"Thor!"
Loki knelt on one knee, using Gungnir's shaft to support himself. He stared at Thor's deathly pale skin and the shards of ice mixed with every breath he exhaled. For a moment, Loki was completely stunned, almost forgetting to breathe.
"This is all my fault..."
Thud.
Fenris had carried Loki while accelerating to several times the speed of sound in an instant, then coming to a complete stop just as abruptly. The immense acceleration would have easily crushed an ordinary person into a bloody pulp.
Even with Gungnir protecting him, the gravely wounded Loki no longer had the strength to move. He collapsed heavily to the ground.
"Thor is going to die, and Laufey has the Casket of Ancient Winters. Asgard..."
"It's truly over now..."
Loki had already surrendered to despair. He could not see even the slightest possibility of turning the situation around. He would forever be remembered as the criminal who had personally pushed Asgard into the abyss of destruction.
He remained on his knees, enduring both the pain wracking his body and the dizziness clouding his vision as he looked toward Fenris, who was holding Thor.
Realizing that he likely would not survive this ordeal, Loki spoke with a sincerity he had rarely shown in his entire life. A bleak smile appeared on his face.
"Midgardian, you've done everything you could. Run while you still can."
"Go. With your speed, you can fly across the Bifrost and return to Midgard with ease. None of this has anything to do with you anymore."
He could not blame Fenris for abandoning the Casket to save Thor. As a friend, Fenris had already done everything he possibly could by fighting alongside Asgard until this moment.
"Loki, we'll have plenty of time to settle our accounts later. For now, shut up!"
Fenris ignored him and lowered his gaze to Thor, who lay in his arms.
"Cold..."
Thor's lips had completely lost their color, and his body was trembling faintly.
Although his heart had not been physically wounded, his mortal body was ultimately far too fragile. The cold Laufey had casually condensed would have meant little to the God of Thunder, but to Thor in his present state, it was a fatal calamity.
As time passed, Thor's life force rapidly weakened. Before long, his breathing had become barely perceptible.
If only I'd been one second faster...
No, even a tenth of a second. A hundredth of a second would have been enough...
Fenris watched in silence as Thor grew weaker. Eventually, the light completely faded from his eyes, leaving behind only the faintest, nearly imperceptible glimmer of divinity.
Thump.
Thor's hand slipped from Fenris's grasp and fell softly to the ground.
Loki clearly heard the quiet impact. It felt as though his own heart had stopped for an instant as Thor's life faded away.
"No..."
Disbelief filled his face.
"Loki, are you certain Odin won't awaken anytime soon?"
Fenris gently passed a hand over Thor's eyes, closing them. After a moment of silence, he suddenly turned to Loki with the question.
"The Odinsleep always lasts a long time. If Father still hasn't appeared, then either he has no intention of appearing, or..."
Loki looked deeply at Thor's motionless body. Grief briefly flashed through his eyes.
"Or he truly cannot wake up."
"...All right."
Fenris silently rose to his feet.
He had been so close...
A crushing sense of helplessness swept through him.
Fenris had truly exhausted every option available to him. He could not save Thor.
Odin's divine spell was merciless. Even with Thor on the verge of death, it had refused to release its hold upon him, forcing Thor to remain trapped within a mortal body until the very end.
Fenris had promised Odin that he would look after Thor. He knew that he had done everything he possibly could to honor that promise.
"Odin, if you don't wake up soon, Asgard won't even survive long enough to reach Ragnarok. It's about to be destroyed..."
"I've repaid my debt to you..."
"If Asgard is truly destined to perish here, then I'm powerless to save this world or everyone in it. All I can do is try to save the people I cherish..."
The Asgardian gods behind him had descended into chaos after Thor's death.
In the distance, the Frost Giants watched hungrily and were beginning to stir once again.
Fenris thought of the beautiful red-clad figure still imprisoned within the ice on Earth. He placed Thor beside Loki and whispered, "I'm sorry."
Loki clearly misunderstood what he meant. His eyes reddened as he nodded.
"It's all right. Go. Just... don't forget Thor. Don't forget any of us..."
"No."
Fenris shook his head and turned his gaze toward the distance.
"I can't leave yet."
"What?"
Loki froze. His grip tightened around Gungnir as he followed Fenris's gaze toward the distant sky.
Laufey had already transformed into a towering blue blur streaking through the air.
The falling Casket of Ancient Winters radiated a faint crystalline blue light. In Laufey's eyes, however, it shone with a dazzling brilliance, as though it were his entire world.
"How many years has it been...?"
Laufey accelerated again. His already crimson pupils trembled violently with excitement, as though blood might begin dripping from his eyes.
"Who knows how many ages have passed since that old bastard Odin took you from me? At last..."
The exquisite Casket was now within reach.
Laufey abruptly stopped in front of it.
He had been separated from his people's greatest treasure for so long. He had dreamed endlessly of reclaiming it and using its power to return to his former peak.
Yet now that the day had finally arrived and the familiar yet distant treasure was truly before him, Laufey could scarcely believe it.
He rubbed his eyes, then slowly reached out with a trembling hand.
Chime!
The Casket of Ancient Winters trembled faintly.
A melodious hum rang from the Casket. Accompanied by a wave of extreme cold, it swept rapidly outward and spread across the whole of Asgard in the blink of an eye.
A mysterious pulse emanated from it.
When the surrounding Frost Giants came into contact with this power, their previously weakened bodies were suddenly filled with a refreshing chill. Even those in terrible condition and suffering from severe wounds felt as though they had returned to their mothers' wombs. Their injuries began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The previously dim Casket of Ancient Winters suddenly erupted with dazzling radiance.
Brilliant blue light poured from it without restraint. For a time, Laufey, holding the Casket in his hands, seemed to become the sole focus of the entire world.
The familiar power of frost flowed endlessly from the Casket into Laufey's body.
At that moment, Laufey felt as though his body were a land that had remained parched for hundreds of millions of years and was finally receiving its first blessed rainfall.
He greedily absorbed this heavenly nectar.
To anyone else, the extreme cold radiating from the Casket would have been an untouchable poison. To Laufey, however, it was a source of nourishment beyond comparison.
His withered body gradually filled with power. The grievous injuries Fenris had inflicted upon him healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, while Laufey's aura swelled as rapidly as an inflating balloon.
It felt as though an eternity had passed, yet it might have been only an instant.
The moment his aura reached its absolute peak, Laufey's eyes snapped open.
"I am whole again!"
(End of Chapter)
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