Lord Shadow

The other reason why Loki never sees this woman in his Timeline is maybe not because she was not present in Loki timeline but maybe it is because Loki has forgotten this event.

If this is so…..then Loki knows….he must rush ahead with his plans. The Price…..is slowly catching up if this is true

He took another sip as he sense that the land around Pandemonium is slowly filling in life force from the energy of the world.

The bestowment of Heaven.

Azief formation is from the Eternal Rings. It is of course overpowered. And Azief projection uses his finger to hold up the Heavens.

Looking at Azief fingers that seem to be filling with powerful undulation of Laws, Loki could surmise Azief injected the Life Giving Finger power to the formation when he helps Athena.

All over Pandemonium, the flowers blooms beautifully and life flourish with their life force reenergized.

The monster and beasts that was hiding came back out and the sea wave on the vast sea turns calm again.

‘The battle is over’ he said to himself. Sina heard it and nodded.

She was not surprised. But that was because she truly is confident in Azief strength. The disaster that was about to befall Pandemonium was truly terrifying

A gigantic waves of tsunami was about to devour half of Pandemonium but was stopped by a golden barrier and energy from Heaven.

Those that were lucky managed to absorb the leakage of Heaven energy and promote themselves.

It is mostly beneficial to Pillar Forming and Orb Condensing levelers.

The Shadow Guard that revealed itself has now disappeared once again. It was like their existence was just an illusion.

No one knows the face beneath their mask.

The Three Army retreated from the Sky, panting on the ground, their sweats falling down from their entire body shows how taxing it is to hold up the Heavens

Meanwhile Athena, Wang Jian and Freya did not rest instead they are battling the sea serpent that washed up into human settlements near the coast after the tsunamis subsided.

The populace of Pandemonium is rejoicing as they just survived a disaster.

The Administration Bureau on the other hand is in a bad mood.

With almost half of the energy veins and energy mines drained of its energy it would take a long time before it is replenished.

But…they do not dare take it up with the Shadow Guard.

That is the only organizations in Pandemonium that only need to hear the orders of the Death Monarch and no one else.

While their scope of power was never specified…that makes them even more fearsome in the eyes of the other officials.

Their authority and power comes from the ultimate and supreme ruler of Pandemonium himself.

How can the Administration Bureau have the guts to try seeking audience with Sasha the Nightingale?

Loki takes another sip and look at the dark sky of night.

There is no longer golden skies and golden clouds. There is only the normal sky with twinkling stars on the vast expanse of skies.

‘Azief….have you already knows your Grand Path?’ he ask to none in particular. Probably he is asking himself.

‘To cut through the falsehood of the so called Heavens and gaze upon the truth. Can you really rebel against it?’

Then he smiles devilishly

‘Azief….can you really rebel against the largest chess match in the entire history of existence of the galaxies?’

He then smirk

‘If it’s you….I wouldn’t mind betting those odds. Call it a fools bet’

And like something was clear in Loki mind his clear was carefree. He had made this decision a long time ago when he agreed to Sofia plans.

But he keeps hesitating.

He keeps hesitating to trust.

Truth be told he was tempted with Morgana ideas back then even though he said otherwise to her.

He knew there would be consequence trying to kill Azief…but wouldn’t he find a way to avert the other thing that will come after that’ a small voice in his head whispers to him when Morgana suggested they killed Azief before he grows in power.

There is a part of him….that find it hard to see that this plan that Sofia and Jean cooked up to come to fruition.

But he remembers back to that day. That day…didn’t he already make his decision?

Why….hesitate now…when he didn’t hesitate back then? And then it became clear to Loki. Because he loves this world.

To be more honest, he likes the people in it.

He had a lot more friends than before. And the stronger his desire, the doubt in his heart becomes even bigger.

Because he desperately wish that the future he saw didn’t come to pass….he began to doubt whether he make the right decision.

But today….he affirms back what he already decided back then.

He has to have trust…..a hard thing for him. Then saying to no one he thought to himself

‘I too also have a dream. Like you I want to go higher. Until that day comes, I don’t want to lose this passion in my heart’

Loki still remembers that golden figure of Azief, standing there on the skies of Pandemonium like he is the supreme existence of all creation.

Loki at the time could not help but superimposed the image of the Death God that is always surrounded by dark black reddish aura and the golden titanic figure of Azief in the present that seems like an incarnation of holy existence and he thought to himself

Azief have changed. But he also changed.

There is also something else that fills Loki heart when he saw that scene.

It was awe.

Before Loki became Sovereign, before he became a famous leveler, before he was the God of Lies, he also was one of the many people who admire and idolize the Sovereigns.

And the Sovereign he admires the most among the Six is Azief.

The God of Death and Life.

Now, having the chance to go back to the past and interact with the legends of a generation Loki understand why all the future Sovereigns views Azief as a tall wall that is almost impossible to be scaled and climbed upon.

But then why these people keep trying to climb it?

It is because the higher the wall, the stronger the desire.

And Loki now understands why all those people become Sovereigns. It is because they never give up.

It was like he understands something but did not. Probably this was the quality Loki lack which makes him more inferior to the other Sovereigns.

His Willpower might be strong….but that was after he became Sovereign. The Loki before he became Sovereign is not an admirable person.

Sina who was beside Loki only look at him and did not say anything. When he was like this Sina knows not to bother him.

Loki knows Azief saw further than he on his Grand Path

Azief is chasing a different horizon than the rest of the people.

He wanted to unveil the truth of the Universe. To see through it all whatever it is. It takes a great courage to walk this path to the end

And he got not intention of stopping. For many people the wall they wanted to climb over is Azief.

But….Azief wall is the whole Universe. It is hard and in anyone mind it would be impossible. But why does he keep trying to climb it?

The reason is the same.

It is because the higher the wall, the stronger the desire.

Thinking of this fact makes him reminisce about the past.

‘At the end…..did you find what you were looking for?’ Loki ask to no one in particular, a question that he only ask in his mind

He put down the cup and looks at Sina.

It was an expression full of gratitude.

‘Thank you…for the favor’ He said as he looks toward that place. Sina also follow his gaze and she understands.

She heard who was in that serpent belly and it shock her. She just doesn’t know what Loki is trying to do with that person.

Loki then whispers a few words at Sina. Sina eyes widen but she nodded in understanding.

And he smile bitterly.

‘I don’t understand. No matter what I still don’t understand’ Sina said as she also put down her cup. Loki heard the hissing of the serpents and the shrieking of his ravens.

It is a warning sign. But Loki only scoffs.

He is not eager to leave. Truthfully, if he could, he wanted to stay. Looking at this workshop slash house….he felt it was comfortable.

If not because he knew what would happen in the future, the great war that will envelopes the Universe he would not mind abandoning everything and living peacefully with Sina.

He used to think that knowing the future is pretty cool. Now that he knew, he could not help but thinking of it as a burden or a curse.

‘What don’t you understand?’ Loki thought she was talking about the set of instruction that she needs to do after he left

But it was a different question entirely

‘Why do you keep leaving?’ She asks, her eyes looking straight at him. Loki was clearly flustered hearing this unexpected question.

She then sighed

‘I might not know much but I know you see Azief as your brother. I know in your own way, you are protecting him. From what, I don’t know. But I know you would never harm him. I know you think of us as family. So…why do you keep leaving?’

Loki closes his eyes and when he closes his eyes, his mind was full of memories and moments….moment he spend together with Sofia, with Sina, with Azief.

He remembers all the banters around the fire, remembers all the dirty jokes he and Sina tell each other, or how he would tease Sofia feeling with Azief.

Unconsciously he smiles.

He sighs. The world at the time seems like it was ending but for Loki, it was the best moment in his life.

With them, he left like he belongs.

With them, he left like he was home. It was like he was around family, comfortable and safe. It was a foreign feeling for him.

But those times has passed. And feelings have change. He saw how the hand of the clock is getting faster and he knew he had little time to prepare.

Now…he doesn’t know if he could even trust his memories.

At least he hopes he won’t forget those moments. At least for now. He knew the price he had to pay.

He always knew. And he was prepared. He only asks for more time. That is the only thing he could ask now.

He then opens back his eyes and there is kindness and a rare gentleness inside those deep green eyes.

He then tap Sina nose and said

‘It is a secret’ and he chuckles.

‘You!’

Loki has a hint of mischievousness in his eyes as he got up and kisses Sina on her forehead. There is a sly smile on his face.

‘Don’t worry about me, Sina. Take care’ he said before Sina even had anything to say

Whoosh!

Then the cold wind of the night swept by the workshop living room and his body turns to green smokes as he disappeared with the wind.

The serpent that slithers around the courtyard of the workshops slithers to the nearby forest. The black raven perched on the branch of the tree on front of the workshop flies to the open sky.

Almost a moment after that, a powerful divine sense sweeps the area but not finding anything the Divine Sense dissipated.

Sina was shook for a second before that Divine Sense was retracted back almost immediately

Sina shakes her head after Loki stunt but there is a trace of smile on her face as her finger touch her forehead.

It was a smile full of bashfulness.

Her face was red with embarrassment but she did not dislike it.

This feeling that she is now feeling.

She did not dislike it…..as it is a feeling she nearly forgotten. It was like she was running again with all of her might

She herself doesn’t know how to describe her feelings. Her life since she met Loki, Azief and Sofia has always been full of adventures.

Out of the people in their group, the one that is having the most fun is probably Sina.

She then calms herself down by taking another sip of the green tea before she remembers something.

‘Ah…that woman’