After exchanging pleasantries with Odin, the Light Elf Christine abruptly interrupted their subtle probing.
"Human, how did you find this place? And how did you bypass the magical barrier and enter my domain?"
William gave Odin a puzzled look, unsure if Christine was simply blunt or if she genuinely didn't welcome him.
"Don't mind her," Odin said with a smile, shaking his head. "Christine means no harm. It's just that she was born and raised on this planet, and aside from meeting me on rare occasions, her only interactions have been with magical elves."
Christine frowned slightly at Odin's explanation.
She wasn't completely oblivious to social etiquette.
But ruling over a bunch of magical elves had never required her to be polite, so even though she realized her tone might have been inappropriate, she had no intention of explaining herself.
As for William, he wasn't about to reveal that he had sent a spider drone to infiltrate the town.
"I placed a tracking spell on a little elf named Bell, which led me here," William said casually, shrugging.
"As for the invisible magical barrier—"
He spread his hands, letting two orbs of energy manifest—one radiating warm golden light, the other shimmering with lush green vitality.
"This kind of barrier, a fusion of light and nature magic that's already on the verge of collapse, isn't difficult for me to break through."
As William expected, the moment his magic appeared, a fiery gleam shone in Odin's one remaining eye.
Christine, who had shown nothing but indifference toward him, suddenly beamed with joy.
She hurried forward and reached out, placing her hand directly into the glowing green sphere of nature magic.
After silently sensing the energy for a few moments, she spoke excitedly.
"Yes, yes! This is a self-healing nature spell!"
Without any regard for etiquette, Christine grabbed William's arm with both hands, looking at him with eager anticipation.
"Please, Mr. Devonshire, if it's within your power, use all your magic to cast a large-scale Plant Awakening spell over the town!"
"All my magic?" William immediately shook his head.
"Not a chance. If I did that, the entire town would be swallowed by vegetation."
"That powerful?"
Instead of being discouraged, Christine's eyes lit up even more, her grip tightening.
"If only I had an affinity for nature magic, this town and its protective barrier wouldn't have deteriorated to such a state…"
But William wasn't the kind of person who did favors without expecting something in return—especially not just because someone was exceptionally beautiful.
As Christine began to wonder why he hadn't acted yet, Odin, being the old fox that he was, immediately understood.
"William, if you help Christine with this, I guarantee that Asgard will no longer dispute your ownership of the Tesseract."
Ha, so he's using something that's no longer his as a bargaining chip?
William smirked at Odin, who remained unfazed and patiently continued,
"Even if the Tesseract has acknowledged you, you can't deny that Asgard possessed it for at least several millennia.
By all rights, it belongs to Asgard, doesn't it?"
Damn it.
If Odin had threatened or ordered him, William wouldn't have cared in the slightest.
Nobody could force him to do something unless they offered a deal he truly wanted.
But Odin had taken the reasonable approach, making it nearly impossible for William to argue back.
Suppressing his frustration, William shook off Christine's grip and ascended into the sky above the town.
Still, his cautious nature got the better of him.
Before casting any spells, he summoned multiple Eikon Forms, creating over a hundred magical clones scattered across hundreds of meters.
The sudden appearance of so many Williams floating in the air startled some of the more timid magical elves, causing them to shriek in terror.
"Silence."
A single word, spoken calmly yet imbued with magic, instantly spread to everyone's ears.
The entire town of magical elves found themselves unable to speak.
Even Odin was briefly silenced, only breaking free when a golden aura flared around him.
Christine, however, remained unaffected.
Unlike Odin, she didn't show the slightest hint of anger at being silenced.
Instead, she was delighted by the display of William's magical prowess, her face filled with anticipation.
Hidden among his many clones, William had no intention of casting the spell himself unless it was absolutely necessary.
But he still went through the motions, performing several intricate hand gestures in sync with his clones.
In an instant, a massive dome of soft green light spread across the town, covering a radius of one kilometer.
"By Odin's beard, what's happening inside?"
Outside the town, Thor and Loki watched as an enormous magical dome materialized before them.
At the same time, the once-cracked magical barrier surrounding the town began rapidly regenerating, healing itself in response to the overwhelming surge of green energy.
Inside the town, countless tendrils of nature magic cascaded down like gentle rain.
Everywhere the green light touched, plants sprouted and flourished.
Flowers bloomed, bore fruit, withered, and then regrew in a never-ending cycle.
Even the wooden houses began to sprout branches and leaves.
As the vegetation reached a certain level of growth, William noticed something unusual.
A dozen of the fastest-growing and sturdiest plants had started taking on humanoid shapes—developing heads, limbs, and even facial features.
Just as he was wondering what was happening, Christine's voice rang in his ears, filled with excitement.
"This is wonderful! This is wonderful! With these Forest Gods, we can finally rebuild the temple!"
Odin, on the other hand, narrowed his gaze at William, his expression unreadable.
He hadn't expected William's magical abilities to be this profound.
Even Odin's own wife, Frigga, couldn't compare to William in terms of magic.
Still, rather than feeling threatened, Odin saw this as an opportunity.
The stronger William was in nature magic, the more useful he would be to Odin.
However, Christine's earlier mention of the Dark Elves weighed on his mind.
He did not want her prophecy to come true—
That after planting the Life Tree, the long-vanished Dark Elves would suddenly return, plunging the Nine Realms into chaos and shattering his final hopes.
I should check on the seal of the Aether, Odin thought grimly.
It had been thousands of years—what if the seal had weakened?
As long as the Aether remained sealed, even if the Dark Elves still existed, they wouldn't be a threat to Asgard.
Odin was lost in thought when Christine suddenly cried out in alarm.
"Stop! Stop, William!"
Looking up, Odin's expression darkened.
The Forest Gods had started blooming—sprouting massive, otherworldly flowers all over their bodies.
Damn it!
Odin cursed internally.
After a brief moment of hesitation, he grabbed Christine by the arm.
"Our only hope now is that William runs out of magic before it's too late."
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/Mutter
For every 50 Power Stones, one extra chapter will be released on Saturday.