Within the endless expanse of Vigrid, the wind howled softly between them.

"…I can help you with that," Odin said at last after a long pause. His voice carried the weight of centuries. "But before that… I want you to give Thor back his divinity"

"That's easy," Taufik replied with a faint smile. "But before I do that, I want you to tell me what really happened here"

Odin's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Don't hide it, Odin," Taufik said, his tone calm but sharp enough to cut through silence itself. "You and I both know that killing Ymir didn't come without consequence. You killed an Aboriginal Being, the anchor of Yggdrasil itself. So tell me…" He took a step forward, eyes glinting with quiet certainty. "What did the universe do to fill that hollow?"

Odin's silence stretched like a wound in time. He met Taufik's gaze for a long moment before sighing, shoulders heavy.

"…A new realm was born"

Taufik tilted his head slightly. "A new realm?"

"Yes," Odin said slowly. "When Ymir died, the balance fractured. To mend the void his death created, existence birthed something… a realm that mirrored his darkness-"

Taufik's smile deepened, almost imperceptibly. "Shadow Realm?"

Odin's single eye widened. "How... how could you know that?"

"Because I can feel it," Taufik said quietly.

He raised his hand, and his shadow obeyed.

It stretched unnaturally across the field, swallowing the plains of Vigrid in ink-black silence. The storm dimmed.

The light fled. And within that endless dark, Odin felt them, countless presences stirring, unseen but alive. Watchful. Waiting.

"…For I," Taufik said softly, his voice echoing through the gloom, "am the Ruler of the Shadow Realm"

Odin stiffened instantly. Gungnir hummed in his grip, divine light crackling along its shaft. His instincts screamed to act, to strike before it was too late.

But what came next wasn't war.

*Snap*

Taufik snapped his fingers. The shadows vanished. Light returned as if nothing had happened.

"Relax," Taufik said with a faint chuckle, walking toward him. "Don't be so tense. You couldn't handle it anyway"

Odin said nothing. His gaze followed Taufik warily as the Man lifted his hand again. This time, without sound, without mana, a table and two chairs simply appeared, reality accepting his will as fact.

Odin blinked once. He hadn't even felt the distortion.

"Let's sit, shall we?" Taufik offered casually, already lowering himself into one of the seats.

For a long moment, Odin hesitated. Then, with a weary sigh, he followed and sat across from him. The wind around them fell still.

"…Are you truly the Ruler of the Shadow Realm?" Odin asked finally. "Hmm... What should I call you, then?"

Taufik's eyes glimmered faintly. "I am the Forgotten One. You don't need my name, you'll learn it yourself, far in the future"

He leaned back, folding his hands together as if in thought. "But I'll tell you this, Odin. Everything you've done so far, not everything, but most of it, you did it the wrong way"

The calm in his voice carried no judgment, only certainty. Like a teacher explaining a fundamental truth to a child who'd played with fire for too long.

"I quite don't understand what you mean," Odin said at last, his single eye locked with the man's blue gaze. "I have lived for eons. I have done many things... not right, not wrong, but necessary"

Taufik studied him quietly, a faint smile touching his lips.

The mentality of the strong… They do not act out of righteousness or wickedness, but necessity. For those with power, morality bends around action, and in the end, if you are strong enough, no matter what you do, the world must agree that it is right.

"…So tell me," Odin continued, "what I did... was it wrong?"

Taufik tilted his head, thoughtful. "Hmm~ Then tell me, what was your reason for killing Ymir? Was he evil, and you and your brothers the virtuous ones? No. Did you think he would bring destruction to Yggdrasil? No. That's not how Aboriginal Beings work"

He leaned forward slightly, his tone soft yet carrying the weight of truth. "They exist to maintain balance, Odin. That is their purpose, their very reason for being. So look at the result of your act. What happened after you slew Ymir?"

Odin's silence answered for him.

Taufik's eyes glimmered faintly as he continued, "Auðumbla returned to the Void. He did not die, but dissolved back to the source, to repair the imbalance you created. You killed Ymir, and the universe responded. It accepted that act, rewrote itself, and birthed a new realm to fill the hollow left behind"

He paused, voice lowering. "The Shadow Realm"

Odin's fingers twitched against Gungnir, but he said nothing.

Taufik smiled, though there was no mockery in it, only a quiet sadness. "It didn't happen by chance, Odin. You caused it. Maybe not from malice... maybe for pride, or ignorance, or curiosity. But you did it. The Shadow Realm was born because you killed Ymir. So tell me…"

His gaze sharpened.

"Auðumbla returned to the Void, not dead, merely gone. Then who filled the hollow he left behind? You? No. The Æsir? No. So who?"

The question hung in the air like thunder with no sound.

Odin's lips parted, but no words came. He didn't have the answer.

Taufik leaned back, exhaling softly. "Can't answer? I thought so. That's your first mistake"

His tone shifted, casual again, though the air itself trembled faintly with his words. "The second… was sealing the Shadow Realm"

Odin's brow furrowed. "Why is that wrong?"

Taufik smirked. "Ahaha~ It's very wrong, Odin. The Shadow Realm isn't dangerous if you understand how it works. It imitates, it reflects, but that's all"

He raised a finger as if giving a lesson to a student. "But tell me, All-Father… if it had nothing to imitate, what then?"

Odin said nothing.

"Then," Taufik whispered, his smile fading into something colder, ancient, inevitable, "it would stop imitating… and become something"

The words sank into the stillness like a prophecy, a quiet reminder that even gods could misunderstand the very worlds they ruled.

"Afraid?" Taufik's voice was almost gentle, yet it cut sharper than any blade. "Late. It's already too late, Odin... But don't worry, those two mistakes you made aren't without a solution. But wait..." he chuckled, low and dark, "Ahh~ you also erased your own way out. Your third mistake..."

Odin's single eye narrowed.

"You crippled your own creation," Taufik continued. "You didn't limit Humanity, Odin. You cut off their arms and legs. You feared what they could become and called it wisdom"

"..."

"What a shame," Taufik said, his tone now cold. "Your path leads only toward destruction... and now, there's no turning back"

Odin exhaled slowly, the weight of centuries pressing on his shoulders. "...Ragnarok is not something anyone can stop," he said at last. "It will happen, as it was written"

"Said who? The Norn?" Taufik laughed, a deep, unsettling sound that rippled through the air. "Odin, let me tell you a little about myself." He raised his gaze, and the light in his eyes seemed to twist the very space around him. "I am the one who defied Fate itself. And I'll tell you this, Fate is not absolute. You know what's coming, so what will you do? Stay still and wait? No... You fight it"

Odin's expression hardened. "What is your intention? You have spoken this far, it is impossible that you came without a purpose. What do you want?"

Taufik's smile changed, something dangerous flickered beneath it. "That's the wrong question, Odin. You should ask me what I will do, not what I intend to do"

Odin frowned. "...What?"

Taufik's gaze turned distant, almost human. "...I'll give humans what's theirs. Their right. I won't let their fate be written by your hand, or by any being. They will decide their own lives"

Odin's grip on Gungnir tightened. "...You. Why are you so kind to humans?"

"Huh? Why shouldn't I be?" Taufik replied simply, tilting his head as if the question itself were absurd.

"..."

Odin fell silent. The wind shifted, heavy with something ancient and foreboding. After a long pause, he finally stood, his silhouette framed by the distant glow of Asgard's light.

"...Do as you wish," he said quietly. "I won't stop you. None of us will"

Taufik's eyes gleamed. "No, Odin. None of you can stop me"

Silence stretched between them, heavy, final. Odin met his gaze one last time, then stomped Gungnir against the ground. The sound echoed like thunder, and his figure dissolved into golden light, leaving only the whisper of his presence behind.

Watching Odin disappear, Taufik remained still for a moment, his expression unreadable. Then, slowly, a quiet chuckle escaped his lips, soft at first, then growing into a low, amused laugh that echoed through the empty realm.

"...How's it?" he asked suddenly, turning his gaze behind him.

The air shimmered. Like figures stepping through a veil of glass, Elaria and Thalia emerged from the distortion, their presence faintly rippling the space around them.

Thalia exhaled sharply, brushing a few strands of hair from her face. "That's... that's dangerous for my heart," she muttered, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Her tone tried to sound light, but the tremor in her voice betrayed her nerves.

Elaria said nothing. Her eyes remained on Taufik, calm, distant, but thoughtful. His words about fate still lingered in her mind, heavy and unsettling.

Taufik looked at them both, a faint smile curving his lips. "Good to know you two are fine," he said, his tone softening.

"Now then," he continued, glancing up at the empty heavens above them, "let's go back to Midgard, shall we?"

....

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..

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