Guy Crimson stared.
That was rare enough on its own.
Not because he lacked emotion.
Because very little in the world still managed to genuinely catch him off guard.
And yet here he was, standing in the middle of a royal hall in Coleus, looking at Loki, Testarossa, Ultima, Carrera, Moss, Cien, Agera, Esprit, and a growing crowd of demons with the exact expression of a man watching centuries of careful balance collapse into farce.
For a few seconds, nobody said anything.
Then Guy pointed.
Slowly.
At Testarossa.
Then Ultima.
Then Carrera.
"What," he asked, "is this?"
Loki leaned back slightly in his seat.
"Oh."
He glanced around the room as if Guy needed help identifying the obvious.
"My subordinates."
Guy looked back at him.
Then at them.
Then back again.
And for the first time in a long while, his usual smile vanished completely.
"…You collected three Primordials."
The room went quiet.
Testarossa smiled faintly.
Ultima looked amused.
Carrera looked like she was trying not to laugh.
Loki, meanwhile, had the nerve to shrug.
"I recruited them."
Guy took one step forward.
"That is not better."
Loki tilted his head.
"It is from my perspective."
Guy dragged a hand down his face.
Then pointed again, this time with more force.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?"
Loki looked at him.
"Yes."
A pause.
"I improved my staffing situation."
That made Rain snort.
Misery closed her eyes.
Guy, however, wasn't even close to amused.
"The balance," he said. "The one I spent ages maintaining."
His voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
"You shattered it."
Loki's expression barely changed.
Then he smiled.
A small one.
"You're lecturing me?"
Guy's eyes narrowed.
"Yes."
Loki looked around the room once, then back at him.
"That's rich."
Guy's brow twitched.
Loki continued.
"You have Primordials as subordinates."
He pointed lightly.
"Rain."
Then Misery.
"Her too."
Rain folded her arms.
"I feel like I'm being discussed unfairly."
Misery sighed quietly.
"It's not inaccurate."
Guy clicked his tongue.
"That's different."
Loki's smile widened.
"Of course it is."
"It is."
"How?"
Guy looked like he was about to say something very long, very complicated, and very hypocritical.
Loki clearly noticed that too.
He grinned wider.
"You just don't like that someone else did it."
Guy glared at him.
"That is not the point."
"It sounds exactly like the point."
Carrera laughed under her breath.
Ultima did too.
Testarossa, naturally, looked delighted by all of this.
Guy ignored the snickering and turned instead toward Velzard, who stood a little further back in the room with her usual composure.
"And you."
Velzard looked at him.
"How did you allow this to happen?"
The room went still again.
Velzard's expression didn't change.
Because of course it didn't.
She answered calmly.
"I care more about Loki than balance."
That shut the room down completely for one beat.
Then Guy's face flattened.
"…Useless."
Velzard blinked once.
Then looked faintly bored.
"You say that every time I do something you don't like."
"Because it keeps being true."
Loki looked between them.
Then decided not to get involved.
Mostly because he was enjoying Guy's headache.
And Guy, now visibly deciding that if he kept going down this line of conversation he might actually commit violence in a room full of people who would enjoy it, exhaled sharply and forced himself back on track.
"Fine."
He folded his arms.
"That isn't even why I came."
Loki raised a brow.
"Oh?"
Guy nodded once.
"Walpurgis."
That got Loki's full attention.
The amusement in his face sharpened into interest.
Guy continued.
"It's been called."
Loki leaned back slightly.
"When?"
Guy looked at him.
"In ten days."
A short silence followed.
Then Loki nodded once.
"Alright."
Guy frowned.
"…That's it?"
"What, did you want me to panic?"
"I wanted you to at least sound like you understood what Walpurgis means."
Loki shrugged.
"I do."
He smiled.
"I'll be there."
That answer came with so little tension that it somehow made Guy more suspicious, not less.
Still—
It was enough.
He had the answer he wanted.
So after one final look around the room. One final look at the impossible collection of powerful beings Loki had somehow gathered around himself in an absurdly short amount of time. Guy clicked his tongue again and let the matter drop.
For now.
---
Ten days later.
The Cardinal World moved quietly.
Or rather, as quietly as a world could move when a gathering of Demon Lords had been called.
Across nations, territories, hidden palaces, floating labyrinths, and ancient domains, invitations had already ceased to be invitations.
Walpurgis did not ask politely.
It summoned.
And the ones tasked with ensuring attendance were, as always, Rain and Misery.
The gates they used did not look natural.
They never did.
Each one opened like a wound in space. A perfect, circular distortion of black-red and violet light, edged in demonic script and held stable by the authority of Guy Crimson's household. They did not roar. They did not tremble.
They simply appeared.
And wherever they opened, Demon Lords were expected to walk through them.
Rain handled it with her usual bored efficiency.
Misery handled it with quiet seriousness.
One by one, they fetched them.
No long explanations.
No wasted greetings.
Just gates opening in halls, gardens, labyrinth chambers, and isolated palaces, followed by the same simple message.
"It's time."
Then another gate.
Then another.
Then another.
At last, after all the others had been gathered or notified, the final gate opened in the throne hall of Coleus.
The air split.
Black-red light spilled across the floor.
Rain stepped through first.
Misery followed.
And the moment they arrived, both of them stopped.
Because Loki was not alone.
He sat in the throne as if he had been born for it.
Ragnir rested beside him.
His maroon-and-gold hair caught the light in soft streaks.
And standing behind him, one on each side—
Were Testarossa and Ultima.
Rain blinked once.
Then twice.
Misery's expression remained composed, but only because she was very good at hiding surprise.
Loki looked at them.
Then smiled.
"Well."
He leaned back slightly.
"Looks like my ride's here."
Rain folded her arms.
"…You brought them."
Testarossa smiled beautifully.
"Of course he did."
Ultima's grin was far less subtle.
"Did you expect him not to?"
Misery looked at Loki.
Still, Rain said nothing more.
Mostly because she had already learned that once Loki made a decision, trying to push against it was like arguing with gravity and somehow expecting gravity to apologize.
Loki rose from the throne and stepped down toward the waiting gate.
Then paused in front of Rain and Misery.
His smile remained easy.
Confident.
Entirely too calm for someone walking into a Walpurgis where half the room would probably want answers and the other half might want blood.
"Alright," he said.
"Let's go."
---
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