In truth, the war had only lasted a few months. It was far from long and drawn-out.
But for Adam, several months without a decisive victory was unacceptable. If not for the goal of capturing more Frost Giants, dragging the conflict out this far would have been intolerable.
After all, the warring parties were primarily gods... not races like the Skrulls or Kree with populations in the hundreds of billions. The divine races within the World Tree generally had sparse populations. Even if you added up all the Asgardians across every planet, every garrison, and every civilian, how many were there? Tens of thousands? A hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand?
Pitifully few.
If not for their ability to draw on the World Tree's divine power, the constant leadership of sky-father level powerhouses, and their extremely long natural lifespans... which grew even longer with even modest cultivation of divine power... races with such small population bases would have been wiped out long ago amid one cataclysmic event after another.
Even so, truthfully, these gods still fell far short of what could truly be called a "divine race."
Even Odin, who had reached the pinnacle of sky-father level, only possessed a lifespan of a few million years. Compared to cosmic entities like Ego, the Collector, or the Grandmaster... who lived for billions of years... it really wasn't that impressive.
But that was fine. Adam wasn't picky. Anyone who could help him, who could aid him on the path to ascending and breaking through tiers, was more than welcome.
Right now, for example, he couldn't wait to get his hands on the Frost Giant captives.
"Welcome to Asgard, my brother."
Before Loki could speak, Thor's booming voice rang out. He strode forward with an excited expression.
This made Loki curl his lip in mockery. Thor looked like he was greeting his own father. When Odin was around, Thor had never shown the All-Father this much affection.
"It is an honor to set foot in this place. The moment I tread upon this land, I feel my blood begin to boil."
Adam stood surrounded by a large group of Xenomorphs, Mjolnir in his hand drawing particular attention. His first words left Thor momentarily speechless.
Thor's gaze unconsciously drifted to Mjolnir. Only then did it dawn on him that, in theory, Adam now carried his bloodline as well. No wonder he felt like he was coming home.
This man had gained his bloodline through Xenomorphs, obtained his hammer, and now brought so many troops.
If it truly ended the war, everything would be worth it.
Loki watched Adam with clear displeasure, then quickly scanned the Xenomorphs behind him. The more he looked, the more his heart sank.
If it were only their sheer numbers, that would be one thing. Especially since this army included many of the lowest-ranked Xenomorphs that moved on all fours. At least this batch wasn't as comprehensively strong as the previous ten thousand. Many of those earlier ones had been gestated from vampire hosts... each nearly three meters tall, capable of walking upright, and exceptionally powerful.
What truly unsettled Loki were the Xenomorphs standing directly behind Adam. Every one of them radiated danger.
Yes... a whole group. Loki's mind raced with curses as he counted their numbers.
Reynolds and Deathstrike as hosts went without saying. There was also the Abomination Xenomorph, the Swift Xenomorph, the Ajax Xenomorph, the Gilgamesh Xenomorph, the Thena Xenomorph, the Spike Xenomorph, and a group of mutant Xenomorphs.
There were also more than a dozen mutated Xenomorphs, all broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, clearly having absorbed enormous amounts of nutrients. They were far stronger than in their initial adult stages.
Most eye-catching of all was a group of completely identical Xenomorphs... even their slightest movements were perfectly synchronized.
There weren't that many... around forty or so... but any one of them gave off an extremely dangerous presence that couldn't be ignored.
Even in Asgard, each would have been a battle-hardened super warrior. While they might not quite match the Warriors Three, they wouldn't fall far short.
And there were more than forty of them.
Loki felt numb.
He clearly remembered that not long ago, when Thor had first been banished to Earth, he had made a trip there himself. At that time, the Xenomorph forces he had seen contained nowhere near this many powerful individuals.
How much time had passed since then? Why had so many appeared, and in such vast numbers?
Loki put himself in Adam's position. If he were Adam, he definitely wouldn't commit all his forces to the battlefield at once. At the very least, he would keep some in reserve to guard the home base. So he suspected even more powerful Xenomorphs might appear in the future.
Just think about it... dozens of beings who could roughly match the Warriors Three. What kind of concept was that?
What if there were even more?
One of the Warriors Three could easily take down two or three powerful Xenomorphs. But what about four or five? Victory would no longer come easily. What about seven or eight? It might end in a stalemate, but one slip could prove fatal.
"This guy's growth rate is insanely fast. How the hell is he doing it…? The ones at the front can be explained by Eternals and Deviants, but how did he produce all those perfectly identical ones later?"
Loki couldn't figure it out. These Dracula Xenomorphs were completely identical, even down to their auras.
It was absurd. So many of them, each with ridiculous individual strength. Where did they come from? And their hosts... who were the hosts?
What Loki noticed, the other Asgardians naturally noticed as well. They began whispering among themselves, speculating about the origins of these Dracula Xenomorphs, but none asked Adam directly.
If this had been earlier, their bold Asgardian nature would have led them to ask without hesitation. But things were different now.
By Asgardian cultural standards, Adam... who had brought tens of thousands of troops... was no longer just a brother or friend. He was now the king of a powerful race.
A king of a combat race that stood firmly on Asgard's side, risking everything to help them. Facing such a king, they maintained the highest respect and reverence. They could no longer speak casually as before.
"These Xenomorphs are also from vampires? Oh, the blood Xenomorphs you mentioned... the absolute main force of the army… I faintly sense a similar aura from them, but it's completely different."
Thor observed the group of Dracula Xenomorphs with genuine surprise. He had studied the Xenomorph language more deeply than anyone else in Asgard, spending day and night with them in an effort to understand everything about the species... including the meaning behind all their actions and behaviors.
The moment he saw these Dracula Xenomorphs, he felt an inexplicable sense of kinship, but confusion quickly followed.
"I always thought Midgard's vampires were a relatively weak race. I never imagined there were so many powerhouses among them. I've made the mistake of being arrogant and conceited once again." Thor immediately began reflecting on himself.
"It's not exactly what you think, but in terms of results, it's more or less the same…" Adam thought for a moment and offered a casual reassurance.
When you really thought about it, this was basically equivalent to dozens of Draculas suddenly appearing on Earth, with more to come. Anyone would be stunned.
Even if you took any one of these Xenomorphs to fight Dracula one-on-one, it would be torn to pieces in moments.
These Xenomorphs didn't possess Dracula's immortality.
"Regarding the progress of the war, both sides are currently in a ceasefire. Because Dormammu invaded Midgard and was then driven back by you." Loki gripped Gungnir tightly. In his mind, he imagined countless times driving the spear straight through Adam. But outwardly, he spoke with measured courtesy. "The current issue is that we need to reformulate our battle plan."
"My plan is to launch a direct assault on Jotunheim. We have the Bifrost... an advantage they lack. Rather than fighting over border planets, we should lead the main army straight into Jotunheim territory," Adam said.
"Excellent. That's exactly what I hoped for. I'm glad we're in agreement on the battle plan," Loki replied.
Adam glanced at him. Yes, but the two of them deciding strategy wasn't enough. Odin was probably watching everything from somewhere. If he intervened to prevent the conflict from escalating fully, that would cause problems.
Adam had no idea what Odin was thinking.
In any case, Adam thrived on chaos. Even if countless planets across the Nine Realms were reduced to rubble, it wouldn't stop him from capturing a large batch of Frost Giants as hosts.
The only thing Adam truly coveted now was Laufey's body.
"The current Odin should still have at least one more move left…" Adam kept that thought buried deep.
Before long, all of Asgard began full-scale war mobilization.
The long-held resentment from being relentlessly attacked by Jotunheim on the battlefield erupted tenfold, a hundredfold. Every Asgardian burned with fury. They were the proud and confident Aesir... especially now that they stood alongside the Xenomorphs.
But before the fighting began, Adam first headed to the prison holding the captives.
"So many Frost Giants. Excellent."
Adam didn't hesitate. He immediately began the parasitism process on the Frost Giants.
Amid the Frost Giants' furious roars and curses, the only fate awaiting them was the chestburster.
Of course, some Frost Giants tried begging for mercy, but that tactic held little value for Adam. He had no need for surrendering gods. He only wanted their bodies and bloodlines. Nothing more.
Soon, over six hundred peculiar white-and-blue Xenomorphs stood before Adam. Their average height approached four meters. The highly corrosive blood within them had transformed into frost blood brimming with terrifying cold... clearly inheriting the Frost Giants' racial genes.
This reminded Adam of the ice Xenomorphs from the comics, whose blood was a super-low-temperature liquid nitrogen.
"Genes alone aren't enough. Let me see how well you connect to the World Tree's divine power…"
Adam immediately sensed the state of these Xenomorphs. As expected, by perfectly fusing with and inheriting the Frost Giants' highest-quality bloodline, he had also gained the bloodline ability that allowed them to connect with the World Tree.
The defining trait of World Tree gods was using bloodline as the core of inheritance to connect with the World Tree, thereby passing power down through generations.
Otherwise, why could only these gods be born with the qualification to cultivate World Tree divine power, while ordinary humans on Earth could not? Unless one lifted Mjolnir or used divine artifacts... the main reason was bloodline.
The blood of gods was bound to the World Tree.
But how exactly was Adam supposed to find the World Tree's physical form?
"I remember Rune King Thor hung himself from the branches of the World Tree for seven days and seven nights, receiving vast divine power transmitted from the Tree and ascending to single-universe level."
Adam stroked his chin.
Thor was the genuine article. In some universes, he was even the offspring of Odin and Gaea... one of the four great second-generation gods.
These six hundred Frost Giant Xenomorphs couldn't compare to Thor. Setting aside issues of origin and bloodline rank, the most basic problem was that these six hundred Xenomorphs were ultimately imitators and thieves of the native gods' power, not gods themselves.
"I wonder if this universe's World Tree has ancient gods lurking behind the scenes, watching over its changes from on high… Maybe Dormammu knows. Since he once brazenly invaded the World Tree's domain, with his power he must have sensed something."
Adam looked at these several hundred Xenomorphs capable of wielding a measure of divine power in battle. He pondered that if they relied solely on their own bitter cultivation to refine divine power, it would take who knew how long to reach the level their original hosts had commanded.
Divine power was a means of expanding one's strength, with genes and bloodline serving as the entry threshold. But it wasn't something that could be directly inherited and transferred like genes themselves.
Still, it was acceptable. Adam only needed a backup plan. At this point, he had初步 grasped both the magic and divine power paths.
As for finding the World Tree's physical form, then deciding whether to send these six hundred Xenomorphs to gnaw on it or something else... or even, once his own strength was sufficient, making deals with the many ancient gods who might exist, just as Rune King Thor had done, paying a price to receive more divine power infusion... that would be Adam's personal choice.
"Let's move out."
Adam led the six hundred Frost Giant Xenomorphs out of the underground prison and spoke calmly.
Just those words caused countless Asgardians to roar madly. At first glance, it looked as if Adam were the king of Asgard.
This made Loki's face turn pale with anger. He genuinely wanted to ally with Laufey to kill Adam first, but the thought that Odin was still alive immediately deflated him.
Before Dormammu's attack on Earth, Loki had still harbored some hope that the sleeping Odin might not know what he had done. But after seeing even Dormammu driven back with no sign of Odin awakening, he immediately realized Odin was already awake.
As an old god-king with millions of years of combat experience... proud and arrogant beyond measure... how could he possibly remain unaware of an invasion by a single-universe level threat like Dormammu?
No movement was the greatest movement. It meant he had awakened and was likely prepared to intervene at any moment against the worst-case scenario of facing Dormammu.
Moreover, from Asgard's perspective, Jotunheim was the enemy. Laufey was the enemy's leader... not Midgard or Adam.
Heimdall activated the Bifrost, continuously transporting the massive army straight to Jotunheim.
Jotunheim naturally reacted quickly. Countless Frost Giants took up weapons and prepared for battle.
They were old rivals with the Asgardians and knew exactly how disgusting the Bifrost was. In their understanding, there might be no place within the Nine Realms the Bifrost couldn't reach.
But they soon discovered something was off about the numbers in Asgard's expeditionary force. The Asgardians mobilizing in full force suggested a surprise attack.
But why were there so many Xenomorphs? An absurdly large number!
Laufey showed no surprise. He had known this moment would come.
Ever since learning that the suspected Xenomorph Master from Midgard had teamed up with the Sorcerer Supreme to successfully drive back Dormammu, his heart had sunk to the bottom. He knew the war would not end.
A person who had brazenly announced himself to the entire universe... would he tolerate an endless war between two realms of the Nine Realms? Would he allow the Xenomorphs sent to the battlefield to keep dying until they were wiped out alongside the Asgardians?
Sooner or later, the Xenomorph Master would come knocking. It seemed that time was now.
What Laufey couldn't figure out was why the burly, golden-energy-wreathed man with a dignified face stood behind another Midgardian?
"Loki, my son, you've truly given me quite the gift. This is an extraordinary move. Our original plan didn't look like this. You didn't inform me in advance."
Laufey thought rapidly. His ice-blue eyes swept fiercely across the opposing side, lingering for a moment on Adam before settling on Loki.
This pair of father and son... each harboring their own schemes... had minds full of treacherous thoughts.
This left the Asgardians somewhat restless.
Son? Their new king, Loki Odinson, was Laufey's child? How was that possible?
"Plans always change. If you react too slowly, cold reality will mercilessly cast you aside. Isn't that right?"
Loki raised Gungnir, aiming it at Laufey from afar. His expression shifted unpredictably.
"I can see that a group that shouldn't be involved has been drawn into the war between our two worlds. But I think you'd better fulfill what you promised me," Laufey said with a cold laugh.
If a few words could spark internal chaos among the Asgardians, that would be perfect.
What about Loki's life being at risk? If he died, so be it. Only those who survived the chaos were valuable partners. The dead were worthless.
Sure enough, some Asgardians could no longer hold back.
"Loki, what is the meaning of this? You've been in contact with him all along? Is what he says true... are you his son? But why did King Odin…" Sif's face burned with anger.
Every straightforward Asgardian found it impossible to believe.
They felt betrayed... by their own king. Though many of them had never particularly liked Loki. His preference for schemes and trickery simply didn't align with Asgardian tastes.
But that was fine. Since Loki was king, they had been willing to obey.
But what was this? It was like they had worked hard on a hunt, on the verge of success, only for their hunting leader to suddenly jump to the prey's side and excitedly declare he was actually on the same side as the game.
"Loki…" Even Thor looked bewildered. He had wanted to loudly mock Laufey for using such a cheap provocation tactic, but seeing Loki's extremely odd expression, his heart sank.
Thor was getting better and better at using his head. He had already realized what was happening.
Adam spoke up. "If I were you, I wouldn't worry about these minor details. Don't you think Odin would know about Loki's origins? Even if Loki really is a Frost Giant, if Odin himself doesn't care, what reason do you have to? Or do you think you're greater than Odin, above his will?"
He was right. They weren't stronger than Odin, nor had they been the ones to raise Loki from childhood. There was no need to do anything extra beyond what Odin had approved.
"Honestly, you look more agreeable to me now than at any time in the past. At least you're no longer quite so repulsive," Loki said with a complicated expression as he looked at Adam.
He hadn't expected that, in a moment when everyone was questioning him, the person who stepped forward to speak for him would be the one he hated most... Adam.
Adam met his gaze with sincere eyes. "If you truly feel my sincerity, then why not offer your own body as well? Contribute your strength to my divine power forces."
You son of a bitch.
Loki felt the faint trace of remorse and guilt he had just developed vanish, as if fed to a Phage.
Everyone had heard the exchange between the two and confirmed Loki's true identity: he was a Frost Giant.
Loki stopped pretending. The color of his body began to change. Even the divine power he wielded now carried waves of icy chill. This caused the surrounding Asgardians to retreat hastily, watching him with wary hostility.
"A Frost Giant! He really is a Frost Giant!"
"We actually chose a Frost Giant as our king of Asgard. I cannot accept this!"
"No... we can't think that way. Since King Odin approved of him during his lifetime, what reason do we have to reject him? At least he was a capable king, wasn't he?"
"We should have chosen Thor as king. If not for Thor, relying solely on Loki, we could never have sustained the war to this level. We might have suffered repeated defeats and had the Frost Giants storm the palace of Asgard long ago."
Loki could ignore most things, but all Asgardians inevitably compared the two sons of Odin... Thor and Loki... in their hearts.
It was confirmed. Loki was adopted. That made Thor the legitimate king.
This completely broke Loki. He had worked so diligently, yet he still couldn't compare to a mortal like Thor?
Even Odin had never publicly rejected his origins. What right did these dogs have?
Loki sneered, a fierce light flashing in his eyes. He had made up his mind completely.
If he was going to be king, he would be king thoroughly. No matter what he did, Odin was still alive and Thor was still alive. Asgard wouldn't fall apart.
Only he himself would ultimately be a tragic figure without a home, lacking any sense of identity.
The war began.
There were no flashy displays of dense energy cannon barrages or missile bombardments. Both sides charged straight into large-scale melee, like armies of ancient humans... except the intensity far surpassed ordinary imagination.
Of course, that was only how the rank-and-file soldiers fought. Those of slightly higher status immediately brought out individual high-tech weapons, divine power, and magic.
The most excited was Reynolds. He roared wildly, transforming into a streak of golden light that rampaged across the battlefield. Even powerful Frost Giants couldn't break his skin. They could only be smashed to pieces.
The other powerful Xenomorphs sprang into action as well. The Swift Xenomorph proved extremely effective. Relying on its incredible speed, it was everywhere on the battlefield. It deliberately avoided Frost Giants who wielded large amounts of divine power and magic, focusing instead on using its overwhelming velocity to hunt mid- and low-level Frost Giants.
Every second, the Swift Xenomorph could unleash hundreds or even thousands of punches. If this Xenomorph focused solely on playing it safe... only fighting winning battles and crushing weaker opponents... many Frost Giants had no effective counter.
Would they use wide-area magic for coverage? That would mean taking out large numbers of their own Frost Giants as well. The situation hadn't deteriorated to that point.
Laufey slowly raised his head and swept his gaze across the entire battlefield. Once again, he was shocked by the power the Xenomorphs displayed.
The King of the Frost Giants was puzzled. How much time had passed? Why had so many more powerful Xenomorphs appeared?
As he pondered, Deathstrike charged forward, claws raised. More than a dozen Dracula Xenomorphs precisely surrounded him, launching a coordinated assault.
"Ridiculous. You lot dare raise your hands against me, a king? Have your king come personally!"
Laufey snorted coldly. He ignored Deathstrike, but the large group of Dracula Xenomorphs made him look twice.
No king of a world had ever seen such perfectly identical creatures. He had no idea what the hosts of these Xenomorphs were like... were they identical too? It couldn't be a single immortal host producing so many highly similar ones with identical auras.
But that didn't matter. He would just kill them all.
Laufey didn't even blink. Facing the adamantium claws about to pierce his skull, he blew out a breath, creating a fierce freezing current that encased Deathstrike's body in ice.
With a casual backhand, he swung a massive sword. His attack frequency was absurdly high. In an instant, he exploded the heads of more than a dozen Xenomorphs.
But those Dracula Xenomorphs weren't truly dead. Even without heads, they were rapidly regenerating.
"Your blood is useless against me." Laufey was splashed with Xenomorph blood but remained completely unharmed.
Crash!
Deathstrike violently shattered the thick ice covering her. What greeted her was Laufey's impatient heavy strike.
One swing of the sword produced a piercing metallic sound.
Laufey's expression froze. He hadn't split Deathstrike in two. His massive sword was stuck in her shoulder.
It had only cut halfway through her shoulder before being caught on bone.
"What kind of metal skeleton is this? I've never seen anything like it." Laufey was clearly intrigued by this adamantium alloy... born on Earth in the previous century.
He was even more surprised by the woman before him, who had replaced her own bones with this metal.
Don't think Deathstrike nearly having her shoulder severed was embarrassing. Remember... who was attacking her? Laufey, the King of the Frost Giants, an old-school sky-father level powerhouse!
While not on the level of supreme sky-fathers like Odin or Surtur, Laufey's strength was still considerable among sky-fathers. Otherwise, he wouldn't have harbored ambitions of conquering Asgard and then, like Odin in the past, subjugating the Nine Realms.
What surprised Laufey even more was his sharp detection that the Midgardian woman's severed bones were slowly regenerating... though this healing speed was far slower than that of her flesh.
But considering the ridiculous durability of adamantium alloy bones, it meant that no matter where Deathstrike was placed, she would be a highly valued and satisfactory subordinate.
Right now, for example, she could go head-to-head with an old sky-father and survive several exchanges without dying. Deathstrike might not be able to defeat a sky-father, but she wasn't easily killed by one either. That was remarkable.
At that moment, Reynolds shot over like a golden comet, smashing aside dozens of Frost Giants. He landed a heavy punch that sent Laufey flying hundreds of meters and casually picked up the massive sword that had been stuck in Deathstrike.
"Hm, can't use it. Looks like it's made of Uru, powered by divine energy. In my hands, it won't do much."
Reynolds had done his homework before coming. He looked at the weapon with regret. Even Deathstrike's highly corrosive blood couldn't damage its structure.
He promptly discarded the weapon and eagerly chased after Laufey.
A series of heavy punches landed on Laufey. The Abomination Xenomorph and Gilgamesh Xenomorph followed closely behind, swinging their mountain-lifting arms with their powerful physiques and smashing them down on Laufey. But clearly, none of this was enough to break his defenses.
Instead, Laufey casually grabbed the Gilgamesh Xenomorph and crushed it to death.
"Too weak. Especially you. I remember you're the one who teamed up with the Sorcerer Supreme to drive back Dormammu, right? Why do you only have this level of strength?"
Laufey had originally been extremely tense, maintaining a cautious defensive posture. But after Reynolds' barrage of combination punches produced essentially zero real effect, Laufey was shocked and confused.
The fierce warrior who drove back Dormammu was this?
Even if he was only supporting the Sorcerer Supreme, he shouldn't be this weak. Moreover, it wasn't just support. Laufey had clearly sensed that the person who delivered the final blow, forcing Dormammu to retreat, was precisely this golden figure before him.
But why? Why was the gap so large?
He claimed to have grown stronger overnight... to the point of being able to fight Dormammu one-on-one?
Laufey was deeply puzzled. He even briefly suspected this was some scheme devised by Loki, but quickly confirmed it wasn't... and felt a wave of shame as a result.
"Loki, give me the Casket of Ancient Winters!" Laufey slapped Reynolds, nearly scattering the golden energy shield around him.
The entire realm of Jotunheim seemed to tremble briefly.
This sent a deep chill through Reynolds. His instincts told him that continuing to trade blows head-on with this giant would end very badly for him.
Reynolds immediately turned and looked toward Adam with hopeful eyes, frantically signaling for him to switch in.
But Adam didn't act immediately. Instead, he looked toward Loki.
"According to what we discussed before, it's your turn now. If you show any weakness, I'll take care of you too."
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