Son of the Hero King

Chapter 253 CH 227: NIDHOGG

After the two women vanished, Sol focused on the two remaining ones.

‘I wonder who they are.’

He couldn’t help but ask himself.

One was in a get-up that seemed to show as much as possible. The leaves on her barely concealed her luscious body and if Sol didn’t have as much experience, he would have been lost as he gazed at her two large hills.

The other one was the complete opposite. Not even one inch of skin was visible in her case. She was completely clad in dark from head to toe.

What surprised him though, rather than the amount of skin the clothes were hiding, was that he knew this uniform.

It was one used by doctors on earth in the past during the plague. Those clothes had the purpose of protecting the doctor from any external contact and even the mask was specially made.

“Phoebe, it has been a while.”

The woman with leaves for clothes, Phoebe, bowed in greeting. She had stayed silent until now because it wasn’t her place to intrude in the earlier events.

In fact, she was surprised that the golden-haired young man had the audacity to stand between Tiamat and someone she was about to judge. Even more so by the fact that Tiamat didn’t contradict him.

However, no matter who the boy was, it didn’t change her situation

“I salute the Dragon Empress.”

Tiamat showed an exasperated expression but didn’t comment. She knew that this politeness was ingrained in the way Dryads were raised by Yggdrasil. No matter what she said, nothing would change.

“You are really stubborn. Even more so than your old man.”

“I am delighted by your praise. I will make sure to tell father.”

Tiamat laughed and placed her gaze on the fully clothed girl.

“Do I need to ask you to reveal your face?”

Keeping such an attire in front of Tiamat was in a way extremely rude.

“I...I do not want to cause any problem.”

Sol had expected many things, but the gentle and sweet voice that came out of the mask was not what he expected.

“Should I care about your desire?”

Sol frowned a little but this time stayed silent. He might have forgotten because of how gentle and caring Tiamat was toward him, but in reality, Tiamat was no gentlewoman.

She was a cold and ruthless Empress who would accept no slight. An extremely domineering woman who only put her pride aside for a select few.

Clearly, the girl wasn’t one of those.

His earlier action was already pushing it but he had an excuse since the matter seemed to be related to him.

This time though, it was a matter between Tiamat and one of her descendants. As a junior himself, he had no place to say anything. So he stayed silent and simply observed.

“....Understood.”

In the end, the masked girl released a sigh and began by taking away her gloves.

*Whoosh*

The moment she did so, a slight fragrance floated in the air, and immediately, all the pasture around her withered.

“Oh my...”

Sol and Tiamat’s eyes narrowed while Phoebe showed no surprise. After all, she had been one of the people who trained Nidhogg.

“Intriguing. I felt those clothes were special. But to think Yggi did this for you.”

After inspecting the gloves more closely, she could feel that leaves of the Yggdrasil itself had been used on them. Otherwise, it was impossible for normal clothes to block such a deadly aura.

Tiamat moved her hand slightly and light seemed to reflect around Nidhogg before everything went back to normal.

—-

While Sol was getting to Know Nidhogg, Verdandi was having a meltdown as she raised Skuld by the throat.

“Are you trying to get us killed!?”

Verdandi was positively and righteously furious.

The situation had been grave.

Not only did Skuld jump on someone related to Tiamat, but she also showed open hostility toward the Empress.

Even if Tiamat had heavily wounded them then and there as a punishment, not even their elder sister would have been able to say a word.

Even though she was raised until her feet dangled in the air, Skuld didn’t show any struggling expression.

In the first place, like all Titans, she didn’t even need oxygen to survive and lived by absorbing mana through her entire body.

Still, she knew she should have controlled herself more there.

Sighing, she pushed away her hands and landed calmly on the ground.

“I am sorry, I let my feelings take over my mind.”

“I don’t need words of apologies, I need answers. Tell Me What Happened.”

Verdandi enunciated each of those last four words very deeply and Skuld understood that it wasn’t the time to play around.

While she was willful, she knew that actions shouldn’t cross certain lines.

“I don’t want to explain a second time. So I will wait for Darling to come back. But...Do you remember why we left Chaos?”

Verdandi’s eyes narrowed.

When the three of them left Chaos, the fight between the two sides was still going strong. So there was no reason to change sides.

The reason was that Skuld had insisted they did so.

Verdandi and Urd had been skeptical, but they trusted Skuld’s power and knew that she wouldn’t joke around about their life so they did as she proposed.

When Chaos lost later, she thought that Skuld had already foreseen the defeat and made them change sides before they were forced to flee like helpless rats in the Abyss or worse–die.

Now though, from what Skuld was showing and her earlier actions, it was clear that it hadn’t been the only reason.

“Is that boy really that important?”

Verdandi frowned but not out of distrust towards Skuld. It was just that the situation was too unbelievable.

A Hybrid Divine Beast and a Blessed one at that? It wouldn’t be wrong to say that such an entity should be the antithesis of Titans like them.

“Furthermore, Skuld, do not let the future affect your emotions.”

Verdandi warned with a deep but worried voice.

Titans were even more attuned to their concepts than divine beasts. After all, divine beasts had the inherent limitation of the goddesses above them.

Meanwhile, there was no such thing for the Titans. They had the absolute freedom to follow whatever path they wished to.

As the one with the deepest link to Fate, if the three of them did not pay attention and delved too much in the time they were linked to, they could easily lose their sense of self.

This danger was even more prevalent for Skuld since she was linked to the future.

“Don’t worry. I am alright.”

“You should know that the more you say it, the more worried I become.”

“I am really alright. As for Darling...”

Skuld’s eyes shone with a fervent light.

“Everything will be alright. I will make sure of it.”

She would never let that awful future happen.

[1]: I wonder if anyone can catch this reference. It’s the starting sentence of one of the greatest speeches made in anime.