A/N: This Chapter officially marks the beginning of Volume 3. I'm so excited to continue writing this novel.
I wanted to drop this Chapter on Monday, in celebration of my birthday as well. But then i decided i didn't want to keep my readers whom I love so much waiting. So here we are.
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The room was cold.
Not unpleasantly so.
Not to him.
Loki's eyes opened slowly as pale light filtered through layers of frost-covered glass. For a few moments he simply stared upward, one hand resting over his chest, feeling the slow pulse of power moving through him.
It was different now.
Heavier.
Cleaner.
Sharper.
As though every part of him had been taken apart and rebuilt with far more care than before.
He sat up.
The blankets slid off him in a soft rush.
His body felt light.
Black and gold sparks danced faintly at the tips.
He blinked.
"…Okay."
That was new.
He ran a hand through his hair and froze for just a second when a few strands slipped into view.
Maroon.
But not fully.
The tips were gold now, as if some part of that angelic radiance had refused to leave him completely.
Loki stared at the strand for a second longer.
Then he grinned.
"Oh, that's cool."
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood.
No dizziness.
No weakness.
Nothing.
If anything, standing still felt harder than moving.
There was too much energy in him.
Too much excitement.
He needed to hit something.
Preferably something strong.
Preferably something that would hit back.
Loki stretched once, then headed for the door.
The frost-covered chamber opened into the halls of El Dorado, and he made his way through them at an easy pace, hands in his pockets, still rolling his shoulders like he was trying to get used to the shape of his own body again.
By the time he reached the living room, everyone was already there.
Velzard turned first.
Then Guy.
Then Leon.
Rain, Misery, and Dino followed a moment later.
For a brief second, the room just looked at him.
Loki stopped at the entrance and spread his arms slightly.
"Well?"
Rain blinked.
"…Your hair changed."
Loki lifted a hand to it again.
"Right?"
He looked pleased.
"Got some gold in there now. Really brings out the whole 'world-ending anomaly' thing."
Leon, seated as always like this was all somehow still his castle, gave him a long look.
"You say that as if it's a good thing."
"It is a good thing," Loki said. "Visually, I mean."
Velzard was already on her feet and walking toward him.
Her eyes moved carefully across him.
Happy.
"You're awake."
Loki smiled.
"I guess."
Velzard reached him and touched a strand of his hair lightly.
"It suits you."
Loki blinked once.
Then grinned.
"Thanks."
Guy leaned back in his seat.
"So."
He rested one elbow on the armrest.
"How do you feel?"
That made Loki pause.
He looked down at his own hands.
Then slowly clenched them.
The room around him bent very slightly.
Just enough to remind everyone present that he was not the same anymore.
Loki laughed softly.
"…Amazing."
He looked up.
"No."
He corrected himself.
"Actually, incredible."
His grin widened.
"I feel like I could punch multiple mountains apart in seconds."
Rain folded her arms.
"That sounds like you."
Misery's gaze remained fixed on him.
"You stabilized well."
"That's one way to put it," Dino muttered. "He feels ridiculous now."
Leon narrowed his eyes.
"More ridiculous."
Loki ignored that.
He took a few steps into the room, almost bouncing with energy.
"I need to test this."
He looked around.
"Who wants to get hit first?"
Leon's expression went flat immediately.
"Not me."
Guy smirked.
"Coward."
Leon looked at him.
"In my own palace, yes."
Velzard raised one hand calmly.
"I'll do it."
Loki turned to her.
"Really?"
Velzard nodded.
"Yes."
Her expression remained composed, but there was the faintest hint of anticipation in it.
"I want to see what changed."
Loki's grin widened.
"That's a good answer."
He started to step toward her—
Then stopped.
Completely.
The excitement on his face shifted.
His eyes widened slightly.
"…Wait."
The others looked at him.
Guy tilted his head.
"What?"
Loki stared ahead for a second, then slapped one hand against his forehead.
"How did I forget that?"
Rain frowned.
"Forget what?"
Loki turned sharply.
"Veldora."
The room went still.
Velzard's eyes narrowed just slightly.
"You're thinking about my brother."
Loki was already backing away toward the center of the room.
"Yes."
His voice was quick now.
"I told him I'd free him."
He pointed at himself.
"I evolved."
Then he pointed vaguely into the distance.
"He should know."
Before anyone could stop him or ask another question, a black circle opened beneath his feet.
Guy smiled faintly.
"There he goes."
Leon exhaled.
"Of course."
Velzard took one step forward.
"Loki—"
Too late.
He dropped through the circle and vanished.
---
The cave was quiet.
Far too quiet.
Loki appeared just outside the familiar entrance in a burst of dark-gold light, boots touching down softly against the cold stone. The air here was damp, still, heavy with the old memory of magic and seal-work.
For a moment, his excitement returned full force.
He started walking in immediately.
"Veldora!"
His voice echoed lightly through the cavern.
No answer came.
Loki kept going, grin still in place.
"You won't believe this."
He spread one hand dramatically as he walked deeper inside.
"I evolved."
Still nothing.
His pace slowed only slightly.
"Not a little either. Like, properly."
The cave opened wider around him as he approached the place where Veldora had always been.
His smile remained.
Until he saw it.
And stopped.
The center of the cave was empty.
Loki blinked.
Once.
Then twice.
No dragon.
No massive presence.
No overwhelming magicules that made the cave feel too small for what it contained.
And more than that—
No Unlimited Prison.
The sealing structure was gone.
Not damaged.
Not weakened.
Gone.
The air where it should have been felt wrong.
Hollow.
As if something enormous had been carefully extracted from reality itself.
Loki stood there in silence for several long seconds.
Then he looked left.
Then right.
Then ahead again.
As if maybe Veldora would somehow still be there if he checked from another angle.
"…Veldora?"
His voice came out quieter this time.
Nothing.
He walked forward into the empty space, staring at the ground, the walls, the ceiling.
No broken remnants of the prison.
No sign of struggle.
No hint of outside interference.
It was simply…
Gone.
Loki's brow slowly furrowed.
"No."
He turned once in place.
Then again.
His eyes narrowed.
'Where could he have gone?'
The question lasted only a moment before the answer tried to rise and he immediately rejected it.
'Impossible!'
His jaw tightened slightly.
There was really only one person who could have done this.
Only one existence absurd enough to walk into this cave, meet Veldora, analyze the Unlimited Prison, and eat it.
But that made no sense.
'He should be three years away.'
Loki looked down at the place where the prison had once stood.
His thoughts moved quickly now.
Veldora gone.
Unlimited Prison gone.
No evidence of battle.
No leftover enemy presence.
Only absence.
And that kind of absence didn't belong to an invader.
It belonged to a miracle.
Or an idiot.
And in this case—
Those were often the same thing.
Loki let out a slow breath.
"…Rimuru."
The name felt ridiculous on his tongue in this timeline.
Too early.
Far too early.
And yet—
He looked around the cave one final time, hoping something would contradict the conclusion.
Nothing did.
Nobody else but Rimuru could make this happen.
Loki's expression shifted.
Not into panic.
Not exactly.
Something closer to sharp, urgent excitement.
If Rimuru was here now—
Then the story had moved.
And if the story had moved, then sitting still was the dumbest thing he could do.
He turned toward the cave entrance.
'If it's still close enough to canon…'
His eyes sharpened.
'Then he should be with the Goblins.'
That settled it.
Loki smiled again.
This one was smaller.
More focused.
"Alright then."
He opened another black circle beneath his feet.
"Let's go find Rimuru."
---
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