Chapter 57: Loki’s Chaotic Three & Four Way?
Chapter 57: Loki’s Chaotic Three & Four-Way?
Just as the self-righteous simp-patrol began rounding the perimeter of my Sakura Wall, a piercing shriek echoed from the opposing treeline.
"Ding Song! Don’t just stand there watching!" Bai Feng yelled into the dense forest. "You agreed to help us hunt down these Demonic Cultivators!"
The brush parted, and a tall man stepped into the clearing. He wore pale blue robes, his long white hair tied back in a neat ponytail. His cold blue eyes scanned the chaos as he rested a massive broadsword against his shoulder. Three closely identical fighters emerged just behind him, sporting blue or brown hair and gripping standard broadswords and jian.
When the white-haired leader spoke, his tone was flat and entirely devoid of emotion, sounding more like an artificial android than a living cultivator.
"Our Ice Phoenix Palace was strictly ordered by Holy Maiden Xia Bing to avoid westerners."
Twang—Swoosh—Thwack!
While these idiots were busy holding a formal tactical meeting in the middle of a warzone, I drew back my longbow, lined up the sights on the furthest simp to the left, and let the arrow fly. It struck him dead center, sinking deep into his throat.
To my surprise, the guy didn't drop dead instantly. He stumbled back, gasping, but before he could recover, a massive shadow fell over him. The Demonic White Tiger decided the wounded cultivator looked like a tasty snack. With a ferocious roar, the beast pounced, pinning him to the dirt and tearing him to shreds.
Lana wasn’t about to let the momentum slide. "Come forth, Blitz!" she called out, her voice ringing across the clearing. "Beat that woman! Call Summons!"
Buzz!
The air hummed with intense static as a twenty-foot-tall Storm Giant materialized on the battlefield. The sheer pressure radiating from the entity caused everyone's hearts to tighten. Without missing a beat, Blitz charged straight toward my Sakura Wall. He wound up his leg and kicked the nearest over-sentimental fighter like a soccer ball, launching him horizontally through the air.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Fuck, that's... nasty.
I opened my mouth to yell "Goal!" to celebrate the insidious kick, but the cheer died in my throat, replaced by sheer disgust. When the poor bastard slammed into my beautiful barrier, the pristine white flowers didn't just block him—they literally began tearing him apart. The petals stained a deep, vivid crimson as the wall's double-damage modifier shredded him to pieces.
With so many combatants clashing simultaneously, the absolute chaos of the melee was briefly overwhelming. However, I couldn't afford to stop moving. Another simp-soldier lunged forward, swinging his blade in a wide arc meant to cut me clean in half.
Swoosh—Clang!
The fighter’s eyes went wide with shock when my Longbow didn't instantly snap in two. I held the frame firm, using the reinforced wood to block his heavy, aura-infused strike. Nearby, our friendly Demonic Sect Body Cultivator stepped in, cutting off the last remaining simpleton who was attempting to flank me. He flashed a wry smile, clearly amused by the irony that the supposed villains of this world were working together far better than the self-proclaimed righteous factions.
Ding Song watched Blitz and the Demonic Sect brutalize the Purple Cloud vanguard. His stoic, robotic demeanor cracked when Bai Feng screamed out once more.
"Why are you just watching, damn it?! Protect me! Earth Shield!"
Crackle—Bang!
Lana snapped her fingers, sending a crackling bolt of electricity straight at Bai Feng. Before the lightning could connect, it slammed into an opposing element—a floating stone tower shield that erupted from the ground to intercept the plasma.
The guy directly in front of me, his eyes bloodshot with rage, began channeling his aura for another heavy blow. But as he stood there wasting precious seconds screaming out the name of his named attack, I dropped low. I swept my leg out in a sharp, grounded Wing Chun sweep, kicking his ankles right out from under him and violently interrupting his casting.
Simultaneously, two Ice Phoenix Sect members rushed the beautiful, brown-haired Beastmaster. She didn't even blink. Her White Tiger, temporarily buffed to the power of the 5th Circle, surged forward and began making quick work of the two swordsmen, its claws leaving deep, glowing gouges in the dirt.
Bang—Whoosh!
I slammed my foot into the earth, executing a Vanguard Ground Stomp to stun the staggered opponent on the ground before me. But right as the shockwave rippled outward, unexpected guests arrived.
Emerging rapidly from the brush behind Lana and me was a squad of six Elves. They were heavily armed, carrying elegant Elven Curved Blades that resembled katanas, alongside traditional longbows. Two elven women held the backline with their bows drawn, while four Swift Knights pushed ahead with swords bared. Thankfully, none of them had achieved a 4th Circle breakthrough yet, but the sheer hostility in their eyes made my skin crawl. Lana flinched beside me, her focus temporarily broken from her assault on Bai Feng.
The stunning elf woman leading the rear guard pointed a sharp finger directly at me, shouting in a heavily accented, eastern-provincial dialect of Western Common: "That is the Dark Elf male Summoner! Kill him!"
Twang—Swoosh—Thwack!
The battle was moving so fast and my senses were so overloaded that when I reflexively fired an arrow straight through the heart of the stunned guy lying at my feet, the kill barely registered in my brain.
Crackle—Boom!
Towering at twice the height of my Sakura Wall, Blitz raised a massive, crackling fist. He unleashed a devastating, seventy-foot line-attack of raw lightning. The concentrated beam tore through the battlefield, instantly blasting Bai Feng and the male Ice Phoenix lackey protecting her into near-death states, leaving them slumped and unconscious on the scorched earth.
Ding Song, standing barely a single pace away from the two smoking, charcoal husks, felt a cold sweat instantly drench his back and forehead. The Storm Giant—now visibly empowered to a staggering 7th Circle—had practically one-shotted two veteran combatants.
Yet, as Ding Song looked at the ruined battlefield, a hint of calculating cunning flashed through his cold eyes. He looked down at the unconscious Purple Cloud woman. Seizing the opportunity to play the tragic, heroic savior, he scooped Bai Feng up into a princess-carry. Turning his back on his fallen comrades, he bolted into the thick foliage.
Annoyed, I raised my bow to put an arrow through his spine, but the rapid approach of the remaining Elves forced me to change my target. Lana scrambled behind the towering form of her summon, pointing urgently toward the newcomers. "Blitz, please! Fight those Elves and protect Loki!"
Blitz, a seasoned and intelligent combatant, completely ignored the four melee aura-users engaging me. Instead, his glowing eyes locked onto the two elven women casting spells from the safety of the backline.
"Flash—Crash—Meteor Leap!"
Swish—Crackle—Boom!
Golden electricity enveloped the giant’s massive frame. He leaped with such blinding velocity that it looked like pure teleportation. Where his lightning-clad fist slammed into the earth, nothing remained but the mangled, unrecognizable corpse of the first Elven Mage.
The arrogant elven healer who had ordered my execution just moments prior began to tremble violently. Staring up at the terrifying, electrified god of destruction looming over her, her magical focus shattered entirely. She must have been a Water Healer, because a distinct yellow puddle instantly formed around her boots.
By this time, the four 3rd Circle Swift Knights closed the distance, colliding with me and the black-haired Demonic Sect Cultivator, who had just finished off his own opponent. The Demonic White Tiger looped around, flanking the elven frontline to lock us into a brutal, three-on-four melee.
Lana showed the Elves absolutely zero mercy. Their kingdom had treated her mother like garbage years ago, and to this day, the elven court mocked her father the King for his choices. Lana might have considered letting a surrendering healer go under normal circumstances, but this woman had explicitly ordered the execution of her Loki. The mental command she snapped to her summon was filled with pure spite.
"I... I yield—!"
Crackle—Bang!
An aura-fused blow dripping with volatile lightning cut the healer off mid-surrender. Blitz gladly and thoroughly pulverized the annoying elf into the dirt.
On my end, I quickly realized that trying to use a Longbow against front-line swordsmen utilizing Elusive Movements was a losing battle; they were simply too agile to pin down with single projectiles. Deciding on a change of tactics, I let my Sakura Wall dissipate, freeing up my concentration. I braced my legs and triggered another Ground Stomp, carefully tuning the magical frequency to keep my two allies safe from the feedback loop.
Swish—Bang!
I channeled pure Air mana into the stomp, generating a violent, concussive pressure wave. Even with their advanced evasion techniques, the knights couldn't dodge an invisible, expanding ten-foot radius. Their fluid rhythms broke instantly.
Slash!
One of the smarter Swift Knights managed to bypass the White Tiger entirely. Utilizing a flurry of Fast Attacks, he slipped through my guard and carved a deep, agonizing gash right across my back. I grimaced, a sharp hiss escaping my teeth—but the pain was instantly met with confidence. I always kept a backup plan.
"Ack—! Ayala lovemaking mode, go! Fast Healing!"
Fwoosh!
A vibrant, soothing green aura erupted from my skin, immediately stabilizing the pain as the flesh along the deep wound slowly began to knit itself back together.
"Ah—! What? You bitch!"
The elven knight's thrill at slicing open my back turned to immediate frustration as he watched the healing aura counter his handiwork. Before he could strike again, a heavy ball of concentrated electricity slammed directly into his spine. Lana had timed her sneak attack flawlessly from the backline.
The elf spun around in a blind, static-shocked fury, charging toward her to retaliate. But he didn't make it three steps.
Crackle—Boom!
A massive, seventy-foot bolt of lightning intercepted him mid-stride. His vaunted Elusive Movements didn't help him an iota; the raw voltage tore through his nervous system, turning him to ashes before he could even scream.
Without further fanfare, the White Tiger snapped the neck of its respective target, while my demonic junior brother and I combined our strengths to cut down the final elven knight. Just like that, the chaotic, multi-sided bloodbath fell completely silent.
Step... Step... Step...
Deep in the isolated woods, Ding Song sprinted through the brush, breathing a massive sigh of relief to have escaped that terrifying battlefield and that monstrous Storm Giant. In his mind, he reaffirmed his absolute hatred for all Beast Masters and Summoners. Fighting people who commanded overpowered, scaled-up magical entities was fundamentally unfair. Those women had absolutely no respect for the sacred martial ethics of swordsmen who spent decades refining their blade techniques.
Stopping near a fallen log, Ding Song carefully laid Bai Feng down. He pulled a rare healing pill from his robes and, naturally, opted to feed it to her mouth-to-mouth.
Within moments, the medicine took effect, and the color began returning to her pale cheeks. She fluttered her eyes open, looking up weakly into his arms. "What... what happened?"
"Miss Bai, I saved you from being brutally eaten by that rampaging giant," Ding Song said, his voice dropping into a smooth, comforting cadence. "I even forced myself to part with my Sect’s rarest elixir pill to preserve your life. Tell me... how do you intend to repay me?"
"I... I don't have anything on me..." she murmured softly.
In truth, her spatial ring was loaded with valuable treasures, but she found this man's refined, heroic appearance incredibly attractive. Playing the part of a helpless, fragile damsel in distress was a thrilling game.
Ding Song smiled warmly, leaning a bit closer. "My Sect happens to possess a secret, highly effective dual-cultivation technique that can perfectly mend your internal injuries. What do you say we try it?"
On the world of Myst, the mechanics of dual-cultivation were vastly misunderstood by outsiders. Unlike the cheap Xianxia web novels back on Earth where it magically granted decades of cultivation power or instantly sealed mortal wounds, the local techniques really only served to cure a bad case of blue-balls and facilitate making babies. It had zero actual medical utility without special body constitutions.
Bai Feng blushed, shifting slightly in his embrace. "Ding Song... I am not that kind of easily won woman... but, I suppose I trust you enough to heal me."
Just as the two of them began imagining the imminent, blissful intimacy of their mutual "healing session," a low, rhythmic rustling vibrated from the dark underbrush directly ahead of their escape path.
Hiss...
The thick foliage parted, revealing a pair of massive, slit-pupil golden eyes. The freezing gaze locked onto the pair with the cold, unblinking focus of an apex predator.
"Ah—! Fuck! A 4th Circle Demonic Python!"
"Noooooo—!"
Bai Feng was far too weak and injured to mount a proper defense, and Ding Song’s swordsmanship was useless in such close quarters. The fifty-foot-long, ink-black body of the massive Mamba moved like a whip, making short work of the two cultivators in a matter of seconds.
Swallowing the final morsel and settling the heavy mass in his stomach, Mamba hissed contentedly. He turned his massive coils back toward the deeper valleys, completely certain that Shehuang would praise him heavily for executing Master Loki’s fleeing targets.
Back at the ruined clearing, Blitz was dismissed back to his pocket realm to rest and recover his aura. Lana and I spent the next hour scouring the battlefield alongside our two demonic companions.
Through our post-battle introductions, I learned that the Greatsword-wielding Body Cultivator was named Xue Yan, and his beautiful Beastmaster dao companion was Yin Cang. The pair had originally entered the region as a three-person squad to hunt for Life Cores and force their breakthroughs, much like the rest of the cultivators here.
Surprisingly, Yin Cang actually knew Baihu. She explained that she was currently an Inner Sect Disciple serving under an Elder at Baihu’s Fox Peak—a mountainous sanctuary dedicated entirely to female cultivators. Baihu had personally looked out for her over a couple of seasonal excursions into these hunting grounds. Unlike the western factions, the Eastern Sects didn't utilize a structured, two-year academy system; instead, their disciples were sent here year after year to face trial by fire until they either died or successfully broke through to the 4th Circle. It was pure growth by brute force. She, Yin Cang, was a dedicated Earth Beastmaster (Summoner), while her husband Xue Yan operated as a Dark-aligned Strong Knight.
Xue Yan and I took a few minutes to compare maps and coordinate our routes. I suggested they steer their path either significantly to the west or far to the east, as my senior brother was currently sweeping through the central zones looking for me, and I wanted to avoid any accidental infighting between our factions.
When Yin Cang discovered that I was the specific Summoner who had managed to tame the legendary, prideful Baihu, her mental evaluation of me instantly jumped from "an eccentric idiot" to "an awesome, and handsome legendary idiot." I kept my introductions brief, simply presenting Lana under her alias, Sif, and leaving the details at that.
The four of us split the gathered spoils evenly. I prioritized keeping the bulk of the rare magical herbs and flora to fuel my ongoing Alchemy and Pill Refining, while gracefully conceding the majority of the monster cores to them for their cultivation. We shared a quick, light meal to celebrate our survival, parted ways on excellent terms, and promised to pay a formal visit to their Sect compound in the future.
By the time the sun dipped below the horizon and the oppressive darkness of the wilderness began to settle in, Lana and I managed to locate a secluded, defensible rock formation just outside the main forest line. There were no viable caves nearby, so we pitched our heavy travel tent and carefully layered a low-tier illusion formation around the perimeter to ensure passing monsters would overlook our campsite.
I quickly discovered that Lana hadn't been exaggerating about her domestic skills; her camp cooking absolutely dwarfed my basic survival rations. We ate a rich, hearty meal under the stars. She insisted on sitting squarely in my lap, playfully feeding me small bites between laughs.
And finally, the absolute best part of camping in the wilderness with a stunning, devoted Princess arrived—the intimacy. I kept things a bit more relaxed and tender tonight, allowing the lingering exhaustion of the massive battle to fade away. Safe beneath the illusion barrier, we eventually curled into a deep, restful sleep.
We needed the rest. Because tomorrow, the real hunt would begin, and I was going to find the Primordial Fire.
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