Time seemed to both fly and crawl, going fast and slow for different people.

At some point, Promise set down his brush. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

At the same, the battle between Jörmungandr, the World Serpent and Thor, the God of Thunder on the field, reached its peak.

Both combatants were injured, their fury driving them to the brink. Just as Thor with his eyes fierce, prepared to unleash his full power and fight Jörmungandr to the death—

"That’s enough, Jörmungandr."

Promise stood up and stepped out of Loki’s protective ring of fire.

The poisonous air that even gods feared, as well as the shockwaves from the battle between the two, now seemed unable to harm him in the slightest.

Because the painting had been completed.

So, in this moment, Promise had already stolen...or in other words earned, a portion of Jörmungandr’s power.

The venom that terrified the gods, the monstrous strength—it was now his.

"The painting is finished," Promise said, standing on the shore and holding up the canvas for Jörmungandr to see.

Ignoring Thor’s stunned gaze, he smiled at Jörmungandr, even with a hint of pride. "See? I didn’t lie. I painted you well, didn’t I? After all, not just anyone can be the subject of my paintings.

To be painted by me is an honor in itself!"

His voice wasn’t loud, but his words carried clearly to everyone present.

He spoke such words to one of the most feared monsters of Norse mythology and one of its mightiest gods,

To be honest, they might have seemed arrogant, but they felt natural, even inevitable.

"So, stop now, Jörmungandr. Go back for now... I’m sorry for disturbing your rest. Next time we meet, I’ll bring you an offering as an apology."

Hearing his words, Jörmungandr turned its head and let out a roar at Thor, but the sound wasn’t one of anger. It was more like an argument, a defense of its actions.

While Thor stood there, unable to react at all, Promise nodded at his words and continued, "Yes, yes, I know. I know you are very strong, and you’d never lose to him. But this whole mess started because of me. If you keep fighting, I’ll be in big trouble."

As he spoke, Promise even blinked at Jörmungandr, feigning a pitiful expression.

Seeing that the serpent was still hesitating, glaring at Thor, he couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

"Please, Jörmungandr. I’m begging you! I promise, next time I’ll bring you a proper offering to make up for this!"

Hearing this, Jörmungandr looked at Promise, who was still blinking at him, then glanced at the utterly confused Thor.

With a dissatisfied snort, the serpent turned and plunged back into the sea.

The churning waters finally calmed, and peace returned.

At this moment, Odin, the king of the gods, the All-Father, who had been standing at the gates of Asgard, finally let out a sigh of relief.

After all, if the battle had continued, he would have had no choice but to step forward and intervene.

Because if the fight were to continue like this, Odin knew all too well that, even in the best-case scenario, the fight would have ended in mutual destruction or a stalemate between Thor and Jörmungandr.

But if Odin had stepped in to fight alongside Thor against Jörmungandr, Loki would never have stood idly by.

After all, no matter what their relations were, no matter how they hated him, there was no denying one thing,

Jörmungandr was his child!

Moreover, Hel and Fenrir, the God-Slaying Wolf, would undoubtedly have joined the fray as well.

This could have sparked a full-scale war among the gods, accelerating the arrival of Ragnarok—the prophesied Twilight of the Gods.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario was avoided.

Feeling a bit relieved, Odin couldn’t help but turn his gaze to the one who had caused all this chaos—Promise, who was still smiling as if nothing had happened.

At this moment, looking at the boy, Odin really felt the strong urge to hurl Gungnir, his eternal spear.

At the same time, a deep sense of regret welled up within him.

Although he had known from the beginning that Promise and Loki would get along well, but now Odin realized that "well" was an understatement.

This guy was even more troublesome than Loki!

It was as if, if left unchecked for three days, he would be tearing the roof off by the seventh.

To be honest, looking at quiet behavior

for the previous years, Odin thought that he had overestimated the danger and was worrying too much.

But now, with a brush in hand, Promise had nearly brought about the Ragnarok.

Even though Odin had mentally prepared himself for this, he still felt a wave of dizziness.

The hope he had for the future was now overshadowed by a sense of despair.

Meanwhile, down below, everyone else was finally snapping out of their daze.

Shini, the little bird, looked around in confusion, her tiny head filled with question marks as she turned her gaze to Promise.

Thrud and the straightforward Thor were still processing what had just happened, their minds blank as they stared at Promise, clearly unable to comprehend the situation in front of them.

As for Loki, the only one who had kept up with the chaos, he probably was in the most complicated mood right now.

While he was delighted by Promise’s ability to stir up trouble, the lingering presence of Jörmungandr and Hel left him feeling conflicted.

And so, there was an extremely strange silence at the scene, and everyone’s eyes were focused on Promise.

And how did the boy react to all this?

"Well... isn’t it beautiful?"

Promise scratched his head and smiled, holding up the painting in his hand for everyone to see.

By the way, he added casually,

"Oh, by the way, Shini, Thrud, why are you all here?"

His tone was so light and casual, as if everything that had just happened was completely normal.

Did Promise really not understand the magnitude of what he had caused?

Of course he did, he wasn’t stupid.

But this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

So, with plenty of experience under his belt, Promise chose the most effective strategy: playing dumb.

......