The war was over.
Every Asgard warrior present couldn't help but break into cheers.
"We've… won!"
Loki raised the Eternal Spear Gungnir high above the battlefield, his voice ringing out. Every Asgard warrior followed his lead in unison.
"Asgard万岁!"
"For the glory of Asgard!"
"The glory of Asgard brooks no challenge!"
*. * *
"Heimdall."
Loki waited until the cheering had run its course, then called the watchman's name toward the sky.
A brilliant rainbow light broke through the clouds and bathed the Asgard warriors in its glow. A moment later, everyone vanished from the battlefield — leaving only Thor and Loki behind.
Beyond the battlefield, with Laufey's death, the sky's projection dissolved in an instant.
Sif and the others were still lost in the afterglow of that dazzling light. Anxiety and complicated emotions played plainly across their faces — they desperately wanted to rush to the battlefield and see what had truly unfolded.
But the familiar beam of light in the sky told them everything they needed to relax.
The Bifrost's glow meant Heimdall was watching. It meant everyone was coming home.
The war was over.
But was it really over?
That eerie green flame — the power of Helheim.
Was it truly over?
Unease crept into everyone's hearts.
Thor, absorbed in the battle, hadn't shared Sif and the others' concerns. He didn't care about Helheim or any of that.
All he felt now was a complicated tangle as he gazed at Loki — this brother who was familiar and strange all at once.
"Loki."
He was silent for a long moment. Then, at last, he spoke the name.
"A king's duty. You've done well."
"That's only to be expected."
Loki accepted Thor's praise without a shred of false modesty.
"I've always believed I was the most suitable choice for king. It's only that Father's eyes never fell on me."
Phase one of the script was complete.
Loki felt genuine reverence for his own flawless performance!
He'd never imagined all his problems could be solved so effortlessly.
There were still a few logical gaps here and there, but who could actually expose them?
He'd even reclaimed Laufey!
Look at everything he had to show for it now.
The respect and adoration of Asgard's warriors!
Thor the God of Thunder's acknowledgment and admiration!
The untold reverence of Midgard's mortals!
If the setting weren't so inappropriate, Loki would have been hard-pressed to suppress the grin that was testing his composure — his inner satisfaction was practically overflowing!
In the past, everyone had written him off: a bit of cleverness, parlor-trick illusions, worthless scheming — and that was it. Nothing more. All of it merely proof of his weakness and cowardice.
He didn't measure up to Thor!
To many, an ordinary Asgard warrior was worth more than him.
But now? Who would dare think that way?
Especially after Odin's apparition had manifested above Gungnir before the battle was even done!
Even Heimdall would have to acknowledge that Loki was the most suitable king for Asgard! Even Odin had given his approval!
"Yes. You've proven you're the most suitable choice for king."
Thor opened his mouth — then fell silent. After a moment, he looked at Loki with visible struggle.
"Is Father… still alive?"
He needed to know the answer.
Loki had told him Father was dead. Sif and the others had told him Father was alive. But then Laufey, in the end, had spoken as though Father were already gone.
Who was lying? Or was the answer more complicated than that?
"Father… is still alive."
In the end, Loki couldn't bring himself to lie.
He could have claimed Odin was dead — with Laufey's final words and no one able to locate Odin, it would have been easy. People would only connect it to Laufey, or to Helheim at most.
Even if they suspected him, there was no evidence.
But in the end, Loki met Thor's gaze, looked away, and chose not to deceive him.
"Then why did you…?"
After the brief surge of relief, Thor's thoughts raced back to what Loki had told him when they first met — that Father was dead.
"Because I wanted you to stay on Midgard."
Loki didn't conceal his thinking for a second.
"What are you saying?!"
Thor stared, incredulous, unable to comprehend how Loki could say such a thing!
"Are you deaf to your own words?!"
"I said I don't want you to come back!"
Loki met Thor's gaze and shouted.
Silence fell like a stone.
"Do you even know what you're saying, Loki?"
"That is my home! Our home!"
"I want to go back to my home — to see Father, Mother, and you!"
"Are you telling me even that is forbidden?!"
Thor's voice was low. Could the crown truly change a person so completely?
Loki hadn't been like this before…
"Do you think I'm the one who doesn't want you back?"
Loki's tone was cold.
"Do you have any idea what consequences your return would trigger?"
"But you know I wouldn't compete with you for—"
"Would knowing that change anything?"
Loki cut Thor off.
"Stop being so naive, my brother!"
"The throne isn't something you can simply choose not to fight for!"
"Even with the加持 of this war, compared to the supporters you've built through every victory you led Asgard to — what do you think would happen if you returned?"
"For whom would they rather see Asgard's crown?"
Thor fell silent.
Loki watched him, then spoke in a measured tone:
"Even now, your supporters must think all of this is fake."
"That I staged the whole thing — Jotunheim included."
"That the Laufey you fought was an illusion. That the Frost Giants were all an illusion."
"That everything was my deception, that every last bit of it was false — that all the Frost Giants are still alive."
"Don't argue with me, Thor. That's exactly what your supporters are thinking."
Thor hung his head, his expression hollow.
He couldn't refute what Loki was saying, because every word was true.
Prejudice in the human heart is a mountain. Thor could believe in Loki without reservation — but they would not.
Even if every word was the truth.
"I'm only a regent. Father never truly acknowledged me."
"This crown is too fragile, too dreamlike. It feels like it could crumble at a touch."
"If we let you return to Asgard, then — whether you want it or not, willing or not — this struggle for the throne will inevitably ignite."
"I don't want Asgard to fall into chaos. Not even as a possibility."
Watching Thor's growing dejection, Loki's voice softened.
"Wait a while. Until Father wakes."
"Whether it's you or me on the throne — either way is fine with me."
Was it really fine?
As if!
Loki rolled his eyes internally.
After everything he'd done, if he actually let Odin return and name Thor king of Asgard, wouldn't that make all his effort completely pointless?
———
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