Odin raised an eyebrow. He had noticed Ai's predicament too.
In that case, he had no need to get physical.
He said to Ai, "Give me a portion of your body, and I'll leave. How does that sound?"
No sooner had he spoken than a human-sized clump of mist was squeezed out of the black fog.
The clump churned wildly and tried to burrow back into the mass of fog, only for a hand to reach out from the mass and slap it away.
Then the hand pointed toward Odin, signaling for the little clump to go over to him.
At that, the little clump shook its head frantically in refusal.
But faced with its refusal, Ai pointed again, a stern, resolute expression appearing on the mass of fog.
Clearly, there was no room for negotiation.
Abandoned by Ai, the little clump floated sadly toward Odin.
Even without seeing an expression, Odin could sense the sadness radiating from it.
The sight made the corner of Odin's mouth twitch.
He felt like a villain forcing someone's mother to sell her child to stay alive.
Odin rubbed his forehead with a headache, then reached out and caught the little clump in his hand.
With a pop, he turned it straight into a card.
What's with all the drama?
Speechless, Odin still kept his word. He called Netero and the other three over and left the valley as Ai watched with an enormous sigh of relief.
As he left, Odin wondered whether it would be entertaining to suddenly appear in front of Ai again and give it a fright.
In the end, Odin did no such thing and let Ai off.
When they emerged from the valley, the expedition was waiting nearby.
Seeing them come out safely, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.