The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 7 - Chapter 35 - Reasons for Hatred

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Wolf

“What do you mean?” Loki asks with a wry smile on her face that is currently that of a young boy. One still wearing circus master attire. “Why wouldn’t I be interested?”

I stare at her.

She stares back while turning into a little puppy dog with a hat on.

“Why are you helping me?” I ask, rewording the question entirely.

Loki tilts her head, stares at me some more, and asks, “Why wouldn’t I help you?”

I feel the corner of my lip twitch in irritation.

The Progenitor of Illusions just continues to stare at me for several seconds before her own lips begin to quiver. Only for a few giggles to leak out as she tries to cover her mouth. Then she – while turning into an adult woman with fox ears still wearing a circus master outfit – just gives up and starts full-on laughing.

My eyes narrow at her as I ask, “Are you messing with me right now?”

Loki continues laughing before answering in-between laughs, “N-no! I-I’m definitely serious!”

Yeah, that’s not very convincing.

I stare blankly at her.

“Okay, maybe I am messing with you a little,” she says as her laughter slows down. “You want to know why I’m helping you?” She pauses before continuing again when she sees me nod. “It’s simple. You’re one of the most entertaining things in the multiverse for me right now. And you clearing this dungeon will hurt that bastard.”

Once again with her obvious hatred for Grim.

Actually…

“Why do you hate the Reaper so much?” I ask with a tile of my head. “It’s obvious you absolutely despise him.”

Loki looks kinda serious for the first time since I’ve met her. And she’s still in that fox eared woman form, except now with nine fox tails too.

During the silence of her staring at me with a serious expression, I have to wonder something.

Is this her real form?

I still remember the whole thing about her possibly being a kitsune as her true form. So this could, for all I know, be her true form.

Eventually she finally answers, saying, “Gri-bastard is the most annoying person in the multiverse. I can’t even count the number of my pranks he’s ruined with his void element. And to make matters worse, he’s immune to all illusions placed on himself. They’re all just devoured by the void energy he lets off.”

Oh.

So Loki is just annoyed at him ruining her pranks.

Also, I didn’t realize Grim was immune to illusions.

Although she said it was only those placed on himself. So illusions placed on others still affect him.

“If you clear this dungeon, it will get on that bastard’s every last nerve,” Loki says with a shrug. “There’s no greater reason to help you than that. But the other Progenitors would get upset if I just let you kill my clone, so I won’t be handing you a win for free.”

“Understandable,” I state with a nod of my head. Only to realize she’s starting to make me let my guard down a little bit now that I understand her motivations.

So I lift my guard again and return to focusing on her Domain. Which I’ve started to figure out a bit about at this point.

Her Domain pretty much creates her own reality that she layers on top of the multiverse’s actual reality. And that reality is a genuine one in most ways. To the point that the only way to break out of it is through brute force.

Other elements just have to blast it with more elemental energy than the energy used in the Domain. But for my element, I just have to use about the same amount. Maybe even a little less.

Since my element is just like the void element, what with it including aspects from the void element in lunar ice.

Still. From my time spent studying her Domain, it looks like Loki’s Domain really will just be a battle of attrition.

Whoever runs out of energy first loses.

Which, in all honesty, isn’t much different from most other Progenitor battles. It’s just that Loki doesn’t do direct attacks as much.

“Do you have any other questions?” Loki asks, interrupting my thoughts as she continues floating in front of me with her arms held behind her back, her fingers interlocked.

I purse my lips in thought for a few seconds. Then I eventually ask, “How long have you been preparing this grand prank of yours?”

Loki looks surprised as she blinks and asks in return, “Do you mean that prank?” With her fox ears twitching and her tails spinning around to point at herself as she speaks.

“Yes,” I answer with a nod of my head. “System Favor leaked it to me.”

The Progenitor of Illusions in front of me pouts like a child while still in the form of a kitsune. Then she says, “Well that’s a shame. Maybe I should add the System to my list of prank ruiners.”

That has me raising a brow.

“Well, as long as you don’t ruin the rest of the prank then it’s fine,” Loki says with a shrug of her shoulders. “You won’t ruin it, right?”

“Why would I bother?” I ask with a frown.

Her prank has nothing to do with me.

Or at least, the prank about revealing her gender and true form to the universe doesn’t. The other pranks she’s been playing on me for a while now do have things to do with me. And they’re irritating.

She smiles brightly at me in response to that.

“That’s appreciated!” Loki says, only for the music to begin slowing down more and more until it finally stops. “With that out of the way, I’ve been preparing this prank ever since the birth of my element!

Oh. Wow.

That’s a long time to prepare a single prank.

On another note, the music suddenly returns. But instead of the previous music, it suddenly turns into intense, action-like circus music.

Kind of like a boss battle in a video game.

Then Loki’s eyes begin glowing as she says, “Now let’s get this production started!”