Dungeon of Niflheim

Frost after receiving a blunt reality check from Khione firmly nodded his head and revealed a determined smile, still keen to learn the full story of this marvellous realm and the creator behind it.

His giant companion honestly thought that he'd be either disappointed or stubborn. Him accepting her words graciously felt warm but at the same time like she just struck a dense layer of cotton.

The two then continued their tour through the large, open museum that detailed the key aspects of Shivali's life as well as the long conception of Niflheim itself.

During the first few millions of years the world of Nova was chaotic, violent, primordial and constantly shifting. One massive landmass split into several, islands rose from the sea after the shaking of the ground deep beneath the surface or when volcanoes erupted, their lava quickly cooling on contact with the sea.

Such creation and destruction repeated itself over and over, each time resulting in different layouts, different dispositions and landscapes.

Monsters the first of their kind were gradually born from either Dark or Light or even the Primordials once they started to get a proper feel for their role in the world.

Giant beasts that were now rarer than Quilins roamed the planet in much greater numbers, their movements and activities further altering the world on a smaller scale. Without intelligence, relying upon their gargantuan size and immense vitality these creatures were not all that different from present day behemoths, their ancestors or the base for their biological designs.

Frost could see in detail thanks to these lifelike displays, he could extrapolate a semi-accurate timeline and somewhat understand the insane level of effort and time that went into Nova's development.

The earth, the sea and even the skies were shattered, often returned to a state of chaos whenever a new cycle began, a new attempt to establish a healthy and vibrant world that could stand the test of eternity or at least a length Dark, Light and the Primordials could be happy with.

The first group that could be considered their first success when it came to life with intelligence were the Angels and Devils, polar opposites that were developed by Light and Dark respectively.

Born with natural affinities similar to their creators, these creatures held great power, longevity and influence on the growing planet however after several million years both Light and Dark deemed them to be too influential. Their presence dyeing the world in only two colours, white and black rather than a myriad of diversity.

But rather than eliminating this species from existence like those before they chose to instead banish them to a new realm, a realm that suited their nature and allowed them to still play a role in Nova albeit from a distance. These realms were the heavens and the hells where dead mortals would travel to before entering the cycle of reincarnation.

Only their mixed blood descendants and a small group of purebloods were allowed to remain, proof of their existence on Nova.

By this point the Primordials also threw their hat in the ring when it came to creating new life.

The displays focused mainly on the activities of Shivali but occasionally others were shown such as the lava giants developed by Ifrit or the leviathans (dragons of the sea) by Undine.

Frost watched as Nova's initial conception inched ever closer to the present day, a date that was easily over a 100 millions years, perhaps even 200 given the time jumps between the displays.

When the young couple reached a little more than halfway they were greeted with another massive display that was similar to the one at the entrance. Despite being crafted from a material without life there was a sense of presence and weight when you looked at the figure being displayed.

In the centre hovering high in the sky, clouds wrapping around the knees and ankles was what Frost could only describe as a white knight forged from ice crystals of unimaginable quality. The beauty of this figure was breathtaking, the light danced and shimmered across its armour, armour that covered it from head to toe revealing only the figure's imposing eyes.

Frost felt small before this figure, his heart tightening as his gaze glanced at the majestic partisan held in its hands. For a moment he saw a flash, the figure locked onto him, its partisan pulled back before instantly thrusting forward. In this sensation his body wasn't just pierced but annihilated at the molecular level, not even dust or blood remained.

It was just for a moment, a brief thought yet it felt so real that Frost's blood ran cold and his heart felt actual pain.

"Don't look too closely lest you want to understand what it means to be well and truly intimidated." Khione chimed in from his side, her gaze firmly locked onto the figure's exposed eyes. Unlike him she didn't step backwards, cowed by the threat instead her hands balled into tight fists, her muscular thighs and biceps tensed up and she smiled from ear to ear. In her eyes Frost could see excitement, determination but most of all pride, pride towards the figure hovering there like an invincible existence.

The figure's origin could easily be guessed even without looking at the description on the wall. It was Shivali, the Primordial Ice King but this time he was neither in his Primordial form nor his mortal form but his divine form, the form that allowed him to utilise every ounce of his power.

This form of his appeared smaller than his Primordial form but still gigantic, far surpassing the likes of even the largest dragons and behemoths. His physique was still humanoid but different from his mortal form. Instead of the more athletic build he was bulky not so dissimilar to his darling youngest daughter Khione. Beneath his ice crystal armour his arms, back, legs and chest were highly developed, belaying immense physical prowess as though his increased power could only be contained in a larger and denser form.

In addition to the increase in bulk behind his back were a pair a beautiful wings that spanned the full length of his body to the left and right, storms of ice and snow drifted in between the blue feathers. A single flap could demolish an enormous mountain and or bury it in a winter flurry.

Sitting above the wings and protruded somewhat from his shoulders were an extra pair of arms but unlike the others that appeared to be made of flesh and blood these were slightly ethereal, formed by clouds and storms much like his Primordial form.

Frost couldn't even begin to imagine how he'd fight against something like this, just looking at a mere display made his heart thump and his spine shiver.

Once again he was forced to understand that in the grand scheme he was nothing but another bug, still far away from true power.

While Khione had a battle of wills with the majestic figure of her father's divine form Frost walked over to the display's description.

"Lord Shivali in his glorious divine form for the first time in response to the aggression from the recently ascended Gods."

'Aggression between Gods.' Though Frost had done his best to read as much books as he could when he could he knew very little when it came to the actions of the Gods after they ascended. The fact that there'd be disagreements and probably even fights between them didn't surprise him but the fact that Shivali one of the Primordials had to get involved now that was interesting.

He looked back at his companion and upon seeing that she was still staring into the eyes of the Shivali on display he quickly ran to the next room.

Here a war was displayed and not just any war but a war between Gods, beings that had escaped the curse of mortality and had ascended beyond the confines of Nova. Divine form after divine form in all manner of shapes and sizes could be seen in conflict with what looked like the Primordials and a few Gods that sided with them, all while the three moons and the sun looked on, refusing to take part in this dispute.

Shivali and his companions were outnumbered by the Gods that had 'recently' ascended but after they each donned their divine forms and made some sort of decision they had the clear advantage, easily driving back their opponents who came at them sometimes 3 or 4 at a time.

"Displeased with the status quo, the difficulty in furthering their own growth and what they deemed as complete and utter disregard and borderline contempt by the Primordials and the Creator Gods those who rose from mortality waged a war hoping to become Nova's new rulers, to be the ones making the decisions rather than some old fogeys that only got the job because they were first." As Frost read the description the scene in the display changed, he saw Gods after Gods being wounded, some even being killed, their souls being vanquished permanently.

"Alas this was never a fight they could win, even without the Creator Gods taking a stance the Primordials despite majorly wishing for a peaceful resolution eventually stopped holding back and quickly destroyed this revolt of upstarts. They showed them that they weren't just the first, the oldest but also the most powerful of the Gods."

At the end of the displayed scene the Primordials stood tall, their bodies and weapons drenched in the blood of Gods as the remaining newly ascended Gods kneeled before them in surrender thus bringing an end to the War of the Gods.