23 22: Five Horns

[Chapter 22: Five Horns ]

'Wait, so this is what stopped the Bifrost. And Odin wants me to kill it?! Damn, madman!' thought Loki, infuriated by his father's 'trust' in him. After all, the Bifrost was a weapon capable of destroying planets all around the galaxy, and Loki was far from being capable of doing that.

He hasn't even awakened his godhood yet!

He shook his head in desperation and uttered, "Damn…" How could he stop a being of such power? Would his entire army be capable of bringing it down? It was hard to say, as the only thing he knew about it, is that it brought ruin to a planet, and its energy is capable of blocking the Bifrost.

He was, however, sure that if they all went to kill it, it would not be without casualties. Was that his lesson? That he must make sacrifices. Looking at the sky with mild annoyance, he raised his hand and showed his middle finger.

"What are you doing?" asked the elder alien sitting in front of him, his eyebrows raised in confusion.

Loki chuckled, but as he was about to respond, a thought was transferred to his mind. 'Your Highness, we are under attack!'

"They're back," said Loki to the man in front of him, before quickly standing up and going outside. [The disgusting things have come back] hissed Ladon, as Loki went out of the wooden tent.

[I know. Do you want to fight them or hide?] asked her Loki, who quickly rotated his hand, making a nearby spear fly to him. He grabbed it and prepared to go to the battlefield.

[Fight!] responded the Jormungandr excitedly. He let out a long hiss as if she were frightening, but Loki only found that amusing and cute.

And so, Loki, with Ladon, charged forward, a spear in his hands, and magical energy fluttering around his body. In a few seconds, he stood before one of the monsters, while Ladon attacked another one on his side.

He raised his spear and threw it like a javelin. The spear pierced the air like a needle, before stopping on the ground. The monster had dodged it by propelling itself with its many tails to the right.

It looked at him with its fangs deeply grinding into the soil. A growl escaped its mouth before it sprinted toward Loki, its jaw wide open.

Loki smiled and opened his palm. The spear that was deeply stuck into the ground flew like an arrow through the monster's body. "Mm… One or two horns doesn't make much of a difference," remarked Loki quietly, gripping his spear and looking to his side.

Ladon opened her mouth, flashing her predatory teeth that glistened dangerously. Her body was encircling the monster, suffocating it. And as she made three rounds around the beast, her fangs penetrated the monster, quickly killing it with the efficiency of her poison-laced teeth.

[Well done] praised Loki, before rushing to another monster, and using his illusions to confuse it. Because, while the monsters were almost just using their instincts, though his non-awakened divinities, he had become able to even trick the instincts.

So, to say, his illusions were not just but an eye trick anymore.

A huge hole appeared in the ground, while rocks with pointy tips grew from the dirt like trees. The surroundings changed, letting place into an unescapable mountain, while his spear became a few centimeters smaller. Because of the smaller size, the monsters would think that they could 'easily' dodge the attack, while in truth they would just get slashed.

It was a 'technique' he had invented that was especially effective on populated battlefields, where tons of things triggered one's instinct, making it harder to notice an illusion, especially one of this size.

*Growl* a domineering growl woke Loki from his thoughts. He looked before himself, with an apprehensive gaze. It was a different monster. Compared to the other ones, this one had five horns. Its body was massive in size, at least six times less than the mother Jormungandr, so the size of a really, really small mountain. But it was still impressive, as in its one eye on its forehead, another thousand spider-eyes hid.

Everyone froze. They hadn't killed half of the 'weak' ones, and a big one just appeared. This mission was turning more and more dangerous as the seconds passed. Loki let out a deep sigh, a flame burning in his eyes, before transferring a thought to his allies.

'I'm handling this. Kill all the small ones during that time!'

With apprehension, his army focused on the weak ones. They, however, started moving quicker, as they did not know how Loki would be able to deal with this alone.

The prince made a twick movement with his right hand, his spear started shining with a mix of green and cyan. The entire world before the two adversaries changed, only showing an infinite loop of mirrors.

A multitude of spears arose from the ground, like a necromancer's army. A concentrated rain covered each one of them. The wind stopped hauling, letting place to gently falling snow.

*Boom* all of the sudden, the spear gored through the air, infinitely multiplying like the hours a student had to go through in class.

The five-horned beast snarled, making a torrent of wind. It looked at the spears as if flies. It opened its eyes wide. 'did that weak thing think he can hurt him with those small tricks?' its mind seemed to say. Pure rage glowed in its eyes, swiping the world with a crimson aura, breaking Loki's illusion like glass.

"Shit" cursed Loki, gripping his spear tighter. If this is how strong the subordinate is, then how fucking strong is the abomination, he asked himself, his eyes squinting.

'It seems like the only way to defeat it is by stalling until everyone has killed their enemies.' Loki tapped his spear on the ground, summoning an enormous snake that tried to entangle itself with the monster's legs.

It was, however, quickly crushed like an ant.

And so, almost hopelessly, Loki continued to fight the monster, using all the spells he knew. From the smallest distractions to a grand shower of magic arrows. But all of that only made the monster angrier. In its rage, it ravaged the magenta-skinned inhabitation.

In the end, after hours of battle, the five-horned best finally fell down. But casualties were not none, for from the twenty being from Loki's army, half had fallen. Each one of them was an experienced fighter, who had finished missions under Odin's order, only proving their power, and thus the beast's power.

As they were on their knees, with ragged breaths, and sticking bodies, Loki's voice echoes through the field. He was tired, but he still sounded a bit worried(?). His eyes showed an anxious glint, while he scratched his hand from distress; his body showed a hunched posture.

"We need to go! Or we're all dead!"