"I finally found you, brat."
The man's voice rolled across the area like thunder. The air seemed to shake with every word, and the sparks crawling around his body flashed brighter for a moment.
Adrien stared up at him, unimpressed then clicked his toungue. "You're a god, don't you have anything better to do than chase people around? Well, actually, good thing you came, you still owe me a sword after I returned Mjolnir to you."
Behind Adrien, his peerage stared at him like he had lost his mind. Even after everything they had seen from him, casually demanding payment from a god who had just descended in a bolt of lightning was still insane.
The giant's face twitched slightly.
"You…"
Adrien raised an eyebrow. "What? Don't tell me gods forget their debts now."
"You're still as obnoxious as ever," Thor's blue eyes locked onto Adrien. "Have you forgotten who you're talking to, boy? I am Thor, the God of Thunder. One of the top ten strongest beings in the world."
Adrien looked up at him without a trace of fear. "I know who you are. You haven't changed at all since I won your hammer."
"You cheated."
"Would you say that to a real enemy in a war?"
Thor's eyes narrowed.
Adrien took one slow step closer, his hands still in his pockets, acting like he wasn't standing in front of a god who could crush him with his bare hands. One of Adrien's mottos was Fake till you make it after all.
"If someone tricked you on a battlefield and took Mjolnir from you, would you stop the war and complain that it wasn't fair? As a god, you should have just accepted your defeat."
After a few seconds, the giant god let out a heavy sigh. "You didn't just grow up. Your mouth became even fouler too."
"Thanks. I worked hard on it."
Thor ignored the comment, "I did, in fact, come here to give you what I owe you."
Adrien blinked. For the first time since Thor appeared, his expression actually shifted.
"Huh? You did?"
"Of course I didn't."
Thor leaned forward slightly, his enormous frame casting a shadow over him.
"A devil like you sneaked into Valhalla, cheated a god, stole his divine weapon, and then escaped like a rat. You should be grateful we didn't kill you."
"First of all, I didn't steal it. I won it. And besides, I did you people a favor. I exposed a major weakness in Valhalla's security. I showed that Heimdall wasn't doing his job properly, he's probably too busy fucking the Valkyries."
Suddenly, another bolt of light cut through the air.
A Valkyrie landed beside Thor with practiced grace, her armored boots touching the ground almost silently despite the force of her descent. She was the same woman who had been accompanying Odin earlier. A beautiful young woman with long, straight silver hair and clear aqua-colored eyes.
Thor shifted his eyes toward her.
"What do you want, Rossweisse?"
Rossweisse straightened immediately and gave a respectful bow. "The Rating Game is about to begin, my lord. Lord Odin is calling for you."
Thor clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed at being interrupted. For a moment, his gaze moved back to Adrien, and the lightning around his body crackled faintly again.
Adrien stared back at him without blinking.
The two of them remained silent for a few seconds, the pressure between them still heavy enough to make the air feel sharp.
Then Thor spoke. "When you're strong enough, come fight me. If you win without cheating, I will give you Mjolnir and another divine sword."
Rossweisse's eyes widened slightly at that, but she did not interrupt.
"But if I win, you will discard everything and join my personal army."
Adrien's peerage tensed immediately. He, however, only looked up at Thor with a flat expression.
"That's a pretty one-sided bet."
"Then get strong enough to make it fair."
With that, the God of Thunder walked past Adrien, his massive frame brushing by like a moving wall. The ground seemed to tremble beneath each step, and the scent of storm still lingered in the air around him. But before he went too far, Thor stopped and glanced at Adrien from the side.
"You're also free to ignore my suggestion. Though I'll be extremely disappointed."
Adrien gave Thor one last look as the giant god walked back toward the castle, Rossweisse following a few steps behind him.
For a few seconds, no one spoke.
His peerage was still staring in the direction Thor had gone. Celia looked tense, her brows drawn together like she was trying to decide whether that conversation had been a threat or an invitation. Saeko's hand was still near her weapon. Mahiru looked completely lost, while Mary's mouth was slightly open. Xenovia, meanwhile, kept looking between Adrien and the castle with a stiff expression.
Adrien turned to them and waved his hand dismissively. "Don't mind him."
The girls stared at him.
Mary blinked once. "Don't mind… Thor?"
Adrien shrugged, "He does that. Norse gods are dramatic."
Saeko looked at him carefully. "Are you not worried?"
Adrien gave her a flat look. "I'm more annoyed that he said I cheated. Even though I did technically..."
Adrien sighed and pointed toward the castle.
"Anyway, go watch the Rating Game."
Mahiru tilted her head. "You're still not coming?"
"Nah, there is someone I need to kill. You, on the other hand, have homework to do. Watch how the fight will go then after the match, each of you will give me one summary. Not some useless 'they fought well' bullshit. I want to know what each team should have done differently."
"Wait someone you need to kill?" Celia seemed more exasperated than surprised.
"Yeah, just a little inconvenience."
Before the girls could complain Adrien vanished.
--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
Kuroka sat on a rusted crate near the wall, one leg crossed over the other.
She still had not cleaned herself. Dust clung to her clothes, her hair was a mess, and faint scratches marked the parts of her skin that had been exposed. She had managed to escape just before Adrien's meteorite hit the area, but it had been close. Too close.
Vali stood in front of her with his arms resting at his sides. He was not shouting, he wasn't moving much either. "You said you were only taking a look,"
Kuroka's ears twitched. "I did take a look, meow."
Vali stared at her.
"You said you would only be there for a few minutes."
"I know."
"You said you would not engage."
Her ears lowered slightly. For once, the playful look on her face did not stay for long. "I didn't plan to, meow."
Kuroka forced a crooked smile, but it broke before it could fully form. Her tail moved slowly behind her, brushing against the side of the crate.
"Bikou got excited. You know how he is. He saw Issei and Rias and decided to fight them. Then Adrien showed up, and—"
"Don't do that."
Vali's voice stayed low, but the floor beneath his boot cracked and Kuroka stopped talking.
"Don't throw this on Bikou like he isn't dead because of you."
The room went quiet.
Kuroka's fingers tightened slightly on the edge of the crate. She had been trying to shift part of the blame away from herself, but Vali caught it immediately.
Kuroka's tail lashed once behind her.
"I tried to pull him back."
"You should have pulled him back before Adrien arrived."
"I didn't know he would come that fast!"
"You knew he was involved with Rias's group," Vali said. "You knew he moved without warning and you had information about his strange movement abilities. You knew all of that, and you still stayed."
Kuroka's smile disappeared completely.
"We didn't really have a choice," she said, her voice tightening. "The Red Dragon Emperor attacked us, and he was way stronger than expected. Your reports on him were completely wrong. Then Adrien appeared, and he blew the entire area apart. I barely managed to escape myself, meow."
Vali did not answer right away. Then his eyes narrowed.
"Wrong?"
Kuroka's ears twitched again.
"Yeah. Wrong. I'm telling you, Vali, that kid wasn't moving like the same Red Dragon Emperor from the reports. He was way stronger and way more skilled than we anticipated, he even managed to get a heavy hit on Bikou!"
She looked away for a second, then clicked her tongue.
"I could have defeated him, of course, but it took us too long to get a real hit on him. And in that time, Adrien appeared."
Vali's expression did not change.
"So you could have defeated him," he said slowly. "But you didn't."
"That's not what I said, nya!"
Before Vali could press her further, a calm voice cut into the argument. "Leave her be."
A bespectacled young man with blond hair stepped forward. Arthur's expression remained composed, but his eyes were serious.
"It is also partly my fault," Arthur said. "I should have accompanied them. We knew Adrien had unusual movement abilities, so we should have anticipated something like this."
Vali's gaze shifted toward him.
Arthur met his stare without flinching.
"Kuroka made a poor call, yes. But the mistake was not hers alone. Our information on the Red Dragon Emperor was outdated, and we underestimated Adrien's response time."
Kuroka's ears lowered even further.
She did not look grateful. She looked like she wanted the floor to open beneath her and swallow her whole.
Vali stood still for a moment.
Divine Dividing hummed faintly at his side, almost like it was reacting to his anger. Then he exhaled through his nose and turned his gaze away from Kuroka.
"Fine."
Vali took a few steps away, then stopped. He glanced back at Kuroka over his shoulder.
"You said Adrien blew up the area?"
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Yo we reached the power stone goal so here's two chapters!
When we reach 500 power stones I'll drop 3 chapters this time.