A solar eclipse hung high in the dim sky; the land was riddled with cracked fissures. Zed stood alone between those heavens and earth.
"Splendid! A witch's night banquet held just for me! I'm having the time of my life! Hahaha—!" Zed spread his arms and laughed loudly.
His arrogant laughter echoed through that dark, despairing world, sounding utterly out of place.
As if Zed's laughter had offended the world itself, countless cracks converged from the horizon toward him.
They crawled up along Zed's legs and feet; the more cracks appeared, the louder Zed laughed. "More! More! I want even more! Come on, drive me to despair! Hahaha—!"
The cracks crept into Zed's eyes and finally gathered around the edge of his irises, forming a ring of light.
Zed looked up at the eclipsed sun. When the eclipse fell right on the center of his gaze, he murmured to himself:
"Let's see which is stronger — the specter of your witch's night banquet, or my Omen power. Bring it on!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than twisted, formless black shadows began to appear on Zed's body. These specters, born from the depths of his heart, started to devour him, trying to become independent life-forms.
"Ah, hahahaha—! How amusing, but you're overestimating yourself!" Zed's body flared with golden light; his domineering Omen power suppressed the nascent specter, rendering it immobile.
An evil grin on his face, Zed tore the specter off and held it up before his eyes.
He stared at it and licked the corner of his mouth: "You look delicious."
The specter seemed to understand his meaning, writhing frantically and trying to escape the madman's grasp.
But it was all in vain.
Zed opened his blood-red maw and bit down hard on the specter, tearing off a large chunk of "flesh." After chewing it twice, he swallowed it whole.
"What's wrong with eating what you yourself have slain?" Zed asked himself, then bit into the specter even more savagely.
After two or three bites the specter was gone. Zed wiped his mouth and answered his own question:
"Nothing."
Sated, Zed waved his hand toward the sky. The brilliance of his Omen power surged and shattered that broken world. And thus the witch's night banquet came to an end.
Zed opened his eyes slowly. The first thing that met his gaze was Lilith's creamy white hair.
He turned his head and saw he was lying in bed; Lilith lay beside him on her side, propping herself on an arm and watching him.
Zed blinked and asked, "What time is it? How long did I sleep?"
Lilith reached out a slender finger and wiped the drool from Zed's mouth. "It's just dawn. How do you feel?"
Zed took Lilith's finger into his mouth and sucked it twice before answering, "Pretty good. I've mastered another powerful ability. Where's Skye?"
"She went to prepare breakfast."
Just then Skye walked in carrying a tray. Lilith was about to get up to take it when Skye stopped her. "Lilith, don't spoil him! He's getting lazier by the day; he wants to be fed. Hurry up and get up!"
Zed felt a pang of toothache at Skye's reproach. He was about to throw back the covers when he noticed something by his hand. He rubbed the little object and his smile grew increasingly warped.
"What are you going to do?" Skye asked, watching him warily.
Zed withdrew his hands from beneath the quilt, took out a black-and-gold ring for a sage, and slipped it onto his left middle finger.
He could sense faint threads of Omen power coiling around the ring, as if it had been reforged and upgraded. The rough magic within him flowed into the ring, and Zed realized the ring's extraordinary nature.
Magic rings from the Witch-Knight world fall into two broad categories: transformation rings and magic rings. Transformation rings are keys to alternate forms; magic rings store various magical skills.
But the sage's ring on Zed's finger — Omen-infused — had become an all-purpose ring. It could function as a transformation ring and as an omni-element magic ring.
Of course, to fully unleash a sage ring's power, the user must reach the level of a Grand Mage or even a Sage.
Zed poured magic into the sage ring and quickly learned some relatively simple spells.
He had no illusions about invoking supreme magics like Hope, Miracle, or Creation — he didn't have even a fraction of the mana those required.
Opening his eyes, Zed reached for the tray and grinned: "Connect."
Two magic circles appeared, one before his hand and one before the tray. With a gesture, Zed grabbed through the circle and pulled the tray over, then cocked an eyebrow at Skye.
Skye wasn't too surprised — after all, she'd seen a lot. Still, Zed's provocation made her itch to bite him.
Lilith covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, then took the tray and began to feed him.
Awoo—
...
When the witch's night banquet had begun the previous night, Loki had not returned directly to Asgard. Under the pretense of negotiation, he had gone to Jotunheim to discuss a ceasefire.
But the pretense remained only pretense.
"Kill him." The Frost Giant king Laufey had no intention of meeting Asgard's peace envoy.
Loki faced the frost giants slowly closing in around him without fear and looked the king on the throne squarely in the face.
"After all I've done to help you, this is how you treat your ally?" he asked.
"So you're the one who's been feeding us information?" Laufey's interest seemed piqued. "Why?"
Loki's expression turned venomous and his tone ruthless: "To deal with my brother! Though he has been exiled now, I'm still only a hair's breadth from the throne — Odin! I'll take you into Asgard covertly; you help me take out Odin. Afterwards I'll hand over the Ice Casket as payment. How about it?"
Loki's acting was superb; he played the role of a prince scheming to seize the throne to perfection. Though it was true in part, Loki had larger plans — Laufey was merely a pawn.
"Why don't you do it yourself?" Laufey asked, puzzled.
Loki shrugged as if helpless: "The people of Asgard will never accept a regicide as their new king."
Laufey's crimson eyes scrutinized Loki as if he had looked him over a thousand times. Finally, Laufey exhaled one word: "Agreed."
After Loki left, Laufey's lieutenants spoke up: "We're dealing with the Asgardians? Do we need to finish him off afterward?"
He made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand, murderous intent overflowing. But Laufey had his own plan.
Laufey wanted Loki to be king of Asgard — he wanted a frost giant to rule Asgard. But he was no fool. "Be ready. If he plays tricks, kill him."
"Yes." The frost giants in the palace withdrew in turn.
Laufey gazed at Jotunheim's sullen sky and murmured to himself: "Odin, Odin, you wanted my son to rule Jotunheim to expand your dynasty's domains. It seems your years of preparation have only tailored a wedding garment for me. Don't disappoint me, my son."
After leaving Jotunheim, Loki returned to Asgard. As soon as he stepped off the rainbow bridge he ran straight into Heimdall, Asgard's gatekeeper.
"You've blocked my hearing?" Heimdall leaned on his sword and stared at Loki with sharp eyes.
Loki sighed. "This is my private affair; it's inconvenient to show you."
Heimdall persisted: "I am Asgard's guardian. My eyes and ears were born for this."
Loki spread his hands, pursed his lips, and said helplessly, "All right, but don't let it get out."
With a wave, Loki used magic to recreate the scene of his deal with Zed: …My brother, please… make it peaceful and comfortable…
"See? If the new king of Asgard is perceived to be showing favoritism, that cannot be allowed to get out to the people. You understand, Heimdall?" Loki feigned innocence.
"What about Jotunheim?" Heimdall did not easily believe Loki.
Loki was exasperated by this dutiful gatekeeper. He rubbed his forehead and countered Heimdall: "With such great power as yours, did Odin ever not trust you?"
"No. He is my king; I swore fealty to him." Heimdall remained expressionless.
"Now! I am your king. You will respect me as you respected my honored father! Do you understand?"
After weighing his options, Heimdall bowed his head to Loki. In the absence of evidence, Heimdall could not disobey Loki's order.
Generally, evidence does not present itself on its own — but the arrival of the Three Brave Warriors of the Hall and the female warrior Sif provided the perfect bait.
Heimdall sternly scolded the three: "Do you know what you're doing? Disobeying the new king's orders to look for Thor? That's treason! Are you certain?"
The four glanced at each other, then looked at Heimdall in unison. "Yes!"
"I cannot betray Asgard, nor will I open the rainbow bridge for you." With that Heimdall strode away.
Sif raised her chin toward the sword Heimdall had left behind and signaled the others: "We'll open the gate ourselves."
After Sif and the others left, Heimdall returned to the rainbow bridge to wait for Loki, leaning on his sword.
"You dared to defy my order!"
Loki pointed angrily at Heimdall's nose, his face contorted. He truly hadn't expected these people to openly disobey.
"Sif and the others snuck out," Heimdall said, gripping his sword.
"Oh? Is that so? That's your dereliction of duty, isn't it? I now, by law, strip you of your position and your Asgardian citizenship!" Loki fluttered his fingers as if preparing something.
When the trap was revealed, Heimdall drew his sword in an instant, but Loki was quicker.
Loki withdrew the Ice Casket and looked at Heimdall, frozen in ice, and said: "You left me no choice! The Destroyer will kill them all! Not one will remain!"
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(End of Chapter)