In response to Rias's question, Sona first nodded to her before respectfully bowing to Odin.
"Odin-sama, please allow my peerage and me to participate in your protection. The fact that you were attacked in Kuoh Town last time was a failure on my part as Student Council President."
Odin stroked his chin and chuckled.
"Good! The more beautiful female bodyguards I have, the better."
Sona's expression froze slightly.
If there hadn't been so many people present, she would've suspected this old man was an impostor.
"Sona, the one we're dealing with this time is the Evil God Loki. It'll be extremely dangerous."
Rias tried to persuade her.
"So?"
Sona narrowed her eyes.
"If you can go, Rias, then I see no reason why I can't."
The truth was, if Rias hadn't involved herself in this matter, Sona would never have come just to prove herself.
But in her heart, she had always regarded Rias as her greatest rival.
After watching Rias defeat Riser in the Rating Game, she had once again raised her evaluation of her rival.
If Rias could accomplish something that she herself couldn't...
Then Sona felt she would never become the outstanding High-Class Devil she aspired to be.
"Besides..."
Sona's gaze swept across the room before finally landing on Rod.
"There are plenty of us."
"Even if Loki knows we're here, he may not try to appear."
"And if he does..."
"My Student Council will stand in front of Odin-sama before anyone else."
Rod silently observed the determination in Sona's eyes.
Rias was like this.
Sona was exactly the same.
Their attitudes had matured somewhat compared to before, but at their core, they were still girls who loved throwing themselves into danger.
Rod had already given up trying to talk them out of it.
Come if you want.
As for whether they could actually help...
He wasn't counting on it.
They couldn't even defeat Kokabiel and now they wanted to fight Loki?
That was the kind of confidence only someone completely drunk would have.
With that, the group set off for the neighboring city.
However, when they arrived, Odin's excited anticipation immediately evaporated.
The entire district had already been cleared out.
Not a single geisha remained in the establishment.
"My geishas..."
"My big boobs..."
Odin muttered blankly as he stared at the completely empty banquet hall.
"I cleared the area in advance."
Rossweisse answered seriously.
"If we're going to fight Loki-sama, involving ordinary civilians would inevitably lead to tremendous casualties."
"And not just this building."
"The surrounding area has also been evacuated."
"We've already prepared an enormous teleportation magic circle."
"If Loki appears, Rias and Sona's teams will activate it immediately and transfer the battlefield somewhere else."
"I see..."
Odin sighed deeply.
Since it was for official business, he couldn't really complain.
Still...
His mood visibly plummeted.
He had originally hoped a few voluptuous beauties would soothe his weary heart.
Now everything was gone.
His expression gradually became depressed.
Thinking about Loki's assassination attempts, he sighed once more.
"Loki is simply too impulsive."
"There were other ways to improve our mythology, yet he insists on stopping me."
"He's just like those stubborn old fossils."
"Even this old man who's practically halfway into the grave is more open-minded than he is."
Rod suddenly asked,
"Speaking of which..."
"Do gods actually grow old?"
Odin nodded.
"Of course."
"I'm already several thousand years old."
"I don't have much time left."
"How much time is 'not much?'"
"I'm not entirely sure..."
"But probably another few tens of thousands of years."
"...?"
You've barely reached halftime.
Odin coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem."
"Our Asgardian gods do age."
"But we can use Rune magic to keep our bodies youthful."
"I simply chose not to."
"And when I say I'll die, I only mean the body."
"Our souls don't perish."
Rod couldn't help twitching.
That explanation basically explained nothing.
Asgardian gods only lost their physical bodies.
Their souls remained immortal.
Even after death, they could continue existing in Valhalla.
Compared to many other mythologies, Asgardian gods actually became stronger with age.
Rod couldn't help recalling that Marvel's version of Asgard worked much the same way.
While Odin was alive, no alien civilization dared launch a large-scale invasion.
Only after his death did one cosmic threat after another emerge.
The Chitauri came.
Then Thanos.
But while Odin still lived...
None of them even dared show their faces.
"By the way..."
Rod suddenly asked,
"What's Thor's relationship with Loki?"
"Are they brothers?"
This time, it was Odin's turn to be confused.
How could Loki possibly be his son?
"Of course not."
Rossweisse answered before Odin could.
"Loki-sama is one of Asgard's true gods."
"Back then, Lord Odin brought him from the Giant race to Asgard in order to maintain peaceful relations between the Giants and Asgard."
"Odin-sama has always treated Loki-sama extremely well."
"And Thor-sama has always regarded him as a brother."
"None of us ever imagined that he would betray Odin-sama."
Even now, Rossweisse still found it difficult to believe Loki was truly the one behind the assassination attempts.
"So..."
Rod nodded in realization.
"An adopted son."
"I know why he wants to kill you now."
"Oh?"
Odin looked puzzled.
"Why?"
"Let me ask you something."
"When you step down as All-Father..."
"Who inherits the throne?"
"Probably my son, Thor."
Odin answered honestly.
"He's still immature."
"But I believe he has the potential to become a qualified ruler."
"There you go."
Rod clapped his hands together.
"Loki obviously doesn't want you passing the throne to Thor."
"A succession struggle."
"It's always like that."
Odin fell into deep thought.
Now that Rod mentioned it...
The explanation actually sounded surprisingly plausible.
Loki and Thor had never gotten along.
Yet every single time...
Thor had always forgiven him.
So that's why he kept messing with Thor...
Even so, if possible...
Odin still wanted to give Loki one more chance.
Rossweisse stood there completely stunned.
Is... is this really something I'm allowed to hear?
She was just about to remind Rod not to casually discuss Asgard's internal affairs...
When a deafening roar suddenly echoed from the skies outside.
RUMBLE!!
Rossweisse immediately swallowed the words she had been about to say.
She shot to her feet and stared toward the window.
"It's divine power."
"Someone has activated a teleportation gate."
At the same time...
High above this region,
The silent night sky suddenly erupted into violent turbulence as an immense external force tore through the atmosphere.
Ferocious winds swept across the sky.
Space itself twisted and distorted.
A swirling rift slowly opened in midair.
Outside, Rias, Vali, Sona, and the others, who had been standing guard, immediately tensed.
Then they saw it.
A streak of black light shot out of the vortex and descended from the sky.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Read Advanced Chapters
p(a)treon.com/Shalltearr
Drop some POWERSTONES to push the story forward!