Chapter 61: Loki Became Infamous With Blue Fire?
Chapter 61: Loki Became Infamous With Blue Fire?
A vibrant ocean of green, yellow, and brown autumn foliage stretched across the Secret Realm—and every single inch of it was rapidly being consumed by a roaring, unholy sea of blue.
Fwoooooooosh!
"Look, it really wasn't my fault," Loki Sky muttered to himself, watching the sapphire inferno twist toward the heavens. "Not entirely, anyway."
Dozens of panicked Royal Academy students broke through the thick smoke, sprinting wildly toward the safety of the extraction point where Loki was already casually waiting. Among the fleeing crowd, a very familiar, deeply chaotic group came into view.
Thorin was sprinting hard, looking profoundly uncomfortable. He was wearing nothing but a pair of trousers, and cradled in his arms was his personal healer, Mary Cross. Mary was wrapped tightly in a heavy blanket, her face flushed crimson with absolute shame. Right behind them marched Jane Roth. The Gravity Mage looked less like a student escaping a wildfire and more like a deeply wronged woman ready to commit murder. Off to the side, Blitz dashed out of the brush carrying Lana, who let out a massive sigh of relief the moment her eyes locked onto Loki.
Thorin slowed to a halt, shifting the blanket-wrapped healer in his arms. He looked at Loki, noted the younger brother's distinct lack of surprise, and frowned. "Loki," Thorin asked, his voice strained. "Do you have any idea what started this forest fire?"
Loki nodded with absolute, unblinking gravity. "It was the Elves."
The surrounding students paused, their faces blank with bewilderment.
"Well... sort of," Loki coughed into his fist, offering a shameless grin. "Their Swift Knights are really good at dodging ranged attacks, you see. Things escalated."
Blitz set Lana down on her feet. Attempting to maintain the stoic dignity expected of royalty, she stepped forward and cleared her throat. "Count Loki, countless magical creatures—and potentially our fellow classmates—are currently trapped in that zone. Could you perhaps provide a slightly more detailed explanation?"
Loki glanced back at the approaching wall of blue. He silently hoped his Demonic Sect members and the rest of the Academy students had enough sense to run fast.
"That blue fire over there is a highly specialized compound magic," Loki explained innocently. "I call them Scorching Flames. It’s an excellent spell for, say, incinerating soiled bedrolls. But..."
The moment the words soiled bedrolls left his mouth, Lana’s face erupted into a furious blush. She quickly looked away. Loki caught the reaction and smirked; the silly girl had clearly done something she shouldn't have while he was asleep, which entirely explained the bizarre nightmare he'd had.
"But what?" Thorin pressed, his patience wearing thin.
"But normal water magic and standard Fire Utility spells can't put it out," Loki said, shifting his weight. "The Elves tried. It didn't go well. Because the spell fuses Fire and Air elements into a volatile aura, the fire actually feeds on the surrounding air currents. It spreads about three times faster than a normal forest fire. Hehe."
Thorin set Mary down, carefully ensuring the blanket remained tightly pinned around her shoulders. It was glaringly obvious she was completely naked underneath. As Mary’s legs touched the ground, they wobbled violently.
Holy hell, Loki thought, suppressing a laugh. Were they seriously hooking up while the forest was burning down around them?
Thorin’s expression darkened. He hadn't yet found a way to smoothly break the news to Jane or Mary about each other's existence. Now, thanks to Loki's magical disaster, both women had been flushed out of their tents and forced into the exact same square mile before he could confess.
"Loki..." Thorin growled, each word dropping like lead. "What. Did. You. Do?"
"Alright, look, the Elves are going to squeal to the authorities later anyway," Loki sighed, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. "It went down like this. An hour ago, I was minding my own business. Just walking. Completely innocent, really..."
One hour earlier...
Rustle.
Loki stepped through a dense cluster of tall bushes, feeling quite satisfied with himself. He had just finished field-testing his newly developed Scorching Bolt spell on a few roaming Orcs, and the destructive yield was highly promising.
But as he broke through the brush into a small clearing, he froze.
Directly in front of a massive pine tree stood an Elven woman, caught entirely off guard in the middle of taking a leak. She possessed long, vibrant green hair tied back into a high ponytail, sharply pointed ears, and a strikingly exotic face.
Unfortunately, her piercing blue eyes weren't looking particularly cute or sexy at the moment. They were burning with pure, unadulterated fury.
"It's you! Loki Sky, the Dark Elf Summoner!" she shrieked, scrambling to yank up her leather armor. "You killed my sister! Die! Triple Water Bolt!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three baseball-sized spheres of highly compressed water launched at point-blank range. With no room to maneuver, Loki took the full brunt of the impacts directly to his face, chest, and waist. The kinetic force staggered him backward.
Unbelievable, Loki groaned internally, wiping water from his eyes. Elf women really do shoot first and ask questions never.
"Fine then. Scorch Style, let's see how you like the upgrade," Loki snarled, leveling his palm. "Scorching Bolt!"
Bang! Sizzle!
A screaming, bright blue projectile of wind-fueled fire erupted from his hand. It tore through the air with a deafening screech, slamming directly into the Elven woman's abdomen. The raw impact mirrored the force of his standard Wooden Bullet spell, but the thermal output was entirely next-level.
"Ahhhh!"
The spell vaporized a massive chunk of her health bar in a single strike, heavily assisted by the fact that she was completely unprotected. Clutching her smoking, blackened stomach wound, the woman didn't even attempt a counter-spell. She turned on her heel and bolted into the deep woods.
"Crap-balls! I hate it when they run just when I'm getting all fired up," Loki muttered. He tapped into his internal reserves. "Fast Healing!"
Enveloping himself in a vibrant green Life aura, his bruised ribs and face began to rapidly regenerate as he gave chase. Leaving a runner alive in a zone like this was a logistical nightmare; they always ended up kiting a horde of angry, white-knight simps right back to your location.
"Help! Protect me! Water Shield!" the fleeing Elf screamed up ahead.
Loki broke through a treeline and skidded to a halt. Flanking the wounded woman were four male Elven Knights, their eyes locked onto him, drawing heavy katanas. The shimmering wall of water rising behind her was going to be an annoying barrier to break without calling forth his formal Summons.
Time to test the heavy artillery.
"Scorching Cherry Blossoms: Scorching Sakura Wall!" Loki shouted.
Fwooooosh!
A massive, swirling barrier erupted between Loki and the advancing Elven lines. The wall stretched an impressive fifty feet wide, ten feet high, and a foot deep, composed entirely of dancing, razor-sharp flower petals forged from white-hot blue flame. By compounding three distinct elements together, the offensive and defensive output tripled, costing him a mere double of his standard mana pool.
"Blow that pathetic wall away! Water Column!" the Elven woman commanded from the rear.
A massive, thirty-foot wide blue magic circle materialized directly over Loki’s burning floral barrier, unleashing a torrential downpour of pure water to collapse the structure.
Whoosh! Splash! Sizzle!
A massive cloud of blinding white steam erupted, but the blue flames didn't die. Loki was a 5th Circle Mage utilizing a complex, compounded three-element spell; she was a 4th Circle Mage casting a basic, single-element counter. The raw power differential wasn't even close.
Realizing the barrier wouldn't drop, the four Elven Swift Knights utilized their incredible agility, redirecting their charge around the flanks of the burning Sakura wall and into the surrounding pine trees.
Loki blinked as a sudden realization washed over him. The edges of his fifty-foot wall were directly brushing against the low-hanging branches of the dense forest. Wait a minute... Earth Science 101. Pine trees are packed with highly flammable resin and sap.
"Oh well. What the hell," Loki grinned. "Scorching Bolt!"
Whoosh! Bang!
The lead Elven Knight utilized a high-tier footwork technique—Elusive Movements—twisting his body mid-air to dodge the screaming blue bolt of death. The spell sailed cleanly past his shoulder and struck a massive pine tree further down the ridge. The tree instantly detonated into a pillar of sapphire fire.
Yeah, why not? Let's burn this whole place down, Loki thought.
The four knights closed the distance, their blades flashing in the firelight. Realizing the battlefield was turning into a literal pressure cooker, the Elven woman abandoned her vanguard, fleeing toward the high ridges away from the spreading fire.
"Just in time, boys. Time to stop, drop, and roll," Loki chuckled, driving his heel into the dirt. "Ground Stomp!"
Swoosh! Boom!
The impact detonated his aura outward. The dry, fallen pine needles blanketing the forest floor—rich in Life and Plant elements—instantly caught the Air and Fire elements of his aura. The result was a catastrophic, triple-effect Scorching Ground Stomp.
"Ahh!" the four knights screamed in unison.
The kinetic shockwave blasted them clean off their feet, launching them upward into the smoke. Mid-air, the volatile compound aura ignited their leather armor, enveloping all four men in clinging, inextinguishable blue flames.
Loki instantly severed the mana flow to his Scorching Sakura Wall, letting the barrier dissipate. As the steam and smoke cleared, his jaw dropped slightly.
Standing on the opposite side of the clearing were roughly twenty-five additional Elven Knights, weapons drawn, with the green-haired woman leading them straight back to his position.
So, to recap: he had four burning Elven men screaming and rolling on the ground, spreading blue fire to every dry leaf and twig they touched; a dozen massive pine trees actively exploding into sapphire infernos; and a small army of deeply enraged Elves sprinting full-body toward him.
One might think this was the exact tactical scenario requiring him to summon Baihu to save his skin.
Instead, Loki reached into his vest and whipped out a rectangular piece of yellowed Talisman paper, inscribed with intricate blue and black ink. He channeled a massive burst of mana directly into the parchment, raised it high above his head, and grinned at the approaching horde.
"If you guys can outrun this fire, I will literally write my middle name backward! Peace out, assholes! Hahaha!"
Pop!
The space displaced instantly. The annoying human vanished from the clearing, leaving the Elves entirely to the mercy of the elements.
Only the Elven Water Mage possessed a high-tier Blink Teleport capable of clearing the blast radius fast enough. The rest weren't so lucky. Loki would find out much later that nearly a hundred Elves perished in the aftermath, primarily because their main military encampment happened to be pitched directly in the heart of the dry pine valley. Oops.
Back at the extraction portal, Lana’s jaw was completely slack, her eyes wide with utter disbelief as Loki finished his tale.
"Sir Loki..." Lana was the first to find her voice, having personally used a high-tier Escape Talisman before. "Are you telling me that your random, one-hundred-mile teleportation talisman deposited you... right here? Next to the final exit portal? Immediately after you set the entire realm on fire?"
Loki nodded cheerfully, pointing a thumb back toward the approaching wall of blue smoke. "Yeah! Those murderous Elves had terrible luck, and mine was pretty fantastic. Let this be a lesson to everyone: don't shoot an innocent guy. He might just be completely insane."
"Ha... Ha... Hahaha!" Thorin let out a strained, unhinged laugh, rubbing his temples. "Loki, you idiot. What if this starts a literal war with the Elven Kingdom?"
"Relax," Loki waved a hand dismissively, bringing up a perfectly logical counter-argument. "Deaths inside designated Secret Realms don't violate the active Human-Elven peace treaty. As for the forest fire? Is this sovereign Elven territory? No. Sure, it was a bit reckless to deploy heavy fire magic in a dry pine forest, but they initiated hostilities. I acted entirely in self-defense."
He leaned in closer to Thorin. "If you think the Elven Royals are going to declare a total war over this, you're giving them way too much credit. Their council isn't going to mobilize an army over a rogue Summoner who happens to have a Dark Elf pact, even if he caused some 'accidental' collateral damage. At worst, it’s a localized vendetta. So what?"
From behind the group, Lana subtly flashed Loki a quick thumbs-up. He smiled back.
"And what if our own Royal Academy students get injured or die in the evacuation?" Jane Roth demanded, her eyes narrowing.
"If an Orc axes them in the woods, is that my fault too?" Loki countered smoothly. "We are all trained superhumans here. If a standard forest fire manages to take you out, you’re either entirely too stupid to be participating in this expedition, or you are just phenomenally unlucky. Even you guys made it out completely fine, right?"
Loki then paused, letting his eyes trail slowly between Thorin, Mary, and Jane. A wicked grin spread across his face.
"Hey, by the way... why are you only wearing pants, brother? And why is your personal healer, the esteemed daughter of Duke Cross, currently dressed like a makeshift ghost in a canvas bed sheet?"
When your own shit stinks, the best tactical move is to rub it on someone else.
Instantly, the surrounding crowd of newly arriving evacuees shifted their attention. Dozens of eyes locked onto the scandalous display. Thorin looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole; Jane was currently glaring at him with an expression that clearly indicated she knew he had stood her up specifically to fool around with Mary.
In reality, Jane had just discovered she was pregnant and had been actively searching the camp to tell Thorin the news. Instead, she had caught the pair together inside his tent right before the blue fire forced them all to run for their lives.
Loki sighed happily, wishing he had a massive bowl of popcorn for the fireside drama.
Loki's group was the very first to formally cross through the barrier, a full five days ahead of the scheduled closing time. But as the hours ticked by, the scale of the disaster became apparent. Through the three inner exit portals, nearly a hundred and fifty students successfully evacuated. Most of the casualties, it seemed, had occurred well before the fire ever started.
To Loki's immense surprise, a scattered group of Elven survivors and a contingent of Easterners from the Ice Phoenix Palace emerged from the portal directly behind them.
High-level Academy instructors immediately moved in, containing the foreign factions in separate holding areas to prevent a riot. As the deployment settled, Ayala slipped through the crowd and whispered directly into Loki's ear.
"The Elves had no choice," Ayala murmured, her eyes scanning the guard lines. "It was either march into our Western Kingdom portal or burn alive in your blue fire. They followed the Easterners, who knew our King is currently married to their Holy Maiden. They’re hoping for diplomatic sanctuary."
Loki nodded thoughtfully, but before he could reply, a sharp voice cut through the noise.
"Count Loki Sky. Sir Thorin Sky." Skogul stepped forward, her armor clanking. "You have both been summoned to the royal pavilion by
His Majesty. Follow me immediately."
Thorin, who was still desperately trying to soothe both Mary and Jane at his flanks, looked at the Valkyrie with a sudden sense of deep dread. Ayala stepped forward, offering to accompany them, but Skogul firmly raised a hand, denying the request.
Left with no choice, the two brothers fell into step behind Skogul, marching toward the main command tent.
Inside the massive pavilion, the atmosphere was suffocating. Three reincarnated souls and a legendary Valkyrie were the only occupants in the room.
There was no sign of Princess Lana, Gondul, or the divine beast Fenrir.
Loki and Thorin were directed to a pair of heavy wooden chairs placed directly across from King Owen. The King’s singular eye looked incredibly gloomy, radiating a heavy, oppressive pressure.
To be completely fair, Loki knew he had essentially engineered a massive international incident, forcing foreign nationals from both the Elven Kingdom and the Eastern Wastelands across the Western Kingdom’s borders.
King Owen leaned forward, resting his elbows on the map table. "The Elves will be quietly escorted back to their borders under heavy guard, considering our proximity to their territory," the King began, his voice level but cold. "The Easterners, however, present a severe political complication. Sir Loki, can your new Summons successfully transport them back to Eastern Wasteland soil without causing a massacre?"
Loki rubbed the thick stubble on his chin, realizing he hadn't shaved in days. "It’s theoretically possible, Your Majesty. But without formal diplomatic paperwork authorizing their transit, I can't guarantee their safety. Those guys tried to actively assassinate me in the realm, after all. If I unleash Baihu... well, you know how she gets."
King Owen pinched the bridge of his nose. He had no viable alternative; he would have to dispatch a small, swift airship envoy to officially greet his wife's contacts at the Ice Phoenix Palace before turning over her Sect members.
With a sharp flick of his wrist, the King activated the heavy magical security array lining the tent's perimeter, sealing them in total privacy. The regal facade instantly dropped, replaced by the sheer, unadulterated exhaustion of a fellow Earthling.
"You two brothers are an absolute, systemic pain in my ass," Owen groaned, sinking back into his chair. "First, Thorin. My daughter going entirely missing under your watch is the kind of failure that gets people executed, or worse. But as fellow Earthlings, I’ve already intervened to keep Queen Angelica from taking your head for it."
The King’s gaze shifted slowly toward Loki. "And then there’s you, Loki. I’ll admit, the sheer absurdity of the forest fire was actually a little funny. The resulting international headache, however, is going to be an absolute nightmare to clean up. Still, you don't need to worry about the Elven casualty reports; I’ve received multiple independent briefings detailing how they explicitly hunted you down first. So..."
The King’s voice abruptly cut off.
The heavy canvas at the rear of the pavilion parted, and Gondul stepped silently into the room. She didn't say a word, her eyes locking onto King Owen as a faint magical shimmer rippled between them. They were communicating telepathically.
As the silent message processed, the King’s face transformed from exhausted irritation to a twisted, murderous rage.
Loki felt a cold sweat break out across the back of his neck. He instinctively flinched under the sheer weight of the King’s sudden killer intent.
"Sir Thorin," Owen said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "You are dismissed."
Thorin blinked, casting a quick glance at his brother. Realizing Loki was about to take the full, unbridled brunt of whatever royal fury had just been unleashed, Thorin offered a small, undignified smirk, turned on his heel, and swiftly exited the pavilion.
The tent flaps fell shut. King Owen leaned over the desk, his gaze boring into Loki like a betrayed, deeply homicidal father.
"Come clean of your actual crimes right now, Loki Sky," the King whispered, his mana flaring violently. "Because if you lie to me, I will personally guarantee you do not leave this tent alive."
Oh, boy, Loki thought, his stomach dropping into his boots. They know about Lana and the bedrolls, don't they?
He swallowed hard, squaring his shoulders. Well... if you're gonna do the crime, you gotta do the time.
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