60 Balder's demise slightly gory

Among the various Aesir crowding the atrium, I recognized none beside Balder. I would have to depend on Loki to tell me who they were.

Especially, Thor and Odin were figures I should keep an eye out for.

After entering, Loki walked over to an old man sitting on a portable wooden throne. The aged man had only one eye and was tightly gripping a spear in his right hand while two ravens sat on his shoulders. He radiated the unyielding aura of an emperor.

"Glory to the Allfather, may all the secrets of the land and sky be revealed in thy graces."

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Loki fell to one knee and greeted the old man. This must be Odin, the emperor. The ravens on his shoulders were surprisingly both mythical beasts. They had probably reduced their own size to fit into this place.

"I see Hugin and Munin are as resplendent as always."

"Shut up fake raven."

"If you talk much more we'll have you bear another child."

The ravens clearly disliked Loki. And what was that about bearing a child?

Loki took the threatening words of those two birds with tremendous calm and walked over to a secluded corner of the atrium. From that spot, he could observe every move made by others while remaining mostly undisturbed.

Half an hour later Hod arrived and joined the crowd. Led by a petit Aesir woman he found a free spot and took aim with the arrow in his hand. With the woman adjusting his aim he locked on to Balder and threw the arrow with all his might.

As the arrow pierced through the air it gave of a whistling howl, attracting Balder's attention. As his gaze fell on the approaching arrow a look of recognition flashed through his eyes. A despairing wail escaped his lips as the arrow arrived before him.

With a sickening crunch, the arrow embedded itself in Balder's skull. The golden glow of the arrow was tainted by blood and the drops forming on the leaves looked like berries, completing the mistletoe.

For a whole minute, no one talked, moved, exhaled or did anything. Then all hell broke loose.

Odin was yelling orders while most of the people present were just panicking. Taking advantage of the ensuing chaos the petit Aesir woman tried to lead Hod away. Most of the guards rushing into the atrium overlooked them but they hadn't escaped Loki's watchful eye.

He pushed off the floor and intercepted the fleeing couple as they were about to leave. With a flip of his wrist, an obsidian knife appeared in his hand as Loki thrust it towards the woman's neck.

Entering next to her spine the knife cut diagonally through the woman's windpipe, instantly killing her. She collapsed without being able to make a simple sound.

As Hod felt the hand leading him lose all strength and he heard a body hitting the floor, he became livid. He dropped to his knees and was soaked in the female's blood. Even without eyes, he grabbed her body, cradling her in his arms.

Despite the commotion, Loki's actions had attracted Odin's attention. Remembering who threw the arrow a deranged look appeared on Odin's face.

"All guards, kill him! Bring me that bastard's bloody corpse. I'll have his and his s**t's bodies hang above the city gate!"

"How dare you!"

Upon hearing Odin's words, Hod lost it. Lashing out with his left hand he blasted half the approaching guards into a bloody mist. Loki had long retreated out of range and was quietly murmuring to himself.

"Hod really lives up to being the physically strongest Aesir in all our history. If only he weren't blind."

The remaining guards all rushed at Hod's kneeling figure. Their strength varied from viscount magus to marquis magus but before Hod they were all the same. He slung the female corpse over his left shoulder and held it tightly.

After making sure he held her firmly with his left hand he began swinging his right arm around like a windmill. All guards that entered the range of his arm exploded into flying pieces of flesh.

However, Hod was using his left arm to hold a body and thus couldn't defend on that side. Some of the guards realized these openings and left many deep wounds on his body.

Under the unending stream of guards, those wounds slowly accumulated until even Hod's godly physique couldn't keep him standing.

His mighty body hit the ground with a resounding thud. Odin then truly ordered for them to be hung above the city gates but before the guards could do so a mighty voice stopped them.

"Don't do this Odin. Hod was clearly tricked into killing Balder. We should find the true culprit behind this instead of needlessly punishing one of us!"

Evidently, this character held a lot of influence among the Aesir. He was clad in silver armor and exuded an unrestrained pride. Loki gave him a displeased look, he enjoyed every needless punishment Odin gave. If he wanted to maximize the chaos and cover his tracks he'd have to stop this guy.

"Needless punishment? Tyr, since when can you criticize the Allfather's orders, even going as far as calling them needless?! And how do you know that someone else was behind this? Are you a part of this insidious murder, here to distract us?"

Every word Loki spoke created a deeper pit for Tyr to fall into.