Niflheim (2)
Frondier approached one of the motionless humans.
Their pupils were dilated, and they weren't breathing. He lightly touched their face, but it was ice-cold.
“...Are all of these… giants?”
“Yes. I told you, Frondier. It's the same wherever you go. The giants of myth all look like this.”
Those who rebelled against God. That's what he learned in Constel, and reality wasn't much different. The only difference was that the rebels who stood against God were actually on their side.
But in the end, they were the defeated.
Trapped in Pandemonium, suffering endlessly.
“You're saying they all look like this everywhere?”
“Yes. Your thoughts were accurate. All giants are human. There are no exceptions.”
“…….”
“What were you expecting? Let's talk about some famous giants, shall we? Surtr of Muspelheim? The giant who will burn the world at Ragnarok? The giant sword that can split the world in half with a single swing? No, that's not it. Surtr is human too. A defeated human. Just the one who was 'first' defeated by the Gods, nothing more, nothing less.”
Surtr. A famous name in Norse mythology. A giant said to exist to burn the world.
However, that was just mythology. A common exaggeration created for fear, nothing more.
Frondier asked.
“...Then what about King Arthur or Joan of Arc? They are revered as heroes.”
Belphegor closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
“Frondier. They had a proper death. That alone makes them lucky.”
“…….”
“Why would the Gods ever call a giant a hero? From the Gods' perspective, giants are nothing but abominable enemies. But some accomplished such great feats, worthy of human admiration, that even the Gods couldn't deny them that title.”
King Arthur and Joan of Arc were not defeated in Pandemonium. They died pure deaths.
That's why humans revere them as heroes. Ironically, it's because their deaths were confirmed.
The giants revered as heroes by humans are a rare few. Only those whose accomplishments are so great that even the Gods cannot diminish them.
“Most end up like this, Frondier. That's what giants are. Remember that the title itself was filled with disgust from the very beginning.”
Giants.
Humans who, beneath the Gods, grew too big for their britches.
That's why the Gods called them giants.
To make humans believe that giants were their enemies.
Belphegor said.
“Have you seen enough? Let's go, we're wasting time.”
“We're just going to leave them like this?”
“What else are we supposed to do?”
Belphegor took a step closer to Frondier.
“Are you going to listen to their grievances and complaints one by one? Enter each of their personal Pandemoniums?”
Belphegor spoke with the eyes of a devil.
No, there was no point in doing that now.
He was right.
“Give it up, Frondier. It's a waste of time.”
“...Are they all dead?”
“Yes, they are dead.”
“Even if I re-enter, they can't be alive?”
“……Sigh.”
Belphegor let out a sigh as if to demonstrate.
“You really like humans, don't you? To think I'd see you avert your eyes from reality like this.”
Saying that, Belphegor approached one of the humans standing still.
“Allow me to personally pry open those eyes of yours.”
With that, Belphegor,
Thwack—!
Raised a hand and struck the human's body.
The trajectory was completely uncontrolled, brutally violent.
“Belphegor!”
Selena cried out.
The human Belphegor had struck crumbled into ashes with that single blow.
“……!”
“Frondier, I didn't use any Aura just now. You saw it, right? That attack would have made a child cry at most.”
Frondier didn't answer and just looked at Belphegor.
His eyes were filled with sorrow.
“This body rotted away a long time ago. It's just frozen because it's so cold here. Why can't you accept the obvious?”
Only the soul enters Pandemonium. The body remains.
An absurd amount of time had passed. There was no way the body was still alive.
“Or do you want to re-enter Pandemonium? Unfortunately, these people don't have the information you're so fond of. It's all stuff you already know.”
Belphegor's words were harsh, but Frondier agreed with them.
That's why Frondier didn't argue.
“Let’s go.”
Belphegor turned his back and said.
“We have to save Azier.”
That’s right.
He was right.
Frondier came here to save Azier.
He couldn't afford to be held back by humans he'd never even met.
Besides, it wasn't like he could save them anyway.
‘At least…’
Frondier once again took in the sight of all the frozen humans.
‘Let’s record them.’
To register them in the Workshop.
The original purpose of the Archive, which was Weaving, was to record everything.
So that the battles of the distant past would not be forgotten.
“……Okay.”
After registering them all, Frondier took a step forward.
He walked slowly, glancing at the Workshop to check on the registered individuals.
He stopped abruptly.
“Master Frondier?”
“……The same people.”
“Pardon?”
“These people are already in my Workshop.”
Through the Workshop skill, Frondier could see everything within it.
After the Workshop became the target of Weaving, he learned that it had a basement.
And in that basement, he saw countless statues.
‘How is this possible?’
Frondier brought a hand to his mouth, a habit when he was deep in thought.
‘I realized it when I met Joan of Arc, but my Workshop has the characteristic of inheriting skills.’
What the previous Weaving skill holder left behind was passed on to the next. In fact, considering the nature of the Archive, it was only natural. If everything scattered when the owner died, there would be no point in archiving.
That's why there were many statues in the basement of the Workshop that Frondier had never registered.
And the people here were among them.
‘I thought it was a place to register heroes?’
Of course, Frondier didn't know the identities of all the statues in the basement of the Workshop.
However, the ones he had identified were all famous heroes. King Arthur, Merlin, Bellerophon, Roland, and so on.
But to think that even these people were among those statues.
“You’re saying they're already in the Workshop?”
Belphegor asked from behind. Frondier nodded.
“Yes. If they were simply defeated for opposing God, it’s strange that they’re registered in my Workshop. There are quite a few registered, but I’m not just putting anyone in there,”
Frondier stopped mid-sentence, suddenly feeling a sense of incongruity, and looked at Belphegor.
“No, I wanted to ask you this last time we fought, but how do you know about Weaving?”
Just now, Belphegor spoke as if he knew about the Workshop.
Come to think of it, he already knew about Weaving. When they first met and fought, Belphegor immediately recognized Frondier's Weaving.
How did Belphegor know about Weaving? He didn’t know about the past, but no one in modern humanity knew about this skill.
“Because I saw it.”
But Belphegor shrugged as if it were nothing special.
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