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Norway.
On a massive cliff by the sea, Odin, looking emaciated and filled with despair, held Queen Frigga, who had just taken her last breath and couldn't even say a complete 'goodbye' to him.
He reached out his trembling left hand, gently wiping away the bloodstain from her lips, and tears of grief and indignation streamed from his tiger-like eyes.
"I'm sorry, Frigga, I didn't take good care of you…"
As the King of Asgard, the Guardian of the Nine Realms, and the King of the Gods who awed the Universe, Odin never imagined that he would one day meet such a tragic end.
And the one who caused all this was that rebellious son, Loki… No, it should be said that the culprit was that damned dimension demon, Karl Merks!
"Karl Merks, you just wait! Even if my soul enters Valhalla after I die, I will never let you go!"
"Ahem… Excuse me, may I interrupt?!"
At this moment, a magnetic voice suddenly sounded from behind Odin, somewhat out of place.
"Hmm? Who are you?"
Odin quickly wiped away the tears from his eyes and looked warily at the handsome man who had appeared silently behind him, standing less than five meters away.
Although the Odin Force on him had been sealed by Loki's magic, Odin's aging body still possessed a'super physique' that was several times stronger than that of an ordinary Earthling.
So, even when facing several strong human men at once, the elderly Odin was not flustered at all!
"Huh? No… You don't recognize me so quickly?"
Karl's expression immediately became strange. This old geezer must have face blindness, right?
You can forget a face as handsome as mine?
And you were just shouting about seeking revenge on me?
You're avenging nothing!
Then, Karl's aura suddenly changed. From a perspective invisible to ordinary people, the five-colored Chaos Eight-Pointed Star instantly appeared on his forehead.
"It's you, you… You are that insidious and cunning dimension demon?!"
Odin's face changed drastically, and he roared at Karl, his eyes splitting with rage, "Take off your hypocritical mask! I already know the truth… All of this, everything, was your doing behind the scenes!"
"It wasn't Loki at all… Cough, cough, cough, the appearance of the Eye of Fear, and those four Chaos Gods, were all just pretexts you deliberately threw out to deceive people."
"Hmph, if it weren't for that rebellious son being too arrogant, I probably would have already exposed your schemes to the public!"
"Tsk tsk, as expected of the King of the Gods. Even though he's almost dying of old age, his mind is still so sharp." Karl heard this and was neither angry nor annoyed. Instead, he smiled and reminded him:
"But the 'rebellious son' you just mentioned, I presume, refers to Loki, right?"
"Don't worry, the magic restriction he placed on you will automatically fail in front of me, because… the Hyperspace power he borrowed originates from me."
Prestige + 999
"It really is you!!!"
Hearing Karl's indirect admission of his accusation, Odin not only felt no relief or comfort, but instead became exceptionally nervous.
Because he couldn't see any hint of frustration or anger on the man's face, which would be expected when a plan is exposed.
Instead, it was as if everything was still under his control!
Is it an illusion?
Or… had the other party already anticipated such a situation today?
If it was the latter, then this guy was simply too terrifying!
Just as Odin was hesitating and wondering if Karl would'silence' him next, he heard Karl continue to speak confidently:
"However, you don't really think that telling Loki the truth… or exposing it to the public, would be able to completely resolve this crisis, do you?"
"Naive!"
"All changes have already been foreseen by me… Even your teleportation here was a predetermined outcome."
"Actually, you should really feel fortunate that you didn't tell Loki the truth at that time."
Karl gradually reined in the smile on his face, looking at Odin with a stern gaze, "Otherwise… not only would Loki die, Thor would die, you would die, but even all of Asgard would perish along with your foolish decision!"
"You…"
Odin's pupils constricted sharply, and his left hand instinctively clenched, seemingly wanting to grab his Eternal Spear to kill this despicable dimension demon who dared to speak so presumptuously in front of him.
However, his left hand simply grasped at nothing.
Even his proud Odin Force showed no sign of responding.
Odin's withered body began to tremble slightly, half from anger, the other half from fear!
In the long thousands of years of the past, no one had ever dared to threaten him like this to his face.
Even ambitious dimension demons like Mephisto and Dormammu dared not extend their tentacles towards his Asgard.
But now… not only had the rebellious son he had painstakingly raised betrayed him, but even this unknown dimension demon dared to openly challenge him to his face?!
Odin, overcome with sorrow, couldn't help but feel a huge sense of disparity, like a tiger fallen into the plains being bullied by dogs.
But at the same time, he was also very clear about how fatal the threat from this dimension demon in front of him was!
Not to mention the four pervasive Chaos Gods pushed to the forefront by the other party, and the Eye of Fear, capable of devouring and corrupting all things in the World…
The mere fact that the scheme orchestrated by the other party could even successfully deceive the Sorcerer Supreme was enough for Odin to conclude that if Karl truly intended to harm Thor, then his not-so-smart foolish son would absolutely not be able to live to see tomorrow's Sun.
After a brief internal struggle, in order for the noble bloodline of the Norse Pantheon to successfully continue, and for the flame of Asgard not to be extinguished, the King of the Gods, who had once looked down upon the Universe in his youth, finally lowered his proud crown and reluctantly chose to compromise.
There was no other way; only two paths lay before him now:
Either compromise!
Or… destruction!
After a moment of silence, Odin said dejectedly, "You… what exactly do you want to do?"
Before Karl could speak, Odin hastily added, "No matter if you want Asgard or the Nine Realms, as long as you promise not to harm Thor and spare his life, I will agree to any condition!"
"Is that so?" Karl's smile grew more playful. "What if what I want is… your soul?"
"Ah? What did you just say?"
Odin was truly startled by this reply. He immediately suppressed the feeling of humiliation and anger rising in his heart, frowning as he explained:
"If you're after my soul, then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed… because my soul, and the souls of all Asgardians, all belong to Valhalla."
"Even if you are a dimension demon, you cannot take my soul from Valhalla!"
Your soul belongs to Valhalla?
Old man, stop joking, alright?
When my plan reaches its next stage, even Valhalla will have to take on my form!
Karl didn't offer too much explanation, but instead said directly, "Whether I can snatch your soul from Valhalla is my business, but whether you agree to this request right now directly concerns the future fate of Thor and Asgard…"
"Odin, you don't want to see anything happen to your son, do you?!"
Odin stared at Karl with his single eye for a moment, but couldn't glean any useful information from the other party's expression, so he reluctantly nodded and said:
"If you insist, my soul can be yours… But you must promise that even if you ultimately cannot take my soul from Valhalla, you will absolutely not harm Thor and Asgard!"
"What a scene of paternal love, isn't it? If Loki could also receive such recognition and affirmation from you, I suppose he wouldn't be so rebellious, would he?"
Karl's face once again broke into a bright, sunny smile, "But you can rest assured, a living Thor is far more valuable to me than a dead Thor."
Karl was definitely not deceiving Odin with this statement, after all, Earth was his 'base plate'. If he lost a 'warm-hearted' simpleton like Thor, he wouldn't know how much prestige points he would lose out on.
So, unless it reached an unbearable point, Karl would absolutely not lay a hand on these 'fun-loving' individuals.
Immediately, a special soul contract formed by Hyperspace energy flew from Karl's palm and then entered Odin's chest—the indentured servitude was complete!
Although after Odin was affected by Loki's seal (which was actually Tzeentch's soul imprint), his soul would be directly plundered by the Warp upon death.
However, considering Odin's own strength, if his soul were to be reshaped or directly transformed into a Greater Daemon without his cooperation, it would inevitably result in the loss of a portion of his soul essence, i.e., his power.
For a rare Father-level expert like this, any loss of power would pain Karl.
What's more, Karl had already arranged a brand new journey for Odin. At that time, this King of the Gods, who had awed the Universe, would reappear in the Universe in a completely unimaginable new form!
Therefore, if Odin could voluntarily sign the soul contract now, then his soul could be directly utilized, thereby minimizing any loss.
Another point is… once Odin dies now, Hela, the Goddess of Death, who is sealed in Helheim, will break free.
And Karl's plan has only just begun; it is clearly not the right time for that chaotic madwoman to officially make her debut, so this old man naturally needs to live a few more days!
"Oh, right, here you go."
Before leaving, Karl took out a specially prepared syringe—the Quick Revival Potion 2.0 Stable Version—and handed it to Odin.
"This is an early employee benefit for you… It might help you revive Queen Frigga!"
As an excellent boss, Karl has always been extremely generous to his employees… even if they haven't officially started working yet!
"Employee benefit? Who's your employee?"
Odin was first stunned, then his attention immediately fell on the latter half of the other party's words and the syringe handed to him. He widened his eyes in disbelief and said:
"Wait a minute, you… you just said this thing can… can revive Frigga?!"
Although the words of the man in front of him sounded somewhat incredible.
But Odin was more willing to believe that this dimension demon wouldn't be so bored as to mock him with such a matter… right?!
"That's right."
Karl lightly snapped his fingers, and a small teleportation gate leading directly to the Sokovia office immediately appeared beside him.
After obtaining the Space Stone, his travel was now incredibly convenient.
"Under normal circumstances, the Revival Potion will automatically take effect within about 5 minutes… but I'm not entirely sure if this potion will work when used on an Asgardian."
"And even if she can be revived, she will most likely become an ordinary person like you are now… As for her lifespan, it's even harder to say."
"So, whether or not to save her, the choice is in your hands."
With that, Karl stepped into the teleportation gate without looking back.
Undoubtedly, his plan to deploy the Eye of Fear this time could be said to be a great success!
The entire plan had only just begun, and the overall progress hadn't even officially reached the middle stage, yet he had already successfully acquired the long-coveted Space Stone, as well as the Bifrost Bridge and Odin's soul—and the latter was offered willingly by the other party.
And as the plan continued to advance, Karl believed that the benefits he would gain were destined to be far greater than what he had now…
(＾＾●)
Nice!!!
This truly holds great promise for the future!
"Frigga, don't leave me alone…"
Karl's words just now were nothing short of bringing a ray of hope back to Odin's shattered heart.
He used his intact, yet uncontrollably trembling left hand to inject the Quick Revival Potion syringe into Queen Frigga's carotid artery.
The mysterious potion, as red as blood, inside the syringe was instantly and rapidly pushed into Queen Frigga's blood vessels.
Such a simple action, yet it seemed to drain all the strength from Odin's body, causing the elderly king to gasp in weary breaths.
Odin, like a 'wife-watching stone', stared unblinkingly at Queen Frigga's 'corpse'.
And in his heart, he continuously prayed to the ancestors in Valhalla, hoping they would bless his beloved wife to successfully revive!
"Oh, Odin, how could even you die…?"