Lorelei's first-phase mission had been completed smoothly.
Learning about Hliskjálf was only part of it. She had also obtained the Golden Palace's defensive deployment maps and terrain plans. This was essential information for the second phase of the mission, and under normal circumstances, it was difficult to acquire through divination, because the entire Golden Palace was protected by powerful magic. Forcing the issue would likely require certain sacrifices.
Following the Emperor's method, Lorelei established an interstellar merchant association. With the assistance of the Kamar-Taj embassy, she gradually mapped out the defensive arrangements of every hall in the Golden Palace, starting with low-ranking officials and using bribery, intimidation, kidnapping, and other means. The most important of them, the Silver Hall, had become the place most thoroughly infiltrated by Lorelei because of Hliskjálf's presence and Hliskjálf's own unique nature. This council chamber, frequented by countless Asgardians and Vanir, had been laid bare to her.
She had even assembled a mercenary force made up of refugees from Asgardian colonies. This was hardly difficult for her. It was not her first time recruiting mercenaries and raising an army against Asgard, and she had used her magic to beguile hearts and minds many times before. But this mission had gone exceptionally smoothly. She had barely needed magic at all—she merely arranged for people to deliver speeches in colonies suffering from riots, recite several passages from the "Unified Truth," and ship in some food. Then she found herself with soldiers. This was not merely because Kamar-Taj had provided substantial financial support, but because Asgard's taxes had grown increasingly harsh in recent years. The effects of Fimbulwinter had first appeared in Asgard, and reduced food production was among its least noticeable consequences.
Yet in order to sustain Asgard's enormous volume of trade, the tithes Asgardians extracted from