Emmet was harshly knocked to a puddle on the ground, orange blood flowing down the side of his mouth. "Have him imprisoned," Loki stood over him. Guards immediately rushed over to the young man, lifting him by his arms. They restrained him like he had the strength to fight back, even though he didn't. Alyza tried to intervene, but Loki outstretched his cane to block her path.

"Let him go!" She demanded, her hair wet from the rain.

"Do you take me for a fool, Alyza? After your little escapade with Miss Myrian the other day, I've no choice but to treat you like the prisoner you so longingly desire to be."

"Don't worry, Ally. I'm not afraid of this monster. You shouldn't be eith-"

He was then punched by one of the guards, staining the ground with a splat of orange. "You dare speak ill of our all-knowing Allfather?! You shall be hanged for your disobedience!"

Loki stared at him as the night sky rumbled with thunder, stepping closer. He unsheathed the blade hidden in his cane, lifting Emmet's chin with the tip of his sword. The young man averted his eyes.

"Come now, what happened to that fire within you just a moment ago?" Loki scoffed. "I thought you unafraid."

"Loki, stop it.." Alyza pleaded, grabbing onto his arm, but he easily shoved her away.

"You are a simpleton. Unable to think further than the bug that sips on the morning dew, unaware that it is poisoned. You think your liberty handed to you, unearned, unwilling. I am infinite, boy. I am the truth that you so fear, I am fact! You want to be free?" He raised his sword. "I shall give you eternal freedom!"

"Loki..!" Alyza seized his arm again, desperately grabbing at the weapon in his other hand. He scowled, backhanding her so hard that she was knocked to the ground.

"Stay out of this, Sylvain!" He looked back at Emmet, raising his blade once again.

"..I'll do it.." Alyza spoke lowly.

"..Hm?" Loki side-eyed her.

"I said I'll do it..!" She shouted. "I'll do it, so please..! Just let him go..Please.."

"..Alright," Loki sheathed his cane sword. "Guards, set this man free."

"But-"

"Are you questioning me?!" Loki shouted back at the guard, his wet hair falling in front of his face. They quickly shook their heads, throwing Emmet to the ground. "Leave us!"

"Yessir!" The guards took their leave, belittling Emmet one last time. "Suppose today's your lucky day, pipsqueak."

Loki made a deep sigh, pushing his hair back. Alyza tried to check if Emmet was okay, but Loki blocked her path again, gesturing to the front door of the building. She huffed, heading inside with the infamous ruler. Emmet looked down at his reflection in the wet street, orange blood still dripping down his face.

"I won't forget this.."

* * *

Victus awoke on a large raft that drifted across the dunes of Asgard, slowly sitting up. His fur coat was torn by all the arrows he'd been hit by earlier. There was a sail he couldn't recognize protruding from the "sandcraft," accelerating the crude vehicle forwards at high speed. The driver was dressed in rags that covered their entire body, with goggles over their eyes. He reached out and patted them on the shoulder, "Um, excuse me-"

"AH!" The driver spoke fast in a language that Victus couldn't understand, taking out a shotgun and pointing it at his head.

"Oh. That looks like-"

A hump in the sand caused the vehicle to bounce as the driver pulled the trigger, a blast flying above Vick's head into the sail. The spread created holes that burned and spread throughout the sail, igniting it. The driver panicked, screaming and shouting in their native language.

"That doesn't look good. Sorry, but we should abandon ship," Victus picked up the small driver and jumped off of the raft into the cold sand, rolling until they came to a halt. In the short distance, the raft exploded, leaving behind a trail of smoke and sand. Vick got up, smacking sand out of his ears. "Eugh.."

The small person got up, shouting at Victus again.

"..Um, me no understand. Know the way to Asgard?" He replied.

"Urrgghh!!" The person threw off the rags and goggles covering their head, revealing themselves to be a young child with pale skin and long black hair tied into a ponytail. "Bumbidiot Midarg!" He shouted, pointing at Victus.

"Woah, kiddo, I draw the line at 'bumbidiot.' What's someone so young doing all the way out here, anyway? Oh, and Common Midgardian, please. It's the only language I know."

"Soupit Migar," the kid picked up his shotgun, loading it. "Gim food."

"..Food? Sorry, but I don't have any-"

He pumped the gun, aiming it at Vick's head again.

"Hold on! Uh, wanna see a magic trick?" He was desperate to not get shot at. It seemed like this weapon would be very painful on the receiving end, regardless of his current regenerative ability.

"..Magic?" The boy lowered his weapon.

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"Lily, I could use some help here," Victus summoned her. She looked around, surprised she hadn't been pierced by that arrow from earlier. She looked over at the boy.

"Oh, my~! Who's this little cutie?!" She quickly flew over to him. He immediately seemed nervous, gripping the gun so tightly his hands began trembling.

"I dunno, but d'ya think you could charm him?" Victus slowly stepped around the range that the kid's gun would have.

"Don't be silly, darling, he's just a child. Far too innocent for my charms," she smiled brightly, thinking to herself, "But how I wish that he wasn't! I love innocent boys like these!"

"So, yet again, you're useless-"

"Darling! You're so rude, I love it~! Insult me more-"

"No."

The child reached into their pocket and pulled out a cracker, handing it to Lilith.

She gasped, smiling brightly, "Is this for me? Aw, you are such a sweetheart!" Lily took the cracker, patting the boy's head.

"Dauszufen, glintstauto baskulaba fornir dundu," the kid spoke in what sounded like gibberish to Victus. Lily giggled.

"Yes, I suppose he's not what you would call, 'resourceful.'"

"Wait, Lily, you can understand him?" Victus walked over to them, still remaining on the other side of the shotgun.

"Surprised? Us demons know several languages. Helps with convincing mortals to give us their souls."

"Then why don't I know any other languages?"

"Only full demons have that ability, I guess? I used to be a full demon, so that's probably why I still know them.."

"You sounded kinda unsure about that.."

"Vauven! Launst boltiz," the kid pointed his gun past them as a giant beast emerged from the sand, looking to be an armored shark of some sort. He fired, but the shot bounced off of the metallic skin of the beast.

"Woah!" Victus caught the large shark by its jaws, holding it up with immense struggle. "Lily, the kid!"

"Right!" She picked up the child and flew away as Victus dropped the shark on its side. The boy started to whine and squirm as she ascended into the air, trying to break free of her grasp. "What's the matter, dear? Are you afraid of heights?"

"Ahn!" He dropped his gun. "Ahn!"

"Gun?" She hardly knew the word. "It's alright, we can get it later, okay?"

The kid stopped struggling so much, but he was clearly distressed, looking down at Victus. The half-elf, half-demon took his blades and tried to plunge them into the shark's skin, but they bounced off with a bright spark.

"Damn, that shit's tough!" He gripped his blades, jumping back as the shark pounced at him. Though it missed, it dove underground, seemingly disappearing. From beneath him, the shark emerged, swallowing him whole.

"Victus!" Lily cried out, worried her love had finally met his fate. While the shark flew through the air, there was a flash of red that shined from the creases of its mouth. It dove back into the sand, creating an eerie silence that made her think the battle was already over. "No..Darling.."

Suddenly, the shark was sent back out of the sand in an unnatural way, landing on the sand. Vick's arm emerged from the belly of the beast, his blade covered in blood. He climbed his way out, panting heavily as he stood on his feet, dropping his blades.

Lily smiled from up above, "Darling, you did it!"

Another sandshark then dove out behind him, and he quickly turned around, socking it in the face. The beast was sent into a dune in the distance, making an explosion of sand. Three more fins protruding from the sand raced towards him, circling their prey. His eyes were still glowing, and he clenched his fists, grinning.

One of the sharks emerged from the sand, opening its jaw. Victus stomped on the tip of one of his blades, catching it in the air and ducking beneath the shark, slicing its gut open. He then elbowed it into another larger shark, picking up his other blade and blocking the next shark that bashed into him. Digging his feet into the sand, he was pushed along, uninjured.

He slashed at the shark, unable to puncture its armored skin. Accepting that his blades were useless at the moment, he sheathed them, slamming his hands down onto the shark's head. The beast was immediately brought to a halt, digging into the ground. He grabbed onto its tail before it could bury itself, getting dragged underground. When they finally came back out, he used his momentum to hurl the shark a great distance.

He landed on his feet, "One left."

The final shark raced towards him, larger than all the others. Victus realized that the boy's shotgun was on the ground nearby, and he rolled, grabbing it. He analyzed it, seeing that shells were strapped to the barrel's side. When the shark finally was within range, he pumped it and pulled the trigger. Nothing came out.

Again, the hero was swallowed and the shark dug beneath the sand. Within the large beast, Victus fumbled with the gun. Even though he could regenerate his wounds, the animal's stomach acid would still digest him, and that'd be excruciatingly painful. He took his blades and cut at the beast's belly, but this one was much too thick. He needed to figure out how to use the gun.

"Come on, darling," Lily watched the sand with the hope that he'd survive. "You did it once, you can do it again.."

The shark emerged from the sand once again, and a blast of blood and guts shot out from its stomach, along with Victus. The shark landed on the sand with a loud puff of sand in its wake, bleeding profusely. Still, it jerked and flopped in place, too stubborn to die peacefully.

Covered in blood and stomach bile, Victus got up, gripping the shotgun. He loaded and pumped it, approaching the dying shark. He turned it over with a heavy kick, seeing its exposed heart still beating. Aiming the gun at the giant shark's heart, he gritted his teeth.

"Smile, you son a bitch," Victus pulled the trigger. Upon impact, the heart exploded and splattered even more blood all over him. As he lowered the gun, Lily landed next to him. He was giggling.

"..Darling? Are you okay?" She seemed worried by Vick's sudden maniacal appearance, setting the young boy down.

"Hehehe," Victus turned to her, still grinning. "I read that line in a book once."

"Err, yeah..?"

He noticed she seemed a little disturbed, and his glowing eyes reverted to normal. "Uh..Sorry," Vick dropped the gun. "Got any magic that'll get rid of all this muck?"

"Sure, stay still," she pointed her finger at him. "Agua," a small blue pentagram formed upon the tip of her finger, and water spurted out of it, hosing Victus down. "All better?"

"Yeah, thanks. So, since that's over, can you ask the kid for directions to Asgard? I'm sure it's that big city we saw earlier.."

"Mhm," Lilith turned to the child, speaking in his language. The kid nodded and pointed in a direction, then started walking. "He'll take us."

Victus nodded, "Alright, let's follow him."