The strange phenomenon on Blue Planet vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Soon, the fiery red meteors disappeared beyond the horizon, and Thor withdrew his gaze.
His expression, however, looked grim.
He had never expected Tony to move so quickly. He had only just returned to Blue Planet, and already the Gods had fallen.
That sent his previously steady mood spiraling into panic.
His steps quickened involuntarily, and he hurried to the nursing home where Odin was recuperating.
Ignoring the guard's attempts to stop him, Thor barged inside and found Odin lying in a rocking chair in the courtyard.
"Father."
Thor called softly.
Odin did not turn around. His body continued to sway with the rocking chair.
Thor did not straighten up either, remaining in his posture of greeting.
Only after a long while did a sigh escape Odin's lips.
"Was it Hela?"
"No."
"Hm?"
Odin abruptly sat up, then looked at Thor and asked gravely, "What happened?"
He had assumed Hela had made her move, but things seemed different from what he had imagined.
As the King of the Gods, he could not predict the future, but he did have a certain intuition about most things.
That was precisely why he had allowed Loki to exile him so easily.
Of course, it had been more of a self-imposed exile.
He had sensed that Hela would soon return and bring a great calamity upon Asgard, which was why he had made that choice.
After all, Hela was his daughter too. Even a tiger would not eat its own cubs. He did not want to fight her, so he had simply chosen to keep out of sight and out of mind.
That was also why he had never returned to Asgard.
But now, things were clearly different from what he