chapter 55: The Echo of Shadows in the Depths of Niflheim

Fog blanketed the horizon, heavy as a shroud, choking breath and muffling sound.

The sky above Niflheim was silent, black like the gut of a lifeless dragon—no stars, no moon.

And there, at the furthest edge of the realm of ice and death, stood Shao.

The wind sounded like the mourning of thousands of wandering souls.

Beneath him, the ground was a thin layer of fractured ice, concealing a bottomless pit of darkness.

Shao wore his heavy black cloak, its edges stained with ash and blood from a long-forgotten time. In his grip, he held his spear, charged with the *Blood of the Lineage*.

He had entered Niflheim seeking truth… or perhaps an end.

---

*"Shao…"*

The voice was a whisper, like the rustling of leaves on a crumbling wall, yet it carried a familiar tone.

He turned sharply—but saw only shadows gliding across the ice… until she appeared.

A woman cloaked entirely in mist, her eyes glowing with a cold, dark blue light.

Shao didn't hesitate.

*"Who are you? Are you one of Niflheim's guardians?"*

She responded, her voice dripping with sorrow:

*"I am an echo of your lost time… the one you abandoned when you chose your path."*

His spear trembled—not from fear, but from the shock of her words.

*"Levi?"*

*"Names mean nothing here. We are in the land beyond names."*

---

Suddenly, the ground turned from ice to ash, the sky from black to a spinning red vortex like an eye.

Everything changed.

A dark passage opened before Shao, its walls lined with interwoven, massive fangs, bleeding black smoke.

*"If you seek the truth… the root… you must walk through this."*

The shadow spoke, then vanished, leaving behind a trace of death and tears.

---

Shao entered the passage.

Each step felt like sinking into a past he had never lived—or perhaps had forgotten.

As he advanced, whispers crept in.

> *"You are no savior… you are a curse."*

> *"Your father fell… and you will fall as he did."*

Shao screamed, *"Silence!"*

But the whispers were his own… from within.

---

After a long descent, he arrived at a circular chamber shrouded in darkness.

At its center stood a colossal statue of Odin—half shattered, the other half crying out with one glowing eye.

Before it lay a sword, buried deep in the earth, bleeding real blood.

As Shao approached, he felt something awaken behind him.

He turned—and there stood a massive shadowy beast, formed of bone and smoke, its roar shaking the walls around him.

> *"I am the embodiment of doubt that grew in your heart, son of the curse."*

It was… *Karbos*, Niflheim's first guardian.

---

Shao raised his spear—and the battle erupted.

But this wasn't mere combat; it was a clash of wills.

Every strike from Karbos carried a memory—moments of failure, regret, betrayal.

Yet Shao, despite his wounds, stood firm.

> *"I am not a legend to fade here!"*

> *"I am the one who will turn the end of myths into the beginning of a greater truth!"*

His spear screamed in his hand, bursting with radiant blood.

With one decisive blow, he pierced Karbos's chest, and the shadows shattered into ash.

---

Shao collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily, but then rose.

In his hand now was the sword infused with Niflheim's essence… the key to the Seventh World.

*"Three realms remain… and the story isn't over."*

He lifted his eyes to the empty sky and spoke, as if making a vow to the universe:

> *"I will break my chains. I will restore the fallen… and I will finish what the blood began."*

Then he moved forward, leaving Niflheim to crumble gently, like a corpse falling into eternal sleep.