Shirou sat next to the bound Siegfried, using external means to help him resist Hel's powerful command spells.
Though many Servants could resist command spells, Siegfried clearly wasn't one of them. Let alone directly ignore them like Shirou could.
As the possessor of [All the World's Evil], Shirou was unique and special - certainly couldn't be compared by normal standards.
Shirou stared at his palm, lost in thought.
"There does seem to be a problem with the summoning," he murmured.
Even earlier, facing those sea monsters - though he had used his Noble Phantasm to summon his army, you could call it both success and failure. He'd summoned 500 soldiers, yes, but several knights who should've appeared were missing.
Scathach should have been summoned alongside those 500 men when he unleashed his Noble Phantasm. But she wasn't.
He was unclear on the reason as well. His first Noble Phantasm didn't indicate that Scathach was unwilling to be summoned. Instead, it was as if there was no connection at all to Scathach's records, like a rock sinking into the sea without response.
He didn't know what this meant, nor did he understand what had happened to her, let alone whether this was related to Skadi. But he knew one thing clearly - his most urgent task was still to save Skadi as soon as possible.
But...
"Shisho, what are you doing right now?"
Shirou murmured.
...
In the vast, dark prison, Skadi opened her eyes.
"Lady Skadi, you're awake?" Seeing she was awake, Ortlinde immediately came over to greet her.
Frowning, Skadi was silent for a moment. Then she looked at Ortlinde and asked, "Ortlinde, did someone call me just now?"
"No, Lady Skadi." Ortlinde shook her head, looking at Skadi worriedly. "Are you alright, my lady?"
"Don't worry. Perhaps I was just dreaming." Skadi shook her head.
As she moved, the crystal chains shackling her body clanked against each other. She straightened up and took out a rolled up book she'd obtained from Shirou - one she had confirmed was penned in her own hand.
Skadi carefully examined the book. Glancing at the only undamaged line of text, she grasped its meaning at a glance, despite the messy and destroyed state of the following lines. After all, she had written it herself.
Ortlinde turned her head, looking curiously at the swirling pattern Skadi had drawn. She pointed to it and asked, "Lady Skadi, that isn't a Rune, is it? Why are you drawing that?"
"I don't know," she shook her head. "Remember what I told you before? I keep having the same dream but I can never seem to remember the content."
Ortlinde nodded, then asked curiously, "But what does this symbol have to do with it?"
"I'm not sure. I can't remember the dream itself, but I'm pretty certain a whirlpool showed up in it."
Ortlinde didn't say anything more. She had always known Skadi was having an odd, absurb dream that she could somehow never remember.
It was quite absurd. As a powerful goddess, Skadi was actually unable to recall her own dreams. What kind of goddess was that?
However, it wasn't so strange either. As one of only three Valkyries left, she knew clearly that gods forgetting their dreams could happen. Before Odin disappeared, he'd often have dreams he couldn't recall well. Later, through other gods' interpretations, those turned out to be prophetic dreams. Odin called the prophetic yet hazy dreams "Ragnarok." The gods dreaded and feared the prophesied catastrophe so much that they made preparations, like building the prison to confine Fenrir and the trickster god Loki.
But who would have thought - Ragnarok didn't happen. Instead, that event happened, causing all gods to disappear.
Wait a minute! Could this also be a prophetic dream?
Ortlinde took another careful look at the whirlpool symbol. If Lady Skadi's dream was prophetic too, was Skadi interpreting it by drawing this?
But given their current circumstances, even if it was truly prophetic, even if the solution was interpreted from it - what difference would it make?
Among the six origin wheels, Hel already possessed three. With just those three, that monster could already be unleashed!
Ortlinde felt extremely worried. At this moment, Skadi put away the book and turned to Ortlinde, asking: "How many time marks have been drawn?"
"Three," Ortlinde replied instinctively.
Skadi nodded, leaned on the wall, and dozed off again.
Ortlinde watched worriedly. Lady Skadi, what are you thinking?
...
"So you used this to stop my Command Spells!"
Hel glared at the Valkyrie reporting beside her, clenching her fists as her eyes flashed coldly.
She had never intended to hide her intentions when she sent A-146 to monitor Shirou's group. Through the Valkyrie Network, Hel had quickly grasped the movements of Shirou and the others.
It was unthinkable that Sigurd would help someone. While understandable for him in his normal state, the current Sigurd was an Alter Servant!
Having long ago developed immense disgust for this world, life meant nothing to her. Not to mention, her own authority was "death" itself. So she had used her Command Spell without hesitation, twisting Sigurd's will to make him attack the boy he was trying to protect.
Whether it would make Sigurd rebel didn't matter. Twisting others to her will brought Hel great pleasure - the only joy she had left. But even that was interrupted by Shirou.
"Let's see what tricks you're trying to pull now, Eternal King!" Hel tapped her fingers on the armrest, annoyed. If he wasn't still useful, she would've gotten rid of him already. Of course, Shirou wouldn't just let himself be killed if she tried.
But she didn't have time to deal with Shirou's petty tricks right now. Ogelmir, banished to Imaginary Space by the gods, was still eyeing the three wheels greedily. She obviously couldn't hand them over, not before she accomplished her goal.
She stood and summoned Svadilfari.
"What are your orders, my lady Hel?" Svadilfari asked fawningly.
After she had punished him harshly once before, Svadilfari now knew his place. Hatred and vengeance simmered inside him, but for the moment, he had no choice but to bow to her.
"Go!" she commanded. "Tell the giants to cross the gate and enter Midgard."
"Yes, I shall obey, Lady Hel," Svadilfari replied submissively, though he seethed at her commanding tone. Does she think she's ordering dogs around?
Despite his silent complaints, Svadilfari didn't dare show any displeasure outwardly, for fear of another beating from her.
Svadilfari turned and left. Hel went to the temple entrance.
Two thousand years ago, after the gods disappeared, Ogelmir had summoned her to lead the giants against Skadi's Valkyries. She'd been stuck in this world ever since. Hel had always wanted to escape, which was her primary goal. But when summoning her, Ogelmir had placed a curse - unless she freed him from Imaginary Space, she'd be unable to leave this world either.
She was powerless against the curse, but after two thousand years, she'd finally figured out a way to resist it and escape on her own.
She crouched and picked up some snow fragments from the ground, rubbing and melting them in her palm.
"If Skadi is snow, then I am the sun. It's time for this desolate world to come back to life. And of course, by doing this the magical beasts she sealed away would awaken as well."
Hel smiled sinisterly before returning to the temple and sitting back on her throne, ordering Valkyrie to keep updating her on Shirou's situation.
"Let's see what tricks you're trying to pull, Eternal King."
She narrowed her eyes dangerously.