Licht said, "OK then."
Liebe said, "Excuse me. I will be in the Empire today. I have some work there till like 12 or 12:30."
Licht said, "You sure you have work there till 12:30, or are you just trying to avoid Aunt Lilith's history class?"
Liebe said, "Both."
Licht said, "Listen, I know how you feel about Aunt Lilith, but running won't help, OK? So be in class."
Liebe said, "Fine. I will try to make it. Alright? Nope—"
Licht said, "You have to, alright? Or else—"
Liebe said, "Fine then. I will be here before class starts at 12:15."
Licht said, "Thanks."
Liebe said, "Dark Magic: Dark Castling!" As he vanished.
In his place was Horn.
Horn said, "Greetings, Mr. Tiny Testicles."
Licht said, "Mine aren't tiny, OK?"
Horn said, "When you have lived as long as I have and have seen the world from my point of view, if yours were average, the human race would have gone extinct by now."
Licht said, "OK, OK. Now turn into Liebe and let's go to class."
Horn said, "Of course." As she turned into Liebe.
Licht said, "Wait, can you turn into anyone?"
Horn said, "Possible."
Licht said, "Can you turn into me?"
Horn said, "No. In order for me to do that, I need a piece of your flesh and blood at least weighing around 2 mg."
Licht said, "Is that so? How much did Liebe need?"
Horn said, "I took his flesh and blood when he was 5, 12 years ago. At that time, around .019 mg was enough."
Licht said, "OK then."
Horn said, "My transformations aren't illusions. Rather, it's genuine. And I can even recreate the target's retina and fingerprints. It's a perfect copy without flaws."
Licht said, "Wait, then that night at the capital—"
Horn said, "I combined the flesh of various Abyssal Zone monsters to achieve that form. Of course, it held strength, but nowhere good enough to face Asten. So I needed to use parts of my true power. My true form was revealed to Asten for an instant, so I had no choice but to erase his memories of certain parts. I needed to use the power. It's been a thousand years since I have been gathering my strength, trying to regain my true form."
Licht said, "What exactly is your true form?"
Horn said, "Many. I don't just have one true form. I am many. An angel. Absolute strength. Wings to soar through the sky. Power as white as light. Skin as dark as the night. For I am the world's greatest and darkest might. That is me. That is who I truly am. I am Horn."
Licht said, "Still not getting it, but the poetry was nice, though. So what exactly does it look like?"
Horn said, "I'm nothing but a snake. But in my current state, I can't use my true form to its full extent. Even if I could turn into my true self, your feeble mind couldn't comprehend it. I would be larger than this entire nation itself. Nothing could feed me."
Licht said, "OK. And what exactly do you need to grow that big again?"
Horn said, "At least 104 kg of the flesh and blood of Níðhöggr."
Licht said, "Níðhöggr doesn't exist."
Horn said, "She does exist. It appears 1000 years ago she died, and a part of her body was found in the Arctic. It's a longitudinal section 300 km in length and 100m in radius, encased 72m beneath the ice. 1000 years ago, Níðhöggr commanded the Abyss and caused the Abyssal Break. Yet the great hero Geno—the Knight of One—slew her, and pieces of her giant body were scattered throughout the world. And yet even now, the core of her being—the head—is still gnawing at the roots of the World Tree, damaging it, hurting him above all else, just to reunite with the greatest sinner in history."
Licht said, "Yup, too much information. You seem quite obsessed with the topic."
Horn said, "What can I say? I'm just a snake, and I enjoy this almost as much as myself."
Licht said, "So why can't you just go and get that part of Níðhöggr yourself?"
Horn said, "I can't. It doesn't matter if I consume it. It needs to be brought to me by a Faust or Baldr. Only then can it be mine. Not to mention, the piece I want is protected by Seraphim."
Licht said, "Wait, you said you can genuinely transform. Are you trying to transform into the World Serpent Níðhöggr?"
Horn said, "No, not necessarily. The will and hatred of Níðhöggr is far too great for me alone to bear. I simply want to reunite with an old friend."
Licht said, "I don't get it."
Horn said, "In Mikill, there is an old story. That once there was an angel—a Seraphim—a maiden adorned by light and dark alike. Yet the maiden fell for a warrior of deception, a warrior of unparalleled power. But they weren't accepted by Heaven. As they and their allies were cursed. An angel was banished to the Underworld. Another was turned to stone. A child encased in crystal. A goddess was turned to dust. While the one who commanded the dark was burned to ash. The maiden was turned into a monster. And the warrior was imprisoned in a location where he could never be found—a location where for eternity he will never be able to enjoy neither the blazing light of dawn nor the glistening light of dark. As the maiden was cursed to venture the world as a monster till the day she can find her beloved once more, no matter the time."
Licht said, "Great love story. Still don't get it."
As Mia came and said, "Admiral, class is about to start."
Licht said, "Oh yeah. Liebe was telling me a tale of Mikill."
Mia said, "Oh, alright."
Licht said, "Oh, so you are Níðhöggr?" As Liebe and Mia laughed.
Liebe said, "No, no."
As Licht whispered into Mia's ear, "We are being watched. Say BS stuff."
Liebe said, "I'm a fae."
Licht said, "What?" As small wings appeared on Liebe's head and parts of his head.
Mia said, "I slept with Nikki and we enjoyed it."
Licht said, "Huhhhh? How?"
Mia said, "I ate dogs for breakfast."
Licht said, "Wait, then what do you mean by 'larger than the nation'?"
Liebe said, "Just watch." As the wings began to grow. Liebe said, "That's enough for today. But these wings can grow."
Licht said, "Frick. Wait, then what about the tale of Mikill?"
Liebe said, "Oh that? By monster, the legends say she was turned into something of a turtle or a snow woman, because, you know, searching for Loki as a turtle will take eternity."
Licht said, "Then what about 'reuniting with an old friend'?"
Liebe said, "A friend? I will kill that one up there high in the sky in Celestial Island that I'm just dying to kill."
Mia said, "I like ants."
As they entered the building:
Mia said, "Sir, that was scary. Telling lies."
Licht said, "Yeah. By the way, what's that smell?"
Mia said, "I was scared too. I ended up wetting myself in fear."
Licht said, "Oh god, oh god. I'm so sorry. Just get changed, OK? I'm so sorry, OK?"
Mia said, "Of course, sir."
Meanwhile, in the Empire, as Liebe disguised as Helios entered the class and sat beside Alysa.
He signed: Good morning.
Alysa signed: Oh, you are back from the toilet?
Helios signed: Yes.
Alysa signed: I don't get it, your toilet thing.
Helios signed: Why?
Alysa signed: Because sometimes you are back in less than 30 seconds like now, and sometimes you take 2 to 3 hours. How?
Helios signed: Long story.
Alysa signed: Do you sometimes go there just to smell it?
Helios signed: No. I just have a condition.
Alysa signed: OK.
Helios signed: Did something happen? You look thinner. Did you lose weight?
Alysa signed: Yeah. I haven't been sleeping much.
Helios signed: Why? Are you alright? You should see a doctor just in case.
Alysa signed: That isn't it. I don't know how to put it. Lately, I have been having dreams. Dreams of being imprisoned.
Helios signed: Sounds more like a nightmare than a dream.
Alysa signed: I am imprisoned in a dark cell, bleeding. As then someone breaks through a bulk door and saves me, being carried in gentle arms as he cries for me, begging me to stay alive just for him. In that moment, I don't know why, but my heart aches as if his tears are the worst daggers to my heart. As something inside me cries out: 'Please don't cry. I will live for you. Just don't cry.' As seeing his tears is the worst pain of them all. As all he says is, 'I will love you no matter what.' As all I want to say is, 'I want to stay. Please let me stay beside you. Please let me be with you. You are the one person I love above all else. Hearing your kind voice, your gentle arms—please hold me. I want to stay no matter what. I want to be with you.' As all he says, yet he can hear none of it, as he cries embracing me. I always wake up at that part, and well, can't sleep, you know.
Helios signed: Interesting.
Alysa signed: What do you think it could mean?
Helios signed: A nightmare that you call a dream. Nothing else.
Alysa signed: Alright. But Helios, I feel like I have known him always. Even now, he is with me. And whenever I see the hero Liebe Faust on the newspaper, I'm always reminded of the dream.
Helios signed: OK. I need to use the toilet. As he went away.