"Well then." Loki clasped his hands together. "That went smoothly, didn't it? Mutual oaths, fair exchange, everyone getting what they wanted."
"You got what you wanted," I said evenly. "I got Koneko's freedom."
"And I got you." Loki smiled. "Bound by oath, stripped of power, completely at my mercy. I'd say that's a fair trade."
He gestured to the shadows. Two ice constructs emerged, vaguely humanoid shapes of frozen magic.
"Take him to the holding cell," Loki commanded. "Let him contemplate the wisdom of swearing oaths to gods."
The constructs grabbed my arms roughly, hauling me to my feet.
Without my power, without my cultivation reinforcing my body, I felt weak. Normal. Human.
They dragged me from the chamber. Down twisting corridors of black ice.
I memorized everything. Every turn. Every landmark. Every detail.
Not to escape—not yet. That would violate my oath.
Finally, they reached a corridor lined with cells carved from the ice itself. They threw me into one near the end.
I hit the ground hard. Pain flared through my shoulder and ribs—real pain, without power to dull it.
The door slammed shut.
I lay there for a moment, just breathing. Then I pushed myself up to sitting.
The cell was small. Maybe ten feet square. Black ice walls, floor, ceiling. No windows. No furniture. Nothing but cold and darkness.
I felt... weak.
y arms trembled as I pushed myself upright. My shoulder throbbed where I'd hit the ground. Every breath sent small spikes of pain through my ribs.
But it was more than that.
It was the absence. The hollow space where my power used to be.
I'd gotten so used to it. The constant awareness of my cultivation circulating through my body. The magic humming just beneath my skin, ready to be called upon. The strength that made me faster, stronger, more durable than anyone, be it human, devil and gods.
All of it gone.
Sealed away behind divine restraints I couldn't break.
I leaned back against the freezing wall and closed my eyes.
This feeling. This weakness. This vulnerability.
I remembered it.
From before. From when I first came to this world.
I'd been normal then. Just a regular human. No cultivation. No magic. No supernatural abilities whatsoever.
Before I was Leon.
Back on Earth, I'd been ordinary. Average. Nothing special. I went to work, came home, lived a life that was comfortable but unremarkable.
Then I died. And woke up here.
In the High School DxD universe. In a world of gods and devils and dragons. Where power was everything and the weak were crushed underfoot.
I'd been terrified at first. Realizing where I was. What kind of world this was. The dangers that existed here.
Every story I'd read, every piece of knowledge I had about this universe—it all told me the same thing. The weak didn't survive. They became collateral damage. Pawns in the games of beings far stronger than them.
And with the Celestial Workshop.
I'd built my power from nothing. Brick by brick. Day by day.
And somewhere along the way, I'd forgotten what it felt like to be powerless.
To be vulnerable.
To be human.
Now, sitting in this cell with my power stripped away, I remembered.
The fear. The uncertainty. The knowledge that I was fragile. That a single mistake could end me.
I'd been so focused on getting stronger. On never being weak again. On protecting the people I cared about.
That I'd forgotten where I started.
I opened my eyes and stared at the black ice wall across from me.
And right now? Right now I was just... human.
Weak. Vulnerable. Trapped in a cell in a god's domain with no way to defend myself.
If Loki decided to kill me before those three months were up, there was nothing I could do to stop him.
I'd gambled everything on this plan. On the Celestial Workshop creating Rule Breaker before Loki decided to make good on his threats.
I pulled my knees up to my chest, trying to conserve what little body heat I had.
The cold was already seeping into my bones. Without my cultivation to regulate my body temperature, without magic to shield me, I felt every degree of the unnatural chill.
How long could a normal human survive in these conditions? Days? Hours?
I didn't know.
I was just... flesh. Fragile human flesh in a realm of ice and death.
And that was assuming Loki fed me. Gave me water. Didn't decide to start torturing me before Rule Breaker finished manifesting.
Three months.
I didn't know if I could make it.
The honest truth scared me more than anything else.
I didn't know.
My hands were shaking. Not just from the cold. From the realization of what I'd committed myself to.
Three months as a prisoner. Powerless. At the mercy of a vindictive god who blamed me for killing his sons.
What had I been thinking?
But then I remembered. Koneko's unconscious form suspended in that cage. The soul-binding ritual. The choice between her eternal suffering or this.
I hadn't had a choice. Not really.
This was the only way to save her.
Even if it killed me.
My enhanced cognition still worked. My mind was still sharp. But thinking clearly didn't keep me warm. Didn't make the pain in my ribs fade. Didn't change the fact that I was, for all intents and purposes, a regular human trapped in supernatural hell.
I thought about Koneko. Safe now. Free. With Rose taking her home to Kuroka.
At least that part of the plan had worked.
At least she was okay.
Even if I didn't make it out of here, that would be enough.
It had to be.
I closed my eyes again, trying to calm my racing thoughts.
I closed my eyes, trying to calm my racing thoughts. Trying to push down the fear that threatened to overwhelm me.
Three months.
Just three months.
People had survived worse. Prisoners of war. Hostages. People trapped in impossible situations who somehow made it through.
I could do this.
I had to.
In the back of my mind, beyond the reach of oaths and bindings, I felt it. The Celestial Workshop working. Patient. Steady.
Rule Breaker taking shape. So slowly. Piece by conceptual piece.
I had to survive.
With everything I have.
Every ounce of stubbornness. Every bit of will. Every scrap of determination that got me this far.
Because the alternative is unacceptable.
Three months.
Day one starts now.
=====
Rossweisse POV
Rossweisse sat on the edge of Leon's bed, her face buried in her hands.
The tears wouldn't stop. They streamed down her cheeks, soaking through her fingers, dripping onto the sheets below.
She'd checked on Koneko fifteen minutes ago. The girl was still unconscious, resting peacefully in the guest room down the hall. Breathing steady. Pulse normal. Safe.
But Leon...
Another sob broke through. Her shoulders shook with it.
She'd teleported directly to his home after leaving Helheim. Partly because Koneko needed somewhere safe to recover. Mostly because she didn't know where else to go.
The house felt too empty. Too quiet. Leon's presence was everywhere—in the neatly organized bookshelf, the half-finished cup of coffee on the kitchen counter, the jacket draped over the back of a chair.
But he wasn't here.
He was trapped. Powerless. Alone.
And she'd left him there.
Rossweisse pressed her hands harder against her face, trying to muffle the sounds of her crying. She was supposed to be stronger than this. She'd been a Valkyrie. A warrior of Asgard. She'd faced down threats that would make most people flee in terror.
But this? This broke her in a way combat never could.
Her mind kept replaying the scene. Over and over.
Leon kneeling before Loki. His expression calm. Too calm.
The green light flowing into him, sealing away his power.
The oath he'd sworn. Binding. Absolute.
She should have refused. Should have fought. Should have done something other than just obey and run like a coward.
But Koneko needed medical attention. Needed to be taken somewhere safe. And Leon had ordered her to go.
So she had.
And now he was paying the price for it.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to the empty room. "I'm so sorry, Leon."
The bedroom door suddenly burst open.
Rossweisse's head snapped up, her hand instinctively moving toward her magic.
A woman stood in the doorway. Tall. Beautiful. Long black hair with a white ribbon. Golden eyes that gleamed in the dim light. Cat ears twitched atop her head.
Kuroka.
She'd seen pictures. Leon had shown her. But seeing her in person was different.
The cat woman's eyes were wide. Frantic. She looked between Rossweisse and the empty bed, then back again.
"Where is he?" Kuroka's voice came out low. Dangerous. "Where's Leon?"
Rossweisse opened her mouth. Closed it. The words wouldn't come.
"Where. Is. He?" Kuroka stepped into the room. Her tail lashed behind her like an angry whip.
"I... I had to leave him," Rossweisse finally managed. Her voice cracked on every word. "Loki. He... there was an oath. I couldn't—"
"You left him?" Kuroka's eyes flashed. "You left him with that bastard god?"
"He made me!" The words burst out of Rossweisse. "He ordered me to take Koneko and go. I didn't want to leave him, but—"
"Where's Shirone?" Kuroka interrupted, her expression shifting immediately. "Where's my sister?"
"Guest room. Down the hall. She's safe.
Rossweisse wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Leon... he traded himself for her freedom. Swore an oath to Loki. Let him bind his power. All to save her."
Kuroka stood frozen for a moment. Then she turned and disappeared down the hallway.
Rossweisse heard a door open. Heard Kuroka's sharp intake of breath. Heard quiet footsteps approaching the bed where Koneko presumably still slept.
Silence for several long moments.
Then Kuroka reappeared in the doorway. Her eyes were wet now. Tears threatening to spill.
"Tell me everything," she said quietly. "From the beginning."
Rossweisse nodded. Took a shaky breath.
And told her.
She explained about finding Loki in Hel's temple. About Koneko suspended in that cage. About the soul-binding ritual that would have trapped her forever.
About Leon's threat of mutual destruction.
About the oaths they'd both sworn.
About watching Leon kneel and submit. Watching his power be stripped away. Watching him become... ordinary. Vulnerable. Human.
About the look in his eyes when he told her to leave.
"He saved her," Rossweisse finished, her voice barely above a whisper. "He gave up everything to save Koneko. And I... I just left him there."
Kuroka was silent for a long time. She stood in the doorway, one hand gripping the frame so tightly her knuckles had gone white.
"You followed his orders," she finally said.
"I shouldn't have. I should have—"
"You followed his orders," Kuroka repeated, more firmly. "You got Shirone out. You brought her somewhere safe. That's what he wanted."
"But he's still there. Trapped. Powerless." Rossweisse felt fresh tears welling up. "I don't know how to save him."
Kuroka walked into the room and sat down on the bed beside her
They sat there in silence. Two women who loved the same man. Who'd never met before this moment. United by grief and helplessness.
"Leon doesn't do anything without a reason." Kuroka's tail had stopped lashing. Now it moved slowly, thoughtfully.
"You think he has a plan?" Hope flickered in Rossweisse's chest.
"I think Leon always has a plan." Kuroka's expression was complicated. "The question is whether it'll work."
"How long?" Rossweisse asked. "How long can he survive like that? Powerless? At Loki's mercy?"
Kuroka didn't answer immediately.
"I don't know," she finally admitted. "But knowing Leon? He'll find a way. He's too stubborn to die."
The words should have been comforting.
They weren't.
Because stubbornness only got you so far when you were trapped in the realm of a vindictive god with no power to defend yourself.
"We need to tell Odin," Rossweisse said. "He might be able to—"
"No." Kuroka shook her head. "Odin won't help. Not against his own pantheon. Not for a human who killed two of Loki's sons."
"Then what do we do?"
Kuroka stood up. "We wait. We take care of Shirone. We prepare for whatever comes next."
"That's it? We just... wait?"
"What else can we do?" Kuroka's voice was strained. "Break into Helheim? Force our way past Hel herself? Get Leon killed in the process because we violated his oath?"
Rossweisse had no answer to that.
Because Kuroka was right.
There was nothing they could do.
Nothing except wait and hope that Leon's plan—if he had one—would work.
"I'm going to sit with Shirone," Kuroka said quietly. "You should... clean up. Rest. You look terrible."
She left without waiting for a response.
Rossweisse sat there on Leon's bed. Alone again.
Surrounded by his things. His scent still lingering on the pillows.
And she let herself cry.
For Leon. For Koneko. For the helplessness that threatened to drown her.
For the man she loved who might be dying in a frozen cell while she sat here, safe and useless.
The tears soaked into the sheets.
And outside, the world kept turning.
Indifferent to the suffering of one powerless human trapped in the realm of gods.
====
Author's Note:
I'm back! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday.
Anyway, here's the chapter. Sorry for the late update, and thank you so much for your patience and continued support. I really appreciate you all.
If you'd like to read ahead and support me, feel free to check it out: [email protected]/VashFF