Chapter 1702: A Titan Soul Of Ice and Fire

There were no system notifications yet because the power of the System seemed sealed in here, as long as Surtr desired to. But even without notifications to tell me how strong I've become; I could already tell it myself. My Titan Soul taking this shape was enough to tell me things had changed, and much more than I could have ever imagined.

Although the whole transformation was by itself surprising and amazing, I still had plenty of questions about how everything just came to be to begin with.

"With Ice Titans, I had to go through a trial that made my soul slowly change, but why did I only need to fight for the Fire Titan Soul?" I wondered.

"Well, that's because your soul, whatever it was before, had to go through an evolution and become a Titan Soul! Now that you had that work done, you simply had to imbue into yourself the pure fiery might of a Fire Titan! And although there are safer methods, you're in a hurry, right? So I had to hurry things up, fighting five Fire Titans at the same time and receiving their blows all helped you assimilate their Fire Essence into your soul," Surtr explained.

"So the more I got beaten by them the more my Soul... Damn, that's a bit brutal, but I could have just sat down and get hit then?" I wondered.

"Yeah but where's the fun in that?! Are you a masochist or something?" Surtr laughed.

"Well, I guess not..." I sighed. "I have to get going though, can't stay here for much longer. It has already been almost an hour after all."

"That's fine," Surtr said. "You're up against a formidable foe that none of us could defeat in the past... Maybe that bastard has finally grown weaker now that he was chopped into tiny pieces, but even then, be careful, Drake. You will need as much strength as cautiousness when fighting this monster."

"I know, I've fought him twice now..." I sighed. "Thank you, Surtr, everyone. I wish I could stay here for longer and have a meal with everyone, but I need to go."

"Go ahead then, you can come visit us later- Huh?"

RUMBLE!

However, before I could even get out of here, a tremor shook the entire Fire Titan Record Realm, a huge crack in space opened, as something gigantic surged from within.

Something as big as Surtr, a person, with blue skin and a chilling aura that froze her surroundings instantly. An Ice Titan woman whose very presence sent shivers to the rest of the Fire Titans.

"Wait, huh? Skadi, why are you here?!"

It was nobody else than Skadi, who had just breached the Realms and entered the Fire Titan Realm out of nowhere.

Surtr readied his blazing swords, ready to wrestle with his sister.

"I've told you several times that you shouldn't come inside my Realm!" he roared furiously. "What is the meaning of this, sister?!"

"That form..."

However, she ignored her brother and glared directly at me, her eyes widened in shock, there was a hint of disgust at first, but then she calmed down, and there was only surprise, followed by anger.

"Brother! Why did you just give him the power of Fire Titans?! Don't you think this is sacrilegious?!" she roared angrily. "And YOU! Drake! You made a promise to me! Yet you did something so wrong! How dare you give the power to wear our Legacy, Soul Gear, to mere mortals without any Titan Blood in them?!"

"He did what?!" Surtr gasped, looking at me while rising his eyebrows. "By the Ymir, Drake! You're insane! Hahahaha! You pissed off my stuck-up sister now! GAHAHAHA!"

"Ah... Well, I did it because I wanted my friends to be stronger," I responded without hesitation.

I honestly expected this would happen one day, but it seems Skadi caught up to it very quickly and came to meet me personally.

"There are members of my family that-"

"I rejected them because they weren't Titans! Those that aren't Titans cannot use Soul Gear, it is as simple as that!"

"Then why did you choose me, someone that was never a Titan to begin with?!"

"That's because... You're the Dragon King, a chosen one, but the rest aren't. I made a HUGE exception for YOU, yet you betrayed our promise! And you call yourself a King?!"

"Yes, I betrayed our promise, and I apologize... for doing that."

I lowered my head.

There was no point in arguing anymore, she wasn't wrong.

I did do as I pleased, selfishly.

It might be wrong, yes, but I didn't want my family and friends to remain with weak souls because of that.

Soul Gear is vital for Souls to become truly powerful, without them, their souls would have already been destroyed when fighting the Demons.

"An apology will not do! I shall stripe you out of your Ice Titan powers!"

She quickly rushed towards me.

Pointing her hand at me, I looked at her with my new form.

Should I fight her and stop her, or accept my punishment?

...

I feel guilty enough to just accept it, honestly.

I lowered my head and didn't fight back, even though I felt like I could if I tried.

"Wait, Skadi!"

Suddenly, before anything could happen, Surtr grabbed his sister arm and dragged her back.

"Surtr?! Are you trying to stop me?"

Skadi and Surtr's Divine Auras clashed against one another; endless flames met endless frost.

RUMBLE!

The skies of the Realm began to shake, slowly trembling and beginning to open, crimson and azure clouds rumbling, giant chunks of ice and a rain of meteors started falling.

"You don't need to go that far, Skadi! Don't you think it's impressive he found a way to let non-titans use Soul Gear?!" Surtr roared furiously. "You got to give it to him!"

"What?! Why does that matter at all?!" Skadi cried. "The Soul Gear is the Legacy of our family, our father was its creator, Lord Ymir tore apart the skin and scales of Nidhogg and Jormungandr and created armor for his children's souls. Nobody else has been able to do the same ever since! It was his way to strengthen our weak souls compared to our strong bodies. With Soul Gear, we Titans become complete!"