Chapter 66
“Got it. An interesting plan.”
Loki smiled and answered when he heard me.
He understood right away what I meant.
To spread the rumor and keep inflating it until no one could tell whether it was true or false.
Some would doubt, some would be curious, some would turn jealous.
What I would do there was simple.
Approach those who showed curiosity about me.
Make use of their curiosity.
A human who single-handedly defeated the apostate of the Night Demon and the otherworldly god Azur.
A human with the power that might have killed Hephaestus.
Someone who has Loki’s attention and has Jormungandr as a familiar.
And someone who belongs to no god.
At least the mediocre mid-level gods would covet the powers I had.
“I’ll spread whatever rumors you want. If it comes from my mouth, people won’t be able to tell whether it’s real or fake.”
Loki thought for a moment, then looked at me and said,
“In return for me doing that for you, I have one favor to ask — will you do it?”
“Anything except ‘go kill Odin right now’ is possible.” I said.
That was something I couldn’t do.
And there was no need to approach him yet.
“It’s not that unreasonable. It’s something you’re more than capable of doing.”
His gaze shifted toward Jormungandr.
“I have two other children besides Jormungandr.”
“Hel and Fenrir?”
“Yes. My eldest child Fenrir and my youngest daughter Hel.”
“Why bring them up all of a sudden?”
Loki’s three children who caused Ragnarok.
Anyone who knows Norse mythology would recognize those names.
“Loki’s three children!” Lee Suyeon’s eyes widened.
While she fussed excitedly at the familiar names, I waited for Loki’s reply.
“I want you to free the two of them.”
“…….”
“They’re isolated like Jormungandr for their own reasons.”
I knew that.
I knew why and where they had been sealed.
Fenrir, the wolf who devoured gods.
Perhaps because he was the creature who hated gods more than the others, or because of the myth where he was bound by the gods for fear of his strength.
For the crime of having eaten five lesser gods and one mid-tier god, he was trapped in underground caverns in Elvenheim — a prison in all but name.
Fenrir was isolated for reasons different from Jormungandr’s.
And daughter Hel was unlike her two brothers; because she was worshiped as a goddess of the underworld, she stood somewhere between god and spirit in a strange overlap.
Half of her was a beautiful maiden, the other half a grotesque old crone.
Because of that, she was kept in check by other underworld deities like Hades or Yama, and envied by other gods who coveted her divine status.
Moreover, unlike the other gods, she had no active allies who would protect her, so she was left isolated for reasons different from her brothers’.
After the one who had sealed Jormungandr in a previous life had been dealt with, there was a public outcry pushed by Thor demanding that all the calamities that caused Ragnarok be punished.
‘They insisted that all the disasters in the Eastern Sea were entirely Jormungandr’s doing. They even argued that Loki’s three children themselves were disasters.’
And it worked.
As the land became increasingly corrupted, monsters overflowed, and people were consumed by fear in the Abyss, they began to place blind faith in the gods more than ever and followed their will unquestioningly.
‘Guild members were already on the gods’ side.’
When madness ran rampant, Loki merely watched.
‘I’ve always had the ability to save my children.’
If he wanted, he could have freed them even back then.
But Loki didn’t.
He left them to languish.
He took a step back, saying there was nothing he could do even in desperate times.
As if he thought they had to die.
Having witnessed how the three siblings met their ends in my previous life, Loki’s asking me to save them felt strange.
I never imagined he’d make such a request first.
“Sealed away, you say?”
“Yes. Fenrir’s in an underground cavern that’s basically a prison. I don’t know Hel’s exact location. She sealed herself off and hid.”
In my previous life Loki had basically abandoned his children, yet now he was asking me to rescue them.
Why?
“I can’t bear to watch my children suffer because of their inadequate father,” Loki added, as if offering an explanation.
‘Be suspicious, but use what you can.’
As always.
“I don’t care what you do with the kids once you free them. Like what you did with my little Jormungandr.”
Loki stroked Jormungandr’s body softly as he said it.
“Alright. Give and take. We’ll trade favors.”
“Then I’ll be counting on you.”
Loki stood, wearing an odd, untroubled smile.
I didn’t believe that grin came from genuine relief that his children would be saved.
The god of fraud and deception.
Someone you should never trust.
For now our relationship lasted because we needed one another….
‘What if you’re no longer useful? Or your usefulness runs out?’
He would discard you without mercy.
Knowing that, I would only use him.
As always, with a mask on my face.
“I probably won’t be able to see you for a while. I’m busy with my own things.”
That suited me just fine.
It meant I didn’t have to worry about him for the time being.
“Could it be because of Thor?”
“…You know him well.”
“Seems like Thor’s suspicious of you.”
“That’s right. He thinks I’m the one who solved the Abyss and freed Jormungandr. And there was that person suspected of murdering Hephaestus near that area, right?”
Loki waved a finger as he continued.
“They’re deducing that I might have killed Hephaestus. Surprising, huh? The guy’s all muscle.”
“I see what you mean.”
“Of course, I won’t stop you from using my name. After all, I gave you this ‘request’. You understand what I mean?”
I nodded.
Having finished speaking, Loki returned through the dimensional gate he had come through.
Whoosh.
The moment the gate closed, Lee Suyeon, who had been listening to all of this in a stunned hush, opened her mouth in admiration.
“That was really Loki! It’s my first time seeing him in person. He looks younger than I expected?”
“He’s concealing his true appearance with magic.”
“Is that so? Well, it’s strange to think Loki would reveal his true form. But why would he ask us to save his kids?”
She asked me with a face full of curiosity.
“He probably can’t risk doing it himself because other gods might notice. Or he has some ulterior motive that mustn’t be seen by other gods.”
“So Odin, then…?”
“It’s not just Odin. Loki has a lot of enemies.”
She nodded as if she accepted that.
“He must have conned hundreds of gods at least,” she said.
I thought about why Loki had asked for help as I returned to Seoul.
Since I’d already smashed the Night Demon’s relic, there was nothing more for me to do there.
In the end, Loki’s favor had a clear effect.
- News that Horus, the sky god who had gone after the apostate of the Night Demon, had died. Loki, who discovered the scene, announced that Horus had fallen in fierce combat with the apostate. Reportedly, one person single-handedly defeated the apostate.
- The person who carried out the apostate’s defeat is said to be an awakened individual with no guild affiliation?
- Yes. According to Loki’s information.
News of Horus’s death spread alongside reports that a lone human had dealt with the apostate.
People watched the news in shock.
“Is he really dead?”
“Well, Horus was a very famous god.”
“Was the apostate that strong?”
“Aren’t we in danger too?”
“But they say a human not affiliated with any guild defeated them.”
“Then maybe Horus was weaker than we thought?”
“Do you think so?”
Most civilians reacted with simple surprise at a god’s death rather than curiosity about the human who killed Horus.
“Serves him right for thinking he was so important.”
“That guild’s members were arrogant too.”
“What else could they do besides leaving quickly?”
“Horus is good with magic, but not all those guild members were mages, right?”
“That’s true.”
Some guilds that had been on bad terms with Horus even scoffed at his death.
The ridicule started with the guild members and extended to the gods they had worshipped.
“Nooo! Horus-nim!” people cried.
“No….”
Devotees who had believed in Horus as a god put on black mourning clothes and wept.
“Will Horus’s guild be absorbed by Helios?”
“Nah, Ra will probably take over. Same Egyptian god, right?”
“I don’t know. What matters is where the followers go. Both of those gods weren’t exactly friendly with Horus.”
Some watched to see which power would inherit Horus’s remaining territory.
“It’s noisy out here. It’s like when a celebrity dies. The reaction’s the same.”
Lee Suyeon glanced at people like that and whispered to me.
“Now gods are celebrities. They’re entertainers and sports stars. They’re more than objects of faith. To those who truly believed in them, the death of an all-powerful god is a shock. But to others, it’s just another news item.”
That was true.
Though gods played an important role in this world, there were plenty of them to go around.
Horus’s place might be filled quickly.
‘I have to get stronger.’
I had to grow stronger and overthrow the dominant gods by killing them to create a power vacuum.
It wasn’t easy.
I would need to topple their balance and also subdue the otherworldly gods.
‘I need allies.’
Allies bound by contract, debt, or practical interest — people on my side.
Like Jormungandr.
Now that Loki had asked for a favor, I could free Fenrir and Hel and bring them to my side.
At the same time, if any god who took an interest in me approached, I’d pretend to form a secret alliance with them and use them.
I had the whole plan in my head, but actually carrying it out was another matter.
- Your friend Hercules vouches for the taste! The best energy drink! HealthFriend!
- Only two thousand won.
Even in the midst of all this, an ad for an energy drink endorsed by the hero Hercules flashed on the billboard.
Not a thing in convenience stores remained untouched by the gods’ influence.
It was clear how deeply the gods had penetrated everyday life — not just protecting the world but also seeping into daily commerce.
It wouldn’t be easy.
If I became complacent during this brief peace, the everyday life everyone took for granted would collapse — I knew that.
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
“Nothing.”
Lee Suyeon snapped me out of my thoughts.
“So where are we going?”
“To a tailor’s.”
“A tailor? Why there…?”
“Because to save Fenrir, I need something from there.”
Lee Suyeon blinked and looked at me.
