The Ruthless Thanos, Frigga's Death, the Infinity Stones Finally Assembled

"What on earth is going on, Thanos?"

Vormir, covered in frost and snow.

Snowflakes drifting in the wind almost turned Hela's long hair white. After watching Beckett wave away the army that had been placed there to keep watch, she was puzzled and confused.

What was happening right now was a bit hard for her to process.

How did I end up in Vormir?

Why did we come here?

And what exactly did Thanos mean by what he just said?

"This is a deal, Hela."

"One, my deal with Thanos."

Before Thanos could speak, Frigga, who had reached out to wipe the snowflakes off Hela's face, had already taken over the conversation.

"Now that he has done it, it is time for me to keep my promise."

"A deal? A promise?"

Hela glanced suspiciously at Frigga and Thanos, then her gaze swept over the silent space around her. Suddenly realizing what Frigga meant, her expression changed drastically. "Wait, you?!"

"I love you, Hela."

"I know you might not believe it, but I truly love you. Whether it's you, Thor, or Loki, you are all my beloved ones, all my children."

"Back then, I did not stop Odin from sealing you away, and I have regretted it ever since."

"I often think that if I had been a little braver back then, just a tiny bit braver, to persuade Odin to sit down and have a proper talk with you, would things have turned out differently now?"

Frigga smiled gently and took Hela's hand for the first time since Hela was freed.

Just like back then.

"You hate your father, but you still love Asgard deeply."

"But the universe is far more complex than you know. I hope that in the future you will not be as impulsive as you were back then, and will think twice before you act."

Finally, this is my wedding gift to you.

"Please forgive me, I am unable to attend."

"It will stand in my place and watch you put on the most beautiful wedding dress in Asgard."

The cold necklace gradually became warmed by Hela's body temperature.

A dark glint flashed in Frigga's elegant eyes as she smiled and pried open Hela's fingers that were tightly gripping her arm. Under Thanos's gaze, she leaped off the cliff.

"No!!!!"

"No!!!!"

Her pupils dilated suddenly, and power gathered abruptly. The next second, Hela found herself trapped in the [Virtual Swamp], unable to move.

The resounding call seemed to rewrite the rules of the universe, and the sky above Vormir was turned upside down.

When Hela opened her eyes again, Hela was shocked to find that her surroundings had changed.

The snow-covered cliff is gone, and I am now in a cold pool of water.

In his hand, he also held a hard gemstone.

"Soul... Gem...?"

"Yes, the Soul Stone." Thanos's calm voice rang in Hela's ears, and a large hand, with a force that she could not resist, snatched the Infinity Stones that Frigga had traded her life for.

"Now, all six Infinity Stones are gathered."

In front of Hela, Thanos embedded the gem he had obtained into the only empty slot on the Infinity Gauntlet.

Boom!!!

An invisible wave of air instantly lifted Hela's long hair behind her shoulders and rippled the calm water.

"Roar!"

Waves of energy relentlessly assaulted Thanos's body, and even with Titan's formidable physique, he was still in a sorry state at this moment.

The agonizing roar subsided after three seconds. Thanos, his forehead beaded with cold sweat, looked at the six Infinity Stones neatly arranged on the back of his hand and a relieved smile appeared on his lips.

"Thanos!!!"

Clang!

Hela's frozen spear stopped just a step away from Thanos.

"This is a deal your mother made with me willingly, child."

With a light tap of her fingertip, the sharp spear melted away like snowflakes. Hela, motionless, could only stare blankly as her weapon vanished completely.

"After Dormammu abducted your mother to the Dark Order, a battle broke out between the two of them."

"Although the battle was stopped because of my intervention, your mother's body suffered irreversible damage as a result."

"My deal with your mother happened after that."

Thanos's words carried a hint of emotion.

"Dormammu?" Hela, having calmed down, still looked at Thanos with a gloomy gaze, and the scene from back then instantly flashed through her mind.

"Do you think Dormammu would be stupid enough to imprison Frigga, whom I kidnapped, in the same area as me?" Thanos, his hands behind his back, gazing at the setting sun about to sink into the Vormir Plains.

Although she was in a state of apparent death at that time, she was still aware of everything in the outside world.

She remembered that when Beckett brought her there, the scene she saw was indeed Thanos and Frigga confronting Dormammu.

"Beckett's breakthrough did not meet my expectations, so I began to look for new methods."

"After that, Beckett met someone on Sakaar."

"A person from two thousand years in the future, Thor Odinson from another timeline..."

"Beckett killed him and told me everything."

"After that, I had a guess. So I took the initiative to approach your mother and offered her a deal in exchange for your safety and Thor's increased strength."

"I promise that no matter what happens in the future, I will keep you safe."

"I promise that I will guide Thor Odinson to obtain the power of the World Tree and become the most powerful king in the history of the Nine Realms."

"And she was willing to jump off the cliff of Vormir, exchanging her already short life for the Soul Stone I needed."

A truth that Hela was unaware of slowly surfaced as Thanos recounted his story.

Thanos was never an unambitious person who preferred to enjoy the fruits of others' labor.

Now that he knew the conditions for obtaining the Soul Stone, he couldn't possibly be foolish enough to wait for Beckett's seduction plan to succeed.

He has his own way of doing things.

Although this method may seem heartless to outsiders.

"Then what do you mean by sending me to the core of the World Tree?"

"Would you like to be a witness to your plan?"

"I suppose so, but I just wanted you to verify my theory." Thanos nodded.

At that time, he wasn't entirely sure whether Thor from the other timeline had told the Thor in this timeline about absorbing the power of the World Tree.

He asked Hela to come over. If she didn't see Thor and successfully collect the power of the World Tree, Thanos would naturally cancel his deal with Frigga. But if she saw Thor he had absorbed the power of the World Tree, then he could have Hela as the witness.

After all, Frigga trusted Hela's character and believed she wouldn't lie.

No matter how you calculate it, Thanos, who took advantage of the information gap that "there is actually another timeline Thor," will never lose out.

The only regret might be Hela.

After such a plan came to an end, it was impossible for Hela not to harbor resentment towards him.

But so what?

Even though Hela is now practically his future daughter-in-law, Thanos still won't hesitate to use her.

"Thanos, you really..." Hela's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

Her personality and identity made her the perfect pawn in Thanos's plan.

From beginning to end, both she and Frigga were Thanos by Thanos's information gap scheme.

It was only now that Hela truly remembered Thanos's identity in this universe.

He was not only Beckett's father, but also a cosmic overlord who forged his name in blood and fire.

"On another timeline, I have already collected all six Infinity Stones."

"That's why Thor was able to travel through time back then."

"Now, I'm using the information gap he brought to collect all the gems again. Maybe it's fate."

Thanos looked down at the six neatly arranged gems on the Infinity Gauntlet and spoke calmly.

He, Thanos, was ultimately destined by fate.

No one could have predicted how Thanos would obtain the Soul Stone.

I was quite worried that someone would find out about this plan during the initial stages.