A tremendous blast rang out, and Sylvie was sent flying several meters.
What had knocked her away seemed to be some kind of nonlethal energy wave. The impact looked powerful, but the damage was limited.
Watching her scramble up from the ground, Loki looked down at her and laughed. "You did remarkably well to fly that far."
Then he turned sideways and said to the person inside the house, "Sorry."
"It's fine. I enjoyed that," the old woman replied.
"Me too." Loki glanced at Sylvie again. "But I assure you, although my friend is as impulsive as a beast, we mean no harm. We're merely tired travelers."
"Maybe." The old woman's tone did not change. Her weapon remained aimed at the door, without the slightest relaxation of her guard.
Hearing that, Loki looked through the window. There was a photograph on the table, a middle-aged woman and a middle-aged man smiling gently together.
Gentle people did not attack Outsiders without a word like she had. It seemed this old woman had been through a great deal.
A spell flashed through Loki's mind, one that could transform him into anyone—into the middle-aged man in the photograph, if he simply adjusted the age a little higher.
After completing the transformation, Loki hobbled to the doorway and looked at the person inside. "Hello, darling."
"Pacthurs?" The old woman's eyes were filled with disbelief, and even the weapon in her hands wavered.
Loki silently thought that things were going smoothly. Now he only needed to keep deceiving the old woman—
"After all this time, you're still as beautiful..."
Bang!
The old woman fired her Sonic Wave cannon again, and Loki was sent flying, almost as far as Sylvie had been.
Sylvie was starting to understand Loki's sense of fun. She leaned toward him and