Chapter 32

“…Bahamut, what is that black devil-like thing?”
“…It’s a troublesome creature called an evil god, more dangerous than a demon. Be careful, master. While its power is mid-tier at best, it’s one of the beings no one wants to fight. And above all, it’s the only one to ever escape from Lord Zeus.”
“…It escaped from Lord Zeus?”

Hera tilted her head, recalling the intense aura Zeus had displayed earlier.
Though the evil god named Loki before her was strong, Hera felt that Zeus exuded an aura of far greater power.

However, Hera concluded that Bahamut wouldn’t lie in such a situation and readied her sword, understanding that Loki had indeed escaped from Zeus.

“Oh? Are you going to fight me?”
“Of course. I’m the eldest daughter of the Dragon Slay family, a noble warrior clan of this country. I can’t run away here.”
“Impressive spirit… befitting someone who has tamed Bahamut.”

Loki nodded in understanding, a peculiar expression on his face. Hera, having heard similar words from both Loki and Zeus, shot a suspicious glance at Bahamut.

“I… I was just a bit wild in the past! More importantly, let’s focus on him! This time, I’ll get serious too.”

Bahamut quickly made excuses, before regaining his composure and unleashing an immense, oppressive aura as he glared at Loki with fierce eyes.

“First, let’s change the location.”

In sync with Bahamut’s words, Hera chanted a spell.

“———《Teleport》!!”

In an instant, Bahamut, Hera, and Loki vanished from the arena.

“Haha, this place brings back memories.”
“It’s not as pristine as it used to be. But——— do you really have the luxury of feeling nostalgic?”

Still glaring at Loki to prevent his escape, Bahamut spoke in a low, irritable tone before unleashing a destructive breath imbued with immense magical power straight at Loki.

Facing such an attack, Loki simply said:

“You’ve gotten stronger since the old days… but you’re still weaker than me.”

He kicked Bahamut’s breath into the sky. The destructive energy exploded, scattering the clouds and instantly clearing the sky.

“…Then———”

Though Bahamut was shocked that his breath was so easily deflected, he quickly adjusted, flapped his wings, and rapidly closed the distance between him and Loki with incredible speed.

“…I’ll join in too!”

Inspired by Bahamut, Hera surrounded herself with dark magic.

“Swift———!!”

Ignoring the ground collapsing beneath her feet, she lunged at Loki with bullet-like speed. Hera arrived slightly after Bahamut and slashed at Loki to support Bahamut’s fierce assault.

“Haahhhhh!!”
“Tch… Dealing with the Dragon King is already a hassle, and now you’re being a nuisance too…”

Even Loki, an evil god, couldn’t ignore Hera’s attacks, infused with Bahamut’s magic, and responded with a strained expression. Sensing this opportunity, both Bahamut and Hera attacked with all their might.

“Master, let’s finish this!”
“Got it!”

Hera and Bahamut momentarily distanced themselves from Loki, unleashing their full magical power and closing in at supersonic speed with their sword and claws aimed at Loki.

“———《Dual Strike of the Black Dragon King》!!”

Their attacks seemed certain to hit Loki, but suddenly, Loki laughed with amusement.

“———《Trickster》. It’s amazing how easily you fell for it.”
“———!?”

Loki’s form vanished as the space around them shattered like glass.

At that moment, Hera and Bahamut realized——— they had been under a hypnotic spell, fighting an illusion of Loki in a dream all along.

But Hera felt something strange.

(Why could I feel magic, pain, and exhaustion in a dream? And why could I sense Loki’s emotions so clearly? Could this be more than just a dream? Maybe it’s one of Loki’s abilities… or am I just imagining things?)

Though Hera kept questioning herself, she couldn’t find any answers. So, to test her theory, she launched another attack on the smiling Loki.

But———

“Too bad.”
“No——— I’m not done yet!”
“!?”

Once again, the world shattered, revealing that they had been fighting in a dream. This time, Hera quickly understood Loki’s feelings and didn’t hesitate to swing her sword.

Her blade connected, cutting into something. Loki’s face twisted slightly in irritation as he stepped back and disappeared.

“Ouch… how did you figure it out so quickly?”
“I didn’t mention this before, but I can read emotions. Thanks to that, I knew you were panicking, pretending to enjoy yourself while you were actually bored. And that’s how I knew you were the real one.”

At Hera’s words, Loki frowned seriously.

Even though Loki was a master of deception, he couldn’t completely fool himself.

In other words, Hera was someone whose abilities made her a second natural enemy to Loki.

Realizing this, Loki’s expression faded, and he pointed at Hera. Though initially confused, Hera instantly sensed a wave of murderous intent and reflexively dodged. A powerful energy wave grazed her shoulder and flew past.

“Tch…”

Hera rolled on the ground, clutching her shoulder. The pain from the grazing attack was worse than any pain she’d ever felt, making her shoulder unusable.

(What is this… It hurts more than when my arm was torn off… There must be something more in that attack…)

Loki fired another energy wave at Hera, who raised her sword, determined to deflect it this time. But just before it hit, a wave of black magic passed in front of her, erasing the energy attack and surrounding her body in a protective shield.

“Are you okay, Master? Cover your body with a thin layer of my magic. It’ll ease the pain.”
“Thanks, you saved me.”
“But… I have to admit, my power alone might not be enough to defeat him. He’s much stronger than he was in the past, likely due to having a physical body.”

Bahamut glared bitterly at the expressionless Loki.

After hearing Bahamut’s words, Hera took a moment to calm herself, then opened her glowing black eyes.

“But——— I won’t run away. If I do, the people of this country will die.”
“Hahaha! That’s the spirit! Now, let’s give him a taste of our power!”
“Of course!”
“Enough talking. Just die already.”

Without warning, Loki summoned multiple spheres of energy around him, launching countless energy waves at Hera and Bahamut. Though shocked, they quickly protected themselves with magic imbued with the power of destruction.

They charged toward Loki, dodging or deflecting the waves as they closed the distance.

“I’ve got you——— haaahhhhh!!”
“Be blown away——— Graaaahhh!!”

Hera poured all her remaining magic into her sword, swinging it with every ounce of strength she had left, while Bahamut unleashed a powerful breath attack.

The combined assault of the two rapidly approached Loki.

Loki watched the attacks with cold, indifferent eyes———

“———Pathetic.”

With a casual motion, Loki unleashed a massive wave of energy, nullifying both Hera and Bahamut’s final attack.

“…It… didn’t reach him…”

As Hera watched the black magic petals fall from the sky, she regretted not being able to reach Loki.

“I’m supposed to be the strongest in this country…”

Her strength was the only thing that connected her to her family and upheld the Dragon Slay name. But now, she couldn’t even tell if Loki had been fighting seriously.

Drained of magic and overcome by exhaustion, Hera stared up at the massive energy form in front of her. Loki’s cold, merciless eyes gazed back at her.

“It’s over. I still need to figure out what killed my clone———”

Suddenly, a beam of light shot through the massive energy form above Loki.

The light roared with thunder, scattering lightning around as it pierced the energy form and shattered it.

“Didn’t I tell you there won’t be a next time, Kai?”

A lightning-wreathed fist smashed into Loki’s face, sending him flying.

Looking at the fallen Loki, Shin spoke with anger.

“———Anyone who harms Hera will not be forgiven.”

———An inescapable declaration of death.