Shadow trail of the beautiful world

Chapter 958 12. Nightmare Time

Rocky hasn't been having a good time lately.

because of something...

He had met Thor before, and from Thor's few words, Loki could tell that he might not return to Asgard.

Thor, his older brother, had voluntarily relinquished his claim to the throne.

This should be a good thing for Loki.

But he couldn't be happier.

On the one hand, due to the heavy workload of the state affairs, the king's throne is not easy to sit on. It is a kind of torture for him to let Loki, who is used to loafing, sit on the throne solemnly.

On the other hand, Loki wanted to make himself worthy of the throne of the king, and to let the people of Asgard see his abilities.

He did something secretly.

Met some people.

Some shady agreements were signed.

Loki secretly signed a contract with Laufey, the king of frost giants in Jotunheim. He gave Laufey the Ice Box, and Laufey promised that he would not invade the order of Asgard within 500 years.

The frost giants have dignity, and Asgard has peace.

Give Loki 500 years, and he's sure enough to unseat Laufey from his throne as King of Giants.

If all goes well, he will, at the right time, be king of both Jotunheim and Asgard.

He is capable and qualified to do this.

But now, something happened to the person who signed the agreement with Rocky.

News from Jotunheim.

Laufey is dead...

The savage king of the frost giants died in a rebellion against the mysterious winter goddess Skadi.

Laufey's loyal subordinates were expelled from Jotunheim, the frozen kingdom that is now Skadi's divine kingdom.

And the most terrible thing is that Loki secretly sent envoys to Jotunheim, trying to keep peace with the Winter Goddess.

But the latter ignored it at all.

According to Heimdall's observation, the frost giants in Jotunheim are gathering in an uncharacteristically large scale.

A war is coming.

Worst of all, Laufey is dead, and the Winter Box that Loki gave him is also missing.

The fetish from Odin's treasury probably fell into the hands of Goddess Skadi.

Once the two sides go to war, that thing will definitely be used in the war, and Loki's little trick can no longer be hidden.

Privately hand over the artifacts collected by Asgard to the leader of the enemy country...

Even for peaceful purposes, Loki would still be convicted of treason.

And based on what he knew about Odin, Odin would never forgive him.

Prince Rocky is in a hurry to get angry now. Although he looks stable on the surface, he is already panicking in his heart.

And it wasn't until the negotiations with the Winter Goddess broke down that Loki realized something...

His vaunted intellect cannot solve all problems.

Wisdom alone cannot secure the throne of king.

Especially when facing a crazy woman, the other party would never give him a chance to play tricks.

He had to figure out a way.

He'd either have to leave Asgard for refuge until that was revealed.

Either figure out a way to fix it before it escalates.

"A report from Niflheim!"

Wearing armor, the heroic female general Sif strode into the Golden Palace hall.

In her hand she held an urgent letter from Niflheim.

The guards of the Golden Palace forwarded the letter to Loki, who is sitting on the throne and currently serves as Odin's spokesperson.

The latter accepted the letter expressionlessly.

But after just one glance, his eyes narrowed.

"A monster bursting out of a dream has taken over the city of Niflheim?"

Loki looked at the information in the emergency report, he looked at Sif in surprise, and asked:

"Did this happen suddenly? There was no news before."

"Yes, it happened suddenly."

Sif answered seriously and solemnly:

"The legion currently deployed in Muspelheim has already set up a line of defense between Niflheim and the Firelands, taking in a group of refugees who fled from the city."

"According to messages from the front, the situation is dire."

"We've lost several important cities in just a few days, and what's worse, the refugees have no idea what hit them."

The female general said:

"Those poor people were terrified and they kept saying 'there was a monster in the dream' over and over again."

"Dream..."

Loki put the dispatch on the table.

Leaning on the Eternal Spear in his hand, which represented kingship, he rubbed his chin.

As a skilled spellcaster, Loki also has a deep study of mysticism. He knows that dreams are often associated with mysterious things.

And those terrifying spirit bodies in the lightless sea often exert influence on the real world through sleep dreams.

Perhaps, this is a typical spirit body invasion.

Things like this don't happen often in a wizarding world like Asgard, but they're not uncommon either.

In the history of the people of Shenyu, there have been many records of spirit body invasions.

"Is there any news from the Rune Tower in Niflheim?"

Loki asked again.

"No."

Sif replied:

"We contacted the Rune Tower for the first time, but there was no news. We suspect that the Rune Tower in Niflheim may have..."

"Um..."

Loki nodded.

He originally wanted to say that this matter should be handed over to Queen Frigga's Great Rune Tower, and the magic aspects should be handed over to professional people.

But just a few seconds later, Loki changed his mind.

Maybe...

He can take this opportunity to leave Asgard without attracting anyone's attention.

Put it off until after the Winter Box event is over before returning.

Taking a step back, outside of Asgard, Loki will also have enough freedom to do something to make up for or solve the theft of the Winter Box.

It is too passive to stay in Asgard when the contract between him and Laufey may be exposed at any time.

Loki narrowed his eyes, thinking about the feasibility of this matter.

Soon, he made a decision.

"This matter looks serious."

Loki said to Sif seriously:

"My queen mother is taking care of my father and king recently. She may not have much time to deal with this matter. I will go."

"Ok?"

Sif blinked, and she looked at Loki in surprise.

In her heart, she never felt that Loki was a person who would take the initiative to ask Ying to solve troubles.

Actually, in the past.

Once Loki faces difficulties, he will either ask Thor for help, or he will choose to escape.

That's why everyone doesn't like him.

He's been causing trouble since he was a kid and leaving the mess for everyone to fix.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Sif."

Loki stood up from his throne, and he said to Sif:

"Do you think I'm going to sit here and watch my own people suffer and do nothing?"

"No, Loki."

Sif shook her head, she said frankly:

"It's just that it doesn't feel like a decision you'd make. I thought you'd just push things off to other people, like it used to be."

"It's a magical thing."

Loki waved the Eternal Spear in his hand, he said:

"Leaving it to you will cause problems. No matter how powerful the generals are, they will not be a match for a mysterious spirit body. I am better at magic, so it is suitable for me to deal with it."

"Furthermore, people grow up."

Loki blinked, and the handsome and oily prince said sincerely:

"My father, my brother Thor, what they have done in the past has taught me a lot."

"I know, you all don't like me because I lack responsibility, but if I want to do great things, I have to learn from my father and my brother."

Loki looked at the Eternal Spear in his hand, and asked softly:

"Will you help me, Sif...er, sister-in-law?"

Loki's title made Sif very useful.

The female general waved her hand.

She thought for a few seconds, and said to Loki:

"I was going to go to Niflheim myself, Loki."

"But now that His Royal Highness has volunteered, I will hand over my guards to you, Your Highness...they will conquer all enemies for you!"

"it is good!"

Loki nodded. He summoned the guards of the Golden Palace and entrusted the guards to tell the Queen Frigga what happened in Niflheim.

Then he took Sif's guards and left the Golden Palace with the Eternal Spear, and summoned a group of rune guards from the Great Rune Tower.

Loki rode on a snow-white pegasus, crossed the Rainbow Bridge, and headed for Niflheim.

Gatekeeper Heimdall did not stop Loki.

Rocky's teacher is famous.

Coupled with the bad situation in Niflheim, it really needs the assistance of a magic master.

From all perspectives, there is no problem for Loki to go to Niflheim to sit in town.

Loki chose to escape, and he made up his mind not to come back until the matter of the Winter Box was over.

This evasion is shameful though...

But it's often really useful.

------------

"boom"

Colorful beams of light descended from the sky, tore through the air and clouds, and landed in a mountain city in Niflheim.

It is located on the majestic snow-capped mountain ridge. It is a large Asgard-style castle. From here, you can vaguely see the Kingdom of Fire...

That is the view of Muspelheim.

There is the kingdom of fire, and Surtur, the king of the fire giants, rules the world.

According to legend, the flame giant who will attract the twilight of the gods and destroy Asgard is full of hatred for the domain of the gods.

But after being defeated by Odin more than 1000 years ago and taking away the eternal fire, the god of the kingdom of fire, it lost the power to rebel, and even the kingdom of flames with it became devastated.

In these years, the Kingdom of Fire has been very peaceful, at least more reassuring than Jotunheim.

"Snapped"

Loki stepped out of the Rainbow Bridge and stepped on a pile of scattered red leaves.

This made Loki stop.

He lowered his head and looked at the fallen leaves under his feet.

The red leaves looked like maple leaves, but Loki could tell they were the leaves of a plant from Niflheim that was supposed to be evergreen.

These leaves seem to have been baked by fire, as if they have lost all their vitality, have been drained of water, and will turn into fragments all over the ground with a light pressure.

Loki raised his head in surprise.

Above his head, above the lonely castle, dense black vines were intertwined, as if weaving a dark red spider web.

Those vines twisted and tore apart the flags that had been hanging in the city, and those fluttering fluff swayed in the wind, blocking the sunlight above the clouds.

The mottled light and shadow are projected to the ground in the interlacing of these vines, reflecting the pale and unknown buildings.

Those vines themselves were like dead wood limbs left by the fire, and the trunk was covered with dark red spells, which were extremely ominous.

"Odin, what happened here?"

A female guard holding a rune staff shouted the name of the god king, and the city in front of her looked a little too scary.

Loki didn't look back, he frowned tightly.

He sensed that something wasn't right, and he gestured for the team to move on.

As the crowd moved towards the center of the city, red fallen leaves kept falling from above their heads, like a warm phantom, but the entire city was empty.

The stalls on the street, the open doors in the city, and the blood-stained streets and alleys.

The Asgardians who came to help couldn't help but clenched their weapons.

The bravest of them all had their hair stand on end. In this silent city, there seemed to be many pairs of eyes watching them.

"Not right..."

The further he walked into the city, the more Loki frowned.

Something is wrong with this city.

As a powerful spellcaster, Loki's inner unease is getting stronger and stronger.

After several minutes, they came to the rune tower.

This rune tower built on the magic node in the mountainous area of ​​Niflheim is still as magnificent as before.

Surging runes are dotted outside the walls of the tower, and the golden light shrouds the tower like a lamp in the dark.

"Thankfully, the tower hasn't fallen yet..."

A warrior beside Loki looked at the rune tower with lights in front of him, with a smile on his face, he stepped forward and was about to push open the door of the tower.

But just as he stretched out his hand, Loki suddenly swung the Eternal Spear in his hand and hit the warrior on the arm.

"return!"

Loki stepped back, he looked around, and a rune magic was pinched in his hand.

In the flash of green light, the normal rune tower in front of him distorted like a broken image.

"It's a dream!"

Loki yelled:

"We're in a creature's dream..."

"Odin, it has dragged this city into a nightmare..."

"Back! Quick!"

Loki's reminder came just right, the warrior who stretched out his hand first took a step back blankly, and saw the rune tower in front of him shatter like glass.

The swirling halo is like a big mouth with sharp teeth, crazily extracting the light from everything around it.

Loki and the other Runeguards cast spells together, creating a shield that envelops everyone in it.

"It's waking up!"

Loki watched the changes taking place before his eyes, and he whispered:

"Get ready for battle!"

The whole city was turned upside down at this moment.

The sky shattered and the earth collapsed, just like invisible hands swaying randomly in the sand-built city, knocking down all the buildings that were still intact.

The dream is collapsing.

Perhaps it was the arrival of Loki and his group that disturbed the evolving dream world. With everything collapsing, the real world was once again separated from the dream world.

After tens of seconds of chaos, the true situation of the city was exposed to everyone.

vine...

There are vines everywhere, those black, twisted vines with dark red spells, have completely destroyed the entire city.

Vines coexist with the ruins, and the Asgardians in the city walk among the ruins full of vines, like a group of silent walking dead.

There were no wounds on their bodies, and none of them died.

But they can't be called alive either...

The souls in these bodies have been lost in dreams and cannot extricate themselves.

Before Loki's eyes, the rune tower was even more tightly wrapped by these dark red vines.

Those vines drilled out of the bricks, like dying pythons, covering all the buildings full of magic.

The radiance of magic shone on those vines, like a living thing breathing.

The dream world and the real world blended for a moment in this place, and then separated again.

All that was left was a ruin full of disaster.

Loki looked at the shattered city in front of him, and he clenched the Eternal Gun in his hand.

Looking back at the others, he said:

"Everyone, we... are late."

(End of this chapter)