A crimson-gold suit of armor shimmered with light, while the snow-white divine steed beneath him stood proud and spirited. The graying beard lent this god-king, who had slaughtered countless foes, a measure of serenity, yet his sharp gaze still carried an incomparable killing intent.
Odin, King of Asgard, was the supreme leader of the Asgardians and the instigator of this war across the Nine Realms.
"Odin, you shouldn't be here."
Stopping his chant of an ancient ballad, Laufey finally shifted his gaze away from Beckett and onto Odin.
"For your daughter, are you prepared to abandon Asgard?"
Under the guidance of an Asgardian traitor, the Dark Elf leader Malekith had already set foot upon the Bifrost. Yet Odin, far from the battlefield, had not immediately returned to Asgard and had instead appeared in Jotunheim. The only one who could make Odin do such a thing was likely Hela, his only daughter.
"Asgard will not be destroyed, nor will Malekith succeed. Asgard's Glory shall surely shine upon the Nine Realms. That is a fact long destined to come to pass. And my daughter is the only one who can hasten that destiny."
His grand, resonant voice was brimming with strength. There was no sign that the long journey or repeated slaughter had affected the Asgardian god-king in the slightest. Crimson-gold boots stepped onto frost-covered ground. Odin reached out to stroke his daughter's cheek, then beckoned with his right hand, calling Gungnir, which had sunk into the earth, back into his grasp.
To spread Asgard's Glory to every corner of the Nine Realms, Odin had cultivated a great many outstanding generals. His daughter Hela was, to this day, his most satisfactory creation.
Unless absolutely necessary, Odin would never abandon her.
"Father..."
Being valued so highly by her father Odin, Hela's heart was naturally filled with gratitude and happiness. Since childhood, she had forced herself to develop in the direction Odin most wished to see. What had it all been for?
Wasn't it all in the hope of seeing her father's approval?
Within this House of War, this was the only way Hela could feel Father's Love. To earn Odin's praise, Hela, who craved Father's Love, had displayed an extraordinary talent for warfare at a very young age.
While the children of Asgardian commoners were still enjoying family happiness with their parents and playing hide-and-seek with friends in every corner of Asgard, Princess Hela had once envied them. Yet in the end, she devoted herself completely to war filled with blood and fire.
Thus, Hela, the Goddess of Death, was born.
"Well done, child." A large hand patted Hela's shoulder, and Odin's divine power poured into her body. It repaired her internal injuries in an instant while also forcing out the miniature tracker Beckett had previously injected into her.
So that was it!
When she saw the tracker fall by her feet, Hela's pupils suddenly contracted. She immediately turned an angry gaze toward Beckett. But when her eyes met his, she unexpectedly discovered that the man before her was completely naked?
"Perhaps you do have an impressive physique, but I think you'd better put some clothes on now. My daughter is still watching, after all. Don't you agree, Beckett?"
Beckett did not answer. A black Battle Suit was thrown down from the warship by Woz, and in the blink of an eye, it covered Beckett's sharply defined muscles.
His original clothes had already been shredded when he transformed into a giant ape.
"You know me?"
After getting dressed, Beckett's gaze swept past the expressionless Laufey and the amused Hela before finally settling upon Odin, the god-king.
"Thanos's son, the fifth Heavenly King to rise among the four Heavenly Kings of the Dark Order. Since Thanos sent you out to act alone, you have never known defeat..."
One matter after another, one detail after another—Beckett had never imagined that, in this universe, anyone besides his adoptive father Thanos would know him so well.
"Don't look at me like that. You're Thanos's son. It isn't just me; practically every notable king in the universe knows this information."
With Thanos's golden reputation standing behind him, it was difficult for Beckett not to become famous.
"Is that so?" Beckett neither confirmed nor denied it, his gaze shifting to the expressionless Laufey. His meaning was obvious.
"Enough, Odin. You can take your daughter and leave now." With Odin present, Laufey knew he had no chance of laying a hand on Hela for the moment, so he cut off the conversation between Beckett and Odin.
He needed to free up his hands specifically to deal with Beckett.
In all his life, this was the first time Laufey had been tossed around like a punching bag. Did the king of the Frost Giants not have any pride?
Hela now had Odin, who had arrived to support her. Laufey could do nothing to her, so he could only vent his anger on Beckett, who was currently alone.
So what if he offended Thanos? The more debts one had, the less one feared them. If Thanos had the ability, let him bring his fleet and conquer Jotunheim.
If he could take it, Laufey would admit defeat.
Jotunheim had remained as steady as a mountain despite Odin's repeated bombardments over the years, much less against Thanos, whose base was not even within the Nine Realms.
Apprehension was still only apprehension.
Besides, Laufey did not believe that a brilliant ruler like Thanos would fight him to the death for Beckett, who was already as good as dead. At most, Thanos would make him deal with some trouble for a while.
Laufey had previously wanted to avoid unnecessary complications, but now, with towering fury surging through his heart, he no longer cared about this extra complication. He would make Beckett understand what the wrath of a king truly was.
Boom!
The moment Laufey finished speaking, rings of airwaves erupted beneath Beckett's feet as energy surged through him.
"A king?"
"Just you?"
Beckett raised his chin. His cold face was filled with arrogance and disdain. If he could throw Laufey once, he could throw him twice.
"What a fool who isn't afraid of death."
Watching Beckett remain as arrogant as ever, Hela pursed her lips and muttered to herself.
Laufey's raw power was inferior to Odin's, so how had he been able to contend against Odin for so long? It was because of those ancient secret arts in his possession.
In Hela's eyes, transforming into a giant ape should have been Beckett's final trump card. That power was indeed formidable, but before the secret arts in Laufey's hands, it probably was not enough.
"You let Hela Odinsdottir leave because Odin stands beside her. What, is the king of Jotunheim's giant race nothing more than a bully who fears the strong and preys upon the weak?"
A cold, indifferent voice rang through the heavens shortly after the energy around Beckett erupted.
A sharp Great Blade tore directly through Jotunheim's dim sky and plunged straight into the ground beside Beckett's feet.
Dazzling, shifting light descended from the heavens to the earth. A figure stepped through the swirling frost and snow, appearing before them all.
Golden armor, an indifferent gaze, and purple skin exposed beyond the armor outlined a mighty body.
The universe's last Eternal Titan, the Destroyer Overlord—Thanos.
Thanks to Below Me Is Super Delicious and Lonely Autumn Locked Deep Within the Wutong Courtyard for the tips~
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