Even in the memory replica, dealing with Hela had cost him and Thor everything.
They'd not only returned the Eternal Flame to Surtur, the fire giant — they'd let Surtur destroy Asgard in the process.
Think about that — Asgard, their home!
If there'd been any other way, why would they ever consent to its destruction?
That was how formidable Hela's power was.
But even so — was Hela truly dead?
She'd simply lost her bond with Asgard, and with it her supply of Asgardian energy. That was all.
Though the memory replica left her fate ambiguous, Loki had no doubt at all that Hela hadn't died there.
It was entirely possible she was simply recuperating, waiting for the day she'd return.
So if Loki wanted to deal with Hela without affecting Asgard — the only option was to seal her.
Loki's gaze instinctively turned to Baixuan.
If it were him… he could probably seal Hela with barely any effort, right?
"I don't mind helping you reinforce the seal."
"But is that really all you want?"
Baixuan felt Loki's gaze and replied with perfect calm.
Sealing was simple enough for Baixuan. But did Loki truly want nothing more than to keep Hela contained?
Compared to a simple seal — didn't Loki want to do something bigger?
"Pawn and reclaim?"
Those words surfaced unbidden in Loki's mind.
Looking at the points he'd earned from reclaiming Laufey, Loki couldn't help but feel his interest stir.
The points from reclaiming Hela wouldn't match what a permanent Odin brought in — but the man couldn't keep recapturing the same target forever. Hela, though? She was a reclaimable asset on permanent rotation!
Those points would far exceed what that jobber Laufey was worth.
Thinking of his biological father Laufey, Loki couldn't help but sigh.
Couldn't beat Odin. Couldn't beat Hela. And later, couldn't even beat Thor.
All those years — what was this guy even doing?!
An absolute waste of time!
As Aizen would say: Life that doesn't correspond to one's strength is a waste as well!
Thinking of Aizen, Loki couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.
If it weren't for this script — with his persona being the new king who swore to defend Asgard's glory unto death, rather than the major antagonist lurking within Asgard's shadows — he really would have wanted to throw that line out there and let it land.
Among all the chat group's members, Loki felt Aizen was the one most kindred to him.
Not just their similar abilities — their entire tone was identical.
Beneath the calm exterior lay an inner arrogance, a disdain for those who couldn't see themselves or face reality as it was.
The only real difference was that Loki wasn't as silver-tongued as Aizen.
Well — at least, that was how Loki saw it.
"Reclaiming Hela, you say…"
That might actually work.
Killing her was practically impossible. But beating her to the point of helplessness — that should be doable.
Knocking someone out? He had plenty of experience with that.
With that, Loki aligned with Baixuan's thinking. Hela's matter would wait until she actually emerged.
The Asgard expedition had reached its conclusion.
It was time for them to leave.
"Ding. Laufey confirmed dead. Group member [Loki] survived. Mission complete."
"Ding. Group member [Northern God's Glory] contributed 53% to the mission. Group member [Electromaster] contributed 30%. Group member [Ice Queen] contributed 17%. Mission rewards distributed proportionally."
No one had been assigned to protect Loki — they'd all gone off to farm Frost Giants for points — but the chat group still distributed the rewards fairly among the three of them.
Ice Queen: "So I killed the fewest?"
Esdeath stared at her contribution percentage in the war and fell into contemplation.
The Frost Giants' strength wasn't anything special, true — but Esdeath hadn't held back on the kills either.
Killing wasn't something Esdeath worried about in the slightest.
It was just that after the Frost Giants died and transformed into another state of being, Esdeath's interest had quickly faded.
Because after death, fighting as a reanimated corpse — without even the five basic senses, reacting to the most grievous wounds with not a flicker of expression…
That kind of slaughter held no appeal for Esdeath.
But she'd never expected those two to be having that much fun.
Electromaster:[Image.jpg]
Electromaster: "Why did I receive Mjolnir?"
Electromaster: "My contribution wasn't even the highest though?"
Mikoto Misaka stared at the hammer in her hand, crackling faintly with electric arcs, and bewilderedly asked in the chat group.
Mjolnir wasn't cheap, you know.
She figured she'd just get some points from the mission. The hammer would obviously go to Shiba Inu Thor.
Northern God's Glory: "Woof?"
Northern God's Glory: "Shiba Inu confusion.jpg"
Northern God's Glory:[Image.jpg]
Shiba Inu Thor had also posted an image — a hammer, identical to the one Mikoto was holding.
Ordinary Group Leader: "So the chat group gave both of you a Mjolnir each?"
Ordinary Group Leader: "Getting this generous all of a sudden?"
Su Yunqing said, genuinely incredulous.
Would the chat group really be that generous?
Richest Man: "You think that's possible?"
Richest Man: "@Ice Queen, how many points did you get? The mission reward points, I mean — not the ones from recycling Frost Giants."
Ice Queen: "One million."
Esdeath had figured out the chat group's approach by then.
Simulterrain: "So they must've split Mjolnir into two hammers, right?"
Ordinary Group Leader: "Has to be."
Simulterrain: "Can't wait to see Thor's face when he realizes his hammer's gone."
Loki: "That would be absolutely hilarious!"
Loki couldn't resist saying it in the chat group.
In his mind's eye, the image already formed — Thor, bewildered, looking left and right, calling out for Mjolnir, with no response whatsoever.
Just thinking about it made him want to laugh.
Don't think I took your Meow Meow Hammer from you.
Thor, you need to grow.
You are the God of Thunder — not the God of Hammers.
Giving your hammer to someone else as a mission reward wasn't because I was stingy about those points, and it wasn't because I couldn't bear to part with the remaining treasures in the Loki vault.
It's simply because Mjolnir limits your potential — it keeps you from ever developing your power to its absolute limit.
Everything I've done has been for your sake!
You'll surely forgive me, and be deeply grateful that I had your best interests at heart, won't you, Thor?
No need to stand on ceremony with me.
Who else would call me "brother," after all?
This is simply what a "little brother" should do.
That was what Loki said to Thor — in his heart.
White Rabbit: "Finally… there was finally a mission I could take part in."
Utaha: "Once again, a huge thank you to @Flying Squirrel. If it weren't for your job-transfer scroll, even with how low the difficulty was this time and no restrictions on participants, we still wouldn't have been able to join."
Points!
These weren't the kind you accumulated one daily sign-in at a time — these were earned by actually taking part in missions.
———
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