"Who dares wreak havoc in my realm!?"

The embers and the lava that lit up parts of Muspelheim grew brighter; and soon, the lands became a forest of fire; every sand and dust transformed into a fiery field of grass. The air itself became heavier, almost like a steam that would scald the skin of the untrained.

With the searing pain that was slowly starting to wrap his body, the extreme exhilaration that was completely surrounding the entirety of Van's person was finally burnt away. Dionysus was in fact right with his assumption-- Van was not able to hold his alcohol that well; with just a single drop, he was already completely intoxicated.

But now that the heat had forced him to recover, he finally realized the things he had done to the Realm. The path that he took, the land that his feet had made contact with-- all of them were completely destroyed. It was as if a gigantic rake had let loose on the lands of Muspelheim, creating pathways that weren't there before.

However, he did not get the chance to see all of his handiwork as almost half of his vision was filled by the towering figure that suddenly emerged from the horizon. If he hadn't seen Artemis's gigantic form, then his shock would probably double than it is now.

Fiery red skin, as well as a pair of horns seemingly even bigger than his house back in Newer York, and of course, his height that seemed to reach the dark clouds of Muspelheim.

Van then strayed his eyes away from the giant for a few seconds, trying to see if Dionysus was still in the vicinity. It wasn't in his plan to kill him; as he said before, this was a warning-- a warning that he wasn't one to be messed with.

He had thought at first that this fiery colossal was an Aesir, but then he remembered the story that Vanya had told her about the progenitor of the Fire Giants, Surtr… and seeing the prominence of this figure towering over the horizon, he was most likely it.

"What did you do, Gerald?" Van then rushed towards Gerald, whose eyebrows were completely lowered as his eyes fixated on the fiery colossus.

"What do you mean what did I do?" Gerald immediately clicked his tongue as Van suddenly appeared beside him, "It was you who was wreaking havoc."

"..." Although Van admits that he may have slightly overdone it, Gerald was not one to speak-- Van thought as he looked at the almost bottomless pit the width of a lake. He might have been completely intoxicated, but he was quite sure that he wasn't the one responsible for this big gaping hole that penetrates the fiery confines of Muspelheim.

"Where's Vanya?"

"No idea," Gerald shrugged his shoulders, "Probably abandoned you like the rest of your family. Ha!"

"..." Van could only shake his head from Gerald's sudden burst of laughter. But this laughter, it would seem, had finally caused the fiery colossus to notice them as it slowly turned its body towards them, causing a slight tremble as well as thunder to reverberate in the entire realm.

"Insects!" The fiery colossus roared as it pointed its finger towards the two of them, "Did the two of you do this!?"

"No," Van quickly said as he shook his head.

"Lies! I, Surtr, can smell through your lies!"

Without even the smallest warning, Surtr rolled his hand into a fist. And as soon as he did so, the ground beneath Van and Gerald turned into strings of lava, entangling them like the maws of a gigantic wolf.

Gerald quickly stomped his foot on the ground, causing the lava to quickly disperse as it was hit by the shockwave.

"This should be fun," Gerald said as he stretched and cracked his neck, "I've killed several Aesir and Vanir, but never the progenitor of a whole race, his bones would be a fine addition to my collect--"

Before Gerald could finish his words, a fist the size of a huge ship suddenly presented itself to them, flattening the ground in which they stood.

"Hm," Van was able to move away before it could reach them. He truly did not expect Surtr to be able to move that fast with his size, but it would seem he wasn't the progenitor for no reason-- he was probably as old as this Realm itself, emerging only years after Hermes's body exploded in a bang.

Looking at Surtr, he truly could not imagine how something like that could have grown from an enhanced human. But then again, as soon as he remembered Solomon, who was taller and even bigger than Hercules, maybe Beatrice's theory that the Aesir and Giants evolved from the enhanced humans was not so far-fetched. The only missing piece now was how they were able to harness the soul of a god inside of them… could it have developed along the way? Did Hermes's blood grow stronger throughout the years?

But still… just how far is this place in the future, for something like this to be able to happen? A hundred thousand years? If so… then what about the humans from the Seraphs' universe that they were warned about by Angela?

He was told by her and Evangeline that they were bound to come in the future… Have they?

...Or are they soon arriving?

"Haha!"

Van's thoughts were then disrupted as Surtr's fist was flung away from the ground; and with another loud bang, his fist was flung even higher to the sky as Gerald suddenly emerged from the ground, punching Surtr's fist away.

"Don't you dare join this fight, Van!"

"...Okay."

Hearing Gerald's words, Van just shrugged his shoulders as he decided to return to the Branch, but before he could take even a single step-- he felt a slight breeze waft through his face.

"..." Van then slowly turned around, only to see a young man standing behind him.

"...So much death," the young man then whispered as he too, turned his attention towards Van, "And for what?"

The young man's long black hair that reached to his waist slightly wriggled in the air as he slowly stepped forward, "I had the chance to pass by Dionysus in the Expanse on my way here-- and he had told me that someone wanted to send the Aesir a message. I figure that is you?"

Van looked at the young man from head to toe, and for some reason, he could not help but slightly lower his eyebrows as a strange feeling started to grow inside him.

The young man was wearing sandals, with an emblem the shape of a wing attached to its sides; he also had a pair of feathers adorning the side of his head, almost similar to the earrings he got from when he was in Africa.

"And you are?" Van then said as he looked at the young man straight in the eyes.

"I am called Hermod..." the young man then waved his hand, elegantly bowing his head towards Van as he introduced himself,

"...Messenger of the Gods."

"...Oh?" Hearing this, Van could not help but slightly raise an eyebrow, "Are you an Aesir?"

"I am," Hermod then nodded as he too, did not back down from Van's glare, "And I believe you have a message for us? What did you hope to achieve by creating chaos in Muspelheim and calling the progenitor of the Fire Giants?"

"You should ask Dionysus."

"I can reach Asgard faster than him," Hermod said as he suddenly disappeared from his spot, only to appear behind Van.

Van was going to turn around to look at him, but before he could do so, he once again disappeared, returning to his original spot. "..."

"I was flying through the Expanse when I heard a loud bang coming from Muspelheim; I found Dionysus, and then now, I found you," Hermod said before turning to look at Surtr, who was waving his hands wildly as he continued to fight Gerald, "And I believe that is your companion? He is the one who killed one of Thor's sons."

"He's not my companion," Van quickly said, "Our interests… just happen to align."

"And what may that be?"

"I believe that is none of your concern," Van shook his head as he turned his back from the young man, "The only thing you need to know is that what I seek from him, I also seek from your side…

...Stay away from the forest giants and do not involve them in whatever war you may and will have."

"You represent the Forest Giants?" Hermod blinked a couple of times as he looked at Van from head to toe, "How is that--"

Before Hermod could finish his words, a string of golden light suddenly appeared in front of his face. But before the light could hit him, he quickly disappeared, only to appear a few meters in front of Van.

"Father, are you alright!?"

The string of light then quickly faded, replaced by Vanya's fist.

"...I suppose."

Hearing her father's nonchalant response, a small hint of agitation could not help but build from her voice. There was already Surtr… and now, it would seem that an Aesir has joined the fray-- maybe they shouldn't have visited Muspelheim in the first place.

"...Father? Aren't you the mother of the forest giants?" Hermod then looked back and forth between Vanya and Van, only for his eyebrows to lower each time he did so, "This small human… is the Prime Progenitor of the forest giants? I heard of Artemis's death, why only now have you decided to show yourself?"

"My father does not need to answer your question, Aesir."

Once again, Van let out a sigh as he found himself being covered and protected by his daughter.

"But I need to know now," Hermod said as he took a step forward towards them, "After all, you will no longer be able to answer me...

...once you're dead."