Chapter 6: Paranoia

“Fine. Is nobody is going to help, then I’ll do it myself.” the headless man sound like he’s pouting, his tiny voice trembling with nervousness and frustration.

“Is he going to take things serious now? Will he fight back this time?” Odin pondered silently within his mind.

"Gyahahaha! Ye don't even sound sure of yerself! Look at how scared yer body is! Ye look like ye're about to piss yerself!" Magni bellowed mockingly, his laughter ringing out, with Modi joining in the scoffing and merriment.

Suddenly, the headless man began running in such a girlish and fragile manner that the two brothers burst out laughing, unable to take him seriously.

"Argh! This body is kinda hard to move in, but if I don’t hit them first, they’ll hit me, and it will hurt a lot! So I gotta get them before they get me!" the headless man muttered to himself, putting in all his effort to run, as he strategized in his thoughts.

Magni and Modi, still laughing, continued to mock the headless man, while Odin, observing keenly, noticed something peculiar.

"Is he getting faster?" Odin murmured to himself, uncertain.

As the headless creature continued to run, his posture shifted from something girlish to that of an Olympic athlete, and he began to pick up speed.

"BOYS! TAKE IT SERIOUSLY! HE'S COMING AFTER YOU!" Odin shouted in shock, his voice echoing with urgency.

"Huh? What're ye talking about?" Modi questioned.

"Ha! He won't reach us by the end of the day with the way he's running," Magni scoffed mockingly.

"Stop laughing at me!"

The headless man let out a mighty roar as he took another stride, his foot crashing into the ground. Suddenly, with a surge of power, he blitzed forward at uncontrollable speed, appearing right in front of the two brothers in an instant, shocking everyone, including himself.

“Wha in the name-”

“Impossible!”

"Wha-what?!" the headless man screamed in fear and confusion, his voice trembling with disbelief.

"What terrifying speed! But he doesn't know how to control it, lacking familiarity with the body," Odin mused intrigued in his thoughts.

"Seize this moment, headless one! Strike now while they're vulnerable!" Odin yelled.

"Huh? Opportunity? But what do I do next? Punch their face? Or their stomach? Perhaps a kick? Ugh, I don't know! I was so focused on reaching them that I didn't consider my next move," the headless creature panicked, overwhelmed by overthinking flooding his mind.

"Hurry up!" Odin shouted, but it was too late as Magni and Modi regained their bearings, ready to retaliate, much to the headless man's surprise.

"You think you can disgrace us! Ha! At least you didn't make me flinch like my younger brother!" Magni exclaimed, irritated.

"What?! I didn't flinch! 'Twas you who did!" Modi responded angrily.

Magni and Modi were about to attack the headless man with their weapons when suddenly, he shrieked and flinched, turning his back towards them, infuriating Odin.

"What?! Never turn yer back on an adversary!" Odin yelled.

"But it's gonna hurt!" the headless man screamed back.

"You imbecile! You fell for their feint!" Odin chastised, as the headless man slowly turned to look in front, seeing no one there.

"Huh? Can they also turn invisible too?" the headless man exclaimed with astonishment.

"You imbecile! They're above and below you!" Odin shouted, notifying the headless man. Then, Odin thought to himself, "Why am I even aiding this being? I desired to assay his prowess, yet his pitiable condition is vexatious to witness alone."

"Huh?! How did they get above and below me so quickly!" the headless creature panicked as he noticed them himself, with Magni in mid-air above him about to strike him with a knee, and Modi below him about to leg sweep him from the ground.

"Why are ye betraying us, grandfather? Whose side art thou on, ours or his?" Modi expressed his irritation.

"It matters not! He shall not have the time to evade this regardless!" Magni declared.

"No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! Your attacks hurt too much! I refuse to be hit! It's scary and painful!" the headless man whined and complained as the two brothers were about to land their attacks. Suddenly, the headless man began spinning around wildly, dishing out random punches and kicks. Magni held a mischievous punch towards his groin, causing him to scream out in anguish, while Modi ate a ferocious kick to his stomach, making him spit out saliva and sending both brothers flying back.

"His reactions are too swift?" Magni muttered to himself.

"That was too rapid! Was he withholding his strength before?" Modi grunted to himself.

"Aye, his reaction speed is swift, owing to the body, but 'twasn't instinct or skill, 'twas pure paranoia," Odin uttered. As he spoke, the headless creature continued to punch and kick wildly at the air, unaware that Magni and Modi were nowhere close to him.

Suddenly, a realization struck Odin, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Hey! You there! Headless man! Don't tell me yer eyes are closed?!" Odin exclaimed.

"O-of course! They're too scary to look at, and anytime I see them about to attack me, it's just too frightening!" the headless man replied, his voice quivering, while still punching and kicking at the air.

"I didn't even realize, since he has no head, but does that mean that anytime he attacks or gets attacked, he closes his eyes out of fear? No wonder he wasn't able to control that speed earlier, or why he keeps flinching. He doesn't know where the attacks are going to aim against him, so he just takes a guess and cowers, hoping it won't hit somewhere where it'll hurt," Odin said to himself as he deduced.

"Haven't you noticed that you hit both of them clean just seconds ago! You can stop punching and kicking the air like an idiot and start pursuing them while they're dazed!" Odin instructed, his tone annoyed.

“Nu-uh!” the headless man rejected Odin adamantly.

“Huh?” Odin was caught off guard by his response.

"What's the point? If I just stay here and keep punching and kicking the air around me, they can't even get close or lay a hand on me! They can't hurt me! I'll be safe!" the headless man exclaimed.

"But then you'll just be wasting your stamina!" Odin argued back. "Argh! In all my years, I've never been in such a dispute because everyone would just heed my commands. But this creature incessantly disobeys and challenges me! Me, a deity! Would a true deity tolerate this?" Odin fumed in his thoughts as irritation welled up within him.

Magni and Modi, recovering from being struck by the headless man, exchanged looks.

"I'm growing sick and tired of this! You think flailing at the air like a madman will stop us?" Magni seethed with rage.

Modi swung his mace toward the ground, unleashing a tremendous shockwave that reverberated through the earth, causing the multicolored sea to churn with massive tidal waves reaching toward the skies. The ground trembled violently as rubble, sand, and the surrounding environment were thrown into chaos. Even the black horse, which had come to aid the headless creature, briefly stirred from its slumber before nonchalantly returning to sleep. Caught in the midst of this upheaval, the headless man's frantic punching and kicking were interrupted as he wobbled and struggled to maintain his balance amidst the constant shaking of the ground.

"Huuuuuh! What's going on? Why is the ground shaking?" The headless man, oblivious to the cause of the disturbance, was thoroughly confused

"Now's your chance! Use Zerschlagen!" Modi ordered Magni.

"Shut yer mouth! I don't take orders from you! Especially from someone who's naught but a younger brother to me," Magni retorted in a foul tone.

As Magni started to charge up a ball of thunder in his palm, the headless creature, noticing this, recalled the intense pain he had endured earlier when both brothers had used Zerschlagen on him. Fearful of experiencing that agony once more, he rushed toward them at top speed.

"No! No! No! No! No! No! I'm not letting you use that painful attack on me again! It hurt like hell!" the headless man screamed in fear as he ran toward them. However, just as Magni was about to execute the move, his sword poised to slam into the ball of thunder, the headless man kicked the ball of thunder away just in the nick of time.

"You had only one task! ONE TASK! AND YOU BOTCHED IT!" Modi screamed in annoyance.

"How dare a younger brother speak to me in such a tone! Do you wish to meet your end?!" Magni responded indignantly.

As the brothers were on the verge of confrontation, the ball of thunder hurtled towards the direction of the horse, unaware of the impending destructive energy heading its way. The headless man, noticing this, screamed in utmost concern for the creature. "HEY! MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, HORSEY!"

But it was too late for the horse to heed the warning. The ball of thunder engulfed it, unleashing a massive explosion. In an instant, the headless man rushed to its aid as the dust clouds began to clear. The horse was covered in soot, smoke billowing from its injured form.

Skidding to his knees beside the horse, the headless man began pleading and expressing his hopes for its well-being. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I didn’t mean to kick you! It’s my fault! Oh my gosh! Are you okay?! Of course, you're not okay! Look at you! Please wake up!"

As the headless man poured out his desperate concerns for the horse, one of its eyes slowly opened, noticing the headless man by its side. Unable to move, it watched as the headless man genuinely cared for it. Suddenly, the horse's eyes widened in shock as tears began to stream down its face. It appeared confused by this emotional reaction, as if the tears weren't its own.

"I’m so sorry. This is my fault. I shouldn’t have selfishly called out for help, which you came to offer, and I was extremely grateful for that. But even after that, I got angry at you because you stopped helping me. But that's my selfishness! This isn't your fault. You've done nothing wrong. I shouldn't have involved you, and it's because of me that you're hurt. Honestly, I didn't mean to hurt you. I promise you, I didn't kick their attack at you intentionally. It was a mistake. Please don't think I did it out of spite," the headless man's voice was filled with sadness, his tone cracking in pain, while tears continued to pour from the horse's eyes.

"From the looks of things, those tears don’t belong to the horse but to that headless creature, meaning he’s slowly gaining one of the body’s abilities which is a good sign, and indicates this test battle wasn’t a total failure. We should end things here since I’ve gotten what I needed to know, but my foolish grandsons won’t be satisfied, especially since they feel humiliated," Odin mused in his thoughts.

"You done with your wussy talk with that stupid horse! We've prepared a feast for you, which you can share with the horse too!" Modi yelled, his voice filled with aggression.

"There’s no way you can handle that many Zerschlagen’s! Hahaha! For as long as we've known you, we know you'll simply run away!" Magni said, laughing hysterically.

But in the next moment, shock swept over Magni, Modi, and even Odin. The headless man didn’t budge. In fact, he opened his arms wide as if embracing a hug, standing in front of the horse, protecting and shielding it.

"What?! Before, you wouldn’t even hesitate to run and cower, but now you decide to stay and face it head-on like a man?! All for that stupid horse!" Modi screamed in disbelief.

"Hey! Move out of the way! Your body may be incredibly strong, but enduring that many Zerschlagen’s will be painful!" Odin shouted, his voice echoing with concern, both aloud and in his thoughts. "Damn it! I need that body to be in almost peak condition. Those many attacks will definitely severely damage it! I would’ve intervened by now, but I’ve used all my powers earlier and I’m still recovering, since I’m still stuck in this form," Odin lamented in his thoughts, his frustration evident.

The black horse was astonished to see a man who resembled his master but wasn't his master, shielding him when he didn’t have to. The headless man then turned to him. "Don’t worry, buddy. I deserve this, and only you will be allowed to laugh at me after the state I’m in after taking this attack."

As he spoke to the black horse, the headless man's legs began to tremble, and urine began pouring down his legs.

"What's wrong with that soul?! He's so scared that he's pissed himself, but he still insists on taking all those attacks head-on?! This is illogical! What sort of soul did I bring into this world?! Just run away if you're scared like you normally do! I need that body to be safe! Or all my plans will be for naught!" Odin stressed to himself.

As the army of Zerschlagen attacks was about to strike the headless man, to everyone's surprise, the black horse leaped in front of him at the last minute.