I loaded the Mysticism panel.

The hunter had personally supported this whole group of people, but this time even a scholar who was teaching couldn't withstand it.

A random stranger gave him more than the entire table of people had given him in return.

Thinking of this, the antlers tilted slightly towards Loki, and the pack of dogs beneath it began to move.

The first one lunged at him and bit his shoulder, the second one came and bit his leg.

Then came the third and the fourth heads.

When the pack of dogs dispersed, a wet, bloody mess was left on the frost, making it impossible to distinguish which part was the shoulder and which part was the thigh.

Only the severed hand, lying three steps away, remained intact, becoming the only truly complete piece among the pile of objects.

The hunter's gaze fell once more, and white mist rose from the frost, piecing the jumbled mess back together.

In the end, Loki sat up as if nothing had happened, just like before he was bitten.

He twisted his chin, which he had just painstakingly repaired.

I tried it and found it worked, so I started talking.

"Your skills are amazing."

He spoke to the antler-like figure, his tone devoid of any respect.

"This is much better than last time. Last time you moved my left ear to the right side."

The antler-like figure ignored him. He thought that the people at his table were basically useless; they had been wiped out as soon as he went out.

Don't look at me like that.

Loki spoke again, his face still showing that same loose, lazy expression, as if he wasn't the one who had just been torn apart by the pack of dogs.

"On the other hand, you still need to give me an explanation."

"You didn't tell me that the Celtic table was off-limits."

"You only mentioned swallowing. In this game, swallowing each other between tables is encouraged. The more you swallow, the faster you accumulate."

Over the years, the previous Nordic countries swallowed up Germania, and Greece swallowed up the Black Earth River, and no one ever stopped them.

Why should we go and devour this whole table of Celtic food, only to have that white-haired old man come looking for trouble with a book?

The other tortured companions on the frost-covered ground all pricked up their ears; this was a question that none of them at the table had been able to figure out.

The hunter remained silent for a while before speaking.

"The Germanic gods have long since died out; no one has worshipped them for centuries, and the same is true for the Greek Black Earth River."

They are all dead myths dug out of their graves, old bones laid out on a table, bones that can be swallowed however one pleases.

But the Celts are different. The Gaelic Heights area has existed for thousands of years, and its history and sacred wells are still there.

During festivals and holidays, old men in the mountains would still draw that diagonal line on the stone; behind that table was the living faith of the empire's homeland that hadn't quite died out.

Loki's expression slowly changed.

"Under the living faith, there are naturally living guardians," the hunter continued.

"The hunter families of Gael Highlands have guarded those inscriptions for generations."

That white-haired old man is one of the people who guard these things; he doesn't need to talk about salon rules when he comes to you.

Salon is indeed a game, and games have their own circles.

But if you take the game outside the circle, to someone else's doorstep, then it's no longer just a team battle; it's burglary.

When the master returns to punish the thief, there's no need to reason with him.

Loki leaned against the gravel for a long time without saying a word.

He recalled that night of team battle, the bubbling beef and barley in the pot opposite him, and the solid firewood that had been chopped up.

At that time, he even laughed at people for burning the fire too honestly.

The reason these fires were so well-behaved was because someone was guarding them.

Moreover, the hunter had actually shifted the focus of the conflict; it had never told the Celts about this connection at that table.

Perhaps it itself didn't understand whether Loki's table, having swallowed everyone whole, would invite retaliation.

Just as Loki had planned, the Hunter displayed his spoils.

"However, while you devoured that whole table, I did gain something as well."

The front of the group behind the hunter split up in the middle, making way for them.

At the end of the road, a few objects, pressed down by the pack of dogs, were the Celtic remnants that Loki had devoured at the previous table.

Dagda's wooden stick broke, leaving only half of it nestled in a bodyless hand.

Luger's spear was gone, leaving only the sling. The spout was empty, holding nothing.

Only three crows remained on Morrigan's body, perched motionless on her shoulder.

Bridget had no fire; she was holding a ball of air in her hands.

McFee took some of it initially, but the remaining corpses and ether have now been collected by the Hunter.

They were added to their Wild Hunt team, making use of their resources.

Loki watched this scene with some displeasure.

It turns out that by transferring money from one hand to the other, the one in front of you is the one who benefits in the end.

"What's wrong? Are you unhappy?"

The hunter's voice came from a great distance, accompanied by the sound of hooves.

Loki laughed: "Happy? Of course I'm happy! You've gotten a good deal, so have we."

How could we not be happy?

But then again, according to the Wild Hunt's rules, you'll also have to clean up the mess left by this group. Doesn't that just add a lot more work for yourself?

The hunter remained noncommittal.

With a thought, he released all the people who were being tortured.

"I'm going to give you a task."

Loki asked habitually, "What are we supposed to hunt this time?"

The hunter exhaled a wisp of very faint white vapor from the horn.

A mirror materialized in mid-air, but its surface was completely blank.

"On the eve of mourning, a little guy gave me something wonderful that no one else could give me in hundreds of years."

After giving it to me, he disappeared from my sight.

But I saw a shape above his head that was related to the game between the tables.

The few people who had just been released from their punishment were panting heavily on the ground. Upon hearing this, even their breathing became lighter.

Loki asked, "What shape?"

"The Twin Serpent Staff and the Flight Shoes, you should all recognize them."

There was no sound on the frosty ground. Everyone recognized the name of the god, but no one spoke first.

Loki took a few steps toward the blank mirror.

"So, you want us to find this person?"

The hunter flicked the reins.

"It's not a particularly strict task. The reason I don't actively seek him out is mostly because of the two experts behind him."

They worked together to stop my mark.

You can keep an eye out when you have time. It would be great if you could find someone, but it's okay if you can't.

Now that he's sitting at that table, you're bound to run into each other sooner or later.

After he finished speaking, the horn was blown, and the hooves of tens of thousands of horses fell to the ground at the same time.

The sound of hooves rolled across the frozen, hardened curtain of earth, leaving two long hoofprints on the frosty surface.

Luo Ji stood still, watching the troop roll over him.

He only looked away when the sound of hooves had completely disappeared.

Did you all hear that?

The group of people were still in a daze.

"Don't be so downcast."

Loki knelt down in front of them:

"Isn't this much better than being torn to pieces by a big dog?"

Freya's neck still bore a bluish bruise from the ligature, and she frowned.

"Didn't you hear it?"

Loki was still toying with the frost that had melted in his palm: "What did you hear?"

"As the hunter just said, there are two experts standing behind that person."

The frosty ground fell silent.

Tyr spoke up as well: "This isn't right."

"Even the eldest sons of the top noble families have to treat their family's experts with utmost respect and never dare to neglect their sacrifices."

"And what makes him think that these two experts would vouch for him?"

Hela's half-face, which was still alive, began to turn pale. She guessed:

"Unless... that person can offer something that both experts are willing to put up a fight."

Freya also said:

"The Hunter himself just said that he has brought out something that others haven't been able to provide for hundreds of years."

The dejection on their faces from the recent torture was masked by more complex emotions.

It wasn't just envy and jealousy, but also an inexplicable sense of awe.

When our group of people entered the salon, weren't we all desperate?

Skadi was in a difficult situation because of her mother in the nursing home, and Tyr, Freya, and Hela weren't much better off.

They accumulate strength to swallow other tables, but if they are not careful, their heads will be lifted up, risking their lives for a chance to climb up.

As a result, he casually handed over something, and in return, two experts endorsed him.

The gap was so large that it left them breathless.

Tyr muttered to himself, "Who exactly is that person?"

This question voiced the thoughts of everyone present.

Soon, all eyes slowly turned to Loki.

When Freya spoke, all the politeness she usually showed was completely gone.

"Loki, isn't your intelligence gathering terrible?"

Loki's smile froze completely.

"Our entire table was almost wiped out by that white-haired old man this time, all because of your poor intelligence!"

Despite the pain in his back, Tyr also spoke up in rebuke.

"And you had no idea that there was a very important person at the Greek table who could get two experts to come!"

"We'll run into them sooner or later."

"When we finally crash into them, we'll find out there are two experts standing behind them..."

His meaning was clear: then they would take everything down once again.

Hela's face also turned cold.

"Since you are the head of the table, you bear the lives of everyone at the table."

"But the information you provide is becoming more and more unreliable."

These people had just been tortured and were seething with anger with nowhere to vent it.

Loki is Loki after all; the stiffness on his face only lasted for a moment before he grinned.

"You're right."

He admitted it directly, which left those who were preparing to launch further attacks speechless.

Loki shrugged: "My intelligence was indeed flawed."

"but."

The conversation turned.

"Gentlemen, have you ever considered why I can't find out?"

Several people waited for him to continue.

"Behind the Celts lies the oldest and most secretive heritage of the empire itself."

"They valued these things more than their own lives, and they kept them tightly hidden on both sides of the curtain."

"Do you think I could have found this out by just lying around in the dark and flipping through files?"

He looked around.

"This requires establishing roots in the highlands for generations and having access to the core of those hunter families."

After calming down, the group realized that there was some truth to what they were saying.

"And then there's that one from Greece."

"He has two experts standing behind him, and he's so well protected that even the hunter himself can't find him."

"Even the Hunter Master couldn't find out, do you expect me to?"

Having said that, he had already attributed what should have been his dereliction of duty to the fact that his opponent was too strong and too well-hidden.

"Gentlemen, I admit that my intelligence work was indeed inadequate."

"But this precisely illustrates that our current adversaries are becoming increasingly unfathomable."

"Behind the Celts was the living faith of the empire, while behind the Greeks were at least two masters."

"If we fight amongst ourselves now, wouldn't that just benefit others?"

Freya stared at Loki, and she knew perfectly well that this was just an excuse.

Poor intelligence gathering is poor intelligence gathering. Excuses like "the opponent is too strong" or "they're hiding too well" are just excuses.

But she couldn't find any fault with it.

"So, what do you suggest we do next?"

"Next."

Loki laughed.

"We need to think of a way to divert the danger elsewhere."

"Lead it elsewhere?"

"right."

Loki started coming up with some crazy ideas.

"The person the Hunter Lord is eyeing is currently being protected by two experts, but experts can't protect him forever."

Freya vaguely understood what it meant:

"You mean we should just wait and see, and watch the show?"

"Waiting to watch the show is indeed a method, but it's too passive. I prefer to be more proactive."

He slowly began to pace:

"Don't forget that madman Apophis."

Freya demanded, "Are you crazy? Do you think we can afford to mess with them?"

Loki's smile was meaningful:

"Of course we can't afford to offend them."

"So I don't plan to provoke him myself; I plan to let the Black Earth River deal with Greece."