68. Exciting illusion (1)
Odin was sincere to the avatars.
After all, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the fate of the Northern World depended on their war against the Western World.
The Midgard warriors in Valhalla and their opponents fought a fierce battle of attrition.
Since the Norse supreme god constantly expended soldiers, the Western World’s gods had no choice but to hold them off using dimensional gold coins. Nevertheless, despite the immense damage both sides had been sustaining, he still had a trick hidden up his sleeve.
The Earthlings.
Although they hadn’t yet finished their training, their power had already long since surpassed the warriors in Valhalla. Some of them had even reached leagues close to godhood.
Even among them, Ah-young was considered unique.
The Northern World’s future looked as bright as the Western World’s looked dark, a realm that could only survive this long because of the dimensional gold coins. When Jin-woo obtained the golden ring and consequently gained ownership of Svartalfheim, they were put in an even more difficult position since they had to sign a new contract now that their existing contract had been invalidated.
Loki did a good job. He was indeed the god of mischief, considering not a single soul in all dimensions managed to predict his trick. More importantly, he effectively lessened the work they had to do. Impressed by his output, Yoo-na began to rely on him.
She came to him with a tablet PC in her hands.
“Loki, please review this.”
“Huh? Oh, this is how you should do it…”
“I see.”
She looked at him in admiration, finding him unstoppable. Team Ragnarok, who had been secretly ignoring him, now acknowledged him after he conquered Svartalfaheim and even willingly offered the golden ring to their master.
He easily proved his loyalty through such feats while also giving his team a great stimulus.
Of course, that wasn’t what he intended at all. Hence, when the God of Evil’s subordinates began trusting him more and more, he was surprised. The only reason he even tried helping Yoo-na was to get in her way, but his actions always seemed to lead to the opposite result.
As the god of fire, wind, and mischief, he had no reason to help pathetic humans!
Still, he feared the God of Evil far too much to ignore them. Moreover, even what he saw and heard from those that served him terrified him.
Loki had once met Faro, who was in charge of the underworld.
‘You exude quite the peculiar energy, woman! I am Loki, master of Jormungandr, the colossal serpent wrapped around Midgard.’
‘Really? I envy you. I’ve eaten an entire planet before, but there was no such creature at the time. Perhaps that’s why its taste was a bit bland. Jormungandr, huh… I really want to meet it.’
‘What? An entire planet? Stop messing with me…’
‘I like your humor, Loki. I don’t usually show others things like this, but it’s strangely easy to open up to you. Here, look. I used this jaw to get into its inner core, which I found quite delicious.’
‘U-um…’
Her face split open, revealing a powerful insect mouth, her countless fangs making him turn blue. When her saliva fell onto the ground, it melted right through it.
From then on, Loki became humble and somehow befriended Faro.
He had also met the General Manager, though he did so while trying to dig up the God of Evil’s weaknesses.
He was human, but he feared his existence enough that he made a U-turn away from him as soon as he saw him coming.
‘Loki, right? I heard you’re going around asking about our master’s weaknesses…’
‘T-that’s…’
‘Great.’
‘What?’
‘A heart that cares for its owner’s master is clear evidence of loyalty. Not only did you offer an entire dimension and a valuable treasure to him, you’re even worried about his well-being… Your faith in him is making me reflect upon myself.’
‘I’m…’
‘But don’t worry. The master is invincible. Ah! You haven’t heard the story about how he conquered the first dimension yet, have you? Would you like to hear it?’
‘Not really… No, I’m curious.’
“I was at JW Gate then…’
Loki couldn’t help but nod at the overwhelming gaze of the General Manager. Unable to get away from him, he forced him to listen about the God of Evil’s great deeds for four days and three nights.
Blood flowed from his ears before he could even break free from his captor.
Whenever he tried to do anything, he would accidentally deepen his relationship with the God of Evil’s subordinates. In fact, he became close enough with them to receive gifts.
He found it crazy.
The fake Valkyries smiled at him. They considered him the perfect companion.
‘Oh, I need to do this somehow.’
News about him had to have reached Asgard by now, which meant he’d have to defeat the God of Evil first before he could go back home. That was the only way to clear up this misunderstanding.
If he didn’t resolve this quickly, Asgard and the entire World of Gods would be ruined.
He grew desperate. Although deeply hated by Asgardians, he still grew up in their realm.
That was his home.
When he entered the God of Evil’s Temple, Jin-woo turned his gaze at him.
“Welcome, Loki.”
“Thank you. Haha…”
“Is everything alright?”
“Oh, yes. Definitely.”
The Great Emperor greeted him in a friendly manner.
‘What an amazing guy.’
Loki was sly, but he always brought great results. Moreover, he constantly made up for what he lacked.
Since he was the God of Evil’s subordinate anyway, his insidious and deceitful personality didn’t pose that much of a problem. On the contrary, the General Manager even praised him. He wasn’t as greedy as Earth’s mythology painted him to be, either.
Rather, he worked quietly.
Jin-woo’s men all stood in the God of Evil’s Temple. After looking at each of them, Loki stood at the end of their ranks. However, before he could, he gestured for him to come over.
“Stand here.”
The Great Emperor made him move closer to the throne he sat on, thinking he deserved the spot as Team Ragnarok’s leader. The reason he assembled them was because of a call he received from the Western World. With all of their contracts now rendered useless, they had to declare a state of emergency.
Eventually, they told him they would visit him themselves.
‘It’s a little annoying, but…’
Jin-woo didn’t care about the Western World.
Still, they were in a pretty desperate situation, so he thought he’d at least listen to what they had to say. After waiting for a while, a figure from the Western World entered his temple.
He was a little calmer than when he met the Northern World’s envoy. Despite how gentle he appeared, however, he could still inflict the same level of fear as he did before.
Loki flinched at the sight, his pupils trembling. Since he wasn’t a member of the Sanctuary, it wasn’t surprising that he started shaking in sheer terror.
Jin-woo looked at his visitors.
At the forefront was a red-cheeked woman with porcelain skin and wolf ears, wearing a bikini-like outfit and a crown. Unarmed warriors followed her.
He used the Magic Eye of Information on her.
[-SS] Pharaoh Nitocris
The ruler of the Western World’s afterlife. Sun god Ra chose her himself, appointing her as their realm’s representative and ruler. Reigning over humans, she served as the link between gods and mortals.
*[SS] Pharaoh’s Blessing: Blesses her warriors with demigod-like powers.
*[-SS] Resurrection of the Lion: Use dimensional gold coins to revive dead warriors. Revival time is determined by the amount offered.
Pharaoh Nitocris looked more like a cat or a fox than a wolf.
It was a little odd, but she was quite beautiful.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, God of Evil. I am Pharaoh Nitocris of the Western World.” She bowed her head in greeting.
When he looked at her directly, she began to tremble as well.
The God of Evil’s subordinates standing around them were all monsters. In particular, those closest to him didn’t bow to him at all, unlike those that worshiped Horus.
She didn’t dare meet his gaze. Ra, the sun god, referred to him as the darkest existence in all dimensions and the darkness that melted even malevolence. At first, she thought it was a bit of an exaggeration. However, now that she had met him in person, she found his words a little lacking.
Nitocris glanced at his minions until she noticed a being she didn’t expect to see in this meeting.
‘Loki of Asgard?’
The abominable god of mischief was here.
Was she too late?
She felt threatened.
“What’s wrong?”
“O’ God of Evil, your immeasurable glory momentarily rendered me unable to come to my senses. Allow me to congratulate you for becoming the new king of Svartalfheim.”
“Thank you.”
Jin-woo liked the Western World more than the Northern World.
Although Odin sent Aesir gods, they weren’t high-ranking. On the other hand, the Western World’s pharaoh visited him herself. In addition, her flattery skills were quite advanced.
“It’s the least we can do.”
At Nitocris’ gesture, the warriors behind her brought forward a large treasure chest filled with golden scarabs.
‘Interesting.’
The sight satisfied Jin-woo. He thought they would be great for decoration.
“What do you need in return?”
“We are currently attempting to fend off the Asgardian’s invasion, and our warriors can only do that by working in Svartalfheim. Hence, while I didn’t want to ask this of you on our first meeting, I request that you sign a contract with us.”
Her plea was easy to accomplish. After all, with the help of Loki’s excellent skills, he had swallowed up the dimensional gold coins’ production facility.
Empowering the Western World while they’re fighting an intense battle of attrition would also prove beneficial for him.
However, just as Jin-woo was about to agree, Loki looked at the two with urgency. If the God of Evil supported the Western World, Asgard would be at a disadvantage.
The Great Emperor seemed to like Nitocris.
‘I can’t just let this happen!’
He needed to buy some time until Odin could deploy the Earthlings.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know that the humans they abducted were just mere avatars. Moreover, even if Jin-woo told him, he wouldn’t have understood, though.
“O’ God of Evil! May I speak?”
Jin-woo nodded.
He wondered what Loki was thinking.
“The Western World is made up of poor opportunists. For dimensional gold coins, they’d willingly do anything.”
“… L-Loki! You-”
“Look at that! Shouldn’t that be considered a threat? For them, fists speak louder than words. Moreover, their leader, Horus, is a bird head.”
Nitocris could only glare at him as he opened his arms and turned to face the God of Evil’s subordinates.
“A lot of time has passed since our master conquered the Central World, yet they ignored his presence until now! They only came running to him because their situation has gone awry!”
“W-who said we were ignoring him?! Please don’t misunderstand, God of Evil. Our circumstances didn’t allow it!”
“You could’ve made it so it would, just like how I turned my back on Asgard and swore allegiance to him! Moreover, Horus didn’t come in person, which means he still refuses to acknowledge our rightful ruler’s authority!”
He pressed Nitocris on.
Jin-woo fell in thought for a moment.
‘As expected of him.’
Loki was smart!
Feeling a tad lazy, he decided to just sign a contract with them. However, now that he thought about it, he had to ensure they knew which side had the upper hand in this negotiation.
Loki pressured down the Western World.
If so, then he should match his rhythm!
“I see no good reason to make a contract.”
“Not even the god of wisdom is a match for the God of Evil.” Loki bowed deeply as he replied to his words.
Nitocris was perplexed. She wanted to kill that damn bastard right now. However, based on the situation, it seemed that Loki had betrayed Asgard to become the God of Evil’s subordinate.
“I apologize for not meeting you earlier. Horus is currently not in any position to present himself, for he’s currently battling against Set. Please spare us from your wrath.”
She took off her crown and lowered her head.
“If need be, then I’d willingly step down from my pharaoh position and offer my soul to you in exchange for your forgiveness.”
Her words shocked Loki. He didn’t think she’d go that far.
Nevertheless, he quickly came up with a rebuttal.
“Your soul’s worth no more than that of a low-ranking god’s–!”
“That’s enough.”
“Hahaha…”
Jin-woo smiled at Loki.
Too much pressure wasn’t good.
“I don’t need mercenaries.”
“I see. Thank you.”
“Let me reconsider the terms of the contract.”
Nitocris bowed.
Prof. Kim Dae-jin raised his hand.
“Hmm, as I said, we need a new theme.”
“Right.”
Their amusement parks’ sales were falling. More accurately, they could barely earn the underworld’s maintenance cost at this point. It seemed like a bad idea to make an Egyptian theme park there.
Jin-woo wrote the contract right away.
When the pharaoh read through it, surprise became evident on her face.
“Are you saying I’m going to the underworld?”
“That’s right. Only every few days, though.”
“Ah… I understand.”
She burst into tears.
Since he didn’t give detailed explanations, the clause led her to misunderstand it as her being tormented in the afterlife.
Upon reading phrases like ‘Head Crash Roller Coaster’ and ‘Crushing Carousel,’ she couldn’t help but think so.
He was satisfied with the contents of the contract.
Taking her soul was a bit too much, so he decided to make her work on the proposed theme park a few times a week instead.
Taking a look at the contract as well, Loki was surprised.
‘He truly is the embodiment of evil itself… Even though she’s a pharaoh, he would torture her mercilessly in the underworld…’
Loki only knew the underworld based on stories, which often depicted it as a place ruled by a ruthless monstrosity, making it as terrifying as Tartarus.
He squeezed his eyes shut, imagining Nitocris and her warriors being tormented. Since she was immortal, she’d survive through it all, but that also meant she’d feel every bit of pain the God of Evil would inflict upon her.
What made it worse was that she wouldn’t be perpetually locked down there but would only be making regular visits. She would suffer enough emotional stress to break her mind while waiting for her next underworld visitation.
‘God of Evil…’
Loki thought he had to defeat him for the sake of all the deities in the World of Gods. At that moment, he remembered one of the oldest and strongest beings to exist.
‘Saturn…’
He was reluctant to visit him, but he had the weapon best for sealing Uranus.
The scythe that ruled time.
Even Gungnir was no match for it.
According to his investigation, Saturn often met Set, the Egyptian god.
Loki shook his head wildly.
‘I have to meet him.’
The God of Evil trusted him.
It wasn’t what he intended, but it was the trust he had earned by offering Svart Alfaheim and the Golden Ring. Let’s take advantage of that.
Looking at him with a serious expression, he took a fan out of his subspace and handed it to him.
“Hold this.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
He accepted it.
‘He looks like Zhuge Liang, doesn’t he?’
They should look quite similar if he grew a beard.
Jin-woo felt like he had gained his very own Zhuge Liang.
That only made him even more excited to witness what Loki would bring next.
* * *
Nitocris returned to the Western World and stayed up all night, unable to sleep. The closer the fateful day to go to the God Of Evil’s underworld approached, the more terrified she became.
Witnessing her in such a state enraged Horus. He managed to drive Set away, but he was injured in the process.
Even so, he continued to fend off the Northern World’s warriors.
“Nitocris… I won’t forget your sacrifice.”
That was all he could tell her.
Loki, the Asgardian, walked over to her and apologized as she wept in front of the God of Evil’s Temple.
Time passed in what felt like an instant.
The day for her to visit the afterlife had come.
She took off her garb and crown, both of which she had always worn since they symbolized pharaohs, and changed into clothes worn by the combatants. Her heart was determined not to be broken.
Her handpicked soldiers walked towards her. They didn’t look good either.
Imbuing the portal stone the God of Evil gave her with mana, a portal appeared in front of her.
‘For my people…’
They gathered their wits and entered it. On the other end of it, a woman clad in black was already waiting for them.
She was quite pale.
“You must be Nitocris. I assume they’re your companions.”
“Yes.”
“Follow me.”
She guided them to Prof. Kim Dae-jin’s underworld laboratory.
“Aaaaaah!”
“Gasp!”
“Argghhh!”
Screams echoed from all directions as her eyes dawned upon people hanging from bizarre devices.
‘T-torture machines!’
The purpose they served was clear based on their designs alone. As she imagined what it would be like to be attached to them, making her tremble, they soon exited the lab and entered another building.
“Professor, Nitocris and her companions have arrived.”
“Hmmm?”
The moment Prof. Kim Dae-jin turned to look at her, she flinched. With a chainsaw and a knife attached to his arms, he stuck out his hand, much to her surprise.
“Ah! I’m sorry.”
The mistake he made while trying to ask for a handshake put her on the verge of fainting.
Withdrawing his hand, he nodded at her instead.
“Follow me, Nitocris.”
She looked at the warriors behind her before leaving them behind. They nodded at her as she did, holding back their tears with stiff expressions.
‘For the sake of the people!’
‘We’ve become the God of Evil’s toys, but they will never break our hearts!’
Their eyes held such determination.
She followed him to a dark room decorated only by a single chair in the middle of it.
“Have a seat.”
Taking a deep breath, she stood in front of it then took off her clothes before doing as instructed, her arms and legs spread out.
“Go ahead and start! I will never give in!”
“… What are you doing?”
Prof. Kim Dae-jin stared at her blankly, holding the staff uniform she was supposed to change into. Behind him stood employees who were supposed to do her makeup.
She could only blink in confusion as he handed her her new outfit.
“I respect that you’re turned on by exhibitionism, but… you shouldn’t do that here.”
“What?”
Blushing, she closed her arms and legs, embracing herself as she curled to a ball. After calming down, she changed into her staff uniform and was given makeup and a haircut. Through it all, her expression remained empty, and by the time she regained her senses, she found herself selling cotton candies in front of a theme park ride.
“Wow! A cat lady! One cotton candy, please.”
“What? I’m a wolf… Bah, here, take it.”
Nitocris began to do her work in earnest.
When she put the child’s payment into her front pocket, which was connected to a subspace, it turned into a dimensional gold coin.
‘Oh!’
The sight reminded her of Prof Kim Dae-jin’s words. According to him, She owned 10% of all the sales she’d be able to make. Despite not being good at math, she calculated it using her fingers.
For every ten cotton candy sold, she would earn one dimensional gold coin. Mercenaries had to work day and night for an entire week to earn that much.
Moreover, he also told her she’d be given a basic salary.
“Cotton candies for sale! They’re guaranteed to be delicious!”
“Oh, a cat?”
“Yess, dear customer! I am most definitely a cat! Would you like to buy one?”
Nitocris worked harder.
Looking around her, she saw her warriors also dressed like her and selling varying products.
She immediately turned her gaze away from them, pretending not to know them.
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