Chapter 943: Strax... got nothing to do.

The three of them returned to Asgard much faster than they had left.

The cold wind wrapped around their draconic bodies again as they left the unnatural heat of the southeast behind, but none of them felt completely relieved. The snow, the hills, the forests, and the railway lines appearing in the distance should have brought a sense of normality. Yet after witnessing a desert that breathed, shadows moving on their own, beasts marching in circles, and a colossal hand buried beneath ancient ruins, even Asgard’s familiar white landscape felt less safe.

Samira flew at the front, her wings cutting through the low clouds with powerful strokes.

Cassandra followed slightly above her, silent, mentally repeating the symbol she had seen light up among the ruins. A cracked seal. It was not an exaggeration. She was certain. The unpleasant kind of certainty that came when the mind refused to accept what the eyes had confirmed.

Daniela flew just behind them, constantly looking over her shoulder as if she expected to see the black sphere still hanging over the horizon despite the hours of distance.

There was nothing.

Only a gray sky.

Even so, she did not relax.

When they reached the city’s borders, Asgard’s barriers recognized their presences and opened without resistance. The three flew over the outer walls, the railway station, the factories releasing steam, and the bustling districts that remained lively despite the winter. From above, the city looked warm, alive, and absurdly normal. People crossed the streets, wagons moved between warehouses, guards patrolled, workers labored, and children ran through a square, kicking snow aside with their boots.

The normality irritated Daniela.

After what they had seen, the world should not have looked so calm.

Samira tilted toward the mansion.

"Let’s land in the training courtyard," she said, sending her voice to the others through magic.

"If Strax is training, at least we won’t have to look for him," Daniela replied.

Cassandra remained silent.

The three descended behind the mansion, where Strax’s personal training grounds remained free of snow thanks to the magical heating beneath the reinforced stone slabs. Steam rose gently whenever snowflakes touched the surface, and the runic pillars surrounding the arena glowed steadily, showing the system was active but not under heavy use.

Samira expected to find Strax combining White Fire and Black Ice.

Daniela expected craters.

Cassandra expected some dangerous experiment, perhaps with Frieren observing from one corner while Monica quietly calculated the repair costs.

None of them expected the sight waiting for them.

Strax was standing in the courtyard.

Holding a straw broom.

Sweeping the ground.

For several seconds, the three dragons simply hovered in the air, as if their minds had completely failed to process what they were seeing. Strax, the dragon who had crossed an entire continent to drag a Monarch out of her own castle, was calmly pushing dry leaves and dust into a neat pile with almost domestic serenity. He wore simple clothes, his hair tied back carelessly, his expression relaxed, and his posture matched neither a conqueror nor someone preparing to challenge gods.

He noticed the shadows of the three massive dragons overhead, but he did not stop immediately.

He finished gathering one last little pile of dirt.

Only then did he raise his head.

The three landed one after another, making the ground tremble. Mana enveloped their bodies, scales withdrew, bones shrank, wings vanished, and their human forms returned amid waves of magical energy. Samira was the first to stand fully upright, her greatsword still strapped across her back. Daniela appeared next, wearing such a stunned expression that she seemed to have forgotten the horror of the desert for a few moments. Cassandra remained perfectly still, staring at Strax as though this were a greater mystery than the cracked seal itself.

Strax rested the broom over his shoulder.

"What?"

No one answered.

Daniela pointed at the broom.

Opened her mouth.

Closed it again.

Pointed once more.

Cassandra, who could usually find precise words for any situation, simply stared in silence. Her gaze traveled from the broom, to the pile of leaves, to the spotless courtyard, and finally to Strax’s calm face.

Samira recovered first, though even she needed a moment.

"Why are you cleaning the training courtyard with a straw broom?"

Strax looked at the broom as if confirming it really was in his hand.

Then shrugged.

"I have nothing to do."

Daniela blinked.

"What?"

"I have nothing to do," he repeated, as though it were obvious.

Cassandra finally found her voice.

"You... have nothing to do?"

"Not right now."

Daniela looked around the courtyard.

"You’re Strax."

"Yes."

"Lord of Asgard."

"Unfortunately."

"A dragon."

"That too."

"With a possible crisis in the east, an Emperor trying not to provoke you, an entire city growing at an absurd pace, gods somewhere moving pieces around, and a family that seems to multiply problems every hour."

"Yes."

"And you’re sweeping the courtyard."

Strax nodded.

"Yes."

Silence returned.

Samira rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"I feel like I should be happy you’re doing something normal."

"I thought about taking a walk through the city," Strax said, casually sweeping another thin line of dust toward the pile. "But I got tired just thinking about interacting with people."

Daniela still looked stunned.

"So you decided to clean the courtyard."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because the maids were busy, I was here, and the broom was there."

Cassandra looked at the pile of leaves.

Then back at him.

"That is... surprisingly logical."

"Thank you."

"That wasn’t a compliment."

"I chose to accept it as one."

Samira let out a short laugh despite the lingering tension in her body. There was something deeply absurd—and strangely comforting—about seeing Strax doing something so ordinary. After everything that had happened lately, perhaps that was exactly the sight Asgard needed: its most terrifying monster bored enough to help the household staff.

Daniela, however, was still mentally trapped.

"Less than an hour ago I saw a black sphere devouring sand above a living desert, and somehow this is only the second strangest thing that’s happened today."

Strax stopped sweeping.

His expression changed.

The broom remained in his hand, but the tranquility disappeared instantly. Not explosively. More like a curtain quietly pulled away from a blade.

"Repeat that."

Samira drew a deep breath.

"I’m glad you’ve slowed down," she said dryly. "Now we’re about to hand you the problem."

Strax leaned the broom against one of the runic pillars.

"I’m listening."

The three approached.

Cassandra removed the small vial of contaminated sand from her pocket and handed it to him. Strax held it up toward the gray light, examining the pale grains mixed with dark metallic-looking particles. Without even opening it, he felt the magical residue trapped inside.

"This was on the beasts’ paws," Cassandra explained. "Twenty-four creatures killed near Asgard’s safe zone. Different species, different habitats, all showing signs of a long march and panic."

"It wasn’t a hunting horde," Daniela added. "They were fleeing."

"From the southeast," Samira finished. "From the desert."

Strax opened the vial.

A thin current of mana rose from the grains, dry, ancient, and unpleasantly familiar. His eyes narrowed.

"Continue."

Samira folded her arms.

"We followed the trail. We transformed and flew to the desert to confirm what was driving the beasts."

"Without informing anyone," Strax noted.

Daniela pointed at Samira.

"Her idea."

Samira did not deny it.

"It was faster."

"Monica will love hearing that."

"I know. That’s why I’m telling you first."

Strax merely looked at her.

Samira ignored it.

"The desert is wrong."

"How wrong?"

Cassandra answered.

"The dunes move as if they’re breathing. Not because of wind. Not because of normal instability. The entire landscape felt alive... or connected to something alive beneath the sand."

Daniela ran a hand through her hair.

"And there was a gigantic crater in the middle. Sand rising into the sky instead of falling. It vanished into a small black sphere suspended in the air. Tiny, but incredibly dense. The light around it bent."

Strax became perfectly still.

Cassandra continued.

"There were ruins emerging from the dunes. Towers. Arches. Walls covered in ancient inscriptions. Hundreds of beasts walked in circles around the crater. Some like the ones we killed. Others larger, twisted."

"Did they attack?"

"No," Samira replied. "That was one of the strangest parts. They stopped when they noticed us, but they didn’t come after us. They almost seemed... to warn us."

Daniela grimaced.

"I hate saying this about monsters, but yes. It felt like a warning."

Strax looked toward Cassandra.

"And the inscriptions?"

"I didn’t fully recognize them. But I saw one symbol light up before we left. It was a seal."

"Cracked?" Strax asked immediately.

Cassandra froze.

"Yes."

His answer had come too quickly.

Samira noticed.

"You know something?"

Strax did not answer immediately.

He closed the vial and walked a few steps through the courtyard, looking toward the southeast. The forgotten broom now looked absurdly out of place. Steam still rose from the heated stones, yet the air around Strax began alternating between heat and cold.

"Did you hear anything?" he asked.

Daniela grew serious.

"Yes."

"A voice?"

Samira nodded.

"In our minds. One word."

"What?"

"Go back."

Strax inhaled slowly.

Cassandra watched him carefully.

"You recognize it?"

"Not the voice."

"But the phenomenon?"

"Maybe."

Daniela folded her arms.

"I hate answers that begin with ’maybe.’"

Strax looked at her.

"Then you’re going to hate the rest."

Samira stepped forward.

"Strax."

He opened his eyes.

"I need to speak with Frieren, Monica, and Ouroboros."

"Now?"

"Now."

Cassandra asked quietly,

"Is it really that bad?"

Strax picked up the broom again.

For one absurd moment, it looked like he intended to continue sweeping.

Instead, he handed it to Samira.

"Hold this."

Samira stared at the broom.

Then at him.

"Why?"

"Because I was using it."

"That doesn’t answer anything."

"It answers enough."

She took it anyway, uncertain whether he was teasing her or simply did not want to leave it on the ground.

Strax headed toward the mansion.

"Come."

Daniela looked at the broom in Samira’s hands.

"You’ve inherited Asgard’s most powerful weapon."

Samira glared at her.

"Don’t start."

Despite everything, Cassandra almost smiled.

Strax stopped at the doorway and looked back.

"And Samira."

"Yes?"

"Next time you find a breathing desert, a black sphere, a cracked seal, and shadows trying to steal mana..."

"Yes?"

"Send a message before flying any closer."

Daniela pointed at Samira again.

"I told you."

Samira lifted the broom as if she were about to hit her.

"That isn’t helping."

Strax did not smile.

But his eyes carried the weary irritation of someone who had just realized the quiet afternoon was over.

"Inside. Now."

The three obeyed.

Behind them, the courtyard stood empty, with only the small pile of leaves still waiting to be collected. Snow continued falling over Asgard, melting against the heated stone, while inside the mansion the desert ceased being a strange story and became a very real threat.

And somewhere far away to the southeast, beneath breathing dunes, something ancient continued to awaken.

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