Chapter 57
The look on Loki's face was worth every second of mana I'd spent maintaining that clone.
I'd been watching from above for the better part of an hour. The clone had performed exactly as intended. It let them think they were winning, let them believe their trap had worked. The perfected shadow clone technique had been one of the first spells I'd decided to master after getting my grimoire, and it had served me well.
I'd suspected something was wrong with Rossweisse the moment we started climbing. Her breathing pattern was off. Her body language was different. Small things that most people wouldn't notice, but I'd spent enough time around the real Rossweisse to know her tells.
The real tell was when she didn't correct Father Dante's theology. The real Rossweisse would have jumped at the chance to lecture him about Norse mythology versus Christian doctrine. She lived for those kinds of academic arguments.
I could have confronted the imposter immediately. Could have blown his cover right there on the mountainside. But I wanted to see his plan. Wanted to understand what kind of trap he thought would be enough to take me down.
So I let it play out. And it had paid off spectacularly.
Loki. The God of Lies himself had walked right into my web without even realizing it.
"Did you really think a simple poison would be enough?" I called down to them, letting amusement color my voice. "Even if you'd managed to hit the real me, Eitr wouldn't have done much more than make me nauseous."
That was a lie, of course. Eitr was nasty stuff, and it probably would have caused me serious problems. But they didn't need to know that. Besides I had contingencies for that too. The Senzu beans in my inventory were better than the original.
I improved them so that they could heal everything. Injuries, sickness, disease, poison. Even something as exotic as Eitr would have been neutralized within seconds of eating one.
Laevateinn hummed in my grip, the blade eager for violence while the grimoire's pages fluttered beside me, already preparing spells based on my intent.
The trickster god's pale eyes blazed with fury, but I could see calculation there too. He was already working on his next move, his next deception. That was fine. I'd planned for that too.
"Where is Alessia?"
"Alive," Loki replied, his composure returning. "For now. But if you want to see her again, you'll put down that sword and surrender yourself."
I laughed.
"You think you have leverage?" I gestured at the smoking crater where the monastery used to be. "What makes you think I care about collateral damage?"
The confidence in my voice wasn't entirely fake. Of course I cared about Rossweisse. She was my friend.
"Besides," I continued, "You of all people should know about valkyries. They're warriors. Born and bred for battle. If Alessia is half as competent as I think she is, she's probably already working on her own escape."
And if she wasn't, well. The tracking spell I'd placed on her gear bag would lead me right to her. A little insurance policy she didn't know about, but one that gave me options beyond playing into Loki's hands.
That got a reaction. Loki's confident expression flickered for just a moment, but then his face twisted into something ugly.
"You think you're so clever," he snarled. "You think you've won?"
The air around him began to distort, reality bending as divine power erupted around him.
"You want to know why we chose the Alps as our base?" Loki's voice carried a manic edge now. "It was because this is where I keep my children. My creations. My masterpieces."
His laughter echoed across the mountainside, cold and bitter.
"Did you really think I would face you without insurance? Without my greatest weapons?"
"I am Loki!" he roared, his voice echoing across the mountain like thunder. "The God of Lies! Father of monsters! And if I cannot take you alive, then I'll drag you down with me!"
A sound split the air. Something primal and terrifying that made the very stones beneath our feet tremble.
Then I saw them.
Rising from the shadows between the peaks, creatures of myth and nightmare began to emerge. First came the wolf. Massive beyond comprehension, with jaws that could swallow mountains and eyes like burning coals. His fur was darker than the void between stars, and when he moved, reality itself seemed to bend around his form.
Fenrir. The God-Devouring Wolf. One of the Top Ten Strongest Beings in the world.
Behind him, something even larger moved through the valleys. A dragon of impossible size, his body thick as ancient trees, with scales that gleamed like polished obsidian. One of the Five Great Dragon Kings, created by Loki himself as his masterpiece.
Midgardsormr. The World Serpent.
And running alongside them came two smaller wolves, though "smaller" was relative when each was still the size of a house. Fenrir's sons.
Sköll and Hati.
The anime had done these creatures a disservice. What I was seeing now was nothing like the sanitized versions that had appeared on screen.
"Let's see how you handle a family reunion," Loki laughed, but there was madness in the sound now.
They attacked as one.
Fenrir moved first, his massive form blurring across the distance. His jaws opened wide, and I could see nothing but void beyond his teeth.
Behind him, Midgardsormr uncoiled through the air. The dragon's roar shook the mountains.
Sköll and Hati flanked their father, moving like shadows. Their howls carried something that made my bones ache.
I didn't move.
The attacks hit me simultaneously. Fenrir's jaws closed around my torso. Midgardsormr's tail whipped across my legs while his claws raked down my back. The two smaller wolves bit into my arms.
Kavacha and Kundala blazed to life around me, golden radiance erupting from every plate. The pressure against my skin felt like someone pressing their palm against my arm. Gentle. Harmless.
"Impossible," Loki breathed.
I flexed my arms. Sköll and Hati went flying, hitting the mountainside hard enough to leave craters.
I grabbed Fenrir's upper and lower jaws. The massive wolf struggled, but my grip held.
I began to pry his jaws apart. Fenrir's eyes went wide.
There was a wet crack. Fenrir whimpered.
Midgardsormr struck again, his coils wrapping around my body. I felt pressure that should have crushed my bones to powder. Instead, it was like being squeezed by warm silk.
I reached up and grabbed one of his coils. My fingers sank into his scales. Golden fire erupted along my arm as Midgardsormr screamed as my grip burned through his scales.
I ripped his coil away and used the leverage to punch him like a club. The dragon whipped through the air and slammed into the mountainside.
The impact shook the entire mountain range. When the debris settled, there was a dragon-shaped crater carved into solid rock.
But they were already recovering. Sköll shook his massive head and snarled, the darkness around his maw crackling with renewed hunger. Hati prowled to my left, his eyes burning brighter than before. The reflected attack had barely scratched them.
Fenrir pulled himself upright, his jaw still hanging wrong but his eyes filled with murderous intent. Midgardsormr coiled through the rubble of his crater, scales gleaming despite the cracks. Blood dripped from his wounds, but he moved with the fluid grace of a predator ready for round two.
These weren't ordinary monsters. They were made to kill and destroy life. That wasn't enough to put them down.
All four of them were still very much in the fight.
I walked toward them
"My turn."
I raised the Laevateinn above my head. The blade was wreathed in flames that made the air itself burn. This wasn't just fire. This was the concept of ending given form. The sword that would burn Yggdrasil itself.
"Burn, Laevateinn."
The fire spread across the entire mountainside in a wave of annihilation. It washed over Fenrir, Midgardsormr, Sköll, and Hati simultaneously.
Their screams cut through the roar of the flames.
Fenrir tried to dodge, but Laevatein prioritizes life-forms over all else and not even a Deity from the Age of Gods could survive it. The God-Devouring Wolf, one of the Top Ten Strongest Beings, burned.
Midgardsormr's scales provided no protection. The flames ate through his defenses and into the dragon's core. His death throes shook the mountain as he collapsed, reduced to ash.
Sköll and Hati didn't even have time to run. The fire claimed them instantly, their destiny to devour celestial bodies ending in divine flame.
When the fire faded, nothing remained but scorched earth and the lingering smell of burned divinity.
I turned to face Loki.
He was gone.
The space where he'd been standing was empty, only a faint shimmer in the air showing where his teleportation had torn through reality.
Smart bastard. He escaped.
He'd used the chaos of the battle as an opportunity to slip away while I was focused on his children.
I should have expected that. The God of Lies didn't survive this long by standing around to face superior firepower. Even in other works Loki was a hard being to kill.
Kokabiel and the remaining fallen angels weren't so lucky. They were trying to teleport, reality bending around them as they poured power into their escape spells. But nothing happened. Their forms flickered and failed to fade.
Did they really think I haven't taken precautions? The only reason Loki managed to escape is that he is clearly superior in magic between the two of us.
For now.
"What?" one of them gasped. "Why can't we—"
"Did you really think I would allow you to escape?" I said, walking toward them. Laevateinn still flickered with residual flames in my grip. "These Alps will be your burial grounds."
Kokabiel's eyes went wide. "But Loki—"
"Got away because he's stronger than you." I raised the blade. "You, on the other hand, are trapped like rats."
The fallen angels backed away, finally understanding their situation. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.
I moved through them like death itself.
The first fallen angel tried to block with a light spear. Laevateinn cut through the divine weapon like it was made of paper, then through the angel's chest. He screamed as the flames consumed him from the inside out.
The second one attempted to fly. I grabbed his ankle and slammed him into the ground hard enough to leave a crater. The impact alone should have killed him. The fire finished the job.
One by one, they fell. Each death was swift, efficient. I wasn't interested in making them suffer. I just wanted them gone.
Within seconds, even Moretti had died, with only Kokabiel remaining.
The Star of God stood alone among the ashes of his followers, his wings spread wide, light spears materializing around him in a desperate display of power.
The fallen angel came at me, moving faster than he had earlier. Desperation, probably.
Either way, it didn't matter.
I caught his wrist before his light spear could reach me. The divine armor flared to life across my skin, and his weapon shattered against it like glass.
"Your turn," I said, and drove my knee into his stomach.
Kokabiel folded around the blow, all the air rushing out of his lungs in a single wheeze. But I wasn't done with him yet. Not even close.
I grabbed him by the hair and slammed his face into the ground. Once. Twice. Three times. Each impact left a deeper crater, and by the fourth strike, his nose was pointing in entirely the wrong direction.
"This is for my parents," I said, lifting him up again.
I threw him straight up into the air, then leaped after him. Laevateinn moved in a perfect arc, trailing fire and starlight.
The blade took his head clean off.
Kokabiel's body hit the ground with a wet thud. His head landed several feet away, eyes still wide with shock.
It was over.
The Star of God was dead.
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