Ch: 131-140
Chapter 131: Loki vs. the Ancient One
Five years of free Dimensional Power—naturally, the Ancient One intended to make the most of it.
So she had the mages of Kamar-Taj stop worrying about exhausting their Dimensional Power the moment Mephisto began supplying it. For those five years they were to push their magic as far as they could.
That's why no one in Kamar-Taj trains in hand-to-hand anymore—they spend every drop of Dimensional Power they can lay hands on to hone their spells!
It gnawed at Mephisto in the Hell Dimension until his fangs itched.
'I forbid you, old crone, to touch my power—so you let your disciples run wild with it, eh?'
'Fine, Ancient One—just you wait. Thirty years on Earth, thirty in Hell—never mock a demon for biding his time!'
'The day you leave Earth, I'll take back every ounce—with interest!'
No—by then the entire planet will be mine!
Did you really think a demon's gift comes free?
But did the Ancient One fail to foresee Mephisto's reprisal for Kamar-Taj's flagrant drain of his realm's power?
Of course she had—and with the Time Stone she had already glimpsed part of the outcome.
On that day she would be gone (uncertain), Mephisto would crawl from Hell and set foot on Earth, and his opponent would be… the 'Omni-Man' bearing titles such as Supreme Sorcerer of Kamar-Taj, Dual Patron God, Lord of the Shadow Dimension, Lord of the Twelve Zodiac Signs, and Master of the Infinity Stones—Karl Fisk, a God among Gods who lacked nothing.
So she feared no retaliation. Five years might pass in the blink of an eye for most, changing little.
But for Karl, favored child of the Universe, it would be enough to transform his power beyond recognition.
All of that, however, was five years away.
Right now she had to help Karl deliver a sound lesson to the second prince of Asgard.
'So you're the so-called greatest mage in the cosmos? Doesn't look like much to me.'
The Ancient One lifted her gaze to find Loki glaring—three parts scorn, three parts defiance, and ninety-four parts raring to fight.
Though she felt Karl's title of 'greatest mage in the cosmos' rather ostentatious, the Ancient One raised her teacup and replied coolly,
'I wouldn't claim first place, but compared with your little parlor tricks I'm stronger by a mere hundred million points.'
'Ha?!' Loki laughed in sheer outrage.
Karl had called his magic sleight-of-hand, and he had to swallow that because he couldn't beat Karl.
But what gave this bald woman the right to belittle his sorcery?
He was the rightful new king of Asgard—no one stepped on him!
'Greatest mage in the cosmos, is it? Fine—kill you and the title's mine!'
Loki's eyes flashed with his trademark sly grin. With a flick of his wrists a dagger appeared in each hand and he charged.
He'd make this damned bald woman see red—white blade in, red blade out!
While every Kamar-Taj mage still learned close-quarters combat, that had been only when funds were tight.
Now that Mephisto had made the coffers overflow, the Ancient One saw no need to model herself as a melee mage.
She simply traced a circle at Loki's feet with one finger. The sprinting godling stepped into empty air, loosed a Tom-and-Jerry shriek, and plunged through the portal.
His destination—no surprise—was ten thousand meters straight above Kamar-Taj.
Even among Asgardian Gods flight is rare, and Loki happened to lack it.
All he could do was scream in free fall.
And not just once.
Each time he neared the ground a fresh portal yawned beneath him, whisking him back up to ten thousand meters—rinse and repeat.
Inside Kamar-Taj the Ancient One poured Karl a cup of tea, then with a wave produced a Go board across the table. 'A game?'
'Sure—my turn.' Karl sat, took black without ceremony, and slapped his first stone on the tengyi star point.
The Ancient One answered with a white stone and asked, 'Planning to subjugate Loki and make him your puppet king of Asgard?'
Karl placed a second black stone beside the first and smiled.
'Exactly. Originally I meant to groom the empty-headed Thor, but after meeting him I changed my mind.'
'He's even dumber than I expected; turning him into a usable puppet king would be almost as tough as conquering Asgard outright.'
'Loki's personality has flaws, but if I exploit them he'll be easier to manage than Thor. Best of all, he's clever—saves me a lot of work.'
The Ancient One sighed.
'You criticize Loki's flaws, yet laziness is your own biggest shortcoming. A bit more diligence and your strength could rise another level.'
That stung. Karl objected,
'Not diligent enough? I've been planning my future since birth. At one month old I landed a godfather with more power than most nations. These last years I've kept building my might and expanding my influence, barely resting—how is that lazy?'
In his view he already outworked ninety percent of Marvel transmigrators.
The Ancient One shook her head. 'For an ordinary person you'd be exceptional, but you're different.'
'You were born a Lord of the Dimension. You need no sleep to restore your spirit; you rest only from sloth.'
'If you spent your days as a God and your nights as Lord of Shadows—twenty-four hours a day forging power and influence—you'd be a third stronger than you are now.'
Karl:???
Listen to her—listen!
Was that even human speech?
Twenty-four-hour nonstop grind—what kind of uber-workhorse was she asking for?
Why transmigrate as a young master at all? Might as well ship off to Warhammer and become a wetware cog!
He strove for strength and built empires precisely so he could enjoy life; if all one did was chase power, what was the point of living?
So he rolled his eyes, slammed a black stone onto the board, and declared, 'Just because you've worked like a horse for centuries doesn't mean I have to. I win.'
The Ancient One stared at the five black stones in a row and twitched. 'We're playing Go!'
Chapter 132: Loki Submits, the Soul-Ejecting Palm
Karl shrugged and said, "You just said to play a game, you didn't say which one. Go and Gomoku both use black and white pieces, don't they?"
Ancient One gave him a deadpan look: "But this is a Go board."
Karl raised an eyebrow: "Oh, you didn't say so earlier. You should've said something. If you'd said something earlier, I would've known, wouldn't I?"
Seeing Karl's shameless attitude, Ancient One said with a forced smile, "Then I'm telling you now that we're playing Go. Let's have another round and see who wins."
Karl didn't fall for it. He crossed his arms and tilted his chin up high:
"No way. As Earth's Chess Saint, don't I have a reputation to uphold? You say one more game, and I just do it?"
"I only play once a day, and I've already played today. If you want to challenge me, Go to the Justice League and make an appointment with my secretary first!"
Ancient One: (╯°mouth°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Sore loser, little trash!
She never expected that after a lifetime of scheming against Lords of the Dimension, she'd be out-schemed by a little guy today. It was actually... wonderful!
She finally had a worthy successor!
Ancient One was very satisfied with Karl's flexible principles and quick-witted nature.
In an organization, members can follow rules strictly, but as a leader, you sometimes can't be that rigid, or the organization definitely won't last long.
And what Kamar-Taj lacked now was exactly such a new Sorcerer Supreme who could break conventions.
Especially one who, even if he broke the rules, could talk black into white, leaving other sorcerers speechless or even completely convinced.
This was something she felt she couldn't do herself.
But she saw this possibility in Karl.
Because Karl was truly shameless, his skin was incredibly thick!
So this round, while it looked like she was playing Go with Karl, was actually just a part of her seemingly casual testing.
And she was very satisfied with the result.
Ancient One waved her hand, and the Go board on the table instantly vanished.
Then, with a 'thud' of something heavy hitting the floor, a portal appeared in the room, and Lokitumbled out.
"Ten minutes! I've been falling for ten whole minutes!"
Loki scrambled up from the ground, disheveled as he shook out his long hair messed up by the wind. He glared at Ancient One like a ravenous wolf:
"You damned human woman, how dare you play with a great god like this? I'll send you straight to Helheim!"
But despite what Loki said, he didn't dare make any actual offensive moves, only spouting threats from where he stood.
When Ancient One slowly rose from her seat, Loki actually took two steps back subconsciously, nervously glancing at his feet as if terrified she would open another portal under him.
Clearly, the gap in their strength was already obvious!
But had Loki really given up?
Of course not.
If Loki, the God of Mischief, gave up so easily, he wouldn't have done so many things against all odds in Asgard, on Earth, against Thanos, or in the TVA.
So while Loki appeared to be standing there timidly, staring warily at Ancient One, it was actually just an illusion. His true self had turned invisible and sneaked behind her, a sinister grin on his face as he aimed a dagger at her lower back.
Karl, whose Telepathic Perception covered the entire area, sensed this and smiled without saying a word. He didn't expose it, nor did he need to.
No one actually thought Ancient One could be easily stabbed to death, right?
Sure enough, as Loki struck with confidence, his blade failed to pierce Ancient One's kidney. The tip of the dagger stopped exactly one inch away.
Startled, Loki looked down to see rings of green magic circles entwined around his dagger. These miniature arrays were what prevented the blade from moving even a fraction further!
Looking at those green magic circles, a sense of both familiarity and strangeness surged in Loki's heart. Yet he was certain he had never seen this type of magic before!
But before Loki could figure it out, a hand with distinct knuckles covered his face.
With his true body caught by Ancient One's palm, Loki's invisibility magic instantly failed, revealing his shocked and terrified expression.
Loki swallowed hard and tried to talk his way out: "Ahaha, if I said I was just joking with you, Sorcerer, would you believe me?"
But if Loki was devious, Ancient One was no less so.
Ancient One smiled slightly: "I believe you. Of course I believe the words of the dignified God of Mischief. But it's only polite to reciprocate. How about I play a little joke on the Second Highness as well?"
Looking at Ancient One's smile, Loki suddenly had a very bad feeling and quickly said:
"Wait! You're not going to make me keep falling, are you? I give up! I admit you're the number one sorcerer in the Universe! Just don't do it again!"
"Don't worry, I don't plan on using another Eldritch Portal. But since the Second Highness has acknowledged me as the top sorcerer, wouldn't it be disrespectful if I didn't show off a little trick?"
"Huh?"
While Loki looked on in confusion, Toby watched as Ancient One slapped Loki's soul right out of his body.
Ancient One's ability to push a soul out of a body had been shown many times in the movies, so Karlwasn't surprised at all.
What surprised Karl was that Loki's ejected soul actually had blue skin.
This didn't just push out Loki's soul; it revealed his true form as well?
Loki obviously noticed the abnormality in his body as well. His expression changed sharply, and he hid his hands behind his back, trying to cover up his unusual skin color.
But he was in a soul state now, and it wasn't just a partial reversion like last time; his entire being was in Frost Giant form. How could he possibly hide it?
After seeing his physical body on the ground, Loki realized he was in a soul state and couldn't hide a thing!
To Loki's surprise, neither Ancient One nor Karl showed any shock at his transformation, as if they had known his true identity all along.
The two didn't even pay attention to his soul state, continuing their conversation as if he weren't there.
Ancient One turned to Karl and said, "Didn't you want to learn how to master your Dimensional Power? Are you interested in taking a tour of other dimensions with me?"
Karl's eyes lit up: "Go to other dimensions? Of course I'm interested! How do we get there?"
As a transmigrator in the American comics world, if he didn't dream of the Multiverse, wouldn't his transmigration be in vain?
Conquering Earth was just the starting point for a transmigrator in this world; conquering various colorful and distinct Universes was his ultimate goal!
"It's simple. Follow me closely in your soul state." After saying that, Ancient One's soul instantly left her physical body.
Chapter 133 – A Tour of the Dimensions: Karl, Who Poops Everywhere
Although Karl hasn't studied magic yet and can't separate his soul by spell, he does have the sheep talisman.
So his soul slipped out of his body with ease.
And thanks to the talisman's blessing, his soul looked even more extraordinary than the Ancient One's or Loki's, wrapped in a hazy white glow as dreamlike as moonlight.
The Ancient One glanced at Karl's soul, a flicker of surprise in her eyes, then turned to Loki.
When Loki met her gaze his heart lurched—nothing good ever follows that look.
After seeing her fling souls out of bodies with space-and-time magic, Loki is honestly a little terrified of this woman.
He forced a stiff smile. "Er, honored mage, great God, why don't the two of you go on ahead? I really don't need to come along, do I?"
The Ancient One's lips curved. "Not coming? Out of the question. Leaving a guest alone isn't Earth's way, and the Second Prince can give us a tiny bit of help."
"Uh… what sort of help?" he asked, striking the same sideways pose as Jonathan from Stranger Things, ready to bolt.
But the Ancient One's hand was faster than any escape.
Smack!
Soul-form Loki couldn't outrun her; her palm struck him without warning. Amid the sound of shattering glass, his soul smashed open a dimensional rift and vanished through it.
Holy crap, that's one brutal way to open a door.
She literally rammed him through it!
"Let's go—our dimension-hopping begins."
Hands behind her back, the Ancient One stepped into the human-shaped tunnel Loki had punched open.
Karl followed eagerly.
One step through the breach and the World flipped styles, as if he'd broken through a screen into another reality.
Unlike Karl's lifeless Shadow Dimension, these pocket Universes teemed with existence.
Take the one he was in now: everything—himself included—was built from bright, blocky pixels.
People, animals, plants, all cubic and colorful bustled around him.
Karl waved his pixel arms, delighted by how bizarre it felt.
Had he just dropped into a Minecraft dimension?
Give him a pickaxe and he could cosplay Steve Rogers right now—ha!
Quietly, he left one of his Ghost Shadow Ninja here, staking a claim on this quirky realm.
Up ahead, the Ancient One didn't pause; she walked into the next rift Loki's body had carved.
Karl tagged along and emerged in yet another cosmos.
This one was straight out of an anime: streets full of two-dimensional characters, their colors so vivid his eyes practically shot sparks.
Holy crap—an anime Universe?!
Was this the wonder of magic?
Roaming freely through every imaginable style of reality—too much fun!
One after another, using the holes Loki's soul had knocked open, Karl followed the Ancient One into wildly different dimensions: black-and-white film Worlds, ink-painting realms, LEGO universes—every surreal plane imaginable.
At each stop he stationed a Ghost Shadow Ninja as a beacon, literally pooping markers across other people's dimensions… until they reached a gloomy, pitch-black continuum where his soul snapped back to normal 3-D style.
There, besides the Ancient One, was their "volunteer pathfinder" Loki, on his knees and retching.
Between heaves he raised a trembling finger at her: "Your mom—"
Karl shook his head, walked over, and slapped Loki's back, feeding him a sliver of soul-energy from the sheep talisman.
Instantly Loki felt like new.
Reason won out; swallowing hard at the Ancient One's half-smile, he finished, "—wishes her excellent health!"
Only then did she look away.
Karl's brow twitched; something in this dimension felt off.
Around them, unlike the previous lively realms, stretched only lifeless desolation.
Even the drifting asteroids were black and purple, like virus-corrupted corpses of Worlds.
Accustomed to the quiet of his own Shadow World, Karl still felt a weight of malevolence pressing down.
This wasn't simple silence—it reeked of ancient evil.
He knew where they were: one of Marvel's ultimate darknesses—the Dark Dimension.
Its Master, famous among fans for always wanting to "make a deal," was Dormammu.
Speak of the devil—
The instant the thought crossed Karl's mind the Universe began to seethe, some titanic presence stirring.
A vast purple-black face loomed from the depths, roaring the moment it appeared: "Thieving wretches—you dare return to my realm! You court annihilation!"
The sky-filling visage opened its mouth, gathering apocalyptic death-beam energy.
The pressure hit Karl so hard the black-and-white God-symbol on his forehead flared protectively.
Loki, knocked flat by Dormammu's arrival, sensed two familiar divine auras behind him. He glanced back in shock, then scrambled to hide behind Karl.
By Odin, the safety he felt rivaled standing before the All-Father himself!
But before Karl could act, the Ancient One stepped forward. "Watch closely—I'll show this once how Dimensional Power is wielded."
The moment she finished, Dormammu's death beam fell. Violet light bathed her like a lone hero facing the ultimate demon lord.
It was absurdly cool.
Even Karl had to admit: no one had ever made looking awesome look this effortless.
From now on he'd learn not just her spells but her entire swagger.
Power can be gained anytime; style is forever.
The beam, dwarfing the asteroid beneath them, bored down—yet the Ancient One stayed calm. A Dark Dimension sigil glowed on her forehead; a fan appeared in her hand, and she swung it upward.
FWOOOOM!
A matching violet hurricane burst from the tiny fan, expanding within seconds to colossal size and scattering the death beam.
MP -1
MP -1
Karl's eyes lit up. As a Lord of the Dimension he was acutely sensitive to dimensional energy, and he'd clearly felt the Dark Dimension's power drop twice in that clash.
In other words, the Ancient One had just beaten Dormammu with his own dimension's strength.
Chapter 134 – Understanding, Mastery: What Is a True God?
And the Ancient One wasn't borrowing power from the Dark Dimension at all—she had straight-up seized a chunk of its authority!
No wonder Dormammu hates Earth, hates the Ancient One; part of his own dimensional sovereignty had been stolen!
Who wouldn't be gnashing their teeth in rage?
If the Ancient One had filched a slice of his Shadow Dimension's authority, he'd want to swallow her whole and tear Kamar-Taj to shreds too!
Lucky for him, that sneaky Ancient One is on his side!
Incredible! How can a mere human be this absurdly powerful?
What followed was an all-out slugfest between the Lord of the Dimension and the Sorcerer Supreme.
World-shattering dimensional blasts and blazing spells collided, obliterating nearby asteroids.
Although this was Dormammu's own realm, the Ancient One held part of the Dark Dimension's authority, so even in his fury he couldn't truly harm her.
No matter how he attacked, she countered with a spell of equal scale.
Worse, every spell she cast drew on the Dark Dimension's power—the more they fought, the more he lost.
Yet if he stopped, his rage only festered.
Karl never took his eyes off the duel, not even blinking, his mind locked in unprecedented focus.
He was frantically absorbing and analyzing their real-world use of Dimensional Power.
Draw, infuse, compress, convert, strike… so that's how it's done; manipulating dimensional force is actually… simple!
A person's horizons really do need broadening before they can grow.
On Earth he usually dealt with politicians, assassins, or at most local super-humans—'ordinary folk.' Even as a born Lord of the Dimension, he'd never fought a peer.
So beyond the Shadow Legion that came naturally, his use of the Shadow Dimension had been woefully limited.
Only now, standing inside another lord's dimension and feeling Dormammu and the Ancient One wield its power, did enlightenment strike.
He finally grasped the worth of the saying: one evening listening to a Master beats ten years of reading.
A decade of groping in the dark couldn't match copying someone else's algorithm once he understood it… Karl sighed and raised his hand.
Step one: draw. The shadow-force inside him began to flow.
Step two: infuse. The flowing power gathered at one point.
Step three: compress. The pooled shadow shrank violently until light itself could not escape the dense core.
Step four: convert. With a thought he shaped the compressed shadow into whatever he imagined.
For example—shffft!
A tangible spear of condensed shadow-force appeared in his grip.
Even with the strength of a thousand tons, backed by twin Primary Godheads, his fingers left no mark on the shaft, let alone snapped it.
Its toughness already rivaled—or surpassed—Vibranium.
And this was only a casual creation; theoretically he could keep compressing, keep strengthening.
Weapons were just one form; given enough imagination and power he could craft anything or any attack.
Just as Dormammu alternated between energy and matter assaults on the Ancient One.
Karl stared at the spear, emotions mixed. He'd possessed 'godly' might all along—he simply hadn't known how to use it… Hah, if only he'd skipped cozying up to Pierce and gone straight to Kamar-Taj to let the Ancient One raise him!
With her guidance from childhood, he might already rule the Universe.
But starting now isn't too late—let's begin with… the Nine Realms.
His eyes flashed. He hefted the spear, then suddenly looked at Loki. "Loki, want to know why your father Odin never named you heir?"
Loki blinked, unsure why Karl asked now, but thinking of Asgard's cold shoulders he answered darkly:
"Because I'm a Frost Giant's son—Asgard was never my home!"
"Odin took me back for some hidden scheme, or simply as a trophy; of course he scorns me and won't make me successor."
Karl sneered. "That's what you think? How childish."
Loki's blue neck flushed. "What else? I've always been smarter than Thor, better read, more political! If Odin hadn't favored him with Mjolnir, he might not outmatch me—even in divine power."
"Because you're too weak." Karl's simple words left Loki dumbstruck.
Before Loki could retort, Karl pressed on:
"You and Thor are both too weak—so weak Odin is disappointed."
"One of you pines for a hammer like a love-sick fool; call him its Master? No, its lapdog."
"The other frets over face, scheming against his own people and turf."
"You're both idiots with the same flaw: you've never unleashed your true divine might!"
"Playing with hammer or knife isn't your ceiling—it's the floor you're content to sit on."
"You think Thor wins because of Mjolnir, that your own godhead is inferior."
"Want to see how high your ceiling—your godhead—can soar?"
Loki stared. Karl's eyes had turned sacred black-and-white, twin halos circling his head, and from him washed a divine pressure that made Loki's blood tremble—
Like the first time he opened an Asgardian war chronicle and saw peak Odin.
The image of All-Father spear-pointing the cosmos had etched admiration for his father—and jealousy of Thor—into his heart.
Now, Karl with spear in hand mirrored that very scene…
So… is Karl his dad now?
Chapter 135 Thor, Loki: This is exactly me!
That divine fatherly love made Loki speak up unconsciously: "Please... let me see, I want to know my true upper limit, where Thor's true upper limit is..."
Seeing the look of awe from the bottom of Loki's heart, the corners of Karl's mouth curled slightly: "Then... as you wish."
At this moment, the clouds and winds in Karl's entire Shadow World began to change. The Sun and the moon rose simultaneously in the sky. Countless Shadow Powers, acting as the foundation of the Shadow World, rose like pitch-black tornadoes from the earth, scrambling to merge into the Sun and moon manifested by the Light and Dark Godheads in the sky.
Karl 'mobilized' endless Dimensional Power to 'pour' into the godheads, 'compressed' it on the surface of the godheads, and reversely 'converted' the energy form of the godheads!
Mobilization, infusion, compression, and conversion—all four elements were present; only one last item remained!
Attack!
The Black and White Divine Rings behind Karl's head detached from him and hovered on both sides of him.
Finally, in Loki's green eyes widened to the limit of shock, the two divine rings actually transformed into human forms amidst the distortion!
And that one with a pure white base, its body surface emitting heart-palpitating lightning, wasn't that exactly Thor's appearance?
And the other one with a pure black base, its body surface emitting a faint green dark mist, wasn't that exactly his own appearance?
But the difference was that whether it was the Thor the divine ring transformed into or the self the divine ring transformed into, the sense of oppression they brought him at this moment was millions of times that of himself and Thor!
Most importantly, they didn't hold any artifacts at all; just with their bare hands, they were already more oppressive than true deities!
Then, an even more goosebump-inducing scene occurred!
God Thor extended his fist toward God Loki, grinning with a sunny smile: "Otouto, ikuzo! (Let's go together!)"
Hearing this, God Loki bumped heads with God Thor, revealing a bright, sunny smile that Loki himself had never shown in his life: "Ah, Onii-san, ikuzo!"
Loki snapped his head to look at the culprit, Karl. Though he didn't speak, his shocked expression said everything.
What the hell is going on?!
Karl coughed awkwardly twice: "Ahem, sorry. Thinking of the image of brothers fighting side by side, this language automatically adapted. But don't mind those details; what comes next is the real highlight!"
Hearing this, Loki reluctantly turned his gaze back to the two doubles.
After God Thor and God Loki bumped fists, God Thor was the first to act.
"For Asgard!!!"
Only hearing God Thor's roar, he actually didn't rely on any external objects, just like that, with sparks and lightning all the way, he flew toward Dormammu, who was still confronting the Ancient One in the distance, at a speed faster than the normal Thor flying with Mjolnir.
Dormammu, who had put all his focus on the Ancient One and didn't care about the little bugs on the ground at all, saw a little bug dare to rush at him with small sparks and was so disdainful he didn't even bother to dodge.
Dormammu: Come, come, come! Hit me right in the face. If your Lord Dormammu takes even one step back, consider it my loss!
While Dormammu was careless, the Ancient One, who had been observing Karl and saw every move after Karl's transformation, was not.
With a flash of her figure, she actually took the initiative to leave the battlefield and returned to Karl's side.
And God Thor, carrying his'small sparks', just as Dormammu wished, slammed a Rising Dragon Punchonto Dormammu's large, shoehorn-like face!
And even with Dormammu's massive size, the punch from God Thor, who was smaller than a mosquito, erupted with power that left everyone shocked!
Centered on God Thor's fist, endless lightning radiated out, not only illuminating Dormammu's distorted large face but even lighting up the entire Universe in an instant, startling countless Dark Dimension creatures that were originally sleeping deep underground!
Dark Dimension creatures: What's that? Why is it daylight in the Dark Dimension?
Karl said indifferently: "See that? Lightning Shaking the Universe. This is what the power of Thor, one of the Twelve Primary Gods, should truly be like!"
Loki watched dumbfoundedly, never having thought his useless brother could be this strong!
In his view, let alone his idiot brother using lightning to light up the whole Universe, he'd be thanking the heavens if he could even light up Asgard!
But before Loki could complain, a voice he was extremely familiar with came from behind him: "This is exactly me, so cool!!!"
Loki:!!!
Loki whipped his head around and immediately saw Thor's excited, silly grinning face!
"When the hell did you get here???"
Seeing Thor, even Loki, who had always maintained elegant speech, couldn't help but swear!
Facing the question, Thor scratched his head and smiled foolishly at Loki: "Huh? I've always been here. I've been here since the moment God used divine power to manifest you and me..."
"Then why didn't you say anything!" Loki's eye corner twitched violently. Hadn't Thor seen all his unsightly behavior?
Thor looked up at God Thor in the sky, who held lightning in his hand and commanded countless bolts with a wave of his arm, and sighed: "Because, I was stunned by my own handsomeness!"
"Thinking that this is an achievement I can reach in the future, I'm so excited I'm speechless!"
After Loki's eye corner finished twitching, it was now his mouth corner's turn.
This guy is really shameless, to be able to say such shameless words!
'An achievement you can reach in the future'? Without that broken hammer, you can't even fly or rub out a little spark!
While Loki was secretly despising Thor, on the battlefield in the sky, Dormammu, who had been a bit dazed by God Thor's Thor's combo after being careless, also reacted.
He realized that while this little guy looked like a spark plug from a lighter and didn't seem like much of a threat, his strength was truly not to be underestimated!
But this was Dormammu's dimension after all. God Thor, who was merely a manifestation of one of the Primary Godheads bolstered by Karl's Shadow Power, was still far from being his match.
Once Dormammu got serious, God Thor quickly fell into a disadvantage, suppressed by endless Dark Power into a ball of lightning, looking like he was in critical danger within the lightning ball!
This made Thor and Loki, watching from below, extremely anxious, wishing they could rush up to help!
But the two of them—one had his divine power sealed and was just a mortal body.
The other couldn't even fly, and Loki was currently in a soul state, so he could do even less.
Thus, the two could only watch helplessly as God Thor's survival space was compressed step by step by Dormammu!
And at this moment of despair, someone neither Loki nor Thor expected stepped in.
Tap—
God Loki took a step forward, standing in front of everyone. He looked back slightly at Thor and Loki, his voice not heavy but filled with a sense of security: "Don't worry. This time, Asgard, and everyone else, will be protected by me."
With that, God Loki slowly spread his hands toward the sky. A Green-gold long-horned crownappeared on his head, and a Faint green cape fluttered in the wind!
He raised his hands to the sky and shouted: "Asgard, immortal!!!"
As God Loki's arms rose, green-gold buildings condensed from divine power suddenly rose around Dormammu in the Universe!
Thor and Loki stared blankly at the endless buildings rising out of nowhere in the Universe, having lost the ability to speak.
Because that was... every blade of grass and every tree of Asgard!
Watching the scene of Asgard rising from the ground in the Universe, Loki's eyes finally moistened, and he uttered a heartfelt sigh at God Loki's back: "This is exactly me!!"
Chapter 135: Light and Dark Asteroid, Odin Arrives!
Thor hooked his bicep around Loki's neck and laughed loudly, "Hahaha! That's right, that's right! This is exactly like us brothers. We will definitely be the strongest brother deities in the history of Asgard!"
Loki watched God Loki in the sky, who was surrounding Dormammu to save God Thor. This time, he rarely refuted Thor's words.
It had to be said that although God Loki and God Thor were only projections of the Gods, they truly made him feel a flicker of emotion.
If he and Thor could be this powerful in the future and fight side-by-side, it didn't seem too bad... However, as Loki looked at that glorious Asgard, the more he looked, the stranger it felt.
Loki finally noticed what was wrong. He looked speechlessly at the several modern skyscrapers in the illusory Asgard that clearly did not belong there. He turned to Karl and asked with a face full of exasperation:
"What's the deal with those Midgardian buildings?"
Karl shrugged upon hearing this. "What else could it be? I've never seen your Asgard with my own eyes. Do you expect me to be able to replicate every blade of grass and tree of your Asgard?"
"In order to make your Asgard look grander, I could only localize it a bit."
Loki:...The logic makes sense, but you're ruining the atmosphere way too much!
Most importantly, it made his sense of immersion much weaker!
Loki felt that if it were really him controlling it now, he could definitely manifest every detail of Asgard's flora and fauna!
Because he deeply loved the land of Asgard!
But unfortunately, Loki himself did not have that level of strength yet, nor did he possess such vast divine power.
So he could only watch that fake version of himself in the sky showing off his great power with envy, his mouth watering... And in the sky, as God Loki began to close the illusory, localized Asgard around Dormammu, the dark energy on Dormammu's surface suddenly began to boil violently, like boiling water!
As for why it had such an effect, it was naturally because this Asgard was not truly manifested using Loki's Godhead and divine power. In terms of divine power attributes, it was still essentially the divine power attribute of the Dark Godhead.
Therefore, it naturally carried the corrosive characteristics of the Dark Godhead.
Moreover, not only were God Loki's illusions actually manifested from Dark Divine Power, but even Thor's lightning power was actually manifested from Light Divine Power.
In essence, that lightning was still the burning effect of Light Divine Power.
Karl could only change the outward appearance of the Godhead's effects, but he could not change the essence of its internal energy attributes.
As for why he went to the trouble of making God Loki and God Thor look like they were using 'Pro Max' versions of their own abilities, it was naturally to show off in front of the two brothers, Thor and Loki!
Asgard worshipped martial prowess; nothing could conquer them better than powerful strength.
Especially when he let Thor and Loki see the heights they might reach in the future, they would come to him for help in order to truly reach those heights.
And his favors were very expensive—so expensive that Thor and Loki might never be able to pay them back... Now that the goal was achieved, the farce should end.
Time for one last show of power!
Karl looked at God Thor in the sky, who had already escaped from Dormammu's grasp with the help of God Loki, and had a thought.
God Loki and God Thor in the sky suddenly looked at each other and nodded simultaneously as if they shared a telepathic connection:
"Let's use our blood-boiling combination technique, Brother!"
First, God Thor's eyes lit up with a blinding white light. He raised both hands, summoning countless thunderclouds above Dormammu. Then, the thunderclouds exploded, raining down blinding lightning, hitting Dormammu with a lightning version of 'Earth Illumination'!
The Light Godhead's area-of-effect skill, 'Earth Illumination', inherently possessed the characteristic of dispelling darkness. It was even more effective against a Dark Lord like Dormammu than the Asgardian version of 'Darkness Descends' that God Loki had used earlier.
For a moment, that blinding lightning made it impossible for even Dormammu to open his eyes.
"Now, Brother!"
Taking advantage of this opportunity while Dormammu was temporarily controlled by the two large-scale skills, God Thor and God Loki reached out their hands toward each other.
A blue-white lightning pillar and an eerie green magic pillar shot out from the palms of God Thor and God Loki respectively!
But the two energy pillars did not fire at Dormammu; instead, they collided with each other!
After the collision, the expected massive explosion did not occur. Instead, the two energies strangely fused together, entangling and expanding with each other!
It wasn't until God Loki and God Thor had exhausted the divine power in their Godheads, and even their divine bodies became dim as they withdrew their hands, that the two strangely intertwined energies stopped expanding.
But by now, the entangled energy had expanded to the size of an asteroid!
Karl's face was also somewhat pale at this moment. With a wave of his hand, he dispelled the manifestations of the dimmed God Thor and God Loki, turning them back into the Light and Dark Godheads and retracting them into his body.
The moment the Light and Dark Godheads disappeared, the Asgardian version of 'Darkness Descends' and the lightning version of 'Earth Illumination' in the sky also vanished. Dormammu regained his vision from the dual control.
But as soon as He opened His eyes, what He saw before Him was a light-and-dark asteroid about to explode!
Normally, such an asteroid wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps in Dormammu's teeth, but now, He felt a hint of a threat from it!
"This is simply too reckless of you all!"
At that moment, a majestic voice suddenly descended from the sky and reached their ears.
The group looked up to see a rainbow beam of light land behind them. Odin, riding his eight-legged steed Sleipnir, stepped out from the Bifrost Bridge beam.
Odin glared at them, especially at Karl, and scolded: "Releasing your Godhead outside your body is reckless enough, but you actually fused Light Divine Power and Dark Divine Power—two divine powers with extremely repulsive and opposite attributes! You should know that back then, the Divine Realmwas because of them..."
Halfway through, Odin glanced at Thor and Loki, stopped his next words, and shook his head:
"In any case, it's time to leave."
Although Odin didn't finish his sentence, Karl actually guessed what Odin wanted to say just now.
It was nothing more than that legendary war between the Light God Baldr and the Dark God Hoder, where a similar situation of light and dark divine power entanglement and explosion had occurred.
He surmised that when the two divine powers of light and darkness collided back then, they produced an extreme expansion, causing the explosion's power to increase manifold. In the end, it killed most of the main Gods in the Divine Realm, including the Light God and the Dark God!
This also caused Asgard to suddenly fall into an unprecedented vacancy of high-end combat power.
So it was only natural for Odin to have a shadow cast over him regarding this.
Karl didn't try to be stubborn about it. He nodded and was the first to step into the teleportation range of the Bifrost Bridge beam.
Chapter 136: What to do if your body is weak? Just nourish it!
No one understood better than he did just how powerful this Marvel version of the Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus would be once it exploded!
Thor, feeling somewhat unwilling, shouted excitedly at Odin:
"Father, this guy looks extremely evil at a glance, filled with a destructive dark aura. He might pose a threat to Asgard and the Nine Realms in the future. Why don't we take the opportunity after Loki's and my combined technique explodes to wipe Him out in one fell swoop!"
Hearing this, the corner of Odin's mouth twitched violently.
You said wipe out who?
The Lord of the Dark Dimension, Dormammu?
And you want to wipe Him out in His own dimension?
My dear son, you certainly have a wild imagination!
Wiping out Dormammu was something even Odin at his peak admitted he couldn't do, let alone his moronic son!
Loki was more composed. Looking at Odin's face, which had instantly darkened, he knew this was absolutely impossible!
So, the sharp-tongued but soft-hearted Loki grabbed Thor by the back of his collar without a word and forcefully dragged him toward the Bifrost Bridge's beam:
"No one cares if you want to seek death, but don't die here. I don't want to have to face you as a dark servant one day, along with the rest of Asgard!"
Seeing this, Odin felt somewhat relieved as he watched Loki decisively drag Thor away.
Although Loki was sometimes a bit too calculating with his own people, he was indeed much more rational most of the time than Thor, who only knew how to charge forward blindly.
Perhaps... it was time for the roles of heir and candidate to be swapped between Thor and Loki.
Thor probably didn't realize that his thoughtless words had cost him the throne once again.
After Loki dragged Thor into the Bifrost and Odin rode Sleipnir back in, only the Ancient One remained outside.
The Ancient One glanced at Dormammu, who was trying to teleport the asteroid of light and dark divine power out of the Dark Dimension. However, because the asteroid's extremely unstable energy distorted the surrounding space, it couldn't be teleported at all. She revealed a gloating smile:
"It seems the Dark Dimension is destined for a fine display of fireworks today. Enjoy yourself, Dormammu~"
With that, the Ancient One stepped into the Bifrost Bridge with a light pace.
The Bifrost Bridge's beam quickly ascended, carrying them all away from the Dark Dimension.
At the very last moment before completely leaving the Dark Dimension, Karl stopped suppressing the stability of the light-dark asteroid and detonated this unstable energy-form asteroid!
RUMBLE——————————
The moment they left, they felt a scorching warmth for the first time in the lifeless Dark Dimension.
Even through the spatial barrier of the Bifrost Bridge, they felt a heatwave like a nuclear explosion rushing toward them!
Fortunately, none of them were ordinary people, and the scorching heat only lasted for an instant before they were teleported back to Asgard.
Otherwise, they might have really ended up like the Japanese in World War II—becoming 'well-done' acquaintances~
Asgard, Heavenly Palace.
As the Bifrost landed in the palace, two figures emitting white smoke rushed out.
These two were, naturally, Loki and Thor.
Although they only faced the Impact wave of the light-dark divine power explosion for a split second, it still left their divine bodies medium-rare, with their skin smelling of char.
As soon as they emerged, they desperately poured wine from the palace over themselves, making a sizzling cooling sound.
The next one to step out of the Bifrost Bridge was Karl.
Although Karl possessed two godheads himself and had a high resistance to the explosion caused by the collision of light and dark, his steps were now a bit unsteady, and his face was somewhat pale.
It wasn't that he was injured, however; he was simply 'drained'.
God Loki and God Thor, formed by the light and Dark Godheads, had squandered his power, and even the gathering of divine power for that asteroid-sized mass later on had been drawn from his own energy.
Such a massive explosion of divine power was a bit much even for him; he felt as though his body had been completely hollowed out.
Inside his Shadow World, the once-solid black earth had turned a sickly gray, and the Sun formed by the Light Godhead and the moon formed by the Dark Godhead in the sky were both dim and lusterless.
Even the three Shadow Legions that were once everywhere in the Shadow World were now pitifully few in number.
Only the necessary Shadow Soldiers guarded the palace and the laboratory; all the other Shadow Soldiers on the land had vanished.
The entire Shadow World had entered power-saving mode.
It could be said that at this moment, Karl—aside from his own thousands of tons of physical strength—had truly fallen into an unprecedented state of weakness!
But for Karl, it was all worth it.
Through this experience, he had not only learned deeper ways to use his Dimensional Power but had also verified where his current limit of destructive power lay.
That was a solid Star-Destroying level!
To the extent that a single strike could make an entire Planet vanish!
However, the cost of using it once was too high; his Dimensional Power was nearly drained, and he didn't know how long it would take to recover... Just as Karl thought this, he saw the Ancient One, who had stepped out of the Bifrost Bridge, handing him a contract.
Karl was a bit puzzled: "What is this?"
The Ancient One smiled faintly: "It's a contract for the Hell Dimension to provide Dimensional Power to Kamar-Taj for free for five years. Aside from me, any mage of Kamar-Taj can use it..."
"And since you plan to learn magic from me, you're naturally considered one of Kamar-Taj's own. Moreover, you've already learned how to convert Dimensional Power, so..."
The Ancient One didn't finish her sentence, only smiling without saying more.
Hearing this, Karl also revealed a mischievous smile identical to the Ancient One's, making a pointing gesture like Master Ip: "Hehe, you're too wicked!"
Despite saying that, Karl wasn't slow. He immediately took the contract from the Ancient One's hand and, with a thought, signed his name in the mage column.
This meant he officially recognized himself as a member of Kamar-Taj and could draw upon the Dimensional Power of the Hell Dimension as a Kamar-Taj mage.
Karl naturally wouldn't be polite!
Holding the contract, he sank his breath into his dantian and took a sudden, deep breath!
The Dimensional Power of the Hell Dimension flowed from the contract like a small river, continuously sucked into Karl's mouth in one breath and converted into nourishment for his own Shadow Dimension!
Using someone else's dimension to nourish his own... this feeling is exhilarating!!!
Meanwhile, in the Hell Dimension.
Mephisto, who was lecturing his hundreds of millions of new hellish subjects, suddenly turned pale. His legs went weak, and he nearly fell off his high throne!
Feeling a large chunk of Dimensional Power suddenly vanish from his Hell Dimension, Mephisto's dark-eyeliner-rimmed eyes widened, and he let out a primal roar:
"F*ck you, Ancient One!!!!"
Chapter 137: Mephisto: Holy Crap, Odin!
Mephisto didn't even bother checking which contract his Dimensional Power was leaking from before directly cursing the Ancient One's long-gone mother.
And there was simply no need to check!
After all, regarding the contracts he signed with others, he was always the one scamming them. Even if a contractor could use the power of the Hell Dimension, how much they could use was usually up to him, and that borrowed Dimensional Power always came with usurious interest.
It was a deal where you get ninety but have to return a hundred and thirty!
Only the Ancient One's unequal contract allowed such a massive amount of Hell Dimensional Power to be mobilized without his consent!
But what he couldn't understand was that he had clearly restricted the Ancient One herself from using his Hell Dimensional Power in the contract.
As for those small-fry mages in Kamar-Taj, even if they squandered it openly, their own mediocre strength meant their consumption should only be a drop in the bucket to him. It should be impossible for them to evaporate his Hell Dimensional Power in such large quantities!
But what was the situation now?
This damn thing had upgraded from a drop in the bucket to someone using a flamethrower to burn all the hair off his bucket!
Besides the Ancient One, was there actually such a person in Kamar-Taj?
In a fit of rage, Mephisto couldn't help but probe toward the direction where the Hell Dimensional Power was draining.
He was going to see which mage it was; he had to find an opportunity to kill such a menace!
"Huh? This location... why isn't it even on Earth?"
As soon as Mephisto sent his Eye of Observation along the trail of the leak, he sensed something wrong with the distance.
But he didn't take it too seriously and continued letting the Eye of Observation track the target!
Today, he was determined to see who had such dog-like audacity!
If the tiger doesn't show its prowess, do they really think a dignified Hell Lord is just a Hello Kitty!
When his Eye of Observation finally reached the destination and his vision cleared...
He finally saw the face of the culprit clearly!
This uniquely handsome face—wasn't this the kid who had sent him over a hundred million brand-new citizens of Hell before!
When did he become a mage of Kamar-Taj?
He remembered this kid was the leader of that Justice League on Earth, wasn't he?
You, the leader, took the lead in defecting to join another organization?
But then, Mephisto sensed something was off again.
Why was the aura on this kid so different from last time?
There was a sacred, holy aura on him that he particularly loathed!
Wait, it wasn't just on this kid; why was this whole place filled with that disgusting divine scent!
Mephisto truly realized things were bad now, so he controlled the Eye of Observation to move its gaze away from Karl and scan the surroundings.
Then he discovered that Karl wasn't the only one here!
Not only was that annoying Ancient One present, but there was also a silly-looking fellow, a guy with a devious smile, and... looking at that grumpy old face leaning in close to his Eye of Observation, Mephisto was startled!
Holy crap, Odin!!!
Why would this old fellow Odin be here?
Wait! No! This place seems to be Asgard!
Holy shit!
Why are the Ancient One and Karl in Asgard!
Aren't you Earthlings?!
One must know that the souls of Asgardian Gods, including their citizens, do not fall under Hell's jurisdiction after death.
Furthermore, the average lifespan of Asgardians is too long, resulting in low returns. Plus, with that old fellow Odin around, almost no Lord of the Hell Dimension would be bored enough to go to Asgard to look for trouble.
After seeing Odin through the Eye of Observation, Mephisto gave an awkward, dry laugh and said:
"Hehe, has His Majesty the God King been well lately? If I said I came to catch up with you because we haven't seen each other for thousands of years and I missed you, would you believe me?"
To be honest, Mephisto really didn't want to provoke Odin.
Although as the Lord of the Hell Dimension, he certainly wasn't afraid of Odin in terms of raw power—he wouldn't even flinch before Odin in his prime!
And everyone knew that the current Odin had entered his twilight years and didn't have much longer to live; Odin didn't dare to erupt with his full power at all.
But that was exactly the problem!
Odin in this state was actually more daunting to these Lords of the Dimension than Odin in his prime!
The current Odin was like a Great Sage with little lifespan left carrying an Imperial Weapon. He might die the moment he strikes, but he could absolutely bite off a huge chunk of your flesh, or even take you down with him in a one-for-one trade!
And as a Lord of the Dimension with an endless lifespan, Mephisto was most unwilling to provoke such an existence!
So yes, he chickened out... He could recover if a bit more Hell Dimensional Power was sucked away, but he only had one life; he couldn't recover that at all!
But even if Mephisto chickened out, Odin didn't plan to let it go!
If Mephisto dared to appear in Asgard right in front of him today, wouldn't he be shitting on Asgard's head tomorrow and coming to snatch the souls of his citizens the day after?
Besides, the God Karl he was trying to win over was present. If he didn't show some backbone, wouldn't he be made a laughingstock?!
Thus, Odin stared sharply at Mephisto's Eye of Observation, raised the Eternal Spear in his hand, and sneered:
"Catch up? Fine. Since you've traveled billions of miles to see me, it would be improper of me not to give you a gift in return!"
"However, I don't have anything decent on hand right now. This Eternal Spear has been with me for ten thousand years; you'd better catch it well!"
Mephisto was startled, his voice even cracking slightly: "Wait, Your Majesty the God King, I don't think there's any need for that. We can talk; I can compensate you!"
But Odin clearly didn't want to talk, nor did he care for Mephisto's compensation. Rune symbols lit up on the tip of the Eternal Spear, activating its trait!
Once thrown, it must hit!
Whoosh——————
The Eternal Spear turned into a golden light and flew from Odin's hand. After piercing Mephisto's Eye of Observation, it tore through space and vanished instantly!
But don't think it was over just because the Eternal Spear hit the Eye of Observation. The target Odinlocked onto wasn't a mere scouting eye, but Mephisto himself!
And the hundred-percent hit trait of the Eternal Spear ignored spatial distance!
So, the Eternal Spear that tore through space arrived in the Hell Dimension and, before Mephisto's pale face, descended from the sky to impale him!
"Oh boy..." Mephisto naturally knew the certain-hit trait of Odin's Eternal Spear, so he didn't even bother trying to dodge and was chilled to the core by the spear!
Then, the Odin Force on the Eternal Spear erupted violently!
After the 'nuclear explosion' in the Dark Dimension today, a 'nuclear explosion' followed closely in the Hell Dimension...
Chapter 138: Loki's Awakening, Becoming a God's Disciple?
When the 'nuclear explosion' dissipated, Mephisto's chest had a basin-sized hole, and what made Him even more furious was that the hundreds of millions of island nation souls He had lectured under His throne earlier were all annihilated by Odin's strike!
That was over a hundred million souls!
Those were the hundreds of millions of souls He had acquired after signing a humiliating treaty with the Ancient One!
And now, with one strike from Odin, not even dust remained!
"I'll screw your whole family, Ancient One!!!!!!!!"
"I am irreconcilably opposed to Earth!!!!!!!!!!"
Mephisto, who had lost both his wife and his army today, roared to the sky, shaking the entire Hell Dimension!
Unlike Mephisto's fury in the Hell Dimension, the few people in Asgard were in a really good mood.
The Ancient One and Karl both gave Odin a thumbs up, indicating that His Majesty the God King was truly amazing!
And Odin was quite pleased, catching the Eternal Spear that flew back to him after hitting its target, and even struck a pose!
But his coolness lasted less than three seconds; Odin's face immediately turned pale, and he stumbled, heavily propping the Eternal Spear on the ground to keep from falling.
Seeing this, Thor and Loki immediately stepped forward, one on each side, to support Odin, their faces filled with worry.
Loki frowned deeply: "Father, your body is under too much strain right now, and you haven't undergone the Odin Sleep recently. You can't forcefully use your divine power anymore!"
Thor nodded like a chick in agreement: "Exactly! Exactly!"
Odin took two breaths, suppressed the rampant divine power within him, and sighed: "Alas, in this situation, do you think I can rest peacefully?"
"Internally, you two brothers are not united, and externally, the Frost Giant Laufey and the Fire GiantsSurtur are eyeing us covetously. You don't have enough strength to protect Asgard, so I can't sleep..."
Hearing this, Loki and Thor's moods immediately sank, filled with guilt.
Before, when they heard Odin say this, they might have felt some resentment.
But this time, Thor's divine power was sealed, and he was demoted to a mortal, experiencing his own weakness from a mortal's perspective.
And Loki, after witnessing the true power of a powerful God like Karl, and a real threat like Dormammu, also began to reflect on his past mistakes of being obsessed with illusory power and neglecting to develop his own strength.
Both the God Karl and their father Odin were right; they were too weak!
So weak that they couldn't protect Asgard from truly powerful beings!
With such weakness, what right did they have to sit on the God King's throne?
At this moment, they understood that the position of God King was not just a power, but a heavy responsibility!
And if they wanted to become the God King, they must possess the powerful strength to bear this responsibility!
At least... they had to reach the level of strength of the 'themselves' projected by the God they witnessed in the Dark Dimension!
And since the God could play with their abilities better and stronger than they themselves could, just with a clone, it meant that the God must know how to develop their abilities!
Thinking of this, Loki and Thor's gazes towards Karl immediately became fervent!
Thor darted towards Karl, tightly hugging Karl's thigh: "God, teach me! I want to become stronger! I want to protect Asgard!"
"If you don't teach me, I won't let go!"
Loki, who was a step slower, covered his face, internally exclaiming how embarrassing this was!
He took two steps forward and once again grabbed Thor by the back of his collar.
Thor, still in his mortal body, was no match for Loki in strength and was easily pulled away from Karl by Loki.
A hint of dark pleasure flashed in Loki's eyes. In the past, it was always the stronger Thor who dragged him around, but now it was finally his turn to drag Thor. This feeling was truly awesome!
Compared to Thor's embarrassing behavior, Loki was much more elegant. He bowed to Karl with his hand on his chest and smiled:
"Great My Lord God, as the Second Prince of Asgard, I would like to ask you to be our teacher, mine and my idiotic elder brother's, to instruct us in mastering and utilizing true divine power. May I inquire if this is possible?"
"Of course, we will not waste your precious time in vain. In the future, no matter whether I or Thor rule Asgard, as long as you have a need, we will do our utmost to satisfy you, and we will always be your most steadfast allies. What do you think?"
After speaking, Loki also glanced at Odin.
Odin nodded at Loki, indicating his approval of Loki's words.
This made Loki, who had rarely received Odin's approval since childhood, involuntarily curl his lips into a smile.
He had finally guessed his father's thoughts correctly for once!
This would be a good start!
And as long as he thoroughly bound the God, this powerful being, to Asgard's warship, he, Loki, the God of Mischief, would surely secure the throne of the God King!
And making the God his teacher was the first step in winning over the God!
And facing a result that was completely within his plan, what reason did Karl have to refuse?
So he also smiled and helped up Loki, who was bowing to show his respect, and Thor, who was still being held by Loki:
"Since the two Your Highnesses think so highly of me, I will naturally do my best."
Karl and Loki exchanged smiles and shook hands, both satisfied with the success of their plans.
This was the art of social maneuvering!
Both had their own agendas, both used each other, and both maximized their own interests!
Then... a face with a silly grin squeezed in between the two.
Thor gave Karl the same goofy grin he had given Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok:
"Hehe, teacher, when will you start teaching us? Can you first teach me that super cool lightning divine skill that lit up the entire cosmic starry sky?"
Lit up the entire cosmic starry sky?
Thor must be referring to the lightning version of Earth Illumination.
This guy really dares to dream!
He only lit up a certain area of the Dark Dimension, far from lighting up the entire Universe; it just looked like he lit up the entire Universe!
Karl couldn't help but twitch his lips, saying speechlessly: "That thing isn't for showing off; it's a large-scale crowd control skill used against large enemies, and it consumes a lot of divine power. You should first learn to get rid of your hammer and be able to use basic lightning attacks before talking about that..."
Honestly, Loki was not wrong at all.
If one ignored the Mjolnir's enhancement, in terms of divine power development, Thor truly couldn't compare to Loki.
Loki, at least, could make his clones and illusions indistinguishable from reality, and even transform into a blanket to tease himself.
And Thor?
Without the hammer, he struggled to even conjure a small spark!
Who is stronger and who is weaker? Isn't it obvious?
Chapter 139 – The 'Filial' Thor and the Not-So-Vindictive Karl
Although Karl had agreed to instruct Thor and Loki,
He couldn't stay in Asgard indefinitely.
Nor could Thor and Loki follow Karl around on Earth for long.
So Karl simply asked the Ancient One to build a permanent portal to the Justice League right there in Asgard.
It would let Thor and Loki commute to Earth for lessons and allow mutual aid between Asgard and the Justice League.
For the Ancient One, it was no great trouble, so of course she agreed.
It only took a bit more time than erecting a portal within Earth itself.
While the Ancient One worked on the gateway, Karl kept busy.
Asgard and Karl were now allies,
And so that Thor and Loki could focus on strengthening their divine power,
Before drawing up their training plan, Karl first hit Odin—who had fired a shot at Mephisto and was now wracked by surging power—with a combined burst of Horse and tiger talisman energy.
The Horse Talisman healed the damage Odin's own power had done to his body, while the tiger talisman balanced his vast divine force.
For the moment, Odin's flesh and power were restored to health and equilibrium.
Because Karl had merely used the tiger talisman to harmonize Odin's power rather than handing the talisman over, Odin's energy would eventually slip out of balance again.
Still, for the next few years his once-tempestuous power would stay calm, letting the old king stretch his muscles now and then—perhaps taking a few pot-shots at Mephisto.
And even if, years later, the tiger talisman's balance broke again, Karl could simply re-apply it.
In other words, as long as Karl wished, he could keep the aging god-king alive indefinitely.
Karl himself knew it, and so did the two old foxes, the Ancient One and Odin: Karl prolonged Odin's life not from kindness,
But because Odin's strength was useful to him.
Yet Odin felt no resentment at such a pragmatic motive.
In the adult World, everything comes down to profit, after all.
Karl kept him alive for his might; Odin himself had bent knee only because he valued Karl's power in return.
Otherwise, why would a king of the gods ever respect a mere Midgard mortal?
But the brothers Thor and Loki didn't know that. Hearing their father might not die, they were overcome with gratitude.
Thor even wept, vowing to be a filial student to his benefactor Karl and to see him off at the end of his days!
Filial! A thunderous, heartfelt filial piety!
Those words nearly killed Karl, who had just accepted them as pupils.
Had Loki not intervened, Karl would have snatched Odin's spear and sent Thor off first.
So, out of revenge—no, out of promise—Karl immediately drafted Thor's training regimen.
It was simple: one word—train!
Thor's life had simply been too easy, Karl ground out.
He had never fought an equal.
His campaigns were merely mopping-up tours through the Nine Realms Odin had already plowed under.
By the time Thor was still in Odin's egg, every noteworthy foe had been broken: either slain by Odin or stripped of their most dangerous powers.
The prime examples were Laufey, king of the Frost Giants, and Surtur, lord of the Fire Giants.
These two monarchs of the bitterest enemies of Asgard.
One had lost the Casket of Eternal Winter, the Frost Giants' artifact capable of freezing entire Worlds.
The other had been robbed of the Eternal Flame, the primordial fire that could unmake Asgard.
Thus two once Planet-busting powers could now be laid low by hammer-swinging, headstrong Thor.
Such was Odin's terrible might—and the path he had paved for his unborn son.
Yet Odin's very strength became Thor's weakness.
He had leveled the road so perfectly that Asgard grew complacent.
With no external pressure, Thor and Loki never truly grew.
One played at minor wars across the Nine Realms; the other schemed endlessly to stab his brother in the back.
Even Asgard's once-invincible legions declined in might and morale, no longer the cosmic conquerors of old.
Without change, Asgard would meet its sunset long before Ragnarok ever arrived.
But that was the past.
Now Thor's harshest mentor had arrived.
On the first day, Karl had Odin lift the seal on Thor's divine power, restoring his basic thunder-god strength.
Odin no longer intended Thor as his successor, so he no longer needed the prince to learn royal responsibility.
Thus he agreed to remove the seal.
Still, he left the enchantment on Mjolnir intact.
As Odin put it, if Thor lacked the qualities to lift the hammer, he did not deserve it.
For the moment, Thor lacked those sternly defined virtues and could not call the hammer back from Earth.
Karl took the chance to—cough—suggest a way to reclaim it.
The method was that single word: train!
As long as it didn't kill him, train him to the verge of death.
Once Thor truly awakened his Thor's power and grew strong enough, Odin's spell would mean nothing.
He could shatter the enchantment by raw divine force and summon his beloved hammer back.
Thor accepted eagerly.
Henceforth, every daylight hour on Asgard's dueling ground saw Thor either blasted through the air or on his way there.
Afterward, half-dead, he had to thank Karl for the grueling effort to help him reclaim Mjolnir.
Crude, brutal, perhaps vengeful—but effective.
Facing Karl, who outclassed him by more than double, Thor went from instant defeat to lasting a few exchanges.
Finally, under pressure, he even sparked lightning within his cells, briefly matching Karl in raw strength.
His growth left even Odin sighing in admiration.
Clearly, he had once been far too soft on his son.
Chapter 140: HYDRA Mutiny? Beings Not Belonging to This Universe?
If he had known that beating Thor up would make him stronger, he would have hung Thor up and beaten him since childhood!
Regarding this, at an Asgardian banquet, Karl couldn't help but give Odin a thumbs up upon hearing Odin say those words.
When it comes to fatherly love, he's the best!
As for Loki, Karl naturally wouldn't favor one over the other, and he also formulated an improvement plan for Loki.
Or rather, Loki went along with him to learn magic from the Ancient One.
Because compared to Thor, Loki's problem wasn't actually an inability to exert his divine power.
On the contrary, Loki's control over his divine power actually surpassed most gods in Asgard.
What Loki lacked wasn't how to use divine power, but rather more ways to utilize it!
The magic Loki learned originated from the witchcraft his mother Frigga learned from witches, so while most of the magic seemed strange and unpredictable, its actual attack power was quite pathetic.
Can you believe that Loki's strongest magic attack isn't some gorgeous witchcraft spell, but rather turning invisible to stab someone in the kidneys?
So it wasn't that Loki didn't like using magic to attack, but rather that the magical attack methods he knew weren't as powerful as a small knife and consumed mana.
Thus, what Loki, the 'greatest mage of the Nine Realms,' actually lacked most was magic itself.
After following Karl to learn Kamar-Taj's magic from the Ancient One, Loki's strength improved at a rapid pace!
Moreover, because Loki already had a foundation in learning magic, he even learned it faster than Karl.
Not to mention Thor, who was still being beaten to forcefully stimulate his divine power.
Just like that, Karl trained Thor in the morning, learned magic from the Ancient One with Loki in the afternoon, and had to find time at night to return to Earth to do 'gymnastics' with Gwen, who had now become Ghost-Spider.
He was simply beyond busy!
It wasn't that he had to be this busy or work overtime at night to 'deliver the goods.'
It was just that Gwen, now Ghost-Spider, was simply too irresistible!
You have no idea how many types of unimaginable 'knowledge' Gwen could achieve with her current physical flexibility!
For example, using spider silk in mid-air... cough cough, three thousand spider manual techniques omitted here (non-public content).
But the good times didn't last long; Karl's painful yet happy days didn't continue for much longer before they were disrupted.
First, because the Ancient One had completed the construction of the fixed portal, he no longer had to work so hard traveling between Earth and Asgard through the Shadow.
Second, Pierce sent him a heavy message: HYDRA had mutinied!
That's right, HYDRA actually freaking mutinied!
The Madame Hydra branch in England and Baron Strucker's branch in Sokovia, two HYDRA branches, mutinied at the same time!
They not only declared independence but also swallowed up many HYDRA branches in the EU and Eastern Europe, instantly becoming the two largest HYDRA factions besides Pierce's, forming a three-way split within HYDRA with Pierce!
They even claimed they would kick Pierce's faction out of the orthodoxy and stated they would purge all the traitors in Pierce's branch!
When Karl first received this call from his godfather Pierce, he thought he was still dreaming!
Madame Hydra and Baron Strucker mutinying?
Aren't these two just throwing flashbangs in a toilet? The Star of Doom is shining brightly over their heads!
Not to mention that he had just destroyed the Island Nation with power that shocked the world!
Even without counting him, why do those two think they can swallow the largest HYDRA branch, Pierce's?
Pierce had always been the head of the most well-developed HYDRA branch.
And under Karl's recent efforts, he had increased the number of Super Soldiers, expanded their sphere of influence, and boosted their international voice.
Even because of Karl's relationship, Pierce now had the final say in the Security Council.
It's no exaggeration to say that even if Pierce wanted to borrow the nuclear weapons of the Five Great Powers from the Security Council, it wouldn't be impossible!
Under these multiple premises, Karl really wanted to crack open Madame Hydra and Baron Strucker's heads to see if their pig brains had been eaten by zombies!
Who gave them the courage? Leong Fishy?
But Pierce's next words made Karl feel that things weren't so simple.
According to Pierce, the mutinous Madame Hydra and Baron Strucker both had a special team of superhumans under them.
And these two superhuman teams were not simple; their strength far exceeded that of ordinary street-level Superheroes, and their average quality could rival members of the Justice League.
Some members of the teams even surpassed ordinary Justice League members in strength!
For example, the pair of twin siblings in Baron Strucker's superhuman team—one had terrifyingly strange abilities, and the other was frighteningly fast!
And there were even more powerful superhumans in Madame Hydra's team: a man who could control all metal, a man who couldn't be killed, a man who could mind-control others, and another man who could absorb everything!
These four were known as Madame Hydra's four horsemen of the apocalypse!
This left Karl completely stunned.
Weren't the twin siblings in Baron Strucker's team Scarlet Witch Wanda and Quicksilver Pietro?
He remembered that these two awakened their abilities because of the Mind Stone, right?
The Mind Stone is likely still in Thanos's hands right now, so how did these siblings awaken early?
And even if we ignore the siblings, as early awakening can have many explanations.
But what was the deal with those four horsemen of the apocalypse?
Listening to Pierce's description of their abilities, these four were clearly Magneto, Wolverine, Professor X, and the Black King!
But was that right?
This Universe didn't have Mutants at all!
Because the Mutant Universe would constantly mess with timelines and restart the entire Universe, Karl had investigated in detail long ago and confirmed 100% that there wasn't a single Mutant on Earth!
So this was very wrong! Extremely wrong!
If Wanda and Pietro's early awakening could be called a coincidence, the appearance of Mutants definitely couldn't be explained by coincidence!
That's why after getting the news, Karl immediately ended his special training for Thor and learning magic with Loki, and returned to Earth to handle this matter urgently.
Of course, he didn't stop Thor and Loki's strengthening plans.
Karl sent Hulk and Dr. Banner, who had been separated by the tiger talisman, to continue training with Thor.
One Hulk might not give Thor too much pressure, but two Hulks were enough to beat the crap out of a Thor without Mjolnir!