A/N: Okay, Im thinking of creating a Discord where all of us can communicate. You can give me ideas, criticism etc and I can answer in real time.
If I created one. Would you all join? Think about it and let me know.
---
A few days earlier.
Back at El Dorado.
The castle halls had been quiet that night.
Moonlight spilled through the tall windows, silver and cold, painting the polished floor in pale streaks. The castle staff had long since cleared out of the main corridor. Even the usual tension of Guy's people and Leon's people sharing the same roof had gone still for a while.
At the far end of one such corridor, Velzard stood with her arms crossed.
Waiting.
The sound of footsteps came first.
Then the familiar lazy hum.
Then Loki rounded the corner, hands in his pockets, walking with the relaxed posture of someone who had not just spent the day getting electrocuted by a furious Demon Lord.
Velzard stared at him.
Loki smiled.
"What?"
Velzard's expression did not change.
"You cowered."
Loki blinked once.
Then let out a small laugh.
"That's how you greet me?"
Velzard stepped forward.
Her voice remained calm.
But there was a clear edge to it.
"You cowered in front of Luminous."
Loki tilted his head.
"I prefer the term strategic humility."
Velzard ignored that.
"She is weaker than you."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"So why?"
Loki stopped walking.
For a moment, he just looked at her.
Then—
A smug smile slowly spread across his face.
It was not his usual playful grin.
This one had far more intent behind it.
"Ah."
He lifted one finger.
"Because that…"
He tapped his temple lightly.
"…is part of the plan."
Velzard blinked.
"The plan."
Loki nodded.
"Yes."
He turned slightly and leaned back against one of the marble pillars, looking almost pleased with himself.
"You saw how angry she was, right?"
Velzard stared at him.
Loki's smile widened.
"It was great."
He spread his hands a little.
"Luminous is already the type to get worked up over anything involving Hinata, Lubelius, her pride, the moon, probably the weather too—"
Velzard cut in.
"Get to the point."
Loki chuckled.
"The point is."
He straightened.
"It's fun poking at Luminous."
Velzard remained silent.
Loki kept going anyway.
"And the angrier she gets, the more dramatic it becomes."
He looked deeply satisfied with that thought.
"So naturally…"
"…I made sure to leave her as pissed off as possible."
Velzard stared at him for several seconds.
Then she asked—
"Are you intending to lose?"
Loki's eyebrow lifted.
"To who?"
"To the Saints."
Velzard's voice was steady.
"You agreed to fight them."
"You let Luminous set terms."
"You let her believe she had control over the outcome."
She stepped a little closer.
"So I'll ask again."
"Are you intending to lose?"
Loki looked at her.
Then laughed softly with complete confidence.
"I never lose."
The answer came so naturally that Velzard didn't even question whether he believed it.
Because he did.
Completely.
Velzard's eyes studied him quietly.
Loki pushed off the pillar and began walking again.
As he passed her, he added—
"If anything, I'm just adjusting the shape of victory."
Then he kept going.
Velzard remained where she was.
Watching him disappear down the hall.
And though her face remained as composed as ever—
Something in her eyes softened.
"…Ridiculous."
But she did not sound displeased.
---
Back at the Barren Lands.
The wind howled over broken stone.
Dust rolled through the craters carved into the wasteland by the battle.
The Ten Great Saints were battered.
Broken.
Bloodied.
Scattered across the battlefield after being crushed by Loki's overwhelming strength.
For a brief moment, it had looked as though the battle was over.
Loki stood in the center of it all, maroon suit untouched, hands relaxed at his sides, his expression one of delighted superiority.
The Saints should have stayed down.
Anyone sane would have.
Anyone with a sense of self-preservation would have.
But saints were rarely sane where duty was concerned.
One hand pressed into the dirt.
Then another.
Hinata Sakaguchi rose first.
Slowly and painfully.
Her sword still in hand.
Blood ran down the side of her face, and her breathing was ragged, but her eyes remained fixed on Loki.
A few meters away, Leonard forced himself up as well.
Then Bacchus.
Then Garde.
One after another, the Saints stood.
Loki saw it.
And his eyes lit up.
"Oh?"
His grin widened.
"Oh, that is beautiful."
He spread his arms as if welcoming them back onto a stage.
"You still stand."
Hinata said nothing.
Neither did the others.
Loki's smile became almost reverent.
"Wonderful."
He took one slow step forward.
"Then let me honor that resolve."
The Saints stiffened.
The air changed.
Not like before.
This was different.
Heavier.
Higher.
Their instincts screamed.
Loki raised one hand toward the sky.
Above them, the clouds twisted.
Darkened.
The wind screamed harder.
Bacchus looked up first.
Then froze.
"…No."
Far above the battlefield—
Something enormous had appeared.
A shadow.
Then another.
Then a third.
Three massive meteors tore through the sky, their burning surfaces dragging fire and ash behind them as they descended toward the Barren Lands.
The Saints stared.
For a moment—
No one moved.
Because the scale of it was too absurd to process immediately.
Grigori's eyes widened.
"That's…"
Glenda's face lost all color.
"Impossible."
Saare clenched what remained of his broken weapon.
Fritz took an involuntary step backward.
Even Hinata felt her breath catch.
The meteors were enormous.
Far too large.
Far too fast.
The battlefield had gone from deadly to hopeless in an instant.
Loki stood beneath them with one hand still raised, maroon eyes gleaming with savage delight.
Then he laughed.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The sound rolled across the wasteland like thunder.
"Yes."
He lowered his hand slowly.
"Yes, look at them."
His voice rose with theatrical darkness.
"Look at the heavens themselves descend to crush your fragile convictions."
The Saints stared upward.
The pressure.
The heat.
The sheer inevitability of those falling masses—
It broke something.
Not their will.
Not entirely.
But their certainty.
For the first time since arriving—
They looked afraid.
Loki saw it.
And he leaned into it.
"Did you think this was heroism?"
He spread his arms again, laughing as the meteors burned overhead.
"Did you think defiance alone could challenge a demon like myself?"
He lifted his chin.
"Behold the sky."
"Behold despair."
"Behold the judgment of one before whom even the stars obey!"
He laughed again.
Longer this time.
Louder.
And all the while—
Inside his head—
Loki was having a completely different reaction.
'Okay.'
'This is actually pretty fun.'
He kept the grin on his face.
Kept the madness in his voice.
Kept the whole scene going exactly as a proper villain should.
'Role playing is quite nice.'
His eyes flicked briefly across the Saints.
Their fear looked real.
Which, admittedly, made the whole thing much more effective.
'Obviously I'm not dropping actual death rocks on them.'
That would ruin everything.
And besides—
He had gone to too much effort setting the mood.
'But they don't know that.'
And that, really, was what made it work.
He raised one hand again, fingers curling slightly as if personally guiding doom downward.
The meteors kept falling.
The Saints braced themselves.
And then—
A crimson light flashed across the sky.
A single wave of scarlet energy cut upward.
Then another.
Then another.
The first meteor shattered.
BOOOOOOM.
The second followed.
KRAAAAASH.
Then the third.
DOOOOOOM.
All three exploded in the sky before they could descend any further, fragments of burning stone scattering harmlessly across the far reaches of the wasteland like broken stars.
The battlefield froze.
The Saints looked up in shock.
So did Loki.
Then—
A figure descended from the sky.
Elegant and furious.
Luminous Valentine hovered above the battlefield, divine magic still lingering around her like heat after lightning. Her expression was unreadable for half a second.
Then it sharpened into pure anger.
Hinata's eyes widened.
"Lady Luminous…?"
She hadn't sensed her until the moment she moved.
Luminous did not even glance at her.
Her eyes were locked entirely on Loki.
The fury on her face was unmistakable.
Loki slowly lowered his hand.
His smile remained.
Luminous descended a little further.
The wind around her twisted sharply.
Then, with a voice cold enough to stop the battlefield dead—
She asked,
"What do you think you're doing, Loki?"
---
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