Not long ago, Loki, who had been brutally beaten by Bant, fled back to Asgard in disgrace.
At this moment, he could no longer maintain that elegant, noble image he'd put on before. Instead, he looked as miserable as a homeless man collapsed on the roadside.
With him looking like this, who would believe he was an Asgardian prince?
He looked like a cosmic nobody.
His glittering golden armor was shattered. His hair hung down in a mess. Dust mixed with blood and stuck to his face, making him look filthy.
He estimated it himself. It felt like he might have slight fractures…
For Asgardians, injuries like that healed quickly.
Purely physical damage was very hard to make fatal to people of the Realm Eternal, who lived beneath the World Tree's protection. Their recovery would stitch it all back together soon.
If you truly wanted to kill a god, you either had to erase them completely with terrifying energy, or use mystical power that could contend against divine power.
For example, after Hela injured Thor's eye, it was basically permanent damage.
It could be said that by the time Loki quietly returned to Asgard, the injuries on his body were already almost fully healed.
But even if the wounds were gone, the savage Four Arms had left a lingering shadow in Loki's heart.
Just thinking of that enormous monster made him shiver.
He sat on Odin's throne, eyes hollow and numb, body curled in on itself. He trembled from time to time, like a helpless child.
After a long while, Loki finally recovered from that state.
After fear came anger.
"Damn Midgardians! How dare they treat me like this!"
Poisonous resentment seeped from his gaze. He lowered his head and growled through clenched teeth, as if he wanted to tear Bant apart alive and swallow him piece by piece.
Loki had never seen Four Arms before, but he instinctively treated Four Arms as a native of Earth.
That wasn't strange.
Even though Midgard was technically one of the Nine Realms, Asgardians rarely paid attention to it. Loki had no idea what bizarre species backward Midgard might have evolved.
But no matter what, this was an unforgivable humiliation.
Not only Loki's humiliation, but Asgard's humiliation!
It was like a king traveling through his own territory, only to be treated without respect and beaten by some lowly commoner.
Beaten, and even ground underfoot.
Who could tolerate that?
Loki certainly couldn't.
So the first thing he wanted to do after returning to Asgard was to immediately mobilize an army and flatten Midgard.
The reason he didn't was because Loki knew he had no prestige in Asgard at all.
He had basically picked up this throne. It was only because Thor had been exiled, and Odin had been forced into slumber by Loki. Out of helpless necessity, Loki was temporarily acting as regent.
Not many people in the Realm Eternal truly obeyed him. In fact, those who held real power were deeply suspicious of him.
For example, the Warriors Three, who grew up with him, all suspected Loki was behind everything.
Heimdall would never allow him to do whatever he wanted either.
Even this trip to Midgard, Loki hadn't used the Bifrost. He'd taken a side route.
After suffering humiliation on Earth, only to realize he didn't even have the right to deploy troops, Loki felt even more furious.
"If the one humiliated like this today had been Thor, would the warriors of Asgard refuse to follow his orders?" he laughed coldly.
Of course not!
If Thor had truly been insulted, those Asgardians would have been sharpening blades and preparing for war already.
Only he, even sitting on the throne, still had to endure their exclusion and unfair treatment.
Loki blamed all of it on Thor and Odin.
He believed it was precisely because Odin and Thor were not dead, because they were still alive, that the Asgardians would never truly acknowledge him as king.
They believed Thor would return one day to lead them into conquest again, and Odin would eventually awaken from slumber and restore Asgard's glory!
"Only when you're both dead can I truly become the King of Asgard!"
Loki took a deep breath, his face hidden in shadow.
At the same time, he understood he couldn't personally kill Odin. In Asgard, his every move was being watched.
But he also knew who wanted Odin to fall into eternal damnation more than anyone.
"Laufey… my father."
So Loki bypassed Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifrost, and found the crack he had previously used to reach Midgard. From there, he could travel freely to any place in the Nine Realms.
He tidied his appearance, forcing himself to look more imposing, then left silently.
What Loki didn't know was that every single move he made was still under Heimdall's gaze.
Jotunheim.
This was the realm of giants. Not only Frost Giants, but many different giants lived in this dimension. However, for countless years, the true rulers who opposed Asgard and dominated this realm were indeed the Frost Giants.
This world was covered in bitter ice and snow year-round. For most people, the climate was extreme, but when Loki stepped onto this land, he didn't feel much discomfort.
He lowered his head and glanced at his own arm, humiliation flashing in his eyes.
Frost Giant blood made him feel low and shameful, something he couldn't speak of. To anyone, Loki refused to reveal this secret.
So he wasn't here to acknowledge Laufey as family.
He was here to make a deal. Or rather, to use him.
He would have the giants kill Odin, while he himself would take the Destroyer to Earth and wipe out every Midgardian!
Naturally, that included his dear brother, Thor.
Loki felt this plan achieved multiple goals at once. Perfect. Flawless.
Once it succeeded, he would become Asgard's unquestioned new king. Odin would die along with the secret of Loki's origins. Midgard and Jotunheim would both be utterly destroyed…
And he, as Asgard's new king, would lead Asgard into a new world!
He would make everyone understand one thing.
"I am the one the people truly choose!"
Meanwhile, on Earth.
Coulson took out a medical kit and bandaged Steve's wound.
"Luckily it's not that serious. I don't have a second dose of serum on me," he said.
"Is that serum rare?" Steve asked, looking toward Thor, who was kneeling on the ground nearby like he'd lost his soul.
"Not much. Osborn hasn't officially put it on sale yet. Fury used his status to buy some early, but he wants to study the serum's structure. If he can crack it, then we won't have to pay to buy it anymore."
Steve nodded and didn't say anything.
But inside, he couldn't help thinking that what Nick Fury was doing wasn't all that different from HYDRA trying to steal the Super Soldier Serum formula.
"What about him?" Steve lifted his chin toward Thor.
"I don't know either. We'll talk once Fury gets here. I'm afraid he'll be detained," Coulson said.
"Fury is coming?" Steve asked.
/-\
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