Nordic: I Created a Forbidden Land for the Gods

"A pirate crew made up of half-giants, should we really be wary of them?"

The day before their departure for the Ice Sea, in Valhalla, Slud spoke with some surprise.

Her eyes shimmered like crystals as she looked at the woman who had given her advice.

Her long, pale hair fell to her waist, and her skin was as translucent as snow.

Although she wasn't on a battlefield and was only wearing a black dress, the sharp, razor-like feeling still rushed to her face.

Brunhilde, the Valkyrie's eldest sister.

"Yes, there's intelligence that they've been spotted in the area you're heading to."

"Although your mission is to kill the frost giants, if you find them, it's best to annihilate them if possible."

Upon hearing her elder sister's words, Slud raised a long eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

After all, even within the entire Aesir race, Brunhilde was undefeated on the battlefield, a top-tier figure, and even the giants were extremely wary of her.

And how could such a person pay attention to a mere half-giant group?

"Yes, elder sister, but may I ask why?" Slud nodded in obedience, but still pressed for an answer.

"Although, as a race of giants, they are born with great power, they also inherit the characteristics of evil, bloodlust, and greed."

"But ultimately, there is still a certain gap compared to pure-blooded giants."

"It would be more sensible to use our energy to deal with pure-blooded giants than to save it for dealing with them. After all, it's more reasonable to leave the half-giants to the Heroic Spirits."

Heroic Spirits are the vassals and followers of the gods.

Even seven of them could burn a city to the ground.

It's not that Slud didn't want to expel the half-giants from the Norse world, but it's a waste of her talents to have soldiers fight soldiers and generals fight generals to do these "trivial" things.

Brunhilde nodded and explained:

"Indeed, when this pirate group first appeared, I ordered the Heroic Spirit Army to wipe them out, but even though the number of troops sent each time increased, they all failed and not a single soldier returned alive."

"This caught my attention, so I went to the site where they last appeared, only to find that, apart from the Heroic Spirits, the mortal kingdoms in that area had been destroyed."

"It wasn't destruction caused by the aftershocks. All the buildings are still standing, but all other life has vanished. Do you understand what I mean?"

Upon hearing this, Slud's expression gradually turned solemn:

"You mean, they nurture runes through sacrifice?"

After receiving her elder sister's nod of approval, Slud's expression became even more serious.

Gods and giants can write runes, but they don't immediately possess the corresponding power after writing them.

It requires corresponding nurturing.

If the moment a rune is written is its "birth," then it needs to be infused with the corresponding nutrients to enter "adulthood."

Each type of rune requires different nutrients. For example, a water rune cannot be infused with fire energy; doing so would result in diarrhea, or worse, the rune would self-destruct, causing severe backlash to the caster.

Runes that require killing to infuse energy are often extremely powerful runes that symbolize bloodshed, are extremely dangerous, and require utmost attention.

Even if the holder is just a half-giant pirate crew, once the rune matures, it can even threaten the gods.

There have been many such examples on the battlefield.

Moreover, even if it is not fully developed, the power of sacrificial runes should not be underestimated, as evidenced by the fact that the dispatched army of heroes has not returned.

"By the way, there are quite a few islands in the Ice Sea."

"If the Evil Dragon Pirates are really there, then we might become their sacrifices and objects of destruction."

At that moment, Slud was already sensing the seriousness of the situation.

……

……

Upon hearing Slud's introduction of the Evil Dragon Pirates, Neil nodded and remained silent.

Seeing him like this, Slud sighed inwardly, but also felt that fear was a normal thing.

After all, Neil was just a mortal.

What is coming is an entity capable of easily destroying and sacrificing mortal kingdoms.

"Judging from the pirate group's movements, they must have come to this island."

"Based on the information provided by my elder sister, they probably do indeed possess dangerous runes and intend to sacrifice this island."

Slud made this judgment.

"If I were at my peak, I could indeed deal with them, but I was severely injured by that frost giant, and I still have a lot of cold energy in my body. I can probably only exert a little bit of my full combat power."

"In this state, the chances of winning against the enemy are really slim, not to mention that even the slightest aftershock would affect Neil."

She considered taking Neil with her, but quickly abandoned the idea.

Although the pirate crew and Winterfell seem to be far apart.

But in this mythical world, it's just a distance that the Norse eagle could reach very quickly.

The other side is moving slowly; it will probably take them one or two days to get here.

However, if she makes any rash moves and releases excessive momentum, the fleet will immediately arrive at a mythical speed and wipe out her from the opposing camp.

Winterfell will not be spared either.

Abandon Neil, even use him as bait to attract the pirate crew's attention, and find an opportunity to leave alone...

As soon as this safest idea came to mind, Slud immediately abandoned it and didn't consider it again.

She is proud of being a Valkyrie and would never do something that would give up her honor.

What should we do?

Just as she was pondering, Neil looked up at the Valkyrie and spoke again:

"Miss Slud, just as the Norse giant eagle is born with power, I also have the ability to collect the giant beasts I kill and convert them into resources."

"And the stored items can be used as building materials, which is how the buildings you saw before were made."

"Using this ability should strengthen Winterfell's overall defenses, allowing it to put up some resistance even against a pirate crew of half-giants."

Slud was stunned when she heard Neil's sudden self-destruction.

He quickly realized what was happening and looked at Neil with a deeper meaning and admiration in his eyes.

It seems this mortal is more intelligent and decisive than she imagined.

After all, this ability is his trump card, and hiding it would be very beneficial.

Even Slud wouldn't say much about it, since many gods in the Aesir did the same.

The reason why other gods and giants are so afraid of Odin is because they still cannot fathom how much he is hiding.

But in the face of crisis, Neil was able to proactively seek advice from his "Outer God" in order to protect himself to the greatest extent possible.

This decisiveness is evident.

"However, he must have seen a large number of Norse giant eagles being hunted to make this judgment."

"It's better to have evidence that I'm not lying to him, rather than blindly believing him."

Slud nodded, realizing that the other person's nod earlier wasn't out of fear, but rather out of consideration.

She couldn't help but raise her opinion of Neil even higher.

Just as Slud thought, Neil originally didn't want to build any more structures before Slud left, in order to protect his trump card.

Even in winter, he resolutely refused to build a house to keep warm, and instead wanted to find a way to keep warm from the Valkyrie.

But in order to get through the crisis and live a peaceful life, he is willing to take any risks.

Even when she's on the same side as the blonde, blue-eyed Valkyrie.

Five or six minutes later, Slud and Neil walked through the grove to the spot where the giant eagles had crashed and retrieved them one by one.

Watching the massive, over two-meter-tall beast carcass disappear into the pool of blood, Slud's jewel-like pupils contracted slightly, and she finally truly believed Neil's words.

She finally understood how the original three-piece set on the island came to be.

"However, even if there is some kind of magical power in his bloodline, Neil is still a mortal, which means that the quality of the magic he can use will not be high."

"Even if we can build structures, defensive works like arrow towers will at most be the same as before, and their performance won't be very high."

"It seems I still need to enhance the runes so that the island's defenses can be truly guaranteed."

Slud sighed inwardly. Although she had a good opinion of Neil, she also believed that mortals ultimately have their limits.

She didn't really want to add more runes to the arrow towers, not because she was stingy, but because of overall considerations.

After all, she could be used as a "trump card" against the Evil Dragon Pirates.

Adding runes to the building would slow down her recovery process, reducing its functionality as a "trump card" and further lowering her already low win rate.

But there's nothing we can do about it.

Until Neil arrived at a beach and pressed his hand on the ground.

"Build arrow towers."

The ground suddenly rose up, the soil sculpted itself, and the material type at the corresponding location was constantly changing as it was reconstructed, being shaped into the shape of an arrow tower at a speed visible to the naked eye.

If that were all, it would be fine, but the tower, which should have been a mortal creation, was actually crackling with wisps of electricity, and a chilling pressure emanated from it.

During the creation process, the source of the lightning power is a rune.

Although it was quickly buried in the soil and disappeared into the tower, the texture of the energy and the brushstrokes that were so familiar were still there.

This left Slud completely stunned.