Chapter 28: Barbarian Dinner

The balance among the gods does not shatter with screams or wars. It breaks in silence, when trust begins to crack, when a single glance carries more accusation than a thousand words, when a whisper alone is enough to tear peace apart.

The tables of the gods, once symbols of unity and celebration, are now fields of tension, where every gesture can become the spark of disaster. The wine tastes like blood, the bread breaks like treaties, and the banquet does not nourish—it only exposes.

There is no place more dangerous than the one where all who hate each other sit together… pretending they can still coexist.

For when the past burns beneath the skin, and secrets seep like poison through the cracks, no god is safe.
The true Ragnarök does not begin with the clash of swords… but with a dinner.

The hall was full. Dozens of deities sat at a banquet that celebrated nothing. No one spoke. No one smiled. Only the wet sound of Loki eating broke the stillness, like a blade tearing into flesh.

Tyr did not avert his gaze.
“What is that damned Jötun doing here?” he muttered with disdain.
“It seems the All-Father invited him personally,” Hemord replied, without lifting his eyes from the center of the table.
“Why?”
“Who knows. But if it was him, we have no right to question it…”

A sharp strike of a spear echoed throughout the hall. Odin, from the high throne, struck the ground three times. The echo silenced even the knives.

“I regret summoning you so abruptly,” he said firmly, “but chaos spreads through every corner. The death of our beloved Balder has destabilized the nine realms. Midgard faces temperatures of twenty degrees below zero… crops are lost, animals die. Humanity teeters on collapse… and we are no better off.”

A dense silence covered the hall.

“Furthermore,” he continued, “two key figures in Midgard have fallen, attacked by wolves calling themselves the sons of Fenrir.”

Tyr rose in fury.
“That is impossible! I chained that cursed wolf myself!”
“I know,” Odin replied. “And his prison remains intact. If he were free, he would already be here… and I do not doubt he would devour us one by one.”

Loki let out a soft laugh, like one who knows too much.
“And you’re surprised? After what you did to him, did you really expect forgiveness?”

Tyr turned, trembling with rage.
“Shut your mouth, cursed Jötun! Your son tore my arm off!”
“And that was little. He should have killed you.”
“What did you say?!”
“Silence!” Odin thundered.

The weight of his voice stilled even the trembling plates. Tyr, biting his lip, returned to his seat.

“Like it or not,” Odin pressed on, “we must cooperate. The gods and the realms are in peril. The time for hatred must end.”

Loki narrowed his eyes.
“You say that after everything you’ve done, old man?”
Odin looked at him, expressionless.
“What do you mean?”
“Come on,” Loki smiled. “Why don’t you tell them what you did to the light elves?”

A murmur slithered through the hall.

“Stop hiding it. All of this, all this chaos, is because of your damn obsession with power, with knowledge. You never cared for your children, not even Balder. You only wanted to stay on top. You knew that if Balder died, Ragnarök would come. And you fear it… because you know that day you will die… and it will be at the hands of my son.”

“Beloved…?” Frigg whispered, uncomprehending.
“Yes, Odin,” Loki went on. “Don’t hide behind your mask of a good father. Show them what you really are.”

A laugh burst forth. Sharp. Insane. Odin laughed… with eyes wide, as if he no longer had a soul.
“Are you truly deranged…?”
“Come now, Loki,” said the old god calmly. “Sit down and keep your lies, will you?”

A sinister smile spread across his face. Loki, on the other hand, swallowed hard.
“You’re more dangerous than I thought… you damned relic.”
“I see,” Odin murmured. “So you already anticipated all this.”

A hum began to rise in the air. One that froze the blood. From the throne’s center, a massive wave of Zenka energy expanded… and engulfed all the gods. All… except Loki.

“So you planned to make them forget my words…”
Odin nodded.
“Very perceptive, god of lies.”
“And that thing fifty years ago… that was your doing too, wasn’t it?”

Odin’s eyes glowed like burning coals.
“So… you are one of them.”
Loki nodded slowly.
“That’s right.”

And then it happened. A dark presence, dense as the void, began to fill the place. An energy that did not belong to any god… and that made the table, the banquet, the very world itself seem small.

The dinner had barely begun.
And war… had already been served on the plates.

“Is this your true form…?” Loki whispered, never taking his eyes off the old man.

Before him, Odin did not answer at once. A thick blackness began to crawl over his body, covering half his face as if the shadow itself were claiming him. A single eye, blood-red, remained visible within the darkness. It burned—like the very universe concentrated in that gaze.

“No,” he finally said. “This is only a small part of it.”

Odin’s voice sounded hollow, as if it rose not from his mouth but from everywhere at once.
“I appreciate that you came, Loki. Hunting you down would have been a nuisance… The only good thing you ever learned to do is slip away. I must admit that.”

Loki grinned brazenly.
“Thanks for the compliment, old relic… But I can’t say the same about your dear child.”

Odin narrowed his red eye.
“What did you say?”

“I’m sorry to break it to you,” Loki answered with a crooked smile, “but I was the one who killed him.”

The hall shook.

Odin ground his teeth.
“Damn… you bastard…”

“I removed your queen from the board,” Loki continued, unfazed. “Now only the king remains. Checkmate, old man.”

Odin did not move. He said nothing for a few seconds, then nodded with a mocking twist to his mouth.
“Not bad… for a Jötun. I think the King will be very pleased to have you.”

“That would be no fun,” Loki laughed. “So I took the trouble to improve the game a little.”

“What have you done…?” Odin asked through clenched teeth.

“Doesn’t it strike you as odd? No one has come after the murders of your faithful soldiers. Not one. I regret to inform you that you are not the only one who can anticipate moves.”

The walls vibrated. The lights dimmed.

Yggdrasil appeared, the great tree, shrouded by a dark, pulsing dome that spread like a venomous web, sealing the paths between the worlds.

Odin rose from his seat.
“Accursed…”

Loki spread his arms like a master of ceremonies.
“Welcome to my game, old man.”

At that moment, an assassin’s aura burst forth like a storm—an anger contained for centuries.
“What did you say…?” The voice did not tremble, but the world did.

Thor.

Sparks already crackled in his eyes.
“Was it you… who ended Balder?”

Loki slowly turned his face toward him…and smiled.
“Yes. I did.”

Then every god rose at once, driven by a single emotion: horror.

The dinner became war.

“Cursed bastard!” Frigg screamed, her face wet with fury and tears.

Thor no longer heard anything. He only saw red. Electricity burst around him like a living storm. His aura went wild, tearing the air with every step, every glance, every breath.

“You must admit it,” Loki said with a crooked smile. “You handle your powers well… old man.”

“I will kill you!” Thor roared, charging like lightning.

Loki barely had time to stand before Thor’s invisible hammer hurled him to the floor. Thunder roared with every blow—one, two, five, ten strikes. Loki’s blood speckled the white marble.

“Die!” Thor bellowed.

“Stop!” Odin ordered.

But Thor did not. His rage was an overflowing sea.
“Father, do not ask me to stop!”
“I told you to stop!”

The thunder ceased. Only broken breaths remained. The crack of Thor’s knuckles echoed.
“He killed Balder… I must kill him with my own hands!”

Odin lowered his gaze.
“Death would be a mercy in his case,” he murmured.

“You are right, old one,” Loki interrupted, smiling bloodily. “Isn’t that so, god of thunder?”

Without thinking, Thor raised his arm once more, ready to deliver the final blow.

But a spear blocked his fist—Odin’s spear.
“Enough.”
“Damn it!” Thor roared, striking the floor so hard that part of the hall cracked.

Odin looked at him with chilling calm.
“We will make him pay his penance… for eternity.”

Loki began to laugh—not like a man, but like a shattered thing, surrendered to delirium.

Thor fell to his knees. Empty. Broken. Tears ran down his cheeks, yet his face showed nothing.

Tyr approached him.
“Thor…”

Tears fell directly onto Loki’s bloodied face.
“Yes… yes…” Loki whispered, a mad whisper. “That’s what I want. Give me more… shed more tears, god of thunder…”

The gods present turned their eyes away, disgusted by his perversity.

Odin hauled him up by the throat, without mercy.
“You will wish you had never existed, cursed Jötun.”
“Already so affectionate, old man?” Loki laughed, spitting blood.

“Tyr. Prepare what I asked.”
“Yes…” the god replied, his face taut.

A new setting. A remote cave, lost among shadows and silence.

“Hot springs? How considerate of you, dear Odin,” Loki murmured as he saw the warm mist rising from the stone.

But then… he saw it.

A colossal serpent, chained, slept atop a rock. From its mouth fell a drop of venom… that ate through the stone like acid.

“Oh… impressive.”

And then he saw everything.

Blood. Remains. Human entrails on the floor.

“Narfi…”

Odin approached with a sombre expression.

“Well, it seems you still recognize your little son.”

“Damn them! What did they do?” Loki shouted, breaking from within.

Tyr could not bear it and vomited to the side, shaken by the horror.

Loki, however, began to laugh. Not from joy. From madness.

Odin looked at him with disdain.

“You have completely lost your mind…”

He dragged him to a rock and chained him with brutality.

“This will be your resting place for the rest of your life, Loki.”

A drop of venom fell on his brow.

Loki screamed. As if his soul were splitting in two.

Odin slowly gathered the human remains.

“Isn’t it ironic…? You took one of my sons, and I… will take all of yours. One by one.”

With each piece, Odin tightened Loki’s bonds.

“That way, whenever they die, they will be with you. Your pretty family… always with you.”

Loki said nothing. Only stared, hollow-eyed.

Until he muttered:

“I will kill them…”

“Huh?” Odin asked, tilting his head.

Loki raised his voice.

“I will kill them. Each and every one of you. One by one will pay. I will not fall until all are dead. I will kill them. All will suffer my wrath. I will kill them…”

Another drop fell on his skin… and a wrenching scream split the silence of the nine worlds.