The moment she finished speaking, Skadi's eyes flashed with divine light. Her slender and charming figure emitted an extremely terrifying aura, stirring up snowstorms around her.
That was a goddess's divine power!
The concentration of magical energy was simply beyond what a human or ordinary god could possess. It was like facing an entire leyline - extremely terrifying!
Snow fell heavily inside the grand temple, a manifestation of Skadi's mana.
An unremarkable spear placed in a corner suddenly vibrated and hummed loudly, its whole body emitting boundless light like a comet. It flashed to Skadi's hand, exuding an extremely terrifying divinity.
Almost at first glance, he determined the spear's true nature. It was the genuine prototype spear used by all Valkyries, the spear owned by the god-king Odin - Gungnir!
Strange runes emerged from the mural of creation behind Skadi. The entire temple...no, all of Asgard seemed to have activated. Even the blue fruit in his arms glowed like ice crystals.
Layers of restraints descended into his body.
That was the gods' blessing upon Asgard, as well as the curse weakening Asgard's enemies.
This is bad!
Shirou noticed the anomaly - all of Asgard was like a prison trapping him, imposing intense restrictions.
Looking at Skadi, he secretly tried using his Noble Phantasm to control her. Disappointingly, she showed no reaction. Clearly, Scathach was Scathach; Skadi was Skadi. His power could compel the former but not the latter.
Shirou understood his predicament. Skadi was determined to apprehend him and Asgard offered her the home turf advantage. An all-out battle now, with his limited mana, might not end in defeat but mutual destruction was not his goal.
After some thought, he smiled. "As a guest, I wouldn't dream of claiming lordship in the Nordic lands. However, Lady Skadi, I'm from Chaldea, our interests align, so there's no need to take up arms against each other, wouldn't you agree? Let's talk."
"You're not someone from Chaldea," Skadi rejected flatly. She turned to Thrud, "Apprehend him!"
"I'm s-sorry, Eternal King..." Thrud stammered.
He didn't respond or resist, only staring deeply at Skadi, whose demeanor was as cold as an ice queen's. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "Getting me in is one thing. Getting me back out won't be so simple."
Skadi didn't answer. She simply stretched out her slender fingers, drawing some Primordial Runes in midair to restrain him, then said, "Take him to solitary confinement."
He was escorted away by Thrud.
Watching Shirou disappear from the grand temple, Skadi put her legs down flat. Her previous imposing manner had vanished, leaving only exhaustion on her face.
"Lady Skadi..." Ortlinde whispered, her face full of concern.
"I'm fine, Ortlinde," Skadi shook her head.
Ortlinde looked at Skadi with worry for a moment before asking, "Lady Skadi, is this really okay? If he's really from Chaldea, we may fall out with them."
"That fluctuation can't be wrong, Ortlinde. It's the same as that evil creature. Also, don't worry, I'm still here."
"But your Divinity has already..."
Ortlinde couldn't continue, but Skadi understood what she wanted to say. She shook her head, then pointed at the blue fruits Shirou had dropped, "Throw those seeds to Midgard."
Looking at Skadi's haggard yet graceful face, Ortlinde didn't say anything more. She simply nodded obediently before walking down and collecting the fruits off the floor.
These fruits are the blessings Lady Skadi as the Mother of the Nordic lands has bestowed upon this land - they cannot be wasted.
Carefully gathering every last blue fruit, trying not to miss any, she picked up a notebook among them. "This is..."
"What's the matter?" Skadi asked wearily from her throne.
"Oh, nothing much. Just a book, probably dropped by Eternal King earlier," Ortlinde replied, turning to glance at Skadi as she held the notebook.
Hearing this, Skadi sat up attentively. "Bring it here and let me see. It may have information on Hel's movements."
"Yes, my lady," she handed over the notebook.
Skadi took it and inspected the tattered, scribbled pages. The visible text was only a few lines, and it was in a language she couldn't understand.
But...
"Why does this book seem a little familiar?" she murmured with a frown.
...
Shirou was escorted by Thrud down into the bottomless dungeon buried deep beneath Asgard. This ancient prison was built by the Norse gods to contain their most formidable enemies. Complex bounded fields, primordial runes, and powerful spells—all personally cast by the gods themselves. Even mighty giants once locked inside would be suppressed to death.
Legend has it that even the fearsome wolf Fenrir, who once made the very earth tremble, had been chained up in this abyss. However, after the gods disappeared over two thousand years ago, there has been no sign of the demonic wolf.
Thrud led him into the seemingly bottomless dungeon.
Glancing around, he saw only pitch blackness, like a hellish abyss. The cell doors were made of some strange metallic substance resembling icy crystals.
With an eerie creak, she locked him inside the bottomles dungeon.
"Your Majesty, please accept my apologies. There must be some misunderstanding that Lady Skadi will sort out soon," Thrud said earnestly.
Shirou was quite nonchalant. He brushed off his backside and sat on the ground without a word.
"Well..." She didn't know what else to say. Clearly Shirou was in no mood to talk.
She sighed, "Your Majesty, if you need anything, call for the Valkyries outside and they'll help you."
She closed the heavy door, plunging the dungeon into complete darkness.
The pitch black dungeon echoed with an eerie dripping sound. Shirou was at a loss for words. Sure, he'd figured Skadi might suspect him when he came to Asgard, but he thought he could explain things clearly. He didn't expect her to just dismiss him as an imposter without even listening. Oh well, if you walk along the riverbank long enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet eventually.
He sighed, glancing around the lightless dungeon. It was black as night all around, though Shirou himself gave off a faint silvery glow that lit up his close surroundings, allowing him to see clearly.
Behind him was a solid wall covered in runes, clearly some kind of bounded field. A thick icy iron chain as wide as a bucket snaked from the wall into the deep darkness – probably used for torture, but he didn't look further into it.
He got to his feet and examined the frosty iron cell door, giving it a tug. It was extremely sturdy, crafted not simply from steel but with divine craftmanship, far surpassing even most Noble Phantasms in both mystery and durability.
Furthermore, the dungeon was protected by several powerful suppressive Bounded Fields. He could feel numerous heavy restraints being placed on him.
"Well, this is an awkward situation," he muttered, scratching his head with a furrowed brow.
Just then, he heard the rattling of iron chains. Wheeling around, he peered into the pitch black depths of his cell.
Squinting, he gripped his Rhongomyniad tightly. He remembered Skadi and Ortlinde mentioning some evil creature that had invaded Asgard. So it might still be alive after Skadi defeated it, now imprisoned here.
The iron chains rattled loudly against the walls as they were pulled taut.
Something was approaching!
Getting closer and closer!
A figure wavered in the darkness.
Suddenly—
"Wahhh!" An eerie cry.
It was here!
Hearing the shout, he immediately swung his spear at the figure's head without hesitation.
"Clang!"
Instead of lopping off the head, his strike rang out as if hitting solid metal. More importantly, even Rhongomyniad failed to take off the head!
A formidable enemy indeed, he realized. Yet why did that figure with the massive bull-like head seem so familiar?
"Teehee...such passionate love, Mr. Assassin. We haven't met in some time and you already have such strong feelings for me, how delightful..."
A tender, sultry voice floated out from the darkness. Upon hearing it, he immediately got a headache.
The rattling went on as a woman emerged from the shadows. With waist-length raven hair and an exquisitely doll-like face flushed red, her alluring body was clad in a pink dress. Most noticeable were the gigantic bull horns on her head.
It was Kiara Sessyoin.
No. That peach-colored aura...it was the Beast he had encountered in Romania - the Devil's Bodhisattva!
He dismissed Rhongomyniad as he saw her, rubbing his nose with a pained look. "So the evil creature they mentioned...that's you, isn't it?"
"Oh, comparing me to an evil creature!" Kiara flushed, her eyes shining with giddy excitement. "That's just...so nasty! It makes me so happy!"
Disgusted, he took two steps back from her.