Abyssal Dungeon.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
A member of the Norse War Department dressed in black armor hunched over as he weakly made his way down the dim corridor.
"Stop." The two Norse War Department guards standing at the end of the corridor suddenly spoke.
The weak man slowly came to a halt.
"Who are you? Which branch are you from?" One guard suspiciously swept his gaze over the frail man before him.
"Norse War Department Fourth Branch, identification number..." The weak man raised his hand and gave it a light shake. The two guards' vision blurred, and a black token appeared out of thin air.
They took the token and examined it carefully as the weak man continued.
"Lord Loki has some questions for the prisoner deep within the dungeon, so he sent me to interrogate him."
After confirming that the token was genuine, the two guards returned it to the weak man, their expressions easing somewhat.
"Brother, you're injured this badly and you still came to question someone for Lord Loki?"
"Weren't there foreign god assassins outside last night? I got a little hurt during the encirclement. It's nothing serious."
The weak man accepted the token, forcing a smile onto his lips as he continued down the dim corridor. This time, the two guards did not stop him. Instead, they each stepped back and cleared a path for him.
The weak man walked along the corridor for roughly ten minutes, passing through three checkpoints like this in succession. As he ventured deeper, the burning torches on either side gradually turned a ghostly green. The air became sinister and strange, while the temperature plummeted. A layer of white frost had even formed across the rough stone tiles beneath his feet.
"Hiss—!"
A heavy, ragged breath sounded from above the corridor,