Chapter 123: Loki

To avoid any unnecessary trouble, it would be better to let Thor explain it himself.

“It was my father. He exiled me.” Thor gave a bitter smile.

“During my coronation ceremony, the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, Asgard’s ancient enemies, invaded the treasury of the Asgardian palace in an attempt to steal its treasures.”

“Although they failed to take anything, their invasion made their intentions perfectly clear: they meant to make themselves enemies of Asgard. This time they came to steal our treasures. Next time, they might launch a surprise attack—or even invade Asgard outright.”

Thor spoke with indignation, his eyes and brows filled with hostility toward the Frost Giants.

“I proposed to my father that we attack the Frost Giant kingdom and conquer them completely by force, just as he once did.”

“But my father refused. He did not want to destroy the peace we had enjoyed for so long. So my comrades and I launched an attack on the Frost Giants.”

Thor’s brow furrowed tightly.

“And for that, my father condemned me as arrogant, vain, conceited, greedy, cruel, haughty, foolish, reckless… Then he cast me out of Asgard.”

“What I did was to safeguard Asgard’s peace. But now, in the eyes of the Frost Giants, Asgard has lost all authority. They were the ones who broke the agreement and trespassed into Asgard’s treasury. Sooner or later, the Frost Giants will wage war against Asgard.”

Thor was seething with resentment, and his voice grew louder, carrying an unmistakable note of accusation.

“If that is the case, why can’t we defeat them before they strike? I do not know what my father fears. The Frost Giants are a threat and an enemy. Everything I did was to protect the kingdom.”

“Only by conquering the Frost Giants through force and making them fear me can we ensure that they never dare to invade Asgard again.”

Thor clenched his fists, his eyes filled with anger, confusion, disappointment, and frustration.

“But because of that, my father decided that I was unworthy of becoming king. He stripped me of my divine power and exiled me here. Only after I could lift Mjolnir once more and prove myself worthy of becoming king would I be allowed to return to Asgard.”

“But I failed.” Thor shook his head dejectedly and stared despairingly at Mjolnir.

“I cannot lift Mjolnir. I am no longer the God of Thunder of Asgard.”

Looking at Thor’s dejected expression, Gu Chongyan shook his head.

“No. In my view, you have not failed.”

“Hm?” Thor raised his head in confusion and looked at Gu Chongyan.

Gu Chongyan said solemnly, “Although I do not know what is required to lift Mjolnir, as a wizard, I can sense the immense power hidden within you.”

“I cannot claim to know everything about your people, but by common sense alone, your divine power could not have been ‘taken away.’ It is a power you were born with.”

“You are the God of Thunder, not the God of Hammers. Thunder is your innate divine power. Even your father cannot strip it from you.”

“If I am not mistaken, your divine power has merely been sealed, and lifting Mjolnir is the key to breaking that seal.”

“As for why you cannot lift Mjolnir, perhaps you have yet to understand what it truly means to be a king.”

“Perhaps when you understand where you went wrong, and what kind of king Asgard truly needs, you will be able to lift Mjolnir and become the God of Thunder once more.”

“Is that really so?” Thor asked, seeming almost unable to believe it.

“But I did nothing wrong,” he protested.

“I think…” Gu Chongyan shook his head and was about to continue when he suddenly sensed a faint, hidden fluctuation of magic.

The magic was extraordinarily subtle. Even Gu Chongyan had failed to detect it at once. Had it not attempted to influence his mind—and had he not happened to be a mentalist—he might never have noticed it.

“Rain of a Thousand Shots!”

Before the words had even faded, the Dark Book emerged from the void. A dazzling golden light flashed, and countless bolts of energy shot through the air like a torrential downpour.

Boom!

With a thunderous roar, silver lightning tore across the sky. Like a dragon of thunder, it swallowed every golden energy bolt in an instant.

The next moment, a handsome man stepped out of the air in the direction from which the projectiles had come.

He wore pale golden scale armor, with a long dark-green cloak trailing from his shoulders. Beneath a horned helmet was a thin, sharp-featured face. His eyes held an inscrutable mixture of emotions—at times sincere, at times sly, like mist concealing everything beneath it.

The man held a golden spear and stood not far from the two of them, looking down at them arrogantly, like a god gazing upon mortals from on high.

“Brother!”

“Loki?”

Thor and Gu Chongyan spoke at the same time. One wore an expression of delight, like an exuberant golden retriever; the other narrowed his eyes like a hunting leopard.

Loki held Odin’s Eternal Spear, a brilliant smile spreading across his handsome, slightly sinister face.

“Hello, brother. How have you been getting along in Midgard? Have you managed to adapt?” Loki gazed at Thor, his large, limpid eyes filled with apparent sincerity.

Yet a closer look revealed that beneath the seeming sincerity of those dark-green pupils lay nothing but mockery.

Unfortunately, Thor failed to see the ridicule hidden behind that sincerity. The moment he saw his younger brother, excitement overwhelmed every other thought in his mind.

Before he could speak, however, Gu Chongyan’s icy voice struck Loki like a blade.

He stepped forward as the Dark Book in his hand flipped rapidly through its pages. Magical energy surged around him like the tide, and anyone could feel his mood at that moment.

“It was you who secretly used magic just now, trying to bewitch my mind, wasn’t it, Loki?”

As he spoke, his gaze swept imperceptibly across the Eternal Spear.

When he had seen Loki appear holding the spear, Gu Chongyan had felt a genuine flicker of concern. As the weapon of Odin, the All-Father, the Eternal Spear was almost comparable to the Eye of Agamotto.

But he quickly realized that although Loki held the Eternal Spear, he was not its master. He was carrying it merely for show and could not draw out its true power.

Otherwise, Gu Chongyan would have had to consider carefully whether he truly wanted to cross blades with Loki while the latter wielded an artifact.

Seeing Gu Chongyan unleash his full presence, Loki’s eyes darkened. Then he widened them and looked at Gu Chongyan with the innocent expression of a fawn.

“Wizard of Midgard, I have no idea what you are talking about. If you are referring to my hiding nearby, then I apologize. I simply did not wish to be disturbed. That is all. I hope you can forgive me.”

Loki’s voice was soft, carrying an elegant aristocratic cadence and a captivating resonance that naturally inspired goodwill.

But Gu Chongyan could sense the mind-bewitching power concealed behind that graceful tone. Clearly, after being exposed, the God of Mischief had not restrained himself. He had intensified his efforts instead, attempting to enchant Gu Chongyan.

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