appeared on his face, like the mocking look of a child who had played a prank and gone unnoticed.

But as he laughed, he suddenly burst into tears, his handsome face, which seemed to be both laughing and crying, filled with deep sorrow and despair.

"Everyone knows that Odin, the king of the gods, once went to the Well of Wisdom and obtained endless wisdom from the wise giant by sacrificing one of his own eyes. But what no one knows is that... I, Loki, the god of mischief, actually secretly followed Odin and drank a mouthful of water from the Well of Wisdom."

A strange smile appeared on his lips.

After calmly revealing a secret that would astound the world, he didn't seem to care at all and continued muttering to himself.

"I knew that Ragnarok was coming, and I wanted to stop that fate from happening. So I used runes to bring a human soul from an unknown other world, intending to change everything."

"This soul merged with my child's soul, forming a completely new individual, a strange individual that should not have appeared in fate..."

"A monster that is neither human nor of divine lineage."

As he spoke, he lowered his head sadly, his dazed eyes filled with a sense of bewilderment.

"I thought that if a strange piece suddenly appeared on an orderly chessboard, it would at least bring about some changes to the game..."

“Odin and I both sensed that future, and we both tried to change it, but we were like insects trapped in a spider web, the more we struggled, the deeper we sank into the web…”

“I sensed the danger to you three siblings, so I acquiesced to Odin’s actions. But I did not foresee that my concession would lead to your imprisonment or exile.”

“I tried to seek a chance to make amends with Odin, and kept trying to get him to release you, but you, out of resentment, made the atmosphere of hostility and hatred rise even higher, to the point that Odin found you increasingly untrustworthy.”

"I couldn't accept this outcome, and the resentment in my heart led me to bewitch the Dark God Hoder to kill his brother in order to vent my anger..."

"Heh, fate... Is this fate? It really is fate mocking me."

In the end, he couldn't help but burst into wild laughter, as if lamenting his own pathetic and powerless state.

He looked up at the sea, which remained a deep blue.

In his eyes, the vast blue sea before him seemed to have transformed into a gigantic spider web that blotted out the sky, slowly descending, while he was like a tiny flying insect struggling to break free but powerless to do so.

struggle?

Not struggle?
What awaits him is nothing more than his predetermined fate.

In the distance, the giant snake looked down at him indifferently, without saying a word.

Loki, as if he hadn't expected the serpent to speak, remained silent for a long time after the laughter stopped before slowly speaking.

"Jormungandr, what is fate in your eyes?"

Loki stopped calling the serpent Meng. Both he and the serpent knew that the human named Meng was only a part of the serpent's soul. The serpent was Meng, but also Jormungandr. Only when the two were combined could the serpent be the serpent.

For the great serpent, "Meng" is like its childhood, while "Jormungandr" is its adulthood. Both are it, but neither is the whole of it.

"Fate...that's an interesting question."

The serpent's deep voice slowly reached Loki's ears.

Its voice carried an inhuman coldness and indifference from beginning to end, instilling a sense of inexplicable fear. Possessing human thought yet the perception of a beast, the serpent's inhumanity was not merely due to its enormous body, but because it was no longer human at its very soul, but a monster through and through.

Whether human or deity, they think about problems in a similar way. Or rather, humans, born from the hands of the gods and given souls by Odin, are more like gods, while the serpent is not; it is a monster.

At this moment, the monster is examining Loki's questions from its unique perspective as a monster.

“In my past life, or rather, when I was still just a human being, someone in the world once said: ‘What you can change and what you cannot change is fate.’ At that time, I thought he was right.”

Listening to the serpent's words, Loki keenly sensed something.

"In the past? So you don't think so anymore? Then, what exactly is fate in your eyes now?"

Looking down at Loki, the serpent's vertical pupils revealed a hint of sneer.

"destiny?"

"It's just something conjured up by weak and powerless reptiles; fate has never truly existed." A deep, inhuman voice surrounded Loki, as loud as thunder, filled with sarcasm and disdain.

"I was once a tiny speck of dust, and I can understand the fear and dread of the mysterious and unknown. A sense of powerlessness, despair, fear, unease... all these emotions intertwine. Insects are powerless to control their own future, and can only drift with the tide, lamenting their misfortune and regarding it as their fate."

In its words, the giant serpent did not deny that it had once been a human, just as it did not deny that it had once been a tiny insect. This was the truth, and the arrogant and disdainful serpent would not deny it.

"Insects love to fantasize. Because they are weak, they desperately try to find ways to make themselves appear strong, thus building nations, ethnicities, cultures, customs, and histories..."

As he spoke, a deep voice inexplicably broke into laughter.

"What country has ever existed? What nation has ever existed? All of this is nothing but a fantasy community built on fantasy. What truly exists are just individuals, independent, unrelated, and even strangers to each other."

"Such a simple and clear reality, even the most ignorant beasts could realize it, but these tiny insects do not think so. They imagine the existence of an invisible connection called nation or ethnicity, making them a whole rather than individuals; using something that has never truly existed, called morality and law, to pretend to rule over other insects and dominate their mental world... All of this is just to be able to unite and make them seem stronger."

"However, insects are just insects after all, weak and helpless. When faced with the unknown and the mysterious, they will completely expose their weak nature, regard the future that they cannot control as fate, and lament their unfortunate fate."

The serpent's pupils were filled with deep sarcasm.

"Fate is nothing more than a worm's lament about a future it cannot control; it has never truly existed."

Loki, silently gazing at the giant serpent before him, smiled inexplicably.

"Did fate never truly exist...? Is this the world as seen through the eyes of monsters? But, Jormungandr, I feel right now that inescapable shackle called fate."

"Shackles? There are no shackles. You live freely in this universe, able to go anywhere. What shackles have you ever been bound by? What binds you is only your mind."

The serpent's dismissive sneer reached Loki's ears.

Clearly, the serpent did not agree with Loki's ideas at all. The difference between the two was that they were from two different perspectives and two different worlds.

"What if you were also bound by that predetermined fate?"

Loki remained noncommittal, but instead asked a question that seemed to carry a deeper meaning. He stared intently at the giant serpent in front of him, his gaze seemingly revealing something.

The serpent knew exactly what Loki was asking.

According to that fate, it should have died there.

"Even if there are chains of fate, I will break free of them and see what kind of power that 'fate' really has."

Accompanied by a sneer, his cold, vertical pupils held a hint of madness and ferocity.

"Break free from the chains of fate..."

Loki murmured to himself, remaining silent for a long time before turning his head to look at another part of the sea, where various lights were faintly shining.

Looking there, he spoke as if to himself.

"That is the grand feast held by the old sea god Egil. All the gods who are grieving for the passing of the god of light Baldr will go there. If I go there now, probably no one will welcome me..."

"I'm afraid they won't welcome you; instead, they'll be so angry they'll tear you to pieces."

A low, mocking voice rang out.

Loki was unimpressed. Before him, countless futures appeared. Ever since he drank from the Fountain of Wisdom, he had been able to frequently see those premonitions of uncertain futures.

Aside from Regaluk, whose inescapable, unchangeable, and predetermined fate awaits him, the future is uncertain.

However, this premonition was filled with tales of his tragic fate, much like the serpent's mockery: if he went there, he would have almost no chance of escaping unscathed.

But he silently gazed at those future scenes, his silent face revealing no expression, and continued to murmur.

“I want to go there and try one last time… to see if I can change Odin’s mind.”

The giant snake did not answer him.

The large snake, already fed up with the "stubborn insect," chose to remain asleep.

But Loki didn't expect a reply from the serpent, because these words weren't meant for the serpent to hear, but rather for himself.

"Why I came here, perhaps I've always known..."

His handsome face was calm as still water, with a certain resoluteness. He took a deep breath and whispered.

"Even if it's an evil god... it's still a god, right? Even if that's my destiny, I want to try to confront it head-on... even if it means I'll be shattered to pieces."

Unbeknownst to him, Loki slowly clenched his fist, and then he flew toward the place that shone with countless lights.

In the distance, the giant serpent stared indifferently at the disappearing figure, then slowly closed its eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

(End of this chapter)