-Broadcast-
In Asgard's legendary treasure vault, Hela brought Skurge to the sacred repository. This was Skurge's first time here, an opportunity granted by Hela's violent takeover.
"Odin's treasure!" Skurge muttered in awe.
"Fake!" Hela placed her hands on her hips and unceremoniously pushed the Infinity Gauntlet off its stand. "Most of the things in this place are imitations!" she said sarcastically.
Then, as she passed by the Casket of Ancient Winters, she said disdainfully, "Worthless!"
As she passed by Surtur's skull, which Thor had recently brought back, she commented, "This is much smaller than I expected!"
When she saw the Tesseract, she tapped it with her finger. "This isn't terrible!"
Then her eyes lit up. She took a deep breath and hurried over. "But this... Eternal Fire!" She came before the Eternal Flame; this was what she had been seeking.
Hela extended one hand, and a portion of the flame was drawn into her grasp. She looked at the fire with satisfaction and walked toward a deeper part of the treasure vault. Skurge, curious about her intentions, took two steps closer. Hela held the flame in her left hand and conjured a mystical pickaxe with her right, then smashed both hands forcefully into the ground.
Under her tremendous blow, the ground soon cracked and a large hole appeared. After she had opened the passage, she discarded the pickaxe and, still holding the flame, raised an eyebrow at Skurge. "Do you want to witness true power?"
Skurge appeared confused.
Hela smiled faintly, then fell backward into the cavern. Skurge involuntarily moved closer to the edge of the opening to investigate. Hela fell rapidly through the darkness until she landed on solid ground, the flame in her hand providing illumination.
She slowly moved forward, carrying the flame. All around her were corpses—the undead legions of her former subordinates. After Hela's defeat, they lost their vitality, and their remains were hidden here by Odin. Though dead, they still wore armor and carried swords, lying there silently, as if they would rise again and fight for Hela if she summoned them.
Hela walked to the center and saw the corpse of her former mount. "Fenrir! My darling! What have they done to you?"
Hela began chanting an incantation. "With the eternal flame! You are reborn at this moment!" As she spoke, she pressed the orange-yellow flame to the ground. The flame instantly transformed into strange green energy and spread out in all directions. As the green flame covered the skeletons, their bodies began glowing with supernatural light.
The undead army roared as one, all revived, and looked toward Hela in the center. Hela spread her hands slightly and looked at the revived warriors and the giant wolf Fenrir. "I missed you! I missed all of you!"
The scene shifted. Thor knelt in a corridor on Sakaar, facing the wall, and prayed for Odin. "Odin! May your heroic soul be eternally reborn in Valhalla! Great sacrifices should not be mourned, but celebrated with joy! To those who have made great sacrifices!"
Just as Thor finished reciting the final sentence, another voice sounded, reciting in synchronization with him. Thor turned his head and saw Loki standing behind him, wearing Asgard's distinctive battle attire. Thor slowly sat down, leaned against the wall, and looked at him.
Loki pursed his lips and said, "It's heartbreaking! Isn't it? Discovering you've been deceived! Discovering everything is a fabrication!"
Thor didn't respond, but silently picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at him. The stone passed through Loki and struck the wall behind him, proving that it was just an illusion he had created. Seeing that his illusion was exposed, Loki didn't care.
"You didn't think I came here to see you? To such a wretched place!" he laughed.
Thor casually threw another stone at him, and it hit the wall.
Loki's expression turned somewhat helpless. "You mean you don't need my assistance? Listen carefully, I can't ruin my relationship with the Grandmaster! I spent considerable effort to earn his trust!" Thor picked up another stone and tossed it between his fingers, listening to Loki's words. "He's a lunatic! But he can be utilized! What I want to tell you is that you can join the ranks of the Grandmaster with me! And soon, maybe something will happen to him, and then... you and I..."
Thor was not interested in Loki's scheme and threw two more stones at him. Loki's expression darkened, and he felt anger when he saw Thor's unmoved expression.
"You don't really want to return, do you?"
Thor looked at him expressionlessly. He had always been disgusted by Loki's manipulative tricks, which were never acceptable.
"Our sister! She destroyed your hammer with ease! She's stronger than both of us! She's much stronger than you! You're no match for her!" Loki pressed. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Seeing Thor still not answering, Loki couldn't help but snort. "Fine! I guess I'll have to fight alone! It's always like that!"
Thor smiled slightly upon hearing this, but remained silent.
"Can you say something?" Loki asked, his frustration growing. Thor still didn't speak. Finally, Loki couldn't contain himself and shouted at him, "Say something!"
-Real World-
Captain America clicked his tongue and observed: "As expected of the Goddess of Death! Her army is actually composed of undead troops!"
"Eternal Fire? This thing can also resurrect people?" Banner felt curious about the eternal flame. He thought that this fire would never extinguish, but he didn't expect it to possess this function.
Tony squinted his eyes and looked at the Infinity Gauntlet that had been pushed away: "Is this thing actually fake?"
Rhodes shrugged: "Who knows? Maybe it's real! I don't think Odin would place a forgery in his treasury! It would only diminish his status!"
"Right! Look at the other items! The Casket of Ancient Winters! The Tesseract! The Eternal Flame! The least impressive thing here is Surtur's skull! Anything that can be displayed together with these artifacts is most likely authentic!" As a habitual thief, Scott fully agreed with Rhodes' assessment. According to his understanding of wealthy people, they would never do such a thing that humiliates themselves.
What's more, Odin was a king. He believed Hela must have misunderstood this. It was unfortunate that Thor wasn't present, and they wouldn't contact him specifically for such a minor matter.