"The Branch will arrive in a few hours, General Fran."

"Already? Has it been 4 weeks already since it started moving from Jotunheim?"

​​

Inside a well-lit tent, the old woman that Charles had tasked to assassinate Van was currently talking with one of her subordinates. And as the two moved around the tent, each of their footsteps caused the ground to light up, with tiny embers flickering and dancing around their feet as they walked.

There weren't any torches or candles inside the tent, as the ground itself was enough to brighten it up entirely.

"Are our men ready?" The old woman called General Fran then peeked out of her tent, only to see almost hundreds of people running and hustling about, with most of them either training their body or sparring.

And like them, the people outside were also leaving embers on the ground. The surrounding area felt dark, but anywhere you look, there was actually light. This was one of the traits of Muspelheim, the Land of the Fire Giants.

No matter if it was day or night, the sweltering heat that fumes out from its land was enough to scorch any normal creatures that happen to dwell within it.

And no matter if it was day or night, Muspelheim will always be bright. General Fran and her men have been trained to survive even the harshest of conditions. They could swim in lava and return without a single burn.

They were ordered to station here by Harvey, to wait until their grand plan of wiping out the gods all at the same time would reach its climax. But now, they suddenly received an urgent and unexpected mission-- to kill a god that was boarding the Branch.

They were all getting themselves ready. Ready to finally act on what they have always trained for.

"Have you spread the sketch of our target, Erwin?" General Fran then leaned away from the curtains of her tent as she turned her focus back to her second-in-command.

"Yes. But…" Erwin let out a short but deep sigh as he looked at one of the sketches of their target that was sitting on the General's table, "...I thought our order was to kill the god stealthily, to assassinate him as soon as he walks into Muspelheim unawares. So why are we getting our men ready?"

"It's just a gut feeling, Erwin," General Fran waved her hand nonchalantly as she made her way back to her chair, allowing herself to fall on it, "I have a feeling things won't go as planned. Our target this time… is different."

"...What makes him so special?" Erwin then grabbed the sketch and thoroughly scanned it with his eyes, "Besides the fact that he seems to be one of the youngest gods I have seen. Which Aesir gave birth to this one?"

"Ymir and Vanya."

"Ymir and… He's a forest giant?" Erwin blinked a couple of times as he once again checked the sketch.

"No," the tone of General Fran's voice completely shifted as she leaned forward on her desk, "He's the father of Ymir and Vanya."

"...Father?" Erwin quickly furrowed his eyebrows upon hearing General Fran's words. However, as soon as it reached his mind, he could not help but take a few steps back, "Father!? Is he out to take revenge on us for killing his son? Wait, why didn't you tell this to us sooner!?"

"Because I am still not sure if it is true," General Fran sighed, "Look at the sketch again and tell me you have no doubts about what I just said."

"That… But still, you should have shared this information with me."

"It's fine. If Artemis could be taken as a reference, then our target should be weaker than Ymir. We just need to take him by surprise," General Fran then once again stood up from her desk, "But if our assassination attempt fails, then all that's left is to bombard him with numbers. It worked with his crazy son, after all."

"I'll make sure the men are ready for any setbacks," Erwin then bowed in haste before quickly turning to leave. But before he could even take two steps, the sound of the tent's curtains rustling whispered through their ears.

The two looked towards the direction of the noise at the same time, only to see a cloaked individual stepping inside the tent without any authorization.

"...Who are you? Who told you that you could enter the General's tent without any warning?" Erwin quickly placed his hand on his side, ready to draw his sword at any time.

The cloaked individual seemed to not care about Erwin's existence, as he slowly walked towards General Fran without any regard to him. And as the man reached the front of General Fran's desk, he raised his hand.

Erwin quickly drew the sword on his waist, and without any hesitation, swung it towards the man's raised arm.

"!!!"

There was no blood shed. Instead, a high-pitched snap clanged in the air as Erwin's sword was instantly split in two as soon as it made contact with the stranger's arm.

But once again, even though he was attacked, the stranger seemed to completely ignore Erwin's presence. Instead, he continued to stretch out his hand, holding what seemed to be one of the sketches of Van.

"This b… This boy, how do you know him?"

***

"What's going on? Why is Charlotte's Tavern being surrounded by forest giants?"

"I haven't seen this many forest giants before in my life, are they having some kind of party in Charlotte's?"

"I heard they closed because the owner is dead, did they open it again?"

"No, it's been like that for the past few hours. I think the new owner has some sort of relationship with the forest giants."

"...Cool."

Outside of Charlotte's Tavern, a bunch of different races was all curiously looking in its direction as they walked past it. And once again, all sorts of rumours were being created around Van. But how could they not?

Forest Giants were inherently a recluse race. Those who are out in the world are usually those married to a different race or have been exiled from their territory. And so, to see them gathering in a tavern of all places, the crowd could not help but grow each minute.

But finally, after what seemed like an hour, the owner of the place finally showed himself. And immediately, the crowd saw the forest giants making way for him, either kneeling or bowing their heads in the process.

"It is best to have someone else take care of this establishment, father."

Van, however, did not care about the stares he was receiving as he focused on the forest giant walking beside him, his daughter, Vanya.

"I know. Maybe I will leave Queen Nori to take care of it."

"Please don't," Vanya quickly shook her head, "The child has a duty to her own people now."

"Y… yes, King Van. I still need to get back to Jotunheim as soon as possible," Queen Nori, who was following behind them as they walked, could not help but nod her head several times.

"But for now, you're stuck here," Van let out a short but deep sigh, "So might as well do something, right? I was going to leave the place to Lorei, but she has the duty of protecting your daughter, so…"

"Perhaps we should talk about this at a later date, father?" Vanya then let out a sigh, her monotonous voice sounding like a hymn to Queen Nori's ears as she was saved from the conversation.

"We are arriving at Muspelheim in a couple of minutes, I assume you wish to see it?"

"...Sure," Van nonchalantly nodded his head. He wanted to go to Midgard at first, as he wanted to confirm with his own two eyes that Artemis truly was dead, but Vanya told her that it was not a wise decision, as going there would alert Asgard of his existence.

"I'll… race you there, then?" Vanya then blinked a couple of times as a trail of golden lightning emerged from her eyes.

"Oh? Su--"

But before Van could even finish his words, Vanya suddenly disappeared from her spot. Van could only let out a sigh and shake his head as he watched Vanya running and weaving her way through the Branch.

"Take care of the place for me while we're gone, Queen Nori."

"Wai--"

But alas, this time, it was Queen Nori who was not able to finish her words as Van suddenly disappeared from his spot. They were supposed to be their ancestors, so why were they moving about like children? Queen Nori thought as she went back inside the tavern.

Vanya squinted her eyes as she continued to weave her way across the Branch, glancing back from time to time to see if her father could catch up to her. And after a few more seconds, a smile could not help but creep on her face as the sight of the red lands of Muspelheim reflected onto her eyes.

However, the smile on her face quickly faded as it came as soon as she saw Van already waiting for her at the end of the Branch.

"How fast are you, father?" Vanya could only let out a minute sigh as she stopped just right in front of him, "My mother had told me stories of your speed, but I still could not fathom how you could move so."

"...I also inherited it from my father, I suppose," Van only shrugged as he watched as the roots of the Branch carefully latched itself to the burning lands of Muspelheim, "Nobody told me how hot this place is."

Van was wondering why there weren't any people at the end of the Branch, unlike in Jotunheim where different sets of people immediately flowed from the Branch. But it turned out that Muspelheim was literally just a volcano in the shape of a colossal floating island-- of course almost no one wanted to visit it.

Van could only sigh as he walked forward, but before he could step onto Muspelheim, Vanya suddenly stood in front of him.

"Wait, father," she muttered, "There's someone there."

"Hm?" Van then leaned to the side to see who her daughter was pertaining to, only to see several corpses of humans sprawled around everywhere. Van's eyes, however, quickly fixated on the cloaked individual that was slowly walking towards them, who was dragging what seemed to be the body of an old woman.

And without any warning, the cloaked individual lightly threw the body of the old woman in front of Van and Vanya, before removing the hood that was covering his entire face.

"...You?"

"It's been a long time…

...beggar."