Chapter 774: 763 (2/2)
”Keep rowing. We need to reach the Shores near the end of this realm. Let's keep up this pace!” Loki smiled.
The journey ahead was quite time-consuming, pushing Janet to the end of her wits while she was accompanied by Poole in her grumbling which finally made Spider frustrated enough to join them. With Nik and Jennifer rowing the boat, their minds were already a little occupied but their tensions reached the highest point when Loki's words came true.
”Aaaah! I didn't want to hurt him!”
A man-shaped phantom shrieked while flailing in the river. Nik could see the man's face. His eyes were sunken as terror emanated from his body.
”Please! Stop! I've given everything!” Jennifer saw a deplorable woman screaming and swimming away. Gulping, she quickly looked away.
”We should help them,” Jennifer whispered.
”Mom! Where... please, help me!” A young girl begged, gagging in the river as her 'body' slowly corroded, revealing a brown light. She was turning into a phantom similar to the ones Nik and others had passed.
”Help?” Loki sneered, ”How cute, and might I add, naive. How many souls can you actually help? Once you've helped them, can you provide them with a body? A home? Their loved ones?”
Loki turned with the twirl of her foot. A mocking smile on her face as she gazed at the green-skinned woman.
”You understand what I mean,” Jennifer replied with a cold expression, ”By help, I mean easing their pain. Nobody should laugh at others' pain.”
”In the past month on Earth, I caused many pranks. Making elderly slip over peels of banana, children cry by taking their sweets, racing a car through pools of water to drench those around it. Don't you teach me what I should take delight in or not,” Loki's smile turned more mischievous but her eyes turned threatening.
”You call all these pranks?” Jennifer growled.
”None died. No lasting injury. What else should I call them? Conquests? Blood Battles? Selection of Warriors?” Loki crossed her arms, ”Beautiful, just row the boat.”
'I should probably speak up,' Nik thought to himself.
”Psychopath!” Jennifer growled, instead of paddling, waving the large wooden board towards Loki with such ferocity that it made the pupils of the woman shrink.
'Then again... they are more than capable of settling dispute amongst themselves. Oh... look, that soul is actually humping rock while crying,' Nik grinned at the sight.
”Woah! That dude is fucking rock and tearing up!” Janet's shout attracted the group as even Loki and the frustrated She-Hulk looked towards the humper.
”I... can't stop! I'm sorry! Please!” He shrieked yet his words only made Loki, and Nik more delighted at the comedic plight of the man. Of course, one showed it while the other hid it.
”That's rough,” Poole winced while Morgan spoke up, ”Eyes ahead. We don't want to ram the boat into rocks... and the cruise is picking pace.”
With the distraction proving little effective in relieving the accumulated stress formed by the distressed cries of the dead, the group could only wallow in self-regret for not picking the option of flying and continue to soldier through this experience.
However, deep down, every one of them had a chance to learn a little about themselves after facing such a horrible situation.
The journey lasted for a total of two more hours. With the water picking an even greater pace, all Jennifer and Nik had to do was tilt the ship in the right direction and avoid some rather dangerous obstructions which would have resulted in a gruesome end for any ordinary explorer of the mythical regions.
Although the group had not sailed through the entirety of the realm in a matter of few hours, Loki did inform that Niffleheim is comprised of many isolated dimensions that push the borders of the realm further. Some of these realms are already occupied and some of them are still not known even to the lord of the realm herself.
And finally, the group reached the ruins of the shore of corpses.