District 42-Chapter 376: Loki appears

[ Master, time to run away! ] Yanke took Casper out of his shock and made him turn his back to Tein and aim to run to the opposite direction.

The Vanir of Flames was going to advance toward the Aesir, but...

"Just to note, that wasn’t a rock, you know? The thing I threw at you..." Ari said, with a sarcastic smile while pointing towards the Vanir.

Tein acted too late. The little bomb that the Punctual Aesir threw at him had sufficient time to explode. It was sizeable enough for someone to not believe that such a big explosion was caused by a bomb that could be mistaken by a little rock.

The soldier heard that explosion and knew that Ari would be fine, so he didn’t look back and accelerated forward, instead.

Nonetheless, at some point, his body nearly got struck by a dense amount of green gas going towards him. He knew exactly what would happen if that gas touched his skin, so he didn’t want to test his endurance and gamble that he would survive something so deadly like that poison.

"W-Where is he?" The soldier thought, feeling anxious. He needed to spot his enemy at all costs to avoid being targeted.

[ Tracking skill activated ] Right after, Casper’s vision began to change. His mind excluded any ordinary objects, buildings, or people, just focusing on the person that was producing the gas.

It didn’t last too much time once he could find the person who was causing all that smoke to spread around.

’Found him! Yanke, make sure to pass his coordinates to the other Aesirs who aren’t engaged in battle. I will try to keep safe and not be caught in this poison!’

[ Yes, Master. I will support you, meanwhile. ]

The soldier began to run through that block of the city. The gas was coming in different directions and through the most unexpected spots. There were little fissures on the asphalt from where a great amount was coming.

’The effects of this poison made Ari get to a very dangerous state. I can’t stop running right now... The worst thing is that this guy is surrounded by it, so I don’t think that I will be able to catch up with him. Anyway, I just need to distract this Vanir until someone comes!’

Casper continued to cross the streets as fast as he could. Some of them were blocked by the gas, so he needed to take turns and alleys often to avoid it.

[ Master, you are being fooled by him. His objective isn’t to get you with that poison gas, but to make you go to the place he wants. ]

The soldier changed his vision again, zooming forward and ignoring the buildings that were in front of him. Soon, he could spot an entire troop of Frelsis very well equipped waiting for him in a turning on the street that he was running across.

’We are still quite far away, but I won’t be able to go anywhere else. He will just keep controlling this gas and oblige me to continue going forward... I could even try to kill all these Frelsis, but there are too many. Also, this troop doesn’t seem to have the same competence as the others around the battlefield. I am sure that I will have a hard time with them.’

[ Remember that, even though you can defeat them, that’s not our objective here. You can’t waste energy right now. There is a greater battle that you need to fight in the future. ]

The soldier nodded. He had kept it in mind, but it was always good to have a reminder.

’What do you think that I should do?’

[ Nothing. I helped the Aesirs to find themselves in this big city. Help is coming soon. ]

Casper just didn’t know that the help would come so soon...

...

Loki was gladly sitting on top of a building, out of the reach of anyone that could try to mess with him.

He was protected by a cloud of green smoke, that served as a barrier that no living being could go through.

Despite his last near-defeat, the Vanir had been trying to improve his poison. Now, its effects on someone’s body were even more deadly, but the smoke also was highly acidic, which could melt someone’s skin in a matter of seconds.

No one would be capable to withstand that kind of thing.

He himself needed to make another type of antidote in order to stay alive.

’I am just disappointed that I need to fight with allies again. If it was just me, I would be ok with it. My smoke works better when I am alone and can spread it the way I want. While fighting in these conditions, I need to be two times as careful with the other Frelsis, and I need to dissipate it after some time, so no one runs into the gas.’

The only ones that could catch up with him were the Vanirs, but Camilla never would allow them to work by themselves.

"Well... number disadvantage is definitely a thing, though..." He muttered to himself.

"Is that so? I don’t think that’s the case. It never bothered me..." A voice reached his hears, making the Vanir nearly fall from the building out of fear.

"W-Who is there!?" Loki turned around just to face a red-haired man with a depressed look on his face.

"Rurik. Pleased to see you."

The Vanir was perplexed with that man.

’T-The barrier that I placed around me should be enough to kill even the toughest of the humans! If not for the acid, he would be already dead because of the effects of the poison that are two times as quick as before! Just how... how can he overcome this much?’

"Are you wondering why I am not dead? Well..." The Aesir explained while wearing his gloves casually. "You cannot kill what is already dead, mate."

That phrase sent a chill through Loki’s spine as he backed away several steps.