On Earth.
Loki opened his eyes from his meditation, a vicious and furious expression twisting his face.
He could not tolerate Warlord's utter disrespect toward him, but what unsettled him even more were Warlord's words.
"A controlled wretch?"
What did that mean?
He replayed every experience in his mind: usurping the throne, trying to kill Thor, being banished, falling to Sakaar and becoming a slave...
Then, Bant Parker became the King of Sakaar. Loki feigned submission and joined the Celestial Contractors Union.
Only after this departure did he finally find Thanos, the renowned Mad Titan of the universe, hoping to borrow Thanos's power to deal with Bant.
Because he had never forgotten how Bant Parker defeated him on Earth and stole the Casket of Ancient Winters that rightfully belonged to him.
All his memories were flawless.
He was doing this for revenge.
And Thanos just so happened to have desires of his own.
The two of them hit it off immediately. Loki told Thanos exactly how formidable Bant Parker was and agreed to serve as a spy, lurking by Bant's side. The moment Earth's entire military force was drawn away by the Chitauri fleet from space, he would activate the Tesseract and teleport three of the five Black Order generals directly to Earth.
As for Bant, he would also be lured away from Earth in advance.
Because at this very moment, on Jotunheim, the realm of the giants, Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive were already on their way to hunt down Luma.
When the time came, nothing on Earth would be able to stand in Thanos's path.
He would present the Tesseract to Thanos. In exchange, Thanos would bestow Earth upon him, making him the King of Earth.
Loki thought this to himself.
But for some reason, something felt slightly off.
Especially after returning to Earth this time. When he laid eyes on Bant, he felt surprisingly little anger or fear. And seeing Thor in such a wretched state brought him none of the usual satisfaction.
Was revenge truly his motive?
If not, why did he submit to Bant on Sakaar in the first place?
Did he really crave becoming a king?
If so, why did seeing his fallen brother fill him not with joy, but with a deep sense of grief?
Regardless, Loki knew he was about to become the King of Earth.
Not many in this universe could stop Thanos. Odin might have been able to, but Odin had grown old, weak, and cowardly. He no longer wished for war, content to cling to his tiny corner of Asgard and turn a blind eye to the chaos within the Nine Realms.
An aged Odin, a disgraced Thor...
Who else besides himself was worthy of being king?
Loki mused.
Yet Mjolnir still refused to acknowledge him.
He suddenly felt a burning curiosity: just how did Bant Parker become the King of Sakaar?
On the other side of the universe.
Thanos, clad in golden battle armor, sat upon his lonely, empty throne.
Supergiant wore silver-gray attire, a white hood shrouding her features.
She remained silent. Only a yellow Infinity Stone floated in the void between her hands.
"He's struggling," Supergiant said.
She was referring to Loki.
"It seems we've all underestimated the will of that Asgardian," Thanos slowly opened his eyes, revealing a scornful smile. "But no one can resist the power of the Stone."
Thanos, who understood the Infinity Stones' power better than anyone, did not believe Loki had the capacity to break free from the Mind Stone's control.
The power a Stone could unleash was directly tied to the strength of its wielder.
And as it happened, Supergiant herself possessed formidable mind-control abilities.
This time, Thanos's target was the Space Stone.
Thanks to the wave released by the awakening Space Stone, he had pinpointed its location through the resonance between the Stones.
Truthfully, with Loki as a spy, obtaining the Space Stone was not difficult.
That Earthling named Bant Parker seemed to trust Loki deeply. Securing the Tesseract would not be a challenge.
But Thanos had no intention of ending things after merely acquiring the Stone.
To date, he had invaded countless planets and offered countless lives to Death.
Earth would be no exception.
That was what he intended to do.
Then, he asked, "What's the status of Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight?"
Ebony Maw stepped forward. He resembled a hunched old man, his spindly, desiccated fingers pressed together like bamboo joints.
"They will arrive on Jotunheim shortly. I trust their abilities will be more than sufficient to bring that Thaedusman before you."
Ebony Maw spoke with utter reverence.
Hearing this, Thanos was quite satisfied.
Together, Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight were not much weaker than him.
He was deeply intrigued by this so-called Thaedusman Loki had mentioned. After all, this was the first time he had ever heard of such a race.
Perhaps this life would hold even greater appeal for Death.
Thanos was not certain.
But he was at least certain that the life of a Thaedusman would hold great appeal for the formidable Bant Parker.
"And Gamora?"
"She is searching for the Orb for you."
"Good."
Upon his throne, Thanos closed his eyes once more, as if sinking into slumber.
Beside Ebony Maw, the towering Cull Obsidian opened his mouth, looking at the now-silent Thanos. He seemed to want to speak, yet dared not utter a word.
He was wondering why the great Thanos never deigned to converse with him.
Thanos: I don't talk to idiots.
At this moment, on Jotunheim.
Amid an endless, raging white blizzard, frozen mountains and giants encircled Luma layer upon layer.
Luma held a massive warhammer. In a storm capable of swallowing an entire planet, she flickered like the sole, stabbing flame.
Countless giants surrounded her.
She showed no fear.
Because at her feet, even more giants already lay fallen.
Facing the encirclement of countless giants, Luma spoke with clear displeasure. "I only need one ice creature. Not this many. You frozen lumps of ice are a little too enthusiastic, aren't you?"
"Release our king!"
The Frost Giants roared at her in unison.
Luma really had only wanted to capture one Frost Giant. But adhering to the principle of capturing the best and strongest, she had set her sights on none other than Laufey, the King of the Frost Giants.
At this moment, Laufey still did not know that his own biological son was the one who had led Luma here.
But it no longer mattered, because he was already completely unconscious.
"This is my prey!"
The thousand-year-old ice beneath Luma's feet shattered. In the next instant, crimson lightning burst from her body, the arcs of electricity coiling around her iron-gray warhammer like serpents of thunder.
Someone wanted to steal her prey.
Then a fight it would be.
Luma showed no fear, because she too had mastered the Primal Force.
Theoretically, anyone could learn this power. In practice, however, it required talent. Loki had attempted to learn it from Kayla, yet he had never been able to awaken that power within himself.
Luma's talent, however, was the greatest among all Thaedusmen. Only Four Arms and his genetically optimized body had been able to surpass her.
Thus, under Bant and Kayla's instruction, Luma had also mastered the Primal Force.
And just like Four Arms, her Primal Force surged with a crimson red hue.
KABOOM!
Thunder roared in symphony.
At the same time, the ship carrying Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight was also approaching Jotunheim.
On Earth.
Under the veil of night, several streaking meteors slid from the sky, splitting apart in midair and scattering like fireworks across the land.
They were the symbiotes in their escape pods.
Just before the Chitauri's destructive attack had arrived, they had managed to disengage in time, execute a warp jump, and reach Earth ahead of schedule.
But because the escape pods were independent units, they had separated while still in the air.
Venom especially. That guy veered off in the opposite direction from the symbiote pack, almost as if he had deliberately split away.
"Fuck your space agents, I ain't doing it!"
Inside his escape pod, Venom spewed filth from his mouth.
"I'm gonna find the most crowded place there is and pick a few top-quality brains to eat!"
He licked his lips with wicked intent.
He locked his sights on New York City for no other reason than the fact that his previous host, that red-suited, shitbrained moron with the nasty ass, came from New York.
Venom did not like Deadpool one bit.
Even though every other symbiote thought he was a lunatic, Deadpool was an even crazier madman than him.
But symbiotes and hosts influenced each other.
He had briefly encountered Deadpool in some spatially distorted place. After that brief contact, Deadpool's insanity had infected him, a sweet, innocent little baby, like some kind of Cthulhu mind-plague.
And so Venom had fallen.
He had not only fallen, he had also inherited a piece of Deadpool's emotions.
Namely, an obsession with Spider-Man.
Of course, he did not yet know of Spider-Man's existence, but destiny seemed to guide every universe's Venom straight to Spider-Man.
Perhaps this was the power of the great Spider-Totem.
Only...
When Venom widened his color-swapped, Bealia-style eyes and stared at the figure in the spider suit before him, Venom felt like something was very, very wrong.
The guy in front of him was not who he was looking for.
Venom gazed at Bant Parker in his black spider suit and felt none of the genetic elation he had expected. Instead, he was overwhelmed by dread and unease.
"Uh, sorry... looks like I got the wrong person..."
Venom looked like a wriggling, black, sentient booger. The instant he saw Bant, every ounce of his slime became uncomfortable, jittering with anxiety.
Now, he was trying to slide backward as discreetly as possible, hoping to vanish from Bant's sight.
But Bant simply lifted a hand and popped a glass container right over him.
Honestly, the moment he laid eyes on Venom, even Bant was a little dumbfounded.
He had just spent the entire night wandering around with Black Cat. Just as he was about to head home, he suddenly spotted something falling from the sky.
By the time he reached the crash site, he saw Venom oozing out of an escape pod.
And so...
"Gene acquisition successful."
"Parasite list activated. Overkill loaded successfully."
/-\
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally)