The Domain of Yellow was louder than Violet's.
The air itself felt more unstable here, as if the whole place had been built one careless gesture away from exploding. Gold and amber light reflected off polished stone. The halls were broad, decorated richly, but there was a dangerous edge to all of it. A place that looked luxurious from a distance and reckless up close.
Loki walked through it with his hands in his pockets.
No urgency.
No hesitation.
Just enough caution to remind himself that this was not Violet's territory.
This was Juane's.
And if Violet carried herself like a dangerous aristocrat, then Juane was the type to laugh while setting the furniture on fire. Canonically, Primordial Yellow, later known as Carrera had a habit of casually unleashing nuclear magic and was remembered as a menace for it.
A pair of lesser attendants noticed him first.
Then froze.
Then stepped aside so fast it almost looked rehearsed.
Loki smirked.
At least Yellow's people had some sense.
The doors at the end of the hall were already open.
Which meant she had sensed him coming.
Of course she had.
Loki stepped into the chamber beyond and immediately found her.
Juane was seated on the edge of a raised platform, one leg crossed over the other, chin resting against one hand. Yellow hair spilled over her shoulders, her smile bright and sharp and entirely too pleased by the fact that an uninvited guest had walked into her domain.
"Well," she said. "If it isn't little Bordeaux."
Loki sighed.
"Why does everyone insist on that name first?"
Juane laughed.
She hopped down from the platform and landed lightly, eyes running over him from head to toe.
Then her grin deepened.
"Oh."
"You've changed."
Loki spread one arm slightly, letting the mantle shift over his shoulder.
"I evolved."
"I can see that."
Juane circled him once, unconcerned with personal space or basic caution.
"A Demon Lord now."
Her voice carried obvious amusement.
"And dressed like one too."
"I'm choosing to take that as praise."
"It wasn't."
Loki smiled anyway.
That didn't stop him.
He looked around the chamber once.
Then back at her.
"I'm here to recruit you."
Juane stopped walking.
Then burst into laughter.
Open, delighted laughter.
"You?"
She pointed at herself.
"Recruit me?"
Loki nodded.
"Yes."
Juane wiped one eye dramatically.
"That's adorable."
He waited.
Juane's laughter faded into a grin.
Then she tilted her head.
"And what exactly do I get out of this brilliant offer?"
"A name."
That got her attention immediately.
"A body."
That held it.
Loki's expression stayed calm.
"And a chance to do something more interesting than rot down here until the end of time."
Juane folded her arms.
The smile remained.
But her eyes sharpened.
"You really are serious."
"Yes."
She looked at him for another second.
Then nodded once.
"Fine."
Her aura flared.
"If I win, you become mine."
Loki smiled.
"If you win."
That was enough.
Juane vanished.
The chamber exploded in gold-white light as she reappeared directly in front of him, magic already blooming around her in unstable spheres.
Loki moved Inside her range.
Juane's grin twitched.
Then she fired.
The blast of nuclear magic erupted point-blank, devouring the space between them in a miniature sun. The chamber vanished into white-gold destruction.
The walls shook.
The floor cracked.
The pressure wave alone would have erased weaker beings instantly.
Then Loki stepped out of it.
Walking.
Brute forcing his way through pure annihilation with nothing but physical ability, monstrous durability, and the utter disrespect of someone who had no intention of dignifying the attack with fear.
Juane's eyes widened.
"What?"
Loki reached her.
His fist drove into her stomach.
The impact folded her body around it and launched her clear across the chamber.
She crashed through a pillar, spun, caught herself, then laughed.
"Oh, this is fun!"
More spheres of nuclear magic appeared around her, larger now, hotter, unstable enough that the air warped around them.
She sent all of them at once.
Loki ran straight through them.
Explosions consumed him one after another, each one enough to level a city block. The entire chamber shook under the chained detonations.
Then he came out of the fire again.
Faster this time.
He ducked under her next strike, slammed his shoulder into her center, grabbed her arm, and hurled her across the room.
Juane bounced once, then twisted midair and sent another blast toward him.
Loki cut through the flash of light with sheer speed, caught her by the ankle, and smashed her into the ground.
The floor cratered.
Juane coughed once.
Then rolled away just before his next kick shattered the spot where her head had been.
She rose again.
Still smiling.
But the smile was changing now.
She had expected a fight.
What she had not expected was to get completely dragged through one.
Another barrage of nuclear magic roared toward him.
Loki didn't slow.
He slipped through the gaps, took two blasts on the shoulder, one across the chest, and kept coming until he was close enough to grab her by the face.
Juane tried to fire again.
Loki slammed his forehead into hers.
The magic misfired upward and tore a hole through the ceiling instead.
He kneed her in the ribs.
Spun.
And backhanded her across the chamber so hard she embedded into the far wall.
Silence.
Dust fell.
Juane pulled herself free.
Slowly.
She looked at him.
Then looked around the ruined state of her domain.
Then back at him.
Ans actually considered retreat.
Loki saw it immediately.
His grin widened.
Juane clicked her tongue and moved.
Not toward him.
Away.
Fast enough to blur.
Trying to break the fight.
Trying to null it by leaving.
Loki was already there.
His hand closed over her face from behind before she crossed the threshold.
Then he drove her straight into the floor.
The impact thundered through the hall.
He leaned down slightly, still pinning her there, smile calm and infuriatingly certain.
"Rules are rules right. Welcome aboard."
Juane lay there breathing hard, half buried in cracked stone, and for once—
Had absolutely nothing witty to say.
---
By the time Shizue Izawa reached the outer roads of Coleus, the sun had already begun its descent.
The kingdom looked tense.
Word had spread quickly. A Demon Lord had taken the throne by force. The kingdom had changed hands. Soldiers were gone. Rumors were everywhere.
Shizue kept walking.
Her cloak shifted lightly in the breeze, boots steady on the road.
'So this is where Loki-san is.'
She had heard what people were saying.
That he had overtaken the kingdom by force.
That he had killed the king.
That he had seized the land for himself.
But hearing something and believing it were very different things.
Shizue knew Loki.
At least—
She thought she did.
And the Loki she knew was not a bad person.
Dangerous, yes.
Difficult, definitely.
But not malicious.
Not truly.
She wanted to hear it from him directly.
Nothing else would be enough.
By the time she reached the gates, the guards there had already noticed her.
They were demons.
That was immediately obvious.
For one second, purely on instinct, Shizue's hand moved toward her sword.
Then she stopped herself.
Her fingers eased away.
'Loki-san is a demon too.'
That truth settled uncomfortably in her chest.
And yet—
She still came forward.
One of the gate guards stepped out first.
"What is your business?"
Shizue met his gaze calmly.
"I'm here to see Loki-san."
That changed the atmosphere instantly.
Both guards stiffened.
Then frowned.
"…Loki-sama," one of them corrected sharply.
The other looked openly offended.
"You address our lord too casually."
There was disbelief there too.
And anger.
As if they could not decide which part bothered them more, that she had come asking for him so directly, or that she had used his name like they were familiar.
Shizue dipped her head slightly.
"My apologies."
Before the guards could say more, another voice entered the scene.
"That's enough."
Both demons straightened immediately.
Testarossa stepped forward from the gate passage, white hair catching the evening light, expression smooth and unreadable.
The guards fell back at once.
Testarossa's eyes settled on Shizue.
"Who are you?"
Shizue answered without hesitation.
"My name is Shizue Izawa."
Then, after a brief pause, she added honestly,
"I'm a friend of Loki's."
A small hesitation.
"…Or at least I think I am."
That answer seemed to amuse Testarossa ever so slightly.
"Oh?"
She stepped closer.
"And what brings you here?"
Shizue looked toward the castle beyond the gate.
Then back at Testarossa.
"When Loki became a Demon Lord…"
Her hand rested lightly against her chest.
"…I received something."
Testarossa's expression changed.
Subtly.
But unmistakably.
A gift.
Her own mind moved immediately to the one she had received at Loki's evolution.
Unique Skill: Diplomat.
The memory of it softened her expression in a way almost no one else in the world could have managed.
When she looked back at Shizue, she was visibly friendlier.
"I see."
Her smile became smoother.
Warmer.
"Then you may enter."
Shizue blinked.
That had gone better than expected.
Testarossa stepped aside gracefully and gestured toward the city beyond the gate.
"Come."
---
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