Skuld looked down at her hands, frozen where she stood.
Verdandi and Urd's expressions immediately darkened at the sight.
"It seemed fate had already made the choice for you." Odin spoke calmly. "From the moment you stood here, you... no longer had a future."
Verdandi gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on the spear in her hand. Together with her "past" self, she thrust at the black hole in the center. Two terrifying pillars of divine power shot into the sky, barely tearing it apart. The surrounding space warped continuously as they seized Skuld and flickered repeatedly, teleporting several kilometers away in an instant.
"Sisters..." Skuld stood behind them, her eyes already red, her lips trembling uncontrollably.
"Don't be afraid, Skuld." Verdandi's gaze softened. She stroked Skuld's hair and spoke gently. "Listen to your sister... once the fighting starts, run in the opposite direction as fast as you can. No matter what you see or hear, don't concern yourself with it, understand?"
"I won't." Skuld shook her head hard. "I don't want to leave you!"
"Skuld!" Urd's voice was stern. "This isn't the time for you to be willful. The three of us absolutely cannot all die here... You are our 'future.' Even if we die, you must survive.
Only if you survive will everything we're doing now have meaning. Do you understand?"
Skuld opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something more. But when she saw the hope in Urd's eyes, she swallowed the words back down.
"Ragnarok is already unavoidable. Norse mythology will most likely be unable to escape this calamity." Verdandi spoke helplessly. "After you leave, go find Lin Qiye. He needs your Divine Realm and won't abandon you... That way, no matter what happens in Asgard, the Great Xia Gods will keep you safe."
"Sister..."