Three months later
Luber was running like the wind, his body shining like a meteor in the darkness. Zhang Yong had to push Death Qi forcefully into his legs to match his speed.
The frozen ground beneath their feet cracked with each step, as if groaning under the weight of their presence.
After minutes of fast running, a forest of dead trees appeared before them.
Their twisted black trunks resembled giant bones embedded in the ice, their bare branches stretching toward the sky like convulsing fingers.
The fog was denser here, the air saturated with the smell of ancient decay.
"The Dead Trees Forest." Luber stopped suddenly, his golden eyes scanning the darkness between the trunks. "Here live the souls of those who betrayed their kin in life. Beware, they love to play with visitors."
"Hah, this place seems... strange. Why do I feel a faint presence of the Law of void?" Zhang Yong couldn't help but search around him in confusion.
"Because these trees are not just trees," said Luber, his golden eyes shining in the darkness. "Some of these trees are gates, and I advise you not to enter one. Most likely, it leads to Niflheim, the world of ice, a path of no return."
Zhang Yong stared at Luber, his eyes shining with cautious curiosity. "So... how do we cross without being dragged to Niflheim?"
Luber wrapped his white hair around his finger nonchalantly. "Simply, don't touch any tree, and don't follow any voice that calls you." He smiled coldly, but his eyes carried a grim warning. "The souls here will try to deceive you. They will take the forms of your loved ones, your enemies, or even yourself."
The two began walking cautiously among the black trunks. Each step created a faint crack in the black ice beneath their feet, as if the earth itself was watching them.
Suddenly, Zhang Yong heard a whisper behind him.
"Zhang... Yong."
He turned quickly. There, between the trees, stood Su Ming in torn clothes, black blood flowing from a wound.
His eyes – which had always been full of life – now appeared empty, radiating a rust-like color.
"Su Ming..." he whispered, his fist tightening. But knowing it was just an illusion, he stepped forward.
Luber placed a hand on his shoulder. "Whoever you saw, it's just a hungry ghost."
Zhang Yong nodded his head and stepped forward. "Does someone appear for you?"
"Don't worry about me. My soul level is too high to be affected quickly." Luber laughed, but his laugh this time was devoid of his usual cheerfulness.
Zhang Yong couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean by your soul level?"
Luber looked at him in surprise. "Don't you know? There are five levels of the soul. There is the ordinary soul, which are those arms emerging from the ground. Then there are the primordial souls, which is the level of those wandering souls. Then there are the desolate souls, which is the same level as the giant you encountered. I am approximately at that same level as well. Then there are the royal souls, and finally the sacred souls. This place, Helheim, is the best place to train the soul by killing other souls or absorbing enough of the surrounding aura."
Zhang Yong stared at Luber, his eyes widening slightly. "So... the more souls I kill here, the more my soul strengthens?"
Luber laughed, his white hair shaking with the movement of his head. "Exactly! But don't rejoice too much, for the souls here are not as easy as those you met in the plain. Souls at the royal level are the size of Níðhöggr. And don't worry about sacred souls. In this entire world, there is only one, and that is the Goddess Hel herself."
"I see," Zhang Yong looked away, but he couldn't stop the sounds he still heard.
They continued walking, but the sounds did not stop:
"Master Zhang! Save us!" Those were the voices of his men, who had exploded due to the Hellish Heavens.
Nevertheless, Zhang Yong closed his eyes and walked forward. He had promised himself that if it was for the sake of success, he would use any method without regret.
"You're a failure... you didn't save anyone." Tang San, with a body shattered from its lower half.
"Don't abandon us," the form of Wu Rushian appeared between the trees while a spike was embedded in her heart.
"Everything is because of you," Tatsumi appeared from underground, his eyes full of anger and vengeance.
Each step brought someone from Zhang Yong's memory, but he closed his eyes for a moment. Even if he heard, he would not move from his place.
After three months amidst that forest, while there was no trace of hunger, it required patience more than anything else.
They finally reached the edge of the forest. Before them stretched the Shore of Shadows, where black sands moved perpetually, as if composed of particles of liquid darkness.
"The easy part is over." Luber breathed deeply. "Here, the sand will try to swallow us. If your foot sinks into it, it will pull you down forever."
Zhang Yong stared at the shifting sand, then looked at Luber. "Do you have a better plan than just running?"
Luber breathed deeply, then pointed to the horizon where the black sands rippled as if alive. "The only way to cross the Shore of Shadows is to never touch the sand. Fortunately, it's simple. We need to jump in the air."
Zhang Yong looked at Luber as if he were insane. "Are you joking with me now?"
Luber laughed his usual loud laugh, his white hair flying in the stagnant air. "Never! Perhaps if we were elsewhere, it would be difficult. Just focus Death Qi in your feet and jump. Then I will guide you on what to do next."
Zhang Yong hesitated for a moment, then closed his eyes. He felt Death Qi flow through his spiritual body, concentrating in the soles of his feet. Then he jumped. Without confidence, he activated the Phoenix Wings for a slow landing.
"Okay, okay, tch. I envy the wings, but you're missing an element to add to make them truly wings that allow you to fly. At least you'll fly in this place. Focus well. The place is full of Death Qi, isn't it?"
Zhang Yong nodded quietly. "Yes, the place is brimming with it."
Luber smiled calmly. "Now, just as you control spiritual energy, do not control your entire weight, but control the area beneath your feet. You should be capable of this much. And just as spiritual energy becomes solid when you wish, control the Death Qi under your foot to create a platform for yourself and jump again."
Zhang Yong closed his eyes, trying to focus on the Death Qi beneath his feet.
He felt the dense black energy gather, and then slowly began to feel as if he was standing on a solid surface. But when he opened his eyes, he lost that feeling of solidity – he couldn't maintain it for long.
"Very good!" shouted Luber, clapping. "You've managed it. This ability to control to this extent is only possible in an area rich with Death Qi like this place."
Zhang Yong nodded and refocused. Then Zhang Yong jumped, and this time he felt the difference.
The Death Qi beneath his feet pushed him upward, as if he was jumping on an invisible platform. Before he landed, he formed another platform, and so he began to move above the black sand like the wind.
Luber laughed, following him easily, his light steps never touching the sand. "See? It's simple! Just don't stop or lose focus, otherwise..."
A sudden scream cut off his words. From within the sand, slender black hands emerged, trying to grab Zhang Yong's foot. One almost touched his heel, but he jumped at the last moment.
"Faster!" Luber looked serious for the first time since the journey began. "The sand is trying to swallow us!"
Zhang Yong increased his speed, his jumps becoming faster and farther. The sand beneath him rippled like a hungry animal, the black hands appearing and disappearing with terrifying speed.
After a month of continuous jumping, even with only controlling the Death Qi that existed outside his body and did not belong to him, his mental state was exhausted from the non-stop jumping.
His jumps became lower. Luber noticed this, and his golden eyes shone with concern.
"Don't give up now!" he shouted, approaching him. "We are close. Just one more month, and we will arrive!"
But Zhang Yong had reached his limit. His spiritual body began to tremble, like a flame about to be extinguished. The black hands from the sand sensed his weakness, so they pounced in greater numbers, like waves of hungry insects.
"Luber!" Zhang Yong roared, his blue eyes blazing with a final will. "If you don't do something now, they will pull me under!"
Luber, who had been floating gracefully like a feather above the sand, suddenly stopped. His wide smile faded, replaced by a rare serious expression. "Tch, you're too exhausted. Fine, I'll carry you."
Before Zhang Yong could object, Luber pounced toward him with lightning speed and grabbed him by the waist like a cat carrying its kittens. "Hold on tight!"
Then, like a released arrow, Luber shot off above the sand. His speed multiplied tens of times. The sand beneath them boiled like hot water, and the black hands stretched out trying to catch them, but they failed.
After weeks of continuous running, the black sand began to disappear, replaced by a wide river of heavy black water, like slowly flowing oil.
On the other bank stretched a fragile bone bridge, looking as if it was made from the bones of giant creatures.
"The Gjoll River and the Gjallarbrú bridge!" Luber announced, placing Zhang Yong on the ground. "Here, we are close to our destination, the gate. The dead come from the other side to here. So our destination is to go in the opposite direction, then deal with Garm, and finally you can cross to the gate."
Luber took the first step onto the bone bridge, and a sharp cracking sound echoed beneath him, as if the bones were complaining about the weight of their presence.
Zhang Yong followed cautiously, his eyes moving along the dark black river, where faint shapes of submerged bodies drifted slowly beneath the surface. Some raised their heads toward them with empty eyes before disappearing again into the depths.
On the path, there were several souls crossing the bridge beside them in the opposite direction, but they paid them no attention.
They advanced, but suddenly, the entire bridge shook, and a deep sound like the growl of a monster erupted from the other bank.
From within the fog, a tall figure appeared. Her armor was black tinged with grey, as if made from petrified shadow, and her face was hidden behind a helmet with curved horns.
She carried a long spear that gleamed with a cold shimmer, and her red eyes pierced the darkness.
"Who dares to cross Gjallarbrú without my permission?" The voice came sharply, but it carried a strange echo as if from the depths of an ancient cave.
Luber tilted his head, his usual smile slowly returning. "Móðguð, the bridge guardian. I didn't expect to meet you so soon."
Zhang Yong quickly created a dark sword in his hand, whispering, "This isn't an ordinary soul, is it?"
Luber threw a sideways glance at him. "She is the guardian of Gjallarbrú for thousands if not millions of years. Perhaps we won't have major problems since you are still connected to the world of the living."
Móðguð stepped forward, the spear in her hand dripping a deadly aura, cold as Helheim's ice. Even the bones beneath their feet let out a heavy creak, as if warning them of her step.
"You…" she said slowly, as if tasting the letters. "What makes you dare to bring a strange soul to the land of the dead?"
Luber raised an eyebrow, placing his hand on his hip as if the situation wasn't threatening at all. "Oh, no need for the drama. We haven't come to cause trouble. We just need to cross… in the opposite direction, you see. My friend here is still alive, and most likely still has much in life. He hasn't yet lived what was destined for him."
"The opposite direction," Móðguð repeated his words in a low voice, then leaned forward slightly, her red eyes glowing brighter. "That means you intend to challenge Garm before reaching the gate."
Luber let out a short whistle, as if commenting on an inside joke only he knew. "Of course, Garm is always where he's supposed to be. But I don't think you'll stop us from passing just for that… will you, Móðguð?"
The guardian did not move, but her grip on her spear tightened, and the sound of metal scraping against bone echoed faintly. "Crossing Gjallarbrú is not a decision you make, eater of witches . The path you request cuts across a thread of life not yet destined to break, and that piques my curiosity."
Luber raised his hand, closed it, and made it move like a mouth. "Bla bla bla, no need for all the formalities. We are passing." Then he grabbed Zhang Yong's hand and pulled him along.
She stared at Luber for long seconds, her red eyes searching his features as if weighing a thousand years of decisions. Then, slowly, her grip on the spear loosened, and she moved it aside.
"You... as you always were, oh son of..." Her tone was cautious, as if walking a fine line between respect and warning. Then she turned toward Zhang Yong, her eyes gleaming with dark curiosity. "As for you... what a catastrophe. All that catastrophic karma. You are not lucky at all."
Zhang Yong did not reply, but he tightened his grip on his dark sword, all his senses on alert.
Móðguð closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again, her voice becoming deeper, as if emerging from the heart of the bridge itself. "What a farce. I will be sympathetic, just this once."
Móðguð moved aside slowly, shifting her spear to open a narrow passage for them on the bone bridge, without taking her eyes off Zhang Yong.
Her gaze was fixed, carrying something between warning and pity, as if she saw his end before he even took a step.
After a few steps, when the fog was behind them, Luber said as if talking about something trivial, "Don't let her confuse you. Móðguð loves playing with words more than fighting."
But Zhang Yong caught a faint glint in his eyes, as if Luber knew that the guardian had not spoken idly.
Before them, the other bank of the bridge began to clear: a land covered in grey snow, and on the distant horizon loomed the edges of towering black stone pillars, seeming embedded in cracks in the ground, connected to caves.
Zhang Yong noticed that the fog was heavier here, and the sound seemed muffled. Even the sound of their footsteps faded with strange speed, as if the air itself was swallowing it.
"Is this where we will find Garm?" he asked cautiously.
Luber nodded, but his smile this time was faint, without any trace of his usual sarcasm. "Garm does not hide. If he is awake, you will see him before you hear him."
Then he threw a quick glance back toward the bridge, as if making sure Móðguð was still standing there.
The guardian was watching them from afar, spear in hand, but she did not try to catch up. Her red eyes remained fixed on Luber for a moment longer, then she turned and disappeared into the fog.
As they approached, sounds began to leak from the darkness: slow heartbeats, heavy breaths, and a metallic rustling sound as if enormous chains were moving over rock.
Zhang Yong felt a shiver creep into the depths of his soul. "That sound…"
Then Luber turned his head toward Zhang Yong, and his smile finally returned, that smile that carried something of a challenge.
"Well, my friend, are you ready to face Hel's personal hound?"
But before he could answer, the ground shook beneath their feet, and from the darkness emerged two eyes the size of soldier's shields, glowing with a deep red color, accompanied by a long roar that made the bones in their bodies tremble.
From within the fog, legs appeared, resembling the legs of dogs or wolves, bound with restraints, with iron chains.
The enormous glowing red eyes lowered to ground level, and the sound of the deep pulse increased until it resembled the beating of hellish drums. And from the heart of the fog, he appeared. Garm, the guardian hound of Hel.
His size was like a small mountain. His fur resembled torn night, interspersed with glowing red cracks like restrained lava. From his massive mouth dripped black saliva like acid, and each breath he exhaled scattered Helheim's fog like a storm.
Around his neck were massive rusty chains, their ends embedded in the surrounding rock, moving and dragging the earth itself when he exhaled.
"Are you joking?! This thing is a dog? Even Cerberus doesn't compare to him."
Luber laughed lightly, a short laugh but sharp amidst the growling and fog. "Garm is not just a dog. He is the gatekeeper. The chains of his fate are tied to the fate of Helheim itself."
The beast approached, each step cracking and shattering the earth, and pillars of black fog surged upward.
The massive chains binding him creaked like the weeping of ancient metal, and with each movement, they seemed on the verge of bursting and breaking free.
'Sometimes I forget the power of creatures in mythology.'
Zhang Yong raised his dark sword, his blue eyes shining sharply, but he felt an unnatural weight pressing on his chest. Just looking into Garm's eyes was enough to feel his soul being crushed.
Garm raised his massive head and roared a roar that pierced the grey sky.
The roar was like a cyclone of shadows, pushing the fog away and sending a shockwave that cracked the ground behind them. The dead who had been walking from outside and the newly dead turned into black dust and scattered in the air.
Zhang Yong spat on the ground, trying to anchor his soul in place. "The final step before returning to life. I will not retreat from it!"
Behind him, the hound Garm... A large, massive arch stretched, radiating a beautiful pearlescent light. This was the gate of Helheim, connecting the world of the living and the dead.
Garm growled again, and this time the chains binding him began to crack, as if their presence here had unleashed something that had been suppressed for eons.
Luber wrapped his white hair around his fingers with unusual worry. "This isn't good... It seems Garm hasn't been this hostile for a thousand years."
"Are you saying we're lucky?" Zhang Yong scoffed as he adjusted his grip on his dark sword.
"More than you think!" Luber jumped back suddenly as Garm released a whirlwind of black fire from his mouth. The ground where he had stood a second ago turned into a pit of glowing lava.
Zhang Yong spun quickly, the Phoenix Wings emerging from his back to evade another attack. "Any plan?"
Before Zhang Yong could object, Luber shot off like lightning, his body glowing with a pale blue light. Garm turned toward him with surprising speed for a creature of that size, but Luber was faster – he leaped over the massive head as if dancing on the wind.
"Now!" he shouted, pointing toward the gate.
Zhang Yong didn't waste time. He charged forward, his sword cutting a path through the thick air. But Garm was not to be fooled so easily. His massive tail struck the ground hard, causing a small earthquake that made Zhang Yong lose his balance.
The beast turned with astonishing speed, his red eyes blazing with anger. He opened his wide mouth, and inside it seemed like a tunnel leading to eternal darkness itself.
"Watch out!" Luber shouted, but he was too far away.
At the last moment, Zhang Yong realized he would not be able to evade the attack. Instead, he gathered all the Death Qi he could muster into his sword and struck directly into Garm's left eye.
The beast howled with a sound that tore the fog itself and retreated two massive steps, but that strike was like a pinprick to him.
Luber seized the opportunity, leaping onto Garm's massive back, his hands radiating a deep blue light. "This will really make him angry!" he shouted, burying his hands into the beast's fur.
Suddenly, Garm's entire body trembled, and the chains binding him began to shake violently
The ground around them split, and glowing blue cracks appeared in the earth, as if preparing to swallow them.
"What did you do?!" Zhang Yong shouted, trying to maintain his balance.
Luber smiled that crazy smile that Zhang Yong knew well. "I just released some of my old energy into his body! This will give us a few extra minutes!"
Garm shook his head violently, trying to get rid of Luber, but the damage was done. His giant body began to tremble.
Zhang Yong didn't waste time. He activated the Phoenix Wings and shot toward the Helheim gate. But Garm – even as he suffered – disappeared as if he had teleported through space, trying to crush Zhang Yong mid-air.
Zhang Yong felt tremendous pressure in the air, as if space itself was contracting around him. Then, suddenly, the massive beast appeared directly above him, a mass of darkness and black fire pouncing like the night itself.
Garm landed with force, his massive claws tearing through the air fiercely. Zhang Yong had no time to dodge—
Thwack!
The Phoenix Wings bent under the pressure, nearly breaking, but they held at the last moment, cushioning his fall. Nevertheless, he struck the ground hard and felt as if his bones were breaking – except that, as a soul, he had no bones.
Zhang Yong raised his dark sword under Garm's foot, trying to push him away. Zhang Yong was under immense pressure. "Luber! Where are you, you—"
However, Zhang Yong's look turned to shock. He turned and saw, through the dense fog, that Luber was standing right next to the gate, but a white light passed over his body from head to toe.
His white hair turned into a shiny black color with green streaks. His golden eyes became green, and his twisted smile carried something of deceit and dark amusement.
"Please, call me Loki," said Luber in a voice enveloped in magic and mystery, extending his hand toward Zhang Yong. "And... one more thing.Thank you for distracting Garm for me. I won't miss this opportunity. Now that I've returned... it's time for Yggdrasil to sink into darkness."
Zhang Yong froze for a moment, his heart beating fast, but he felt a strange anger rising within him. "What?! You... why?"
Luber, or rather "Loki" as he had introduced himself, laughed a single, long, mad laugh. "Oh, don't be so dramatic! You benefited too, didn't you? You became stronger, and learned to control Death Qi better... And even if you die here, your death will be beautiful. It's an honor for you to be deceived by the God of Deception himself. That means your death has meaning. Farewell, companion." Then Loki turned and crossed the Helheim gate.
"You...!" Zhang Yong roared, his dark sword suddenly blazing with black and blue flame as Garm still pressed on his body from above. "I won't let you get away with this!"
But now there was no time to think. Garm was growling above him, his sharp claws pressing more and more, as if about to shatter his soul into pieces.
"Damn you, you dog!"
Zhang Yong gathered all the remaining strength he had. The Death Qi in his body blazed like a black storm. He compressed it instantly and detonated it all at once.
An explosion of black energy erupted from his body, pushing Garm back for a moment. The great beast howled with a sound that tore the fog, but he did not retreat completely.
Zhang Yong seized the moment and charged toward the Helheim gate, swinging his dark sword with force. "Death to you, Loki!"
At that moment, Loki had already crossed through the gate, and the pearlescent light suddenly turned into a grey light. He had lost the resurrection opportunity that occurs once every hundred years