The barrier enclosing the battlefield pulsed once.
Thrum.
Flame churned.
Frost thickened.
And in the center of it all—
Loki stretched, not simply stretched, he actually stretched.
His arms extended far beyond what they should, rubbering outward with a loose bwoooing before snapping back into place. He rolled his shoulders. His neck cracked side to side.
"Alright," he said brightly, golden eyes curved in delight. "We tried the serious approach."
He looked up at the two colossal dragons blotting out the sky.
"Let's try ours."
And then he laughed.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA—!!"
Velgrynd moved first.
A dragon's roar detonated across the barrier.
FWOOOOOOOOOSH—!!!
A column of compressed stellar flame large enough to swallow mountain ranges devoured the sky. Air melted. Space warped. The forest below evaporated into a crimson horizon.
Velzard layered it instantly.
KRSHHHHHHHH—!!!
Absolute zero engulfed the inferno, red and white twisting together into annihilation incarnate.
The impact struck.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!
The barrier trembled, cracks flashing across its inner surface.
Silence followed.
Smoke rolled outward.
Velgrynd's massive eye narrowed.
"…It connected."
Then suddenly a hand poked out of the smoke.
Then another.
Loki stepped forward, coughing dramatically, fanning the air in front of his face.
"Cough—! Cough—! Whoo! That's hot! And cold!"
His hair was singed.
He smacked it flat.
It popped back up.
"Oh. That was a good effort."
Velgrynd froze.
Velzard's pupils thinned.
Velgrynd dove.
WHOOOOOOM—!!!
Claws like city-sized guillotines tore down through space.
Velzard froze the battlefield solid mid-flight.
KRRRRSHHHHH—!!!
Ice consumed the sky. Air crystallized. Even sound seemed to halt.
Loki looked down at the frost gripping his legs.
He wiggled his foot.
Tik.
The ice shattered.
Velgrynd's claw descended.
Loki reached up and caught it.
The collision echoed—
BAAAAAAAAAAM—!!!
His arm bent like rubber.
The force traveled through him in a visible ripple before snapping back with a loud—
BOOOOING.
Velgrynd's eye widened.
Loki's grin split wide.
"Its going to take a lot more than that, to bring me down."
He flicked her claw.
Ping.
Velgrynd flew backward like she'd been swatted by a continent.
THOOOOOOOM—!!!
She slammed into the barrier, cracks spreading.
Velzard inhaled sharply—
Then unleashed a storm of absolute zero breath.
FSSSSSSHHHHHH—!!!
The wave devoured everything in its path.
Loki inhaled.
SHLUUUUURP—!
The frost vanished into his mouth.
He puffed his cheeks.
Turned.
Spat it back.
PTOOOO—!!!
The frozen blast rocketed toward Velzard.
She twisted aside as it grazed her wing.
Ice exploded.
Velgrynd roared, gathering flame so dense the air turned black.
Velzard layered gravity compression beneath it.
The two attacks collided into one singularity of annihilation.
Loki looked between them.
Reached behind his back and pulled out a comically oversized golden hammer made of solid light.
He weighed it in his hand.
"Hmm. 1000ton"
The attacks struck him.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM—!!!
The explosion engulfed everything.
When the smoke cleared—
Loki stood there holding a tiny wooden sign.
It read:
NO U.
The combined dragon breath rebounded instantly.
Velgrynd twisted aside as her own flame scorched her flank.
Velzard's frost crystallized her wingtip before she shattered it off midair.
Both dragons paused.
Velzard's voice echoed coldly.
"…What is happening here. None of it makes sense."
Loki tossed the sign aside.
"That was fun. Let's do it again."
Then he vanished.
Velgrynd blinked.
Tap.
He stood on her snout, poking it repeatedly.
"Boop. Boop. Boop."
"You're very intimidating up close, you know that?"
Her jaws snapped shut.
CHOMP—!!!
Silence followed.
She swallowed.
Velzard watched.
Velgrynd smirked internally—
But then her stomach suddenly bulged.
Glowed gold.
A muffled voice echoed from inside.
"Knock knock! LET ME OUT HEY!!"
Velgrynd's eye widened.
"Impossible!"
BOOOOP—!!!
Her stomach twisted and turned until Loki burst out of her side in a harmless explosion of glittering light, spinning midair.
The wound cauterized instantly but her core trembled.
Her soul.
He had touched it directly.
Velzard descended, abandoning dragon form midair. Frost spiraled violently around her humanoid shape.
Velgrynd followed, crimson aura roaring as she condensed into human form.
"It seems logic will not work here sister." Velzard said calmly, eyes razor sharp, "how do we even fight such a thing?"
They attacked simultaneously.
Velgrynd's fist tore forward.
WHAM—!!!
Velzard's palm struck toward his heart.
"THUK—!!!"
Loki ducked, but his upper body detached and slid aside while his lower half remained planted.
Velgrynd blinked.
His torso reattached upside down.
"Missed me!"
Velzard's strike pierced clean through his chest.
She froze as there was no blood or resistance.
Loki looked down at the hole.
"AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!. That looks serious."
He reached inside himself and pulled out a glowing golden thread.
Velzard felt it instantly.
Her eyes widened.
"That thread—"
"This is yours!"
He tugged.
"Boing~!"
Velzard staggered as frost spiraled wildly out of control.
Her soul shuddered violently.
Velgrynd roared and spun, her kick connecting cleanly this time.
BAAAAM—!!!
Loki flew across the battlefield.
He hit the barrier—
SLAP—!!!
And he flattened like paint.
And then slowly he peeled himself off with a sticky shlrrrp and eventually popped back into shape.
Boing!
"…Okay," he laughed, rubbing his cheek. "That one actually hurt!"
He snapped his fingers.
Snap!
The sky became a checkerboard.
Gravity rotated sideways with a loud—
FWIP!
Velgrynd stumbled as down became left.
Velzard corrected instantly, freezing space into platforms.
Loki ran across the sky horizontally.
Tap tap tap tap tap—!
Laughing loudly.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA—!!!"
"You two are amazing!" he called. "This is so much fun!"
Velgrynd adapted mid-motion, aura flaring hotter.
Velzard froze sections of altered space with precise control.
Slowly they were adjusting and improving. It was simple really. Against Loki throw all logic out the window.
Velgrynd said, "But that's easier said than done."
Loki grinned wider.
"That's the spirit!"
He clapped.
"CLAP!"
A massive golden spotlight dropped from nowhere.
DING!
It shone directly on Velgrynd.
A giant glowing mallet materialized above her.
Velgrynd's eyes widened.
"Don't you—"
BONK.
DOOOOOOOONG—!!!
The hammer slammed down.
Scarlet aura shattered outward.
Velgrynd dropped to one knee midair, coughing violently.
Not from physical impact—
But from the tremor in her core.
Velzard surged forward in fury—
Only for Loki to grab her wrist mid-charge.
Her arm stretched.
"Bwoooooing—!"
He let go.
She snapped back violently.
Her breathing finally uneven.
Flame surged higher.
Frost sharpened colder.
They attacked again.
BOOM—!! CRASH—!! WHOOOOM—!! KRSHHH—!!
Blows began connecting more frequently.
Velgrynd's punch cracked across his face.
THUD—!
Velzard's elbow struck his ribs.
WHAM—!
He splattered against the barrier.
SLAP!
Dripped downward—
"Drip… drip…"
Then snapped back together in a burst of golden sparkles.
Pop!
Yet each time he reformed.
Then brightened again.
They pressed harder.
Velgrynd's flame burned hotter than before.
Velzard's frost condensed deeper than zero.
They moved in perfect synchronization.
And still—
Loki laughed.
Spinning between them like a golden comet.
Stretching.
Flattening.
Reforming.
Landing hits that made even True Dragons flinch.
Velzard's breath came faintly uneven.
Every strike from him chipped at their souls directly.
He floated upward, hovering above them both.
Golden aura waving in warped patterns.
"This," he said, laughter soft but manic, "is fun."
The barrier trembled violently under their combined power.
Flame coiled.
Frost sharpened.
Light twisted into impossible geometry.
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