A/N: Hello everyone. Author-san here. So the novel Is approaching its 100th chapter and I'm so excited š. This is like a huge achievement for me.
So from this chapter, expect absolute peak for the next five chapters. It's going to blow you mind. (Or at least I hope so). With what I have planned š. I won't say much. But expect peak fiction. I'd say I even surpassed Fuse with this one :)
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The sky above the Western expanse was a clear blue, dotted with faint wisps of clouds. The sun shone brightly, glinting off the tips of Loki's dark wings as he hovered a few meters above the ground, eyes fixed on Velgrynd. The air trembled slightly under the weight of their power, the subtle pulse of Haki and magic energy pressing against the trees surrounding the clearing.
A hush fell over the forest. Even the wind seemed to pause, as if sensing the confrontation about to unfold.
Velgrynd's golden eyes narrowed, her wings stretching slightly, radiating authority and strength. "If you come to the Eastern Empire," she said firmly, her voice carrying through the quiet, "I will ensure you get a favorable position. You will answer only to me and Rudra. I will give you your own private army and the freedom to do as you please. I think these terms are pretty favorable."
Loki tilted his head, considering her words, a faint smile curling at the edges of his lips. After a moment, he chuckled softly. "Sorry. But I'll have to refuse."
Velgrynd's eyebrows flicked in surprise, but she remained poised, waiting.
"None of those terms sound attractive to me," Loki continued, his tone shifting to smug amusement. "First, I wouldn't answer to no one. Neither you or Rudra. Secondly, I hate having subordinates since it's so much work. So a private army doesn't really tempt me. And finallyā¦" His face grew even more smug, eyes gleaming, "ā¦I will do whatever I want whenever I want. I don't need your permission to do so."
With that, he spread his wings fully and launched into the sky. He hovered above Velgrynd, looking down at her with the faintest smirk. "See, just like how I feel like looking down on you. I'll do it because I want to."
Velgrynd's lips curved into an irritated smile, her fingers flexing slightly as she stood her ground. "A mere Demon dares to spew such words. You do understand who it is you are speaking to, right?"
Loki's eyes narrowed, yet a subtle glimmer of amusement shone in them. "Listen to me, and listen well. My name is Loki Arashi. The God of trickery. I who has existed since the beginning of time. I who is at the pinnacle of all races. A mere Lizard does not scare me."
Velgrynd's gaze softened for a fraction of a second, her expression unreadable as she studied him. 'This Demonā¦ he's quite a cocky one, isn't he?' she thought. Then she steadied herself, voice firm again. "Fine. If you won't come willinglyā¦ then I'll drag you to the Eastern Empire by force. It doesn't matter to me whether you are Veldora's friend or not."
Loki's smile widened, the breeze ruffling his hair and feathers as he hovered effortlessly. "I'd love to see you try."
Inwardly, he considered the encounter with a sharp focus. 'Guy is stronger than Velgryndā¦ depending on how I do against her while I'm not evolved, I'll be able to measure just how far I am from Guy.'
The clearing fell silent once more, the tension between the two palpable. Birds circled above, unsettled by the aura of two mighty beings poised for conflict, yet neither moved further. This was a standoff of wills, pride, and power, each testing the other without lowering their guard.
The sky cracked from pressure.
Heat distorted the horizon in shimmering waves as scarlet light bled into the clouds. The earth below groaned under invisible weight.
Loki hovered high above the plains, wings spread wide, maroon hair dancing wildly in the violent wind currents. His maroon eyes reflected the figure standing far below him.
She stood effortlessly upon the fractured ground, long blue hair swaying behind her like a banner of war. One hand rested at her side. The other glowed faintly.
Calm.
Unhurried.
As if this were already decided.
Loki exhaled slowly.
'Don't clash head-on. Measure. Adapt. Survive.'
Velgrynd's voice drifted upward, carried by heated air.
"Are you going to attack first or should I? It doesn't matter either way."
Loki smiled.
"I think I'll attack first."
He vanished.
The sky split into fragments of motion.
In an instant, a hundred golden ripples formed behind him.
Weapons.
Spears. Blades. Lances. Halberds. Every single one forged through his Unique Skill: Prototype.
They fired all from blind angles.
From above the sun's glare.
From below her shadow.
Velgrynd lifted her gaze.
The air around her shimmeredā
And ignited.
A rotating mantle of condensed flame spiraled around her body like a living crown. Each weapon that entered its radius melted before touching her.
Steel became liquid.
Liquid became vapor.
The sky glittered with evaporated iron.
Loki reappeared to her leftā
A black greatsword already mid-swing.
She stepped forward.
Two fingers caught the blade.
It glowed red.
Then white.
Then it exploded in Loki's face.
He flipped backward, coat smoking, and vanished again before the follow-up strike could erase him.
A narrow beam of scarlet energy carved through the space he'd occupied.
It continued for miles.
The distant hills detonated seconds later.
Loki reappeared upside down behind her.
Another ripple.
This time not dozens.
Hundreds.
Blades poured from the sky like a meteor storm.
At the same timeā
Ten Lokis landed around her.
Identical.
Realistic down to the fluctuation of aura.
Velgrynd's eyes shifted slightly.
'Realistic clones. Interesting'
All ten moved at once.
Some charged directly.
Others flanked.
The sky-rain of weapons descended simultaneously.
A perfect multi-layered assault.
Velgrynd exhaled.
The temperature spiked violently.
A pulse of compressed heat erupted outward.
Like a sun blooming.
The clones closest to her disintegrated instantly.
Two survived long enough to strike.
Their blades made contact and stopped.
Her skin glowed faintly.
The swords liquefied in their hands.
She moved.
A single step.
One clone's torso caved inward from a palm strike.
Another's head vanished from a precise kick.
Above, the raining weapons entered her thermal field and curved.
Every blade redirected mid-air, their metal glowing as she seized control of their heat distribution.
They turned.
And fired back.
The real Loki appeared mid-flight just in time to see his own storm screaming toward him.
"Oh, you're good."
He spun, wings tearing through air at blinding speed. He darted between his own weapons, letting several collide and detonate behind him.
A spear grazed his shoulder.
It burned.
Not normal heat. It was penetrating.
'She's embedding destructive magic into thermal vectors.'
Velgrynd vanished.
Loki felt it too late.
Her heel slammed into his side.
The sound wasn't flesh hitting flesh.
It was like a fortress wall collapsing.
He shot downward, carving a canyon through the plains before regaining control mid-skid.
He laughed.
"Hahahah. Okayā¦ that one hurt."
She landed gently dozens of meters away.
"Are you laughing?" she asked. "Do you still don't understand the situation you are in."
"Why wouldn't I laugh?" Loki tilted his head. "I'm having fun."
Another ripple formed behind him.
This timeā
Chains manifested.
Blackened, engraved with sealing formulae.
They fired from multiple dimensions simultaneously, phasing in from blind angles, locking onto her limbs and torso.
For a split secondā
They wrapped.
The ground beneath her feet cracked.
Loki's eyes sharpened.
'Got you.'
The chains glowed red.
Then white.
Thenā
They evaporated.
She stepped forward through the fading steam.
"Attacks on that level will not affect me."
The air around her condensed.
A sphere of crimson light formed in her palm.
Loki's instincts screamed.
He multiplied.
Fifty clones erupted outward in all directions, scattering across the sky and ground, each generating fresh waves of weapons to obscure her line of sight.
The sphere pulsed once.
And fired.
It didn't explode.
It erased.
Everything in its path vanished in a straight line extending beyond the horizon.
Dozens of clones disappeared instantly.
The real Loki barely avoided total annihilation by twisting sideways at the last conceivable moment.
The beam grazed his wing.
Flesh and feather vaporized.
He spiraled uncontrollably.
She appeared above him.
Palm downward.
"Fall."
A gravitational pulse of pure thermal pressure slammed him into the earth.
Trees replaced stone.
They had reached the outskirts of the Jura Forest.
Loki crashed through the canopy, shattering trunks upon impact before skidding violently across the forest floor.
He forced himself upright.
Breathing rough now.
One wing partially regenerated but unstable.
She descended through the burning hole in the canopy.
Unscathed.
The forest around her ignited in perfect circles, flames forming elegant patterns rather than chaos.
"Enough Loki. I don't want to kill you. But if I'm forced too I won't hesitate." she admitted.
Loki smiled.
"No. I'm still far away from fully enjoying myself."
Hundreds of portals bloomed behind him.
Layered in tiers.
Each one releasing weapons of increasing density and magical reinforcement.
Massive constructs forged mid-air.
They launched in synchronized waves.
At the same timeā
Clones emerged from the forest itself.
Some underground.
Some from treetops.
All attacking in flawless coordination.
Velgrynd's gaze sharpened.
She stepped back.
Her aura flared violently.
Scarlet fire erupted upward, forming massive draconic wings of flame behind her, shaped purely from heat and energy.
The temperature skyrocketed.
Weapons entering her domain detonated before reaching her.
Clones ignited instantly.
She extended both arms.
Rings of compressed solar fire expanded outward like spinning halos.
Trees evaporated.
The ground turned glass.
Loki darted through the chaos, barely maintaining cohesion as the battlefield transformed into a burning wasteland.
He appeared behind herā
Twin black lances forming in his handsā
He thrust them toward her spineā
She caught both shafts under her arm without turning.
Her elbow drove backward into his ribs.
Something shattered inside him.
Before he could escapeā
Her hand grabbed his face.
And slammed him into the molten earth.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Each impact cratered the forest deeper.
His clones dissolved.
His weapons vanished.
The sky's ripples faded.
She lifted him by the throat.
His regeneration was slower now.
"You avoided direct confrontation because you knew you couldn't defeat me," she said quietly. "But you still believed you could outplay me."
Loki tried to grin.
She punched him across the face.
Another strike to his abdomen folded him completely.
She released him.
He collapsed.
Barely conscious.
She walked toward him slowly.
Flames dimmed around her.
She reached down to grab him.
But suddenly the temperature dropped instantly.
Frost spread across molten glass.
Flames froze mid-flicker.
Scarlet met pale blue.
A calm voice echoed through the ruined forest.
"Sister."
Ice crystallized across the shattered trees like blooming flowers.
"After all these yearsā¦ I still don't like you."
Velgrynd did not turn immediately.
But her smile sharpened.
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