Loki had specifically customized this battlefield for the other chat group members to grind points, while also preventing them from stealing his spotlight.
"The power of lies is indeed formidable, but so is its consumption."
"Your current strength cannot sustain it for very long."
Baixuan turned his gaze toward the pale-faced Loki, and a gentle green energy swirled around him before he guided it into Loki's body.
The instantly recovered Loki let out a relieved sigh, responding to Baixuan with a helpless tone:
"If I were in Asgard, with Asgard's energy supply, I wouldn't have to worry about draining myself no matter how many people I deceived."
"But this is Midgard."
"I'm not like you — no matter which world I'm in, no matter what corner of the universe, as long as there's an Earth in that world, I get its amplification."
At this, Loki glanced at Baixuan with a hint of envy.
If he had that ability, he could enjoy Asgard's power anywhere in the universe, and then he'd dare to go toe-to-toe with the Purple Potato Head.
Though this was also related to how recently he'd awakened — once he got more familiar with it in the future and his strength rose to the All-Father level, the consumption wouldn't be so severe.
"The power of lies, though formidable, making them all believe isn't an easy thing either."
"Mr. Loki is quite talented in the art of illusion."
Aizen flashed his gentle smile, watching the battlefield轻声说道.
"You're the one person from whom I don't want to hear words like that."
Loki shot Aizen a look, his tone unsparing.
He'd seen the recordings from the Soul Society world and knew exactly how terrifying Aizen was.
Deceiving the entire Seireitei, with nearly no one seeing through his Kyōka Suigetsu.
That was the kind of feat that left one awestruck.
And even the protagonist of that world had been raised by Aizen's own hand.
Though he ultimately failed, that was only because the opponent was the protagonist — anyone else in that protagonist seat couldn't have done it.
And in Loki's eyes, the ability to manipulate the five senses through Kyōka Suigetsu was far more primitive than his God of Lies power.
Manipulating the five senses was easy — but making a person genuinely believe was a different beast entirely.
Let alone an entire Seireitei full of people.
There was absolutely no way he could accomplish something like that.
Yet the one time Aizen praised him for his talent, it felt like mockery.
It was偏偏the other man genuinely meant it as a compliment.
"Get ready, Loki."
Baixuan said.
"I know."
Loki nodded, turning his attention to the battlefield.
The illusory him was in bad shape right now.
His arms, legs, and kidneys had all taken severe damage. If it weren't for the regeneration设定 he'd added after awakening Odin's bloodline, he might've already been beaten to a pulp.
But this was where it ended. Time for the climax of the script.
On the battlefield.
Laufey was struck and sent flying once more by Loki's Gungnir — but this time, when Laufey rose to his feet, a visible surge of dark, deathly energy erupted from his body.
His already massive frame swelled further, sharp fangs grew from his mouth, and rows of spikes emerged from his arms and legs.
The most unbelievable part was how his body seemed to be drained of something, his skin growing increasingly withered and decayed.
Only the ghostly green flames burning across his form blazed more fiercely.
"This power… it seems to be the force of Helheim?"
Sif frowned as she watched the flames burning on Laufey in the sky projection, saying so.
It wasn't just Laufey — the other Frost Giants of the clan were also covered in ghostly green flames, their entire bodies undergoing massive transformations.
The Asgardian warriors who'd been able to hold their ground — even kill — the Frost Giants before were now showing signs of defeat.
"You ask us? We don't know either."
Volstagg and the others exchanged glances, then spread their hands in a helpless gesture.
This kind of thing was beyond their knowledge.
Sif shot them an exasperated look, then turned her gaze to Thor.
But Thor couldn't hear any of their voices at this point. His gaze had been fixed on Loki in the sky projection, and besides Loki, he seemed unable to see anyone else.
"Loki…"
Thor hated his current weakness with every fiber of his being. Hated that he couldn't earn Odin's approval. Hated that he couldn't break through Odin's封印. Hated that he had to let Loki bear all of this in his place.
Every time he saw Loki take a hit, Thor hated his own helplessness!
How he wished — how he desperately wished — that he could grip Mjolnir in his hand, stand before Loki, and slaughter every last one of those damn Frost Giants, that damn Laufey!
Thor didn't notice that Mjolnir, the Mjolnir that had been returned to him but still hadn't deemed him worthy, had begun to tremble faintly at this moment.
Jane Foster beside him couldn't help but sigh.
It was like an older brother watching his younger brother get hurt — concern for his brother, anger at whoever harmed his brother. But why did the whole thing give her such a strange feeling?
Were they really just older brother and younger brother?
It was as though the moment Thor laid eyes on Loki in the sky projection, he hadn't looked at her even once.
It was as if Sif had sensed Jane's thoughts. She and Jane turned to face each other simultaneously, their gazes meeting.
Then, together, they sighed.
A mere girlfriend — how could she possibly rival Loki's place in Thor's heart?
It was absolutely delusional!
Without needing to concern themselves with the various moods of the people in the tavern, on the battlefield, the death-divine-power-amplified Laufey and Loki clashed once more.
The Loki who'd shifted his illusion to match the real body's sensations felt the force of Laufey's power, and his expression couldn't help but change.
This power was f**king ridiculous!
His sister really hadn't held back in investing power to take down their father.
"BOOM!"
In the instant Loki hesitated, his abdomen was pierced through once more by the spikes on Laufey's body. If not for the Actor's Professionalism trait, Loki would be screaming right now.
Indeed — an illusion and the real thing gave completely different sensations!
Though he could use the God of Lies power to make his illusion display all sorts of expressions, when it came to personal experience, there was still a gap.
The dumb Frost Giants whose brains had never been particularly sharp couldn't tell the difference, and humans watching through screens couldn't either — but his stupid older brother might.
As Baixuan had said, the bond between them had transcended the bonds of mystery. Whether Thor could see through his ability didn't depend on how strong Loki's deception was, but on Thor's own intuition.
Watching through a screen, Thor couldn't sense it — but once Thor recovered his strength and appeared on the battlefield, there was no one more likely than him to realize that the Loki on the battlefield was an illusion, not the real thing.
To prevent Thor from wrecking his perfectly crafted script, he had no choice but to descend to the battlefield in person.
———
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