Netherealm

Yggdrasil Core

Magnus knew this was going to be quite difficult, it was assumed that a being like him, a hybrid of God and Devil King all in one, bless by the [Jotunblut] of the Aesir, the eitr, the blood of the giant kin that were born from the earth as one of the primordial beings of the universe.

The battle with Odin has allow him to barely test the deeps of his powers, his Authorities were numerous and his body was akin to the gods, in general, one could say that Magnus was dangerous and armed.

The soft whispers of Tyrfing in the back of his mind was proof enough of the last statement, even now the sword demanded more action, and being honest Magnus would love some distraction in the infinite grey emptiness of the Netherealm.

Thanks to the Kvasir that he drunk with Odin as the beginning of his transformation of what he was today, he knew that in this space in between, you only had to thing about the place you want to go and there you go.

But the real pain in the ass, happens when you don't really have a destination in mind, you could wander completely lost in the grey matter and you will never found out the exit, in fact the most possible outcome is for you to die of madness and boredom in this Nothingness.

Well, Magnus has been told that he had to go somewhere, there is a place, a destination, as vague as the description Odin has give to him, that was a destination in its core and that was what he was using as a compass.

Not the most efficient of the methods but Yggdrasil protect him, he had no other way to localize wherever Odin wanted him to go, if there is a solid destination since the beginning, he suspected that Odin has been deliberately vague, forcing him to take the longest route before he reach wherever he had to go.

Magnus love travelling and exploring, he was one of the first that discover the sunny lands of the Mediterranean, mostly by accident and to be piss drunk in the middle of a storm and to channel [Storm] in the worst way possible.

The adventure that follow that enormous botch was a tale itself and at the end of all that, he did create a colony near the Polis of Greece and meet the fascinating Dione, one of the most powerful Devil Queens he has ever meet and a strong woman that deserved respect.

He felt this was one of those occasions, times where the invisible hand of fate plays around with you and makes you fall face first, in the worst or most interesting adventures you could have ever wished or have nightmares about.

He suspected that there was a hand of fate in everything, the concept of the destiny was deeply root in his own culture, the three Norns weaved the destiny of mortal and immortal alike in their threads and the roots of Yggdrasil.

He believed that too, he has meet Urd, one of the Norns and kneel at her, she was a goddess of fate and despite, the eternal rivalry between gods and the children of Pandora, Urd was pursuing a worthy cause at that moment.

Magnus died once during that events and Pandora did congratulate him for being the first Devil King that has really collaborated with a deity for the greater good, not to mention, Urd ended quite smitten with Magnus.

Perhaps that's why the fate and the relative good luck has always being at his side, no matter how bad the things seems to be.

Having a goddess of fate on your side was always a very good thing.

Magnus sighed and landed in the air, walking instead of just flying like some kind of arrow in the search of an invisible objective. This way, the path becomes at last he will do something as he travels and could meditate a little about his new powers and how use them.

Authorities are not a joke, they are concepts, they represent powers beyond anything humankind could ever dream about, uh, wait a sec, now that he was in the Netherealm he could access to the knowledge of the future and he saw the buildings and miracles humankind will build in the future.

So, they are capable of dreaming and building big?, good for the old good mankind, that was exactly why he, as Devil King, fought to the nail and bone for all of them, so they could found and reach that unlimited potential that resides in humankind.

Magnus has grow a bit cynic in all the centuries he has lived on the earth, so many years seeing the worst humanity could offer was more than enough to feed anyone, only his code of honour and the pragmatic style of life of his people keep him sane during all those years.

If all Campione..ah, yes the name they will be given in the future, he has been using it unconsciously, for the Nordmanni, they were Einherjar, chosen warriors of Asgard that will fight against the death and the giants in the Ragnarok.

If only they know what Magnus knew now...

But no sense cry over spilled mead, that was useless and depressing and Pandora will kick his ass nine ways to Sunday if she ever saw him moping again.

Love the crazy girl or goddess, its hard to remember that behind that child like appearance hides one of the most powerful and cleverest of the gods, she just love to play around and keep as much as possible the appearance of innocence.

She and Epimeteus were the ones that develop the Campione ritual, the one that allows a mortal to slain a god and stole their powers and abilities, know as Authorities, and transform the body of the slayer into something akin to the same gods that they hunt.

With great power comes great pain in the ass, something that a lot of Campiones know soon during their carriers, even the weakest of the Campione is capable of terrible devastation when the full power of the Authorities are unleashed.

Take [Storm] for example, if Magnus pushed the Authority to its limits, he would be able to cover the entire planet with a storm that will cut short the light of the sun and scorch the surface of the earth with absurdly powerful lightnings.

There are infinite Authorities from the more pacifist and compassive gods to the massive weapons of mass destruction that some of the more violent or war oriented gods are capable of bring to the battlefield.

He know it well, he has fought dozens of gods, from violent ones like Perun to the witted Bastet, during all his life as Campione or Devil King, as he was called during all those years.

Truth to be told, he had the title of Jarl or leader of his people in one of the coast of the land know as Scandinavia. He ruled a little kingdom there, cohabiting with other kingdoms like Norway and Denmark when the trade or the war was needed but in essence, it was his land to do as he pleased with it.

It has been a good life, during the harsh winter, hunt, fish and survive trying to harvest something from the frozen terrain.

During the spring harvest all they could and let the animals pasture and send the trading caravans to the nearest kingdoms to trade what they could not produce by themselves

In the summer, sail to any coast in the horizon and earn fame and glory by defeating worthy enemies and looting their riches after they were vanquished.

In the autumn, prepare for the harsh winter that will always come.

It could appear as a simple life but the hard work needed to survive in each of the season was more than enough to keep everybody hands full.

Magnus was the proud defender and Jarl of his lands, his kingdom was not vast, in fact he didn't want to expand it more than he could cover at common horse travel for a day, that was the measure of his frontiers.

Pick a common horse and gallop from the entrance of Russvik, the capital of his kingdom, until the sun hides behind the mountains of the fiord, that was the limits and frontiers of his kingdom and it was not up for debate or for Loki twisted tongue word games or complains.

They have tried to rob him lands by all kind of tricks and scams, once a recently found port in the same fiord tried to set frontiers by using a damn mule instead of a horse, saying that it was perfectly valid to set the frontiers like that as long as they is a rider.

Magnus sat in silence for a minute, then told the fellow Jarl and his huskarles, his most trusted warriors; that they had a week to empty the port and find another piece of land where settle, otherwise they will burn and crunched along the port.

They didn't pay attention and just laughed at the menace, convinced that the agreement Magnus had with the King of Scandinavia will protected them but when Magnus unleashed the power of the [Storm] and [Golden apples] all over the port, they did run and lament for their stupidity.

Good old time those.

Still, he has always hated how, even his kinsman, were always trying to use him in some way, only to push further their own ambitions. He had nothing against the fact of being ambitious, in fact it was one of the most common traits of the Campiones, they desired all and the world bows to their desires.

During all the centuries he lived, he saw came and go dozen of different kings in Scandinavia and the surrounding countries and all of them, with a few notable exceptions, has tried to use him for something at some point.

From commanding their armies to kill a political rival so they could take the throne more easily.

In all honesty, he hated that part of his people, anyone could call Magnus an idealist, he believed in the honour driven core of the pragmatism of his people, that could be resume very easily in two words.

Be worthy.

Whatever you want to be, whatever you want to make or desire, it doesn't matter, what it does matter is to be worthy of your desires.

He meet philosophers of the ancient Polis that pass days discussing things like this to no end, Dione was quite the smooth talker when she wanted and now that he had the Kvasir running through his veins, he knew that he has gained a lot more persuasive skills.

That was an odd sensation, he was never a talkative man, usually said what he wanted and not payed much attention to conventionalism and protocols, the way of his kingdom was to be direct and do not waste time in hollow words, they will only make you look weak and fool.

Except for the Skalds, those could use all words they want, their is the privilege of the Edda, the poetry that sums up the legends and records of their people, make an enemy in a Skald was a sure way to be forgotten, a destiny worst than death, that it will only lead to your entrance in the eternal servitude of the death in Nilfheim, the kingdom of Hella.

A lesson good learned, Skalds are bigger than any Jarl.

For they wrote Story with capital letter, the one that will remains after you are nothing but bones and your flesh is in the stomach of a carrion or in the thrice be dammed stomach of Nidhöggr, the wyrm that feeds on the corpses of the unworthy.

Now he was a King and a Skald, he had the best of both worlds.

Wonderful thing the Kvasir.

As a way to pass the time as he walked in the emptiness, moving to Pandora knows what destiny, Magnus look deep inside himself, counting his blessings, other way called Authorities and start to deepen his knowledge of the immense powers that slumbers inside him.

Firs the oldest of his Authorities, the [Polar Bear], earn twice against the old and poweful Nanook of the frozen seas of the northern tundras of Midgard.

Or earth as it was called in the future, curious things this knowledge of the Netherealm, it just comes into your mind when you least expect it.

[Polar Bear] contains the divine beast of the same name, a humongous bluish white polar bear that could reach the two hundred and sixty two feet tall height and about twenty thousand tons of weight.

Talk about heavy weight category, this bear could give a run for his money to even Godzilla...wait, who is this Godzilla?.

And the strength, do not forget the immense strength that the bear granted, that pure, raw force was more than welcome in any fight, there is times where pure, unadulterated, strength was the decisive factor that gives you victory over your enemies; he has more than tested that theory in a thousand of battlefields during all his long life to not have it well learnt.

[Storm] on the other hand, was a pure elemental type of Authority, it grants full domain over the skies of the world, he could create and control any kind of weather by creating storms of divine rampancy over his enemies.

He could fly through the skies and toss arrow made from lightnings bolts and make rain so strong that the water could pierce even stone, and he was just scratched the surface of what truly hides between the Authority of Perun.

Not really a surprise he was feared and revered in equal measure, this could erase entire countries in a single burst.

However it was needed the sky to create a storm, he could create black clouds, he could create and manipulate electricity up to a degree but to actual flight and ride the storms, he would need to be in open air.

Those are the power that he has gained from vanquishing gods from foreign lands but the real lion share of his powers comes from the same gods that he worshipped as mortal and respected enormously during his life as Campione.

[Golden apples], the gift of Idunn and perhaps the secret about how he has managed to survive all this years of constant battle.

As the legends says, the golden apples of Idunn where what gives the aesir eternal youth and renew energies each harvest, in her Authority lies exactly the same power, it gives the power to control he flora around up to a degree and If one dies in solid earth, fertile, solid earth, the Authority brings back to life and heals all the wounds.

Healing capabilities, as the golden apples could be harvest and give to mortal, granting them a sliver of divine essence, healing crippling wounds, curing sickness and correcting deformities, he did use extensively this power to keep his old Kingdom safe and healthy.

[Dvergar Forge], the gift of the Dvergar, the creator of wonders beyond comparison, the ones that forged, Gungnir, Mjolnir, Laevatainn, Tyrfing, Draupnir and so goes the list on.

This Authority was the tricky one, he could call and use whatever item that the Dvergar had forged, from the chain Gleipnir that holds Fenrir to the collar of Freya Brinsignir.

It was quite the armoury to his disposition, not to mention he now was capable of forge his own artifacts, as he know the runes and knows how to etch them into the core of an item, granting him powers equal to the ones of the legends.

However all creation will have a cost and much be forged with the utmost care, he could not create anything from the nothingness just by snapping his fingers, it would be necessary a lot of work and the correct ingredients, like the teeth of an owl or the steps of a cat, to be able to forge something akin to the legends he knew.

And then there was the Heitis.

This set of Authorities were odd in the beginning and they are odd now.

Usually gods are named in one way and as the time passes, they change shape, form and powers but Odin, along a lot of the Aesir and other gods from other lands, had the Heitis, synonymous, sacred names that give them a title or a significance.

Odin gifted Magnus with four of them.

[Fimbulthurl], Master of all magic, the knowledge and skill to use all kind of magic as far as he has learnt and mastered it, however Magnus had three favourites, the Sjedr, the Galdr and the Sacred Runes.

The Sjedr was the magic of the trance, entering in a trance of sorts, the thrul or the völva could channel the power of the gods and the earth into spells.

The Galdr was the magic of the voice, the voice that curse and controls the power of the world around one and the others.

And the Sacred Runes, the writing symbols that could change the world and produce everything you want if you are ready to pay the price that it comes with such powers.

[Hrafnass], Ace of ravens, the animals, along the wolves, that were more commonly associated with Odin, in this case Magnus had complete domain over the clever birds, being capable of even transform in a murder of divine crows that could sand a mortal alive in seconds better than a bank of piranhas.

[Valfödhr], Father of the deceased, the ones that guides the death into another realm and could command armies of undead, he could control and subdued spectres and take the secrets from the dead, as they could not deny him his power as god of death.

This grant him the right to call anyone who has been slain at his hands in honourable battle and add him to the armies of death that Odin could command during the Ragnarok, from those slain during the tragedies of the curse of Tyrfing to the Hjadningar that serves as personal war band of Odin.

And last but not least, [Fjolnir], The Shape shifter. The ability to change shape and form, as long as he knows what he is changing into, he must now the name of what he was changing into, otherwise it will only be aesthetic changes and nothing more.

He could change into a dragon, but he will not fly, as he doesn't know how does the wings works on the wyrm, he couldn't breath fire as he didn't know how does the wyrm does it, he could picture his immense strength and resilience, he could sharp his talons to the point of cutting steel like it was paper but he could not imitate the gifts of the wyrms.

In a childish act. Magnus start to change as he walked, his shape twisted for a second and when the tall and broad Nordmanni was standing, now was a dancing and twirling Pandora, with her twin purple pig tails spinning along her, pumping her fist on the air and smiling broadly.

With a laugh, she changed and where there was the little goddess now stand a powerful wolf of ten feet tall to the head who moved at a leisure pace, tongue hanging from his mouth and panting in white hot clouds from his terrible jaws.

In a snort, the wolf was gone and a impressive steed of six legs that galloped in the grey matter of the Netherealm like it was solid ground, his mane move along his movements and his muscles were moving in harmony, carrying the great warhorse all over the empty space with a grace that no mortal steed could be never able to achieve.

Raising over his back legs, he whined to the empty heavens and with a loud snort, his frame changed in a second to the familiar form of Magnus.

Kneeling in the ground to accustom to the change of sight and the dulling of some senses and the increase of others, Magnus stretched his arms over his body, unconsciously perhaps, he has taken his younger form, when he was a young warrior of twenty winters, when his body was at his peak, not so far in time when he vanquished the avatar of Nanook by dumb luck and became a Campione.

Eight feet tall, broad and powerful, with a body designated for physical exercise a brutal combat, his reddish black mane was shoulder length and hi had his short beard back in his face, in all he was a handsome devil of honey eyes that change and shift as his humour changed, a secondary effect from [Fjolnir] probably.

His body covered with a humble black boots, black leather and black wool pants, a silver mate chain mail over an inner protective leather and silk short sleeved shirt, a mantle of black cloth and golden trim with a crimp of steel and gold, with the rune Iwaz etched on it, the symbol of Yggdrasil.

Tyrfing comfortably resting on a black and gold scabbard on his left hip and a silver and red glowing ring on his right hand with the rune Othal, the rune of the fortune, in his right hand.

Magnus sighed, he was dress as he was when he presided the Thing of his kingdom, he always has one for pragmatic dressing with a hint of vanity here and there, black, gold, blue and white where his usual colours and he usually dressed in that tones.

Now that he could change his shape at will, clothing and trinkets will never be a problem...not that they were in the first place, as soon as he became Campione, gifts and tributes of peace form mountains in front of his Mead Hall.

Money was never a problem when he became a Campione but as all in his life, Magnus believed in the Be worthy motto that has ruled all his life, so he has work, sweat and suffer along the fishermen, hunters, farmer and miners of his kingdom.

What kind of kings does not bleed along their citizens and followers?, the answer was simply, the not worthy ones and those tend to not live long near Magnus, after all, he was a Campione, and the humanity was under them as they were under the gods.

Magnus frowned, that was dangerous, be proud of your achievements but the arrogance precede to the fall as Perun has proof twice during his defeats at the hands of Magnus, no matter how big you think you are, there is always bigger and nastier waiting for you to lower your guard and tear you to pieces.

Magnus eyes his visage once more and decided that, this will be his basic form, the one that will present as his true form, after all it was truly his real visage but with more royal clothes and his comfortable chain mail.

He rarely walked without any kind of armour, except when he battle gods, then no matter how many mortal layer of armour do you wear, they will tear it apart like it was only wet paper.

Considering the climate and the harsh terrain of the fiord where his kingdom was, walking around in chain mail was a very bad idea, once you sail, leather is the right choice as armour, even the strongest men had difficulties to swim with a chain mail on.

For the Campiones however, it was not a problem at all, they are stronger and sturdier than the common mortal.

He shape shifted once more into a powerful falcon and with a flap of his wings, he set flight into the grey vastness, after all, despite supposedly having all the time of the world to walk around to his destiny, Magnus hate to be fooling around.

There was a reason why he was changing so quickly and into different forms, it was something that he learn when he inherited [Polar Bear] for the first time, it is incredible different how you perceive the world when you are a massive bear, sight, hearing, smell, tact, everything was different and confusing.

Now imagine that you can change, not only into a bear but in complete different plethora of beast, from natural to supernatural ones and all of them with a different set of properties and sensing capabilities that the human; no matter Campione o mortal; could barely understand.

The sudden influx of stimuli could be overwhelming for the senses of the non-trained, not ready for the change in the perception, not to mention the change in the form, it was not the same to walk bipedal than in four legs or to have wings instead of arms.

Perhaps the most drastic change came in the form of the murder of crows, divide his body and consciousness into dozens of divine empowered black birds could be quite extenuating, not to mention, not available to most of the minds out there, a lot of them collapsing by the sudden strain of dealing with all those sensations at the same time.

Odin has give him already the gift of the Shape shifter in the Authorities of [Fjolnir] and [Hrafnass] but even them, practice makes perfection and the less he depends in the innate instinct of the Authority but in his own battle sharpened instincts, the better for him.

Magnus did trust his own powers, it was just than in a culture like he was from, there was nothing that comes without a cost or a price, and there was nothing like easy money, there is always a catch or a trap waiting for the perfect moment to jump at your throat.

He must confess that during his first days as Campione, he was young and nubile and a lot of clever than him people came to his grounds to try to woo him to their cause, he was innocent back them and was easily convinced when the honeyed words that hit his pride and ego were poured in his ears.

The first lesson all Devil King must know is that he was no longer a mortal and if you mess up something, you mess up badly, its a direct consequence of possessing the power of a god, the consequences of your acts, good or bad, are godly.

Magnus still fell shame for those first days, he recognize that there is people far more clever than him, he was far from being a genius, he was only old and experienced, not a fountain of knowledge and in those days he was not old, not experience and a lot ignorant of how the world works.

After all, he was a warrior, a Berserkr, seeking for eternal glory and fame that allow him to be part of the Edda of his people and join the Einherjar when he could enjoy an eternity of battles and feasts along the gods of Asgard until the day of the Ragnarok.

Those were good days indeed, pity for the eternal shame that he brought upon himself when he wrongly used the [Polar bear] to obliterate an army, helping an unworthy man to achieve the throne of his community, all because he has convinced Magnus that he was the right choice.

Not a year later he discovered that he has picked the worst choice possible, he did kill the bastard for the trick but the damage was already done and a lot of good people laid death and forgotten in harsh and chilling lands of the kingdom.

He has sent a hundred of new servants to Hella, he has dammed a lot of worthy warriors to the eternal covered in mist realm of the cold goddess of death and what is worst, it was because of his own arrogance and ignorance.

Not anymore, since then, Magnus hide from the mortal world, disguising himself under dozen of names and appearances, hunting alone in the green and cold forest of his homeland, it was needed the love of a good woman for him to see the light again and took his mantle as Devil King again.

Brun was one hell of a woman, all redheads he has know during his existence are and possibly will be without exception, it does seems more a curse than a bless but sue him, redheads were his little soft spot.

Well...all women in general, don't confound him with a pervert or a womanizer, as it has been told a lot of times, Be Worthy is his motto, that means that he has to demonstrate that he is worthy of the woman that catches his fancy.

Woman or women, Nordmanni tend to see polygamy as something very normal and structured, the wife is the one that holds the keys or in other words, who rules over the house in where the clan lives and the rest of the women are mistresses, who had the same rights and obligations as any other free people of the kingdom.

The progeny of the wife is the heir or heiress and the progeny of the mistresses could be, if they father recognize them aloud in the Thing, in front of the Jarl and the hirdmen.

Magnus has had hundred of children, everyone of them unique in their own ways but none of them as powerful as the Campione that fathered them, it was something that he discover soon after his first marriage, his powers did no pass to the next generation, nor in blood, nor in spirit.

No doubt they were better than the common mortal in body and mind, but they were not supernatural, something that disturbed and relieved Magnus in equal measure.

Disturbed because that means he will not have a divine empowered descendant and when the supernatural hit at their walls, there will be a time where he would not be there to defend his people from the things that preys on the mortals.

And relieved that they will not carry the immense burden and infamy of a Devil King, meaning they could be free from those chains and reach whatever destiny they wanted, without the interference of the supernatural in their lives.

Enough of that did they already have with their father around, as he survived all of them, Magnus has buried and burned in ceremonial pyres, more than enough of his sons and daughter. That sadness was not something that forgets easily and with all things, first was the hardest one.

Being ageless was a fucking curse, specially when you saw your dearest people age and die, to see your comrades and brothers in arms age and weaken, incapable of following you into the battlefield as you did not feel the cruel bite of the age.

Hard lesson that one, all century old Campiones had to take it to the heart, you are going to lost people, being it in battle or by when the old age finally caught them, harden your heart and endure the pain but never cut bounds with the people around you.

That is the sure way to madness and corruption, as a lot of Campione has grow incapable of enduring the weight of the existence of the Devil King and became twisted parodies of their greatness, some of them, even posing as gods for their people.

It was not how Magnus did things in the past, he did rule by power and authority, he did rule by demonstrating that he was worthy of rule his kin, due his achievements in life and for the deeds he has done as Devil King.

Insight was 50/50 in this cases and for the moment, he was pretty much convinced that he has done a great job, could have been worst, could have been better but he do what he could with what he had and that was more then enough for him.

A tinge of sadness affected him as he travelled to his destination, wherever it could be, as he remembered that his kingdom will be without protection right now, it will be defenceless against vindictive gods like Perun who tried to settle the score with the progeny of Magnus as he could not settle his vengeance in the Campione now that he was death at the hands of the King of the End.

He hoped that Odin as his Fostbraethr, will be more than able to protect his kin from the rage of the ill tempered Bogovi god, specially when his kingdom was one of the closest from the frontier between the Slavic lands and the kingdom of Scandinavia.

Unfortunately, those were thoughts for the living, he had another mission right now, he had to find his destiny, no matter how far or impossible does it seems to be, after all it was part of the deal that he has made with his new sworn brother Odin and Pandora agreed to the deal.

Where the hell did they send him, that was something that he couldn't even fathom, not to mention he was actually sensing the will of Yggdrasil acting here, the World tree wanted something for him, perhaps send him into different realms as his agent, perhaps just lost him in the eternal branches of the tree.

Yggdrasil will was as mysterious as the mind of the women, you could never guess what the hell are they going to do next.

Still, he couldn't but worry about his kin, they were his followers, people that trusted on his abilities to lead them as their Jarl and now they will be without direction and wide open for invasions from those misty lands of the west or the Slavic war bands from the east.

There was still so much to do on his kingdom, but there is nothing that can be done now, he had to fight the King of the End and perish against him along all the other Campiones of this era, that monster was like their natural enemy, the one that changes the eras and the one that brings balance back to Yggdrasil when the power balance was broken.

He could respect it for what it was and what it does but he will never forgive the bastard for the extermination of Dione and the rest of the Campiones, him included, completely destroying centuries of work and progress in one big swoop.

Magnus could see that his people will be slowly corrupted by the weak and lazy message of the Christianity, they will subdue their will with sloth, richness and false kindness as they had conquered all the mortal lands.

Damn them all, he could respect the angels, they were creatures of purpose and he does respect the power of the so called one and unique god they preached but after meeting, killing and fighting dozen of gods and divine beast, it does seem farfetched to him.

He respected the power, thought, it was immense and totally focus on total domination over all the lands of the mortals, he was going to found their asses kicked by several other religions, specially when the true gods came back to earth to know why the hell are the mortal believing all that bullshit about one, single and all powerful god.

Magnus blinked a pair of times, the memories of the Netherealm were his to take and learn but the information influx was too much, there was no context for the information, no basis, it was just brute knowledge that comes to the front of his mind, every time his mind wander for a second in something.

Impressive resort, but in the long run it will be useless as all the knowledge granted from the Netherealm will not last long in the mortal realm, he will have to condemn himself into a perpetual exile in this grey realm to be able to take as him all the knowledge and the memories of the world.

Now, that he had a mission to accomplish, that will be awkward to explain to Pandora and Odin, that have send him to another planes of existence, not into a overgrow play garden on where he would be forever trapped, with the only option of get back into the realm of the myths.

Midgard will be forever lost to him, as he could never return to the mortal plane.

No, thanks.

A sudden pull of his senses call his attention from his ramblings.

His head moved like the head of a wolf that has caught an interesting smell on the wind and he didn't need much to actually recognize that there was another divine presence in the neighbourhood.

It wasn't really a surprise, the Netherealm was a very common way of transit between the myth realm and the mortal realm, as the gods could pick up a form that could fit into the mortal realm, based on how they has being worshipped on the past and the names that they have actually received in the minds and soul of the mortals.

There was something odd about the presence, not really recognizing it, as there was uncountable gods living in the Myth realm and Magnus has barely know three or four pantheons in all his life.

However there was a tint of darkness in the presence of the divine presence near him, it was moving at a quick pace all over the Netherealm, it does seems desperate, there was a hunger, a frenzy in its movement that confused Magnus a little.

In the Netherealm there is no time worthy of be spoke of, the time does move on the outside, but weeks can pass here and not a day in the outside, as all things related to the Netherealm, the perception determines how the things are.

You want grass, thought about it, sense it under your feet, the sound of the wind dancing over it and soon you will find yourself in a vast plain of grass, colours usually depends on the force of will of the ones creating the appearance of life in the grey vastness of the Netherealm.

So, if the time is something relative, why the hurry then?.

It does not make sense, not to mention the filthy presence he could sense surrounding the divine essence, there was a brush of pain, hate, blood, agony, resentment, all of it surrounded by layers and layers of rage and fury.

He really hoped he hasn't just a deity of the fury, the older world was filled to the brim with dozens of rage beings that were only problems, he has to deal with a few of them, and being honest he hated when the Sumerian or Persian deities feel playful and he has to fought them out of his homeland.

He feared for the world now that there are no more Campiones in existence, no one will stop the gods when they land on the surface of the planet to do whatever they wanted to do, usually there was a dozen of mortal organizations that took care of things like cage divine beast and try to appease the gods by tributes and the such.

But when the gods are out for blood, there is no tribute big enough to quell their blood-thirst, only by the intervention of another divine being; something that could be as disastrous as the other good or the appearance of a Campione could stop the destruction.

Mind you that when Divines and Campiones collide, the damages are always catastrophic, the mortals hide in fear and cower of the powers that clash over the surface of the earth and pray to their gods for salvation and protection.

Magnus didn't have such privilege, after all, he was the one that kill divine beings, who does the Campione pray for?, in Magnus case he usual swore in the name of Yggdrasil, the World tree was the only constant in his life and all the Nine realms were sustained by it branches...

And there it was again, he loosed the focus as the knowledge overwhelmed his mind and his brain tried to ease the pressure by rambling about whatever comes first to his mind. Magnus shook his head and focus on the dark presence.

It was not very difficult to actually follow the trail of sickness that the divine being was leaving wherever it went, the dark miasma was a pain for the sensitive senses of Magnus, the old Campione just feel that he need to change his shape into something more adequate to the hunt.

Without losing a step, the man became the beast.

A powerful wolf raise his head into the no-air of the realm and sniffing the trail of darkness, open his jaw in a mocking imitation of a smile, hastening his movements and starting to pursue whatever the hell was the thing that moved like a wounded rat inside the Netherealm.

He left to space for anything that was not the hunt, and with the easiness of someone who has done the same things a thousand times before, he moved quickly after the trail of his prey, don't really caring about what was what he was hunting, much more interested in the sensations of the hunt.

The high and addictive sensation of the hunt was echoing in all his being, perhaps consequence of the transformation into one of the most powerful predators of his homeland, in the forest of the Nordmanni, the wolves were one of the apex predators and no one was stupid enough to underestimate the beasts in the darkness of the forest.

A lot of lives has been taken by sudden fangs in the dark forest of Scandinavia and he had those lessons deeply engraved in his soul, no matter the time that has actually pass since he was a frightened child near the warm and comforting fires of the Allthing of the Jarl.

Now, he was the predator and he was after some fresh blood, really excited for the possibility of testing his new powers into a real battle to the death, the little spar he has had with Odin was only but a taste of what his Authorities can do in the battlefield.

He truly hoped this little hunt could bring him a good battle, one that could push his skills and powers to the limits, to really know what he can do and can not and of course, find ways to break that same limits.

The dark presence was getting closer and closer to a piece of land he has never see in his life.

He was one of the best explorers of the Nordmanni, and after a disastrous expedition he ended founding a colony in the Mediterranean sea...where he meet Dione and that lead to a lot of deliciously confusing passionate relationship between him, Vindra and Dione.

Magnus loved both of them deeply, his mortal wife and his immortal lover, one was still alive and the other has fallen at the hand of a jealous fellow Devil Queen during the last standing of all Campiones of the old world against the King of the End.

He has learnt another painful lesson that day, not even the Campiones are eternal, no matter how long they have been roaming the earth.

Despise all his knowledge as explorer and conqueror of forgotten lands, this piece of strange land was completely new for him, he didn't recognize it, he just know that it was passing the lands of the Slavic, the realms of the Celestial Bureaucracy and beyond the realm of the Vedas, all of those were a complete mystery for him, he didn't have an idea of what were those.

Just pictures and images of gods and goddess of a lot of arms and with the most odd appearances he has never saw, it was curious for Magnus who couldn't connect with this strange divinities, they were as alien to him as he was for them but he just perish the thought and keep following his prey over all this lands.

The presence was a god of unknown gender, he could pick that from the trail it left of its wake and it was wounded, it has been defeated recently and it has been defeated badly, judging by the smell that carries the trail, it must have been defeated by something that could manipulate fire and by the slight metallic taste of the dark trail, it must have been with a sword.

That was not enough to actually determine who or what has been the responsible of the defeat of his prey, Tyrfing could have done it and it will not say a word of the origin and powers of the one handling it.

What he does was to tell Magnus that fire was a very good tactic against this opponent, if the fire was capable of hurting his essence like that, Magnus will create fire and slam the face of whoever was his prey into the biggest bonfire he could create.

Still, Magnus has committed a mistake, something that he wouldn't have done in other circumstances but now that he was a little lost in the high of the hunt and the constant pressure of the Netherealm, he has run to much, he has been hunting the dark unknown god but at the same time, he was pursuing it, not doing a shit about his own presence.

As easy as he has sense and hunt the dark trail, the dark trail could sense his presence and lead him into a will goose chase until the trap was ready, and the trap was more than ready, specially now that he was far from his home turf, way beyond the reach of the Aesir, a foreign in foreign lands and what is worst, this foreign lands are very, very rude with the intruders in their territory.

The first advertizement of the ambush he has happily run into, was an arrow of pure darkness shot directly at his head, fortunately Magnus was one of the best warriors there is and his reaction time was greatly increased by the [Jotunbult] of Odin.

The wolf jump over the arrow with a snarl, mostly dedicated to himself more than for his enemy, he has been careless, he has been stupid, that were mistakes of pups and beardless childs, how come he has fall on it?.

Mentally berating himself, he changed his appearance into the noble warrior he has created before and channelling the [Storm] he counterattacked with his own bolt arrow of frightening electric power.

The source of the dark bolt just twisted like if it was made of jelly and let the arrow to pass through it and be forever lost on the eternity of the Netherealm.

Like a living mantle of darkness, it suddenly eclipsed the light of the Netherealm, trying to cover and destroy Magnus in one go; Magnus smiled and blanking his own eyes he tap into the power of the Sjder.

When the dark mantle was about to engulf him, he pronounce a name and channel the essence of that name through his trance.

"Muspelheim".

As soon as the name left his lips, the world around him erupted in fire, something that burnt relentless the blanket of darkness and force it to recede in agony, the sudden and high pitched sound like voice of the blanket of darkness would have obliterated any crystal and minds of any mortal nearby.

But Magnus was not mortal and the fun has just begun.

The fire soon vanish like it has never been there, only the consequences were visible in the charred body of the howling dark thing in front of him, he has cut the magic poured into the Sjder as the trance left him vulnerable to attacks.

The dark god without shape in from of Magnus, slowly recovered from the burning damage, even a divine being have difficulties to deal with the fires of Muspelheim, the home of the Eldjötnar, the fire giants of the legends.

It hissed in pain and rage, it was twice the times where the fire has wound its form badly and its senses and emotions were already in the level of a pained beast, although that was not a good thing for Magnus, who knows that the cornered rat was the most dangerous rat.

Tyrfing resounded when the sword was unsheathed from the scabbard that contains it, Magnus was already felling the thirst for battle of the weapon as a constant pressure on the corners of his mind.

"Feisty, aren't you?" muttered Magnus to the sword with a side glance to the flame like edge and the glow of its golden hilt, the sword was one of the beautifulest pieces of weaponry he has never saw.

Magnus raised the sword and the [Storm] obeyed to his master, soon he was surrounded by a brutal shroud of lighting and dense black clouds, thunders and bolts echoed and danced over the cloak made of storms, a prelude to the violence they were capable of unleashing at a second notice.

His rival did not falter and with the burns and the charred surface disappearing in a blink, the mass of darkness started to concentrate in one point, taking shape and form.

Standing over a pool of what it looks like an smouldering pool of tar, a proud masked samurai stands, his goblet covered left hand was over the hilt of a long and vicious katana made of pure darkness, as his armour, devoid of any heraldry, hide his strong and broad frame, covering in layers of tar like solid darkness.

His mask was terrifying, it does resemble a parody of humankind with a pair of horns and a wicked and open smile full of fangs, its eyes were serpentine and hollow of any life, just a pit of darkness and coldness.

Magnus stare at the figure, it was the first time he saw a warrior like that, none of the countries and kingdom he knew had anything similar to that and the sword was unique, leaving apart that it was a divine weapon and more probably it will stand toe to toe with Tyrfing, this was the first time he could fight an unknown enemy of unknown powers with his recently awakened powers as Campione.

He didn't even bother in question the strange warrior, the Netherealm has already inform him that it was a samurai from the lands of Yamato, he did remember that Pandora has mentioned that place before, it would be the place where the golden boy of her will appear in the future...Godo something.

Leaving those thoughts for another occasion, Magnus smiled and cut down the air with Tyrfing sending a dozen lightnings to the obscure thing in front of him, the samurai raise his free hand and a circular shield of darkness block the incoming barrage with easiness.

"Not bad, this could be interesting" thought Magnus charging ahead and sending Tyrfing in a wide arc, with the idea of cleave the samurai in half in one single strike but to his surprise, the dark samurai not only parried the weapon with his own but it send a counterattack that almost rip his arm in one go.

Magnus was a warrior, one of the best there is and he never has saw something like that, this warrior was a master of the martial arts, no doubt of that, he posses the divine mastery over the combat skills of its people that any divinity of war should have.

The Campione smiled widely and send his own counterattack, forcing the samurai to make a step aside or be impaled by the flaming edge of Tyrfing, the attack of Magnus didn't end there and despite he knew of the superior sword skills of the dark warrior in front of him, he keep pushing by pure force.

Swordsmanship is not a science, you could calculate all you want but when the heart comes in place, it is time for the instinct, however and during all his life, he has meet warriors that fight more with the head than with the heart.

He respected them equally for their achievements could not be ignored, still he was not one of those types, he has always being guide by his heart, his instincts were the ones that dictate his attacks and parries, that was why he was so unpredictable, he didn't follow any stance or styles that could be counterattack or analyzed.

However, instincts can only guide you so far, and his opponent posses a level of dexterity akin to the gods, it parried his attacks and let his sword flow over the edge of Tyrfing, provoking a nasty screeching sound when the edged rub against each other, the katana attack like snake and in any other circumstances it would have pierce the head of its rival.

Magnus saw the sword coming at him and twisting his head to the side, the tip of the sinister katana pass without any harm at Magnus could see that any wound from that sword would be indeed, a very bad thing.

The memories of the Netherealm were telling him that the essence of the blade was poisonous, from mortals and immortal alike, it oozed with the blood of an eight headed serpent who was more than a rival for a god.

Magnus didn't have time for a story lesson, right now, he was more preoccupied with the fact that he was engaged in a very difficult battle with the damn samurai, the bastard was very good with that one edge, poisonous sword of his but Magnus quickly noticed that it was not by far the same level of skill as Nuada and other war gods he has meet.

Curious, at the beginning he has suspected of a some kind of evil war god or divine beast or ancestor from the lands of Yamato, curious land by the way, not much of his taste but he hasn't really explored deeply the place.

However, there was something odd with this dark being, for the beginning it has taken the form a warrior but the appearances did not match the skills and as soon as they have exchange the fist hits, it was clear that the dark thing was hiding something.

Magnus press the advantage, the dark samurai could have the skills but it does not have the same strength as he had under the bless of [Polar Bear] and slow but steady, Magnus was putting the dark samurai in the defensive.

[Storm] save his life when a bunch of bolts, that were dancing over the shroud of clouds he has over his body as armour, suddenly repealed something with violence, missing a step for the sudden distraction, Magnus barely blocked the edge of the sword that left a nasty cut over the clothes and the chain mail he was wearing.

Whenever the black sword has cut, a nasty, nauseous smell surge, along a tiny trail of black smoke, he could sense the poison trying to erode the reliance of his transformed skin, hardened to supernatural level and transformed to adapt the form of clothes and armour.

Magnus hissed and pass his hand over the cut, a purifying rain cleansed the clothes and the armour of the nasty traces of the poison, at the same time, he channel [Fjolnir] and mended the damages like they were regenerating.

Not very sure if that was going to deceive another shape shifter but for the moment, he was very sure that his own legend and name was something not very widespread in the Netherealm, in fact he was very sure that Pandora and Odin were keeping that piece of knowledge hidden from the rest of deities.

Just in case he was needed for something and his presence, name and Authorities could be keep as a secret, very must like the case of the King of the end but without the end of an era disaster that always comes with the appearances of the King of the end. He uphold the balance and there no need of the lost of the children of Pandora...unless they deserved to die, not the first time it happens.

With some distance between them Magnus increased the power of the storm shroud he had over himself, as a method to keep whatever has tried to kill him out of his skin.

He couldn't detect what has been repelled by the electricity but he was starting to understand how devious this dark warrior was, all until now has been nothing but flaunting his skills with the sword and Magnus has to admit he was partly at fault for falling in such a simple trick.

His desire for testing his skills to the limits has blind him and now he has almost paid the price. This was not a god of war but a trickster god, more akin to Loki than Thor, and he will have to fight accordingly.

Pity, he hated the back handed tactics but in a battle with a divinity, you must do whatever its needed to win, otherwise you will die and it will not be a quickly and painless death, you could pray for one of those, but unfortunate it will be more probably you will be submitted to gruesome torture before you finally die.

Deities are not good people, there are notable exceptions but in general, they are arrogant beyond measure and treat everything and everybody like their private toys to be abused and discard when they bore out of it.

Magnus has meet enough deities to know this to be true, however the side of the "science" he has discovered in the Netherealm, didn't seem much better, what magic hasn't solve, neither did the science.

Same problems, same shit, different names.

Humankind never learn.

But that were depressing thoughts for another occasion, preferably in front of ungodly amounts of mead, the strongest mead he could found, stole or distill.

Now, it was time to fight and Magnus pretend to enjoy it to the fullest.

First of all, he entered in a short trance and pick up the power of another spell of the Sjedr, so far it has been proved to be incredible useful against the darkness and quickly trace a rune on his own hand.

Tyrfing was a blur as it deflected and parried all the dark projectiles the samurai was throwing at him, transforming its armoured arms and hands into a long bow filled with dark arrows of long shape and nasty tips.

It does seems like those tips of the arrows were designed to tear flesh, once those arrows where in the flesh of the enemy, removing them would be a titanic problem as they will hook into the flesh of the wound and possible infect it with the damn poison it seems to exude.

And once again, it was only a diversion, a trick to confuse his senses, distracting him from the tentacles that where surrounding him and tossing a dozen of almost invisible needles directly at his back.

Magnus has already perceived the threat and he just say the name of the brightest god of the Aesir, one whose Heiti was sun, the brilliant light of the sky that pierced the darkness every day.

"Baldr" intoned Magnus, more than an aria than a name pronunciation but in any case, the effects were immediate and a sudden and blinding explosion of sun light covered both of them.

The effects over the black tar like skin of his enemy were more impressive than what Magnus was expecting, the two tentacles that have tried to blindside him burned in agony from the sunlight and the rest of the samurai was smoking some kind of nasty white and sulphurous smoke from what it does seems severe burns.

Still, Magnus did not hold back at all, and taking advantage of the sudden damage, he charge at the dark samurai, channelling electricity over all the edge of Tyrfing making the flame blade spark and shine with power.

Must be said, that despite the damage, the dark samurai parried and blocked all the furious barrage of attacks of Magnus with unnatural yet impressive swordsmanship skills, the dark katana was nicked and smoking and the edge of Tyrfing was slowly eating it with fire and electricity but it did hold his ground.

The swords clashed a hundred of times in a moment, each of them looking for a hole in the defences of its enemy and didn't found anyone, not really a surprise but Magnus has to admit that his respect for whatever Yamato deity this was, he has win his respect for his martial skill and determination.

A dozen of shadow spears appeared from the charred chest of the samurai, catching Magnus by surprise and forcing him to dodge and block the counterattack, now his suspicions about a shape shifting trickster god were corroborated.

What he fighting with Yamato version of Loki?, that will be hilarious, he didn't even set foot on the land of the future favourite of Pandora and he was already battling one of their deities or kamis as they tend to call them.

Not the best way to present himself but the opportunity was too good to let it go.

The spears didn't stop when Magnus jumped backwards in order to dodge them, they followed him like blood hounds, he suspected that they were slowly guiding him into a trap and that will be something that he could use as his advantage.

More and more spears joined the attack and when Magnus counted the sixty three of them, he bored of the game and with a frown discharged enough electricity to empower a middle populated city for a week.

The lightnings net block and perish all the spears, but when they do, Magnus suddenly fell himself surrounded by darkness, his electric net was the only thing that illuminated his surroundings and he could start to notice how slowly was the poison filling the enclosed space.

Not bad, caging and forcing your opponent to inhale a deadly poison as he could be more preoccupied with the attacks that could come from any direction, like the spears and the tentacles that had attacked previously.

But Magnus had his own trick under his sleeve, this overwhelming the enemy in darkness could be useful against most opponents but with one that could call in the sun light or divine torching flames, it could be a double edged sword.

As soon as he has surrounded, he has discovered that the darkness seems to feed on the light that his electric net was producing, feeding and weakening the construct and at the same time, make the darkness more powerful.

As the sun destroy the darkness in the day, the night destroy the sun in the darkness, you can have one without the other.

So, if the darkness was hungry, he was going to give him a damn feast, so much that it will choke on it.

Raising Tyrfing and pointing the sword to the upper side of the darkness surrounding him, Magnus channel a shit ton of power into a beam of electricity, as a pillar of golden light, the beam slammed against the darkness and he smirked when he listen to the painful shrieks of the dark deity.

But the darkness did not recede as it enter in a duel of power against the beam of light, Magnus has planned that and meanwhile the light and the darkness tried to overcome each other, he moved his free hand in front of him and revealed the rune written over his skin in gold lines.

Hagall, the rune of the natural disasters, the destruction and the catastrophes.

As soon as Magnus released his control over the power contained by the sacred rune, a volcano erupted directly between them.

Magnus was a young whelp when they sailing near the coast of the Saxons, they were fishing and looking for a good battle but in the horizon they see a dark cloud that covered the sky with a black mist that send shivers in all their spines.

At the beginning they feared that the Eldjötnar, the fire giants, were invading Midgard but then a thunderous boom echoed in the distance and one of the biggest, strongest sea storms Magnus has ever suffered, send them deep into the the south, far from the red and yellow explosions and black skies.

It was not until much later that he know that it was called Volcanoes, pure manifestation of rage and brimstone from the earth, fire, lava and black smoke fill with ash that destroys everything in his path but at the same time created new solid grounds on where the life could grow in due time.

This knowledge was given to him from Dione, the Devil Queen of the Greek Polis, during one of the mercantile exchanges that they did, not much after they discovered the presence of each other.

Now, Magnus knew what a volcano was, and armed with that knowledge and the sacred runes, he could manifest something identical or worst to what his mind was capable of conjuring.

It is said that sometimes reality surpass fiction but when the reality is empowered by the imagination, then is where the miracles could be made, in this case, the creation of a brutal volcano in the middle of the dark cage.

At first sight, Magnus has committed a very dangerous mistake, despite being a Campione, the lava could cause severe harm to him too, he was resistant, not invulnerable to damage but then [Fjolnir] comes into action and transform the human Magnus into a perfect replica of what an Eldjötnar is.

Fire giants bathed in lava, gaining strength from the fire and the heat like the darkness has been doing with the light but this time, the darkness was the one distracted by the sudden beam and did not react in time to suppress the scorching flames of the volcano inside his tar deeps.

The attack in two fronts, such a wide scale attack, however take a tool in Magnus too, he could felt his magic power weakening after pouring such spell in motion, adding to that drainage the cost of the beam and the transformation into an Eldjötnar.

Moving at astonishing speeds, the cage of darkness receded into a more vicious and terrifying visage, the only thing stable in all the mix was a white mask poorly mimicking a human face of red checks like blush and doll eyes.

The rest of the body, for give it a description was a conglomerate of things barely holding together as the fire consumed them, arms of men and women twisted in agony, soon followed by appendages of animals and claws.

Mouths of poisonous drool appeared over the wounds produced by the fire and near to them ,eyes of feral visage popped without order or sense, a long, spiky black mane grow form the sides of the white parodying mask and soon covered good part of the back of whatever this thing was.

Snapping jaws born in the palms of the limbs surrounding the mouths, each one of them with a different set of eyes, from animals, to humans, passing through insect composed eyes of arachnids and flies, mixed together in an amalgamation that didn't stop to shriek, none on earth will scream like that, it was a pained and hateful shriek of dozens of voices and sounds.

Magnus felt his stomach revolt at the image in front of him, such abomination should not exist, it does remember him to the abominations that he has saw in the deeps jungles of Africa and the obscene creations that Hades sent from time to time to punish the lands of Dione for killing Demeter and becoming a Devil Queen.

In resume, he was disgusted beyond measure and now that he had the form of a forty nine feet tall fire giant, he was going to squash this thing like the vermin it was. Even Odin, consummated shape shifter has never low himself to the point of acquiring this chimerical repulsive forms.

He didn't know if the pain of the scorching volcanic heat over its skin was numbing its mind, making it incapable of focus enough to fit in one single form or to adopt a more solid and coherent form, but in any case Magnus will not have pity on this thing, and it was not for the insult to all shape shifters but for the hate that emanates from it in waves, all of it directed at him.

In the form of an Eldjötnar, he feared nothing, the fire giants were the harbingers of the Ragnarok, when you are the apocalypse incarnated, fear was something that only the lesser live forms experiment in their lives.

Tyrfing raise over the chimera of darkness and then fall like a meteor of fire and steel directly to the mask of the dark form.

The chimera did not surrender for the inevitable, its thousand arms raise and block the incoming humongous edge of the blade and spikes grow from his growing form, trying to impale Magnus in the chest, but the fire that surrounded the body of the fire giant burn the spikes before it could reach their objective.

Without stopping screaming, the chimera grow to an equal height of the fire giant, looking at him with his porcelain eyes and creating a hundreds of dark weapons from his convulsing mass, facing such enemy, Magnus just smiled and grab Tyrfing with both hands, ready to oppose numbers with strength.

The thing that despite having dozens of limbs form all kind of living beings protuberant from his core mass, moved more like a worm than with those legs, still, it was quite fast, surprisingly fast in fact but Magnus expected that and instead of trying to win it over a battle of speed; something he knew it was impossible, he just stood his ground and economize movements.

The dark weapons slash, cut, cub and pierce but none of them were near of piercing the fire protection that the body of the fire giant was, all the weapons just vaporize in contact with the hellish flames.

Tyrfing on the other hand was doing an excellent job in harvesting the surface of the dark worm, limbs, mouths, eyes, everything was cleave and rip from the dark mass, leaving only tar smoking holes and pained shrieks of the surviving mouths.

But Magnus knew that all of this was nothing but a stale tactics, this appearance has hiding something, for the moment he will play as the dark worm wanted but he did channel his [Fimbulthurl] into another gigantic spells, no matter if his power was starting to weaken from the massive tricks he has pull previously.

Devil Kings had magical reserves akin to the gods and now that he was Fostbraethr of Odin himself, they have became literally the magical reserves of a god, however, even for the gods or at last, from most of them, there is not unlimited reserves, they will exhaust at some point and will have to get back into the Myth realm.

Magnus let Eldjötnar nature take over his physical form and tear apart the worm as he patiently waited for the traitorous blade to came from the shadows, he knew this dark deity will play an underhand trick, he was more than sure of that, he was not sure what but no doubt it will do it.

Now this was a battle of patience, both were deep hide inside their transformations, Magnus fire giant apparently winning the match but the truth was that both of them were testing each other for weaknesses, testing their defences and how to pierce to them.

A dozen of tentacles, ended in poison dripping sharp and piercing needless surfaced from the shadow of the fire giant, almost invisible against the dark shadow that the giant projected on his back.

Slowly creeping upon their prey, they raised from the ground, moving always in synchrony with the shadows, so they could keep hide by the same power that was destroying the body of its creator.

They coiled and waited for the right moment to stab the fire giant in different but lethal points of his anatomy, they knew how an Eldjötnar was, contrary to how Magnus was having difficulties to take the memories of the Netherealm, a full fledged god was more than accustom to the influx of information and could take what he wanted without losing himself in the flood of data.

They will attack and pierce his vital organs, pouring all the poison they could muster in one single strike, then the dark worm will pierce his front and rip his throat out with the most powerful set of jaws he could create in this weakened state.

Soon the trap will be ready and...

The tentacles find the perfect moment, they just shoot their needles in a blur of movement, directly at the vital points of the fire giant.

None of them did even get close, a thunder of monumental proportions blew them out of reach, sending them flying like a flock of mockingbirds caught in a tornado, the thunder was only the opening for an electric storm that covered completely the body of the fire giant.

The shock of the failure pause the chimera a second, less than a second, but for the form of the giant it was more than enough to finish this battle with a decisive strike to the most blatant weakness of the mass of darkness.

In hindsight, it was clear how the mask was the only thing that has not change during all the battle, the moment it materialized it, until now hide within layers and layers of dark tar like matter, it was clear that either was trying to lure him into a trap or it was so wounded that he could not hide its powers more.

The fire giant trust his flaming sword in a savage straight trust, directly at the mask, it moved like a bolt, a flame line that cut the darkness with predatory and feral rage but the sword could only mark the mask, the dark divinity was able to pull the mass on where the mask stand, back in time, so Tyrfing wasn't able to cut it in half like it pretended but to leave a very long and deep gash in the surface.

If the previous shrieks wasn't enough, the noise that followed the deep and cracking on the border gash over the mask, was more than enough to break all glass in miles around.

The screeching noise did affect the Eldjötnar as the senses of Magnus were at the same level as the bear he channels with [Polar Bear] and bears, do have sensitive ears, this monstrous screaming, meowing, roaring and everything you could imagine was more than enough for him to actually wince and give a step back covering his ears with a frown of displeasure.

Although, what he didn't expected was to the dark mass to flee in haste, moving like some kind of nauseous worm made of black tar, running as if all the warriors of Hell were on its ass, for an blotting mass of darkness it was quite the runner when it wanted.

Magnus receded back to his basic form, slowly recovering his breath, he still had one last trick to pull but to his disappointment, the dark whatever it was...ah, Mikaboshi, deity of darkness of Yamato, well, that information was useless now that the combat has already ended but, he will store it for future encounters, after all, once he left the Netherealm, the knowledge will slowly disperse like a dream.

Not even the gods could keep the memories of the Netherealm out of it, it will only cause havoc and drastically change the balance of the planet, something that not even the stupidest deity wants.

Very pissed off for the cowardly retreat of the god of darkness, Magnus rest a little, recovering his magical reserves from the continuous and great cost of the spells and Authoritieshe has used during the battle against the evil god.

Being completely honest, he was sure that the if only the god would have been on his prime and not running from a previous defeat, this entire battle would have been played completely different.

Still, it was good to know that he was as powerful as he suspected he was, ready for challenge any deity out there and make himself part of a living Saga, worthy of being inscribed in the Edda, so the younger generations could take courage of it and try to surpass him.

He rest in the grey void of the Netherealm, accumulating energy and magic from the infinite reserves of the place that bounders the realm of the living and the realm of the death and the myth.

Magnus was not very sure how in Yggdrasil name does all this works, but he knew that it works and with that will be more than enough, in case of extreme necessity, he will channel [Fimbulthurl] and with the knowledge of all magic related things will tame the flow of the Netherealm, as Pandora does to create her Campiones and other gods used to recover from the battles and actions they done in the Mortal realm.

Closing his eyes, Magnus just focus his mind in creating a little refugee from him, a simply clear in a forest, some trees, a waterfall, a quiet pond, some rustling breeze, no animal in the neighbourhood, just some quiet and peace nature scenery for quick and restful nap.

Covering himself with his own mantle, Magnus rest his eyes and mind from the overwhelming influx of knowledge that the Netherealm impose over his travellers, so far it has been useful only as a distraction from the tedious and long travel he was doing to wherever Pandora need him to be.

Yes, a quiet nap will be suffice...

Tyfing block the katana aiming for his head without him even opening his eyes.

He knew it, it was too good to be true, it was almost impossible for him to actually get some well deserved rest after an exhausting battle, specially when he reminded himself that he was still over Yamato lands...more or less, Netherealm respect to boundaries, it doesn't understand of borders and holds, it just exist.

Still, there was something odd about the attack, it has been lazy to say the last, he has dozens of alarms and tricks to catch up sneaky assassins, not to mention Tyrfing did not sleep and was always in vigilance but the attack has been straight and without any real power behind it.

This was a salute, a way of saying hello and be cautious at the same time, not really a surprise, he was a stranger in strange lands and only the knowledge of the Netherealm save him for the absolute ignorance about what and where he was.

In front of him stands a powerful male figure, dress with what it likes a black like dress and a jacket made of fire over his frame, his skin was lava like, orange, red and cracked from where sulphurous vapours emerged.

He was as tall as Magnus and equally broad, armed with a sword that seems to be made of fire, if it wasn't for the absence of a golden hilt and the slightly curved edge it has, Magnus has suspected that this deity has just stolen Tyrfing.

Kagu-Tsuchi, echoed through the mind of Magnus, the slayed son of Izanagi, kill by his own father when he killed during birth his own mother Izanami, his body pieces became volcanoes and he is the Lord of Fire.

Neither of them say a word for a long time, each one of them testing each other, it was the first time for both of them that they found a deity of sorts of some far aways lands, for Magnus the previous battle with Mikaboshi didn't count at all, it has ended without a clear winner when the dark deity run away.

For the Nordmanni Campione, the presence of Kagu-Tsuchi was surprisingly similar to those of the Eldjötnar, they share the origin in fire and they do create volcanoes and fire storms, however there was an absence of dark emotions in the Yamato gods that separated him from the fire giants Magnus know.

He did posses dark emotions, considering his sad origins, it was no surprise he did resent his father and immensely regret the death of his mother, a tragedy that leads to an even greater tragedy when Izanagi failed to rescue his wife from the Yomi.

Both knew they were in front of power, although the absence of violence in the first place was a new thing for both of them, leaving apart the subtle awakening, Magnus could understand that it has been nothing but a wake up call, the fire god will not slay an sleeping opponent, something that Magnus could appreciate as honourable as it was.

Brutal maybe, but between gods, there is no boundaries, as they represent absolute concepts and their powers could shake lesser minds.

In a peaceful gesture, Magnus sheathed Tyrfing, much to the protest of the sword, one of this days he will have to have a chat with whatever consciousness is trapped inside the flaming blade, such battle frenzy and blood lust was abnormal, even for a former Berserkr like him.

The Yamato god, recognize the gesture and make his own molten sword to vanish in a smoke burst, however none of them pronounce word as they had no idea of what exactly do, in the past Magnus will have reacted arrogantly, denouncing the god to identify himself, but the wisdom of the Kvasir spoke otherwise, spoke of play his cards close to his skin.

The standoff endure until another powerful presence make his appearance in the little forestall realm that Magnus has created for resting, for the Nordmanni it was quite the surprise to sense another [Storm] god appear.

The new comer couldn't be as opposite as the serious fire god, about five and half feet tall, with a more than pronounced stomach, something that did not fool Magnus for a second as he could sense the power behind that appearance, with a long black beard and mane, dress in white robes, jacket and pants of some kind.

He appeared around the latter thirties, with a powerful but sheathed sword at her left hip and drinking from a very odd shaped bottle of wine, the strong smell of the alcoholic beverage reach the noise of Magnus; all in his appearance and manners signalled him as a lay back deity.

Netherealm confirmed what Magnus has suspected from the beginning.

Lay back my hairy ass, this was none other than Susanoo, one of the most powerful deities of Yamato and son of Izanagi, god of the storm and war, holder of the Ama-no-Murakumo, the sword that kills dragons.

In resume, do not mess with him and of course, Magnus know that he was in complete disadvantage, this was a two versus one battle, one mayor Yamato god and the fire god who was as powerful as an Eldjötnar minimum.

Magnus was smiling inside his mind, this was going to be quite the tale for the Eddas, however, there was something that did bother him and it was how none of them had actually try to kill him.

As the Netherealm reveal him, how the Yamato gods are not precisely welcoming of the strangers, considering them apes at their best, it was a little odd how they have not begun try to kill each other, Magnus was an intruder and he was now in a two versus one very difficult situation.

However, he was more than ready for the challenge, it will be a welcome challenge, a real and great test of the limits of his powers and now that he has been able to rest and recover his magic reserves, he was ready for a second battle.

"Well, this is something we don't see every day" laughed Susanoo loudly after finishing drinking from his bottle " what does a child of Yggdrasil so far of his home?".

Magnus blinked a pair of times, did Susanoo already meet some of the Aesir?, that was surprising, well, the Netherealm was different of the mortal realm, in the mortal realm, the farthest they have reached was the Mediterranean to the south and the Slavic lands of the east.

Yamato was way to far for any expedition to actually reach the coast of the islands, not to mention there was dozens of kingdoms, realms and empires between Scandinavia and them.

Of course, a person with an Authority over travels, waters, earth or something similar could have been able to reach the place...well, he could have done but then, he would have abandon his kingdom and no way in Nilfheim that he would have done that.

"Greeting to you too Son of Izanagi" saluted Magnus with a fist over his chest "I am nothing but a traveller who has lost his way into the Netherealm".

"And kicking, good, old, Mika-chan ass ten ways to Sunday was in the travel plan?" smirked the god tossing Magnus the bottle.

Magnus just blinked again, the form on how Susanoo spoke was confusing to him, it was similar to how Pandora spokes sometimes, it was a little difficult to adapt to how they say things, how their words are full of double meanings.

Bless the Kvasir, for it will help you to understand what, in Yggdrasil name, are they talking about.

"Nay, that was a welcoming entertaiment from the boring rotine of grey nothingness" shrugged Magnus and hiding his fingers inside his cape, drawn a rune protection him from any poison that they could have slipped into the bottle or the alcohol, when the rune activated, he took a swing from the bottle and surprised from the taste of the alcohol.

"Not bad" toss Magnus the bottle back to the storm god " how is this drink called?".

"Sake my western friend" smiled broadly Susanoo like he was preaching " the elixir of the gods".

"Yamato gods, lad" snorted Magnus in humour " trust me, mead is much better, although I admit, your sake is quite good".

"Bah, heathen" dismissed Susanoo the words of Magnus but there was no malice in his words.

During all this conversation, Kagu-Tsuchi has been silent, just observing the actions of his brother and waiting patiently, in case they resort to violence, Susanoo was the god of the storm and his true character was far from the the lay back personality he was showing now.

"Still, what are your intentions here Nordmanni?" get back in track Susanoo, noticing the displease of Kagu-Tsuchi.

He was one to better never piss off, as the volcanoes that were his body and core, he could be quiet for a long time and then explode in unstoppable fury, consuming all in his path like the molten lava that moves over his skin and body.

"I will pass and keep looking for my destination" Magnus see no harm in playing honest with the gods of Yamato.

He was pretty much sure that all the gods of Yamato could kill him if they went after him at the same time, it is impossible to withstand an attack from all the Celestial pantheon of Yamato and walk away unharmed.

"And what destination is it?" asked Susanoo who was more than an expert trickster and liar and could recognize a lie at miles, this Nordmanni was telling the truth, quite curious actually.

"No idea" shrugged Magnus " I know that I have to travel through the Netherealm, until my destiny finds me and send me to the site I must be".

"Well, you have done me a favour" chuckled Susanoo " you have kicked Mika-chan ass so hard, that the little shape shifter will be licking wounds for some time, the little bastards has grow cocky this last century and wanted to claim the islands of Izu and Tennozu".

Magnus didn't see the importance until the Netherealm hit again; this was going to be a lot more difficult when he exited the Netherealm, a pity he could not keep some of the knowledge, it will come quite handy in the future.

What Susanoo was implying was that Mikaboshi wanted to claim two of the most vital spots of Japan, an active volcano, where rest one of the pieces of the body of Kagu-Tsuchi and Tennozu, a place where reside a dragon vein, a source of magical power that could empower a deity way beyond its limits.

Dangerous, in the hands of a living and consuming blanket of darkness that will transform the fertile lands of Yamato into a twisted parody of Yomi, the Yamato mythology version of hell and the underworld.

"Glad to be of service, although he scape before I could end him and send his dark carcass back into the myth realm" admit Magnus, the battle has been quite invigorating but at the end, when Mikaboshi saw that the battle could end in its loose, it turn tails and run like a coward from the battlefield.

"Ah, Mika-chan tends to be like that, not a bad guy, chick or whatever Mikaboshi wants to be that weekend" laughed Susanoo " but Mika-chan has never been in the side of the war deities, more into the stab in the back kind of deities".

"I noticed" nodded Magnus " during the battle I was obliged to be always on guard, always careful about attacks from my blind spots, Mikaboshi was quite the cunning warrior, even if at the end, dishonoured itself by fledgling like a coward".

Kagu-Tsuchi took those words very badly, for him, even if the westerner has done all Yamato a favour, he will not stain the honour of the Yamato deities, even if it was the more than doubtful honour of the dark and malign Mikaboshi.

Kagu-Tsuchi, the sword of the same name was the god that created it from the heat and minerals of the volcanoes of his body, erupted in flames, moving like viper in a slashing arc direct at the chest of Magnus.

Tyrfing block the attack with his own flaming blade, equalling the power of the volcanic sword with a discharge of electric power that send a shock wave in all directions, moving their clothes and cape like they were trap in a hurricane.

Susanoo laughed at the clash of the weapons, his black mane moving wildly with the winds they have created in the impact and looking at them with a wide smile that betrays his previous laid back behaviour.

None of them, neither Kagu-Tsuchi or Magnus, move an inch from the colliding blades of their weapons, they look at their eyes, one fire, brimstone eyes and the other golden lightning, stormy eyes.

None of them steeping back one inch, both of them ready to unleash all the power of their Authorities.

But the clash between volcano and storm did not produce when Susanoo unsheathed Ama-no-Murakumo and cut the space between both of them with a powerful downward strike.

The winds erupted from the spot Susanoo has cut with the black, double edged sword, so different from the katana Magnus saw in the hands of Mikaboshi, still, the power on the black edge was on pair with his own Tyrfing, it does not have nothing to envy to the flaming blade.

Sensing this thoughts, the norse blade buzz in annoyance and jealousy, surprising Magnus a lot, how come the sword had that kind of sentiments and thoughts?, and why, in Hellas name, was the sword jealous?.

Thoughts for another, more peaceful moments, right now he was two gods in front of him and his Campione blood was boiling, ready for the battle the fire god seems to be looking, even with the knowledge of the Netherealms, the complex social relationships and meaning of Honour for the Yamato gods were something that collides face front against his own Nordmanni ways.

Yeah, Magnus was a very orthodox Normanni, he has saw a lot of world and meet a lot of different cultures, something that changes his views and attitudes towards the rest of the world, but even then he didn't understand how has he offend the fire god.

With a shroud of black clouds surrounding him and a rune already glowing on his free hands, Magnus prepared for battle, but for his surprise, Susanoo was standing in the middle of them, acting as a living, wind blowing barrier that keep both apart from each other.

"Peace, Nordmanni" chuckled Susanoo eyeing the edge of Tyrfing, he seems to recognize a weapon similar to his own Ama-no-Murakumo, a conscious weapon worthy of a deity.

Magnus lower the tip of Tyrfing but did not sheathe the weapon, in fact the storm shroud keep firm in his place, along a rune that Susanoo recognize, in his own standards, as a Kotodama, a word of power that could twist the reality like few things in the myth realm could do.

"I only spoke the truth" voiced Magnus his displeasure for the sudden attack of Kagu-Tsuchi.

He could admit that it has been a very good attack, worthy of any warrior god but it has come without advise, it has been like the attack of an spoiled child who has ear something he didnt like and react only with violence.

"And I concur" said Susanoo drinking from his bottle, for the first time Kagu-Tsuchi changed his facial expression into one of surprise and shock for the words of the storm god.

"Kagu-Tsuchi-san has always been one hard on traditions, despite his own resentment against dad and the world" said Susanoo glaring hard to the other Yamato god, there was some kind of unspoken communication between them.

Magnus observed it all quite surprised for the attitude of the storm god, in all honesty and judging from the memories and knowledge of the Netherealm, he would have supposed that it would be Susanoo the one leading the charge, not to mention that according to the legend, Kagu-Tsuchi was the older god of the two and Kagu-Tsuchi being supposedly even more pure breed than the god of the storms.

Once again, what humans believe and what really are the gods are quite different and now he was seeing it in the flesh, he shouldn't have been surprised, Pandora and Odin were not as his respective people portraits them to be.

After all they do live in a timeless realm and when they enter in the Netherealm they do get all the past, present and future knowledge about them, there are dozen of gods that have changed appearance, gender, domains, origins and practically everything related to them by the sands of time and the interpretations of the human mind about their gods.

Such is the curse of the divinities, the faith and the beliefs of the mortals shape them when they travel to the mortal realm, Magnus was not free from that curse, it simply was that his legend was in diapers, he was part of the Aesir but he was not in the Edda or any other Saga of his people apart of the legends he spread during his time as Campione in his own kingdom.

The conversation between them, seems to reach an end and Kagu-Tsuchi, reluctantly put down his lava sword, there was disagreement radiating from his scorching frame but the god complied with whatever Susanoo has told him.

"Leaving apart this little confusion" smirked Susanoo looking at Magnus " it is true that you have done us a great service, Mika-chan was wounded from a previous skirmish against Kagu-Tsuchi-san here but the little cunning thing managed to hide from our senses and flee from us".

"His stench, his darkness, I can follow it anywhere" tip Magnus his nose, it had sense, Mikaboshi hide from the gods of Yamato but the skills as hunter of Nanook are second to none, the [Polar Bear] is the very core of the perfect hunter of the frozen tundra of the northern ice fields.

"Is that so?" raised an eyebrow Susanoo, the old Kami didn't expect that, he has already give up in hunting the god of darkness.

The crafty bastard was very skilled in hide from the ire of Ama-chan and dad, for what he knows, only Izanami allow the bastard to be around Yomi and if that was the case, both Kagu-Tsuchi and him were way beyond their boundaries, the mother of the land of Yamato barely tolerated their presence in the lands of darkness.

But, and this was a big but, this Nordmanni, strong enough to hold his ground against Kagu-Tsuchi, who has already bested Mikaboshi, even if the dark god was weakened from a previous battle, was not aligned with the Amatsukami, the gods under the banner of Amateratsu-Omikami.

This could get a lot more interesting, a hell more interesting.

Susanoo has been sent to the Netherealm to caught the fleeing Mikaboshi and he has the help of the stoic Kagu-Tsuchi, they hunted the dark god for what it seems eons and they did not find anything of him, until they felt his essence explode against a power that resembles the one of Kagu-tsuchi, only to find this westerner sleeping under a tree in one crafted realm of the Netherealm.

Nice spot for a nap by the way, it was a perfect representation of nature and does have a nice felling, like a spot in the dragon veins, this westerner, this son of Asgard did know his stuff.

"Wouldn't you be interested in a little hunt?, would ya Asgardian?" smirked fiercely Susanoo and his smirk was a reflection of the one sporting Magnus.

"As long as I have a go at Mikaboshi, so our battle could be decided, I will gladly join the hunt?" replied Magnus, who was seeing that his god of the storm has a lot of things in common with him.

However and to the surprise of both of them, Kagu-Tsuchi just vanish in a sudden explosion of brimstone and heat that torched all the safe haven of Magnus, transforming it into a charred and consumed land.

The despise and disagreement was palpable in the air, Kagu-Tsuchi didn't approve of the westerner and he will tarnish his honour, not the honour of his kin by joining this foreigner in the mission of hunting one of their own, no matter how evil he was, Mikaboshi deserved respect as one of the Yamato kamis.

"Such a pity" commented Susanoo taking a sip from his bottle " I liked the place".

The storm god was safe from the outburst of the older Kami, safely protected by the powers of his sword and his own domain of the winds.

In a very similar fashion, Magnus has been protected by the storm clouds that surrounded him, but the anger of the Nordmanni irradiated in waves from his body.

Susanoo eyed the western god and took good note of how powerful it was, it contained the essence of beasts way older than humankind, it contains the power of the ice in a shape that he hadn't see in centuries along the feeling that he was looking at a bear whose domain has been invaded and ravaged.

"That has been a very stupid move Kagu-Tsuchi" thought Susanoo, giving some time to the Nordmanni to calm himself after how the fire god has offended the western with his dramatic and catastrophic for the environment, return to the myth realm.

Susanoo has already learnt the lesson of how you don't crash the things of other gods, he has to travel as mortal, marry a peasant girl, kill a dragon and thousand other deeds and heroics, only for finally deliver his sword to Ama-chan and being allowed again in Tamagakara.

If the westerner is half the vindictive Ama-chan was, Kagu was in for a world of pain, no matter how much volcano god he was, this western deity was his equal to say the last, he could sense the power of the old and crafty one eyed bastard in him, not to mention the presence of the ice and the bear of the extremes of the world.

The Nordmanni spoke and the world around them collapse, all the dimension, the little safe heaven, has fulfil his propose and it was time to join the grey matter of the Netherealm, however the last words of the Norse god were for Kagu-tsuchi and they were Kotodama, words of power.

"As Kagu-Tsuchi has destroy my creation, as he has offended my Mannhelgr, I intone, by the branch of Yggdrasil, that I will claim, retribution, vengeance or wergeld when the blood of my prey has been spilt".

Susanoo recognized an oath of vengeance when he sees one and this time he had to access to the memories of the Netherealm to identify the terms that the westerner has just used.

Mannhelgr, the entire of the possessions of a person, from his material possessions to his honour and the honour of his clan and family.

Wergeld, the price of the blood, the price that is stipulated as the payment required when you kill a free man without a cause, only cold blood.

Susanoo waited patiently but inside he was smirking like the Cheshire cat, he has found one that had an axe to grind with that arrogant and killjoy of Kagu-Tsuchi and what its best is that the westerner did have reasons to do so.

No doubt Kagu-Tsuchi has offended him, first of all, they were not in Yamato, but in the private realm of the Nordmanni and in the worst possible manner, the ancient fire god has completely bitch slapped the westerner and their concept of hospitality.

Not only so but he has attacked him twice, first in defence of the honour of Mikaboshi and second to the same world he has created, if the first one could have been overseen by the intervention of Susanoo and the honour defence interpretation, the second would not been overseen.

"Kagu is in for a world of pain and the idiot has just seek it by himself" sighed Susanoo, at last he will travel with the Nordmanni and could see what were his strengths and weakness, so he could help Kagu-Tsuchi when the time comes.

Even if he has acted like an idiot, he is still family and he has to be protected and cherish, even if he was like a toothache.

"As much as I would like you to forgot the incident it seems that you are determined" said Susanoo standing in the air and looking at the other god.

"I will delay my hand, as I have give my word to you, to assist in the hunt, but I will not forget, not forgive, this offence god of the storms, so much I can promise you" replied Magnus and start changing into the powerful frame of a white bear, standing tall in his ten and half feet, the beast raise his snout and with a powerful roar start running in the direction of his prey.

Susanoo was almost tempted to say: Go fetch, but he was sure that the westerner god will not tolerate such joke, it was good and he will store it for later occasions but for the moment it will have to be keep unsaid.

In the Netherealm, most widely know in the future for all the mages and deities as the boundary between dimensions, there is no real distance of directions, it is more a matter of perception, desire and will.

Mortals, not accustom at all to the pressure and the flow of the intermediate dimension, soon start to lose their life force, incapable of endure the power of the Netherealm, it is like being toss in the middle of an electric storm or an immense battery, sooner or latter the energy eats you, unless you posses a body capable of withstand such environments, like gods, divine beast, divine ancestors and very well prepared magicians.

With that in mind, it was kind of useless to actually run, you thought of a place and there you are, its a matter of will and perception more than actual movement, however Susanoo has had more than enough of his share of hunters and predators, both divine and mortal, and he could understand if the hunting was more ritualistic, much like the conditions some Authorities have bounded to their activations.

Still, he couldnt but feel like he was walking the dog, a very, very big bear instead of a dog and one that could bite his head off if he dared to comment that thought, oh, he will use it to rattle him against Kagu-Tsuchi, that will be the battle of ages.

The bear was moving at impossible speeds, bears are not natural fast animals, oh, they can outrun a human with easiness, but their bodies are not made for speed, instead it is made for strength and endurance, to be the king of the forest and mountains on where they dwell.

Susanoo has to admit, that it was the first time he saw a white bear and it was bigger than the supernatural bear he has ever meet, there was some bear kamis out there, in the spiritually rich lands of Yamato but there were not at the same level at this monster.

Without crossing a word, they keep hunting their prey, looking for the smell that indicates Mikaboshi has pass around that place or whatever trails is following the bear, Susanoo was a mischievous god, he loved to prank and make jokes everywhere, so he was quite versed in how to slip unnoticed, and to know how to move without raising attention means you know where to look when you are looking for others trying to sneak out.

Mikaboshi had him beat in that front, hands down, the dark god, an avatar of the primordial chaos was the best at sneak his way out of any situation, he has done more than enough to earn the death penalty several times already but he is capable of hide from their pursuers and to be back, no matter how many pieces he is hacked into or how badly they torch, freeze, electrocute and in general make him suffer.

But he was always back, that was one of the mysteries of the primordial chaos god, some of the sagest deities of the Celestial plains, had theorized that the chaos can not be slain, that in time, with enough chaos created, both in the Myth realm, Netherealm or human realm, he will reform, feeding in that chaos and reforming him back.

For the moment, it was the most accepted theory about how Mikaboshi manages to get back every time he is destroyed, vanquished or exiled into Yomi or the Myth realm, curiously, despite him always appearing in the mortal realm, he has never fight one of those Devil Kings of Pandora.

The bear roared and this time Susanoo could notice how they were getting close to their prey, the miasma of the wounds and presence of Mikaboshi was all around them, they could sense and for Susanoo suspected, Mikaboshi could sense the powerful presence of the boar too.

The Nordmanni was not even trying to hide his presence, he was just bulldozing his way in the lair of Mikaboshi, challenging the dark god to do something about him, not bad, it could be enough to force the hand of Mikaboshi, he has suffered two humiliating defeats, one at the hands of Kagu-Tsuchi and the other at the hands of the western god.

He was way beyond any rational thought now, but the dangerous animal is the cornered rat and Mikaboshi has been cornered and wounded, both in his pride and in his amorphous body, something that makes him twice more dangerous that he usually was.

Even with superior numbers, Susanoo knows they were in for an intense battle, fortunately they were both gods of the storm and for what he could sense in the aura of the bear god leading the charge, he was a powerful magician and the [Steel] echoed in him and his sword, still the hunger in the edge of the blade of the Normanni was way superior that the battle lust of his own Ama-no-Murakumo.

The attack came in the form of a rain of sharp tentacles, the sudden and piercing rain fall upon them like the hammer of the gods, trying to impale them, violently and put an end to the fight before it could have even begun.

It was praiseworthy on its simplicity and how it could have ended the battle before it could have even begun but their opponents were not as easily killed, Susanoo moved his sword in wide arcs, parrying with supernatural skill, all the pointy killer appendages, on the other hand Magnus was much more direct in his approach.

He keep running at the hidden and shadow cloaked form of Mikaboshi, he could hide from his peers but the smell of his tar blood was something that pierced deeply the sense of smell of Magnus, he will never forget that horrible stench.

He didn't give a fuck about the projectiles, he shrugged them like they were rain with his white fur glowing in a bluish aura that freezes and repelled all the speared tentacles, passing through the hail of dark piercers, he just open his mandibles and bite into the shadows ripping a good chunk of the matter of the darkness in a gory explosion of black tar like ooze.

Mikaboshi screamed like broken glass, slamming a claw into the side of the bear over him and sending his flying into the side with a nasty and smoking wound on his fur and hide, dark and red blood were mixing over the deep gash, irregular and unnatural gashes that parodies claws.

Roaring from the sudden pain, Magnus change back into his human form, with the wounds still visible in him as cuts that had torn apart his chain mail, a couple of blood drops fall from the open wound, smoking as they touch the black substance over the grey metal that seems to compose his armour.

Mikaboshi twisted and coiled, growing and transforming into a demented parody of an oriental dragon, long, scaled and with seventy eyes all over what could be called head, all over his surface, thousands of jaws and appendages ended in claws and weapons of all kind, take forms.

Roaring in response to the challenge, a roar that deafened both gods, Mikaboshi open three of the jaws in his head and puke a torrent of dark mud.

Susanoo counterattack with a flood of water, a torrent of raging waters, something akin to a tsunami, as Magnus channel his own [Storm] and took flight.

As the waves collided with a thunderous sound, Magnus unsheathed Tyrfing and the sword replied with a bright glow on his flame like edge, the sword was more than eager to taste the dark blood of Mikaboshi again.

He joined the other storm god, concentrating in healing the cuts on his side but the poison of the dark god was not as easily eliminated and it was requiring a lot more power that what he expected.

"That seems painful Nordmanni" laughed Susanoo launching a dozen of lightning bolts to the massive form of the dragon, keep at bay by an storm front that repelled every attempt of him to reach the other two gods.

"The bastard got me good, didn't expect that last swipe of his clans, I thought I have rip his throat out" clenched his teeth Magnus noticing how the wounds were closing and the poison leaving his blood " never underestimate a shapeshifter".

"Ha, good advice" nodded Susanoo with a laugh, creating tornadoes by swirling Ama-no-Murakumo in the air, and sending them directly at the extreme of the dragon, catching him in a vortex and sending all his massive frame flying far from them.

Magnus close his eyes and entered in trance, looking for a spell of Sjder, he need something that could give them an edge over the mass of darkness, something that could bind him for enough time for them to go for the kill and end the bastard before he could change and prevent his own death like he has done not a minute ago.

He has rip his throat, but he has just transform and despite the lost of a good chunk of his body, he still have a lot of fight inside him, just look at the whatever serpentine dragon he has transformed into.

Magnus was nauseated by the parody of a dragon and a snake that Mikaboshi has taken as battle form.

For the Nordmanni, the dragon are the ultimate destroyers, they are cunning, brutal and proud beasts, they consume and take whatever they wanted, as firmly believers in the idea of the strength gives the right.

But this...thing, that Mikaboshi has form to face them, it was a twisted and ugly parody of what a dragon should be, starting from the uncountable eyes, the extra appendages and the sulphurous smoke that escapes from his mouths, too many mouths to be sane.

The knuckles on the hilt of Tyrfing went white for the pressure and Magnus open his eyes, he had the solution and the way to ensure that the god will be trap into a form until they could finish him off.

Magnus raised Tyrfing to the stormy sky over him and pour a lot of magical energy in the storm that Susanoo was controlling to throw it at Mikaboshi, the white dressed god was moving like a lightning, cutting and severing limbs and pieces of meat before the dragon could recover and counterattack.

Electricity, rain capable of piercing stone and winds capable of destroy buildings punished the form of the dragon but it doesnt seem affected at all for the natural disaster constantly hitting on him, in fact the dragon has almost catch the ever moving form of Susanoo in one of his claws or mouths.

It has been too close for the storm god, who moved back into the safety of the storm clouds he controlled, but before he could think about an strategy, he felt the sudden reinforcement of the Authority of the westerner and with that extra power Susanoo smiled.

Now, we where talking.

Dancing in the storm, in a mesmerizing display of swordsmanship forms, Susanoo twirled and danced with a vortex of pure power in the form of white and golden electricity.

The dragon noticed the sudden danger of the vortex and puked another wave of poisonous ooze directly to the heavens, along hundreds of hands, claws and piercing weapons, trying to brute force his way into the storm and collapse the vortex before Susanoo could finalize it.

The vortex was something that he didn't expected, in fact, all this collaboration between the foreign ape and that smug bastard was something he didn't expected at all, it went directly against all the principles of the Celestial plains.

He was prepared for a battle against a fire god, not two storm gods, he was hoping to ambush Kagu-Tsuchi and stole a portion of his body, so he could absorb it and gain a permanent foothold in the mortal realm.

If he could made his, one of the volcanoes of Yamato, he could spread his darkness and chaos to the mainland from the relative safely position of the dangerous island, few could survive those environments, only other gods and Devil Kings and Yamato has not seen one of those in centuries.

Mute proof of the power of the Yamato gods, that were not as easily killed as the rest of the foreign weaklings.

The vortex and the sudden charge and poisonous flood of Mikaboshi fought for dominance on the skies, the energies that both where pouring into the conflict would have been more than enough to wipe out Yamato twice but for the Netherealm, it was nothing.

After all, there was nothing to destroy, it was all created from the grey nothingness of the plane, so everything returns to the source.

Winds, electricity and poison dance in the core of the vortex, as the dark dragon has reached the centre of the storm and was relentlessly attacking the evasive god, Susanoo moved like a breeze, never in the same spot twice, never stops, never slow or slouchy.

His grace was preternatural, he cuts the dark scales, leaving deep scars where he cuts and shocking the muddy flesh of the dragon, that reacted to slow to catch the hurting god that cuts him everywhere.

The nasty cuts of Ama-no-Murakumo hurt him deeply, the sword that kills dragons whose black metal was capable of even slaying gods was one of the few things in existence that really worries Mikaboshi, that damn sword was power incarnate and in the hands of a god of [Steel] and [War] like Susanoo, it was lethal to a degree mortals could barely comprehend.

Fortunately, he was not able to really cut deep enough to really cause any severe harm, the pieces of his flesh that he lost hurt and it will take a loot of effort and time to regenerate them but there were easy substituted.

He had to keep the god unbalance, so he could not call the [Storm] and channel it into the blade, if that happens, Susanoo could unleash the entire power of a storm inside of his wounds, even a god of primordial chaos like him will perish from that.

It will take hundreds of years for him to recover in the myth realm, centuries that he will pass vulnerable to the other Yamato gods and unable to do anything in the mortal realm, losing centuries of careful manipulations of the humans and the other gods to promote the chaos in the mortal realm.

The dragon coiled and slow but steady surrounded Susanoo in a cage of darkness, a place where the gods could not scape or dodge the attacks of the infinite claws and dark weapons of Mikaboshi.

But when the trap was about to be set, Susanoo cleave his way out of the trap, vaporizing in a sudden eruption of power, and entire part of the body of the dark dragon, cleaving his body with the blade of his sword sending thousands of pieces of the flesh of Mikaboshi, flying in all directions, each one of them with enough force to destroy stone.

Flying like and electric comet and taking advantage of the sudden and gruesome escape from the trap Mikaboshi was setting up, something he would have never been able to accomplish if it wasn't for he extra kick the western god has give to Susanoo storm, he gained the higher ground, channelling the vortex into the swirling tip of Ama-no-Murakumo.

Mikaboshi quickly recovered from the sudden and grievous wound, after all he was a shape shifter and the loss of mass something that could be easily recovered time and energy, consuming thousands of the Yamato dwellers will be a good way to start the recovery.

Already tasting victory as he knows that Susanoo will not be able to channel the humongous storm in time, before he could chomp his head of of his body, Mikaboshi coiled his body, ignoring the pain and the damages and prepare to strike like a snake will do.

All his black body moved in synchrony, adding force to the extension of his deformed head but filled to the brim with sharp and nasty teeth, make from rend and torn the flesh of the victim under them, opening the jaws, the massive form moved in an astonishing display of speed and predatory focus.

He will never reach his objective.

Chains, thousands and thousands of chains appeared from nowhere and trapped his head with a grip strong enough to stop him in the middle of the air, a mass of hundreds of tons, like it has hit an unbreakable wall.

At the other end of the chains, stands a widely smiling Magnus, holding the chain like it where the lashes over a savage beast, keeping it caged and detained inside a net of unbreakable chain links.

Suddenly posses by a frenzy, all the body of Mikaboshi start to change, to create jaws, claws, weapons, whatever is needed to broke the chains imprison him, he changed from the dragon form to a large snake and tried to slip pass the chains but they just squeeze his body even tighter.

"This is Glaupnir" laughed Magnus, whose voice echoed over the thunderous sounds and noises of the storm " this is more than enough to hold even a monster like you".

Mikaboshi struggled but the chains didnt even get rusty or even scratched when he bite, claw and maw all the metallic prison around him, his desperation went up and he just liquify himself in order to just flow out of the chains.

But he discovered that it was not that easy, the chains did not hold him but neither abandon him, he was as contained as before but he was failing like a meteor, after losing the form and just became a black and torrential hail of darkness.

" Struggle bastard, struggle all you want, you are not going to be free" Magnus smile widened and with a sudden pull of the chain, one that tensed his powerful muscles to the limit, he moved the dark comet on his hands, forcing his movement to align with the white and golden electric meteor Susanoo was creating.

The dark matter tried to scape but the imprisonmet of Glaupnir was unbreakable, however Magnus fell how strong the pull of the dark god was and channelling [Polar Bear] assuming his impossible strength, he hold his ground with all the veins on his arms and torso bulging from the strain of the frenzied and desperate scape attempts of Mikaboshi.

The white and golden blizzard hit Mikaboshi like the hammer of the gods, his dark and tar like flesh exploded in a shower of gore and poison, the dark flood was vaporized by the electricity and the divine power hidden within the storm.

Water cleansing his filthiness, winds cleaning his poisonous emanations, electricity burning his evil and disgusting amorphous flesh.

The crescendo keep augmenting, as the cries of anger, pain and hate of the dying Mikaboshi imposed over the thunderous noise of the golden storm and winds and rain stream of gusts and drumming over his flesh.

And among all those sounds, the laughs of victory of Magnus and Susanoo were clear, the Yamato god was dancing with the storm, moving like a professional dancer, making thunders echo with a twist of his black sword every time Mikaboshi shrieked in pain.

Magnus on the other hand stood in the same place, with the chains firmly hold in his hands and arms, powerful muscles bulging under the pressure of keeping Mikaboshi under the storm that was grinding him alive under there is nothing left.

Between laughs, the fierce Nordmanni roared in a bear like manner, exultant in his victory.

It didn't take long for the dark god to be completely obliterated by the combined storm of Susanoo and Magnus, the unbreakable chain links of Glaupnir fall to the ground when they lost what they were holding, and despite being smoking and with the surface charred, the chain still looks strong enough to contain a titan.

With a last shriek of vengeance, Mikaboshi died and dispersed like a bad dream, leaving two exhausted gods, standing in the destroyed environment that Mikaboshi has created for his ambush,soon the place dispersed into the Netherealm, after losing the will that has created it in the first place.

"You are a tough one Nordmanni" congratulated Susanoo still smiling for the victory "its been an honour to fight alongside you".

"Aye, Lord of the Storms" laughed Magnus dispersing the chains back into the [Dvergar Forge], the Authority was one of his aces, considering how versatile it could be "this has been a good battle and a good tale to add to my Saga".

"Don't sell me low in that one would ya?" joked Susanoo.

"I always took pride of being true in my Sagas" nodded " now the only thing left is to know if you will be part of the next one as ally or enemy".

"And here I was hoping that you will let it go" sighed Susanoo concentrating his powers again, the blue aura of the god filled the Netherealm.

Magnus didn't feel the pull of a new Authority in his soul, that means that he has not kill Mikaboshi but Susanoo has been the one dealing the last hit, it didn't really matter for him, he was happy with his actual Authorities and the hunger for power could be his doom one day.

The blue glow of Susanoo extended like a wave over all the Netherealm, where the blue wave hit, the creation follows, raising a beautiful forest and a river, near a mountain range in the distance and with a cloudy sky.

Flowers born from the grass, the trees grow to majestic proportions and the snow covered the top of the mountains, not to long after that, the river get bigger and fishes started to swim in his clear waters.

In the distance, the howling of a wolf was hear and several birds of all kind started to flock the forests branches, as dozen of insects and bees start to dig on the flower buds and dance over the waters and the fresh grounds.

Magnus stands in the edge of the river, looking at the far away mountains, he didn't recognize the mountain range but it was so nostalgic from his own Scandinavia that he couldn't but felt back at home for a second.

Susanoo landed some metres behind of him, wearing his white clothes and drinking loudly from his bottle, it does seems that the contents of that bottle will never empty, good thing for a god that seems to drink quite his fare everywhere he goes; not really that different from a lot of the Aesir though.

"Ah, a piece of home" sighed happily the storm god after finishing his drink "so, any chance to let bygones be bygones?".

"Nay, I am sorry Storm Lord" shook his head Magnus, with Tyrfing already glowing gold in his hand " Kagu-Tsuchi causes me Mannhelgr and I can not forgive that affront to my honour, not without compensation".

"I was fearing that" nodded Susanoo who understood perfectly well the matter of honour, after all , Yamato was a land whose deities are concepts of great honour and that something that covers all moments of their life and existences.

"Will you stand in my way?" simply ask Magnus whose golden aura was already slowly glowing around him.

Susanoo smiled and Magnus didn't like that smile at all, was the same smile that Pandora and Odin had when they send him tumbling over all Yggdrasil and landing in this forgotten piece of land.

Well, he has enjoy the battle, this was a wonderful prove of how his Authorities and how they are as powerful as he remember the old ones and discover the new ones, in all honesty he has been playing by the ear in some cases.

He hasn't even dig in the real power inside Tyrfing, not to mention he suspect that was going to be the ride of his life, the sword has a mind of his?, her?, own and for what he has sensed, the sword has a very nasty temper.

In a very vague way, it does remind him of his fourth wife, she was quite the feisty one, she was a Ulfhednar, a wolf berserkr, after all and she was the alpha of her pack and she takes no bullshit form anyone.

Magnus had the sword pointing downwards, ready for be used but not directly menacing the Storm Lord, he will give the deity a chance to step down, his younger self will have already charge and try to decapitate the god but Susanoo has fought at his side and deserve that courtesy at last.

"Don't get me wrong westerner" Susanoo aura erupted from his body in a show of power, the presence of the god fill all the space, eating the atmosphere around them, the clouds get dark in a second, forming a shroud of blue lighting and powerful gust of winds.

That was power in his most pure expression, the ability to control completely the weather and the reality around you and make it obey your commands as absolute orders, no space for anything that is not your will.

That is divine power, that are Authorities, that is how the deities gain and command worship and submission from the mortals, they command, they are in the top of the food chain, simply as that.

Power, unstoppable, indomitable power, all over them and in the skies, the earth shake under the pressure of the unleashed power of Susanoo, the skies cried in anguish as the will of Susanoo obliged them to roar in a chorus of thunder and lightnings crawling over the black clouds.

In the middle of such tornado of destruction, as an island of calm in a vast ocean of blue power capable of destroy countries, a single, steady and calm golden candle stood proud and unbowed to the power trying to overwhelm him.

This standoff continue for a long time, as neither Susanoo, neither Magnus wanted to be the one backing off, and to be honest, Magnus just wanted to fight.

Susanoo, much like Perun, was a god of storm, the best way to test his powers and the limits of the [Storm] he took from Perun, was to actually test it against another and experienced god that share his Authority and know it, in and out.

Magnus flared his own and golden aura, in a curious form, a gigantic rune appeared at his back, the rune that he took to represent him in the Sagas, the rune that represent Magnus.

When the golden flame grow bright and torch part of the heaven, it was the first time Susanoo actually changed his face and turned his savage smile into a very surprised expression, perhaps that shock was perhaps what make him lost control over the storm and just let it vanish.

Still, what Magnus didn't expect at all, was to Susanoo laugh his ass off in front of him, so violently that he actually bow from the laughs.

Expecting Susanoo to actually blindside him as he was distracting him with this laughing show, as no attack come his way, Magnus relax his golden aura, making the rune disappear, something that he will study in another way, not even as Campione has he ever display such a thing.

After five minutes in full laughter, Susanoo actually calmed himself enough to recover his voice and actually say something.

"Oh, that is rich" he clean a tear from the laughs and recover his vertical with a wide smile on his face, he has already cut off his blue aura " you are a Devil King, a Maou, by the horns of Ryujin, we havent see one in centuries and the first one we see, actually kick Mika-Chan ass and wanted to duel Kagu-Tsuchi".

Magnus blinked a pair of times, has Susanoo just realize that he was a damn Campione?, what?, how come?, it was clear since the beginning, he has never hide the mixed origins of his Authorities...

Ah, Odins blood, [Jotunblut], that gives him the same blood as the gods, so it was only when he show himself with that rune, that Susanoo received the knowledge of who he was from the Netherealm.

"It doesn't change a thing" said Magnus, not seeing the importance of all this.

"Oh, it does change everything westerner, and not for good" sighed Susanoo "unfortunately for you, it does to the worst, you see, you are a Devil King, a being capable of slaying gods and stole their Authorities".

"Aye, I am, I have never hide it" admit Magnus " and my Mannhelgr with Kagu-Tsuchi is still standing".

"They will never allow you to fight Kagu-Tsuchi" said Susanoo drinking from his bottle " the Ama-tsukami will raise hell against you before a westerner, a gaijin, stole an honoured Authority from them and walk away from the sacred lands of Yamato".

Magnus understood the point of Susanoo, the gods of Yamato will hunt the offender to the corners of the earth, and in twisted way of thinking, they could offend anyone but will hunt and torture anyone who did the same to them.

Kind of safety in the numbers, and in cold facts, possible the Nordmanni would have do the same, and the Greek polis and the Egyptian, and the Afrika spirits and the Bogovi, the only one that didn't seems to care a shit about that was Nanook.

The ancient bear seems satisfied with the idea of being bested and how another more powerful predator has took his place as the top of the food chain, Magnus was quite thankful to the old bear to have that kind of thinking.

And now that he thought about it, Perun was the one that had a very similar way of thinking of the Yamato deities, he has been hunting him relentless for centuries and if he just won the duel against Kagu-Tsuchi, a duel to the death most probably, he will take an Authority from him and then went his way into his destiny, effectively dishonouring one of the oldest Yamato Kamis.

The situation was completely mess up but Magnus just shrugged and smiled to the challenge, now they were talking about a real, epic, Saga.

Magnus versus all the deities of the Ama-Tsukami.

That's what legends are made of.

"Aye, I understand the situation" nodded Magnus but Tyrfing glow brightly as the sword sensed how Magnus was not going to back down the challenge, the incoming conflict just make the sword buzz with anticipation " but I will not stand down, my pride, my honour has been offended and I do reclaim Mannhelgr, do not make it Wergeld Lord of Storms, I hate to spill the blood of those who has honoured me by fighting at my side".

Susanoo sighed, Amateratsu will never allow this westerner to get a country close of Kagu-Tsuchi and he was slowly discovering that some of the westerners had a honour system as complex as their own, as samurai, as warrior, Susanoo could understand perfectly what Magnus has to done, it was a matter of honour, something the Yamato deities understood very well.

"By the heads of Orochi, westerner, I have no choice" Susanoo raise Ama-no-Murakumo and prepare for the inevitable battle.

This was such a pity and all for a reckless action of that stiff bastard of Kagu-Tsuchi, he liked the westerner, he was way more fun that a lot of Kamis, in he would not have been a Devil King, Susanoo would even lead him to the lair of Kagu-Tsuchi in one of the volcanic islands.

With a savage smile, both, Deity and Devil King clash their swords.

And the Netherealm trembled.