'Loki?!' Akyo thought. 'What are Norse gods doing here!?'
He was on guard, his strength at its peak, but he wasn't confident at all. His breathing quickened, his heart beat faster because of the panic, but he tried to hide it.
"Hey!" shouted Soren. "Who's Loki? And what do you want from us?!" asked Soren.
"So he knows nothing," said the massive man behind Loki. He sat down on the ground and explained, "We are Odin's envoys. We are the ones who will bring him the creature, the scourge. Jormungandr."
'They came to capture me?' Soren thought. He took a stance and tried to gather his energy.
'I need to be ready, even if I'm nowhere near Akyo's level, I need to avoid being a weight for him.'
"Can I go, Tyr?" Loki asked the red–haired man. He nodded, giving him permission, and Loki stepped toward Akyo.
"Let's get started then," he announced, revealing a long tongue behind his twisted smile.
Akyo summoned his two blades: his Skopis in his left hand and his wakizashi in his right.
He threw himself at Loki, leaving him no time to attack first, and slashed him across the torso with both blades. "What?!" Loki thought.
Akyo flipped both blades so that they now pointed backwards. His grip was strange, his immense hand strength allowed him to hold the short blades only with his ring finger and pinky, leaving three fingers free.
'That'll be enough to grab him, Loki is an illusionist god; I can't give him any time to do anything !'
Akyo grabbed Loki's arm, pulled him toward him, grabbed him by the shoulder, and flipped him over with monstrous strength, slamming him into the ground, carving a hole more than a meter deep.
'This is it!'
Without letting him get up, Akyo leapt onto him and stabbed both weapons into Loki's torso.
Akyo's strength was such that every movement reshaped the landscape.
He stood up and stepped away from the body.
'Is that it? He's nowhere near Tachi's level. If they're all like this, I can take them.'
"Akyo!" Soren shouted behind him.
Akyo turned around. "You really thought it was that easy?" he asked. "Aren't they supposed to be stronger?"
"I would've expected someone stronger, yeah…"
"Look what I did!" Soren said as he stepped aside and pointed at someone lying on the ground.
Tyr, watching the scene from afar, shouted, "LOKI! NO!"
'But that's—!? Sor—?!'
Akyo suddenly spat an enormous amount of blood, much more than any human should. He lowered his head.
In the middle of his stomach, Loki's arm had pierced straight through him and was sticking out of his back.
"that's funny, I was knocking out your friend, while you thought you were fighting me!" he burst out laughing, "I loved your face when you realized I'd taken his appearance." Loki brought his mouth close to Akyo's ear and whispered, "Try not to be so naive in your next life."
Akyo felt his body give way, his vision blurred, 'Dammit… I couldn't protect hi—'
Loki pulled his arm out, and Akyo collapsed to the ground, barely seeing Soren's unconscious body in the corner of his vision.
He lost consciousness. Blood was pouring out of the gaping hole in his abdomen.
"Oopsie! I thought you were stronger," Loki said with a giggle. "Let me finish you off. Dying like that must hurt a lot, and to think you believed you had beaten me so easily."
He laughed but suddenly fell silent. He turned toward Tyr, who had stood up.
"You went too far." Tyr was boiling with rage.
"Mmmh… not sure about that!" Loki shouted, raising his leg to stomp Akyo's head and finish him.
The air grew heavy. His foot drew closer to Akyo's head, but at the very moment he was about to crush it, the wind came to the rescue.
Tachi arrived at full force, breaking several times the speed of sound. Loki didn't even have time to bring his foot down, Tachi was already there, catching him by the neck with both legs.
'W–?!'
Like a luchador, Tachi spun and did a hurricanrana, throwing Loki at full speed across several hundred meters.
Tachi landed in front of Akyo, glanced at him, saying nothing. Then he turned his head toward Tyr.
"You must be the one we should watch out for. You're the wind, Ehecatl," Tyr said.
The young armored woman, who had vanished earlier, reappeared beside the massive god.
"It's done, Tyr. I have the serpent," she said.
Tachi summoned swirling vortexes around each of his arms, staring directly into Tyr's eyes.
Tyr's calm voice continued:
"This wasn't supposed to happen like this, but unfortunately, we must hurry. And you can't afford a long fight with that burden…" he said, pointing at Akyo, bleeding out.
'He's right… Akyo won't last long enough for me to fight them… dammit.'
The raging air around Tachi calmed.
Loki returned a few seconds later, covered in dust. He stared at Tachi. "You,"
Tyr placed a hand on his shoulder. "Open a path, and shut your mouth."
Loki obeyed, and a white rift opened behind them. The young woman entered first, then Loki. Tyr followed, but before disappearing, he turned toward Tachi.
"We will be brought to face each other again, Ehecatl, I'm sure of it. I'll be waiting," he said briefly before fading into the bright light, which then vanished, leaving no trace of the three gods.
Tachi wasted no time. He formed a coffin–like construct of air around Akyo.
'I'll carry him to the base like this. I changed the air pressure, he shouldn't lose more blood…' he thought.
He took off instantly and headed for the base. Every second mattered for Akyo. Minutes passed. Tachi arrived at the base and rushed toward the medical section.
"Call all personnel! This is extremely urgent!" he shouted.
Dozens of trained specialists immediately mobilized, understanding the severity of the situation.
Five people arrived with a stretcher.
"Give him the best possible care, keep him alive!" Tachi yelled.
He placed Akyo on the stretcher and followed the doctors as they brought him into a specialized room.
Tachi sat on a chair, staring at Akyo's body. He lowered his head and buried his face in his hands.
"God damn it…" he muttered, gritting his teeth. "It's my fault… If I hadn't been on a mission when they left…"
The doctors were working frantically. Within minutes, Akyo almost looked like a cyborg, dozens of tubes connected to his body, all meant to keep him alive long enough to figure out what to do.
A man entered the room, it was Nicolo.
"Tachi! They told me you were back, why didn't you warn—?"
He turned his head and saw the body.
"No way…" he whispered.
Tachi exhaled. "Ana must not see him. Not like this."
"I think she's on her way. She was worried about you, and this isn't going to help…" Nicolo said.
Tachi got up. "Stay with him, please. I'll take care of her."
He walked toward the exit, head low.
'I've never seen him like this…' Nicolo thought.
"Hang on, Akyo," he whispered. "for us."
Tachi stood by the door outside the room.
"Tachi!" a voice cried. Ana arrived running. "What are you doing here? What's in that room?!" she demanded. He didn't answer. "I'll look for myself!" she said, but he stopped her before she could open the door.
"You can't," he said.
"Tachi… you're scaring me… who is it?"
He still didn't answer, and she understood. "No… no, that's impossible." Her face turned pale. "It's not possible!"
She grew angry. "Stop messing around, I need to see him!" She started crying, hitting her brother's chest.
"I'm begging you… let me in…" she sobbed.
"If I can't see him… it means there's no hope… and… I can't believe that!!"
'She's right…' Tachi thought. "Go…" he whispered.
"What?" She hadn't heard. She looked up, and saw him. He was crying too.
"Go in," he said.
She did. Ana opened the door and entered the room.
Nicolo, seated beside Akyo, saw her coming. 'Even he couldn't stop her,' he thought.
"No…" she whispered when she saw Akyo. She approached the bed. "This is my fault," she murmured. She collapsed, tears pouring down her cheeks.
"I'm the one who sent you there… I'm so sorry, Akyo…"
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Loki — God of Trickery and Shifting Forms
Loki is the ever-changing spirit of mischief in Norse mythology, born of jötunn blood yet counted among the gods of Asgard. Master of illusions, subtle lies, and countless transformations, he crosses the boundaries of worlds as easily as those of identity. Instigator of chaos and reluctant savior alike, he unravels certainties, twists truths, and bends fate's path. Wherever he moves, nothing remains reliable—neither form, nor promise, nor reality.
Týr — God of War and Oaths
Týr is the Norse embodiment of honor bound to action, the divine guardian of oaths, justice, and rightful combat. Calm where others rage, resolute where others waver, he stands as the hand that holds the line between order and chaos—quite literally giving his own to uphold a promise. Warrior, judge, and unshakable pillar, he fights not for glory but for truth itself. Wherever Týr walks, duty sharpens the air, and every choice carries the weight of a vow that cannot be broken.