Awakening - Chapter 221 Onsen Part 3

“When the old gods are forgotten, they do not die—they wait.”In the year 1025, the Viking Age wanes.Iceland bows to Christ. The Althing governs by law. And the gods of old fade to whispers.But in the far Westfjords, something stirs.Vetrulfr, a former Varangian captain and exile, returns from the East with foreign gold, forgotten warcraft, and a hunger no man can name.He comes not in peace, but to raise Ullrsfjörðr from ash and ice; building walls, carving runes, and waging war on behalf of a dying faith.From Reykjavík to Aachen, rumors spread: a ghost walks the North once more. Some call him the son of Ullr. Others, a wolf-cloaked demon.But all will know his name.and when the Valkyries call, he will answer.

In a world where everyone is a slave, someone is born who cannot be controlled. At the same time, an unstoppable villain rises on a quest for revenge. But the truth is darker than he ever imagined, and now he must face an unbeatable enemy — including himself.***Bruno was a young man born on Earth, the son of an influential modern Emperor. Despite having everything money could buy and receiving the best and most rigorous training to succeed his father, he chose the opposite path, defying his family’s ruthless rule.The price of his innocence? A merciless death and the complete erasure of his existence by the deity controlling his fate. On Earth, the law of the powerful was absolute; a slave could never rebel.But then, he wakes up again.He’s reborn in a world of cultivation, where freedom was promised to those strong enough to claim it. Now, he could soar like a free bird and carve his own destiny... or so he thought.The harsh reality of this new world soon showed him how insignificant he still was. He realized he had only changed masters.The freedom he sought was an illusion. The heavenly laws treated everyone as servants, and their rules were unbreakable. Bruno learned this bitter truth after losing everything that made him happy due to an unjust rule.But who was he to question?Hopeless, Bruno died... and was reborn as Alm, an unstoppable villain. With a soul poisoned by pain and vengeance, he sowed chaos across the universe. Planets were destroyed, countless lives taken, and his name became synonymous with terror.A hero rose to oppose him, wielding a sacred sword of hope. People from all corners of the universe united against Alm, raising their voices and weapons to stop the villain who defied the heavens.But Alm was no longer just fighting for revenge. He was challenging the heavenly laws that sought to control him, fighting fate and all living beings.And against all odds... the sacred sword shattered. The alliance of the entire universe was defeated.The villain won!Now, Alm found himself alone in the empty void of a dead universe, facing his own inner demons. Who could be more ruthless to him than himself?“What have I done?”At that moment, the doors of truth opened to him.Everyone was a puppet of a supreme figure, an entity that manipulated minds and even the heavenly laws.“I will find you, no matter where you are!”Thus, the last emissary of the true Heaven’s Will awakened. Alm, who once only relied on his sheer will and rage, now had a system to guide him. But his opponent was an immortal existence, above even the heavens.The villain who destroyed an entire universe now faced a new beginning. He discovered that the universe he devastated was just a tiny grain of sand in an infinite cosmos, where countless other universes existed.And so begins the legendary tale of the villain’s rise... and the Sacred Round God? A strange Duality of Shadows existed within one person.But this time, he wouldn’t be alone.***To clear up any potential confusion or frustration, here are some key points about the story. I’ll avoid major spoilers, but a few things will be revealed.You might find this concerning at first, but just check the book cover—it shows the main character and his only partner. She first appears at 10 years old, but rest assured, there’s no inappropriate content or early romance.At around 13, SHE starts developing feelings for the protagonist, but he doesn’t respond until she’s an adult. With her determined personality, she tries to seduce him at 17/18, but it doesn’t work. Their relationship only happens much later.The book has nods to other works, with my own spin on them, and focuses on avoiding elements I find problematic in other stories.Lastly, the beautiful book cover was commissioned and created by HDIArt.

The big director of the Jiaye film company was widely known as the Ghost Talent. In the eyes of everyone, he was a famous workaholic who was rumored to be sexually cold. Even so, from the time he became a director until now, there were already many overblown s*x scandals attached to his name.

Then, one day, he suddenly got married.

Yi Ran thought that she married such a man. In any case, she had nothing to lose. Until the wedding night, when they suddenly rolled the sheets and she discovered that…her thinking was too simple.

Have you ever loved someone who turned out to be so different from what you expected? This incomprehensible relationship became an opportunity to change your life, making you unable to forget. Life will be filled with flowers, making you want to cling to his side and never let go.

A lifetime of care is the most long-lasting feeling;

Life with him became a journey that will forever be imprinted in your memory.

- Description from Novelupdates

Before I woke up, I had a dream about the end of the world. At first, it felt like a vivid nightmare that left me shaken. But as I slowly woke up, I realized that the dream was the pre-ending scene of my own novel.I am Zio Varrez, an unnamed character in my own book, and to my disappointment, an extra. As I lived in my novel's world, I couldn't help but feel that my existence was meaningless. But what made it worse was the fact that the ending of my book was the end of the world - a bad ending.I knew I had to do something to become strong enough to change the world's fate, even if it meant altering the story I once knew completely. Little did I know, there was more to this world than I realized, and the journey I was about to embark on would uncover secrets that I never even imagined.“I thought I knew everything about the world, but as I lived and experienced it, I realized there was so much more to it than I ever imagined.”