Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

"Thank you for saving me." His claws dug into the ground, the weight of his escape finally settling now that he calmed a little. "Am I really out of this damned place?"

"Yes." Nídhögg nodded. "It was a pleasure observing you for the past five years. But I have work to tend to. After all, Yggdrasil will never crumble if I take extended vacations."

He waved his paw to a distant star. "As much as you dislike your new form, you can now travel between the realms. It'll take a while, though. Your best bet is to follow the Yggdrasil roots to Asgard or Jotunheim."

Adam raised his paw. Not used to his new height and mass, it crashed into the corpses, raising a dust cloud. But he didn't care. He had escaped! But five more years had passed?

His eyes dulled. He had been gone for ten years now. His smile curled down, the length of the journey ahead eclipsing the joy brought by his escape. Only when he was back home would he finally relax.

'Everyone probably gave up on me after so long...' He shook his head, his jaw clenching. 'Don't think about it for now and focus on returning.'

He scrutinised Nídhögg. "How long will it take to reach Jotunheim?"

"Mhh. Twenty years, perhaps?"

'Shit...'

As despair encroached on his thoughts, Nídhögg shrugged. "I can drop you there. It'll take me around. What? Half a minute? Anyway, I don't mind lending you this service on a condition."

Adam jumped up in delight, his limbs trembling like leaves. With Jotunheim connected to his demon den, he just had to find Hrimgar and cross the spatial tear to return!

"Sure!" His voice cracked in a simple answer.

"Alright, give me the remains of the one who poisoned you."

'That's it?' Adam scratched his cheek. He wouldn't have minded giving him everything he had collected in the abyss. Well, he wouldn't complain either.

The magic cube appeared and spewed the three-headed dragon's body between them.

"It's yours."

Nídhögg grinned. No matter how weak this fake Azi Dahaka was, his poison glands were valuable and could perhaps help him gnaw at Yggdrasil faster.

Meanwhile, the trade made Adam remember something: Mab needed a piece of the world tree. It could also be used to craft better weapons for his generals. The mythical figures could go whistle, though. They'd get nothing from him.

"Can I trade for a large piece of the world tree? I have the eldritchs carcasses on me."

Nídhögg opened his mouth and regurgitated another block of the priceless wood.

"Take it. It's just a shard compared to the roots I devour daily, and I just want to see that tree crumble." He spewed the ancient brazier next to it and added. "You can't leave without your spoils after suffering so much, right? Take it, too."

Adam's shoulders shuddered in delight before he frowned. Like the rings, the braziers refused to enter the magic cube, so he reluctantly left them in the abyss. But this one held a special importance.

Curious, he leaned over it and sniffed. The typical scent of sulfur didn't register, meaning it had been extinguished long ago. Or did a flame even burn inside in the first place? He didn't know, but the power preventing him from storing it still applied, so either the material or the power imbued in it was the reason. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

'I'll see what can be done with it.' He gazed at the minuscule brazier on the distant ground. 'At least I won't have trouble transporting it now that I'm huge.'

He swallowed and tucked it under his tongue, stored the block of Yggdrasil, then nodded at Nídhögg. "I'm ready to go."

He almost regretted his words the next second as a dragon paw covered the sky and plunged him into its shadow. An icy shudder ran down his spine. Powerless, he watched it grip him by the neck and raise him like a kitty.

Then, the world, his thoughts, everything became a blur. Reality itself seemed to wail under Nídhögg's horrifying wings, and space distorted under his rocketing body.

His stomach churned, and his blood roiled in his veins. If he still had a humanoid face, he didn't doubt he would look paler than a zombie or a drunkard vomiting his guts by the sideroad... were there roads in space?

Before the sensation became unbearable, snow exploded around him, white flakes reflecting light in a mesmerising spectacle. Acidic bile filled his mouth as he tried to recover from the short yet intense travel, while Nídhögg placed him on the ice land with a grin.

"This is goodbye, chaotic dragonling. I hope I'll see you do interesting things from Niflheim."

Adam watched him disappear into space in a dark blur the next second, leaving him in the mythical land of the jotuns.

He reeled a few more seconds before his churning stomach and drumming heart calmed down. Then, he took his surroundings in.

Frozen peaks pierced the sky, and a white carpet extended as far as his eye could see. The only touch of color came from the root of Yggdrasil a few kilometers behind him.

It was a barren land to his standard and without his infernal essence and the thick scales protecting him from the cold, he didn't doubt he'd freeze on the spot.

A frown creased his brows. With everything looking the same, how would he find Hrimgar?

With a sigh, he unfurled his ashen and dark wings and flew to the root first. He had to check his interface and inform Mimi of his escape. But not battered by icy winds in the middle of nowhere.

He reached it a moment later, his eyes widening at the unexpected spectacle. Aside from the lush vegetation blossoming by the root, he saw an ancient well in the center and a severed head... that seemed to observe him.

'What the... I'm sure his pupils moved.' Even in the abyss, no creature ever survived after being beheaded. So what was this?

A tense silence followed as he studied the old man's face, long wavy white beard, and pale yellow eyes.

However, the head suddenly shattered the silence with a question.

"I don't know you. That's quite surprising since you're a chaotic dragon."