After ten minutes, President Loki was seated on a sofa to one side of the tent, clutching his bloody arm, and asked through gritted teeth:
"So, what you're saying is, that troublesome female chief judge deliberately released us so that we could confront the director of the Time Management Bureau on their behalf?"
A light gradually brightened on his other hand, and a healing magic spread up his arm.
The struggle with Helen had depleted much of Crocodile Loki's energy, and as such, he hadn't bitten off President Loki's arm completely. Instead, he used his fangs to pierce several holes in Loki's arm, the kind of injuries that could still be healed by magic.
President Loki, while healing himself, disdainfully replied:
"Why would I follow her orders to engage in a fight to the death? What do I stand to gain from this?"
"But she has already thrown you in here. If you don't work for her, you may never be able to leave this place..." Loki countered, shaking his head.
Seeing the other Lokis glare, Loki gave a smile and said, "Yes, I am an accomplice. But we are all Lokis and we understand ourselves well. Without some coercion, none of us would lift a finger."
"The director of the Time Management Bureau's target is only female Loki. We have no conflict of interest with him. Wouldn't it be better to be stuck here than to fight him?" Black Loki interjected.
"Of course, you can choose to stay here for the rest of your lives. The employees of the Time Management Bureau won't bother you. But you all know better than I do whether this place will remain peaceful forever."
Loki did not look at Black Loki, but instead turned his gaze to Old Loki. Old Loki pursed his lips, saying, "It seems that the Time Management Bureau sent you to the data room, so you learned about this place there."
"In the land of time forgotten, storm clouds are forever gathering. Here, a storm approaching from afar signifies only one thing..." Old Loki slowly stood up and walked to the entrance of the tent, looking into the distance.
Suddenly, a chilling wind howled from afar. Amidst the dirt and debris, the storm clouds grew darker. The once gloomy sky was now utterly black, and the sudden cold made all the Lokis shudder.
"What is that?" President Loki's arm quivered, while Young Loki was hiding in the corner of the tent.
"Alioth," Old Loki quietly uttered a name.
Everyone could see that at the horizon line of the land forgotten, a pair of blood-red eyes suddenly glowed. Then, the thick black clouds formed its vast entity, with countless fragments of time and flickering nebulae interspersed within it.
Amidst the howling gales, Old Loki shouted, "Or you can also call it a spiritual storm! It is Odin's adversary and the source of Thor's Mjölnir's power. Its heart is the graveyard of the gods of the cosmos!"
In a roar like a lament, the massive monster named Alioth was now looming over the small tent. Sylvie raised her arms to shield her face and screamed, "Look! It wants to eat us!"
"Of course! Its mission is to devour all gods!" Old Loki, a wand appearing in his hand then hoisted the wand and banged it hard on the ground.
With a "swish", the entire tent, along with all the Lokis inside, disappeared, only to reappear somewhere far from the cloud creature.
Moving from the plains to the mountains, the Lokis stepped out of the tent. Seeing the terrifying figure of the monster on the distant horizon, devouring everything in sight, all fell into somber silence.
Yet at this moment, Loki looked intently at Old Loki's face and said, "If I'm not mistaken, you were the one who summoned Alioth, weren't you?"
Old Loki's expression remained unchanged. He just looked at Loki and asked, "What nonsense are you talking about? What would I gain from summoning a monster like that?"
"Because, you want to seize control of the ensuing conversation. You want everyone to listen to your explanations, to learn from you how to save themselves. Naturally, you needed to create a bit of a crisis."
Loki walked up to Old Loki and said, "We are the same person. We understand ourselves best..."
Yet, Old Loki revealed an amused smile, lowered his head, and gently shook it. "No… Perhaps only you understand me. All the other Lokis are just pretentious fools."
"See, you are trying to use your words to align me with you. But I'm sorry, from now on, it's your turn to listen," Loki retorted, taking a few steps back with a smile.
"That's assuming, you have anything worth saying," Old Loki countered, an unyielding look in his eyes. "Do you even know what Alioth is?"
Loki shook his head, but took out Mjölnir from his waist, asserting, "I don't need to know what it is. All you need to know is, among all of us, I am the only one who can lift Thor's Mjölnir."
As soon as he finished speaking, all the Lokis turned their gaze towards him. Mjölnir emitted a glow, and tiny sparks of thunder reflected the metallic sheen, an indisputable sign for all Lokis that this was the real deal.
Old Loki narrowed his eyes but remained insistent, looking into Loki's eyes and asking, "What price did you pay to get Mjölnir?"
"No price at all. In my universe, Thor has become the new king of Asgard. There was no war, no struggle, he succeeded easily, and I, I am the prince of Asgard."
"So you are admitting to your defeat then?" Old Loki persisted.
Unperturbed, Loki walked forward, looking directly into Old Loki's eyes and responded, "Every Loki in this place is a loser. The difference is that I have the courage to admit my failure, whereas some people are still dreaming unrealistic dreams."
Old Loki's face turned dark, but Loki continued, "You told Mobius that you always wanted to go back to Asgard to see Thor because you missed him, you wanted to see your brother again."
"But if you truly loved him, you wouldn't have faked your death and left, a deserter who abandoned the honor of the Northern Gods. There is no need for you to spout nonsense here."
"Zi La - Bang!"
A dazzling magic beam shot out from the tip of Old Loki's magic wand. Loki, wielding Thor's hammer, instinctively raised his arm to shield his chest.
In an instant, Mjölnir radiated a gentle golden glow, forming a shield that blocked Old Loki's attack.
As the magic beam disappeared, Old Loki let down his wand in a daze, staring at Thor's hammer in Loki's hand unbelievingly. "How is this possible...How can you wield Mjölnir? This is impossible..."
Loki put down the hammer and straightened, looking at him and saying, "What is impossible? This is something Thor lent me. If he says I can use it, of course I can."
"You're talking nonsense!" Old Loki snapped, "Only Odin, not Thor, can decide who wields Thor's hammer."
Loki frowned, a touch of confusion appearing between his eyebrows. Seeing his expression, Old Loki's disbelief gave way to a much more complex emotion, "You... You really don't know?"
"What should I know?"
Old Loki stood still, taking several deep breaths to calm his emotions, tossing his wand to one side. He sank wearily onto the couch, "Do you not know the origin of Alioth?"
The other Lokis watched their confrontation with growing bewilderment. As Old Loki seemed ready to launch into a monologue, everyone slowly gathered around.
"That beast you saw, composed of dark clouds, is not truly called Alioth. Its full name is 'Spiritual Storm'."
"The Spiritual Storm is the first tempest that roared out of the void. Some call it 'The Mother of Thunder'."
"Many years ago, the Spiritual Storm invaded Asgard. Odin battled it and ultimately won the fight."
"Using his long spear, he shattered the storm and sealed a fragment of it within Uru metal."
"Odin gave this unique metal to the dwarves, who forged it into a hammer, Mjölnir."
"The shattered Spiritual Storm did not vanish; countless fragments roamed the cosmos. What we see now as Alioth is a part of it, sharing the same origin as Mjölnir..."
After finishing his explanation, Old Loki turned his gaze to Thor's hammer. After studying it for a time, he turned his gaze to Loki's face, "It is Odin who conquered the Spiritual Storm. The storm recognizes Odin as the mightiest thunder force in the cosmos, and so it obeys only him, refusing to submit to anyone else."
Loki was unsure if there was a hint of jealousy in Old Loki's eyes. But he heard Old Loki continue:
"The notion that only a good and virtuous person can lift Thor's hammer is simply because only those recognized by Odin can wield it."
"And if you, indeed, can wield it, that means..."
As Old Loki finished speaking, all other voices seemed to disappear for Loki, replaced by a thunderous "rumble" that echoed in his ears, as if he was in the midst of a storm.
When he focused his attention on the hammer, he sensed something subtle in this force, beyond its wild power and unstoppable momentum.
It reminded him of the twilight reflected in the armor amid the clash of weapons and endless shouting on the battlefield. It also reminded him of the homesickness contained in the bagpipe melody between the galloping of horses and the gunfire.
Loki turned his gaze to the horizon of the void. There was only a layer of gray fog, but it felt as though he was standing on the great bridge of the Fairy Palace once again.
When Loki closed his eyes, he saw Odin and Thor receding at the end of the bridge.
When he opened his eyes again, he did not look after them but instead turned his gaze to the sky above Asgard.
The sunset on that day was as beautiful as a painting. The Fairy Palace under the setting sun was shimmering with a golden glow, indistinct yet dreamy.
What he did not see does not mean he never possessed it. What he neglected does not mean it never descended upon him. What he did not hear does not mean it was always silent. What he did not discover does not mean it never existed.
Odin, the Father of All Gods, was a sun that forever illuminated Asgard. Every pine in Asgard had been bathed in such a blindingly bright light.
Yet, this sun had a moment when it would nestle on the horizon, casting a gentle dusk on the moss that would never grow into pines.
Loki thought that at this moment, he was witnessing his first sunset. If this was the only thing he ever had, then there should never be another sunset.
In the future, he would ensure that the sun of Asgard would never set and that the days of the gods would remain ever bright.