Fight against Loki

Tania lay frozen in the enormous ice stalagmite that Loki had created to trap her. Her movement was frozen in time, still displaying the fierce gaze with which she was about to attack the evil Norse god.

Rodrigo and Epona attempted to attack the deity, but he vanished before their eyes. Suddenly, they realized they were trapped in a web-like net. The more they struggled to escape, the more damage the net's threads inflicted upon them.

—Three down— Loki said as he approached Ana and Atenea.

—Ana, I believe you can defeat him— Atenea said while remaining seated on the ground.

—Tania let her guard down, and as a Sol meant for battle, ice is partially her weakness— Atenea concluded.

Ana looked at Rodrigo and Epona entangled in the net, and then at the frozen Tania, and grimaced in displeasure.

—Only a dog without dignity licks the hand of the owner who plans to sacrifice it— Ana shouted angrily at Loki, who was slowly walking towards her.

The god of deceit drew a magical circle in the air bearing the rune 'ᛚ', and he inserted his left hand into the orb as if it were a portal. When he withdrew it, he held a staff made of mistletoe, adorned with green leaves and pointed at the end, resembling an inverted spear.

—This staff killed the god Balder; it is a weapon specifically crafted to slay gods— Loki said, displaying his weapon to Ana.

—Even with your immense power, you will never defeat me as long as I possess this staff— he continued to taunt.

Ana then gripped her legendary sword, Dyrnwyn, with both hands, preparing to fight against the Norse god. She let out a battle cry and lunged at him, aiming to strike his neck. However, just as she was about to hit him, Loki's body vanished.

A net quickly ensnared the goddess, but instead of struggling, she uttered, —Taibhse banríon— And her body transformed into a massive flock of ravens that broke free from the net and scattered.

The ravens flew in search of Loki, and one of them spotted a tiny fly buzzing around. It swooped down and caught the fly in its beak. The fly transformed back into Loki, and all the ravens descended upon him to attack. However, with his staff, the god managed to fend off the dark birds.

The ravens reunited and reshaped themselves into the form of the war goddess once again.

—So, you use your transformations to fight and flee like a coward, huh?— Ana said, summoning her sword once more.

—I have no need to fight you in close combat; it's not my style— Loki said, brandishing his staff menacingly. Before the goddess's eyes, the god disappeared once again.

—That trick won't work on me again— Ana said, turning the feathers of her black wings into hundreds of sharp blades.

Ana threw them in all directions, trying to avoid hitting Rodrigo and Epona. But to her surprise, none of them struck Loki.

—Tch, I missed— Ana said when suddenly she saw Loki teleport right in front of her and impale her abdomen with his staff.

Ana attempted to decapitate Loki with her sword, but he vanished once more before her eyes.

Ana clutched her abdomen in pain while trying to locate the dark god.

—It's pointless, Morrigan— Loki's voice echoed. —You will never be able to find me—

—I have to concentrate to pinpoint the source of his voice— the dark-haired goddess thought.

Loki reappeared, this time behind Ana, and once again impaled her with his staff, this time in her left shoulder. Ana screamed in pain.

—Ha ha ha, you can do nothing, queen of ravens— Loki continued to laugh as he vanished once more.

—I must focus; his voice is coming from the east— Ana kept thinking.

But the situation repeated itself. Loki appeared and struck the goddess's right leg. He disappeared again, only to reappear and stab her chest once more.

—To the east, precisely 93.8° from me, at a distance of 58.3 meters— the goddess thought, creating a knife with her dark power and hurling it with incredible speed.

The knife struck the air, revealing Loki's hiding spot. The dagger had severed the neck of the Norse god.

—You cannot hide from me, Loki. Even if you hide thousands of light-years away, I will find you— the goddess shouted.

But then, Loki smiled and vanished before the goddess's eyes, and the knife fell to the ground as if it had never hit anything. When Ana looked at the tip of the knife, she realized it had impaled a small stone.

—I can swap my body with anything I see in this place— the god said. —And if necessary, I can turn into a bacteria or a microbe to avoid your attacks— Loki added, appearing behind Ana again and impaling her from behind with his staff, piercing through her back into her chest.

Ana then attempted to attack the god with her wings transformed into knives, but Loki had already vanished by the time she launched the attack.

—Curse it, that attack did hurt— Ana thought as she fell to the ground in pain. Loki once again laughed invisibly.

Her ichor began to heal the goddess's wound, and she closed her eyes, focusing once more.

—Will you try to attack me again, Morrigan? It's futile!— the Norse god said, amused.

But just as Loki teleported behind the goddess, she surprised him with a sword strike that severed his right arm.

—Impossible!— Loki shouted as he teleported out of Ana's sight.

The Irish goddess closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. This time, Loki attempted to impale her from the air, appearing directly above her, but the goddess anticipated his move and thrust her sword into his chest.

—Grrrr, this can't be happening!— Loki growled as he teleported once again out of Ana's view.

—When you teleport, you emit a subtle spiritual sound, and it takes a millionth of a nanosecond for you to reappear near me. I can predict where you'll appear thanks to that— Ana said as she closed her eyes and focused once more.

Loki teleported again in front of Ana, and she attacked him with her sword. But to her surprise, it was only an illusion. Ana felt Loki behind her and struck towards her back, but it turned out to be another illusion caused by the god of lies.

Then, the Norse god appeared in front of her, quite far away, and said, —Hrímþursar kaesia—.

The confrontation between Ana and Loki reached a critical point. A spear of ice pierced Ana's chest, causing intense pain and making her fall to her knees. Furious, she launched a flying attack at Loki, but it collided with an illusion and dissipated.

Loki's voice resonated once again in the air. —My illusions are perfect. They can generate sound and false divine energy to deceive my adversaries— said the Norse god. —I congratulate you on being able to predict my teleportations, but you will never defeat these illusions, Morrigan— continued the god of lies.

—My ichor is depleting once again— Ana thought as she saw the ice spear continuing to pierce her body without healing. Violently, she tore the spear from her chest, only to be horrified by the sight of hundreds of Lokis surrounding her.

—This technique is called 'Sjonhverfing fjolkyngi'— Loki said. —I can create millions of clones with weight, mass, and even divine energy, all designed to deceive my opponents— the god continued, laughing as if he had already won the battle.

Suddenly, all the Lokis raised their hands toward Ana and shouted in unison, —Hrímþursar kaesia—. Thousands of ice spears were launched at Ana, and she did her best to fend them off with her sword. However, she realized that the spears were all illusions, and without realizing it, she was impaled by another ice spear, this time from the side.

Ana gritted her teeth in pain and began to lose consciousness. The ice spear pierced through her right arm and into her abdomen. Using her left arm, she screamed and ripped the spear out once again.

Loki repeated the same pattern, and Ana was impaled by another ice spear. The Norse god repeated this several times until Ana was impaled by fifteen ice spears. Ana vomited blood, and her eyes lost their shine.

—Ana, damn it, you can't give up!— Athena shouted while the dark-haired goddess succumbed to Loki's attack.

—And with her, it makes four— Loki said. The dark god dispelled his illusions and approached Ana to deliver the final blow with his staff.

—Ana, you have to get up!— Rodrigo shouted, struggling to free himself from the web.

—Damn it, Ana, you're not that weak!— Epona yelled angrily.

But Ana heard those voices from afar. —I can't feel anything anymore— the goddess thought as she lost more and more consciousness.

Then, she began to see a vision where two girls very similar to her were by her side. One had red hair, and the other had blond hair, but both had beautiful blue eyes like Ana's. They were playing and laughing in a beautiful meadow that resembled the mountainous terrain of Ireland.

Suddenly, there was fire, and the screams of the two girls echoed. In the shadows stood a tall man with a cloak and a gigantic staff. —Badb, Macha! Don't go!— Ana shouted in her dream. —Don't leave me alone!—

At that moment, her mind went blank, and she stopped thinking.

—I am finally dead. Goodbye, sisters; goodbye, Tania; goodbye, Epona; and goodbye, Rui... please forgive me— she thought, just before losing consciousness completely.

Suddenly, Ana began to feel a warm energy in her body, though she didn't recognize it, it felt very familiar. In that moment, she started to remember the people Rodrigo and Tania helped in Coimbra, the women they rescued near Toulouse, the people they aided in Horsens. Somehow, Ana felt those people close to her, it was like faith, but different. It was a comforting sensation that made her feel alive once again.

In a reflexive action, the black-haired goddess opened her eyes furiously and destroyed the ice spears. She was covered in blood, but remained standing on pure adrenaline.

—I won't die yet! Do you hear me? A cheating scum like you can't defeat me!— Ana shouted furiously at Loki.

The Irish goddess created two swords in her hands, weapons formed from her own black feathers. She held both swords.

—These swords are Caladcholg and Fragarach, Irish magical swords that grant me increased speed— the goddess said, raising one of the swords towards Loki.

The god of lies laughed and created his illusions once again. The hundreds of Loki's recreated the ice spears, all shouting in unison: —Hrímþursar kaesia!—

The spears flew towards Ana, who allowed the attacks to hit her, but as they were false, they all disappeared. Then, suddenly, an ice spear pierced her neck, causing her to vomit blood.

But at that moment, Ana vanished, and almost immediately reappeared in front of the real Loki, striking him with both her swords. Ana, bouncing off the dimensional wall, attempted to strike the Norse god again, but he transformed into an illusion once more.

The goddess, who had already learned Loki's trick, lunged towards where she predicted he would appear and struck him again. Loki then used his cape to protect himself, shouting: —Jarn skikkja!—.

Causing it to turn into adamantite, the most resistant metal in Asgard, repelling the goddess's attack.

Ana, still with the ice spear in her neck, tore it out, causing a massive flow of blood. She was losing focus, but remained furious and tried to attack once more. Loki used his cape again to shield himself, while the goddess attempted to break his defense. Ana dispelled her twin swords and summoned her previous sword, Dyrnwyn, and with it, she struck Loki and sent him crashing to the ground with tremendous force.

Immediately, Ana transformed Dyrnwyn back into her twin swords, Caladcholg and Fragarach, and standing over the fallen Loki, she shouted from the sky: —Beanna an bháis!—.

The goddess then made a cutting motion through the air with her two swords, directed towards Loki.

Two violet rays covered in dark feathers descended at tremendous speed towards the Norse god, who attempted to defend himself with his cape. But before he could turn it into adamantite with his magical power, the rays pierced through his cape and impaled him, one in his chest and another in his abdomen. Loki vomited blood.

Ana immediately descended towards Loki and pierced him with her two swords. The goddess began to strike him repeatedly while shouting furiously, and Loki could only writhe in pain.

At that moment, Athena stopped her by holding her left arm. —Ana, enough!— the Greek goddess shouted imperatively.

The Irish goddess dispelled her swords, fell to her knees on the ground, and wore a look of frustration. —I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I got carried away again, teacher. I'm sorry— Ana said, covering her face filled with remorse.

Loki attempted to crawl away, trying to escape the scene in great pain, but at that moment, a foot pressed down on his arm. It was Tania, who had managed to escape from the ice.

—You're not going anywhere, you wretch— Tania said, exerting pressure on the arm of the dark Norse god. Loki, at that moment, could only await the worst.