IBHJ Chapter 755

Hildr pulled Shirou aside and let go of his hand. She looked at him with her pink eyes, warning him solemnly, "If he harasses you again, just tell me directly through the Valkyrie Network. I'll chop him up."

"I understand, Sister Hildr." Shirou put on the stiff, wooden expression of a Valkyrie and nodded dumbly in agreement.

Hildr's expression softened. "Don't worry. It'll all be over soon, whether it's you, me, or that damn duty."

Shirou stayed quiet, not responding. Hildr's face glowed with tenderness as she reached out to touch his head. Seeing this, he stepped back, dodging her hand. Hildr's palm hovered in mid-air for a moment before she sighed and pulled it back. "Hel needs some help moving things around. Come with me, and that pest won't bother you again."

"Yes, sister," he replied, following behind her.

Hildr was still bothered by what had just happened, while Shirou, standing behind her, had a glint in his eyes. He knew his Illusion didn't change the shape or gender of his body. It was like a mirage, visible but not really there. For example, his currently voluptuous-looking breasts appeared to be a bountiful 36D, but when touched, they felt like the cold texture of silver armor. So, once someone touched him, he would be exposed.

While operating in Asgard, he had to pay attention to his acting and be careful not to be touched by others. If someone touched him in the wrong places, he'd be exposed and done for.

Hildr took him to the Well of Urd, one of Asgard's sacred places, located next to a massive root where the World Tree penetrates deep into the earth. An abandoned palace stood there, once the home of the three Norns, goddesses responsible for weaving the tapestry of fate. They would draw water from the well to nourish Yggdrasil, keeping the tree healthy and strong. However, more than two thousand years ago, after the gods vanished, the three Norns disappeared as well, leaving the palace deserted and blanketed in Skadi's snow.

Hildr took out a big golden basin from the palace and handed it to him, then retrieved a Gungnir replica and made her way towards the Well of Urd.

The Well of Urd is a well that will never run dry. It's said to be the essence of the world, specially used to nourish the World Tree. However, with the disappearance of the three Norns, this well has been abandoned, and the legend of it never running dry has also been shattered. There's only a tiny bit of water left, frozen into a thin layer of ice by Skadi.

Hildr, gripping the Gungnir replica, kept chipping away at the ice surface, making a "clang clang" sound. He glanced at her working hard to break the ice, then turned his head and looked at the withered huge root beside the palace. That's the root of the World Tree, where the three Norns are said to have written the destinies of humans. So theoretically, it should be covered in writing, but as far as he could see, it was just a normal root without any signs of writing.

"Don't look anymore. They abandoned us, so how could they leave behind destinies?" As Shirou heard this, he turned his head and looked at Hildr, just in time to see her walking over with the ice chunks she had chipped from the frozen well in her arms and pouring them into the golden basin he held.

Perhaps his actions stirred a thought in Hildr's mind. She turned her head, glanced at the World Tree, and spoke with a hint of self-deprecation, "Once, this place was filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers. But ever since they abandoned this world, it's turned into this state. Even fate doesn't exist anymore. We're just the garbage they left behind."

Shirou felt a strange dissonance. He'd thought the gods had disappeared unexpectedly, against their will. But her words made it sound like they'd chosen to leave of their own volition.

What exactly happened more than two thousand years ago at this Connection Point? Shirou didn't know, and he couldn't ask too many questions either. His identity was very sensitive at the moment.

"Let's leave this place. They're never coming back."

Shirou nodded. Hildr brought him to the Great Temple. When Hel saw them approaching, she told the people around her to get out, then looked at Hildr and asked, "Have you collected the water from the well?"

"Yes, it's been collected," Hildr nodded, then pointed to the golden basin in Shirou's arms.

Hel glanced at the ice pieces in the golden basin and frowned. "Is this all there is?"

"This world has been dead for over two thousand years. It's thanks to Lady Skadi specifically sealing it in ice that we were able to gather this much."

"Hmph. The fact that she froze the Well of Urd means she wanted to do what I'm doing. Forget it. Although this small amount can't satisfy Ogelmir, it can at least stabilize him." As she spoke, Hel got up and walked to the Mural of Creation, stretching out her hand to draw a few Primordial Runes in the air. As those mysterious Runes appeared, it seemed as though they activated a special mechanism within the Mural.

On the severed head of the Primordial Giant that Odin had cut down, those two eyeballs emitted an eerie light. Shirou looked at the eyeballs glowing with that unsettling light and couldn't help but feel surprised.

Despite constantly going in and out of the Great Temple, he had never discovered the hidden world within the Mural behind the Throne! He felt like he had stumbled across secrets that Skadi, Hel, and the others had been keeping, secrets that even Adam, who had become Hel's favorite, hadn't been able to uncover! He stared at those two eyeballs, feeling a bit dazed, as if some strange force was pulling him into another space.

Snapping back to his senses, he found that in the blink of an eye, the world had changed. The Great Temple was gone, and he was surrounded by an icy island covered in snow and ice, just like the scene depicted in the Mural.

Shirou was vigilant, but his face remained calm. He even used Merlin's Illusion to strengthen his control over his facial expressions. Hel and Hildr, on the other hand, seemed completely at ease, as if they had been through this countless times before.

"Let's go," Hel said, taking the lead. Shirou and Hildr followed closely behind her.

As he walked alongside Hel, Shirou took in the strange surroundings. They were on an icy island, with towering ice mountains as far as the eye could see. Near the shore, the waves crashed violently, occasionally sweeping icebergs away from the coast, which eventually disappeared into the mist. On a distant iceberg that looked like a giant, a thick, red liquid flowed down its surface, cascading over the crystal-clear ice and finally merging with the sea, creating a patch of polluted, bloody red water.

They followed the bloody path, making their way towards the giant-like iceberg. When they reached its base, they entered through a small hole. Inside the iceberg, he discovered a hidden space. Instead of being greeted by cold ice, they found themselves in a lush jungle, with butterflies fluttering and birds singing among fragrant flowers, creating a stark contrast to the desolate glaciers outside.