The dragon's hoard

Bai Mo retrieved the fragments he had obtained after killing Hrungnir from the Gate of Babylon. Countless fragments flew and assembled automatically, transforming into a short-handled hammer covered in cracks, with wisps of electricity surging across its surface.

Bai Mo lifted Mjölnir and handed him to Ortlinde. Surprisingly, Ortlinde lifted him up easily with almost no Magnetic Field Power.

"Now you can take over Skadi's job, little girl."

"Succession? Don't be ridiculous."

"Who's kidding? Let me tell you, if you walk in like that with Mjölnir in your left hand and Gungnir in your right, she might even have to get up and bow to you... Oh, Ophelia, lift me up, the damn frost has formed again!"

Ortlinde weighed the Mjölnir in her hand and couldn't help but turn her gaze to Bai Mo. Bai Mo quickly shook his head and said:

"Don't look at me, I have a lot to do. As for what this guy said, don't overthink it. Skadi will still be sitting there, but you can't expect her to stay there forever."

"That's true. Skadi has already visited Chaldea and seems quite interested in the Spiritron Transfer device. She even seems to have prepared a vacation list that's nearly 2.4 meters long."

Da Vinci, standing to the side, waved his hand and said:

"After all, they've guarded this place for thousands of years. If they could rest, they would definitely want to rest properly. If Mr. El-Melloi of Chaldea could get his hands on such a long list, he would probably immediately suspect that Ritsuka is being manipulated."

"That kind of thing... let's talk about it later. By the way, Mimir, about my current situation..."

"It's just a characteristic of some Dragon Kind. After all, the blood that comes into contact with the heart is naturally like that. Judging from the signs, symptoms like being sleepy in the morning and continuing until the afternoon should appear. You'll get used to it."

"Don't worry about your soul. Since you can still see the Runes here, it means you're safe. Nidhogg never intended to destroy your soul."

Having thought of this, Ortlinde breathed a deep sigh of relief. After chatting with it for a while, Bai Mo raised his hand and created a towering European-style academy castle to cover the area before everyone left.

"Sigh, Jormungandr, but he can't hide forever. No matter how deep it is, I'll dig it out!"

Da Vinci clenched his fist, displaying unprecedented power driven by curiosity. Bai Mo, on the other hand, stared at the venomous fang in his hand, seemingly deep in thought.

The group arrived at their second stop: a massive, deep pit, where nothing grew for miles around. A colossal skeleton stood there, and even in death, it exuded a suffocating sense of oppression.

Bai Mo arrived at Nidhogg's skeleton and then took out a short sword. It was only an arm's length long, and its entire body was like a piece of flawless black jade, with a hint of green in the black. A powerful curse surged within it. It was the shorter Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi that he had obtained when he was fighting Ibuki.

After plunging it into the Daichi, a torrent of curses and poison surged into it. Bai Mo removed the hardest dragon tooth and then collected its remains.

"Alright, let's make one last trip to Helheim. The Hvergelmir Spring should be there. If there are any venomous snakes that have escaped the net, they should be over there."

Deep within Helheim, several enormous creatures dwell. These venomous snakes, who once devoured the World Tree alongside Nidhogg, are no longer the same as they once were, dominating the surface world.

Without Nidhogg, their source of power vanished, and even the illusion of the Sword of Victory Projection onto their tails disappeared completely.

"Ugh... How could this happen? In the end, our Lord actually failed..."

"Enough! We finally managed to shake off those Valkyrie. We need to find a way to leave this Lostbelt as soon as possible. I've looked at the situation on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. If we can escape there, the world will still be our oyster!"

"Oh, where did you learn about the Atlantic Lostbelt?"

"It's still that one... wait, there's an enemy!"

Countless Magnetic Field Heavenly Blade rained down like Gale, and none escaped except for the snake that had just spoken. The snake tried to escape, but was instantly pinned to the wall by a hammer. Ortlinde moved with lightning speed, shattering its teeth with a single stroke.

Upon seeing Ortlinde's appearance, the giant snake's pupils suddenly contracted. Ortlinde merely clicked her tongue in displeasure, then kicked it to the ground. Mjölnir landed on its jaw, and no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't move an inch.

"This is the last one. After dealing with you, all that's left are the giants." Ortlinde's voice was icy. She would show no mercy to these beings whose sins were beyond measure.

Bai Mo walked to its side, looked at the giant snake, and asked:

"Alright, you still haven't answered my question."

"Waaah... you stop..."

Before the words were even finished, the giant serpent suddenly found itself uncontrollably answering Bai Mo, revealing all the remaining hiding places in detail. Those with physical bodies could have their minds read by Magnetic Field Power, while their souls would be completely suppressed by the absolute Authority of the Underworld.

Having obtained everything she wanted, Ortlinde raised her hand and killed the giant serpent. After thoroughly cleaning Helheim, Bai Mo and her group arrived at the place where the Fantasy Tree had been, Nidhogg's lair.

Here, all sorts of things were piled up. Most of them appeared to be corpses and skeletons, along with some other unidentified trinkets. Judging from their clothes and weapons, they were not from Northern Europe.

Deep inside, you could see several Valkyrie seemingly packing up their belongings.

Upon seeing the visitor, Ortlinde reached out and greeted her, "Sister Thrud!"

"Ortlinde, and Mr. Bai Mo and the two from Chaldea, are you also here to carry out the cleanup?" Thrud bowed to Bai Mo, who returned the Thrud Bai Mo bewildered.

"Alright, Bai Mo doesn't like being treated like a superior being. Leave the cleanup to me; it's all taken care of."

Looking at the young woman in front of her, Thrud felt a strange sensation. The taciturn and work-obsessed Ortlinde of the past had grown up.

"That's amazing, Ortlinde."

Thrud ruffled Ortlinde's hair, and feeling the familiar touch, Ortlinde considerately bent down slightly. Then Thrud's gaze fell on her horns.

"Speaking of which, this..."

"It's alright, it won't have any impact... No, it seems I really can't get up in the morning, hopefully that's all the impact will be."

"I see... By the way, is this something that's mandatory or something?"

Thrud suddenly blurted out something out of the blue, which puzzled Ortlinde. Then, Thrud turned her gaze to Bai Mo and said:

"Look, didn't Brynhildr turn into a dragon before? You... to be honest, you look more like Brynhildr now. Is this what happens when you meet someone who loves you and then turn into a dragon?"

Upon hearing Thrud's words, Ortlinde's head began to tremble uncontrollably, her face instantly turning a deep red, like a scorching kettle.

"No, no, no, this makes absolutely no sense... Although it seems like the entire process has been completed... it's completely different no matter how you look at it. Besides, I would never have thought of suddenly stabbing someone or anything like that..."

The sound grew fainter and fainter, as the pink-haired girl beside her broke the eerie atmosphere, calming Ortlinde down.

"Alright, Thrud, you're overthinking it. Turning into a dragon has absolutely nothing to do with that."

After realizing what had happened, Ortlinde timidly turned her head away, as if she had mustered up the courage to face him, but the person behind her had already disappeared.

"Mr. Bai Mo just ran over there. He seemed quite interested in that big guy."

Following Hildr's gaze, Ortlinde and the others arrived at the location of the so-called behemoth. Da Vinci and Ophelia gasped in shock at the sight of this colossal creature.

"What... is this?"

A colossal machine, brimming with a strange, futuristic technology—something that should only exist in science fiction movies—lay there. Bai Mo stared intently at the massive wreckage.

Its identity is beyond doubt; it is not a creation of this world, but a Machine God.