A Little Borrowing

Amid a nebula, Asgard looked beautiful and dreamlike, unreal yet imbued with an air of regal splendor.

The World Tree drew in energy from every realm, gathering it continuously toward the Bifrost control platform. Countless streams of light shimmered across the Bifrost's base.

On the observatory-like teleportation platform, a group of people were saying their goodbyes to Tao Yu.

"Hey, brother. Asgard is always happy to have you visit."

Thor glanced at the hammer hanging from Tao Yu's waist and gave him a hug.

"And you're always welcome on Earth."

Loki had been sent away, but the Bifrost was still there, so Thor could come to Earth whenever he liked.

Even though the World Tree had been corrupted, the Marvel Universe was an independent world, and its World Will wasn't a pushover. The corruption wouldn't spread too quickly.

The Ancient One, The Leader, and Heimdall had all, in a sense, brought trouble on themselves by deliberately reaching out to the Abyss.

Even the World Tree had been corrupted because its roots had burrowed into the Abyss.

With the danger posed by Heimdall taken care of, there was no immediate need to worry about Asgard.

Thinking about it, the situation had been pretty dangerous. Heimdall had been corrupted when Asgard was at its weakest.

If not for that brat Loki, Heimdall might have corrupted Odin, who could then have ridden out in the Destroyer, Gungnir in hand, and attacked Earth. That would have been a real headache.

Even simply blasting Earth with the Bifrost energy gathered by the World Tree would have been dangerous enough.

"Loki really did help us, actually. I'll go a little easier on him next time."

Thinking of Loki, whom he'd sent flying into the void with one blow from his hammer, Tao Yu shook his head.