Thor knew that Loki was very afraid of pain. Actually, in this world, no one is not afraid of pain. Pain can interfere with a person's thinking and cause movements to become sluggish. Even if you're not afraid of the pain itself, you'll fear these side effects because they can be deadly on the battlefield.
However, Asgard is a civilization that does not tolerate weakness. To be precise, their martial spirit dictates that no one can comfortably cry out in pain. Because if it's just you feeling pain, maybe only you will die, but if you call out and distract others, then everyone dies together. Everyone must act tough enough not to drag their teammates down.
In such an atmosphere, being able to show weakness, to back down and cry out in pain, is actually a special privilege. Even if it's just in front of one or a few people, it represents great trust.
Thor doesn't remember how many times he saw Loki's tears. Most of them were when they were kids, when the two of them would get into trouble together and there would always be accidents. When Loki got hurt, he would cry, and Thor wouldn't scold him for being weak like a typical Asgardian, but rather coax him and help cover it up, telling others it was his own doing.
As they grew older, Loki began to play pranks on Thor, sometimes tricking him into being trapped somewhere or having vines lift him up. Thor's comical appearance always made Loki laugh heartily. Thor thought this was great because it was better than seeing Loki cry.
Later on, they had disagreements, and their relationship became less close. At times, Thor even missed Loki's tears, because compared to him always standing in the shadows, watching with a complicated expression, it was better to see him cry or laugh.
This relationship persisted for a long time, even until after Thor ascended the throne. The roles of Divine King and Prince weren't particularly close. They each had their own duties and were always busy with their own affairs. During the occasional family gatherings, discussions often revolved around the current state of Asgard. Perhaps this is the destiny of royal family members.
But in this scenario, it seemed like they returned to their childhood. Loki would be angry one moment and crying the next. Thor would coax him, help fend off troubles, and strive to make him happy. Up to this stage, everything seemed like reliving old dreams.
But unfortunately, in those old dreams between the brothers, besides embracing and adventuring together, there was also the difference in identity, the distinction of race, and the hierarchy of ruler and subject. Separated by the Fairy Palace, separated by Asgard, separated by the roots and branches of the World Tree.
"I've had enough," Thor suddenly said, "I'm done with all of this. I think we need to withdraw, Loki."
"What are you talking about?!" Loki, still calculating the distance, looked up at him and said, "This is the last stage, once it's completed, we will…"
"I don't want to pass this stage," Thor said, "We need to withdraw."
Loki stood up, clenching his fist, but clearly restrained himself as he said: "Yes, now it's my turn to remove the collarbone ring, which may hurt a lot. I can't say I can completely handle it. But I also said, you can't keep…"
"What? Deprive you of the right to be a hero?" Thor looked calm, and he said, "You know I just hate this atmosphere where you have no choice. If I hate heroes, it would only be because of this."
Loki was stunned. Some long-forgotten memories resurfaced for him. It might have been during a battle, or perhaps a duel, when someone wanted him to enter the fray and fight some Great General.
Loki wanted to go up. He didn't think he couldn't win because he could use magic. Although the Aesir had divine power, their control over energy was not as precise as his, and even if their physical conditions were better, they might not necessarily win.
But Thor firmly disagreed. Not only did he not let Loki go on, but he also beat up both the ones stirring things and his intended opponent.
As a child, Loki had doubts about whether Thor was trying to suppress him, not allowing him to showcase himself, or perhaps due to an overwhelming desire to control, he was overly worried that Loki would get hurt, so he wouldn't let him go on.
Originally, Loki thought he had forgotten what Thor said back then. But when the same words echoed in his ears, the distant and blurry memories suddenly became clearer.
"Do you know, Loki? I really hate this kind of Asgard. They are turning excluding dissent into unity. If a person has to become a certain way to not be ostracized from the group, then what are we fighting for?"
Yes, what are we fighting for? Loki had also thought about this question then, but he didn't have an answer. Later, he realized that the question itself was the answer—Thor was questioning Odin.
Odin had long said that battle was for victory and for the honor of Asgard. But if Thor agreed, he wouldn't have asked this question. Since he asked, it showed Thor didn't agree with this narrative.
Yet, Thor always talked about Asgard's honor, living each day for Asgard, for the Aesir, to win the support of the Asgardians, even at the risk of endangering himself, sometimes bordering on recklessness.
This always made Loki feel divided, as if a philosopher and a battle maniac resided in Thor's body simultaneously. He didn't know which was the true him.
However, when he came into contact with the Multiverse and learned that the vast majority of Thors chose to become Thor, stay on Earth, and join The Avengers, instead of inheriting the throne of Asgard, Loki realized that Thor indeed refused to walk Odin's path. These seemingly very similar biological father and son turned out not to be aligned in the end.
Compassion, Loki thought, was the biggest difference between them. Odin, due to his lack of compassion, resembled a god, while Thor, because of his compassion, appeared more like a god.
What is the purpose of battle? Odin believed it was the realization of self-value; victory was an expression of honor. But Thor believed that battle was to protect the weak, and if the existence of the weak was not allowed, battle would be meaningless.
Thor charges forward so valiantly not because he truly agrees with Odin, but because he has Loki by his side. He allows Loki to be weak, so he needs even stronger combat strength to protect Loki.
"I don't like this." Thor repeated again, "Everyone is so strong and calm as if everyone is unaware of this breaking collarbone thing. Then they say 'it's your turn, Loki.' Do I have to stand here and listen to them say that?"
Loki flinched, he was even a little scared. He reached out to touch his collarbone, subconsciously took a step back, leaned against the wall and said to Thor, "The copies are limited in pain, the most painful could just be being hit on the foot. Actually..."
"Loki, between the two of us, it's always you who gives in first on this matter. You are the one who is more accepting of Asgard. It's such a shame you're not an Aesir."
Loki couldn't stand Thor talking to him like this because it was infinitely close to a reprimand. But he was already feeling guilty and couldn't think of any rebuttal for a moment because Thor was right. In resisting the Spartan atmosphere of Asgard, he's often the first to retreat, while Thor always fights to the end, never giving in.
The others were originally watching with interest, but once Thor said this, they all realized the seriousness of the situation. Thor's sarcastic tone indicated that he was truly angry.
"Clap clap clap!" Harley forcefully slapped the ceiling panel, "Hey! Talk if you want to talk, don't drag us into it! We didn't say you must participate in the plan!"
"Exactly." Pamela also shouted toward the hole, "Do you think we all agreed to the plan so that we could watch them break the collarbone? In reality, because only two people are in one layer, I can't hold back this lunatic! If I could beat her, would I let her do this?"
"Exactly." Lucifer chimed in from above, "I didn't agree to him doing this either, I just can't stop him."
"You know I always can't stop Erik." Charles said, "All these years, I've never succeeded."
"Others aside, you?" Thor went to the hole to confront him. Loki also couldn't accept Charles's statement.
"Why are you two joining the fun?" Loki said, "Here, if you say you can't stop him, I won't pick a bone with you. You can't stop him outside either? Who are you lying to?"
"You know he has a helmet..."
"That helmet is useless!" Thor retorted at him, "He made a Cerebro as big as a planet, and then only made himself a crappy helmet. The paint on the side of the helmet is peeling, wasn't Washington still alive when it was made?"
"You got the nerve to talk about us?" Erik couldn't take it anymore, "There's no blood relation, it's fluid gender, been thousands of years without getting married, you know what the problem is in your hearts."
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Thor snapped back at the small window, "That's my brother! We're not like the gods in human mythology who don't think about anything other than their lower body every day! I'm too lazy to talk about you two. What, did the human gay rights legalization movement start too late and miss you two?"
"What's the gay rights legalization movement got to do with you?!" Pamela wished she could stick her head out to retort, "God clan should mind their own business when it comes to the human race!"
As they continued fiercely ranting at each other, none of them noticed that one of their own had quietly retreated. Eventually, Anatoli stood up and ended the endless quarrel.
"Enough, stop talking!" Anatoli shouted, "You want to quit, right? That's okay, but after you quit, immediately write a bad review..."
"You don't need to tell us, we'll write one." Thor said, "We followed the clearance process but somehow got stuck, of course, we're writing a bad review!"
"By the way, what did those two end up doing?" Harley asked a bit puzzled, "Even being trapped can't possibly trap them for so long, right? With their capabilities, they should..."
Suddenly, with a "swish" all the lights went out. Accompanied by a slight vibration, the sound of the winch spinning became weaker until it completely stopped.
"Power outage?" Harley said a bit surprised, "Did someone cut off the power supply?"
"How is that possible? When we went to the central energy control room, didn't we find the power supply protected?" Harley frowned, "That thing has no external switches, no way to cut it off through normal means, maybe the organizer would have to use a remote or something to turn it off."
"Batman." Anatoli said, "They wouldn't just give up like this, they're definitely off chasing clues."
"Sure enough, in the end, it's Batman to save the world again?" Pamela said somewhat wistfully, "Truly worthy of being the Savior."