Chapter: 55
Thor was ecstatic that someone finally recognized him. Not only that, but it was an incredibly beautiful fair maiden as well. Thor had no idea that Midgard was home to such beautiful women. First, there was the petite yet fiery Lady Jane, and now there was this 'Layla of the Fallen.' With her luscious figure, mesmerizing purple eyes, and long black hair, she was absolute perfection. Thor didn't think he'd ever seen a more objectively beautiful woman. And yet, there was something about Lady Jane that just drew Thor's thoughts to her even more than the gorgeous woman in front of him.
"Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Layla of the Fallen. It's nice to meet you, Prince Thor," Layla introduced herself to him using her name… or title? Thor wasn't sure which it was. Regardless, he felt that it was a strange name. Part of her name sounded a bit familiar to him, but he couldn't seem to recall from where. He figured it didn't matter anyway. Her memory would either come to him eventually or it wouldn't.
"Greetings, Lady Layla. I am Prince Thor of Asgard. Most pleased to make your acquaintance. Now, tell me about this monster that seems to be plaguing your thoughts."
"The monster we're pursuing is a stray devil," the beautiful Layla told Thor. He had no idea what that was.
"A stray devil? I don't believe I've ever heard of such a creature. Can you describe it for me?" he asked. He knew he was currently weakened and reduced to but a mortal shell of his former powerful self, but Thor honestly didn't believe there was anything on Midgard that could actually harm him despite that. If there was, his mighty father would have never risked sending him here powerless in the first place.
"So stray devils are basically reincarnated humans that rebelled against their devil masters and ended up being turned into flesh-eating monsters as a punishment. They're not particularly strong in general, but they are incredibly vicious," Layla explained to Thor. Thor nodded along in understanding–he understood none of her explanation in truth. He didn't want to look like a fool in front of Layla though so he acted like he knew what she was talking about. He got the gist though. He needed to hunt a vicious monster that preyed on the poor people of this town! To Thor, that sounded bad. What if Lady Jane ended up being targeted by the beast? No! Thor would deal with it before such a thing could happen.
"Point me in the direction of the monster, Lady Layla, and I shall slay it post-haste!" he declared.
…
Thor seemed really gung-ho about slaying the stray devil himself. I would have felt bad offering to do it myself from how eager he was. I supposed there was no need to emasculate him right now by saying I would handle it–I would just wait until the stray whooped his ass before I stepped in. That'll humble the man real quick. I was also fairly certain that he actually had no idea what a stray devil was despite my explanation. I think he was just nodding along to not seem ignorant. That was a bad trait; there's nothing wrong with asking questions after all.
"Ok then, I know the stray is in this area, but I don't actually know where. We're going to need to lure it out," I explained to him.
"Ah, using some monster bait. An excellent idea. I've done the same thing in the many hunts I've participated in. So what shall we be using as bait?" Thor asked.
I held my hand up and conjured a small light dagger. This one was different from normal though. It was radiating holy power and yet at the same time, it was not powerful. It was a trick we Fallen had come up with to lure in stray devils. They're attracted to Holy Power as they want to devour their 'arch enemies' the Angels, and yet if the power is too strong, they'll run away in fear. Usually, we'd give one of these Lightbeacons to a stray exorcist priest under our command and use them as bait. Once the stray devil showed up expecting to find a weak two-winged angel, we'd ambush them. No one particularly cared about using the stray exorcists as bait because they had to have done some pretty heinous shit to be kicked out of the church. The stray exorcists also didn't care because the majority of them were straight up crazy. Some people might have thought Freed Selzen was an outlier… no, he was actually the standard.
Thor reached forward and took the Lightdagger from me. "You wield the power of Seidr? You would get along famously with my brother, Loki," Thor said. I probably would not. He's much too privileged for my taste.
[Oh please, you're the most privileged person in the universe as the Gamer…]
I suppose the system made a fair point. Maybe we would get along…
Thor asked me what the effect of the Lightdagger was before I explained it to him. I couldn't use myself as bait because my own divine power had now reached the point where my very presence would probably scare away most strays. If the current stray plaguing this town was a decently trained bishop piece, they might already sense me. I'd have to go into hiding somewhat far away, or the stray won't show itself. It's unfortunately too weak for me to sense.
"So what now?" Thor asked me.
I smirked. "Now? Now we wait at the edge of town."
"Edge of town?" He asked with furrowed brows before looking around. We were standing in the middle of Puente Antiguo's main street after all. Well, I was at least. Thor was currently falling through the sling ring portal I just opened up underneath him. With a startled yelp, he fell through and landed a mile away in the sand–I made sure he landed upright; I wasn't mean about it.
Good luck, Thor, let's get some drinks at the local bar once this is over!" I yelled through the closing portal. Once it fully closed, I let my wings out before I took to the skies. I'd probably have to fly up a few miles for the Stray to no longer be able to sense my presence and target Thor. Once it did, I'd swoop in… or maybe I'd wait a bit and see how the fight goes. His hammer wouldn't declare him worthy until he gets humbled a bit after all. I have twilight healing to fix Thor right up in case he gets hurt anyway.
XXX
--------------------------------------------------
Read 10+ chapters in advance over on my Pat.reon.
Pat.reon.com/StarWaves (Remove the .)