Only Routines Win Hearts

As All-Father Odin, the All-Father's Vault gods, sighed in despair, Loki, the third son of All-Father Odin, arrived at the treasure vault of Asgard. Along the way, Loki paid no attention to any of the other treasures, because they were utterly worthless compared to the truth Loki wanted to know!

The story begins with Loki's scheme against Thor. Loki coveted the position of Asgard All-Father, but Loki always felt that All-Father Odin, should pay more attention to Thor, even though Thor was also Inheritors to Asgard, a prince of Asgard born to be king, and Son of Odin!

Moreover, as someone who grew up with Thor, Loki knew Thor very well. He knew clearly that a brute like Thor could only be a general who expanded territory, and was definitely not a good king!

Therefore, Loki plotted against Thor, luring him to Jotunheim, where the Frost Giant resided, causing Thor to wage war against Frost Giant and breaking the long-standing peaceful standoff between the two realms.

Loki did succeed. Thor was even more brainless than Loki had imagined, but Loki was not happy. Even when Thor was later banished to Earth by All-Father Odin, for this, Loki showed no joy whatsoever.

Because Loki was captured by the Frost Giant in Jotunheim, the terrifying icy power emanating from the Frost Giant did not freeze Loki's body. Instead, it caused a similar icy power to subtly awaken within Loki's body!

Loki was terrified at the time, and even now, that Loki hasn't subsided, because it seemed to mean that he wasn't Asgardians, but that he had the blood of the Frost Giant!

This was something Loki couldn't accept. He always considered himself Asgardians, the Son of Odin All-Father, and the future Inheritors to Asgard. Because of this, he secretly competed with Thor, wanting to outperform Thor and gain All-Father Odin's attention and approval...

But now, if he truly possessed the blood of the Frost Giant, then all his previous efforts would have been a joke. All-Father Odin, would never allow a Frost Giant to become the next All-Father of Asgard!

"It can't be real, maybe it's because of the magic on me..." At this moment, Loki walked to the location of the Ice Casket in the All-Father's Vault Casket of Ancient Winters. This Casket of Ancient Winters is a divine artifact passed down through generations of the Frost Giant. It contains almost inexhaustible frost energy. Once fully activated, it can even freeze an entire planet to transform the surrounding environment into the state that the Frost Giant prefer.

Moreover, the Frost Giant almost succeeded in transforming Earth into a frozen world, but unfortunately, they were defeated by All-Father Odin, leading the Asgard army.

Afterwards, All-Father Odin, led his army into Jotunheim, defeated Laufey, the King of the Frost Giants, and seized the Casket of Ancient Winters, which became a collectible in the All-Father's Vault...

Loki's reason for arriving at the Casket of Ancient Winters was simple: if he were truly the Frost Giant, he could certainly access the power within the Casket of Ancient Winters!

With a "whoosh," Loki, the God of Lies, continued to deceive himself with lies. However, when Loki grasped the Casket of Ancient Winters, all the lies became ineffective, because the power of the Casket of Ancient Winters had surged into Loki's body, causing the Frost Giant bloodline within Loki to awaken. Loki seemed to transform into an Avatar, and his entire face began to turn blue.

"Sigh!" Just then, All-Father Odin, appeared beside Loki. He looked at Loki and sighed helplessly, not knowing what to say for a moment. Especially when All-Father Odin saw the complex changes in Loki 'All-Father Odin expression, including pain, confusion, resentment, hatred, and sadness, he couldn't find the words he was about to say.

At this moment, All-Father Odin, felt that there might really be something wrong with his parenting methods; otherwise, it wouldn't make sense that all three of his children had personality problems. Perhaps the problem wasn't with the children...

"Are you here to laugh at me?" Loki heard the commotion, turned around, and saw All-Father Odin. His body trembled slightly, and he gritted his teeth, looking at All-Father Odin and asking in a deep voice. At the same time, he forcibly suppressed the changes in his body. He didn't want anyone to see him in his current Frost Giant form, not even All-Father Odin!

"How could I laugh at you? You are my child!" All-Father Odin, said, looking at Loki with some heartache.

"Ha! I'm not your child. I've never been the Son of Odin, the All-Father, nor am I Asgardians. I'm the son of the Frost Giant!" Loki felt no warmth upon hearing All-Father Odin's address; instead, he roared even more furiously, "Born to be king? That's all a lie! I'm just a tool you used to make Thor feel threatened!"

"I never intended to do that..." All-Father Odin, looked at Loki and slowly shook his head, saying softly, "The saying 'born to be king' isn't a lie. You are my son, and you are equally qualified to inherit the throne..."

"Then hand over the throne to me!" Hearing this familiar line, Loki angrily interrupted All-Father Odin. However, Loki quickly realized something was amiss. He stared into All-Father Odin's eyes with a look of sudden realization, then a bitter smile appeared on his lips. His body trembled slightly, and he almost lost his balance, but he managed to steady himself. He looked at All-Father Odin with a sorrowful and pained expression and said...

"So that's what you meant, huh? Born to be king, huh? You truly are All-Father Odin! You've got a brilliant plan! You nurtured me, the son of the Frost Giant, then had me lead the Asgard army to conquer Jotunheim, making me the King of the Frost Giants, Thor the King of Asgard. What a 'born to be king' plan! Hahahaha..."

As Loki spoke, he laughed maniacally, no longer concealing his abnormality, allowing the power of his Frost Giant bloodline to fully manifest, and appearing before All-Father Odin, in the form of Frost Giant.

Upon hearing Loki's deduction of his original plan, All-Father Odin, stared blankly at the mad Loki, his heart also aching. He wanted to say that he had abandoned the plan, that he had come to regard Loki as his true son after so many years of raising him, but All-Father Odin, did not know how to say it.

Especially since All-Father Odin, couldn't prove what he said, sometimes sincerity alone isn't enough to solve problems; a bit of strategy is needed...

"Ugh!" All-Father Odin, looked at Loki's appearance, his eyes flashing with pain. Then his face turned pale, and his entire body collapsed, his breathing becoming rapid.

"Father?!" Upon seeing All-Father Odin's appearance, Loki's expression changed drastically, and he instinctively rushed over. Looking at the weakened All-Father Odin's eyes were filled with confusion. He didn't understand why All-Father Odin had been perfectly fine just moments before, had suddenly become so weak.

Loki had never seen All-Father Odin of All-Father Odin looked old, his physique was definitely robust. It was only because of the way he was dressed that his All-Father Odin's physique wouldn't be any worse than All-Father Odin 'Thor...

"Loki, protect Asgard..." As Loki lunged at him, a hint of relief flashed in All-Father Odin's eyes, but he looked increasingly weak. He only managed to grab Loki's hand and say a few words before collapsing into the air.

"Guards! Guards! Come in quickly! Father has fainted!" Loki was startled by All-Father Odin's words and hurriedly shouted towards the outside of the All-Father's Vault.

News of All-Father Odin's collapse spread throughout the Palace of Asgard. Asgard physicians quickly examined All-Father Odin's body, while Frigga waited anxiously nearby, and Loki remained silent.

"What happened? Why did Father faint?" After a long while, Loki stared at the physician and asked in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty is already very old. Even gods are not immortal..." The physician shook his head and said softly, "Asgard gods can continuously increase their divine power over time, but the physical body does not have this characteristic. Instead, it will continue to age, which will place an increasingly heavy burden on Your Majesty's body..."

"Furthermore, based on our examination, His Majesty has been experiencing significant mood swings recently, even showing signs of exhaustion. It seems that he suddenly became overly emotional, causing him to faint..."

"When will he wake up?" Loki asked, looking at All-Father Odin. All-Father Odin was no longer as majestic as before; he was now just a sick old man on his deathbed. After a moment of silence, Loki finally spoke.

"I don't know. His Majesty needs to enter Odinsleep to heal his own body. Any external force could weaken him further, and we dare not intervene rashly..." The physician shook his head and said apologetically, "We have disappointed Your Highness and the Queen of Asgard."

"It's alright, you can all go. I'll take care of Odin, it'll be fine..." Frigga slowly shook her head and said softly, "Loki, you should go too. Thor isn't here, you are the only Inheritors to Asgard. Asgard needs you to stabilize the situation. Go, don't disappoint your father..."

"I understand." Loki hadn't expected that the throne of the All-Father he had once dreamed of would now be handed to him like this. It could only be said that things are unpredictable. Even if this did not mean that he had completely inherited the throne of the All-Father of Asgard, the position of acting king was still that of a king. For a while, only Loki's voice would be heard in Asgard!

"When do you plan to wake up?" After Loki left, Frigga shook her head, grasped the unconscious All-Father Odin, and asked.

"Let's wait and see! We should at least wait until Thor regains the approval of Mjolnir..." All-Father Odin, paused for a moment, observed Thor who had already begun training in combat skills, and said in a low voice.

"Is it really okay for you to deceive Loki like this?" Frigga's eyes flickered slightly as she whispered a reminder.

"What could I do? Even after living all these years, I couldn't think of a second solution at the time..." All-Father Odin, sighed helplessly and said softly, "He had already gone mad at the time, and he wouldn't believe anything I said, so I had no choice but to resort to this tactic to divert his attention!"

"What if he finds out the truth in the future?" Frigga asked in a low voice, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes.

"Do you think he didn't guess?" All-Father Odin, shook his head, looking at Loki sitting on All-Father throne. "At first, he was definitely worried about me, but now he might have already guessed the truth. After all, he's always been very clever..."

"However, even if he guesses the truth, it doesn't matter. This is exactly what I want to tell him. I did want him to become the king of the Frost Giant before, to pave the way for Asgard's complete conquest of the Nine Realms. But now, I'm willing to let him become the king of Asgard, as long as he can truly gain my approval!"

"I'm afraid he'll still get stuck in his own head!" Frigga's eyes flickered slightly as she sighed softly. "After all, he's always seen Thor as a rival; changing that so quickly won't be easy..."

"Let's see... Hmm?" All-Father Odin, was looking at Loki when he suddenly paused, then sighed softly, "As expected!"

"Loki, His Majesty is critically ill. Should we summon Thor back to Asgard?" In the Palace of Asgard, just as Loki held the Gungnir, feeling the overwhelming power emanating from the Asgard All-Father, Loki, along with Thor's companions—or more precisely, Thor's Warriors Three and Sif— entered and addressed Loki.

"Who are you speaking to?" Upon hearing Thor's name, a cold glint flashed in Loki's eyes. He fixed his gaze on Sif and the other three below, tapped the Gungnir lightly on the ground, and said in a deep voice, "Look at Gungnir in my hand and answer me!"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty..." Hogun bowed slightly to Loki and said softly, "We just felt that under these circumstances, Thor was not suited to be training outside. It would be better for him to return as soon as possible. After all, the Asgardians would not want to see Thor absent from Asgard at this time..."

"I'm glad you acknowledge me as Your Majesty. Therefore, my first order as All-Father of Asgard is to forbid Thor from returning to Asgard! Because Father was driven to this state by this unfilial son!" Loki smiled, looking at the Warriors Three and his wife, and said in a deep voice, "Who among you agrees with my new king's order, and who disagrees?"