Cosmo Entelecheia

""Puppets cannot oppose or defy the puppet-master.""

- Cosmo Entelecheia's motto

Cosmo Entelecheia (Perfect World) is a secret society which gathers the main villains of the manga ''Negima! Magister Negi Magi''. Originally an immense organization created by the ominous Mage of the Beginning, it was almost wiped out twenty years before the start of the series by the Ala Rubra, (Red Wing) a team of extremely powerful mages led by the legendary Thousand Master Negi Springfield. However several surviving members led by the series' primary antagonist Fate Averruncus attempt once again to enact their goal; to erase the Mundus Magicus. (Magical World)

Background
Cosmo Entelecheia was created on the Mundus Magicus, an alternate dimension populated by mages, magical hybrids and mythological creatures, whose base in the real universe is the planet Mars. Its founder and leader is known as the Life-Maker or the Mage of the Beginning.

Twenty years before the start of the series the secret society infiltrated the spheres of influence of Megalomesembria and the Hellas Empire, the two major political forces of the Mundus Magicus, as well as those of the magical kingdom of Vespertatia, said to be the origin of this world.

Then, they orchestrated the gruesome global conflict remembered as the Great Mage War. They intended to use it as a cover to kidnap Asuna the "Princess of Twilight," princess of Vespertatia, and use her power to cancel magic to erase the entire Mundus Magicus.

It was ultimately revealed that the Mundus Magicus was created through magic and that it is doomed to collapse sooner or later. This would erase the magical creatures (who exist through the magic that sustains their world) from existence and cast the human population on the actual planet Mars where life is not possible. This is the reason why Cosmo Entelecheia tries to erase it and relocate its population into the actual "Cosmo Entelecheia", an edenic alternate reality where everyone is living the happiest possible scenario of their lives. However, the secret society acted in a really sinister way, causing the death of countless of the people that they intend to "save."

Eventually, Arika the first princess of Vespertatia and Theodora the third princess of the Hellas Empire managed to recruit the Ala Rubra to end the war. They discovered proofs of the secret society's plot, but only to be labelled as traitors by Primum the first) Averruncus, who killed and impersonated one of the most influential senators of Megalomesembria. The Ala Rubra then led their own war against Cosmo Entelecheia and ultimately stormed into the secret society's gloomy hideout, the Gravekeeper's Palace.

All the society's generals were defeated by the Ala Rubra, Nagi Springfield dealing with Primum Averruncus himself. As everything seemed finished, the Mage of the Beginning personally entered the fray, blasting away the entire Ala Alba in a tremendous onslaught of magic. Nagi refused to give up in spite of the gap in power an he defeated the Dark Mage with the help of his master Filius Zect, who crumbled into dust right after the battle. Yet, this wasn't enough to cancel the ritual to rewrite the Mundus Magicus, which was eventually contained and cancelled by the entire float of warships from every country.

After the war, troubles remained. Some of the magic-cancelling power used in the rewriting ritual spread over the world and destroyed the kingdom of Vespertatia, which was entirely built on islands floating in the sky, making each island fall to the ground. The members of Ala Rubra took with them both Arika (who was used as a scapegoat and sentenced to death) and Asuna away from the politic intrigues of the Mundus Magicus, and dedicated the two following decades in tracking down the remaining members of Cosmo Entelecheia with the help of every magical nation.

Four years later, the Mage of the Beginning somehow returned through Filius Zect's body and gave birth to Secundum Averruncus (and Tertium Averruncus, who would later take the name "Fate" four years after) and gave a new start to what was left of the secret society. Secundum, Tertium and their followers travelled all around the Mundus Magicus to places wrecked by conflicts, sending survivors to the "Cosmo Entelecheia". They faced Nagi's group once again, only to suffer another defeat, in spite of their careful teamwork.

Ten years before the start of the series, Tertium and Nagi fought and defeated one another in the city of Istambul. Not much is known about this battle, but since then Nagi went missing and the Mage of the Beginning was sealed away. The very last members then decided to play dead and disappear, waiting for the day they would be able to enact their lord's plan at last.

The Mage of the Beginning/The Life-Maker
"One day you will come to realise that the "Eternity" of which I speak is the only compromise capable of saving all souls!" - the Mage of the Beginning to Nagi Springfield

The supreme leader of Cosmo Entelecheia, the Life-Maker, also known as the Mage of the Beginning is a very tall man clad in black robes and cloaks, whose face is concealed by his hood. Nothing is known about his origins, his true purpose and even his real name. Apparently, he created the Mundus Magicus himself. It is said that the royalty of Vespertatia are his descendants and that they inherited from him the "Divine Magic" of which nothing is known, save from that it is the source of Asuna's (the vespertatian "Princess of Twilight") ability to cancel magic.

The Mage of the Beginning is assumed by some to be of divine origin, which could explain his unfathomable level of power; even higher than Nagi Springfield's and Jack Rakan's, who are the most powerful members among the already incredibly powerful Ala Alba. He also seems linked to Nagi's master Filius Zect: an equally mysterious character. Both are 2600 year old with white hair and a similar face, and seem to be like two different aspects of the same being.

The Mage of the Beginning is seemingly able to warp reality, an ability channeled into magical key-shaped staffs called the Code of the Life-Maker, which are in possession of his highest-ranking followers. He also apparently wields power over the elements, the source of every attack spell displayed in the series, as every Averruncus was granted control over one of said elements. Finally, the Mage of the Beginning was seen fighting by hurling dark beams or tremendous onslaughts of magical energy, and by creating an immense array of pentagrams which generates a devastating tempest of dark energy.

Contrary to what everyone believes, the Mage of the Beginning survived his defeat (and every other attempt on his life) and always managed to return. He came back after his defeat by Nagi's hands using Zect's body as a vessel. He was defeated for the second time, likely when Fate and Nagi fought in Istambul and he is currently sealed in a magical slumber below the roots of the magical World Tree in Mahora Academy.

The Averruncus Series
Averruncus is the name given to a construct-mage created by the Mage of the Beginning to be his right-hand-man and his mightiest fighter. Each one of them wields total control over an element and its derivated forms (Water and ice, Earth and sand, Wind and lightning) and is named with the latin word for his (or her) order of creation. (Primum the first, Secundum the second, Tertium the third, and so on and so forth.)

The Averruncuses are incredibly powerful mages, (whose power is only rivaled by that of the members of the Ala Rubra, as well as that of the dreaded vampire sorceress Evangeline Mc Dowell) highly proficient in all forms of magic and in martial arts. Two or more Averruncuses can coexist at the same time, with the oldest as the leader, and they seem to inherit the memories and experiences of the deceased ones.

Primum was an Averruncus of Earth, scornful, murderous and cruel, who shared Fate's admiration for stong enemies, but didn't respect them as much as Fate does. He served as the Life-Maker's right-hand-man during the Great Mage War until his demise during the final battle. Secundum was an Averruncus of Wind, callous, loud-mouthed, extremely overconfident and somewhat bratty, who fullfiled his duty with much enthusiasm. He got killed by Fate as he was about to send a young girl, whom Fate had befriended previously, to the "Cosmo Entelecheia".

Tertium, the current Averruncus and the Averruncus of Earth, goes by the name Fate and serves as the primary antagonist of the series.

Quartum, (the Averruncus of Fire) Quintum, (the Averruncus of Wind) and Sextum. (the - female - Averruncus of Water) are awoken to fight against the Ala Alba, (White Wing) the team formed by Negi Springfield, (the ten-year-old child prodigy, son of Nagi, primary protagonist of the series and head teacher of a class of middle-school female japanese students) as well as his friends and partners.

Quartum has a fiery, battle-loving and sadistic temper. He can summon immense exploding swords, huge swarms of flaming, exploding wasps or a gigantic fiery demon. Quintum appears as calm and emotionless much like Fate. He attacks with lighting blasts or lighting-infused spears and can turn into lightning to boost himself. Sextum is mild-spoken and polite but ruthless. She surrounds herself with water and encases her victims into watery cubes in which they eventually drown and which she can freeze, seemingly not bothering with needless destruction.

Main members
What remains of the original secret society, formed by the current Averruncus and high-ranking generals who played dead since the Great Mage War.

Fate Averruncus
The current and third Averruncus, Tertium openly admits to hate his real name and chose the name of Fate, marking his strong belief in destiny. He is an almost emotionless person extremely devoted to his mission, who describes himself as a "tool" for his late lord. As the series progresses, he developps an interest for Negi, to the point that he almost wants him to hinder his plans, which he deems boring, and wishes him to grow strong enough to fight on par with him.

Dunamis
One of the former generals of the Mage of the Beginning and most likely the third-in-command of Cosmo Entelecheia, Dunamis is a dark mage, seemingly of supernatural origins. The flashbacks show him taking part in the final battle by Primum's side, engaging a fight against Albireo Imma, a member of the Ala Rubra who specializes in Gravity-based spells and Healing magic. (A fight which Albireo won without apparent injuries.)

Dunamis considers himself as a "failed general who has lived beyond his years." Despite being a honorable villain and a fair fighter, he is arguably the most malevolent of the present-day Cosmo Entelecheia, as he likes to taunt his enemies even when he is defeated. He seems to enjoy their torment and he has no qualms about making sacrifying people (and even himself) as long as it serves his purpose.

It's worth nothing to note that he refers to Fate by his real name "Tertium" and even though Fate is his superior, he considers the entire Averruncus series as an asset for Cosmo Entelecheia. Also, he speaks in a old fashioned way, saying things such as "Of this I approve" or "Thou art dangerous."

An immensely powerful mage in his own right, Dunamis is the most proficient practitioner of Shadow Magic featured in the entire series. He can create and manipulate shadow, shaping it and making it solid at will, (even his clothing is made of shadow) hurl countless spear-like shadowy projectiles, whose trajectory he controls or which he can fuse into a gigantic one, and even create Shadow Creatures with limited sentience that are bound to his will. He usually fights by hurling gigantic shadowy-spears, by trapping people into shadowy spheres and (most often) by shaping shadows as huge hands wielding equally big weapons. He was even seen creating a huge and powerful demon-like shadowy creature linked to him.

When he fights to his maximum, he transforms his shadow-clothing into a demonic-looking battle outfit more suited for hand-to-hand combat, with two immense additional arms which he can duplicate to about twenty. He is also able to make his attacks travel into space to strike from unpredictable sides. Finally, he is protected by the mandala-pentagram barrier which the Mage of the Beginning devised.

the Master of the Grave
The most mysterious characters among Fate's group. According to Fate's partners The Master of the Grave can either appear as a child or as an adult, though the very few times she was seen, it was under a child-like aspect.

It was the Master of the Grave who destroyed the Gateports between the Mundus Magicus and the Mundus Vetus, and who called forth Poyo Rainyday in the Gravekeeper's Palace during the first stage of the Ala Alba's assault. She is ultimately revealed to be Asuna's (and probably Arika's) mother and Negi's ancestor, whose husband was associated with Cosmo Entelecheia during the War.

Fate's Pactio Partners
Five of the 62 orphans whom Fate rescued and gave shelter to. They harbour a neverending gratitude towards him and are entirely devoted to him. These five chose to fight by his side, joining the ranks of (the remnants of) Cosmo Entelecheia.

They are all humanoid girls who made a Pactio with Fate. (A special contracts that binds them to him and grant each one of them a special magical artifact.) It must be noted that the name they use is a codename linked to either their power or their artifact.

Homura
The girl in the front of the picture. A female fire-spirit whose codename means "Flame," she has the power to control fire and to set anything or anyone ablaze with a mere glance, and her artefact has yet to be revealed. She and Shiori managed to capture Asuna while Negi was fighting against Fate.

Homura has a fierce, aggressive temper and seems scornful towards others, having little qualms about burning people who annoy her. Under her fire-spirit form, she is surrounded with flames and as such cannot be touched without protection or immunity.

Shiori
The first girl on the left of the picture. A quiet and shy Mind-Reader girl able to read the deepest thoughts and memories at contact, whose codename means "Bookmark" and whose true name was revealed to be Luna. She and her older sister met Fate after he suffered from a core failure and took care of him. Fate took her under his wing after their village was attacked and her sister sent to the "Cosmo Entelecheia" by Secundum.

Her artifact is a bewitched bookmark which enables her to use a special shape-shifting spell devised and developped by Primum Averruncus during the Great Mage War. By kissing someone on the mouth she can channel her target's appearance, characteristics and personality into her bookmark, which she can then use to transform into a perfect doppelganger of said target, to the point of believing herself to be the real one and sharing her target's affects.

Shiori impersonated Asuna after her kidnapping and infiltrated the Ala Alba, posing as Negi's real partner so that they would not doubt anyything, while trying to prevent them from knowing to much about their goals. Negi eventually discovered the truth thanks to Jack Rakan. Knowing about the upcomming collapse of the Mundus Magicus, Negi talked with Shiori and managed to gain her trust by telling her about his plan to prevent said collapse.

During the Ala Alba assault on the Gravekeeper's Palace, Shiori guides the group and provides them informations about Cosmo Entelecheia.

Shirabe
The last girl on the left of the picture. Shirabe is a dryad whose codename means "Melody" and whose true name is Brigitte. She is apparently the oldest of Fate's Pactio partners and seems to be the highest-ranked and the most powerful. She is a very calm and serious, but also sarcastic and slightly haughty girl who takes her missions and responsibilities very seriously.

Shirabe is a talented violonist whose artifact is a violin able to produce magical soundwaves powerful enough to reduce an entire stone tower into dust. She can emit several soundwaves at the same to strike from several sides and given that sound cannot be seen, this is extremely difficult to dodge. As a Dryad she can also create tree trunks and vines that erupt from the ground (or from her back to form wings-like structure) which she manipulates at will.

When Fate's partners were tasked to prevent Negi's allies to interrupt their "negociations," Shirabe dealt with Chisame, Nodoka and Haruna, three of Negi's partners, only to be foiled by Negi's half-wolfman friend Kotaro Inugami. Later, she assisted Fate in the ritual to erase the Mundus Magicus. She got knocked out by the laser attack but she later woke up and proceeded to bring back Asuna to the altar, holding her own against all of Negi's remaining allies.

Koyomi
The first girl on the right of the picture. Koyomi is a shy and easily embarassed half-human half-cat-life beastgirl, whose codename means "Calendar". She wields a powerful hourglass-artifact that enables her to control Time itself, by stopping it, slowing or accelerating its course and probably more. In her beast form, she moves at very high speed and can rebound on walls.

She is partnered with Tamaki and together they are able to create an alternate dimension where they can trap anyone, regardless of their power.

When Fate's partners were tasked to impede Nagi's allies, Koyomi and Tamaki were tasked to deal with Jack Rakan. Knowing full-well that they weren't a match for him in a regular fight, they trapped him into their dimension but he managed to destroy it by simply emitting a wave of raw power.

Tamaki
The second girl on the right of the picture. Tamaki is a half-human half-dragon girl who can transform into a huge dragon and whose codename means "Bracelet." She rarely displays her emotions, even in humiliating experiences. Her artifact is a special bracelet able to create an alternate dimensional plane that expands over thousands of meters. She is partnered with Koyomi, who always stops time so that she can encase their foes into her dimensional plane without resistance.

Cosmo Entelecheia's Associates
Warriors hired by Fate and his followers to fight by their side.

Graff Von Herman
Graff (Count) Josef Wilhelm Von Herman looks like an elderly gentleman with very courteous and refined manners, but he is in fact a vastly powerful high-ranking demon and mercenary.

Hermann is very physically strong and fast, he can cast spells, teleport, and channel his demonic energy into his fists to unleash huge waves, or several beams in rapid succession. Even worse, he can spit a magical beam that turn anyone into stone, whose effect can only be reversed by extremely powerful healers. In spite of his demonic nature and his villainous role, Hermann is a chivalrous and cheerful person whith a rather strange sense of humour.

Six years before the beginning of the series, he and a squad of very powerful demons were ordered to destroy the village in Scotland where Negi was living. Hermann turned almost everyone into stone before being sealed into a magical bottle alongside three Slime Sisters who serve as his underlings. (It was later revealed that this attack was ordered by the Senate of Megalomesembria.)

Hermann and the Slime Sisters were freed by Fate and tasked to gather intelligence on Negi and his partners. They sneaked into Mahora Academy (the gigantic campus where Negi is teaching) and kidnapped almost all of Negi's pupils that were aware of his role as a mage, save from the most dangerous.

He used a magical necklace that expanded Asuna's magic cancelling power all around him, but Negi and Kotaro Inugami managed to defeated him. Yet Negi refused to seal him and allowed him to depart, despite knowing his role in the destruction of his village.

Tsukuyomi
Tsukuyomi is a very talented swordswoman from the legendary Shinmei Ryu school. (a group of very powerful warriors and exorcists, whose use ki-powered sword attacks and western-style magic with Magical Papers. They were introduced in Ken Akamastsu's previous series and smash hit Love Hina.) She fights with both a regular-sized katana and a smaller one.

Despite her reserved and somewhat clumsy nature, Tsukuyomi is a staunch battle-lover who works as a mercenary. She was fist hired alongside Fate Averruncus and Kotaro Inugami by the renegade sorceress Chigusa Amagasaki, to unleash an immensely powerful Demon God. A plan that was ultimatelly thwarted by Negi and his friends, with the help of Evangeline Mc Dowell. During this mission she developped a rivalry with her fellow Shinmei Ryu swordswoman and Negi's partner Setsuna Sakurazaki. Like almost every other antagonist of the series, she isn't really villainous and departed on rather friendly terms with Negi's group.

At the beginning of the Mundus Magicus Arc, Tsukuyomi appears alongside Fate and his other followers. She was tasked to spy on the Ala Alba members and displayed a out-of-character and increasingly disturbing lust for fight, blood and even murder. When Fate's allies were tasked to hinder Negi's she battled and very quickly defeated Setsuna, demonstrating a level of power much higher that before.

During Ala Alba's assault on the Gravekeeper's Palace, the reason of her change in character and increase in power is explained. She stole the demonic sword Hina, a powerful, magical, sentient katana (introduced in Love Hina as well) which possesses its wielder and turn him/her into a murderous berserker. With this katana, she is able to channel tremendous amounts of dark ki into her blade, and to absorb her foes' own ki at contact, proving more than a challenge for Setsuna, who is usually stronger than her.

Poyo Rainyday
Poyo is the older sister of Zazie Rainyday, the most mysterious of Negi's pupils. (Very likely her older twin given their identical appearance.) Poyo is in fact an immensely powerful high-ranking demon, much stronger than Hermann himself (implying that Zazie might be one as well) and an old friend of the Master of the Grave. In Negima! demons are not entirely evil, and as such Poyo fights alongside Cosmo Entelecheia because she supports their plan to save the magical poulation. Yet she has a very stern, no-nonsense personality and has no qualms about attacking people who cannot fight back.

Poyo wields a Pactio Artifact (probably contracted with the Master of the Grave) which enables her to cast people into an illusionary replica of the "Cosmo Entelecheia" and can fight at distance as if her limbs had an invisible extension. She can also turn her fingers into long claws or reveal her true demonic form, in which a gigantic demonic body surrounds her human one. In this form, she has extreme physical strength and can fire huge blasts of demonic energy or waves of raw magical power. It appears that her teenage body and the huge black silhouette that surround it are both part of her real demonic form, but the silhouette seems to be impervious to attacks and as such she uses it as a shield for her human-like body which might be a core of some sort.

Cosmo Entelecheia's armies
Thanks to the power of the Codes of the Life-Maker, Dunamis was able to create around four hundred thousands of shadow-born monsters, totally impervious to the attacks of any magical creature (no matter how powerful they are) that only human beings can harm.

There is regular shadow-born monsters, super shadow-born monsters of enormous size and power and last but not least a gigantic shadow-born demon of about twice the size of a huge palace, whose power rivals that of the mightiest divine beings. This gigantic shadowy demon was Fate's group's major asset and attacked the palace of governor Kurt Godel at the head of the entire shadowy troops. It was later locked in combat against the Divine Dragon Vrixos Nagasha, the most powerful being in the Mundus Magicus, which it destroyed. (Though it could defeat the dragon so easily thanks to its immunity to attacks from a magical being.) The demon was ultimately destroyed by Chachamaru, a robot-girl from the Ala Alba, thanks to her Pactio Artifact: a huge magically powered laser satellite.

Mundus Magicus Arc
Cosmo Entelecheia first appears at the very beginning of the Mundus Magicus arc, during the skirmish opposing it and Negi's party, but at these times all of Fate's followers are masqued and the name of the group is still unknown.

Later, Jack Rakan a former member of the Ala Rubra becomes Negi's mentor, telling the Ala Alba everything he knows about the War and the secret society. It becomes quite clear that Fate Averruncus pursues the same goal as twenty years ago. Fate confirms this when he approaches Negi to "negociate" while his Pactio Partners fight Negi's and manage to kidnap Asuna.

Later Fate sneaks into a ball held by the Governor of New Ostia (what remains of the capital of Vespertatia) Kurt Godel, a former member of the Ala Rubra who wants Negi to join his side. Cosmo Entelecheia then invade the palace with their armies of shadow-born creatures and make many of Nagi's party's friends from the Mundus Magicus disappear, including Jack Rakan himself. (It is later revealed that those who disappeared were sent into the actual "Cosmo Entelecheia" and can be brought back.) Negi and the Ala Alba then decide to invade the Gravekeeper Palace to bring down the secret society once and for all, marching on the Ala Rubra's footsteps.

The task proves quite uneasy, as the Gravekeeper's Palace is surrounded by a gigantic forcefield of magical energy. (Gathered from the Gateports to the Mundus Vetus that Cosmo Entelecheia destroyed.) Thanks to Shiori, who tells them how to enter the forcefield, and to the warship fleets of New Ostia which backs them up the Ala Alba manages to set foot on Cosmo Entelecheia's hideout. They then separate into three groups, one which repares their ship and secures a safe way out; another led by Kotaro Inugami and his partner Natsumi (whose artifact makes people invisible) tasked to rescue Cosmo Entelecheia's prisoners Anya and Asuna; and the last one led by Negi, which ventures into the palace to defeat Fate Averruncus once and for all.

Ala Alba's assault
As they enter the gloomy hideout, they are greeted by Poyo Rainyday (whom they mistake for her younger sister Zazie) who casts them into a replica of the "Cosmo Entelecheia". Negi eventually understands that this sistuation is not real, and the real Zazie manages to contact him through her replica of the illusionary world. After Negi tells her that he wishes to negociate with Fate, Zazie helps him awake. Eventually, everyone breaks free of the spell and Negi reveals that he devised a way to prevent the collapse of the Mundus Magicus.

Not believing this, Poyo reveals her true demonic form and prepares to cast them into the "Cosmo Entelecheia" for real, but the shrine-maid Mana Tastsumiya challenges her in a one-on-one battle, enabling the others to go further. Later, Setsuna gets locked in combat against Tsukuyomi and is forced to leave the others, who are confronted by Dunamis and Fate's partners Homura, Tamaki and Koyomi.

Dunamis enters his "all-out battle mode" and attacks Negi, only for Negi's partners to subdue Fate's and attack him so that Negi could challenge Fate. However, as Negi is escaping, Dunamis strikes him from a space portal causing him to get fully corrupted by the "Magia Erebea" (Negi's major, yet-double-edged asset) and to turn into a half demon. In this form, Negi easily defeats Dunamis and as the Shadow-wielder is urging him to finish him off, so that the corruption would be complete, Negi's partners manage to reverse the process.

Negi turns back to normal but collapses immediately after. With their strongest fighter out of the league and as Kotaro's team could not reach Asuna on time, the Ala Alba devise a plan to interrupt the ritual. They ultimately sneak into the altar and succed to free Asuna, but only to discover that the last three of the Averruncus series, have been awoken.

Quartum attacks the groups with the ships, destroying one and playing cat-and-mouse with the other. Quintum defeats nearly everyone in the rescue group, who struggle to keep Asuna and the Grand Master Code of the Life-Maker away from him, and paralyses them with lightning spells. Sextum regenerates Dunamis (who is bound by a magical contract and can no longer fight) before encasing Negi's partners into watery cubes. Negi then awakes and frees them. As he is about to fight Sextum, the Master of the Grave appears and restrains her, revealing that she now roots for her descendant's plan to save the Mundus Magicus.

Negi then defeats Quartum with surprising ease, and Fate himself protects Natsumi from Quintum, stating that he considers Negi and his partners as his preys. Taken aback by Fate's behaviour, Quintum beats him down and prepares to dispose of him, labelling him as a "deficient unit" but Fate eventually takes him down and takes back the Grand Master Code of the Life-Maker.

Negi then appears, ready to settle their score once and for all. Having conquered the side-effects of the "Magia Erebea" he is able to fight evenly with Fate, while his partners are fighting Shirabe, to prevent her from performing the ritual that would erase the Mundus Magicus. However, the two worlds are merging and Cosmo Entelecheia's armies of shadow borns invade Mahora Academy to reach the Mage of the Beginning, who is laying below the World Tree.