Hero

A few hours after leaving Loki's house, Clara and Sara meet an unknown man. A young man with casual clothes and a smile that did not suit the serious demeanour of their first meeting. It was almost as if he had just arrived from outer space, and they had been too polite to point it out.

"Hello," he said, extending his hand for her to shake, "you must be Clara, right? And Sara?"

The two women nodded in unison.

They stood in front of each other, unsure whether or not to say anything when suddenly their attention was pulled by the sounds of an approaching car. It seemed to draw them together without their own will; the noise and the sight of its tires on the road were irresistible.

He stepped closer, and they both took a step back, at a loss for how to approach him.

"Sara, you know why I am here, right?" the stranger suddenly asked, his voice taking on a more serious tone.

Sara nodded slowly, then hesitantly shook hands with the stranger before turning to Clara.

"Clara, this is Jared. The reincarnated hero." Sara exclaimed.

Clara could feel her eyes widen; her heart was beating rapidly now. She heard stories that heroes are reincarnated whenever a massive danger to the world shows up. If Jared is reincarnated hero, then the world is in trouble. That thought sent chills down her spine.

"Well, hello there." Jared continued. "I guess you already know why I am here."

Clara blinked in confusion. "Why?" She asked.

"Clara... the danger to the world..." Sara began. She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. She continued. "The danger to the world is Loki."

"What?" Clara looked at her in disbelief, she felt like laughing, but she held back. "You want to tell me that our clumsy Loki is some sort of danger to the world?"

Jared smiled at her reaction, "Yes. We don't have much time to explain. Please, follow me." He turned and began walking towards the woods, where Sara's apartment lies.

Clara followed them silently, feeling that she would regret what happened next. She stopped walking when she reached the edge of the forest, looking at her two companions. Sara's expression suggested that whatever was about to happen would change the course of her life.

She swallowed hard and turned to face the direction to Clara. "I am sorry, Clara."

"What?" Clara said again, more confused than ever.

"Please believe me when I say everything we do is necessary." Sara insisted.

"Please, Clara. Trust us!" With these last words, Jared stared at Sara, who began chanting a spell.

Clara couldn't move; she felt as if her mind was going blank. "Sara, stop this!"

Sara used a forbidden spell that overwrites the person's memories in exchange for the user's life span. The witch saw the future and realised that Clara was a necessary piece in defeating Loki. But she knew Clara would never betray Loki of her own free will, so she decided to enslave her.

Suddenly, Clara felt something cold around her ankle. She looked down and saw a pair of transparent shackles made from energy on her ankle. She tried to struggle away. However, it was useless.

With tears in her eyes, she pleaded Sara to release her. "Why are you doing this to me? Please stop!"

However, soon she heard a loud explosion, and Jared crashed to the ground near Sara.

"What?! Jared!" Sara gasped, her eyes wide with shock.

The moment of weakness was enough for Clara to regain her senses and free herself from the shackles. She was furious. No, furious would be an understatement. She wanted to kill Sara for the betrayal.

Meanwhile, Sara's gaze travelled to the sky as she screamed, "No! No, no, no! No!" as she saw a tall man flying in the sky. The electricity engulfed his body, and he pointed his finger at Jared. The man in question was Sam, who Loki sent to ruin Sara's and Jared's plans.

"Say goodbye, almighty hero!" Sam smirked as the electric currents around him grew stronger.

Jared used the system's help and changed his current flight superpower to enhance durability and confronted the electricity with punches that created massive winds.

Clara's rage decreased at the current events, and she took a few steps backwards so she wouldn't get into the crossfire. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't go against Sam, not yet anyway.

Then, Sara yelled at Sam. "Who are you?! We have nothing against you!"

"Oh? But my benefactor has!" With those words, Sam flew at them, aiming to strike Sara with lightning bolts. "Loki told me to get rid of you."

"What?" Jared's jaw dropped. Loki told him to get rid of Jared? What was going on? Jared's thoughts were in chaos at the moment. "Thunderous Overlord, we can talk this out. It's just some sort of misunderstanding!"

Jared knew the man in question, as Sam in the novel was one of the latest antagonists who gave the main character hell for an entire arc. Sam became a mass murderer after the death of Jasmine, who died at the hands of a corrupted policeman. Sam single-handedly massacred the city as a whole, including Jared's family, and got himself the nickname 'Thunderous Overlord.'

Jared couldn't understand what was going on. How come Loki began gathering subordinates for himself, as Loki barely had a few trustworthy ones in the novel. Loki was supposed to be easy prey, a quick power-up for Jared. However, nothing was like in the novel. Despite disliking the novel's first arc and how easily Loki was defeated, he began to regret that reality was so much different.

"I swear, Loki must have a future sight ability as well! Haha!" Sam began laughing like crazy and added, "Loki told you would say something like that." in the middle of the sentence, he started throwing a barrage of thunderbolts, each time increasing the voltage. Some of the bolts aimed at Sara, kneeling and trembling in fear.

"Wait, Sam! You cannot hurt Sara! You are under Loki's control!" Jared yelled at Sam, hoping that this would buy enough time to figure out a plan. "Let her go home! She has nothing to do with this!"

"Asshole, you have no right to speak about brainwashing!" Clara, who was listening to the conversation, shouted at Jared and making him startled. "You're no hero! You're a fucking monster!"

Clara vented her feelings with tears in her eye. She knew that if they wanted to do something as drastic as brainwashing her, they wanted that she would do something unforgivable.

Meanwhile, Sam pointed his finger at Clara as well. But since he knew she was about to be brainwashed, he felt pity for her and decided not to attack and let Loki determine what to do with her.

Soon, a hooded person entered the scene, and Sam flew to the ground. "Hey, Loki, want to join the fun?"