CHAPTER 476: CHAPTER 476 - ÁLFHEIMR [LLL]

"... I need to ask you to leave, stranger," she said at last, her voice steady but her eyes sorrowful. "Not because I despise you, but because I cannot risk offending the Æsir for your sake. Your presence alone is already enough to stir the heavens"

The silence that followed was thick with meaning, a moment balanced between faith and defiance, between the laws of gods and the will of one who defied them.

But Taufik’s silence was not born of fear.

It was confusion.

"...Æsir?" he repeated slowly, his brow furrowing. "Odin was here?"

"What do you mean ’Odin was here’?" Caelir shot back, his tone sharp, his hand instinctively brushing the hilt of his blade. "You’re in Yggdrasil. Of course, Odin was here!"

"No..." Taufik murmured, his eyes narrowing as fragments of memory stirred. He remembered Odin and the rest of the Æsir, who visited his own universe. "...That’s not right. Something’s off here. The timeline-"

"STOP TRYING TO STALL FOR TIME, OUTSIDER!" Caelir barked, fury and fear twisting in his voice. "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?!"

"Tch!" Taufik clicked his tongue, annoyance flickering in his eyes. "I said... be quiet"

His voice reverberated through the hall, each word carrying weight beyond mortal comprehension.

A pulse of invisible force swept through the air.

The walls trembled, the great banners rippled though there was no wind, and the sound of his command seemed to echo from the roots of Yggdrasil itself.

Then, silence.

Caelir froze mid-step, eyes wide.

So did everyone else in the hall. Their bodies were rigid, suspended, as if the world itself had forgotten to move.

Taufik sighed, rubbing his temple as he paced back and forth across the marble floor, the soft echo of his footsteps the only sound in the frozen world.

"Something’s not right..." he muttered to himself. "If Odin was still here, does that mean there are two Odins? No... that can’t be right. There can be multiple holders of a Concept, but not of the same entity"

He paused, glancing toward the high windows where divine light poured in like molten gold.

"A parallel universe, then? No... that doesn’t fit either. If this were another universe entirely, how could Thalia remember me?"

He stood still, lost in thought. The air around him shimmered faintly, a distortion of reality itself.

Then Taufik blinked, realizing the others were still frozen mid-motion, faces contorted between anger and terror. He gave an awkward grin and scratched his cheek.

"Ah... right. Sorry about that"

He snapped his fingers.

The invisible tension snapped like glass. Sound rushed back into the world. The Hall exhaled.

Everyone staggered slightly, eyes wide and trembling, their breaths shallow. But now, instead of defiance, they looked at Taufik with unmistakable fear, the kind that came from realizing the man before them could command reality with a single word.

Even the light seemed hesitant to touch him.

"Thalia," Taufik called.

"Y-Yes?" Thalia answered quickly. Even she, who once spoke so freely with him, now seemed hesitant, afraid, perhaps, of what he had become.

But Taufik ignored the tremor in her voice. His gaze was steady, his tone calm. "When was it that you visited my Earth?"

"...No," Thalia said softly, shaking her head. "I never actually visited your Earth. Not... directly"

"Huh?" Taufik tilted his head, confusion flickering across his face. "Not directly? Then how could you know me? I clearly remember sending you back to your planet"

Thalia averted her gaze, scratching her cheek nervously with a finger.

"Actually... I’ve never left this world. I don’t even know how I came to know you." She took a slow breath, her voice trembling slightly. "One day, I just... woke up with memories I never lived. Memories of another world, your world. I saw myself walking through cities, staying in a country called Japan, and meeting you there. I thought it was just a dream at first... but it felt too real"

Her voice grew quieter. "Since then, almost every night, I dream of that same life, over and over. It’s as if I was there, even though I know I wasn’t. I don’t even know what’s real anymore. But when you appeared before me... everything became clear. Those memories, those dreams weren’t illusions. They were real. Somehow, I just... forgot"

"That’s..." Taufik began, but the words caught in his throat.

He fell silent, brow furrowed as his mind raced.

’Is this because of when I changed the past? When that happened, I’d already sent Thalia back to her world. So... maybe when I rewrote history, the events she experienced on Earth were erased. But because she knew me personally, the paradox kept the memories imprinted on her soul. She didn’t live them, but her soul still remembers’

He sighed inwardly. ’Shit... this is so confusing. This is exactly when I wish the System was still active’

Taufik rubbed his temple, glancing back at Thalia, who now stood silently, watching him as if trying to recognize whether the man before her was the same one from her dreams.

"...So that’s why you went to Midgard," Taufik finally said. "You found that the Midgard, or Earth you saw in your memories wasn’t the same as my Earth?"

Thalia said nothing, but slowly nodded.

"I see..." Taufik exhaled softly, his tone calm but weighted. "Then it’s my fault. That’s why you forgot all of that"

He turned his gaze toward Queen Lysandra. "You asked me to leave, right? I’ll go. But before that, I have one question"

"Speak your word, Sir Dafient," Lysandra replied. Though her voice remained steady, a trace of fear lingered behind her eyes. Still, as a queen, she forced herself to maintain composure before her court. "I shall answer as best I can"

"Sir Dafient, huh? That’s new," Taufik said with a small, wry chuckle. He chose to let it pass; titles changed, but strength always dictated respect. If it didn’t, then one simply wasn’t strong enough.

Even Caelir, who only moments ago looked ready to draw his blade, now sat stiffly on his throne, silent as if the last few minutes had never happened.

Taufik’s presence had stripped the fight out of him.

"My question is simple," Taufik continued. "Is there any passage here that can lead me to Earth, my Earth, not Midgard? Thalia once told me she used something like that to reach my world. Is that passage still here?"

Lysandra’s eyes softened, but her expression grew thoughtful. "We did have such a passage," she said. "But it seems you’ve misunderstood something, Sir Dafient. The gateways we possess can indeed reach other realms, but only within Yggdrasil"

She paused, her tone turning grave. "I do not know how my daughter ever reached your world. Our passages are not powerful enough to cross universes, if what you claim is true. To travel beyond the bounds of Yggdrasil would require something far greater than our power"

Taufik frowned slightly. "Greater...?"

"Yes," Lysandra said quietly. "If a passage capable of bridging entire universes truly exists, then it is something only Asgard might possess"

"...Asgard, huh?" Taufik echoed softly, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Well, that makes sense. Odin did visit my Earth... so they probably have a way to travel between universes"

He fell silent, lost in thought. The hall dared not breathe; none wished to disturb the man who could bend reality with a word.

After a long moment, Taufik exhaled and nodded to himself. "...Alright. I’ve decided." His eyes lifted toward the Queen. "Can you send me to Asgard, then? I’ll ask Odin myself"

Lysandra hesitated, her expression sorrowful. "Sir... I’m sorry to dash your hopes. I did say that our passage can traverse the realms, but even so, Asgard remains beyond our reach"

Taufik frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"To reach Asgard," Lysandra explained, "one must pass through Bifröst, the Rainbow Bridge that connects the realms. And Bifröst can only be accessed from Midgard"

"Midgard, huh?" Taufik muttered, rubbing his chin. "So in the end, I need to visit Earth anyway. Well..." he gave a small shrug, "it’s not like I have many other choices"

He looked back at her, his tone firm. "Alright, then. Send me to Midgard first. I’ll handle the rest myself"

Lysandra inclined her head. "Understood, Sir Dafient-"

"I want to join," Thalia suddenly said.

Her voice cut through the chamber like a bell. Every gaze turned toward her in surprise.

"Thalia!" Lysandra’s tone sharpened, the weight of command echoing behind her words.

"Don’t stop me, Mother," Thalia shot back, her wings trembling faintly with emotion. "I once lost him... forgot about him, and I won’t let that happen again"

"Thalia, you are a princess," Lysandra said sternly, her composure fraying for the first time. "Remember your position!"

Thalia clenched her fists, her light flaring briefly around her. "No matter what, I’ll go too!"

"Thal-"

"Wait! Wait!" Taufik cut in, stepping between them with both hands raised. "Let’s not turn this into a royal argument, alright? Especially not about me"

He sighed, glancing from mother to daughter. "At least let me say something before you two decide my travel companions for me"

Thalia folded her arms, glaring at him but refusing to step back. "No. No matter what you say, I’m going with you," she declared stubbornly. "I’m sick of staying in this kingdom, trapped under light that never changes. I want to see the world again... with you"

Taufik blinked slowly, a helpless smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "You’re not really asking for permission, are you?"

Thalia only smiled faintly in return, her silence saying everything.

....

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