Playing with other Supernaturals

Ex, Robertina, and others in their unit arrived at the artificial dimension that Helmwige created, but before they could ask for any information, they saw a God with long gray hair and yellow eyes holding an unconscious woman with long blonde hair by her neck while they were surrounded by countless machine-like insect lifeforms, each the size of an average dog.

Seeing the situation, Ex and Robertina couldn't help but scream out loud in panic, "Asia-kaasan!!!"

Loki turned to their direction, and the smirk on his face widened. "Ahhh~ If it isn't the disgusting successor of the red lizard."

Ex transformed and propelled himself forward. The surrounding giant metallic insects obviously went ahead and blocked his path. Ex didn't mind this and just threw his fist containing a dense amount of Draconic Aura toward their general direction, intending to annihilate them.

Strangely enough, however, one of them came forward and took a hit from it. To his shock, the energy within his fist dissipated, and the spider-like machine started glowing red before producing a huge explosion, pushing not just him, but also those who followed him. "Ghhh! What!?"

The explosion cleared up, and the first thing they saw was Loki snickering at Ex.

[So it doesn't work with you too, huh?] Before they knew it, they had already become part of a private telepathy network and heard Helmwige's voice, which was immediately followed by, [Calm down, everyone. It doesn't look like he has any intention of further hurting Asia-kaasan.]

Ex understood that and realized that his sudden charge had only put Asia in more danger. Nevertheless, he couldn't easily accept it and clenched his teeth. [Who is that guy, nee-san?]

[The Evil God Loki. He was able to escape his seal a few years back, and this is his first reappearance after that.] Helmwige calmly explained, [And it would seem that he also received one of those Evie Generators.]

[Then what are these things surrounding him?] Robertina joined the conversation.

[No one knows, nya.] Kurobara answered. [We're sure however that these things are not Evies, and their main ability is energy absorption.]

As they were having their conversation, Ex and his siblings started issuing commands to others to deal with the approaching insects.

[They can absorb anything but Spiritual Power.] Shirayuki added, [But they still have some resistance against it, and Kuro and I could only deal with so many, so it doesn't really matter that much. We can increase our effectiveness, however, by using slashing, stabbing, or any other attack with a small point of contact.]

Ophis soon joined them. Her presence gave everyone a morale boost, but while she possessed incredible power, all she could do right now was blast them with large amounts of energy, which gave the same result as when Ex attacked them.

If Kisuke were to see the current Ophis, he'd compare her to the one he knew and would say, 'Level 1 noob and a Level 50 veteran.' That much was the difference between the two. The Ophis he knew may be 'incomplete,' but she'd play around with this 'complete' Ophis with ease.

It was obvious that they were designed to handicap mass destruction specialists like Ex and Ophis. The two of them, of course, were capable of just going nuts and annihilating these insects, but that would be like triggering the bomb that the enemy planted themselves.

Soon enough, it became a brawl between the metallic insects and Ex's group, with numerous explosions ensuing. But because they couldn't even approach Loki and Asia, the Evil God was left standing with an amused expression on his face.

It didn't take long before Helmwige discovered that Loki was trying to break the artificial dimension's boundary, so she became certain that he's here to kidnap their mother.

But even knowing their enemy's intention, everyone only became filled with frustration. The insects were moving to prevent anyone from approaching Loki, and even if they were somehow successful, these disposable enemies would just self-destruct, pushing them back.

They could try to attack Loki from a distance, but with the hostage in hand, that became an impossibility.

So after a few minutes of trying, the rescue force became acutely aware that they were ill-equipped to deal with the situation.

[Helm-neesan! When are the reinforcements going to arrive!?] Robertina exclaimed. Even though they were reducing the number of the insects, there were still a lot of them, with most of them revolving around Loki and Asia.

Helmwige gritted her teeth. [Not as fast as we're hoping. There are numerous attacks happening on the frontlines, and most of the forces are responding to that. And just now, I received a message that attacks like this are also happening in multiple places within the Draconic Deus after everyone left for the frontlines.]

It was all planned. It wasn't hard to conclude that after hearing her.

Loki couldn't help but laugh out loud while looking at their vexed expressions. He was worried that Ex and Ophis would be able to go through the minions he brought, but it looks like the one who gave him these was saying the truth: 'Ophis doesn't know how to control her power, while the dirty brat couldn't keep his armor forever and doesn't know how to pull its full strength. I win.'

Loki was also wary of the other siblings, but while Helmwige and the Nekoshou sisters were strong, the former would need an adequate amount of time to show her full capabilities, while the latter two were only good within close range. Robertina, on the other hand, was very inexperienced, so she wouldn't be able to do much on her own.

Soon, the space around Loki began cracking, and Helmwige gave them the bad news. [He's about to escape!]

But even knowing that, there was nothing else they could do. They truly were at the end of the line here. It was very apparent that Loki had prepared for their response, so unless they could pull off something he wasn't expecting, it would be very difficult for them to stop the Evil God.

It was then that the gem on Ex's gauntlet glowed with a different light, and he heard the voice from within. [There's something else you could do. Have you forgotten?]

"Huh?" Ex stopped moving.

It wasn't just Ex who heard the voice, but also Ophis, which made her confused. '...Idiot Red talked?'

[...So you indeed forgot about it. If he's here, he'll scold you to no end. Don't you have a way to fully pull out my power?]

Ex immediately understood what it was talking about and raised his voice. "How can I use something like that!?"

The others wondered who he was talking to, but Ex couldn't care less about them right now. "I'll only put Asia-kaasan in danger!"

But to his concern, Great Red only responded with a simple question. [Will you?]

Ex was about to say yes but hesitated.

[See? You just need enough confidence and willpower. Don't worry. I'll guide your subconscious for this one. After all, this is not training.]

Ex froze but soon sighed loudly and sent his voice to everyone. [Helm-neesan. I can take Asia-kaasan from his hands. Please prepare appropriately.]

Helmwige and the others didn't know what he was going to do, but they nodded in agreement.

The moment they saw the familiar candy in his hand, however, Helmwige, Kurobara, Shirayuki, and Robertina all shouted at him in dismay, much to everyone else's surprise and confusion.

Ex ignored them and just popped the candy into his mouth. A few seconds later, his mind blanked out.