Over a hundred thousand!
Excitement surged through Hermione.
That was far more than she had painstakingly saved up before.
She had struck it rich in one go!
Sure enough, nothing beat using a weapon of mass destruction like the Bifrost.
Too bad it was a one-shot deal.
Even if it hadn't been destroyed, Odin would never have let her use it again.
Besides, the magical power contained in the Bifrost was too immense for an ordinary Mending Charm to repair it.
Still... harvesting so much soul energy had been worth it!
Her plan had been a success.
Now she needed to consider how to deal with the aftermath.
The blast wave swept toward her.
Hermione waved her wand and cast a shield over herself.
Meanwhile.
The shock wave from the Bifrost's explosion ravaged everything around it, blasting Loki and Thor off their feet.
Helpless to resist, they were dragged toward the spatial distortion by the collapsing space the Bifrost had created.
At the last possible moment, a figure appeared out of thin air.
Odin!
He arrived just in time and caught Thor.
With a light flick of Hermione's wand, invisible magic became an orange-red whip that pulled Loki back from the edge of the spatial collapse.
"Why?"
Odin's voice was low and commanding, with a trace of exhaustion he could not hide.
"I did it," Loki said, looking at Odin. "For you, for everyone. I rid Asgard of a great threat."
"No."
Odin slowly shook his head, his voice filled with disappointment.
He did not approve.
The light faded from Loki's eyes. He gave Hermione a long, meaningful look, as though saying:
You were right.
He conjured the Casket of Ancient Winters and handed it to Hermione.
That, too, had been part of their deal.
The next second, he leaped