There were not many people in the Occult Research Club.
Aside from Rias and the others, who had spent the entire day following Odin around and were exhausted both mentally and physically, there was also a figure in a black coat standing in the corner of the room.
Rod was certain he had never seen this person before. As for whether he was one of Odin's guards, that was another matter.
But seeing how no one else paid him any attention, Rod instinctively assumed the man was from the Norse faction.
"So, kid, you're here?"
The moment Odin saw Rod, he immediately changed the subject. He sounded nothing like the old man who had just claimed to be hard of hearing.
"Earlier today, I had Rossweisse contact you, but I had no idea where you'd gone. What a pity. I was hoping to take you with me to enjoy the services of the geisha here."
Odin wore a look of genuine regret, his lecherous old-man act on full display.
Hearing that, Rod immediately put on a solemn expression.
"I am an upright man. I would never debase myself by indulging in pleasure in such an improper place."
The moment he said that, his image in the eyes of the girls in the room instantly soared.
Just compare the King of the Norse Gods to Rod. The difference was huge.
But when Odin heard that, he frowned.
"You brat, I won't allow you to say that. The geisha of Japan are among the finest in the world. How could such a place be improper?!"
"And the reason I came here this time was to experience the customs of a foreign land, so I can better prepare for stopping Ragnarok in my own country."
Rod was speechless.
"Hmph!"
At that moment, a cold snort suddenly sounded.
Rod turned toward the source of the sound and saw that it had come from the figure in the black coat.
Strangely enough, aside from Rod, no one else in the room, not even Odin himself, reacted at all, as though they had not noticed this person in the slightest.
And Odin kept talking, Rossweisse's temples kept throbbing, and Rias and the others looked half asleep.
Rod's curiosity swelled until he could no longer hold back.
"By the way, who is that person standing in the corner?"
"Who?"
Odin suddenly froze.
Rossweisse also looked confused. She instinctively turned toward the spot Rod was pointing at, but there was only the corner of a bookshelf. No shadow, no figure.
"There's no one there."
Rias turned her head at the sound as well, but likewise saw nothing.
"Are you all seriously not seeing him, or are you messing with me?"
Rod felt it had to be the latter.
At those words, however, Akeno and Koneko shrank back a little, while Gasper said in a trembling voice, "M-Master... don't scare me, I'm afraid..."
Rod: "..."
Come on. You're a half-vampire, half-devil hybrid. What exactly are you scared of?
Seeing that they did not look like they were collectively messing with him, Rod immediately threw out a scan.
The system panel quickly returned a result.
[Character: Loki Odinson (Laufeyson)]
[Divine Authority: God of Trickery]
[Status: Divine Avatar]
The moment he saw the name, Rod relaxed.
So it was Loki. He'd wondered who it might be.
Loki was the Norse god of trickery and lies, best known for illusions and a fighting style that involved stabbing people in the waist with twin daggers.
Judging from the situation, the reason no one, including Odin, had detected Loki was because he had used some kind of divine technique to conceal himself completely, even hiding his presence.
And what had come here tonight was apparently only an avatar.
At that moment, Loki also realized that this newcomer had seen through him.
Beneath the hood, surprise flickered across his face.
Even Odin had not managed to pierce his illusion. How had this man done it?
Interesting.
The corner of Loki's lips curled up, and he flashed Rod a smug, wicked smile.
"What are you staring at?"
"..."
Loki fell silent for a few seconds, then dispelled his illusion and revealed himself openly to everyone present. Ignoring everyone else, he looked straight at Rod.
"Mortal, you are impressive. To think you can actually see through my illusion."
Only then did Odin, who had been thinking about which geisha house to visit next, turn grave at the sight of Loki.
Rossweisse also became alert at once.
"Lord Loki, may I ask why you have come here so late at night? If you wish to discuss matters with the chief god, you are supposed to submit a request in advance."
"Heh. A mere Valkyrie has no standing to speak to me."
Loki cast Rossweisse a dismissive glance, not taking her seriously in the slightest. Folding his arms, he swept an arrogant gaze across everyone in the room.
"My business is only with Odin. Tell me, do you still intend to stubbornly persist, leaving our Norse faction to make contact with other mythological powers?"
Hearing that, Odin answered calmly, "That may be so, but haven't you also left the Norse divine realm yourself?"
"If it is for the sake of purging other mythological powers, then of course I can. Especially the Biblical faction you are now dealing with. I absolutely refuse to make peace with them. It was their mythology that barged into our sacred lands in ages past and forced the Bible upon us!"
"That was all a long time ago. Besides, if you are truly that angry, shouldn't you be going after Michael instead?"
Odin replied evenly.
"Hmph! No matter what, the fact that the chief god of the Norse faction personally came to negotiate peace with the Biblical powers is already a problem. If things continue like this, we will never bring about the Ragnarok that is meant to come. And on top of that, Odin, you even took away part of the World Tree's records. What exactly are you trying to achieve?"
Loki said, malice dripping from every word.
"Peace. That is my only goal."
Faced with Loki's aggression, Odin remained perfectly calm, as though he had expected this visit from the very beginning.
"How foolish! Making peace with that filthy Biblical faction? What a joke!"
Loki's expression darkened with rage.
"In that case, let us bring about Ragnarok right here and now!"
Loki burst into laughter.
At that moment, however, he suddenly felt a hand land on his shoulder, interrupting the emotions he had been building up.
"Hey, little bro, did you forget I was here?"
Other than mentioning him once at the start, Loki had spent the rest of the time focused entirely on Odin, as though Rod were some extra who had wandered in from another set.
His carefully cultivated mood interrupted, and with a mere mortal daring to lay hands on him, even if this was only an avatar, Loki's anger flared instantly. His eyes turned cold as he glared at Rod.
"Insolent mortal, how dare you interrupt a conversation among gods!"
At that, Rod laughed.
"If you really hate the Biblical faction that much, then why didn't you attack Heaven while the Biblical God was still alive?"
"Oh, right. You definitely didn't dare. Because you couldn't beat the Biblical God."
"Do you want to die!?"
Loki exploded the moment he heard that.
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