"We can't fix this alone; the World Trees are The Universal Tree's domain." With a hand gesture that all three of them mimicked, they pulled a middle-aged man with blonde hair out from thin air.
"What-...?"
"Shut up and help me. We have a High-Level Bug here."
"... Huh?" The middle-aged man looked around in confusion, but when he glanced in the direction his partners were facing, he identified the problem.
"Shit."
"Yeah. Now, help me. We need to call Death too to deal with this excess of End Energy."
The middle-aged man nodded seriously, and they began working while ignoring the two World Trees that watched everything with curiosity.
...
Back in Hela's personal quarters, Victor sat on the sofa with a furrowed brow.
"... What just happened?" Hela, who had snapped out of her stupor, asked. She had just witnessed many incomprehensible things that had thoroughly scrambled her brain.
"A Dimensional breach that would have caused consequences throughout this entire Sector, potentially affecting even the other Sectors connected to this one, like Nightingale, Samar, and that Sector where the Witches have a portal to," Victor replied as he rubbed his brow.
"That's probably what that stupid Goddess's prophecy meant by Ragnarok. She saw Asgard's Dimension being destroyed... In a normal time when there were Seven Heavens and Seven Hells, it wouldn't have been a problem. But now that there are only three massive Heavens and Hells, if this Dimension were destroyed, the amount of trouble that would occur would be enormous."
"The Norse Pantheon would be destroyed...?"
"Consumed to give life to a new Primordial God would be the correct phrase," Victor said.
Hela shuddered when she heard that. "...This is my fault, isn't it?"
"In part. This was bound to happen at some point in the future. You just triggered it by removing that stupid Dragon from that Dimension."
"Stupid Dragon..."
"Yes, despite being an Ancient Dragon, he's only ancient in age, not in mentality," Victor chuckled. Unlike Zaladrac, who had many Ancestors to learn from, the End Dragon had been trapped since the beginning of Asgard.
In other words, despite being an Ancient Dragon, he was as stupid as a newborn Dragon. Due to his long isolation, his temperament wasn't as explosive as that of a newborn, which was an advantage for him, but that was all.
Hela sat on the sofa and sighed. "Honestly, I don't know anything anymore. Why are you even here, after all?" She spoke with a tired voice. Her head was throbbing due to these recent events.
"Well, I just came here to talk to you," Victor was honest. "And through interacting with you... I wanted to see if you were worthy of forming an alliance."
"... Huh?"
Victor looked at Hela. "And you are worthy. Beneath all that hatred, there's someone intelligent enough to lead a Pantheon."
Hela's pale cheeks gained a slight hint of color, which was very noticeable against her pale skin. It was a critical blow for her to hear this from such a powerful and handsome man; she felt recognized.
Hela shook her head in an attempt to clear these thoughts from her mind.
Victor chuckled gently when he saw Hela's expression.
Honestly, Victor didn't want to form a deep alliance with Odin. The reason was simple. He was a greedy old man, and he knew precisely what Odin would do when the Sector evolved to a Higher Level. He would much rather place one of his Wives in control of the Norse Pantheon and have control over everything than be allies with that old man.
Despite thinking this, he also couldn't put one of his Wives in charge of the Pantheon because they were currently in a non-aggression pact due to future problems. Therefore, it would be most efficient to put someone from the Norse Pantheon who was aligned with him in charge. That way, he would have control over everything.
But it couldn't be just anyone since the others would be suspicious. It had to be someone close to Odin or the victor of a war.
So it was either Hela, Thor, Odin's other children, or even Odin's wife.
They all qualified to be his allies, but of all of them, Victor really liked Hela's intelligence... Or maybe it was just his womanizing side that liked capable women.
Hela looked at this man with a complicated expression, a man who had just casually saved this Dimension. Despite not doing anything, it was a fact that without him, the primordials would have taken a long time to notice the problem before they could fix it.
"Although it doesn't matter anymore now." Victor stood up from the sofa, looked at Hela, and spoke next:
"I have a request for you."
"... What?"
"You will wage a war. I don't care if you destroy all the Aesir but don't attack the other Races like the Elves or the Dwarves. Even the Ice and Fire Giants are exempt from this war."
"My vengeance is against Odin and his people. The rest don't concern me... Although I won't sit idly if other Races attack me."
'Good... I can work with that. In the future, the Norse Pantheon will be weakened due to the lack of strong Gods like Thor, but I can easily fix that problem. The important thing is that this Pantheon doesn't fall into the hands of our enemies.' Victor thought.
With Odin's attitude, the old man wouldn't hesitate to ally with enemy Pantheons in exchange for benefits. Victor could easily foresee that when Velnorah told him about her former agreement with Odin.
Victor didn't need to worry about this possibility with the Hindu Pantheon. After all, Shiva wasn't easily swayed by wealth or materials... The problem was Indra, but that God wouldn't do anything that Shiva didn't agree with, so it was fine.
"As a thank you for hearing my request..." Victor touched Hela's forehead with his finger, and in the next moment, her pale skin and long white hair began to change.
Her hair turned into long, disheveled black locks, her skin gained a healthy tone, and her eyes took on an emerald green color.
"A gift."
Hela blinked in shock across her entire face. Upon doing so, Victor disappeared once more, and all she heard was:
"See you in the future, Goddess of Death."
"... This man restored all of my lost vitality with a simple casual gesture..." Incredulity was an understatement to describe what she was feeling now. She was utterly stunned by Victor's abilities.
Of all the Gods she knew, she didn't know anyone who could make such a casual display of Power as he just did.
It was worth noting that she had used 99% of her vitality to summon the End Dragon. She was literally on the brink of going into a coma, and he restored all of it as if it were effortless.
She shook her head and stopped thinking about the man who was simply too charming and incomprehensible to her. She looked at her hands. "This changes everything... All my plans will have to be redone."
Before, she was leaving everything to her brothers, but now... She didn't need to do that. She was back at full strength and could do much more than sit around controlling minions.
"Don't attack the other Races, huh... I can do that. It's the least I can do for you restoring my vitality."
Victor, who was still observing from within the room, hidden from her view, smiled. 'Heh, the heart of a warrior, huh. I don't dislike that mindset.'
Despite being very astute and vengeful, she knew how to repay those who hadn't harmed her.
[War, gather the others, and return home.]
[Yes.]
Victor vanished and appeared in the skies of this Realm, looking at the entire Dimension and seeing that the vitality of the Dimension was returning to normal.
The Dimension where the World Tree's Roots were had disappeared forever, and all that remained now was the void where the Roots once spread. Even the Roots that The World Tree had abandoned were restored to their original form.
'As expected, they work quickly,' Victor nodded in satisfaction.
[Due to assistance in discovering a System Bug that would have caused significant damage, the Highest Level Deity <CHAOS> gains more AUTHORITY.]
"Oh?... What does it mean to gain more Authority?" Victor asked, but his question was not answered. He thought for a few moments about it but then just shrugged. He felt that he would learn about it more in the future, so he didn't overthink too much about it now.
Then he disappeared again, returning to his personal Dimension.
"Victor/Darling." All except for Velnorah said at the same time.
"Summon everyone and convey my orders," Victor said.
"Are we going to war?" Scathach was the first to ask.
"We can't interfere, remember?" He replied.
"Rules have never stopped you before, Victor," Violet said.
"Yes... And they never will stop me, but this time, we must maintain appearances. At least until the Sector advances to a Higher Level." Victor gestured with his hand, and an image displaying the sub-Dimensions of the Norse Pantheon appeared.
"We won't interfere in the war, but we will interfere with the other Races. The Ice Giants, the Fire Giants, the Elves, the Dwarves, all of these Races, we will recruit them."
"Are we going to bring them to our other Dimension?" Sasha asked.
"No, we will leave them in their homes. We will only protect them from the war and prevent them from meddling."
"... Oh, I see what you're planning." Scathach and Velnorah spoke simultaneously.
"We can't intervene without a 'request for help'. We will 'accept' this request for help from these Races, making them ally with us, and we will control these Races." Scathach began to speak.
"We will maintain a neutral status. The Races cannot interfere, and regardless of who wins Ragnarok, the forces of both will be weakened. All we have to do is offer an alliance to the winner, and consequently, we will have more control over the Norse Pantheon than the victor of the war."
"Essentially, we will take over the Norse Pantheon through legal means while maintaining our image. There will be a God-King in the Norse Pantheon, but they will be a God-King in name alone."
"... A very common tactic used by the United States in more underdeveloped countries, huh. Did you learn about 'freedom' from them, Darling?" Violet commented.
Victor laughed. "Well, I was American."
Due to the amount of time he had lived in the Supernatural World, he didn't even consider himself American anymore; he was himself. A King that everyone must follow.
"As I said at the beginning, I won't interfere... Not personally." War, along with the other four Heralds, appeared behind Victor.
"Those who carry my Will shall interfere and assist you."
"This mission will be left to you. Organize yourselves as you see fit and act as you see fit, establishing a chain of command that works when necessary."
The women nodded seriously, indicating that they understood Victor's orders.
"And what are you going to do, Darling?" Sasha asked curiously.
"Me?" Victor pointed to himself and then smiled. "I'm on vacation, remember?"
"I'll go sightseeing, visit Nightingale, talk to my friends, train my skills, and play with my daughters. In fact, I was thinking of going to the beach now... I'll take Bestia and Ruby. That girl needs to get out of her laboratory, or she'll become a recluse." Victor's clothes changed, and he appeared wearing shorts, a duck float, and swimming goggles.
"Starting today, Victor is not available for service. I'll see you all in a month, bye-bye." Victor disappeared.
The girls blinked in shock at what they had just seen. Literally, a second later, Sasha disappeared, leaving behind traces of Lightning.
"AHHH!" Violet shouted when she realized why Sasha had disappeared. That sneaky woman wanted to spend some time alone with Victor while the others worked! As expected of one of the fastest women alive, she didn't waste any time. When she was about to run as well, her shoulder was held by Scathach.
"... Fufufu, you can't escape now, can you? Empress~."
"... Ugh."
Aphrodite, who was sneakily trying to leave, suddenly ran into an invisible wall. "Geh."
"You can't escape either, Aphrodite."
"Meanie! I don't want to work. I want to play with Darling!"
"Don't be selfish. We must work for our homeland, right? And let Victor rest. For as long as I've known him, he's never taken a break." Scathach took full charge of the long as I've known him, he's never taken a break." Scathach took full charge of the situation. "Our duty as Wives is to support our Husband. We'll keep everything running while he rests."
...
