Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Suddenly, as I was resting and admiring my new, fully healed body, the familiar system notifications echoed in my mind.
At first, I thought they were about the ice bear I had just killed, but no, they were different.
They came from the Nexus system. The chat message feature.
"What?!!"
The moment I opened it, I was shocked to see hundreds of messages, all from the three goddesses.
Lora, Lucy, and Katarina.
Phew... I guess Augusta managed to survive, and she must have told them about me being MIA.
...
[CuteCat: MORGANA! Where are you?! Are you okay?!]
[CuteCat: Answer me! Please!]
[CuteCat: I swear if you died, I'll bring you back just to kill you myself!]
...
More than one hundred messages from Lora. The little loli is sure freaking out.
...
[OneMoreGlass: Darling, if you are reading this, I hope you are okay. Lucy is a mess, and Lora... well... she started to fall into that previous state of depression again.]
[OneMoreGlass: Just know that we are looking for you. We will find you.]
...
"OneMoreGlass" is the online username of the Goddess of Wine, Katarina, and unlike Lora, she sent a few messages, but they were all meaningful.
I'm glad they are okay, but at the same time, I feel a pang of guilt. I didn't mean to worry them. I didn't expect things to go so south.
And then Lucy's messages.
...
[LucyOP: Morgana. You have 10 seconds to respond before I upload some of your 'exclusive' horny activities to the Nexus network.]
[LucyOP: 9...]
[LucyOP: 8...]
[LucyOP: Hey! Why are you not answering?!]
...
"She really is a mess," I chuckled and quickly typed a reply to all of them.
[Morgana: Yo!... Relax, everyone. I'm fine. Just got a little... sidetracked. Met a new friend. An ice bear. He was delicious. Be back soon.]
I knew this message would cause more questions than answers, but it was the best I could do for now. I couldn't exactly tell them I'd picked a fight with Odin and was currently lost in some frozen hell dimension.
The replies were almost instantaneous.
[CuteCat: MORGANA! You're alive! Don't you ever do that to me again! I was so worried! Sniffle!... sniffle!]
[OneMoreGlass: Thank the primordials. We were worried sick. 'Sidetracked' is an understatement, darling. We almost picked up a fight with the entire Norse pantheon.]
[LucyOP: I did pick a fight with one of their lesser gods, and used it to justify a ban. No one from the Norse pantheon can now enter my gaming hall.]
"Heh~... Good old Lucy," I smirked. Trust her to turn my disappearance into a business opportunity and a power play. When I met her, she already had a history with them.
That's why she was happy when I gifted her the severed cock of some Norse god that I fucked in the arena.
I typed another quick message.
[Morgana: Appreciate the backup, Lucy. And Lora, I'm sorry I worried you. I'll bring back a souvenir. Maybe a frostbitten dick for Lucy's collection.]
[CuteCat: Just come back safely, you idiot!]
[Morgana: Oh! Grape Juice, can I ask you to inform my family that I'm okay? Especially my sister.]
[OneMoreGlass: Already done, dear. I contacted her the moment Augusta returned and explained the situation. Your sister... well, she's 'concerned.' Let's leave it at that. If not for those two blonde advisors, she would have jumped into Nexus and started looking for you.]
I sighed.
My twin sister Victoria always loses control when it comes to my safety. She is a yandere, after all.
[Morgana: Thanks, Kat. I owe you one.]
[LucyOP: You owe all of us! Now get your ass back here so we can properly punish you for making us worry.]
[LucyOP: Where are you anyway?]
[Morgana: That's... a good question.]
It was true. I had no idea where I was.
'Herma, any luck?' I asked in my mind, hoping that my assistant had finally finished scanning the area.
[Scanning complete.] Herma's mental voice was, as always, devoid of emotion when she was in a bad mood. [Unable to identify location. Something is interfering with my abilities. Local energy signatures are... chaotic.]
'So? No luck? Great.'
[Morgana: No idea, Lucy. Some frozen hell-hole full of fog. I only met an ice bear. He was tough but dumb.]
[CuteCat: Frozen hell-hole?! What if you freeze?! Should I come and get you?!]
[Morgana: No, Lora. It's fine. I'm a goddess of breeding; cold doesn't bother me that much. Besides, I just had a nice, warm meal. I'm toasty.]
[OneMoreGlass: Frozen... fog... Morgana, are you in Niflheim?]
"Niflheim?" I spoke the name aloud, my breath misting in the frigid air. The name was somehow familiar yet alien.
[Morgana: What's that? Some kind of new ice cream flavor?]
[OneMoreGlass: No, you ditz. It's one of the Nine Realms. The primordial realm of ice, fog, and mist. The foundation of the Norse cosmos.]
My blood ran cold, and not just from the ambient temperature.
Niflheim.
The Bifrost had shattered, throwing me through the void, and I'd landed here. Of all the damn places in the Nine Realms, I had to land in the one that was basically the Norse version of the Arctic Circle from hell.
[Morgana: Oh. Fuck.]
[LucyOP: You think?! Niflheim is where the dishonorable dead go! It's Hel's domain! You're basically in the goddess of death's front yard!]
Hel?
Never heard of her. Then again, being the goddess of death is really a pain in the ass.
'Maybe she is also a slut? And we can be friends? Or at least fuckbuddies?' I thought to myself.
[Morgana: Relax, Lucy. I'm not dead. Yet. And even if I run into this Hel chick, I'll handle it. I can be very persuasive.]
I said with a mental image of me bending this Hel over her icy throne.
[OneMoreGlass: Morgana, this isn't a joke. Hel is not someone to be trifled with. And if you're really in Niflheim, then there's something else you need to know.]
[Morgana: What?]
[OneMoreGlass: The fog in Niflheim isn't just fog. It's a magical attack spell in its own right. It has a bunch of effects, but the most dangerous one is that it erases your memory. The longer you stay, the more you forget. About yourself, your powers, your loved ones, until you become a part of the fog.]
[CuteCat: MORGANA! GET OUT OF THERE! RIGHT NOW!]
For a moment, I felt a flicker of genuine fear. Not for my life—I'd died more times than I could count—but for my memories. The thought of forgetting Lora, of forgetting Lucy, of forgetting my sister, of forgetting my purpose... that was a fate worse than death.
'I can't have my memories erased again,' I thought as I opened the Nexus system, attempting to use its teleportation function.
Unfortunately, it didn't work.
[Morgana: I can't. The Nexus won't let me teleport out. Something is blocking me. I think it's the local laws or something.]
[OneMoreGlass: Yes, that makes sense. Niflheim is a primordial realm. It's one of the only two realms in the Nine Realms that have the right to deny Nexus access.]
[LucyOP: Then I'm coming to get you!]
[Morgana: No, Lucy. Don't. If you come here, you might get trapped too. And I don't want to have to save your perverted ass.]
[LucyOP: ...]
[OneMoreGlass: She's right, Lucy. It's too risky. We need to find another way.]
I stared at the chat, my mind racing.
I was trapped. In a realm that wanted to eat my memories. With no easy way out.
This was... bad.
But then, a slow, wicked grin spread across my face.
Bad?
No.
This was interesting.
[Morgana: Don't worry, ladies. I've got a plan. If I recall correctly, the Bifrost isn't the only way of traveling between the realms.]
[LucyOP: What are you planning?]
[Morgana: Let's just say I'm going to... find a really big tree or have a nice chat with a certain death goddess.]
[OneMoreGlass: Morgana, no! Don't do anything reckless!]
Kat definitely didn't like my plan. But I've already made up my mind.
[Morgana: Too late for that, Grape Juice.]
[Morgana: Oh, and don't forget to inform my family about my situation. Tell them that there is no need to worry. See you soon.]
With that, I closed the chat, severing the connection. I needed to focus.
'Alright, Herma. Tell me why the Nexus' system is fucked up.'
Ding!
[There is no reason for the system to be 'fucked up', as you so crudely put it.] Herma's mental voice was laced with digital ice. [This realm is simply outside of the Nexus's standard operational parameters. It is governed by rules that predate the system itself. Think of it as trying to run a modern operating system on a stone tablet.]
"..."
'So I'm basically stuck with you as my only source of entertainment,' I said with a smirk as I walked out of the cave.
[Fortunately for you, that's not the case,] Herma replied. [The Nexus can't be used to get you out, but you can still use your Breeder system.]
"!!!" My eyes lit up with excitement.
The Breeder system.
My own personal cheat code.
I immediately opened it, and to my relief, it worked.
"Hehehe~... Let's see if this foggy realm can handle my horniness."