Chapter 454 (Patreon)

I almost wanted to say that everything up to this point was worth it purely for the look on Loki’s face.

I would be lying, of course, but it certainly made me feel good.

Funny enough, it silenced the entire room. I’m guessing it’s one of those things that’s simply not talked about openly.

Well, fuck him.

I felt his grip tighten and his smile strained.

“Careful, Mortal. Less you say something you shouldn’t.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” I put my other hand over my chest. “It seems I made a mistake!” I raised my voice, pausing for a moment. I think the tense atmosphere sort of eased a little as they suspected I was going to apologize, and they could gloss over this whole thing. “Calling you a horse fucker would imply you were doing the fucking, wouldn’t it? But you were the one getting fucked by another horse.”

He twitched slightly.

“Do you visit the stables if you want a good time?” I asked. “Is looking at a Pegasus for you the same as if I looked at an Angel or Valkyrie? I’m genuinely curious, was it when the Horse was inside of you that you thought, ‘Hey, I’m getting fucked by a horse, maybe my decisions up to this point were wrong’ or did you just double down, ‘Well, I’m already getting fucked by the horse, I may as well keep going?’

A glimmer of steel was coming right for my eye. Loki held a dagger in his hand and I grabbed it before it could reach me.

“To be honest, it was far from the worst decision you’ve made in your life.” I kept my innocent smile. “And I’m not talking about your stupid hair.”

“You forget your place.” He hissed.

“Oh wow, point to me. I honestly didn’t think that would piss you off as much as it did. Was it the Horse fucking comments I made, or was it about your stupid hair? Because honestly, I feel like you’re the type of person who wouldn’t get upset at being called a horse fucker.” I hummed. “Is this how Asgard treats their guests?” I looked up towards Vidar.

“Loki.” Vidar’s voice carried across the room, making the Trickster God nearly snarl, but pull away his dagger.

“Was merely a greeting.” The Trickster made his dagger disappear in a burst of magic. As if he did nothing wrong, he let go of my hand and put his hands behind his back, keeping a calm smile on his face as he looked towards everyone else.

“Yeah, it’s all good. We were just horsing around.”  God, seeing Loki getting annoyed is my favorite thing now.

The not so subtle glared he was leveling against me was just icing on the cake.

“…..did the horse have to pay Child Support?”

His hands burst out with fire and Ice.

The thing is, I don’t think I pissed him off that much. I like to think myself witty and intelligent, but I would admit that Loki is someone who would beat me in that department. He was more than capable of keeping up with my insults and poking my sore spots if the situation called for it, but he was holding himself back.

He wanted it to turn into a ‘fight’.

He was goading me into responding with force in turn.

It didn’t matter that he would have started it because he could probably justify it in the eyes of the Gods around him.

“Enough!” Vidar slammed his hand onto his throne, forcing Loki’s magic to cancel. “Loki, your assistance was not asked in treating with our guest, stand to the side.” The Trickster harumphed, tossing his hands up as he stood by a few other Gods. “And yes, this is not how we treat guests, however, this is not how we expect Guests to act.” The King’s hard gaze turned to me.

I glanced at Odin, who was not making any comment or moving to interfere.

I wasn’t obtuse, I could gleam that he was intentionally letting me run my mouth and kick up a fuss on my own.

I have no idea what his plan was at this moment, so I would just keep going at my own pace and do what I wanted to in this moment.

The Gods around Loki were also giving me looks, and they were quite different than the others as well.

Odin said that Loki had allies within the Court, I guess it has become this blatant.

“Bring everyone else in, Thor is about to arrive.” Vidar said in a tired voice.

When he said everyone else, I expect the other Gods they had on hand that weren’t holding down the fort.

What I did not expect was to see familiar faces.

“Sairaorg?” I furrowed my brow.

The Devil grinned, waving at me. He was wearing armor with a significant amount of blood splattered across it.

It wasn’t just him either.

The Boy Band member was here, Sun Wukong’s descendant, The Exorcist woman from the gathering that could apparently make Holy Firearms, the girl that I beat from Nuwa’s Palace from when I was playing around. There were others that I somewhat recognized but never got to meet first hand, such as with Greek style armor, complete with a Xiphos at his side and another that I believe was Celtic with a spear that looked like he literally just broke it off a nearby tree, even if it exuded a magical aura.

All of them looked like they had been fighting very recently.

“Hmm, so you’re acquainted.” Loki’s eyes glimmered and a sly smile appeared on his face.

I frowned at his words because it was obvious he was subtly threatening me.

I recalled Odin’s original plan, to have the ‘Kids’ come here and make a name for themselves, fight a few battles, grab the attention and all that.

Obviously, our original plans went completely out the window after arriving, so I completely forgot about this tidbit until now.

Thor entered a moment later, looking rather jovial. “Father, I have settled the Elves as you ordered.” His presence was rather hard to ignore.

Honestly, I’ve interacted with him all of two times now, if we count merely hearing his words, and I found myself easing in his presence similarly to how I do with Artoria.

Charisma is going to Charisma.

“Brother.” Vidar said sternly, and the Thunder God adopted an awkward smile, scuttling over to Odin’s side. “First, I will give my thanks to our Guests who have fought by our sides. Young they may be, they have fought bravely and admirably.” He gestured to the ‘kids’. “Awards will be meted once the war is finished.”

They shouldn’t have been sent somewhere toodangerous, so I wasn’t going to be worried for their safety.

“The assault by our enemies has eased upon the arrival of the previous dawn. This has allowed us a momentary respite and time to plan. Heimdal holds the Line at the boundary of Muspelheim along with Freyja. Njord pressures them opposite from Vanaheim along with our Vanir brethren. Skadi remained behind at the line of Jotunheim as the Eight Frost Giant Warlords retreated. Otherwise, the Front Lines have come to a lull with miner fighting. I will hear everyone’s thoughts.”

“Clearly they retreated after hearing the return of Father.” Thor laughed. “Father, tell us of what battle left you in this state.”

The others looked particularly interested.

To them, wounds and such weren’t a big deal if one’s life wasn’t in danger. If you survived, then that just meant it was a good battle worth a story.

Even Loki looked as if he was earnestly wanting to hear the answer.

Did….he not know yet?

….It’s been what, a bit over a day? It would probably take him a day or two to travel down to the Roots himself without suspicion of his absence. Combined with the fact that the ones down there probably couldn’t navigate their way up meant that there was a lack of information exchange.

Loki originally expected Odin to come straight to Asgard, probably after finding out about Mimir, the delay must have caused some concern in him. He wasn’t too surprised by my own appearance, and there’s no doubt he knows about the others due to the reports from the Front Line by the Valkyrie.

I think he completely ignored the others because they were insignificant in his eyes.

But most important!

He didn’t know yet.

He didn’t know we just came back from the Roots.

Odin and I realized this simultaneously and shared a look.

The All-Father’s expression quickly changed as he donned a prideful smirk. “Let it be known to all the Realms, I have fought the World Wolf and emerged Victorious!” He proudly slammed the spear onto the ground.

I held back a laugh because technically, he was correct.

I ignored the abrupt cheers around the court and focused on Loki, and just barely, I noticed his eyes dilate.

“Preposterous!” Loki spat out, everyone snapping their heads back to him. He cleared his throat. “We know how powerful my unfortunate child is. All-Father, are you to say you overcame fate itself? That is a…bold claim.”

“What’s wrong, Loki, you don’t sound worried, do you?” I said mockingly.

Loki frowned my way. “I would be thrilled that one of Asgard’s great enemies was defeated.” I knew he absolutely despised having to say that out loud. “However, I am simply skeptical.”

Well, how does it feel to have your well thought out plans fucked up? Of course, he didn’t know the truth, but I relished his immediate confusion and assumptions.

Odin pat his chest. “I carry with me the wounds of its jaws, but I am alive and it is defeated.” He raised his hand up, pointing at me. “And it’s thanks to the brat.”

And that was my que. “Forgive me for my earlier discourtesy, I was in a sour mood after having to fight both Kronos and Hyperion and aid Odin with Fenrir. Both the Titan for whom were very vocal about being there under a certain someone’s orders.” I held my hands up, producing Pandora’s Box, just to put the final nail in the coffin of Loki’s current thoughts.

A sudden hush befell the room, because I’m fairly sure everyone could feel the malice radiating from this thing.

“What is that.” Vidar, King of Asgard demanded an answer.

“Yes, Loki, what is this?” I turned to the Trickster God.

Everyone else looked at him.

“How would I possibly know?” His tone carried a breath of nonchalance, but there was something there that tickled everyone that looked at him the wrong way.

“Answer him, Loki.” Odin addressed him for the first time since returning.

“Well, it appears to be a box.” He said flippantly. “Do you need me to point out the obvious?”

“My King, how long are we going to suffer this outsider’s disrespect?” Someone stepped up in Loki’s defense.

“Meili.” Odin’s eye narrowed.

Meili, if I recalled was a God of….travel? I believe he was Thor’s half brother as another child of Jörð.

But then again, most Norse Gods had relation some way or another, so I don’t know if what I recall about the myths is entirely accurate when considering family lines.

“I agree.” Another stepped up. A bigger fellow, a build similar to Thor.

“Modi, what foolishness are you speaking?” The Thunder God looked confused.

The Thunder God, he came off as a bit….whimsical, I if I were to be honest, but I didn’t doubt for a second that he wasn’t aware of what was going on.

Sides were finally being drawn.

“Father, he disrespected Asgard the moment he arrived. No showed no respect for our Court and insulted one of us openly!” Modi, the God of Courage, pointed at me in accusation.

“I disagree.” I crossed my arms.

“Disagree!? We all heard what you spoke to Loki. Loki has done nothing but defend Asgard against our Enemies. We have seen him bleed upon the battlefields, lead our armies and slaughter our foes.” He swiped his hand through the air. “If it were not for Loki, the Defense Lines bordering Jotunheim would not be the strongest we hold! Compared to him, this outsider, merely claims a feat that cannot be verified.”

“You insult me, I demand a duel to the death.” I delivered quite pointedly.

The God of Courage nearly stumbled in place.

He expected me to argue, to defend myself, and I said fuck it let’s decide who’s right by a duel.

As a God of Courage, well, he would be expected to fight me as well, which I’m pretty sure went against their current plans. If not, well, killing one of the Gods siding with Loki would be preferable.

Really, the only consideration at the moment was Thor’s feeling as it was his son. And I would most certainly not want to fight the Thunder God at this point in time nor make him an enemy.

I had options either way.

“There will be no Duels to the Death while we fight Ragnarök!” Vidar slammed his throne, he gaze sweeping over the gathered. “Who here agrees with Modi?”

Several more deities joined Loki’s side silently.

“Sól, Sága, Dagr, Dellingr, Beyla, Gerðr.” Odin named them off intentionally.

Sól, The Sun Goddess of Norse Myth.

Sága, Goddess of Wisdom, often mistaken for Frigga.

Dagr, God of Day.

Dellingr, God of Dawn.

Beyla, Goddess of Agriculture.

Gerðr, Goddess of Earth and Fertility.

It seems like the group associated with one another with regards to their Domains.

It was enough to show how much sway Loki currently had and why Vidar or Odin simply couldn’t remove him outright without causing significant problems. The issue was, how many were on the fence? And if Odin or Vidar played it badly, they could decide that Loki’s team was looking brighter.

“Brother, are you sure you are making a wise choice?” A God next to Thor, someone even larger than the Norse God of Thunder spoke. And the way he was addressing Modi, I could guess it was Magni, the God of Strength.

“I was always the wiser one between us, brother.” The God of Courage snorted.

“Modi…” Thor looked…hurt.

The God of courage didn’t answer his father.

“It’s a simple matter then.” Odin stroked his beard. “The Brat accuses you, Loki¸and you claim innocent. We can simply ask a third, neutral party.”

“And who do you claim as Neutral?” Loki’s lips curled up.

“Why don’t we ask Ratatoskr?” Odin smiled himself. “It’s well known our mutual distaste for one another. There should be no reason for him to lie.”

Loki was silent, looking like his mind was running a mile a mile a minute. Ever since we got to Asgard, he’d been on the back foot.

Loki moved his fingers back and forth as if he was weaving a spell, even if no magic was being cast, I could tell something was happening. I found it hard to believe that he hadn’t pulled some tricks the moment he realized he was on the back foot.

The door to the great hall was pushed open with haste.

A man nearly fell over, coming to a stop.

“Hermóðr.” Loki looked over at the man, appearing agape and surprised at his entrance. Credit where it’s due, I honestly couldn’t tell he was faking his reaction. “What’s wrong?”

I vaguely recall that being the Messenger of the Gods similar to Hermes from the Greek side as he was also one of the fastest Gods in the Nine Realms.

“My King, I bring reports from the Lines around Jotunheim, they’ve been breached! The Giants of Frost march towards Asgard.” The Messenger God quickly relayed.

How convenient.

“What of Skadi?” Loki sounded concerned.

“I know not, only that she ordered a retreat and stayed behind to buy time.” The Messenger shook his head.

Well, it certainly presented a situation dire enough that everyone was forced to act.

“It seems we must put this matter to the side for now.” Thor held his hammer firm. “Brother, I will rally the armies and meet them head on.”

“No.” Vidar told them plainly. “This matter will be settled.”

“I suppose we can wait until we manage to find the elusive Ratatoskr, however long that takes.” Loki rolled his eyes. “It’s not as if the Squirrel is one of the most difficult beings to track down within the Nine Realms. And surely, we are not pressed for time such as a enemy army marching upon us.”

“Brother, he speaks the truth.” Thor seemed to reluctantly agree with him.

“Mmm.” Loki played with his nails looking disinterested in anything further.

“No need.” Another person quickly walked into the hall. “Ratatoskr will come if I call, he owes me a favor.” The Old Elf King strode in with both Huginn and Muninn on his shoulders. He looked towards the All-Father who gave a nod his way.

“You…” Loki realized his identity it seemed.

“Me. Though, we never really interacted much.” The old elf king smiled. “It has been a long time, Silver-tongued. Still up to your old games?”

“Are you going to meddle in affairs that don’t concern you, Elf?” Loki’s tone was clearly threatening.

“Hoh, that sounds exactly like what I’m doing, Horse Fucker.”

I nearly choked trying to hold back a laugh.

I loved this Old Elf.

For the first time, Loki appeared….I wouldn’t call it concerned, nor even flustered, but slightly hesitant.

There was a certain reluctance that he visibly overcame and let out a sigh. “I intended to play this game a bit longer. Let the story play out into a wonderful and epic tale. But if you want to jump right to the end, then have it your way.”

Loki barely finished speaking as Odin made a move. Gae Bolg in his hand flashed out, a red blur that pierced right towards Loki’s throat, only for it to be blocked by a sword.

Odin’s eye widened, becoming speechless.

“Baldur!” Vidar roared in fury, launching off his throne at his brother, and son of Odin. The two of them clashed once with swords, both pushing the other back before everyone else seemed to regain their wits.

I myself was about to make a move as Loki’s head belonged to me, however, the look on Odin’s face stopped me.

“Don’t bother, they already retreated.” He sounded….tired. The forms of the Gods that sided with Loki flickered with Magic. The All-Father stared at his son. “Why?”

Baldur looked away. “I will do what I must.” And his figure flickered away with a burst of fire.

The only one that remained was Loki himself, but that was also false, it was an illusion. He was an absolute master of Illusions, to the point where I don’t think there was an equal across the entire world.

“How does it feel, Odin?” The Illusion grinned at him. “Knowing that even Baldur came to my side after a bit of persuasion? Really, I only had to dangle the promise of his dead wife infront of his eyes and he practically begged to join me.”

Odin just laughed. A full bellied laugh.

“What’s so funny.”

Odin ignored him. “You did a good job, Vidar.”

“Thank you, Father.” The Asgardian King nodded.

“What are you talking about?” Loki narrowed his eyes.

Odin stretched his back. “The fact that we had traitors among us was probably the most difficult point to deal with. Vidar picked it up quickly, but you seemed too oblivious, Loki. Why do you think Heimdal and Freyja were kept back on the front lines? Did you just think it a stroke of luck? It made you far too confident.”

Loki paused. “You planned this.”

“Oh, nothing so grandiose. When dealing with you, plans seem to have a habit of failing spectacularly. No , we just made it up as we went along. Vidar looked like he planned on cleaning up on his own, and that coincided with what I planned as well. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, your mutt should be nursing his wounds down in the Roots. He’s not dead if you didn’t catch that.” The All-Father said mockingly. “But hey, it was enough to get you off your game for a few minutes. I’d call that a win.”

“All this effort and you only forced me out in the open.” The Trickster scoffed. “Fenrir still lives. Ragnarök will still resolve the same.” He turned to me. “Is this who you put your faith in, Mortal? He put in so much effort, and what did he accomplish?”

Actually, he accomplished a lot from my perspective. Asgard should be almost nearly free of insurgents at this point so they can rally proper defenses. Loki is now out in the open where he didn’t want to be at this point in time.

Any good leader knows that you need your people to be unified if you want to win a war.

Frankly, why he was still around, they couldn’t actually do anything because anything significant would be ruined by Loki while he pretends to be on the side of angels.

“How does it feel to know that no one likes you?” I said offhandedly.

The Trickster God just rolled his eyes. “Spare me your dribble.”

“No, no.” I cut him off. “I mean that for real. How does it feel to know that there is not a single living entity in existence that genuinely cares for you. No friends left after this stunt, as few as those were. Every single member of your family probably despises you bar, what, a Wolf that’s more beast than Jotun? Does that count?”

And there it was.

The first real display of true emotion I’ve seen from him this entire time.

Anger.

“Actually, I probably lied. Maybe that horse still likes you.” I smiled politely.

“Is there a point to this?” Loki’s tone was without much emotion.

“Point?” I hummed. “I suppose there is. Essentially, I want you to think about this. When I lop your head off, I want you to think about how pathetic and worthless your life actually was at in your last moments.”

I gave him no turn to respond as I sliced through his illusion, dissipating the remaining magics.

Asshole.

“Vidar, call a full retreat to Asgard. Loki will send everything he has straight at us.” Odin commanded. “Since Loki wants to end things for good, then It’s time for the final Battle of Ragnarök.”

Right, now we also gotta deal with all this. And also….Sairaorg and everyone else is here. I feel like this is going to get very messy very quickly.