# 1337
Chapter 1338: Source of Pollution
"What a nauseating smell."
Sun Wukong swung the Ruyi Jingu Bang, directly smashing the frenzied Norse god before him into pulp. He frowned in disgust and stepped back several paces.
"This kind of disaster... I've never seen anything like it." Zhou Ping raised his head to look toward the summit of the divine mountain. The crimson eyeball outline shrouded in the clouds made him thoughtful. "Could it be caused by that thing? But where exactly did this disaster originate?"
DING——!!
The mirror surface of the Kunlun Mirror reversed, and the two figures battling together were forcibly separated.
The Queen Mother of the West's gilded purple-patterned robe fluttered in the wind. She cradled the Kunlun Mirror in one hand and frowned as she glanced at her surroundings. "A Cthulhu presence?"
Verthandi steadied herself, her gaze sweeping across the situation around her. Her pupils constricted sharply!
"This is..." she murmured to herself.
"Shut up! Everyone shut up!! Stop the noise!!!"
"Get out of my head!! Damn it! Who the hell are you?!"
"It hurts... it hurts so much... it's so itchy... it really itches..."
"..."
The screams of the Norse gods present pierced Verthandi's ears. She stood frozen, watching this scene, as if turned to stone.
"Cthulhu? But... how could this happen... Where did this pollution come from?"
As Verthandi stood in a daze, the Queen Mother of the West turned to look at her. Her brow slightly lifted, and she spoke with some surprise:
"These Norse gods all seem to have been corrupted. Why... are you unaffected?"
...
The Eternal Garden.
The low horn blast drowned out the silver-bell laughter. Skuld, the "Future" goddess, froze mid-step and turned to look in the direction of the sound.
"What's that noise?" Bragi, who had been following behind Skuld, continuously watering the seeds she sowed, also turned with a puzzled expression.
At the same time, Urd, the "Past" goddess who had been sitting nearby with her eyes closed in meditation, suddenly stood up!
"【Gjallarhorn】?!"
She spoke in disbelief. "Didn't Ragnarök get postponed?!"
"Ragnarök? What Ragnarök?"
Bragi asked, confused.
"..." Urd had no intention of explaining to Bragi. She only stared intently toward where the sound originated.
The horn of disaster sounding was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous signal. Perhaps Ragnarök hadn't been postponed after all—it was simply reappearing in another form.
What about Verthandi? She should be there too. Was she alright?
Urd desperately wanted to rush directly to the battlefield to see what was happening, but after careful consideration, she chose to stay and watch over Bragi. After all, with the 【Gjallarhorn】 sounding, no one knew what would happen next.
"What kind of disaster will befall Asgard?" Urd murmured to herself.
"Hmm?" Skuld's voice suddenly rang out. "Brother Bragi, why did all these flowers die?"
Bragi froze, turning to look. The entire patch of flowers that Skuld had just caused to sprout had begun dying in large numbers. Within just a few seconds, they had turned to grayish-white ash, scattered across the soil.
And the area of withering flowers was continuing to spread.
Bragi's brow furrowed tightly. He immediately reached out and picked a flower that hadn't completely withered yet, bringing it close to examine it carefully.
"This flower... why has it turned red?" Bragi spotted it sharply—the bright yellow petals were being rapidly overtaken by a scarlet hue. The moment the crimson spread completely through the flower, it shuddered gently and turned into wisps of fine grayish-white ash, drifting to the ground.
"Cthulhu!"
Urd recognized this the moment she saw it. She immediately slapped Bragi's hand away, preventing him from touching the scattered ash.
"Cthulhu?" Bragi asked, puzzled.
During his time in the Asylum of the Gods, he had occasionally heard Lin Qiye mention such things. "Asgard? How could Cthulhu appear in Asgard?"
Urd's brow furrowed tightly, seemingly equally puzzled by this question. Just then, her peripheral vision caught something in the half-air not far away—the irrigation water drifting through the garden also carried a trace of red.
It was as if something clicked in her mind. Her heart skipped a beat!
"Bragi! Where did the water you used to water the flowers come from?!" she demanded.
"The sacred river, obviously." Bragi answered matter-of-factly. "Other than the sacred river, where else would there be a large body of flowing water in Asgard..."
Urd stood where she was, as if struck by lightning!
"This is bad..." she murmured.
...
"You... why are you unaffected?"
These words snapped Verthandi back to her senses. She lowered her head to look at her own body.
No tumors were erupting, and she heard no strange sounds in her ears... Unlike the other frenzied Norse gods, her body showed no signs of abnormality.
"Why am I unaffected?" Verthandi murmured in confusion.
CLICK——!
At that same moment, Master Chen's carriage door was pushed open a crack.
Master Chen sat at the front of the carriage, warily scanning the surroundings at the crazed Norse gods. Sensing the door being opened, he glanced back.
Baili Pangpang poked his head halfway out, curiously打量着四周.
"You brats, what are you lot doing here! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is outside?" At the sight of this, Master Chen's beard practically flew up with rage. He grabbed the door frame tightly, preparing to close the carriage door.
"No, Master Chen, I—"
BANG!
The carriage door shut, cutting Baili Pangpang's words short.
Just as Master Chen was about to turn back, a soft sound rang out—the carriage door opened again:
"Master Chen, listen to me, we were just—"
BANG!
Master Chen shut the door again, saying sternly, "Don't come out! The situation outside is incredibly bizarre. This is no place for brats like you to meddle."
CLICK!
The carriage door was pushed open once more. Master Chen was about to unleash a torrent of scolding when he saw who was at the door this time—Lin Qiye. He suddenly choked on his words.
"Master Chen, something is very wrong." Lin Qiye spoke solemnly. "We sensed some familiar presences..."
"Familiar presences?"
Lin Qiye didn't respond. His gaze swept across his surroundings, and when he saw the tumors and insect-like holes on these Norse gods, his eyes constricted slightly.
"As expected... it's those ashes from Hell."
The appearance of these Norse gods was all too familiar to Lin Qiye and the others. When they had been trapped between Heaven and Hell, they had already witnessed similar situations.
These deformed and berserk Norse gods were clearly the result of pollution by the Cthulhu Faction's ashes from Odin's forces!