Chapter 206: God Descends! (1)
Chapter 206: God Descends! (1)
Under the cover of night, Asgard is a city of dazzling gold, with the rainbow light of the setting sun shining on the high-rise buildings in a scale-like pattern. From above, the classical arches cast shadows like dense combs, and Viking-style patterns and sculptures can be seen everywhere, adding wild and passionate charm to the city.
The tavern owner leaned against a barrel, dozing off, while a big guy took off his helmet with horns and placed it on the table, making a light sound that woke up the tavern owner. He pulled his braided beard and looked up, seeing the light of the sunset shining through the narrow doorway, sharp like a shining sword.
Outside the door, a carriage flew low along the street, and the neighing of the celestial horses echoed, causing many people to open their windows and watch as the royal carriage stirred up dust.
Arriving at the entrance to the palace, the towering guards were dressed in golden armor and held weapons that were taller than the archway. When they saw someone coming, the two palace guards crossed their weapons and blocked the gate.
Loki walked out of the carriage, and the two palace guards knelt down and bowed to him. The sound of armor collision mixed with their deep voices rang out, "Your Highness, welcome back."
Loki nodded and got off the carriage, then walked through the archway of the bridge.
The bridge leading to the palace was so long that it couldn't be seen at a glance. Compared with the tall buildings of Asgard, Loki's figure appeared very small. He walked through the shadows of one arch after another and arrived at the stairs of the palace before the radiance completely dissipated.
Climbing up the layers of stairs, the water from the fountain lightly touched his cheeks with the coolness of the night. The fairies flew out of the fountain on the platform and bowed to Loki.
The laughter of the goddesses in the distance came over. These goddesses who showed bravery on the battlefield were now weaving flower crowns with laurel branches. When they saw Loki walking up, one of the goddesses bowed to him and said, "Your Highness, the father of the gods invites you to go directly to the highest level's living room."
The goddess wore a pure white long dress. After she walked up to him, she whispered to Loki, "The Supreme Sorcerer from Earth is also here. The god king asks you to change clothes first and then go."Loki smiled and nodded at her. His handsome appearance made the nearby goddesses blush, giggling and hiding behind the fountain.
Arriving at the entrance of the palace, the two armored statues at the main entrance moved and then returned to calm when they saw that it was Loki.
Walking into the incredibly spacious and magnificent hall, dozens of pillars extended forward one after another. The glass facing the setting sun was covered with golden grids, and the shadows on the ground were cut into golden fragments.
Loki walked through the hall and turned right into a corridor where two rows of green plants were placed. After passing through the passage, a pointed arch slowly opened, and the floor began to rise after Loki walked up.
Standing in the elevator, Loki looked out through the transparent elevator cabin. On the square on the side of the palace, many Asgardian warriors were sparring.
As night fell, hot grilled meat was brought on trays, and the goddesses carried baskets of bread and fresh fruit on their heads. Children carried water pots filled with spring water. When the bonfire was lit, the noise became even louder. Even though it was so far away, the lively atmosphere could still be felt.
Loki had been busy for a long time and hadn't stayed in Asgard for a while. Returning here again, he felt that nothing had changed, but it seemed that everything had changed.
The elevator shook lightly, and the door in front of Loki slowly opened. He walked out, and his boots made a light sound on the smooth floor.
Coming to his own bedroom door, two court guards opened the door for him. After Loki walked in, he looked at the unchanging bedroom and felt a little relaxed.
He couldn't say when he began to tire of everything here and began to urgently seek excitement for himself. But he also couldn't say when he began to miss the peaceful life of Asgard.
When he came out of the dressing room, Loki changed out of his dusty travel clothes and put on his robe instead.
Asgardian clothing always included elements of armor. Even the robes were made of lightweight armor, with an additional outer cloak and cape adorned with intricate patterns.
Loki hesitated for a moment, took his wand, but didn't wear his helmet. Then he walked out of the door.
Once again, he boarded the elevator and arrived at the very top of the palace. This was the residence of the god king Odin, but Loki first met the goddess Frigga.
The goddess was also wearing a blue dress, with her long hair tied back with golden jewelry. Loki walked over and bowed to her. "The Supreme Sorcerer of Earth has arrived, and the other dimension lords will come later," Frigga said, holding Loki's hand.
"Your father will formally introduce you to them. I think you know what to do. Oh, and..." Frigga looked at Loki and said, "Where is your helmet? Why aren't you wearing it?"
"Forget it..." Frigga seemed to remember something and said to Loki, "Your newly made crown is ready. I'll have someone bring it over later."
Before Loki could say anything, Frigga said goodbye and hurried off to attend to other matters. Loki thought about catching up with her, but he turned his head back towards the direction of the reception room.
When he pushed open the door, only Odin and the Ancient One were in the room. Loki bowed to Odin.
Odin, who was in conversation with the Ancient One, stopped when he saw his youngest son enter the room and nodded at Loki, which made Loki feel surprised and honored.
Odin had the rugged aura of a cosmic conqueror from his early years. He was a powerful emperor and a serious father. Thor and Loki rarely received approval from him, especially Loki.
Loki was not the kind of hero that Asgardians loved the most. He was not as strong or muscular as Thor. Although his handsome appearance made him popular among goddesses, Loki rarely received attention from the Allfather in formal occasions.
Or rather, when Odin was present, the two princes were just supporting characters. When it came to talking about military achievements, Thor would get a little more attention, but he was still just a supporting character in grand scenes. Odin was always the focus of the gods.
Loki always felt that the king of the gods was unfair and that he favored Thor. But when Odin, the true father of the gods, paid attention to him, Loki still felt very nervous.
"Where is your helmet?"
Loki did not look up. He maintained his bowing position and glanced at Odin's expression. Then he half-knelt down and said, "Mother sent someone to get the newly made crown, but it hasn't been delivered yet."
"The helmet is the most important symbol of honor for Asgardian warriors," Odin said, and then ordered the guards behind him to bring Loki's helmet.
Loki held his staff tightly, feeling both surprised and fearful. This was the first time he had heard Odin call him an "Asgardian warrior."
At this time, the voice of the Ancient One came, "How is the situation in the Andromeda galaxy?"
Loki looked at Odin's expression and saw that he was not dissatisfied. He stood up and said to the Ancient One, "I just came back from there. The structure of the Clint planet is very peculiar. It has been transformed into a prison by those parasites."
"There are too many symbiotes living there. If I break in directly, I will definitely be discovered. So I found an opportunity to sneak in and found that the cage was indeed very strong. The symbiote god, Knull, who was imprisoned there, showed no signs of being able to escape."
"What about his power?"
"It did overflow a little. I tampered with the cage and destroyed its stability, making it easier for Knull's power to break through."
"You did a good job."
Odin's voice came, and Loki felt his heart almost jump out of his chest. He had never been praised like this by the Allfather before.
"When the seed of Knull's power entered, you should have noticed it, right?" The Ancient One asked Odin.
"When that symbiote brought Knull's power into the Nine Realms, I originally wanted to intercept it directly. But later, I found that if he opened the channel and projected his power, I would gain more. So I didn't stop him. Later, the cosmic agents found me and wanted to enter the Nine Realms. I knew that they would have to fight each other."
"I originally planned to cut off the channel and intercept part of Knull's power projection to use it for myself, but your student came up with a big plan..."
Odin glanced at the Ancient One and continued, "Just cutting off the channel and intercepting the power is not enough for our appetite."
"The development of things is faster than I imagined," the Ancient One exclaimed, "I sensed that a power was directly attacking Earth's defense system, but I couldn't guess who dared to do so."
"Then I called you," Odin smiled and said, "and it turned out to be an ancient relic that had been asleep for thousands of years, but only such a person dares to come up with an idea here, right?"
"He came at a good time," the Ancient One also smiled, "if it was before, I would have the same plan as yours, waiting for him to project part of his power before cutting off the channel."
Loki listened below and was a little confused, but he didn't dare to ask. At this moment, the Ancient One suddenly moved and took out a mobile phone from her robe, saying to the other side, "Really?... No, I'm fine. I'm at Asgard's palace. Do you want to come over?... Forget it, just come over."
Hanging up the phone, the Ancient One said to Odin, "My student Strange is coming over. Can you use the Rainbow Bridge to pick him up?"
A few minutes later, the guard led Strange to the reception room. Seeing his more bewildered expression than his own, Loki knew that the automatic questioning machine had arrived.
"What's going on?" Strange looked around and found that the other three seemed to be confident.
"Loki, you explain it to him," Odin said.
Loki was stunned for a moment. He really wanted to say that he was busy running his business during this time and didn't understand what the plan was.
But he had just been praised by Odin, he couldn't drop the ball now, right?
So the brain of this deceitful god began to work frantically, the Totem Wealth Project, Knull's Seed of Power, Odin sending him to investigate the Valkyrie constellation, the arrival of the Ancient One...
All things were linked together, and soon Loki figured out a general idea.