A flicker of suspicion crossed Loki's eyes as he looked at Hoder's charred "corpse." He did not approach right away.
The Lava Troll's explosion had been powerful, but the idea that it had killed Hoder outright seemed dubious no matter how he looked at it.
Out of caution, Loki remained hidden and continued to watch in silence.
Half an hour passed, then an hour. Time slowly slipped by, yet Hoder never stirred, as though he were truly dead.
Loki never emerged either, every bit the patient hunter.
Another two hours passed. Finally, the motionless Hoder abruptly sat up.
His face was still blackened, but his anger and disappointment were plain to see.
"Damn you, Loki! You coward!"
Hoder launched into a furious tirade. The Lava Troll's reaction had indeed startled him, but a plan had flashed through his mind almost immediately. He would turn the trick against Loki and lure him out of hiding.
To that end, he had taken the Lava Troll's explosion head-on despite his grievous injuries, all to make the act convincing.
But he had never expected Loki to be so cunning.
Even with Hoder in such a miserable state, Loki would not come out to see him. If nothing else, he could have come to collect his corpse!
Unable to keep waiting, Hoder had finally been forced to get up himself.
Watching Hoder seethe, Loki curled his lips into a cold smile from his hiding place.
He admitted that Hoder was no ordinary old fox. His extraordinary cunning and grasp of the battle certainly lived up to his reputation as the God of Darkness.
But had he forgotten that Loki was the God of Trickery? Schemes and lies were his stock in trade.
Although he had not spotted anything wrong earlier, instinct had warned him that