Lord Shadow

And then he suddenly looks toward his east. He smiles like he sees something.

And then his smile grew wider. Death Monarch is gone from Pandemonium. The World Powers is preoccupied with the matter of the Crime Alliance.

The Eye of Heaven of the Order of Thinker is searching someone else. And the Lotus Palace still had that Sage looking at the world.

It is the perfect opportunity for a secret rendezvous. And then he saw it.

An arrow is heading toward his ship. And that is why he is smiling. Other people could not see the arrow sailing just a few meters above the sea water but he could see it

This arrow did not produce any sound. It is faster than sound itself but it did not produce any sonic boom. 

It was like it is isolated from the Laws of physics. 

There is a Law around the arrow. It did not shine golden. 

It did not emit any form of power or pressure. 

If one who did not have high realm of cultivation, when they look at the arrow, they might mistake it as a shining light from the sun and will not think of it as an arrow.

It is transparent. One would mistake it as sunlight that flashed by their periphery of their vision.

But Loki knows it is an arrow. Loki had many contingencies plan. He wanted to attack from a far. 

For that, he need a bow and an arrow. Since the arrow is coming, the bow would also arrive. The bow is sharp and the bow is fast. And it is also special

And he smiles.

And then the arrow arrived. 

The moment it arrived the ship shakes with great trembling

It pierced through the fog and then swiftly arrived around the ship. The arrow did not encounter any barriers. 

The fog around the deck is split apart because of the pressure of the arrow. The fog then flowed toward the exterior of the ship merging with the thick fog that covers the eyes of people.

Because Loki allowed it to come in. But the arrow did not stop.

And then the arrow keeps heading toward Loki head.

Loki look at it with interest and then as the arrow is about to reach his forehead, it stopped a few inches from his forehead.

The arrow is floating there up in the air. Loki leaned his head to the left and the arrow also lean to his left. 

He laughed. But he is not worried at all. he even seems like he is enjoying himself.

‘Are you going to kill me?’ he asks at the arrow. 

The ravens that perched on the hanger of the top deck caw and all kinds of sounds echoes around the ship. The echoes of the sound could pressure anyone below Disk Formation.

And there is a green mist that slowly spreads toward the arrow. The arrow trembles and then a burst of energy exploded from it

The arrow that is just few inches from Loki head multiply. Loki eyes narrowed.

He waved his hand. But before the meaning of his hand gesture could be realized, the arrow flew.

Like a lightning striking the earth, the arrows flew with killing intent toward the ravens standing on the perch of the deck

The ravens flew upwards toward the sky, black shadow as fast as light reaching towards the clam clouds up there in the sky.

A flash of light flashed by. And then they fall toward the ground. The ravens fall on the bones that made up the ship. And they turned to green dust and it returned back to Loki.

The green aura swirls around Loki feet as he shakes his head. Like the ravens, the arrow that shot them were all gone. 

Only one arrow still remains. The one in front of Loki face. 

Loki sighed and then said

‘I know you would not kill me. Killing my ravens would not anger me. If this is your way of expressing dissatisfaction, you still have a long way to go’

He scoffed and said 

‘Azief would probably not do things like this. Maybe he would send a sword coming down from the sky. Or a thunderbolt to smite me. Or a letter to make me behave. He has his own flair to make even the simplest gesture a deadly threat. This is not your style and you could not imitate him’ he said and then there is only silence inside the ship.

The wind of the sea blows but the fog did not even move. 

Loki just stand there, having a staring match with the arrow like he could see the one who drew this arrow and who shoot it towards him

He is fearless. Because he knows that the arrow would not take even an inch forward. It stays there for a few seconds.

And then the arrow retreated a few meters and then the arrows morphed into a woman. The ship stopped shaking and Loki smile again.

The woman had long hair reaching her shoulders, her eyes is clear hazel and there is a bow on her back but no bag of arrows.

Only a bow, shining and glowing. 

Then the shine went dim and the glow also dissipated. The fog thickened around them but they could still see each other clearly 

In front of Loki right now is none other than Sofia the Divine Archer

‘Loki’ she simply said

‘Soph.’ he said. 

Sofia look around the ship. 

She could see the dense fog and she could feel the mysteriousness of this ship. When one reached her level, they could feel some kind of premonition.

She did not know what kind of ability that this ship possesses but knowing Loki, this ship would not be some weak stuff.

And knowing Loki, this ship probably also has its own secrets.

Loki had to many secrets. That is probably why she is always wary of him when they cooperated with each other

She thinks even Sina, that girlfriend of his would not know all of his secret.

Loki did not say anything as he let her look around.

The ship looks pretty empty. 

Sofia could see the black sails and she could feel the death and despair that is contained in every part of this ship. 

What she is looking is crew. 

But to her surprise there is no semblance of a crew of this ship. It almost seems like the only one inside the ship is Loki. Her eyes narrowed.

‘A ghost ship’ she said.

‘A ship of bones’ Loki reply. She shakes her head

and this time nodding to herself

‘A ghost ship’ and smiling bitterly Loki then said

‘Well, it is not wrong to say it like that. It does have all the characteristic of a ghost ship’

Sofia shakes her head

‘That is not what I mean’

Smiling, she laughed and then she stomps her foot. The sound and the impact shakes the ship

A sharp energy went all over the ship. Loki sighed. Apparition of ghost jump out from the planks made of bones and started flying around. 

Some of them fly toward the fog and floats there, their figure could hardly be distinguished from the ever flowing fog that surrounded the ship. 

Each of the ghost that came out have terrifying appearance. 

There is hole on their body, the sign of their body being pierced by something. Loki sighed because he knows Sofia did that.

She looks at the other side and then she waved her hand. Light spill out from her finger. It is small but it is her light arrow. It looks so small but it is an arrow.

the door of the captain cabin was opened by a powerful force, the hinges almost exploded.

That alone shock Sofia a bit. 

The kind of power that she employed is enough to kill anyone below Disk Formation but even though she attacks the door, the door did not explode. Instead it only was force open. 

Loki sighed again and then coming out of the captain cabin is skeleton soldiers. The look around at their left and right. It was almost like they were awakened from a long sleep

‘I guess the jig is up’ Loki said and then he pointed his finger to the skeletons and shouted

‘What are you looking around for? Get back to work’

The skeleton soldiers like it was being activated slowly went to their job. 

One of them pick up floor brushes and then begin to scrub the deck. Some went to the other deck and begin practicing their battle technique.

Some went to the deck and look toward the sea. Others go down and begin making food

It was almost like these skeleton soldiers did not know that they are skeletons and that they have died.

Sofia could sense the grievances of these skeletons and the hatred that is enveloping this ship.

She then looks back at Loki. 

‘What? I just don’t want you to know some of my cards’ he said. 

Sofia did not believe his word one bit. This could not be called a huge secret. 

This is only a few things that she could uncover. There are probably many things that she didn’t manage to notice or uncover.

Maybe, like other things, this is also a trick

She sighed

Loki had always been more mysterious than Azief. She thought to herself. 

Azief at least shares thing with her. Even though he does not share everything with her, she at least knows a lot about Azief. 

To the world, Death Monarch is mysterious. To her, he is not. But Loki is

She never knew that he had a ghost ship. From what she knows there is a few pirate king in the seas that have ghost ship that enables them to rule the seas

But this kind of ghost ship that Loki possess is something no one knew. 

If not for the fact that she is now cooperating with Loki, she probably would not know that Loki had such an artifact on him

‘Enough probing?’ Loki ask

‘If I really probe you, I don’t think even a year would be enough. Even then, I would still think you have a lot more secrets under your sleeve’

‘You flatter me.’ Loki said giggling. 

‘Why are we here? This is close to Island of Peace’ she asked. 

She went straight to the point., She did not have time to delay. Loki had told him, that Azief would do something.

When she asked Loki what that something is, he just said, that the outcome and the result would not be good for Azief.

But she could help. She was never one to trust Loki. But it is clear from Azief attitude that he had something to do. Loki had foreseen this. 

He had told her once that when Azief return, he would be a little weird. He told her that she could judge for herself.

And she did. 

Azief was there with her for a few days. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with him 

But every once in a while, Azief mind seems to wander somewhere. And sometimes when he would look at her, and there is an expression that she could not understand would flash on his face.

So, she contacted Loki and agree to help him

And today, he left from Pandemonium with Will. She could solve the puzzle with so many pieces for her to draw her conclusion. 

The fact that he asked Will could mean many things. But when coupled with a few other facts, there is one conclusion that she had reached.

Azief saw something. 

There was Time Disturbance when he returned. 

And while she did not know much about time disturbance, it did not mean she is completely without knowledge. 

The day that Time Disturbance happened, Loki had told her certain things. And she sent a letter to the Republic, toward that Time Room on the back of the Senate to confirm Loki words

And so she got the fact and she had her speculations.

And her speculation was that Azief saw something. 

Time Disturbance did not necessarily mean one is stuck in time. A powerful speed that break barrier between worlds could also create Time Disturbance.

But she had some feelings that she is right. And when Azief took Will with him, that feeling slowly become stronger.

The only question in her mind is how did Loki predict all this. She narrowed her eye again and once again thought, Loki is more mysterious than Azief. 

Loki did not know Sofia thought right now. Instead he said

‘This is where it will happen? ‘

‘What will?’

‘Convergence of the multiverse’ he said smiling as he looked at Sofia face that slowly become pale. And then he laughed.

In the distance, one could see the floating island.

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