Fear.

That was probably the only word that Hermod was trying to find but refuses to still acknowledge. Of course, his denial was with reason; As the fastest Aesir in all of Asgard, he had never once needed to fear for his life-- as even the mightiest of them will never be able to catch up to him even if they wanted to.

He was far from the strongest, but because of his speed, he didn't need to be. An hour ago, he was doing his normal duties, scouring the expanse of the 9 realms and seeing if there was anything that needed the attention of the Aesir.

As one of the few Aesir that was capable of freely traversing through the expanse of space, the task of being the Messenger of the Aesir would obviously be placed onto him-- and he had done so for tens of millennia.

The Aesir have actually been more alert than usual because of the looming threat of the Transported, especially since they killed one of the Progenitors a few tens of years ago.

And as soon as he heard the weird ringing sound echoing from Muspelheim, he quickly rushed to check what it could be. His curiosity was piqued even further when he passed by Dionysus, whose panic almost exuded from his fat exterior.

He was expecting a Transported to be wreaking havoc in Muspelheim; and he did find one-- just not the kind he was expecting.

Hermod then once again focused his attention on the small young man floating in front of him, the one that the progenitor of the forest giants called 'father'.

He had thought nothing of him at first, because at most, he assumed that his strength would be equal to that of the Vanir. But now that he was right in front of him-- his body was saying otherwise.

"Is the name Hermes, Evangeline, or Azrael familiar to you?"

"W… what did you do?"

"I think I am the one asking questions now…

...copycat."

Hermod could not help but take in a small gulp as the young man called Van slowly made a step in the air towards him.

"What… do you hope to achieve by doing-- !!!"

Once again, Hermod felt a slight tinge of pain coming from his cheek. He saw Van slightly flicker from his spot, but other than that, all he saw was a blur. And now, once again, Van was holding another piece of his headgear.

"Didn't I tell you I am the one asking the questions now, copycat?" Van repeated his words as he placed Hermod's hair accessory on his head, "Also, this is mine now."

"..." Hermod's eyes scanned the skies. He could probably escape if he wanted to, he just needed something to distract Van and he was sure he wouldn't be able to follow him through space. Hermod didn't want to admit it, but Van was faster than him… so he needed a big distraction for him to be able to escape-- and Muspelheim had just that.

"Why won't you die!?"

Surtr's roars reverberated throughout the entirety of Muspelheim, causing its magma to shoot out from its core. Right now, all the inhabitants of the realm were outside, all kneeling as their Progenitor had finally shown himself after a thousand years of isolation.

Hermod just needed a single chance, he just needed to hold Van for a few seconds and he would be able to run back to Asgard to warn them of a new threat.

"I don't recognize the names you mentioned, Prime Progenitor."

And so, for now, he needed to stall some time until that chance showed itself to him.

"Then where did you get the idea to dress like that?"

"This is our traditional outfit, I dress like this to honor the earliest of the Aesir."

"Earliest… of the Aesir?" Van placed his hand on his chin as he once again looked at Hermod from head to toe, "Are any of them still alive?"

"King Odin," Hermod said as he glanced towards Surtr, who was still busy fighting with a golden-haired individual, "He is the only Primal left from the ancient times. You do not have to worry; once you submit to our rule, I am certain that he will meet with you."

"I see," Van muttered. Odin… was it possible he was one of the enhanced humans that were still in the reservoir when Hermes's body exploded? Or perhaps an early descendant of them?

If so, it would make sense why they would dress that way-- the Aesir… they were just a more powerful evolution of the Circle. The leader of the Circle worshipping Hermes's corpse was almost proof of that.

"Do you know what the Circle is?"

"Do not undermine my intelligence, Prime Progenitor-- I know what a shape is."

"...Hm," Van could only furrow his eyebrows from Hermod's answer. It seems that if he wanted to find an answer to this world, then he would need to get it from the big boss himself-- Odin.

"Wait…" Van then muttered; there was one more person that was searching for the secrets of this world--

"...Do you know someone named Athena?"

"Athena… I might," Hermod let out a short but deep breath as he looked Van straight in the eyes, "But I am afraid our time is up. Surtr, by the order of King Odin-- eliminate this man in front of me!"

Hermod finally had the chance to get Surtr's attention as their battle moved closer towards them. And as soon as his words reached Surtr's ears, he quickly rushed towards Van-- causing Gerald to almost stumble as his fist suddenly lost its target.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Prime Progenitor of the Forest Giants," Hermod then bowed as the scenery in front of him changed to that of Surtr's fist, shooting straight towards Van's petite body, "I would be sure to get your message across to the rest of the Ae--"

"That was your plan?"

"What!?" Before Hermod could even move an inch from his location, he once again heard Van's voice, still coming from the direction where he was previously at. He quickly looked back towards him, only to see Surtr's knuckles just short of an inch from hitting Van's body.

Without Surtr distracting Van, his plan of gaining time to escape is completely nonexistent. But for sure, another chance would present itself, he just needed to be patient. And so, he just let out a long and deep breath-- trying to hide the growing anxiety that was slowly crawling throughout his whole body.

"Do you not recognize that man?"

With the release of his breath, Hermod quickly looked towards where Van was pointing to, only to see the golden-haired human that Surtr was fighting holding the fiery colossus' foot.

"I guess your plan was to distract me?" Van then let out a sigh of his own as he shook his head, "But the only thing you did was distract Surtr."

"..."

"I don't know the extent of the Aesir's strength. But that golden-haired monkey over there?" Van once again pointed towards Gerald, "He killed someone called Magni."

"That's him!?"

Hearing Van's words, the last confidence that Hermod was holding on started to shatter; and as if in queue to his misfortune, Surtr's body suddenly lifted through the air.

"Motherfucker, you dare turn your back on me, the great Gerald!?" And as soon as the fiery roar exploded throughout the heat of Muspelheim, its inhabitants could all see their progenitor being swung in the air.

The only thing they could do was grasp what they could as a shattering tremble caused the whole of Muspelheim to shiver as it moved from the location that it had held in the 9 Realms ever so slightly.

The people at the Branch, which were also watching Surtr go wild, also felt the Branch shift as it was still attached to Muspelheim.

"G… Gah!"

"I win! Hahaha! I will let you live so you can suffer the humiliation of being defeated by a being smaller than your fingers, you shit!" Gerald roared as he lightly kicked Surtr on the face several times, "Let your burning mongrels worship you now!"

"Gerald!"

"The fuck do you want!?"

Gerald then clicked his tongue as Van's voice suddenly reached his ears, "I'm celebrating here, you fucker!"

"Do you think you can throw hard enough for it to reach Asgard!?"

"What was that!?"

"If I give you someone's head, do you think you can kick it all the way to Muspelheim!?"

"...In a single try!?"

"Yes!"

"Maybe cut several parts so I can practice!"

"Alright, catch!"

"!!!"

Hermod, who was quietly observing the two's somewhat sinister conversation, could not help but take in a deep breath as he saw the object that Van had just thrown towards the golden-haired young man.

If he wasn't mistaken…

...that was his leg.

And with just a turn of his head, he confirmed that it truly was. He could see his left leg wriggling, as if a thousand worms were dancing around it as it quickly restored and healed itself.

"...What did--"

"Ah fuck! That was Vanaheim! Send another leg!"

"!!!"

Hearing Gerald's words, Hermod quickly tried to fly away-- but as soon as he turned around, Van was already blocking his path.

"You know…" Van muttered as he grabbed Hermod's arm, "I'm actually a sort of Messenger myself."

"W… what?" Hermod found himself stuttering every word he wished to speak.

"The Message I wanted to deliver, I will deliver it myself…

...I will deliver your head to the Aesir."

"Stop spouting corny one-liners and throw me another limb!"