Mythology: Ragnarok

After regaining some strength, Izzy stood up again and looked at the scorched earth. He recalled every family in the town: the beautiful Grandma Lina, the Taylor family who often took care of him when he was a child, the blacksmith uncle who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside and always gave him discounts, Aaron, Abbott, Fuck, Milan... All of them were dead. Everyone he knew had disappeared. Only then did Izzy understand a truth: in this world, the weak cannot live, and only the strong can protect everything they have.

Izzy spent a day gathering the remaining remains of the town's residents together, and finally, with all her might, dug a large pit to bury them properly and apologized at their graves.

"I'm sorry, it was my family's feud that ruined you. I know nothing I say can make you forgive me. I can only swear here and now that as long as I, Izz Agreed, live, I will never give up avenging you and my parents!"

After burying the town's residents, Izzy found his home, a wooden house that had been razed to the ground. If it weren't for the fact that he could still see a bit of the house's foundation, Izzy would have almost never found this place that was once the most familiar to him.

Iz walked to his backyard, where the soil was still loose. Those bastards must have ransacked his house before they left. He wondered what had driven them to such madness. Iz walked to the northeast corner and took out the crystal his father had given him around his neck. The coal-like crystal suddenly emitted a faint light. Iz followed the light to an inconspicuous spot in the northeast corner. Then, the crystal's light suddenly intensified, emitting a dazzling white light, and at the same time, a spatial rift appeared in front of Iz.

Izzy stared in disbelief at the scene before him. Years later, he learned that his father had used spatial magic to transfer the items to other dimensional spaces. The crystal was like a key and a channel. Without the key, no matter how proficient you were in spatial magic, finding what Izzy's father had hidden would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

With a heavy heart, Izzy stepped into the crevice and found three items in front of her: an envelope, a tattered old book, and a cloth bag.

Izzy first opened the bag and found it full of crystals of various colors, which looked very valuable. This made Izzy guess that those guys might have come to the town for these treasures. After that, Izzy did not open the book, but simply put everything together, then left the strange space and took these things back to the cave where Izzy had hidden from the demon wolves.

The wolf's corpse was not destroyed, but now only its skeleton remains. However, its skull has obvious signs of damage, which should be the work of those who controlled it, probably to remove the magic crystal from its brain. Iz crawled into the narrow hole where he could feel safe for once. Then Iz put down the bag and opened it to take out other things.

Iz opened the envelope, for it was clearly written: "To Iz Only"

Iz could recognize the words written by his father when he opened the paper, and the contents were his father's last words to him.

“My dear son, Iz”

When you find the letter following my instructions, it means I am no longer alive. I am so sorry, my son. You shouldn't have to endure all of this. You were too young before, so we didn't want to tell you about the past. We didn't want your childhood to be filled with hatred. We wanted to tell you everything when you were grown up and had your own judgment, but I'm afraid it's too late.

Read the following contents carefully, and burn this letter after you know everything.

A few days ago, I discovered traces of the Church of Light in the vicinity, and I had a feeling that we probably couldn't escape this time, so I wrote this letter to tell you about our past, which we have always kept secret.

Your mother and I come from a mysterious organization called the Shadow Council, which is opposed to the Church of Light. Most of the members of the Shadow Council are orphans from all over the world who have been adopted by council members over the generations. We all share the surname 'Agred,' which means embracing the darkness in the dark language. The Shadow Council worships the dark god 'Hodr,' while the Church of Light worships the light god 'Baldr.'

Your mother and I are the adopted heirs of the current leader of the Shadow Council, 'Hosun Argrede'. Our childhood sweetheart relationship brought us together, but fate changed on the day you were born.

Seventeen years ago, on a night when the Church of Light mobilized all its forces, it launched a surprise attack on the Shadow Council when the council was weakened by the recent war with the evil god cult. In the end, the Shadow Council was destroyed. Your mother and I escaped with our own strength and the help of your adoptive father, Hosuen, and brought you, who was still an infant, here.

As for the cause of all this, it all stems from the Bible of the Dead in your hand. Originally, I was prepared to leave this book in that hidden space forever and then our family would leave it behind and fly away. But the fact that you can see this letter means that my worries have come true.

The Holy Bible of the Dead is something the deity worshipped by the Church of Light would destroy even if it meant casting a phantom image of himself in this place. The Shadow Council obtained it by chance, even somewhat bizarrely. The book fell into the territory under the jurisdiction of the Shadow Council like a comet and was subsequently picked up and obtained by our people. At first, the Shadow Council presented it to the Shadow God as an auspicious omen, but the Shadow God refused the gift and told us that it was the legacy left by an enemy he hated very much, and repeatedly ordered us to destroy it.

But... we ultimately succumbed to selfish motives, after all, this is a relic of the gods! Looking back now, it's probably all retribution. We outwardly obeyed the Shadow God's orders but inwardly defied them and kept it a secret, but somehow the Church of Light learned of its existence. Now, it's highly likely that there was a traitor among us. In short, what you have is the root of all this and the beginning of it all. Take it with you. Now, the Shadow Council is probably completely destroyed, and no one will be able to track its whereabouts anymore. I hope that one day you can decipher its secrets.

Iz, I explored your magical talent when you were young, but your talent was only barely passable and not outstanding, so... I don't want you to embark on a path of revenge because of the grudges of our previous generation. Remember, revenge without reason is a fool's game.

The magic crystals in the sack represent all the savings your mother and I have. Take them with you, but remember, "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." Remember this well. The space crystal I gave you has a storage function. Drip your blood onto it, and it will store items according to your wishes.

With this money, one could become a wealthy landowner somewhere, or study in the magical empire of Augustus and become a rich and powerful magician. Even becoming a magician wasn't necessary; the life of a magic apprentice there was something most ordinary people could only dream of in a lifetime.

No matter what, live on, live well! Live on, along with your mother and me, in peace. You are the last bloodline of the Shadow Council, the last member of the Agred family. As the last spark, you must carry on this name.

Love, your father Tucker Agreed