Fate: I Heard After Death, You Can Ascend to the Throne of Heroes?-Chapter 311: Jörmungandr

A few days later,

Svartalfheim, the realm of the dwarves.

Several days had passed since the day Promise presented the wreath to the goddess of harvest and received the new branch of the World Tree in return.

After that day, Promise and Shini returned to the home of the dwarf Mime, while the Valkyrie Thrud, having completed her task, returned to Valhalla in Asgard.

During this time, Promise didn’t go anywhere, staying with Mime to continue forging.

Forging the brush of the Norse divine era.

And so, just like that, a week passed, and it was once again Monday, the day when the little birdie Shini brought another golden apple to Promise.

"Finally, it’s done." Promise couldn’t help but smile as he looked at the newly crafted bamboo-green brush in his hand.

"Congratulations, congratulations."

The sound of two claps echoed abruptly in the cave illuminated by flickering flames.

Under Promise’s instinctively tilted gaze, his emerald eyes caught sight of the god of trickery Loki, who had somehow appeared and was now sitting there.

A slight upward curve of his lips revealed that signature mischievous smile.

Seeing his appearance, the little bird Shini almost instinctively hid behind Promise, looking a bit frightened.

"Respected trickster god, Lord Loki."

Startled by his sudden presence, the dwarf Mime quickly greeted him.

Loki, of course, paid him no mind, instead focusing his interested gaze on Promise and the brush in his hand as he spoke. "So, this is what you’ve been working so hard for... a brush forged from a branch of the World Tree, gifted by Sif. How extravagant.

So, little artist, what do you plan to paint next?"

Loki asked in a casual, almost teasing tone as if he didn’t care that much.

Until...

"The myriad gods."

Looking at the stunned expression of Loki in front of him, Promise replied in a calm, clear voice, "The painting I will create will depict the gods in the sky."

"So... you want to immortalize me in your painting?"

Coming back to his senses, Loki smirked again.

Hearing this, Promise nodded, but then shook his head.

"Not just you." Facing Loki’s confusion, Promise continued, "Odin, the All-Father, Thor, the god of thunder, and Sif, the goddess of harvest..."

As he spoke such words, even Loki couldn’t maintain his smile anymore.

The dwarf Mime turned his head, staring at Promise in daze.

Only Shini remained relatively calm, after all, she had already heard Promise say this to Skuld, the goddess of fate.

However, at this moment, she still didn’t fully understand...

What Promise’s painting truly meant!

"By the way, Lord Loki, may I ask you for a favor?" Holding the brush, as if suddenly remembering something, Promise looked at Loki with a hopeful gaze.

"What is it?" Loki asked, his face full of interest, his mischievous smile widening as he looked at the young man in front of him. "But let me warn you first, the price for my help... can be terrifying!"

Especially for you!

Why had Loki appeared here?

Well, it was obvious—these days, Asgard had become unbearable for him!

Sif, the goddess of harvest, hadn’t been too concerned at first.

But after receiving Promise’s offering and regaining ’harvest,’ a mix of guilt and excitement took over her mind and body.

Thus, upon returning to Asgard, she immediately grabbed Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir, and hurled it at Loki.

First, there was Idunn, the goddess of youth, and then the double assault from Thor and his wife.

With the other gods were just watching the spectacle and no one stepped in to help, Loki, who was unable to survive like this, had no choice but to flee to Promise’s side to hide.

By the way, the issue of the golden apples also needed to be resolved.

So, when Loki came here, he also harbored the intention of tricking Promise into pleading his case with Idunn, the goddess of Youth.

"Actually, besides the gods, I want to paint a few other things."

Promise smiled brightly, openly expressing his current ’greed’ to Loki.

"I want to paint a wolf, a serpent, and a tree!

And the generous goddess of fate, Skuld, has already promised me that she will find a time for me to meet the wolf.

So now, I ask you, the respected and generous trickster god Loki, would you be willing to take me to see the serpent?"

Promise was already brimming with anticipation and he couldn’t wait anymore!

Without the brush, Promise could still endure for a few more months or days, but now that the brush was in his hand, the burning desire in his heart to stir up trouble ...ahem, no, the desire to paint—seemed to gnaw away at his rationality bit by bit!

"A serpent... Are you talking about Jörmungandr, the World Serpent that encircles Midgard?"

Hearing his bold words, while all stood stunned in shock, and the scene was silent for a while, was the dwarf Mime who exclaimed in shock.

At this moment, even Loki wore an odd expression as he looked at Promise, who had made such a request.

"...Are you really asking me to take you to Jörmungandr?"

Loki’s expression turned even more strange as he asked.

"Yes, yes!"

Promise nodded vigorously.

Of course, it was Jörmungandr, the colossal serpent large enough to encircle the mortal world, a terrifying monster on par with Fenrir, the wolf destined to kill the gods.

How could Promise not be interested in it?

After suppressing his artistic spirit for so long, today was the day it would be unleashed!

"Wait, you’re serious? No, Promise, are you really going? Are you out of your mind?!"

Finally snapping out of her daze, the little bird Shini couldn’t help but scream in shock.

Until now, she had thought it was all a joke.

And even if you really want to go, shouldn’t you try to find someone reliable?

Going with this guy Loki was practically a death sentence, right!

Loki glanced at the little birdie, obviously guessing what she was thinking at the moment.

But he was too lazy to say anything.

After all, he himself felt that he would definitely sell out Promise when the time came.

"Who gave you the courage to ask me to take you to Jörmungandr?"

Loki asked with great interest in his face.

"Courage..it’s just a painting.

What courage is needed to paint a picture?"

Promise spoke as if it were the most normal thing in the world, even reassuring Shini, who was perched on his shoulder. "Don’t worry, Shini, I’ll just take a quick look from a distance... just a glance, there’s absolutely no danger!"

Promise vowed earnestly to Shini.

But all he got in return was Shini’s skeptical side-eye.

For some reason, the more Promise assured her, the more she felt there was a something fishy about it!

If anything, it was the intuition of a little bird!

"Fine, how about this, Shini? You go back to Goddess Skuld for a couple of days and then come pick me up later."

Pick you up?

More like collect your corpse!

No, wait—Jörmungandr’s spit would leave no corpse behind!

Shini’s mouth twitched as she was about to say something, but the next second, she was stunned as Promise grabbed her, stuffed a fruit into her mouth, and tied her up with a thin rope before tossing her to the equally bewildered dwarf Mime.

"Respected, magnanimous, and handsome god of Trickery, Loki, please show your divine power now and fulfill this small wish of the one who beseeches you!"

Then, rubbing his hands together, Promise looked at Loki with eyes that seemed to glow.

The sheer abruptness of this turn of events left even Loki open his mouth wide in speechless.

...What the hell? Is that brush of yours some kind of powerful seal? Why does it feel like your entire personality changed the moment you got it?

The little birdie Shini screamed in her heart, struggling fiercely.

It wasn’t just a premonition anymore—she knew for sure there was something seriously wrong here!

Loki, of course, also realized there was a big problem here, but... what did it matter?

"Alright, let’s go!"

He smirked mischievously. "After all, fulfilling the interesting desires of little ones has always been my favorite thing to do. When do you plan to..."

"Now!"

In an instant, Promise was already at the entrance of the cave.

"Lord Loki, what are you waiting for? Let’s go!"

Loki’s smile froze for a moment.

Then, unable to hold back, he burst into loud laughter.

"Little guy, I’m growing more and more pleased with you by the minute!"

With that said, Loki walked over to Promise.

And just like that, under the stunned gazes of a bird, a dwarf, and a few gods watching from the shadows, the two of them left...

At that moment, even Skuld, the goddess of fate who knew everything, had a slightly strange expression on her face.

"This guy... has he been holding back for too long?"

Skuld couldn’t help but mutter to herself.

The one-eyed god on the throne felt the urge to cover his face.

Well, the worst-case scenario had finally come to pass.

The thing he was worried about..

Promise, who had been gradually unraveling his restraints, was now...

Really teaming up with Loki!

"One Loki is already chaotic enough. Could it be... that choosing him wasn’t a good decision after all?" For a moment, the one-eyed god king even had the urge to doubt his own wisdom...

The dwarf Mime stared in daze as Promise and Loki left.

After a long silence in the cave, he finally snapped out of it and noticed Shini, the messenger of the goddess of fate, bound to the wall, unable to move or make a sound.

He quickly rushed over to free her.

"Too slow!"

Shini spat out the fruit in her mouth and glared at Mime.

But she couldn’t care less about that at the moment and she hurried out to chase after him.

Only to step outside and look around.

Gone!

Loki and Promise had already vanished without a trace.