Time's Visage

All it took was a moment of disorientation for the reassembled soul to return to its body.

But before that, something seemed to stand between the soul and the body...

A dream from the past.

That dream lingered within Helios, still slowly evaporating and gradually fading away. And for the first time, Huai Shi intruded into it as an outsider.

But after Baldr had already died, whose dream was this?

Huai Shi looked around in confusion.

Amid the desolate world, beneath a gloomy sky and upon black earth, surrounded by forests, a withered knight sat atop a gaunt horse, struggling through the mud.

Wearily asking and pleading with every living creature.

Yet he could not see Huai Shi, who was like a phantom.

Because Huai Shi did not belong here.

He was merely an observer.

Then, in that dark and oppressive world, he saw the only vivid color.

Like fire.

Between the dried-up rivers and mountains stood a startling streak of crimson, indifferently surveying everything and proclaiming an incomparable presence.

As though she were the center of heaven and earth, the only being of value in this world.

"Please... mourn for him..."

When the knight pleaded thus, all he received was a disdainful glance.

Upon a rocky outcrop, the girl seated there turned back coldly and looked down upon him with such arrogance.

Her face was familiar, achingly so, yet Huai Shi could not see the smile he knew so well. There was not the slightest warmth in it.

She was completely different from everything he knew.

She was wild and sharp, making others afraid to approach.

"Why should I?"

She asked mockingly, "Just because he is Odin's son?"

The knight said nothing. After a long silence, he spoke again hoarsely. "Then... please leave this land."

The girl on the