Before heading to Odin's treasury with Thor, Ethan Blake didn't forget to finish off Malekith with a precise Atomic Collapse. The blast erased the Dark Elf leader completely, and Ethan watched with mild satisfaction as the summoning progress bar in his mind surged from 270% all the way to 350%. Even so, he still felt slightly dissatisfied.
After all, Malekith was supposed to be the leader of an entire race, yet the contribution barely compared to what Thanos's Black Order generals would provide. It was honestly disappointing. Ethan couldn't help thinking that if the Dark Elves were this underwhelming, it wasn't surprising they had lost to Asgard.
Guided by Thor, the two of them soon arrived before a towering gate. The structure was magnificent, built entirely of radiant gold and easily more than ten meters tall. Two guards in gleaming golden armor stood on either side of the entrance, their expressions sharp and vigilant, the kind that made ordinary people hesitate to meet their gaze.
Clearly, Odin had already given them instructions. Neither guard attempted to stop Thor or Ethan as they approached. However, their curious glances toward Ethan were impossible to hide.
During the hundreds of years they had spent guarding the Odin Vault, not a single outsider had ever been allowed inside.
With a heavy creak, Thor pushed open the treasury doors. The massive gates parted slowly, revealing a staircase leading downward into the vault itself.
As Ethan descended, the first things that greeted his eyes were rows upon rows of weapons gleaming with cold metallic light. Golden spears stood upright in ornate racks. Silver longswords rested neatly along the walls. There were massive war hammers and double-bladed axes favored by Asgardian warriors, each one radiating an aura that made it obvious they were far from ordinary weapons.
Despite the impressive display, Ethan barely spared them a glance.
He walked straight past the weapon section without hesitation.
At the far end of the treasury stood a much smaller chamber where only a handful of items were displayed. Each artifact rested upon its own pedestal, carefully isolated and bathed in a faint glow that emphasized its importance. These were the true treasures of Odin's collection.
Every single one of them was an artifact that could shake the entire universe if revealed to the outside world.
Among the items, Ethan quickly spotted something familiar. Sitting quietly on one of the pedestals was the glowing blue cube that had caused so much chaos not long ago.
The Tesseract.
The object that rightfully belonged to him.
Ethan pointed at it casually. "This should be returned to me."
"Of course," Thor replied without hesitation. "Prophet, just take it. I'll explain it to Father later."
Thor spoke as if Ethan wasn't taking an artifact of unimaginable value but merely picking a vegetable from a garden. His tone was so relaxed that Ethan almost laughed.
Without wasting another second, Ethan decisively stored the Tesseract away.
Aside from the cube, there were six remaining treasures in the chamber. For a brief moment, Ethan seriously considered sweeping them all into his pocket. However, after thinking about Odin's terrifying strength, he reluctantly gave up on that idea.
Taking everything would probably push things too far.
Choosing just one seemed much safer.
With that in mind, Ethan began examining the artifacts carefully, taking his time as he walked from pedestal to pedestal.
The first item he approached was a spherical device that resembled an elaborate clock.
"That's the Ball of Agamotto," Thor explained from the side. "It's a relic passed down through generations of the Sorcerer Supreme. It can detect dangers in the universe and sense the source of magic before problems appear."
Ethan glanced at Thor with mild surprise. "You actually know quite a lot about these things."
"When Loki and I were kids, Father used to bring us here sometimes," Thor said. "He explained the artifacts to us more than once. Over there is the Warlock's Eye, another treasure of the Sorcerer Supreme. It's said to predict the future and dispel illusions and false darkness."
Thor paused for a moment, then shrugged. "I still don't know who the Sorcerer Supreme really is. Whoever they are, they have a lot of incredible treasures."
"I asked Father once, but he refused to tell me. Back then I even thought about stealing a few of them." Thor sighed regretfully as he finished speaking.
Ethan, however, wasn't thinking about revealing the location of Kamar-Taj to Thor.
What interested him more was the fact that both the Ball of Agamotto and the Warlock's Eye—artifacts that should have been treasures of the Sorcerer Supreme—were sitting comfortably inside Odin's vault. Even at Kamar-Taj, those relics would rank just below the Eye of Agamotto itself.
Yet Odin had somehow acquired them.
That fact alone suggested that Odin's relationship with the Sorcerer Supreme was probably far from friendly.
"Prophet, I suggest you choose the Warlock's Eye," Thor suddenly said.
"Why?" Ethan asked, slightly puzzled.
"Because it predicts the future," Thor said confidently. "Isn't that perfect for someone with prophetic abilities like you?"
Ethan didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.
One thing was certain, though. The Warlock's Eye was immediately eliminated from consideration. Predicting the future was completely unnecessary for him, and as for dispelling illusions or darkness, he already possessed abilities far stronger than that.
In his hands, the artifact would be practically useless.
While continuing the conversation, Ethan walked toward the next pedestal. Resting on it was a massive golden gauntlet, its surface embedded with six empty gemstone slots.
"My father never really explained this one to us," Thor said thoughtfully. "Whenever we asked about it, he only mentioned that it was a pity it had never been fully assembled. I never understood what he meant."
Thor didn't know what the artifact was, but Ethan recognized it instantly.
The Infinity Gauntlet.
In the future, Hela would mockingly call the gauntlet a fake during Ragnarök. Ethan suspected she had been referring only to the gems embedded in it, not the gauntlet itself. The stones on display were clearly imitations.
The gauntlet itself, however, was very likely real.
After all, the dwarves of Nidavellir existed under the protection of the Nine Realms. If Odin had wanted the Infinity Gauntlet, he could have obtained it easily. There was no reason for him to place a fake one here just to decorate his treasury.
Ethan considered the possibility carefully.
He already possessed three Infinity Stones in the future timeline of his plans. If he took the gauntlet now, the foundation for unimaginable power would already be in place.
Still unsure, Ethan moved to the next artifact.
"This is the Casket of Ancient Winters," Thor explained. "It once belonged to the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. It contains endless frost energy. With it, an entire region can be frozen instantly. The Frost Giants once tried to use it to push Earth into another ice age, but we stopped them. After the war, Father kept it."
Thor clearly knew more about this artifact. After all, Loki had once used its power to freeze Heimdall instantly, despite being vastly weaker in direct combat.
Even so, Ethan wasn't interested in the Casket of Ancient Winters.
He wasn't a Frost Giant, and the artifact's power simply didn't match his abilities.
He moved on to the next pedestal.
"This is the Eternal Fire," Thor said. "It belonged to the Fire Giant Surtur." His explanation was brief, clearly indicating he didn't know much about it.
Ethan considered it for a moment.
If he took the Eternal Fire away, would that prevent Asgard's future Ragnarök from happening? The thought crossed his mind briefly, but he quickly dismissed it.
The artifact was completely useless to him.
Seeing Ethan lose interest again, Thor walked to the final pedestal and gestured toward it.
"This last one is called the Life Tablet," Thor said. "It supposedly comes from the lost civilization of Atlantis on your Midgard. Engraved on it is something called the life equation of biological evolution. According to the legend, anyone who understands and follows the equation can evolve into the highest form of life—possessing limitless wisdom and immense combat power."
Thor shrugged. "Unfortunately, no one has ever been able to read the language on it."
The artifact was a blue stone tablet. Strange, ghostlike characters were carved across its surface, forming a script that looked completely incomprehensible.
Ethan stared at it thoughtfully.
Should he just choose the Infinity Gauntlet instead?
He was about to ask Thor for it when a sudden idea flashed through his mind.
Inside his inventory, he still possessed a special item.
The Translation Konjac.
As long as he ate it, he would be able to understand any language—whether it was from Earth or from alien civilizations. The effect wasn't limited to spoken words; it also worked for written text.
Which meant he could read the tablet himself.
Thinking this, Ethan immediately retrieved the small piece of Translation Konjac from his golden storage space. He shoved it into his mouth and chewed twice. The texture was dry and tasteless, so he simply swallowed it.
....
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