Damn it, I’m surrounded by those who kill their fathers!

Podrick Farm

The next morning.

"I... I don't understand what happened. But when I arrived, Lana had already been rescued—she was just lying there on the ground."

Clark, confused, turned to Peter and asked, "Godfather, do you know who did it? Someone got there before us."

"I don't know."

Peter shook his head and cast a glance at Loki, who was trying to act as if nothing had happened.

"But since the problem has been solved, I suppose it doesn't matter anymore."

Peter patted Clark's shoulder, signaling that he shouldn't dwell on it.

Loki, catching Peter's meaningful look, suddenly felt a little guilty.

After talking with Peter for a while, Clark walked over to Loki and greeted him.

"What? Want to have a heart-to-heart with me?"

Loki smirked at Clark. "If it's about your romantic experiences, I'm not interested."

"No, I just wanted to apologize."

Clark spoke sincerely. "I shouldn't have assumed you were the suspect without any evidence. I'm sorry—that was my mistake."

Loki was momentarily stunned by Clark's apology.

"I accept your apology."

Then, he straightened his chest like a victorious rooster, a smug smile tugging at his lips as he said, "But you don't need to feel bad about it, Clark. Bowing your head slightly to the future divine emperor won't bring you shame."

Clark immediately felt frustrated.

If he had known this would be the result, he wouldn't have apologized in the first place.

After breakfast, Clark, John, and Star-Lord left for school.

Only Peter and Loki remained on the farm.

Just as Loki was about to head upstairs, Peter called him back.

"Loki, is there something you want to tell me?"

Loki glanced around. "No, Father, I'm fine."

"Really? You haven't been studying runes with me lately."

Peter gave him a knowing look. "Maybe I should help you review."

Considering that Loki's combat style primarily relied on daggers, while all his magic was used for pranks, Peter figured it was time to properly train his fighting techniques.

"Alright."

Loki nodded, and in an instant, his appearance shifted—he transformed into his older self, wearing a crown.

"I told you, Loki, no transformations in the house!"

Peter frowned at his antics.

"Alright, alright, Father, I'll change back."

Seeing Peter's stern expression, Loki quickly raised his hands in surrender and reverted to his normal form.

Standing beneath the World Tree, Loki gripped his wand, feeling a bit nervous as he faced his father.

He had sparred with Peter before and had been beaten quite badly.

Although Loki had learned a lot of magic from the Dark Magic Grimoire, most of it was illusion-based—something that never worked on Peter.

Peter's rune magic always left him completely powerless.

Looking at Loki, who had braced himself, Peter said, "Now, cast your spell, Loki."

Loki resisted the urge to summon his daggers and instead used his wand to construct a series of runes, summoning a violent gust of wind toward Peter.

But in the blink of an eye, Peter neutralized the wind with his own runes.

Unwilling to admit defeat, Loki abandoned runes this time and instead drew upon the power of the World Tree, channeling it through his wand to launch a direct attack.

Energy condensed at the tip of his wand, then burst forth in a dazzling light, surging toward Peter.

In response, Peter used a rune-based "curse reflection," sending the energy straight back at Loki.

Seeing his own attack being returned, Loki immediately did the most pragmatic thing—he turned around and ran.

A second later, Peter appeared in front of him, grabbing him before he could escape.

"Running away during practice? Loki, that's not what a proper sorcerer should do."

"It's because I know that no matter what I do, I'll lose to you, Father."

Loki's reasoning was entirely self-assured.

"Failure isn't a word to take lightly, Loki."

"But isn't failure the fate of all Lokis?"

Loki suddenly asked.

Peter paused, then gently ruffled his hair. "Of course not, Loki. Why would you think that?"

"Father, do you believe in the multiverse?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then, Father, I often dream of other Lokis from different universes. There are so many of them—a crocodile Loki, a female Loki, a child Loki. They all call themselves Loki. And the one thing they have in common... is that they all fail."

Peter looked at him seriously. "Fail at what?"

"Whenever they choose to bravely face their lives—whenever they choose to be good—they always fail."

Peter was slightly taken aback by this. "So, you don't want to be good, Loki?"

"No, Father, it's just that..."

Loki hesitated, struggling to put his feelings into words. "I don't want to be a villain. I just want to..."

"Mmhmm, so you want to run away."

Peter interrupted Loki before he could finish.

So that's what this was—this kid didn't want to be good, but he didn't want to be bad either. So, he just pretended not to care about anything.

Loki was momentarily stunned at being so thoroughly exposed.

Peter continued, his expression serious. "You don't actually dislike John, Clark, or Star-Lord, do you? You've just been avoiding your feelings for them. You don't know how to face them, so you use pranks to act like you don't care."

"I…"

Loki lowered his head, falling silent for a long moment.

"Every Loki who tries to be good ends up dead, Father. I saw a very old Loki who, in order to survive, acted cowardly and faked his own death. He abandoned his brother and his people, believing that only by shutting himself off, by refusing to care about anything, could he survive for thousands of years."

Peter nodded. "I imagine he wasn't very happy. He must have spent his days in pain, right?"

"Yes, Father."

Loki lifted his head and asked, "To struggle and suffer just to keep living, or to die heroically—what truly has meaning?"

Peter didn't answer directly. Instead, he ruffled Loki's hair. "That's not for me to decide, Loki. It's something you have to discover for yourself."

"Some people spend their entire lives searching for the answer. Others figure it out at a young age."

Then, with a reassuring smile, Peter said, "All you need to know is that your father and your brother will always love you. And I will make sure those tragedies never happen."

Loki nodded and exhaled. "But I'm guessing John doesn't love me all that much."

Peter hesitated, just about to offer some words of comfort—

Only for Loki to suddenly say, "But that's fine! Father, one day, I'll inherit your throne and become ruler of the Nine Realms! I'll surpass John and become your greatest pride!"

"I will be your greatest honor, Father—not Star-Lord, not John, and certainly not Clark!"

Watching Loki's dramatic declaration, Peter realized that trying to comfort him had been completely unnecessary.

Meanwhile, at Smallville High—

Lana was thanking Clark.

"Thank you, Clark. Thank you and Uncle Padraic. If it weren't for you yesterday, I might have…"

Lana shuddered at the thought.

She never could have imagined that Tina would try to replace her—and in such a cruel way.

Clark shook his head. "No, Lana. Actually, by the time I arrived, you had already been rescued."

Lana was briefly stunned but still said, "No matter what, it was you who saved me. Thank you, Clark."

She gave him a hug.

"Nice hug," John commented from behind.

Clark turned around, startled, to see John standing there with a smirk.

"But be careful—sometimes love can cloud your judgment."

Clark shrugged. "I don't lose my head that easily. Unless I put on that red kryptonite ring again."

"Hey, Clark."

As they talked, Chloe approached and greeted them. "And John, good morning."

"As someone who witnessed last night's big news firsthand, can I, as the editor of The Torch, interview you?"

Chloe asked Clark for an interview.

"No, actually, I just happened to stumble into it. There's nothing much to say. You should be interviewing the police."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Really? I've compiled news reports from Smallville over the past two years. You've appeared at accident scenes 22 times—not counting this one. John has shown up 11 times. And your godfather? He's been mentioned in 14 separate reports. Clark, your family has a knack for 'coincidentally' being in the right place at the right time."

"As a friend, I think you must have your reasons. Maybe you could share them with me? I promise to keep it a secret."

Chloe leaned in curiously. "Uncle Padraic's family… they're not aliens, are they?"

Hearing that, Clark suddenly felt a massive headache coming on.

He glanced toward John, silently pleading for help—only to find that John had already disappeared without a trace.

"Alright… but I don't know much more than you do."

Clark reluctantly agreed, deciding to make up something to throw her off.

After school—

Clark, who had managed to avoid Chloe's interview, headed home.

John, however, chose to walk home alone.

As he stepped out of the school gates, he noticed a black Suburban parked outside.

Several men in black suits were standing nearby, scanning the campus.

Seeing their earpieces and sharp, professional movements, John immediately guessed they were government agents.

"Federal agents?"

John thought to himself.

Had the government noticed the anomalies surrounding his father and their group? Were they here to investigate?

If they were here to investigate… should he get rid of them?

Pausing in his steps, John locked eyes with the men in black.