Urðr, the goddess of the 'past', old and wise, her fingers gliding over the water, the ripples forming frozen historical images.
Verðandi, the goddess of the 'present', appearing focused, an invisible spindle in her hand weaving the moment transitioning into the warp and weft of fate.
Skuld, the goddess of the 'future', her face veiled in mist, holding a sharp sword and an unrolled scroll—both a cutter and, perhaps, the scroll itself.
These were the three Norn goddesses, the weavers, measurers, and cutters of fate.
The fused will of Hades and Metis controlled the avatar, disguised as a frost giant, quietly observing from the shadows at the edge of the forest.
As Loki said, killing them directly was impossible.
But 'replacing' them... that was a more subtle and thorough path.
"Timing," Hades conveyed to Metis.
They needed to wait for the most delicate moment—when the attention of the three goddesses was fully immersed in weaving the web of fate, when their connection to the roots of the World Tree temporarily became 'static' due to their concentration.
The opportunity would be brief.
Urðr seemed to see an important historical moment in the spring, sighing deeply, her gaze becoming distant.
Verðandi's spindle slowed slightly due to an extremely complex thread of the 'present'.
Skuld, meanwhile, looked down at an approaching 'inevitability' on the scroll, and the long sword in her hand flashed with the light of judgment.
Now!
The will of Hades and Metis, like the most precise predator, was instantly activated!
The avatar disguised as the Frost Giant remained in place as a 'decoy' to draw attention, but the real killing move was the shadow clone, lurking in Hades's shadow, belonging to Nyx!
Eternal night flowed silently; this was not an attack, but a 'covering'.
Nyx's shadow clone, possessing the authorities of 'secrecy', 'fate', and 'time', spread quietly like a naturally descending dark night into the shadows cast by the well and the roots of the three Norn goddesses.
The entire process was silent. This was 'penetration' and 'covering' at the level of law.
When the three goddesses sensed something was wrong, it was already too late.
They were shocked to discover that their connection to the roots of the World Tree seemed to have been severed by an invisible, soft layer of darkness!
They wanted to cry out, but their voices were lost deep in their throats;
they wanted to mobilize the power of fate to resist, but felt their authority bogged down, slowing as if stuck in mud.
Their power came from the recognition of the World Tree and their understanding of the long river of fate.
But Nyx's authority, on some levels, was more primordial and essential—she embodied 'fate' and 'night', the existence of the concepts themselves!
"You... Who is it..." Urðr's aged voice trembled with disbelief, and she tried to see the source of the shadow, but saw only the deep night.
There was no answer.
At the moment Nyx's shadow fully covered and severed the connection between this place and the outside world, the real attack came.
No blood, no wounds.
The bodies of the three goddesses trembled simultaneously, and the past, present, and future reflected in their eyes instantly shattered and scattered.
Their hands, weaving fate, stalled; the scales of life collapsed; the blade of the future fell.
The silence of death enveloped the Well of Urd.
Their divine bodies still maintained their seated postures, but their inner life force and divinity were completely erased.
Immediately after, Nyx's shadow was like a greedy giant, slowly writhing, devouring the three soulless divine bodies.
Not a trace of their existence remained.
Only by the well, at the spot that originally belonged to the three goddesses, did the shadows begin to twist and deform, imitating their body shapes, appearances, and breath.
Nyx's double perfectly 'mimicked' and 'replaced' the three Norn goddesses.
She would inherit their place, take charge of the Well of Urd, and take over the weaving of the threads of fate.
From this moment on, the fate of the Norse world, its executive power, would quietly change hands, falling into the hands of the 'Night God' from Chaos.
Hades and Metis became the true controllers behind the scenes.
"It worked," Metis's consciousness came with a slight calm, as if the plan had been achieved.
"The spindle of fate is in our hands."
Hades's will swept through the area.
Nyx's camouflage was flawless; whether it was her breath, her charm, or her connection to the World Tree, it was indistinguishable from the original three Norn goddesses, and even more profound and unfathomable.
The laws of the world seemed to tremble slightly, as if adjusting to this sudden 'change', but soon calm returned.
Fate could not be destroyed, but the one who managed fate could be replaced.
"Next," Hades's will turned to the avatar, still playing the role of the Frost Giant.
"It's time to activate the 'bait'."
They manipulated the avatar, deliberately emitting an extremely faint, yet extraordinarily high-quality aura of life energy and variable essence, belonging to the 'Plant God' Orphos.
This breath was like a stone cast into a still lake, immediately attracting the 'attention' of the 'three Norn goddesses' who had just 'taken office'.
The 'three Norn goddesses' immediately began their performance.
The whispers of the three 'goddesses' echoed by the Well of Urd.
They were not actually discussing, but conducting a complex 'ritual'—a ritual to 'legitimize' the avatar and 'anchor' its existence in the fate of the Norse world.
They mobilized the authority and power of fate they had just seized, using the force of the Well of Urd as ink and the thread of fate as a pen, and began to write a legal 'birth certificate' and 'identity file' for this avatar.
An invisible force of law converged, like a gentle starlight, enveloping the avatar disguised as the Frost Giant in the distance.
A mysterious change was taking place.
The existence of this avatar was 'recorded' in the memory of the World Tree and 'registered' in the long scroll of fate.
It was no longer a pure 'foreign object', but a 'legitimate inhabitant', recognized and accepted by one of the world's highest laws—'fate'.
It possessed the 'authority' to act in this world, and its actions would minimize the impact on the world's laws, like drops of water falling into the sea, difficult to detect.
At this time, Odin was still on his journey to seek wisdom.