Far from the island of Asgard…
and far from Odin and his brothers…
On the demonic continent, one of the rulers of the demons, Medusa, was sitting inside her strangely shaped cave. The cave was dark and deep, with sharp black rocks hanging from its ceiling, while dozens of snakes crawled across the walls as if they were a living part of the place.
Medusa sat upon a throne made of intertwined bones, her cold eyes watching the world through her snakes.
For she could see… and hear… through them.
Through one of those snakes, she was watching what was happening in the human empire on the continent of Mira.
And the moment she saw and heard the news that Princess Forn had stolen a sacred weapon—
a malicious smile spread across her face.
Then she laughed a cold laugh and said to her followers:
"Go… and turn the continent of Mira upside down."
She paused for a moment, then added with a voice full of greed:
"I want you to find that girl… and bring me the weapon she stole."
The moment the followers of the ruler Medusa heard her orders—
millions of snakes, both large and small, began crawling out of the caves where they lived.
The sound of their scales scraping against the rocks created a terrifying hiss, as the crawling masses surged out of the demonic continent…
heading toward the continent of Mira.
At the same time…
The search party looking for Forn had finally finished its mission.
After a long search, they had become completely certain that she had indeed escaped… and that there was no longer any trace that could lead them to her again.
The chief mage looked at the captain of the royal guard and said in a tired voice:
"Let's return to the empire… Captain."
The moment the captain heard him—
he noticed the tone of surrender in his voice… and the miserable look on his face.
He immediately understood that the man had given up… and was waiting for the emperor's judgment.
The captain sighed and said:
"You're right… let's return now."
Then he gestured to the knights nearby and said:
"Prepare yourselves… we're returning to the continent of Mira."
When the knights heard that—
they quickly ran to spread the news among the soldiers and begin preparations for departure.
As for the chief mage…
he was staring silently at his hands.
And he was thinking:
Is this my end…?
Must I truly die because I failed to find that thief?
Suddenly—
anger ignited in his eyes.
He clenched his fists tightly and thought:
No… I won't surrender this easily.
Then he added coldly:
If I'm truly going to die… I won't die alone.
While he was thinking about that—
a strange idea crossed his mind.
The moment he imagined it…
a dark smile spread across his face.
Then he said in a low voice:
"I'll make the emperor realize… that no one should anger a mage ever again."
The moment he said that—
the captain of the royal guard turned toward him, raising an eyebrow.
"Did you say something, Chief Mage?"
The chief mage looked at him and shook his head coldly.
"No… I didn't say anything. I was just thinking about something. Don't worry about it."
When the captain heard that—
he didn't think much of it.
He simply assumed the man was afraid of death… and that his mind had begun to unravel.
So he returned to his duties and continued giving orders to the knights.
When the chief mage saw that the captain suspected nothing—
he relaxed slightly.
Then he began calmly thinking about his plan… and how he would execute it.
But—
what he did not know…
was that a strangely shaped raven was watching everything that was happening.
And it had heard every word he had said.
The moment the raven heard the chief mage's dark thoughts—
it flew high into the sky.
Then it used a hidden power to influence the chief mage's mind… feeding his madness more and more.
It pushed him toward darker thoughts… more insane ones…
thoughts he would never have imagined committing, even in his worst nightmares.
After doing that—
it received orders from its master…
Odin.
The orders were clear:
to stop monitoring the search party…
and immediately fly toward the continent of Mira.
The moment the raven heard its master Odin's orders, it soared high into the sky.
Higher and higher it rose, until it looked like a tiny black dot among the clouds.
Then suddenly—
its body scattered in a strange way, as if the darkness itself had swallowed it, and it disappeared completely into the sky.
On the island of Asgard…
Odin was standing in front of the giant child, training him to carry out his commands.
After some time of training—
the child finally succeeded in doing what Odin had asked.
Odin laughed softly and said:
"Alright… rest now, little one."
The moment the child heard that—
he dropped heavily onto the ground, causing a massive thud that shook the nearby rocks.
Then he began playing around like a normal child… even though his massive body made of lava kept smashing the surrounding rocks without him noticing.
Odin looked at him tiredly as he watched the chaos he was creating.
He sighed.
Then he began thinking about what he had seen earlier… and what his raven had done to the chief mage.
When he remembered that—
he chuckled quietly and said:
"Oh… I've become truly curious to see what that man will do to the emperor."
Then he let out a cold laugh.
In truth—
it was Odin who had ordered his raven to push the chief mage toward madness using its strange power.
And indeed…
the chief mage had begun thinking about things he would never have imagined doing before… not even in his worst dreams.
Odin thought for a moment and then said quietly:
"It will be easy to turn the human empire upside down…"
Then he paused and added:
"...if the minds of all their races work like this."
Odin shook his head with a smile.
He knew very well that his raven had already succeeded in pushing the chief mage into madness.
Because the man had a weak mind… a defeated one… a mind that had already surrendered.
After failing to find Forn, he had accepted his fate of dying at the emperor's hands.
And because of that—
he had been very easy to manipulate.
In truth…
Odin would have loved to personally watch the chaos that man would cause.
But—
he didn't have the time.
There was something more important.
He had ordered his raven to head to the continent of Mira…
specifically to the lands of the dwarven kingdom.
Odin thought for a moment and said:
"It's been a few weeks since I asked Athena to learn from Forn who the most skilled blacksmith among the dwarves is."
Then he smiled slightly.
"I suppose she already found out."
The moment he finished thinking—
he looked at the giant child who was still playing with the rocks around him.
He raised his voice and said:
"Stop playing, little one!"
Then he added seriously:
"Stay here… and don't move until I return. Do you understand?"
The moment he said that—
the child immediately stopped moving.
Then he looked at Odin with curiosity, like a child waiting for instructions.
When Odin saw that—
he laughed softly.
Then he vanished from his place in an instant.
But before he disappeared completely—
he said a short word to the child:
"Well done… little one."