Van and Nori continued to scan the area, but no matter how much they scour and search it, there wasn’t anyone left alive in what seemed to have been a bloody battle. Van initially thought that the battle had only ended recently, but seeing as the corpses of the humans have already started revealing their bones, this battle might have taken place months ago.
The body of the forest giants still looked fresh, but seeing as their body itself was cold, it would seem that it preserved their bodies, making it look like their deaths were just recent.
“You… said you might know who did this, Van?” Queen Nori then finally broke the silence that had permeated the air for almost an hour now.
“It’s just a calculated guest,” Van let out a short but deep sigh as he looked at the Queen, “His name is Charles Gates, he has the power to move anywhere almost instantly… and he could also take anyone with him.”
“That’s… a High Human?”
“A System Holder… well, I honestly do not know what to call us anymore.”
“System Holder… Us? What do you mean by ‘us’?” Queen Nori’s voice slowly became colder as her hands subtly crawled towards the daggers hanging on her waist, “Do you belong to the same group as this man?”
“No. It’s just what we call humans with… special abilities in our universe. Everyone is dismissing it, but I have told countless times that I am not a High Human,” Van once again let out a sigh as he looked the Queen straight in the eyes, “I am someone from a world far beyond the 9 realms, way far. I was… forcefully brought to your world, along with many others; just in different times. There…”
As Van continued to tell his story, the more her hand that was about to grab her daggers slowly relaxed. He told her everything he needed to, about Hermes exploding, how Artemis was there and even some minor details.
“Are you telling me… that Artemis also came from your world?”
“No, she came from a different universe, connected to our own.”
“…What?”
“It’s…”
As Van continued to tell his story, the more her mind, which was already at a loss, became confused. In truth, Van was a bit bewildered himself. Nori already lives in a world that Van could have only dreamed of. If he wasn’t so busy trying to find his friends, then Van would have surely stopped at every second, trying to take in the sights that were in front of him.
Giants, dwarves, elves; trees that were even taller than the Wall, and not to mention their planet that seemed to be separated into 9 gigantic islands that were able to support themselves– all of these could be considered a fantasy to him… and yet Nori seemed to find it hard to believe that Van could be from another world. They were standing on a giant Branch that moved like the hand of a clock, how is he being from another world not believable?– Van thought as he continued to reason with Nori.
But alas, even after almost an hour of telling his story…
“…I don’t believe you,” Nori said. But on the bright side, she wasn’t grabbing her daggers anymore.
“I wish to cremate my people and the humans,” Nori then let out a long and deep sigh as she looked at all the corpses that surrounded them.
“…As well as the humans?” Van blinked a couple of times as he heard Nori’s words, “But they are your people’s enemies.”
“That was when they were alive,” Nori quickly shook her head as she started summoning roots from the ground, “In death, all of us are equal. The humans believe they fought for a war that is just; that thought is enough for them to be worthy of having the chance to reach Valhalla, and maybe even become a High Human, like you.”
‘I am not a High Human,’– Van wanted to repeat, but seeing Nori’s sedating eyes, he just let out another sigh and helped Nori to raise everyone from the ground, carefully wrapping them with the roots.
They had to be extra gentle with the human corpses, as their bodies could crumble with the slightest wrong movement. Covering every corpse in roots did not take long, however, as Nori seemed to be extremely efficient at using her… magic.
“May all of you reach Valhalla,” Nori said before turning her head towards Van, to which Van only nodded in response. However, even after a few seconds, Van found that the queen was still looking at him.
“…What?”
“It’s not a cremation if there’s no fire,” Queen Nori said as she tilted her head, gesturing towards the corpses they gathered, “Summon the blessing of fire upon them, High Human.”
“…I don’t have any fire skills, I’m not a Mage-type.”
“What? What are you saying? Just use fire magic so that we can send them off and be on our way.”
“I told you, I am not–“
“Nori?”
Both Van and Nori quickly stopped talking as soon as an unfamiliar voice traveled to their ears, they all looked in the direction of the voice, only to see a forest giant walking towards them.
Unlike Nori, the size of the forest giant that suddenly showed herself to them was smaller, similar to the first forest giants that Van had seen and killed.
“What… are you doing back here?” The female forest giant continued to walk towards them, her eyes scanning the dead before returning back towards Nori.
“…Alaith,” Nori then quickly approached the woman, crouching on the ground as soon as she was within arms reach, “I have missed you, cos.”
“It really is you!” The female forest giant called Alaith then jumped, immediately hugging Nori as she continued to hum in joy, “How long has it been!? I heard you have a child with the King now?”
“…Yes,” Nori nodded her head repeatedly as a slight tear trailed from her eye. But after a few seconds, she gently pushed Alaith and looked straight into her eyes, “What happened here, Alaith?”
“As you can see, the humans att– A human!”
Alaith quickly leaped back, trying to pull Nori away as she pointed towards Van. However, even though they were both giants, the difference in their size was almost a third, so the only thing she could do was hide behind Nori.
“It’s fine,” Nori could not help but let out an awkward chuckle as soon as she saw who she was pointing to, “Van is a High Human, I brought him here to talk with the Elders… but as you can see, when we saw this sight–“
Nori once again let out a long and deep sigh as she looked at her dead brethren.
“A… High Human?” Alaith blinked a couple of times as she looked at Van from head to toe. Afterward, she was about to kneel and bow her head, but Nori quickly stopped her, saying there was no need for that.
“Why were their bodies left here to rot?” Nori then asked.
“It’s… complicated,” Alaith shook her head as she too, looked at the corpses, “The Elders prevented any of us from cleaning the battlefield; they said it would serve as a reminder that the humans are growing in power, and that we should be afraid of what they would become if left unchecked.”
“…I know they’re called our Elders, but do they really have to be so old-fashioned? We were about to burn the bodies.”
“Oh, that’s not a good idea,” Alaith let out a small chuckle, “I am actually here to check if someone moved the bodies… I almost turned into a frost giant as soon as I saw the bodies neatly arranged on wood– the Elders would riot if they came to know of this.”
“Is that so?”
“Yup,” Alaith nodded her head repeatedly before grabbing Nori’s hand, “Come, let me take you back to the village to talk with them.”
Seeing Alaith excitedly pulling her hand, Nori released a chuckle of her own as she let Alaith drag her away. Alaith also bowed her head towards Van, gesturing for him to follow them. It took a couple of hours of walking from the Mist, but they finally arrived at where the forest giants were dwelling.
And as their name suggests, it would seem they were living on the richest part of the Branch, where every plant imaginable was able to grow. He thought the trees in Jotunheim were already big, but the trees that littered the territory of the forest giants were even more so– they even lived on them, with the trees connected by bridges made of roots.
Truly, a sight to behold. Van was not surprised, however. Artemis loved nature, it made sense that her descendants would too.
“Nori!? Isn’t that Nori!?”
And as soon as they arrived, they were quickly bombarded by everyone in the vicinity, all scrambling to welcome Nori back to their home. Seeing this, Van could not help but let out a small smile.
If her Artemis truly was the same Artemis that was in this world. Then these people… wouldn’t they be considered as his family?
As soon as he thought of that, a sort of joy started to sprout from inside him; even bigger than the trees that surrounded him. If… if only Artemis was here to experience this joy with him.
But if Nori’s story is true– then Artemis is dead. As soon as that thought once again shrouded Van’s mind, he could not help but gently trail his hand to the nearest tree,
“Where are you, Artemis?”
And as soon as Van’s palm made contact with the tree, all of the leaves in the entire forest started to tremble; as if they too…
…were welcoming him home.
