Each Takes What They Need

There was no need to say much more. Since Loki had appeared here now, his earlier death had naturally been faked. Otherwise, even if he was weaker than Thor, it would have been far too unbelievable for the mighty God of Mischief to die to a sneak attack from some insignificant grunt.

He had done it because Sif had mentioned that a big guy was about to show up. That made him think Hulk was coming, and after recalling some dizzying experiences he would rather forget, he decided to flee that place as quickly as possible.

He also knew that once this was over, he would be useless and would have to go back to being locked in a dungeon. Rather than lose his freedom later, he might as well shed his shell and escape now.

So Loki had directed and acted out a little play himself, scamming his brother as usual (1/1).

Not long after Thor and the others left, however, Odin's troops arrived. The moment Loki saw them, a bold thought flashed through his mind. Rather than live in exile, why not become king?

So he pulled another switcheroo. He caught an Einherjar off guard and killed him, transformed the corpse into his own, then disguised himself as that warrior and returned with the main force to report in. He even fought hard to earn the chance to give Odin the mission report alone.

The others did not suspect a thing. In fact, they were more than happy to have some sucker take on that job. They all knew that no matter how poorly Odin regarded Loki, he was still his son. Reporting to a father that his son had died—what kind of good assignment was that?

Besides, their squad had been ordered by the king to support