Loki's scream instantly startled the maids of the Palace.
When they rushed in, a bizarre scene greeted them—Asgard's noble Second Prince lay on the cold floor, his body convulsing violently. Cold sweat soaked his clothes, and terror twisted his face, as if he were trapped inside the most horrifying nightmare in the world.
"Hurry! Report to the gods!"
The maids trembled. One of them immediately ran to Frigga to deliver the news.
Before long, the elegant and luxurious Queen Frigga arrived in haste. The moment she saw Loki's condition, her beautiful brows knit together.
"All of you, leave."
Frigga waved the maids away. She walked to Loki, knelt, and extended slender fingers, gently tapping his forehead.
A soft yet mighty divine power followed her fingertips and slipped into Loki's spiritual realm.
She wanted to see what could possibly torment her son—someone highly skilled in illusion—to this extent.
But the instant her divine power entered Loki's mind, Frigga's expression changed abruptly.
She "saw" it.
An unimaginably delicate, complex illusory labyrinth.
This wasn't mere visual deception, nor a simple distortion of memory. Its structure directly acted upon the target's spiritual origin, using the deepest fears and desires within the heart as bricks and tiles to build a "real" ideal world.
The ingenuity of the concept, the finesse of the technique, the profound understanding of spiritual laws…
Even Frigga—recognized in Asgard as the first and greatest master of illusion—felt her heart shake with shock.
Even the slightest hint of it made her want to admit inferiority.
If one spoke only of the "quality" of illusion, this labyrinth had surpassed her.
Frigga's face grew grim.
If her divine power were not high enough to forcibly "break" the walls with absolute power, she feared that even she might struggle to solve such a masterpiece of an illusory maze.
"Break!"
Frigga increased her divine output. With a sharp reprimand, the illusory maze tormenting Loki finally shattered under overwhelming external force.
"Ah… call… call someone…"
Loki suddenly jolted upright, panting hard. His eyes still carried an indelible, extreme fear.
"Mother…" He looked at Frigga like she was his savior, his voice thick with tears.
"Loki. What happened?" Frigga's face was solemn. "Who did this to you?"
In Asgard… when had such a brilliant illusionist appeared?
Loki avoided her gaze, hesitating—clearly unwilling to tell the truth.
How could he tell his mother that he had tried to prank someone, only to get ruined by the other party's illusion instead?
Humiliating!
"Tell me the truth." Frigga's eyes narrowed slightly, the majesty of the Queen of the Gods rising.
Under her pressure, Loki's emotions exploded. He lowered his head in frustration and confessed everything—how he had created an illusory clone to cause trouble for Lucci, only to be countered and trapped by the other party's move.
When Frigga finished listening, she froze.
Shock flooded her beautiful eyes.
Unbelievable…
It was Lucci?
Not only did he possess mastery of runes—he was even defying the heavens in other domains. A Rune Grandmaster could fall to him, and now, in the field of illusion, he was displaying a terrifying talent that surpassed even her?
Could this still be explained by "talent"?
Seeing his mother's shocked expression, Loki thought he'd found a chance to complain. He immediately burst out:
"Mother! You saw it, didn't you? That Lucci went too far! He tortured me with such a cruel illusion!"
"Silence!" Frigga snapped back to herself and glared at him.
"If you hadn't acted with malice to tease Lucci, how would you have been tricked? This is your own fault!"
Then she issued a direct order:
"You are confined for three days. Stay in the palace and reflect!"
"…!" Loki was completely dumbfounded.
He'd been abused like that—and he still had to be grounded?
Was there any justice in this?
Frigga ignored his grievance. She went straight to Odin and told her husband what Loki had done, along with her judgment of that illusory labyrinth.
After hearing her, Odin fell silent for a long time.
In his one remaining eye, the color of shock grew extremely intense.
Strength, knowledge, runes…
And now illusion as well!
This child's talent was like a bottomless pit. Every time he thought he'd seen its depth, it immediately showed him an even deeper and wider world.
"Hah… hahahaha…"
Odin suddenly laughed. The laughter was filled with complicated emotions—shock and satisfaction, and even more than that… an unprecedented anticipation.
He raised his head and said with shining excitement:
"Frigga. I've decided."
"I want to teach Lucci personally."
"I want Odin's power to be inherited by him."
"I want to see… where his limit truly lies."
…