Chapter 336 The Brutality of Ideals
"It's been a very long time, Van."
"...Harvey."
Any noise that persisted inside the tavern seemed to stop as Van stood up from his seat, walking to the edge of the gigantic table where his regular-sized table was placed. Van then looked the golden-haired man straight in the eyes, and after a few seconds, he let out a short but deep sigh... and without even any warning, he disappeared from his spot-- splitting the gigantic table he was standing on in half.
Another thunderous explosion reverberated throughout the entire tavern as Van appeared right in front of Harvey, his fist only a few inches away from making contact with his face. And based on Harvey's slightly shocked expression, If it wasn't for Gerald grabbing his wrist, then he would have definitely already smashed his head in.
"I..." Harvey also looked Van straight in the eyes as he opened his mouth; but after a few moments, he shook his head with a sigh of his own, "I guess you've heard of what happened to Artemis?"
"Probably not the best thing to talk about, brother," Gerald muttered as his hand that was grabbing Van's wrist trembled, "How about a hello first?"
Gerald then grunted as he pushed both away, letting them roll on the ground for a couple of meters before the two recovered; and at that moment, not even once did Van's eyes leave Harvey.
"You too, don't even try!" Gerald then once again moved in front of his brother, this time blocking Vanya as she held some sort of spear made from the foundation of the Branch itself.
"And you, what the fuck are you doing here!?" And without another roar, Gerald proceeded to punch Harvey on the face, embedding his head on the floor, "Did you come here to die!?"
And perhaps, that was a very valid question. For someone to just pop out unannounced towards the father of the man they just executed along with his mother-- that was perhaps the most foolish thing one could do; especially when the father is a very unstable individual, a very unstable god.
"I… wanted to see for myself," Harvey groaned as he tried to recover himself, patting his beard from the wood dust that stuck on it, "It truly is you, Van… you haven't changed a bit."
Harvey then put up a wry smile as he looked at Van from head to toe, letting out a small breath as he did so. Afterward, he then turned his head towards Surtr, whose face was filled with curiosity as he watched the drama unfold right before his eyes.
"I have heard from my sources that you killed an Aesir, and even managed to get the progenitor of the fire giant race as your ally," Harvey continued, "And now I see that is true. You've only been here for what? Less than 6 months? And you've already managed to gain a very significant ally; I suppose a god truly is different, isn't it… old friend?"
"..." Van did not respond, the only thing he did was rush beside his daughter, trying to hold her back from doing anything.
Seeing this, Harvey could only let out a sigh, "On to why I am here, then. I'm here to say that my side will not back down. Not against the Aesir... and not against you, Van. So if you wish to take revenge for your family, then we will fight you-- to the last man. Your son started all of this, I am just ending it and plucking it from its roots; because as long as there exist gods and giants, humanity will never be allowed to once again prosper…
...Humans will have their place in this world again, Van. I will make sure of it."
"Words of a weak man."
And as soon as Harvey finished his small speech, Vanya quickly let out a scoff, "Your war should have ended with the death of Ymir; and yet you killed mother, as well as wage war against a race you know nothing about."
"The oppression we have felt was enough for me to know all about you and the rest. Do you even know what your so-called peace-loving race did in Midgard?"
"They are a minority that does not represent us as a whole."
"That is not how the humans see it," Harvey scoffed. "We have billions ready to fight, and almost half of them are System Holders and enhanced humans that were fortunate enough not to evolve into something like you. We will fight, Van… we will fight."
"And you will die."
Finally, Van, who had been quiet from the start, spoke up, "Perhaps I can do the humans a favor of killing you right now, that would prevent them from giving their lives for a foolish cause that they could never win."
"How can you say that!?" Harvey stomped his foot in reply, causing the floor to split.
The ones that were still in line waiting for their turn to audition for the army could not help but wonder why it was taking so long, and hearing all the noises inside-- some of them walked away from the line. If one needed to be able to create tremors in order to pass the test, then they would have already failed.
"You of all people should know what it feels like to be oppressed! To be in the bottom of the food chain!" Harvey then waved his hand as he tried to approach Van, but was quickly stopped by Gerald. But still, even with his brother blocking his path, Harvey did not stop talking.
"You were once us, Van! Midgard is just a cleaner Relic Graveyard! You should--"
"Pft."
Before Harvey could finish his words, Van's sudden burst of laughter reverberated throughout the entire tavern, "I didn't realize you've been to a Relic Graveyard before, Harvey. The fact that you have the time to play kings and armies is luxury enough; you're just after revenge-- having your wife and unborn child gutted in front of you must have taken its toll."
"That's a pretty low blow, Van," Harvey let out a small chuckle, but the tone of his voice was anything but playful, "But you're right, I did get my revenge when I decapitated Ymir in front of a million people. People mourned when my wife died, but they cheered and laughed at the death of your son. Artemis though, perhaps we made a mistake with her."
"Your only mistake is still being alive, Harvey."
"Ouch," Harvey took in a long and deep breath as he momentarily closed his eyes, "But you're right again, Van. Maybe if you just arrived another hundred years later, you would have seen this place as we intended it to be-- with the humans living in peace. You see? All of us want peace, ours is just seen as a revolution because we are the inferior race."
"So you wish to remove any other race besides the humans?" Vanya was the one to reply.
"If in the course of the war, we could achieve a balance between the races then I will take it," Harvey said, "But if not, then either the gods and giants all disappear, or we all die-- that is the only way the humans could achieve peace, and perhaps that is what this future intended… We humans are a relic of the past already long gone. The only reason why some of us still live is because of our appearance, the System Holders… the history of Midgard is long and bloody, if only any of you knew half of it."
Queen Nori, who was still seated at the corner along with Surtr, could not help but furrow her eyebrows as she continued to listen to Harvey's words. It may seem harsh, but what Harvey was saying actually made sense. If she said she didn't look down on humans, then that would be a lie.
The humans have always been thought of as just an inferior race, maybe even just an animal as there was also a part of history that the humans were used as cattle.
All their anger, resentment, and desire for revenge were justifiable, one could even say it was their right.
"What about you, Van?" Harvey then once again looked Van straight in the eyes, "What's the game plan here? Are we going to have a threesome, you, us, and the Aesir? Is that what you want to happen? What does a man… what does a boy who has only been here for months plan to do?"
It wasn't only Harvey, but everyone else in the room all looked towards Van, waiting for his answer. In truth, some of them were still in the dark as to what exactly Van planned to do. The only thing they really know is that he plans to join the war to allow the forest giants to prosper… but wouldn't not joining the war accomplish just that?
With his strength, they could achieve that-- and none of the other races would cause trouble with them except for the Vanir and the Aesir.
"Why, why must you join this war?"
"Because I want to."
"W… what?" Harvey could not help but twitch his eyes from Van's prompt reply, "Are you kidding us right now?"
"Not at all," Van let out a sigh as he turned to look at everyone in the tavern, "You still killed Artemis, Harvey-- I wouldn't just let that go."
"Then just kill me right now and end this, Van."
"Harvey!?"
Gerald could not help but once again block his brother's path as Harvey suddenly stretched his arms wide as he presented himself to Van, "Kill me then back off from the war, and I promise that the humans will not involve the forest giants."
"You seem to be misunderstanding something here, Harvey," Van then let out a sigh as he disappeared, returning back to his seat on the gigantic table.
"My anger against you and the desire for revenge that comes along with it is completely separate from the war. I am tired of freedom, what I want now are the answers to the riddles my dear old mother left for me,"
Van then leaned back on the chair, relaxing his chin on his fist as he looked down on Harvey. Vanya, who was previously on the floor, also moved near to his father, standing beside him with a slightly complicated expression on her face.
As for Surtr, the smile on his face almost reached to his horns as he had already anticipated Van's next words.
"And if I have to make every race in the 9 Realms kneel before me to reach the answers I seek…
...then I will cut each of your legs to do so."