Force Yourself To Not Look Back II

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Chapter 169: Force Yourself To Not Look Back II

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"You shouldn't be, father," Prince Loki shook his head, "This is my pursuit, the purpose I set for myself, all while your purpose is inherited from someone else. You have your way, and I have mine, but unfortunately, our way interlock."

"Why do you want the throne so much?" Ymir finally asked with a regretful sigh.

"What is our worth if not our ambitions?" Loki responded with a calm smile, "I'm sorry father, but the circumstances of my early days led me here. Perhaps if you had passed on the Kinghood to me, none of this would've happened."

Prince Loki seemed to be strangely self-aware. He knew why he is the person that he is today, mostly due to Ymir's purpose in life, but also because of Loki's intelligence.

Yovan watched from the side with interest, knowing that the throne they speak of was not the throne of Elbaf, but the throne of the world.

Indeed, Loki is very ambitious, and he knows about the Empty Throne and a lot of things surrounding it, thus why he seeks to take over it.

He was awaiting an opportunity, someone strong enough to put the blame on, Yovan was the one.

There were more prerequisites that Loki discreetly tested, just like the first time he met Yovan when he appeared out of nowhere in the hall... He actually walked right in after opening the gate.

He tested the effects of his Devil Fruit on Yovan, and when he deemed that there was no problem, he decided to go on with his plan.

"What about him?" Ymir strangely didn't seem too bothered as he glanced at Yovan.

"He doesn't matter. Whether the Stranger killed the King but in the end died in my hands or escaped won't matter much." Loki side-glanced at Yovan with a smile, although the latter's amused expression made him a bit unsettled

"Very well," King Ymir finally stood up from his Throne after a long time of slumber, his stature almost reaching the roof of the gigantic hall, easily dwarfing even the giant that is Loki.

Loki felt pressure instantly as if the gravity in the room increase several times, a chill going down his spine as the hall got colder and colder by the second.

However, Loki still had a smile on his face, "Frost... Is that your power? But I know that you never took a Devil Fruit."

"Before there were Devil Fruits, we had our will, and where there is a will, there is a way." Ymir coldly responded, "Prepare yourself for only one of us can live through this day... Expect no mercy from me."

No one would believe them to be father and son, especially not as Ymir vanished, almost instantly appearing before Loki, the latter seemingly unable to react.

However, Ymir suddenly changed the direction of his attack, punching down upon an empty spot not far from him, and his punch indeed came in contact with something, sending it flying towards the hall.

Part of the palace crumbled, falling upon the body of Loki, the real Loki. Ymir looked down upon him, saying, "Loki... Your illusion won't work on me. I neither see with my eyes nor through Haki... I simply listen to your heart."

Loki stood up, not looking too hurt, all disheveled with a frowning expression, "I underestimated you father."

Before he could speak further, Ymir interrupted him, "No, you didn't. Your heart tells me all, so there is no point in lying to me... Show me, show me what you prepared to deal with me."

Yovan who was watching from afar showed a wide smile, not intending to interfere, and the guards around weren't interfering either.

The guards were busy fighting among themselves or fighting imaginary enemies... Loki's illusion is extremely strong to the point that it can even affect Yovan.

Even his observation Haki couldn't detect any anomalies, that's how perfect his Illusion Devil Fruit is though one can imagine how difficult mastering such a Devil Fruit would be.

Yet such power was completely ineffective against Ymir and it wasn't because of Haki, it was because of something else, Voice Of All Things.

The Voice of All Things refers to messages conveyed by inanimate objects and animals that do not speak the human language.

Only a very small number of people in the world possess the ability to hear this voice. In fact, as far as Yovan knows, almost no one possesses such an ability.

Yet before him was someone who can use it in quite the strange way, fitting for a person who lived for a thousand years.

He apparently can listen to Loki's heart, and it doesn't seem to be something Loki's illusion can interfere with. It seemed to be more like instinct.

Yovan wasn't sure what listening to the heart exactly means, and how Ymir is using it. Yovan had yet to awaken such an ability after all.

However, it should be something like this, The Voice of All Things should not be mistaken for the ability to simply understand animal communication.

It's more like hearing the animals thoughts or understanding the message in their heart; thus, the communication offered by the Voice of All Things can be considered akin to telepathy.

That should be the reason why Ymir believed Yovan's answers before without question.

Prince Loki's face changed, upon hearing his father's words, but he quickly regained his composure and didn't respond. Instead, he brought out a spear and attacked.

Ymir side-stepped, easily evading Loki's attack, but the latter was relentless, continuously attacking.

Prince Loki's spearsmanship was amazing, and he's very much a genius, but Ymir couldn't help but frown, "What are you doing?"

He was genuinely confused, and the Voice Of All Things told him that Loki truly wanted to win against him like that... Ymir rejected that possibility instantly. Loki is smarter than that.

"Are you using Illusion on yourself?" Ymir questioned as he stretched his gigantic hand, grasping the spear with his Armament coated hand much to Loki's dismay, "You're buying time?"

Before Loki can react, he found Ymir's foot planted on his face, again sending him rumbling through the palace walls but he stood up again.

Only this time, Ymir's attacks were relentless as he brought down series of punches upon Loki, the latter barely able to move as he felt his blood frozen.

For the first time since coming in contact with Ymir, Yovan saw him lose his cool. His expression before was always frosty and calm, befitting someone who had lived for a thousand years.

He looked a bit anxious for he above all realizes how scary Loki is. He could hear the Voice Of All Things, and across the years, he heard the voices of many in Elbaf.

He knows what Loki has been doing all this time, turning the entirety of Elbaf to his side, making everyone respect him more, even going as far as doing things he doesn't want to do just to make himself look more human.

So his inability to know exactly Loki's plans made him unsure. He absolutely doesn't want to die here, not before he performs what he promised Joy Boy back then.

Things started to get more and more chaotic as Loki realized that Ymir was truly trying to kill him, so he influenced all the prepared guards around to lung at Ymir.

He prepared numerous, almost a thousand giants, and all of them right leaped towards Ymir to protect the prince, thinking that he was Yovan.

The thousand giants were a headache even to Ymir, giving some breathing time to Loki, the latter no longer bothering to pretend, releasing a smirk, "You should feel it, father... You're getting weaker."

"You... You poisoned me?" Ymir frowned, disbelief written all over his face, "That's impossible!" When? He hadn't consumed anything for decades now! So how?