Richard teleported me to Muspelheim's Bifrost, and from there, I used it to travel to the realm of the dead, Helheim.
Helheim was one of the most unique places in the world. Some depicted it as a burning domain; others as a realm of absolute coldness and ice. The latter is closer to the truth, only in the coldness part. For Helheim was cold, but not the same type of coldness that originated from ice and snow. No. It was the coldness of death.
Unlike other realms, Helheim only consisted of this plane. Its surface appeared to be some sort of grey soil, but upon closer inspection, the ground was made of people's remains. The sky was dark purple in color, with three black moons hanging high. Between the mountains of remains, a stone bridge floated, paving a way forward.
The cold wind of death passed by me, and I felt a chill like no other, and that's saying something considering that I am the Lord of Ice. Still, I moved on the pathway, as I would rather not fly around aimlessly in one of the more dangerous realms.
As I walked on, I looked over the edge and managed to see black wisps strolling in no particular direction. Some were humanoid, others were like beasts. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that those are the souls of the dead, shifting between existence and absolute death.
The Aesir have tasked a special force of spectral female soldiers, known as the Valkyries, to take the souls of those that believe in the Aesir and died fighting valiantly to a planet in Asgard called Valhalla. It is said that these souls would be called upon and fight with Odin in the Nordic doomsday, Ragnarok. As for those that don't, the majority of the dead, end up here, waiting judgement for some sort of afterlife.
After a few days, I reached a crossroad, leading to nine different paths. I assumed that each led to the hall of judgement for each of the Nine Realms. Above the circular connection, a gigantic crow hovered in the sky.
Judging by the lack of feathers around its neck, it looked more like a roc than a crow. While I was wondering where the test would be, I suddenly felt the unbearable urge to drop to my knees and kneel. In fact, my legs were already bending. I even found myself saying, "Mighty guardian, I, Orion Fistore, pledge to you my- Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
The crow lowered slightly and said to me in the common tongue, "You shall pledge your life to me."
"I will- Damn you, I will not pledge myself to you!" I shouted back.
"You shall pledge your life to me."
"I told you I won't."
"You will pledge servitude to me."
"Aren't you listening? I won't!"
"You will pledge servitude to me."
Despite my refusal, I still felt a hypnotic force trying to force me to pledge an oath of servitude to the crow. I realized right here and now that this was the test in of itself. The force was getting stronger and stronger with each passing second.
After a few minutes of the same words, the force was suddenly lifted off my mind, and I found myself back in the Bifrost room with the shard in my hand.
I smiled and fused the shard with my sword, exclaiming, "Only one more left!"
The Bifrost lit up, and I traveled back to Earth, Midgard.
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Updated on 10/5/2026