Clockwork Bride

Page 331

Even with this thought in mind, Odin still struggled to lift Gungnir up, preparing to deliver the final blow.

The northern barbarians will certainly struggle to the very last moment, until they have exhausted all their schemes and lives.

"It seems he really is unruly."

Seeing this, Azazel finally sighed, tilted his head,

"Then let's start by treating your condition..."

Before he finished speaking, He had already reached out and begun to tear at the white robes of Odin, who had transformed into a fake Eden. If this continued, a truly horrific and indescribable scene of debauchery was about to unfold. This was absolutely, positively, something that could not possibly happen.

...However, that moment never came.

"No, no, no, if you really get Odin pregnant right here, I'll be in a real bind."

Suddenly, another person's voice complained came from beside them.

And the dull thud of a short knife piercing flesh.

Hayden, who called himself Loki and was dressed as a frost giant, had somehow returned to the chaotic scene and plunged a small dagger, no bigger than a letter opener by human standards, into the muscles of Azazel's back.

The wound was extremely small, almost like a giant being pricked by a human toothpick. It wouldn't be fatal, and it probably wouldn't even cause any harm if left untreated.

...However, for some reason, Azazel's expression changed drastically at this moment.

"Azazel, I have no idea where you came up with this bizarre theory of world-changing genius."

Hayden twirled the dagger embedded in His muscle, channeling targeted magic onto the blade as he did so, all the while muttering under his breath.

"But halfway through, I realized a very obvious problem—you say you want to use sex to change and improve the world, but it just seems to me like you're indulging in pleasure."

"Isn't it ridiculous that a spirit that transcends matter would fall into depravity because of its lust for physical pleasures?"

Compared to Hayden's more complex rant, Odin, who was mostly frozen but not completely immobile, reacted more directly and clearly.

Releasing Gungnir, Odin drew the small knife that Hayden had given her to hide close to her body, specifically for tormenting Azazel, and instantly plunged it into the fallen angel's neck! This dagger, specially crafted by Hayden, was something Azazel could not possibly resist at such close range!

"You maggot who deserves to be drowned in excrement, go back to your latrine!"

414: Direct View of Symptoms

Fallen angels are not afraid of death, and in fact, they are not meant to die. Even if they suffer great harm, they will not die, because the fundamental fire that is with their true name cannot be taken away. Even if they are finely chopped into mincemeat and stir-fried into meat floss, they can be instantly restored as long as their fire is replenished.

At this moment, however, Azazel felt a genuine and profound terror. A terror that felt like a thorn in his side.

...because He has indeed been stabbed in the back with a knife.

It was a small knife, lacking curves, forged in multiple layers—meaning it was quite thick—and with a very sharp tip. It looked rather ordinary, and its size was definitely not large enough to kill a four-meter-tall demon giant.

But as soon as the knife pierced Azazel, he felt a cold... deathly touch.

And pain.

Pain is simply one part of a series of responses a living organism makes to its environment. Through pain, the body sends signals to the brain indicating danger and prompting a reaction. In other words, pain is merely a signal that the body senses danger. Pain is a signal from the nerves to the brain for your own good—it tells you that you are doing something foolish and shouldn't do it again.

People know this, yet they still succumb to the pain. People betray their families, ideals, and countries to escape the pain... At least, everyone knows that many humans are indeed like this.

Ordinary people with flesh and blood inevitably experience the pain of life, and may feel fear and retreat as a result.

...However, for fallen angels, pain is a completely different matter.

While they certainly experience pain—the absence of pain is certainly not a good thing for a living being, but rather a lowly defect—the pain experienced by fallen angels is merely a sensation similar to a "warning message popping up at the top of the screen."

Since they don't die, fallen angels naturally experience almost no physical pain like humans. Even if they do feel pain, it's only psychological and spiritual.

So to a large extent, fallen angels don't really understand why humans succumb to pain? Why do they do all sorts of things to escape suffering? Although most fallen angels are quite intelligent and can logically understand human suffering, many still feel contempt for human weakness because of it.

Azazel was no exception. He disdained humanity's many weaknesses and scorned their fear of suffering...

...Only now has He tasted pain and immense terror.

For the first time in this world since his fall from the heavens thousands of years ago, Azazel has experienced the terror and pain of death.

This is coercion.

They forced Him to recall the time of His fall from heaven, the wrath, terror, and pain He had felt from God!

"[Heavenly Punishment Divine Sword]! [Heavenly Punishment Divine Sword]!"

In a daze, Azazel suddenly remembered the possible source of this sensation and finally screamed in terror.

"You really are the Peacock King's son!?"

Uh

That's not actually the case, of course. Now that things have come to this, Hayden has no intention of continuing to spout nonsense and mislead people.

"Of course it's not the [Heavenly Punishment Divine Sword], I don't have that much power."

He twirled the knife that was embedded in Azazel's back muscle.

"It's just a slight imitation. Don't worry, you won't die!"

Hayden didn't possess the ability to kill fallen angels, nor did he have the attributes of "judgment" or "punishment." However, he had personally witnessed the deaths of two fallen angels. Although both fell angels "committed suicide," Hayden still managed to develop some usable new technologies and methods to target and defeat fallen angels.

He used these techniques to create two daggers that could be inserted into the bodies of fallen angels to directly attack their source of secret fire, extract their secret fire and force it to scatter into the surrounding environment, forcing the fallen angels into a dormant state!

Once this dagger pierces the body, even the divine power and authority of the fallen angels will be rendered ineffective!

What could be more terrifying than taking away the power of those in power?

"Wait a minute! Son of Samael, wait a minute! Aaaaaaaah!"

Azazel screamed in desperation!

"I have brought food and life to mankind. They ask for love from me, and I give them love in return. I even rule over a territory and bring them security! I have satisfied their appetite, their desire for sex, and their desire for security! If it's for the good of mankind, there's no need to defeat me!"

"I have united the people of this country with ██, love, and blood. In the end, unless it's for your own ambitions, there's absolutely no reason for you to attack me! Even if you go out and ask any ordinary person, they will definitely give you the same answer!"

That's obvious. Of course, someone who's been brainwashed would answer like that.

However, Hayden didn't intend to arrogantly say something like, "The opinions of brainwashed people are worthless!" So he simply replied, "I'm an outsider and won't offer my opinion. But the one currently holding a dagger to your neck is also a resident of the northern part of your European continent. I don't think she agrees with your point of view."

Odin strongly disagreed with this view.

"You maggot who deserves to be drowned in excrement! You thing that uses ██ instead of your brain to think!"

Odin pinned down the struggling Azazel and plunged the dagger deeper and deeper into Azazel's neck.

Go back to your latrine!

No matter how desperately the great demon struggles, it is as useless as a car without fuel once the secret fire is spread by the dagger and cannot be used.

If the same dagger were plunged into Angela, it would likely only cause an endless surge of secret fire that would engulf the world. It just goes to show how many weaknesses fallen angels have.

"Ungrateful and shameless bastards! Aa ...

Azazel screamed and convulsed violently two or three times—finally, he stopped moving.

Fortunately, He was still a fallen angel, not a real physical being; otherwise, He might have ended up defecating and urinating.

Then, the power of the two daggers continued to take effect. They parted the ground beneath their feet, causing the earth to open its gaping maw and devour and seal away the remaining essence of Azazel.

Killing a fallen angel is beyond Hayden's current capabilities, even if he exhausts all his magical power, and there is no need for it.

Let's seal Azazel here, keep him sealed alive until the end of the world, and see what kind of terrible fate awaits him.

"Won."

After the hall quieted down from the screams and clamor, Odin finally spoke. Even the greatest leader and most powerful mage among the Aesir looked extremely tired, almost at his limit.

The Norse mortal magic organization was still relatively new, and this was the first time they had defeated a god-king—mortals defeating a god was an extremely rare achievement in this era, a feat worthy of being sung about by bards for generations.

Hayden glanced around, looked at the hall covered with the corpses of dead giants, and estimated the power of today's commotion.

“Indeed,” he said, “it looks like the problem has been solved, at least temporarily.”

He is not responsible for solving all the problems of people in this era; he has already done a lot by doing this much.

“Azazel says you are truly the son of Samael, the Peacock King of India.” Odin, still in Eden’s form, frowned and asked, “You just said that yourself. Is that true?”

“Of course not.” Hayden told the truth in a serious tone, “I don’t have a single drop of divine blood in my body. I’m just an ordinary mortal. I just learned a lot from the Peacock King before. Learning magic from gods is something every magician has done.”

This is absolutely the truth!

Odin still had some doubts, but he couldn't figure out where Hayden, this man from the future, came from. He could only mutter, "Then why did this mad god say those things just now?"

“Good question.” Hayden thought for a moment and replied, “I have dealt with these fallen gods from beyond the heavens quite a bit as their enemy. Most of them are arrogant—no, that’s wrong. All of these gods are arrogant. All of them are incomprehensibly arrogant.”

Almost every fallen angel Hayden has encountered so far, every old god or god-king from the old era, is "self-righteously clever," thinking they can create a utopian solution once and for all using their own logic and skills.

In the end, they all ended up doing things that were utterly absurd and contrary to morality and ethics. Before being overthrown by Hayden or his companions, they always shouted, "Why don't the ignorant others understand my great idea? I'm not just doing it for myself! I'm doing it for everyone's good!"

Hecate was like that, and so was Azazel. Lilith was slightly better, but essentially the same. Quetzalcoatl Remiel was even slightly better, but his thoughts were probably very similar; he just didn't dare to shout them out in front of Hayden, the prophet.

In the end, Quetzalcoatl was already off in his space exploration ship, and sparing his life might be useful in the future, so Hayden didn't bother with him. However, once he arrived at Alpha Centauri, where no one was around to care for him, his arrogant nature would probably be exposed again.

"Those who attempt to create a paradise on earth are more likely to open the gates of hell."

Hayden spoke slowly,

"Although it may sound strange for me to say this, the common flaws of these god-kings are, firstly, their arrogance, and secondly, their desire to solve all problems at once. Therefore, when faced with problems, they often use even harsh, despicable, and potentially disastrous methods without hesitation."

“The smarter but still arrogant ones know they will eventually pay the price, but they believe that the price is something they can bear, or that they can find a way to avoid it. But in reality, they can neither afford it nor avoid it. The evil consequences of evil deeds will not be apparent at the time, but they will certainly not be able to escape them decades or centuries later.”

Fallen angels are intelligent beings, and in the past, they were beings of a higher order than mortals, possessing the insight to foresee many things in the future. However, even though they relied on their ability to predict the future to achieve many short-term victories, they could not foresee the terrible long-term consequences of their actions, which is a symbol of their arrogance and pride.

The reckoning will eventually come.

“The first step to curing the disease is to face the disease directly,” Hayden said. “So Odin, the leader of Asgard, the one who aspires to great things, the one who claims to be eager to fight for his people, I advise you to be careful not to go down this path when you are thinking of your people.”

"Because the consequences of doing things by any means necessary are often the price you can't afford to pay, and it will come back to bite you back."

Hayden, unusually serious and earnest, spoke these words to Odin with the solemnity of a prophet relaying divine revelation.

However, on the other hand, although Odin didn't know, Hayden was indeed that kind of person.

So Odin didn't complain or refute, he just listened silently, and finally nodded slowly: "I will take it into consideration."

What should we refer to? How much should we refer to?

"But now is not the time to talk about that."

She raised her head and exhaled.

"...There will be another banquet when we get back."

"We'll worry about tomorrow tomorrow." That's the typical way the Northmen (except Odin) operate! Of the entire Aesir, only Odin is constantly preoccupied with worrying about the future and what to do next! The others live one day at a time, enjoying today to the fullest!

Tonight, let's start with a grand celebration of our victory!

--------------------------------

And so, Odin and Hayden Loki returned victorious.

Hayden defeated Azazel, the god-king of the north, killed Thorem, the king of the frost giants, and casually killed many other high-ranking giants on the spot. The gods of northern Europe had suffered a devastating blow.

To say that Asgard is now safe and sound is simply wishful thinking. To the east and south, there are still many other Old Gods, and many more God-Kings who are hostile to these mortal rebels. Defeating Azazel might just attract the attention and vigilance of other fallen angels.

Before me stood the Assamese people cheering for victory, and prisoners of war weeping as they embraced their loved ones, now free. To say something meaningless like, "The enemy will attack again; how can we let our guard down?" at such a moment would be incredibly low in emotional intelligence.

Back in the grand banquet hall of Asgard, Hayden sat at the table, holding a horn cup, lost in thought.

Angela.

Even though Angela was right beside him, he still asked himself alone in his mind: "Have I met your expectations?"

"Asking like this is pointless, Master," Angela said helplessly. "Although I do feel you've grown a lot, why ask questions after each problem is solved?"

Hearing her say that, Hayden could only awkwardly scratch his cheek. It seemed he wasn't mature enough yet.

On the other side of the feast, Odin (who had reverted to his old man form) recounted his adventures of the day to the curious onlookers. Although his version was abridged, it would likely become a legend, passed down through the ages.

Don't try to solve all problems at once, and don't immediately resort to harsh methods for the sake of efficiency when facing problems. Hayden silently repeated the words he had just spoken to Odin, patiently finishing his beer. He believed that what he did today would definitely come in handy tomorrow.

...However, even Hayden could not have predicted how quickly this use would come in, or in what way it would arrive.

Early the next morning, Asgard received a diplomatic message from a distant land. The leader of another nation of mortal magicians from the far east wrote to express his interest in meeting and speaking with his northern friend, "Loki."

The leader's name was Mithra.

415: The Sun Prophet

Ten days later, a delegation from the Mitra Group arrived in Asgard.