At the very top of the World Tree, six Gold Saints in gleaming armor were battling a red-haired man wielding a strange long spear.
Each time Loki hurled the spear, a golden shield blocked it—but even blocked, the hand behind the shield bled at the corner of its owner's mouth.
"Even with a divine weapon, it's still not enough. And these weapons burn through Cosmo far too fast." Saga drove Loki back again with the war god's spear, panting, sweat pouring down his face.
Without Ares's divine power, relying on Saga alone to draw out a divine weapon's full might was too much. The war god's spear could contend with the Eternal Spear, but each clash ravaged Saga's Cosmo. As the fight wore on, his reserves dropped sharply. Defeat was only a matter of time.
"Sekishiki Kikaien!" To ease Saga's burden, Deathmask sent a stream of blue flame like a dragon surging toward Loki. But before it reached him, Loki's spear stroke sliced it into pieces.
"Golden Arrow!" A flash of gold followed—an arrow shot straight at Loki's heart. Swift as it was, the arrow was still stopped by the divine power bursting from Loki's spear. Even Sagittarius's god‑slaying arrow could not pierce his defense.
"It's no good. Our power can't touch this evil god at all. If this keeps up, we're the ones who'll lose." Aphrodite unleashed all three of his roses. The Demon Rose, with its deadly poison, could not even get close. The Piranhan Rose and White Rose were stopped at a distance as well, held back by the Eternal Spear's divine force.
Aiolia's fists had nowhere near the reach; he could not even get close enough to hit Loki and could only grind his teeth on the sidelines. Saga and Shaka, armed with divine weapons, could barely hold Loki at bay, but their Cosmos were nearly drained.
Just then, Utgard, the last God Warrior who had not joined the others, stepped onto the field holding a blue sword.
"Odin's sword? You summoned it with the Odin Sapphires?" Loki glanced once and recognized it at once. "But what of it? The Eternal Spear's power is far beyond Odin's sword."
He pointed at Utgard; the Eternal Spear vanished from his hand.
"Watch out!" Aiolia was the only one who could still react in time, but even he was a step too slow. The Eternal Spear pierced Utgard's God Robe with ease. He had no time to resist before his body was skewered.
Utgard died without even managing to say a single line, and the Odin sword he held vanished along with him.
The spear disappeared from his body and reappeared in Loki's hand. A strike that never missed and always returned.
If not for the war god's golden shield, the Gold Saints would likely have shared Utgard's fate. Gold Cloths were tough, but even they could not withstand the Eternal Spear, mightiest of the Norse artifacts, in the hands of the evil god Loki.
"That is the fate of traitors." Loki did not spare Utgard a glance after killing him. He only swept his eyes over the Gold Saints with contempt. "Gold Saints, I've played enough. Time to say goodbye."
Purple Cosmo from the spear in his hand spread across the sky, thunderbolts gathering at its tip.
Loki meant to wipe out every Gold Saint in a single blow.
"No choice. We'll have to use the last resort. In the end, we're still too weak." Seeing the apocalyptic scene in the sky, Saga once more reached into the pouch at his waist.
"Lord Meruem… never thought we'd have to rely on you again this time." He hurled something into the air.
As it reached the sky, a puff of smoke appeared overhead. "Ah, Saga. In the end, you did summon me." Meruem's slightly frivolous voice rang out.
"Even if it's just an avatar, it still has a tenth of my power." The Meruem in the sky rolled his neck and loosened his shoulders as he spoke.
He beckoned to Saga and Shaka, and the war god's shield and spear flew from their hands into his. "Come then. Let's see what the power of a Norse evil god looks like."
By now Loki had nearly finished charging his attack. He leveled the Eternal Spear at Meruem and the Gold Saints behind him, speaking slowly. "I don't know what tricks you used, or how you appeared here, or whether summoning a mere mortal will help these Gold Saints. But whoever you are, you will die beneath the spear in my hand. Even if you were one of the human heroes of a thousand years past, it would be the same."
"Vanish before me—Modified Eternal Spear!"
Loki hurled the spear, purple lightning crackling along its shaft, destruction pouring from it.
Facing that terrible force, Meruem had no choice but to pour all his "Source" into the war god's shield and raise it before him.
He had sensed genuine danger from the Eternal Spear. This was only a clone, but what it lacked was only base energy. For something to threaten even this form said everything about the spear's might.
When the Eternal Spear struck the war god's shield, a tooth‑grinding screech of friction rang out.
A deep gouge appeared where the spear scraped across the shield, and its attack did not end there—the tip, visibly, slowly pushed through the shield's defense. A crack opened where the two met and spread wider and wider.
If the spear advanced much farther, it would pierce the shield completely.
"Hard!" Meruem's face changed; even he had not expected such terrifying power. With no other choice, he gathered his "Source" and used his nen's defensive technique, hoping to stop the spear's destruction. He could not dodge now, and in any case he could not dodge; the Eternal Spear struck unfailingly.
At last, just as it was about to punch through the shield, the spear finally stopped. It vanished from the shield's surface and reappeared in Loki's hand.
"Next time, I'll take your lives."
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