Chapter 142 - THE PAST OF THE FUTURE (1/2)

ONCE UPON A FUTURE

The wind blows strongly forming something akin of a hurricane.

First, the dust arrived. Yellow dust billowing to the clouds, carrying the scent of a plague. Second, the sound reverberates.

The squeaking of vermin, the sound of it fills the forest.

The sound of the rat's horde is like the cacophony of misery and death as it is marching towards this little city.

Nestled deep in a forest, this city is full of people from Greece.

After New Greece falls, many of its immigrants ran until they meet this large forest and started a community inside this place.

Homes built above in the trees and visitors quarters of market, inn, magic and temple on the ground below.

Gully system filled with traps surrounds the city in a natural way, mostly camouflaged, difficult to spot for invaders.

It is usually clean and peaceful but since the oars of warning fires has been lighted from the nearby cities and villages, the people of Freytown have been nervous and fearful.

They saw the flames burns and extinguished. Their heroes went and disappear. And they know. Something is coming.

The roads are crowded and unkempt. Some are running away from the city believing they could escape the calamity that will befall them.

Only to find that there is no way out. The forest is swarmed with them, leaving the runaways with only the path of death.

This far across the world, the Sovereign will not care. The Gods feign ignorance.

Not to mention Greece has no Sovereign type existence. No Gods watching over them, no Gods to pray to.

This little city out of nowhere, it has no protection.

The highest level of cultivation of them is Divine Comprehension Low Realm and that person has already been eaten by the rat horde when he went to help the nearby village.

Heroes either soar to the Heaven or dies before being great. And the Gods are deaf to their sufferings.

No Gods here. They do not listen. Not here. Not in this small little city. They are on their own.

The Ice Deity only guards the European. Earthshaker protected the World Government. The Time God stays out of mortals affairs and mourns his beloved in his Neverland.

The Twin Sages protected only those closest to their vicinity. While the most mysterious of them all, the God of Death only comes when it is time for people to pay their dues.

Or when he so deign to descend. The only Sovereign that travels the world and grants wishes, is the Trickster.

Only that, everyone knows, his wish comes with a price.

'Boss, what should we do?' a young man asked, sweat is filling his forehead, his hand trembling and his voice is full of nervousness.

Behind the young man is about a dozen people also looking towards that Boss, waiting for his decision.

The man people called boss is standing inside a hut closing his eyes trying to think what to do and still hesitating.

'Brother' the woman beside the man was about to say something but in the end she did not say anything.

'Monika' the man said as he looked at the woman holding a baby and sighed.

'Well, Boss, you have to decide.' Another man come closer to the Boss and urges him to make a decision.

This man is muscly, bald, with a scar on his left arm, very military type.

On the outside, the walls of wood made from the Redbark tree is being actively gnaw by the rat horde.

The Boss name is Eurus. He looked at the people inside the hut and he knows outside there are hundreds more people depending on him.

The rat horde will come and they will chew this city alive. Even though they live inside the hut high on top of the trees, he knows that the rat could eat even this gigantic tree.

He looks towards his sister and her baby. The baby belongs to Milos, a great friend of his. Milos died in a service of a great man.

Died in a war, protecting a man of whom Eurus has always felt grateful to. He tries to communicate with that great person, but it seems his voice did not reach him.

Thinking of all those people that would die…he could not help but gulped his saliva and then decided.

He walk to the windows, put his hand together, look into the sun high on the sky, and with a hint of finality he pray.

'Trickster, I want to make a deal' the moment he said this word, it was like he was summoning something dark into the forest.

Very dark. Very dangerous. A presence of an unholy magic spreads out across the entire forest.

All the slithering animals burrows themselves inside the ground, while those that could fly soar through the sky, feeling that presence of evil

Then a cackling laughter filled the entire forest. The cackling sound like a symphony of madness.

'HEHEHEHE' the laugher echoes like it was a sound produced in a long and deep cave, creepy and frightening, so much so, that the rats stopped squeaking and chattering, and some of them even shivered and some of it, their mouth began frothing and suddenly their stomach exploded.

A green smoke filled the huts and a man appeared in front of Eurus, swirling around the man hands was green smoke while the man smiles were very creepy.

When Eurus tries to look at the man directly at his eyes, Eurus nearly staggered and fainted.

For that one moment he dares to look directly into the eye of that man, Eurus was assaulted mentally, with all of his dark desires almost bursting out.

The man looks at Eurus and chuckles.

'Oh, forgot about that. Sorry, I always forgot to turn that off. Don't want to scares my customers, would I?'

He waves his hand and Loki eyes shines before the luster inside his eyes disappears.

Loki eyes then darted left and right, his nose seems to sniff something and his face was the definition of sly.

It doesn't exactly inspire trust.

The man was thin, lanky, lacking any muscles to speak of. Wearing a large oversized robe, he looks very out of place and strange.

And he seems to be smiling but not the kind of smiles that is pleasant.

It seems more like a condescending smile or a sarcastic smile.

Loki the Trickster, the Seventh Sovereign has arrived. Eurus didn't think it would really work.

While it is true he summons the Trickster, not all that summons the Trickster succeeds.

It requires luck.

Now that trickster has arrived what Eurus is worried about is what he could pay the Trickster. Everyone knows there is a price dealing with the Trickster.

'I seem to hear someone is talking about a deal? Yes?' Loki asked as he takes a step towards Eurus and Monika.

'Your Excellency' the other people in the hut kneel. Loki might be known as a Trickster but he is also one of the Seven Sovereign.

He is a God.

The God of Deceit.

But not everyone kneels and not everyone respect the Trickster. As there are those that worships him, there are those that denounce him.

Loki could not care less. However one man intrigues him. This particular man does not only denounce him but also carries an air of impudence.

Out of all the other that doesn't kneels to him, this one particular man seems to look at him with condescension and Loki smirks.

'You mortal. Give me your name.' Loki voice was full of scorn.

'Hmph.' The man said.

'Unholy evil. You're not even the strongest out of the Seven Sovereign. One of my friends once made a deal with you. You're a Demon, not a Sovereign.' the man said speaking his thought, his voice was full of anger and scorn.

The other people in the hut gasped. It is one thing to denounce a God; it is another thing to insult that God in His presence.

Loki smirks widened.

'Oh, a smartass, huh.' With a pop sound Loki disappears from his position in a green smoke to appear directly in front of the man.

'I don't like your tone, mortal. I might be the weakest among the Seven Sovereigns but I still can do this.'

Clicking his fingers, green smoke envelops the man and suddenly where the man used to stand, when the green smoke dissipated what replace the man is a hamster and Loki laughed.

The hamster then look left and right before running away as Loki was cackling with laughter holding his stomach as he couldn't help but laugh maniacally.

'HAHAHAHA. That will teach you not to insult a god next time. Now…' Loki said as he turns back to the other people inside the hut.

'Who called me and why? And what price would you pay? HEHEHE' Loki said as he rubbed his hand together.

The other people in the hut were still afraid of Loki demonstration of his power and prostrate even more reverently while those that denounce him only maintain their silence.

Eurus quickly gained his calm and quickly said.

'We require your help, O God of Deceit. Please hears our pleas'

'Oh, do tell. I like solving problems. Of course, as many know, I require a Price befitting of my service.' Loki said his smirk widens

'Yes, anything.' Eurus accidentally blurts out

'Anything?' And Loki eyebrows moved up.

'That's a reckless thing to say' Loki said chuckling as he disappears in another green smoke before appearing just a few feet from Eurus, his finger caressing the mortal cheeks, looking at him with slitted eyes like the eye of a reptilian predator.

Monika quickly pinched the arms of his younger brother, warning him. This does not escape Loki eyes.

'Ah, a sensible woman. Hard to find these days.' Rubbing his chin, Loki added

'Reminds me of Katarina. Though in Love she is quite crazy' Loki said.

'Ah, look at me. Talking about myself again. I should have been more of a listener. My servants did tell me that I like to talk. Maybe there is a truth of what my servants has been saying. I should have listened more.'

Loki keeps talking endlessly before he finally asked.

'What's seems to be the problem? Tell me. Only if I know your problem can I solve it'

The others look at Loki like a fool.

Could the Trickster not see the horde of rats gnawing down the defense of the city, and in any minutes now will breach that said defense and gnaw everyone in this city leaving only bones?

'Umm..aah..the rat horde, Your Excellency?' Eurus offered to answer. Loki finally realized the millions of rats outside the city walls. It was genuine shock to him.

'Oh…that?' Loki said shocked.

Then he chuckles.

'I forgot. You mortals see it as a big problem. Come to think of it, yes, of course a rat horde is a big problem for mortals. To me, they are nothing but a small infestation problem.'

The other in the hut could not help but be shocked but as they think about it they could understand where the Trickster is coming from.

Comparing their strength to a Sovereign, maybe the Sovereign would view a catastrophe like a rat horde invasion as a minor problem.

'I can deal with it' Loki rolled up his sleeve and began preparing to conjure his magic. But before Loki could use his magic Monika then shouted

'Wait, Your Excellency!'

'Oh? Why? I thought you are worried that the rat will come inside this city?' Loki asked annoyed that his attempts are stopped.

'What's the Price?' The woman asked and Eurus also suddenly remembered. The Trickster did not demand his price.

Loki looks at that woman and then with voice cold as winter he said

'That's not how it works, dearie. Usually, I would state what my price is…..but as you remember…your brother said anything. No take backs.'

Smiling mischievously Loki clicks his fingers before Monika and Eurus even had the chance to said stop.

On the walls of the city, green smokes rises up from underneath the soils of the walls, and it slowly spreads all across the walls and slowly reaches the rat's horde.

As the gas began spreading all over like a gigantic fog that seems capable to covered a whole continent, the shrieking and squeaking of rats could be heard.

The fog covered the entirety of the rat horde in three seconds. That is how fast the rate of spread of the fog.

Then Loki who was inside the hut clicks his fingers again and a gust of wind comes and rid out of the greens smoke leaving a gruesome sight.

A millions rat monster could be seen, bleeding from every orifice spurting black blood from all over their body.

The smell is pungent and some people wanted to puke.

'Done' Loki said cheerfully as he looks at Eurus. Eurus looks at Loki cautiously and wanted to smack his own mouth for saying the word anything.

'Now, my Price' he said.

To be honest, the reason Loki answers this man prayers are because he noticed something odd about the woman beside the man.

When he glances upon the man praying to him in his dark realm, he saw a Destiny Thread linking that woman beside that man to the God of Death.

An unresolved debt. The God of Death owes this woman.

How could a God owes a mortal? For someone like Loki, to manipulate the Thread of Destiny, while hard, it is not impossible.

For once, Loki found chance to at least have a certain leverage the next time he would deal with the Prince.

Smiling Loki pointed to the baby on that woman embrace.

'I want that cute little baby, dearie' Hearing this all the people inside the hut gasped and Monika grasp of her baby become tighter as her eyes becomes red.

'NO!' she shouted.

'I'm not the one making the deal with you!' She shouted

'Your Excellency, please' Eurus pleaded

'Take me instead.' Loki look at Eurus and his face was full of disgust.

'What use I have of you?' Loki snorted.