“You are joking, aren’t you?” Anpiel replied with an uncertain expression at the old woman’s remark.

  “Why would I joke about such a thing, young one?” the old woman answered with a benevolent look.

  “Well… I do not sense any divine power in you whatsoever,” the malakim replied.

  “You gods from the other side of the world still have much to learn,” the woman responded, rising to her feet and beginning to walk toward the ocean, where Rodrigo and the others waited aboard the boat.

  Seeing her walk away, Anpiel began to follow her. The leader of the group approached the old woman and asked her something Anpiel could not understand. She shook her head and continued forward at a slow pace.

  “Do you know how difficult it is for a human to speak the divine tongue?” the old woman asked Anpiel as he followed her.

  “No. I have never seen a human do so, though one of your men managed to utter a few words,” the malakim replied.

  “Of course. Nukilik is a genius,” the old woman answered.

  “The way the tongue must move to produce those sounds is excessively complex, which is why most humans who attempt to speak that language eventually give up,” she explained.

  “I had never considered that, my lady,” Anpiel replied.

  The angel then noticed that three fingers were missing from the hand with which the old woman held her staff.

  “Did you suffer an accident with your hand, my lady?” Anpiel asked, unable to take his eyes off it.

  “This?” the old woman replied. “My father tried to kill me, and I lost my fingers because of it. There will be time to speak of that later.”

  Anpiel and the old woman then approached the bay with the beached ships.

  “Look, Anpiel is coming back!” Epona said cheerfully, and the others began waving their arms to show they were still there.

  “Who is that old woman with him? The leader of this tribe?” Tania asked.

  “Possibly. I do not sense even a trace of divine power in her,” Ana replied, puzzled.

  At that moment, the old woman stepped into the icy waters of the bay with her leather shoes and continued walking as she slowly submerged. Anpiel stared at her in disbelief and stopped.

  “Do not be afraid. Follow me,” the old woman said, stopping and turning to face the angel. “Tell your companions to come as well.”

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  “Yes, of course, my lady,” Anpiel replied, immediately signaling the others to follow him into the sea.

  “She wants us to go down into the sea with that woman?” Menrva asked in disbelief.

  “Then… is she Queen Sedna?” Epona asked.

  “If she is, then she must be an expert at concealing her divine presence,” Tania commented.

  “Wait a moment,” Rodrigo interrupted. “Are you seriously considering diving into the bottom of this nearly frozen sea? In this cold?”

  Everyone burst into laughter.

  “Rodrigo, don’t be such a coward,” Epona replied as she and the others disembarked from the boat.

  “Rodrigo-san, thou must needs grow stronger,” Susanoo said. “How may my rival tremble at mere cold?”

  “I don’t understand, Rodrigo,” Tania interrupted. “When we traveled through space, which has far colder temperatures than this, I never saw you suffer like this. This cold is nothing compared to that.”

  “For some reason, I have never felt cold in space,” Rodrigo said, confused.

  Everyone left the boat and gathered beside Anpiel, watching as the old woman disappeared beneath the water.

  “All right, forward,” Anpiel said. He and the others then began descending into the icy sea of the bay.

  At that moment, they discovered another cruel effect of the anti-divinity barrier. Once underwater, they all began to drown.

  Tania and Anpiel knew how to swim, but the others did not, and they desperately tried to reach the surface. Suddenly, bubbles formed around their bodies, swirling, and a larger bubble enveloped each of their heads, allowing them to breathe and swim despite not knowing how.

  They soon found themselves swimming beneath the arctic sea of Vinland. All that could be seen were enormous columns of stone and ice along the ocean floor. Far in the distance, however, they glimpsed a strange creature swimming—something like a mermaid.

  “You can move underwater now? Then follow me!” came a beautiful voice from the distant figure.

  “Is that… the old woman?” Epona asked.

  “She told me she was Sedna,” Anpiel replied.

  “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s follow her!” Menrva said, beginning to swim toward the distant siren.

  The others nodded and followed.

  As they pursued the siren, the sea grew darker and darker, until nothing could be seen. No fish or mammals remained. The deeper they went, the more intense the crushing pressure became. Rodrigo suffered the most from it.

  “Come on, Rui. It was worse on Palas,” Ana said, trying to encourage him.

  After swimming for about thirty minutes, at the very bottom of the ocean, a powerful blue light shone forth. It was the only thing visible in the surrounding darkness. The siren entered the light and vanished.

  “We must do the same,” Tania said, and the others agreed.

  They swam into the luminous blue column, and everything vanished in an instant. When they opened their eyes, they were no longer at the ocean floor, but inside a vast cavern of ice. The bubbles had disappeared.

  “Is this Adlivun?” Anpiel asked, gazing at the enormous chamber.

  “It seems so,” Ana replied, admiring the place.

  “Tania, could you light a fire to dry our clothes?” Epona asked, wringing water from her coat.

  At that moment, a warm breeze swept through the cavern. The gods’ clothes, bodies, and hair dried instantly.

  “Are you all feeling better now?” a voice echoed from afar.

  The warm wind ceased, and the siren they had followed appeared before them—though her fish tail was gone. She was a beautiful woman with brown skin and sharp blue eyes, her dark blue hair braided into two plaits. She wore a white coat and trousers, and two white seals stood beside her.

  “Are you… the old woman?” Anpiel asked in surprise.

  “Yes. As I told you, I am Sedna, and this place is my kingdom, Adlivun,” the deity replied.

  “How were you able to conceal your divine presence on the surface, in the form of an old woman?” Menrva asked, astonished.

  “I live among humans. It is natural for them to expect me to age,” the polar goddess replied.

  “And for some reason, they wish to see me as an old woman, so that is the form I show them,” she concluded.

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  Next chapter tomorrow!