Chapter 265 : Countless Infinity Stones!!

No one is satisfied with this fate.

Even Thor, who often found words of comfort for his brother, couldn't find the right ones for Loki this time.

Meanwhile, in the DC Universe's main world, Lucifer, once a mighty ruler of hell, felt a sense of shame he hadn't experienced in centuries. 

He had already seen through how corrupt the Time Keepers had become. This was the darkest presence in all the worlds, worse than any demon. Even Lucifer's own father, the Almighty God, wouldn't dare dictate the fates of others.

At this moment, Loki's expressionless eyes began to show some light. Rather than screaming in anger, he smiled with his usual grace, a calmness that only Thor knew hid something sinister. 

Whenever Loki smiled like this, it meant he was planning something dangerous.

Seeing through his brother's facade, Thor felt a hand on his shoulder, and Loki's voice whispered to him:

"Don't worry, I'm just taking a different approach this time."

"I've always enjoyed tearing up scripts."

With that, Loki turned away, as if speaking to himself, murmuring under his breath:

"Let me think, which one should I start tearing apart?"

"There it is."

"For instance, wouldn't the Dark Elves attack Asgard? This time, why don't we strike first?"

He turned to Odin with that mischievous smile and said:

"Father, you're too soft. You only sealed them away in the dark world, letting them survive."

"In my opinion, such vile and filthy scum shouldn't be allowed to live."

Odin's response was a mix of warmth for his son and suppressed rage. The King of the Gods, who hadn't fought in millennia, flashed a fierce grin.

His one eye burned with golden divine energy, shimmering with overwhelming power.

"Good!!"

"This time, we'll make sure they become history—wiped out for good!"

Odin raised Gungnir, and golden lightning streaked across the skies of Asgard, tearing through the very fabric of reality. A godly prison formed, capturing the essence of divine judgment.

(At the Time Variance Authority.)

[Loki had fallen to the ground, staring in shock at the screen in front of him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.]

[Just then, a female officer barged in, looking for Mobius.]

[Mobius and the officer stepped outside. She seemed displeased with what Mobius was doing, but then mentioned why she had come—an entire time patrol team had been wiped out.]

[Mobius quickly turned back, clearly worried, but as soon as he opened the door, he was dumbfounded.]

[Loki was nowhere to be found.]

["A cunning trickster," Mobius muttered, immediately realizing that Loki must have taken the controller for the time collar while Mobius was distracted.]

[...]

[The space flickered, and Loki appeared in a corridor. He'd used the time collar to jump back to a place he'd been earlier.]

[Loki moved cautiously, and it didn't take long before he spotted the man who had taken his Tesseract in the first place.]

[He felt a surge of excitement—if he could get the Tesseract, he could open a portal and escape this bizarre place.]

[Of course, he could also cause some chaos as payback.]

[He followed the man until he entered a room. Loki lunged forward, pinning the man to the ground, demanding he hand over the Tesseract.]

[Despite the man's odd demeanor and apparent unfamiliarity with threats, he obediently opened a drawer and handed Loki the Tesseract.]

[The familiar blue glow calmed Loki's nerves, but just as he was about to celebrate, he froze, his eyes widening in disbelief.]

[As the drawer's contents came into view, Loki was left speechless.]

[It was filled with various colored gems, casually tossed together as if they were toys.]

[Not just one or two, but a whole collection of Infinity Stones, lying in a drawer like cheap trinkets.]

The audience watching this scene felt a chill.

Infinity Stones.

A whole bunch of them, carelessly tossed into a drawer?

In Sanctuary II, Thanos wore an expression of confusion.

The things he'd spent his life searching for were just lying around in a drawer? In the possession of a low-level employee?

It was absurd.

In Kamar-Taj,

Dr. Strange stared at the four Time Stones before him, his mind beginning to cloud with confusion. The impact of this scene was overwhelming, something most people in the Marvel universe would find hard to accept.

"Loki asked, with a slight tremble in his voice, 'Infinity Stones? How can you have something like that?'" 

"The man dressed as an office clerk seemed unbothered, smiling as he replied, 'We have plenty of these. Some people use them as paperweights.'"

"Paperweights? Loki fell silent, unsure how to react. These stones were the source of endless conflict across the universe, the reason countless beings and factions had fought and died. 

And this guy had them lying around as paperweights? Loki wanted to scream, to demand how they could take something so important and treat it so trivially. 

But instead, he simply asked another question, his voice dry and cracked. 'Is this the most powerful force in the entire universe?'"

"The clerk nodded casually, as if answering a simple math problem. Loki felt as though he had asked a question with an obvious answer, like whether 1+1 equals 2. The man's indifference was unsettling."

After silently repeating the clerk's words to himself, Dr. Strange turned to the Ancient One, who seemed just as perplexed. "Is this really the most powerful force in the universe?" he asked.

Dr. Strange had always believed that the power of the Vishanti was the strongest in existence, and he had dismissed the likes of Thanos without a second thought. But the presence of so many Infinity Stones had shattered his convictions.

The Ancient One gave a strained smile, unable to provide a clear answer. She, too, was at a loss for words.

[BOOM]

The door swung open abruptly, and the black lady officer burst in with a squad of soldiers. 

In a rush, Loki manipulated time, whisking himself back to Mobius' office, just as the search party swarmed in, finding it empty.

As if by chance, Loki's gaze fell upon the projector. After a moment's contemplation, he strode over and pressed play.

This time, witnessing his mother Frigga's demise, the frost giant who had never shed a tear finally wept.

The reel continued until another significant figure in his life met their end.

On the shore, Odin, now resembling a frail old man in his dying moments, relinquished his regal demeanor. 

With unexpected tenderness, he uttered words never spoken before: "I love you, my children."

With those parting sentiments, the erstwhile master of the ninth realm transformed into golden divine energy, dispersing into the ether. 

Amidst the pool of divine essence, Loki and Thor shared a somber gaze at Odin's departure.

Their sorrow at the end of his life mingled with the poignancy of his final words.

Finally, Loki's Frost Giant heart began to thaw.

Previously, he had never considered Odin's love as genuine, dismissing it as a concession to the Frost Giants. 

Yet, it dawned upon him that this man, who had always exuded sovereignty, indeed regarded him as a son.

Compared to when he relinquished Gungnir, Odin's spear, and plummeted into the void, the old king must have been profoundly heartbroken.

The very next moment, as Odin breathed his last, a dormant seal seemed to shatter, and a verdant aura emerged.

A woman clad in dark green attire materialized.

"Didn't even know I had a sister," Loki mused.

"That's marvelous, Father. Where is she?" Thor inquired eagerly.

In the next second, Hela smirked and effortlessly crushed Thor's hammer with one hand!

Thor's smile faded as quickly as it came. He gulped nervously and stammered:

"Father, are you sure she's not adopted?"

****

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