The ruins of Asgard.
"Nicolas Flamel" stepped out of the house and let out a sigh as he "looked" at the scene around him.
"Asgard has fallen to this state, yet I never imagined that even in its current ruined form, I still would not be able to witness it with my own eyes."
"I never imagined that even after changing bodies, my eyes still would not recover. The World Tree's bargain truly is harsh. I clearly already used the World Tree's remaining power to nurture this body."
Odin, the Eternal Wizard, had once traded one eye to the World Tree in exchange for the power of the primordial Rune.
Later, in his final battle against Tiamat, he traded the other eye for even greater power.
It had been a transaction on an extremely high level. From that moment on, his eyes could never recover. No matter how powerful the magic, it could not regrow his eyeballs.
Because the very concept of eyeballs had been taken from him.
For that reason, Odin spent hundreds of years selecting a target, raising him, using the Philosopher's Stone to prolong his life, then remaking him with the remnant power of the World Tree, all in an attempt to take his eyes back from the World Tree.
But he failed.
"Even like this, you are still the greatest Eternal Wizard," Dis said fervently. "Death died by his own stupidity. Tiamat was slain by you. Merlin has stagnated in self-satisfaction. Now you are the only Eternal Wizard left in this world. The whole world will bow at your feet."
"The only Eternal Wizard?" "Nicolas Flamel" sounded noncommittal. "That shameless traitor is still alive. I can feel it. He has already awakened."
"You mean the World Tree?" Dis froze for a moment.
"Yes. The one who took my two eyes and nearly caused me to perish together with Tiamat."
As Odin spoke, he walked out of the room, those hollow sockets seeming to gaze upon the secret realm Asgard had left behind.
"It's time for revenge."
Odin raised a hand. Understanding at once, Dis stepped forward and placed into it a wand shaped like a spear.
The wand struck the ground, and an immense presence swept through the entire ruins of Asgard.
The secret realm trembled. Accompanied by a rapid thunder of hooves, the earth split open, and an armored eight-legged heavenly horse rose from the fissure below.
It let out a cry and galloped toward Odin. Behind it came one phantom after another, some holding wands, others carrying axes, spears, and greatswords, racing through the secret realm before finally dropping to their knees before Odin.
The disturbance in the realm quickly alarmed the other members of Raven, especially Cappadocia, who had known since early on that Nicolas Flamel did not have much time left and had been fantasizing about taking over the ancient magic project.
Seeing those ghostly phantoms, Cappadocia was both shocked and furious. He assumed Nicolas Flamel had made some new discovery.
"Nicolas Flamel! What have you done?" He Apparated outside Nicolas Flamel's dwelling, and just as he was about to demand an explanation, he saw Dis.
That woman who always claimed to be the student of the First Senator, yet in Cappadocia's eyes had always seemed more like a servant.
And now, that very woman was standing respectfully behind Nicolas Flamel.
A terrifying suspicion rose in Cappadocia's mind.
The person before him was no longer Nicolas Flamel, but the elusive First Senator of Raven himself.
Only the First Senator could make Dis show such an attitude.
Before him knelt terrifying phantoms. Behind him stood a woman of peerless beauty, obedient and reverent. Odin slowly turned around, and those black hollow eye sockets made Cappadocia's heart jolt.
Cappadocia sensed at once that something was wrong. Without another word, he immediately tried to Apparate away.
A terrifying magical force descended. Raw, tangible magic crushed Cappadocia's Apparition spell to pieces.
Forced to remain, Cappadocia felt a bead of cold sweat slide down his face.
Merely through control of magic, he had produced an effect comparable to the General Counter-Spell. Back then, how had Cappadocia never realized the First Senator was actually this strong?
He recalled the day Nicolas Flamel and the First Senator had recruited him into Raven. At the time, all his attention had been on the legendary alchemical master, and he had barely noticed the other man in the metal mask.
And yet that unremarkable figure, almost like a mascot, had silently taken over Nicolas Flamel's body and possessed such tremendous strength.
He had hidden himself deeply indeed.
"I remember you, Cappadocia. Nicolas and I brought you into Raven together back then." Odin looked at Cappadocia with open disgust.
"I never imagined you would take Tiamat's path. That stench of mongrel blood on you makes me sick."
Cappadocia's eyes darkened. To a bloodline wizard, mongrel was the greatest insult there was.
"And what right do you have to say that, parasite? You're the one who stole Nicolas Flamel's body."
As he spoke, crimson swirled in his eyes. Beneath his tall frame, colossal strength surged through his muscles, bones, and blood.
"How dare you!" Dis snapped and moved as if to rush forward, only for Odin to stop her.
Odin looked at Cappadocia the way one might look at an interesting object, then smiled.
"The reason I brought you into Raven back then was because I valued your talent, and your Giant mixed blood. You did not disappoint me after all. You evolved your bloodline into a Titan's."
Cappadocia was startled. He had not expected his trump card to have already been seen through.
He stopped trying to hide it. His body suddenly swelled, his Titan bloodline fully activating, and in the blink of an eye he had transformed into a five-meter giant.
Flames burned across his body. He looked like Surtr of Norse myth charging into Asgard, and the sheer pressure of his aura forced the ground around him to sink by half a meter.
...
"Oh, a Flame Titan. How nostalgic. I remember the first Titan I ever killed was one of those." Odin remained completely calm. Cappadocia's pressure had no effect on him whatsoever.
He stepped forward, and under the gaze of countless phantoms, Dis, and the eight-legged heavenly horse, raised the spear-like wand in his hand.
It was the prototype of the ancient magic Gungnir. The true Gungnir.
"I'll give you one last chance, child," Odin said. "I did not bring you into Raven so that one day you could rebel against me. Accept my rule, and I will grant you eternity."
Cappadocia answered Odin with a furious roar.
He leapt high into the air, summoning countless meteors to fall, while he himself transformed into the largest one and crashed down toward the earth.
"Heh. Still refusing to see reason." Odin gave a light chuckle and hurled the wand in his hand.
In midair, Gungnir split into a sky full of phantom spears, shattering meteor after meteor. Then the true spear itself punched straight through the meteor Cappadocia had become.
But there was nothing inside.
Cappadocia had vanished.
Expressionless, Odin caught the wand again.
"So he got away..." he murmured.
"Forget it. He was never anyone important anyway. As long as the foundation remains, that's enough."
He turned to Dis and said, "Gather the warriors. Use Raven's resources to train them and restore their skills and strength. Within half a year, I will lead them in hunting down the traitor."
"As for the rest of Raven... those willing to join may kill themselves and enter Valhalla. The rest can serve as material for training the warriors."
"Yes, Allfather."