Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 95 The Endless Cycle

(It's really troublesome to create a perfect ending, but I've finally figured out all the logic and I'm no longer stuck on the wording.)
Before Loki, Mimir looked at him. In the eyes of this old giant who saw through all possibilities, Loki was distorted and disordered among numerous images of the future. No, not only the future, but even the past was shaking along with Loki's words.

To be fair, the old giant could see everything—past, future, and present—nothing, whether inside or outside the universe, could escape his eyes. His words about fate would not be an exaggeration. However, there was one thing in the entire universe that this old giant could not see through…

He could hardly foresee anything related to that existence he dared not mention, because his wisdom was derived from the Fountain of Wisdom, which was nothing more than a tiny leak of power from the owner of the dream-like voice.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and a deep chill emanated from his previously calm demeanor.

"How much do you actually know?"

The aged voice was cold and indifferent, no longer as peaceful as it had been at the beginning; it even carried a condescending and stern tone.

"How much do I know? Everything you think I might know, I know; everything you think I don't know, I also know."

Loki looked at the old giant in front of him and laughed wildly.

“Old man, the brother you told me that Ragnarok was caused by the birth of this world, and that with birth comes death. That’s not wrong, but… you’ve been hiding something. What is the true origin?”

"The world was born because of Ymir's death, and Ymir's death was due to its initial birth, and Ymir's birth can be traced back to the oldest chasm in the universe, so... what about tracing back further up the chasm? What about before the birth of this universe? And what was the reason for that..."

His pupils slowly dilated, gradually turning into a ferocious expression.

"When do you think I realized that something was wrong... it was when Ymir died, because it was so strange that I actually saw two figures flash by in that moment. At that time, I even thought I was seeing things."

"It wasn't until I secretly followed Odin out of my doubts, drank from the Well of Wisdom, and even dived directly into its deepest part, where I saw the countless one-eyed phantoms and felt the endless hidden knowledge, that I realized... that Odin and Fenrir had chased all the way to the most primordial origin during Ragnarok."

"In other words, if there were no Ragnarok, Odin and Fenrir would not have fought and chased each other through the river of time to the most ancient origin, and there would be no birth of this universe, which means there would be no birth of Ymir, no birth of this world, and no Loki and Odin, the King of Gods. Naturally, there would be no Ragnarok..."

"Heh... Mimir, I must truly admire your prowess. You actually conceived of forming a closed loop of spacetime throughout the entire universe, without beginning or end. You twisted the originally linear time into a ring, and Ragnarok is a sacrificial ritual used to appease the great being slumbering at the end of time, to prevent it from waking up after never having eaten anything. Thus, every time the grand sacrifice of Ragnarok ends, the entire universe returns to its beginning, all the dead return to the earth, and you and Ymir also fall asleep, waiting for another awakening after countless years, in order to escape the being that terrifies you."

"Ragnarok, the end of the universe, is also the beginning of the universe's birth... All causes and effects are thus connected, so touching any link in the chain will cause the interlocking cause and effect destinies to trace back all the way, and no matter how great your abilities are, you cannot break free from it. Therefore, even though Odin possesses the almost omnipotent runes, he can only do so in vain, because the runes can do almost everything, but they cannot make Odin deny himself."

"What a clever scheme, what a brilliant move."

As Loki finished speaking, his voice became increasingly mocking, carrying with it a deep sense of anger and a feeling of being manipulated and played.

Before him, Mimir remained silent, and then he spoke slowly.

"Loki, now that you understand all of this, it's because you understand our helplessness..."

"Are you afraid because that monster is sleeping at the end of time, and if time were to keep flowing forward, the entire universe would fall into that monster's mouth?"

But Loki just sneered and interrupted him.

The old giant frowned slightly, then tried to speak in a gentle voice.

“Loki, you should understand that being swallowed by that being is far more serious than just death.”

"Think about it, Loki. For us, there is no true death, only lying back in the depths of the earth and falling into a deep sleep. But to be swallowed up by that being that sleeps at the end of time is far more than just death."

"And then this absurd cycle continues again and again?"

But Loki only mocked the old giant again in response to his overtures. The old giant's face darkened, and he spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Loki, I admire your wisdom, that you managed to break free after countless cycles and realize something was wrong. But what could you do? Fate had already been decided. Ragnarok was inevitable, your death was inevitable, Odin's death was inevitable. Even if there were occasional setbacks, just like what you did, what difference would it make? Ragnarok was inevitable because the world had to be born, otherwise there would be no existence for you, and no Ragnarok itself... How many things do you think I have witnessed in these countless cycles? Do you think you can break free from this ever-recurring cycle of cause and effect in spacetime?"

At the same time, the small Fountain of Wisdom suddenly began to vibrate, accompanied by a deafening roar that resounded throughout the universe, and the world outside the Fountain of Wisdom began to tremble.

"boom……"

Looking up, the old giant's anxiety vanished, replaced by a relaxed expression, and he continued.

“The invincible giant Ymir has awakened. All the survivors and the dead will be buried by him in the earth. This time, he will not deliberately let you three brothers kill him. Besides, you are the only one left among the three brothers.”

But when Loki looked at the old giant in front of him, a mocking smile appeared on his lips.

“Old man, you think you have mastered all wisdom, but what you have mastered is only the wisdom that can be understood by common sense. The wisdom that you cannot understand is far more wonderful than you imagine.”

"Old man, why do you think you can't see this heart? I was just using runes to create a smokescreen. You saw through the runes, but you can't see the heart at all. Why do you think that is..."

The old giant stared at the human heart in Loki's palm, his pupils turning slightly cold.

Above this human heart, he vaguely saw something different, like... it seemed to be...

"Puff... puff..."

The heart pounded silently before him, but a deep fear gradually crept into the old giant's eyes, and there was only one source of that fear...

"You only know that I pulled a human soul from beyond the realm, but you don't know that when that human soul mixed with the soul of a beast, it actually created a strange reaction, a feeling that was extremely similar to that of the monster at the end of time and space."

Loki's maniacal laughter grew increasingly unrestrained in the old giant's ears, but compared to Loki's unrestrained laughter, the old giant felt a deep fear in his heart.

A newborn monster.

"Loki, are you insane...? Do you know how much effort we've put into cycling this universe time and time again, and you actually want to destroy this immortal universe?!"

The old giant's voice was filled with deep anger, and at the same time, the figures of three goddesses of fate appeared beside him. At this moment, these three beautiful goddesses were not as quiet as usual. Instead, they were wearing armor, holding weapons, and watching Loki warily.

An old giant, three goddesses of fate, and the awakened giant Ymir, facing a weakened god-king, seemed to have an obvious outcome.

However, Loki was surprisingly calm. He looked at the old giant in front of him and then said softly.

"Mimi, is there any point in this endless cycle of clinging to life... Meng!!!"

At the end of his sentence, he suddenly raised his voice.

孟？
Before the old giant could figure it out, a deep darkness enveloped him, followed by a sharp pain...

Before Loki stood a colossal creature composed of white bones resembling mountain peaks. Its long torso, with a skull that vaguely resembled a snake's head, was swallowing the four beings, which were as insignificant as dust compared to it.

(End of this chapter)