Chapter 1 Facing the Invitation

Vivian's first reaction to Claude's invitation was a heightened sense of wariness.

With over ten thousand years of experience, she had witnessed all the major upheavals on this planet, and in recent years, those on other planets as well. She wasn't a timid person, but she found this Claude to be very strange, suspiciously so.

A young demon hunter of Bai Huo's generation, even if he possessed astonishing talent in magic and combat skills, would lack the necessary experience and wisdom—at least, theoretically, such a young person would. But this Claude clearly didn't fit that profile, and he frankly admitted that there was "something else" in his soul. Faced with this situation, Vivian couldn't help but ask, "Before I go with you, let me ask: Who exactly are you? Are you Claude? Or something else? If you're some old geezer, you can be frank and we can talk. I don't think there's any creature older than me on this planet. Perhaps we're old acquaintances."

"I am indeed Claude," the young demon hunter smiled. "The genuine article. But I've also received an additional inheritance, one that coexists with Claude's soul, allowing me to know ancient secrets and prompting me to extend this invitation to you at this very moment, in this very place. Please come with me. I intend to take you to meet the master of that inheritance."

"We're all going with you?" Hao Ren pointed to himself and Lily beside him. "Not all of us here are reliable."

"Everyone," the young demon hunter simply nodded, his gaze sweeping over Bai Huo and Tutankhamun as well. "All those who appear before me at this moment, in this place, are to be invited. This is the edict passed down six thousand years ago."

More of this trans-temporal nonsense!

Hao Ren couldn't help but feel a chill. He was most averse to situations where guys who had been dead for thousands or even tens of thousands of years left behind prophecies about what would happen in a certain year or month, because destiny and prophecy were the most sinister and troublesome things in his mind. And when he became part of such a prophecy, he felt even more uneasy. But Claude had already gone this far, so he couldn't pass up this opportunity. In the end, he steeled himself and nodded. "Alright, I'll go with you."

Thus, the "young" demon hunter, already shrouded in mystery, led the group out of the ritual hall and into the depths behind it via a secret passage. On the way, Hao Ren couldn't help but lean over to Bai Huo and ask, "Seriously, what kind of person was Claude before?"

"Like I said, I didn't have much contact with him," Bai Huo frowned. "Before joining the Elder Council, he was a quiet, introverted guy. After joining, he followed the strict rules and lived a life of seclusion like the saints. According to the rules, the saint's attendants can't marry, can't own property, can't leave the Northern Territory, and shouldn't even leave the Spirit World Clock Tower unless necessary. How would I know what changes someone like that underwent?"

Bai Huo and Hao Ren didn't lower their voices much, so Claude heard everything clearly. But the young attendant didn't mind at all, and he patiently explained, "Every saint's attendant is appointed through a ritual. The old attendant steps down at the ritual, and the new attendant receives blessings, and some ancient memories are passed down to the successor through this ritual. The history of the demon hunters is too long. We're the longest-surviving race on this planet, and certain secrets must be passed down in a secure manner."

Hao Ren casually responded, and eventually, under Claude's guidance, they arrived at a chamber.

Claude stopped at the chamber door and activated the heavy, ancient, and solid door, which silently floated upwards. "Please enter. An ancient one has something to say to you."

Hao Ren and Vivian exchanged a glance, then walked into the room side by side.

They were immediately taken aback by what they saw inside.

The perfectly circular room contained no furniture, only a large, altar-like structure in the center, upon which rested a massive head, at least two meters tall. The head was old and shrunken, with white hair, deep wrinkles, and a dignified air on its dark red face.

Just a head.

Lily, who came in next, was also startled, but then, with the goofy and dauntless spirit of a husky, she stepped forward to examine the head. She wanted to see if the altar beneath the head concealed a neck and body, but just as she was about to approach, the head slowly opened its eyes.

A pair of slightly cloudy but still intelligent eyes slowly scanned Hao Ren and his group, and then they heard a voice directly in their minds: "You have come. It seems this disaster has been resolved by you."

Hao Ren stared at the head for a moment before suddenly realizing what it was: a Guardian Giant!

A sibling of Mu Lu and Réméndousa, a loyal protector of the Creation Goddess, a Guardian Giant—but only a head.

The others clearly recognized the head's race as well, but they realized that the situation was unclear, so no one rashly mentioned the names of the Creation Goddess and the Firstborn. Even Lily, the scatterbrain, tried to cover her mouth: she almost blurted out the word "Guardian," but thankfully she reacted quickly enough.

Vivian cautiously met the Giant's gaze, unsure whether this Guardian who had ended up on Earth had also suffered memory disruption during his passage through the Wall of Reality, like other aliens. "Are you..."

"Old friend, you've lost your memory again, as I expected," the Giant's voice came again, gentle with a hint of amusement. "Well, there are many faces I'm seeing for the first time, so let me introduce myself: you may call me Mimir."

"Mimir?!" Lily blurted out. "The Mimir from Norse mythology who guarded the Well of Wisdom, got tricked by Odin, and was chopped up by the Vanir gods?"

Once Lily's tongue started wagging, no one could stop her. Before Hao Ren could react, she had already blurted out these thoughtless words. However, the Giant's head didn't seem angry at all. The massive head merely smiled. "That was an accident. The clumsy Haenir shouldn't have touched the machinery. The solar prism of Vanaheimr melted my body. A regrettable loss, but my head is doing quite well, and..."

The Giant's head spoke humorously, and at the same time, many runes suddenly lit up on the floor near the altar. Illuminated by the runes, various tools floated out from the corners of the room, moving nimbly in the air.

"I can still take care of myself."

Hao Ren stared wide-eyed. "So... the giants in Norse mythology are actually Guar... like you?"

He felt something was wrong as soon as he asked the question, and then he instantly realized: Guardian Giants were such powerful beings that, even without advanced technology, these demigods possessed the power to crush mortal races. If only one Guardian Giant was stranded among those ancient "gods," it would be fine. Without equipment, they weren't as powerful as the Firstborn and could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. But if the giants in Norse mythology were all these Guardians...

Then they would have conquered the mythological era long ago, and there would have been no war between the demon hunters and the gods.

Sure enough, Mimir smiled. "It seems these stories have been misinterpreted, as I expected. There is only one Wisdom Giant, and that is Mimir. The other giants are different from me."

Vivian had been serious since the beginning, trying to recall her confused memories, but she couldn't remember anything about Mimir. Or rather, she remembered knowing a "Wisdom Giant" from the Norse pantheon, but she couldn't remember anything about this Giant's appearance, life, or how she met him. She couldn't help but pat her head. "This is terrible. I can't remember anything about you. Were you captured by the demon hunters?"

Although Mimir's true identity was a demigod guardian created by the Creation Goddess, in the Earth's mythological system, he was a member of Norse mythology, and the demon hunters ended Norse mythology—so the only explanation for Mimir's head appearing in the Spirit World Clock Tower was that he had been captured.

"Initially, yes," Mimir slowly replied. "But later, I stayed willingly. They needed my wisdom, my knowledge, and my advice, and I needed a safe place to live. Especially after learning about their history, learning about the reasons for their hunts, learning about the many secrets they kept, I couldn't leave—these reckless little creatures had touched things they shouldn't have. I don't have the power to lift the curse, but I can at least delay its onset until my old friend came here to solve the remaining problems. Now it seems my wait was worthwhile, although the process doesn't seem to be as I imagined."