"Aha, Jane Foster!"
Catching sight of the woman, Sif felt a surge of displeasure, but she maintained the proper decorum of an Asgardian all the same.
She strode right up to Jane and pulled her into a crushing bear hug.
"Ungh!"
Jane couldn't hold back a pained grunt. The armor Sif wore was honestly a bit jabby, and the force of her embrace was more than a little excessive.
But considering what mythology said about Sif's relationship with Jane's boyfriend, Thor...
She couldn't be sure what the real relationship between the two of them was, but... being a little guarded was probably the right call, wasn't it?
And so, Jane reluctantly accepted Sif's goodwill, only to then be grabbed by the hand and dragged toward Thor.
At the same time, Thor rose from his seat at the distant banquet and strode in their direction.
Seeing Thor again after months of separation filled Jane with joy.
Even in front of all these people, she couldn't help but pull free of Sif's hand and break into a sprint toward him.
As the distance between them shrank, Jane gradually made out the anxious look on Thor's face.
Even as the God of Thunder, this man was always worrying about her!
"Thor!"
Jane cried out, brimming with affection, as she opened her arms wide.
In the next instant, she would throw herself into Thor's embrace and plant a great kiss on her beloved.
And Thor, charging toward Jane with desperate urgency at that very moment, proceeded to...
run right past her...
"Thor...?!!"
Jane froze in place, her arms still foolishly spread wide. Right beside her, her damnable man had passed her by without so much as pausing!
This poor woman named Foster felt as if her entire world was abandoning her!
And under the gaze of countless onlookers no less!!!
In that moment, Jane Foster experienced the profound depths of what it meant to die a social death!
She wished she could dig a hole and bury herself alive!!!
A split second later, Jane spun around furiously, glaring at Thor as he moved past her.
She watched as Thor, under the stunned stares of everyone present, charged all the way up to Captain America, clad in his blue battle armor, and slammed his fist hard against the chest plate.
Thor then glanced left and right and spoke to Cap in a hushed voice.
"You wretched bastard, is my hammer with you?!!"
"Hammer???"
Cap's face was a mask of utter bewilderment. But Thor, standing across from him, showed no signs of letting up.
"Three damn days ago, my hammer was summoned away and hasn't come back since!
Other than me and Heisenberg, you're the only one who has ever lifted it. If you're not the one who summoned it, was it that damn Heisenberg?!!"
"Uh, it absolutely wasn't me. Although I can indeed... lift it, I would never use it without permission!"
Cap explained with a furrowed brow, but Thor simply wasn't hearing it.
After Cap finished explaining, Thor suddenly leaned in closer and spoke in an even lower voice.
"Buddy, just say I admit defeat, alright, just give me back the hammer. I can't stomach the thought of my people finding out I lost the thing!"
"But that hammer really isn't in my possession!"
"It really isn't?"
"Absolutely not!"
Cap affirmed with absolute certainty. The answer left Thor immensely frustrated. He placed both hands on Cap's shoulders and nodded helplessly.
"I do believe what you're saying. But if you didn't take the hammer, then who else could it be?"
He stood there, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, in the distance, Sif stared in stunned disbelief, her eyes wide, foolishly watching Thor and Captain America, who looked as if they were about to embrace...
In that moment, it was as if a door to a whole new world had opened for Sif.
She shuddered briefly, then turned and looked at Jane beside her, her expression overflowing with sympathy.
Sif suddenly felt a powerful urge to say something to Jane.
That being...
I truly misjudged you!
At the same time, a hint of secret delight bubbled up in Sif's heart. Either way, she hadn't lost to another woman at least!
As for losing to a man...
Did that even count?
...
At the same time, in Asgard.
Hela sat up in bed.
She instinctively rubbed her head, and then carefully felt around her lower back...
Her face was a canvas of confusion and bewilderment.
If she remembered correctly, she...
She had been subdued by Heisenberg in an instant?!!
"No no no!
Absolutely impossible!!!"
Hela's expression instantly twisted with ferocity, and she abruptly leapt up from the bed.
The moment her feet touched the ground, her face still filled with disbelief, she spotted Mjolnir beside her bed!
Looking at this weapon she had summoned to her, the weapon she had wielded five thousand years ago...
Hela froze.
It all came rushing back.
"I even summoned Mjolnir?
That wasn't an illusion?
Mjolnir truly came!
But I lost, so utterly I didn't even have the strength to resist for a single moment?!!"
Muttering to herself, Hela's expression soured beyond belief.
She picked up Mjolnir, clutched it to her chest, and sat back down on the bed helplessly.
"Even you couldn't help me gain the slightest advantage. I was even knocked unconscious by you instead!
My father's spear pierced my spine, my own hammer smashed my head.
The power I took pride in, the power I believed was not much inferior to Odin's... I couldn't even withstand a single move from this new King of Gods!!!"
Boom!!!
Mjolnir flew from her hand in the blink of an eye, blasting a massive hole straight through the wall of the royal bedchamber!
The hammer streaked across the sky, all the way into the city, crashing to the motionless ground before countless stunned civilians.
"It's Mjolnir!"
"Has Prince Thor returned?"
"He's no longer a prince. Now he is simply Thor, God of Thunder!"
"No, you fool, he is still a prince, because Lady Frigga remains the Queen!"
"But why does Lady Frigga remain Queen after King Odin's death?"
"That..."
"I fear..."
The common folk buzzed with discussion. And Heimdall, too, immediately detected Hela's awakening.
Thus, Heisenberg received word about Hela.
In the next instant, the radiance of the Bifrost shimmered within the Asgardian palace.
After the light faded, Heisenberg, clad in a black suit with a dashing black overcoat draped over his shoulders, strode toward the royal bedchamber.
His super vision had long since locked onto Hela's position. Heisenberg rounded the corridor, crossed the garden, greeted countless handmaidens and goddesses along the way, and arrived at the room Hela was temporarily staying in.
He couldn't be bothered to knock, so he simply pushed the door open. As he walked in, his eyes immediately landed on the enormous hole in the wall.
"What's the matter? Feeling resentful?"
He asked, continuing forward until he was across from Hela. He seated himself in a chair beside the bed.
Hela stared at Heisenberg, whose face bore a faint smile, and gritted her teeth fiercely.
"After being subdued by you in a single move, what other damn emotion could I possibly have besides resentment?
Am I supposed to feel happy?!!"
"At least you're still alive. And now you have a life goal you must strive to surpass. Can't that be considered a good thing?"
As Heisenberg spoke, he pulled two bottles of liquor from the pocket of his overcoat.
He casually tossed one to Hela, then uncapped his own and raised it toward her.
"How about a drink first? Right now, you probably need this!"
"Hmph. Cheers!"
Hela nodded, opened the bottle expressionlessly, and downed the entire thing in one go.
She then hurled the empty bottle away, and a moment later, suddenly rushed at Heisenberg, seizing him by the collar!
"Tell me, was your fight with Odin as easy as it was with me?!!"
"Hmm, honestly, he was much harder to deal with!"
Faced with Hela's question, Heisenberg explained calmly.
"He was an old god. A god-king in the state of a former king isn't an easy opponent.
Add to that the fact he sacrificed his only remaining right eye and entered the Rune King state!
On top of that, I hadn't yet taken the godhood of the Sun God back then, so our fight was pretty... exhilarating."
"The Rune King!!!"
Hearing this term clearly, Hela's face filled with shock.
"You're talking about the sacrifice that only the Aesir chief gods are qualified to make, sacrificing a part of one's own body to gain that ultimate state?!!
He even went that far?!!"
At this, Hela released Heisenberg's collar and collapsed back onto the bed in utter dejection.
"You won. You truly won. As the God of War, Odin's mastery over battle and thunder was immensely powerful. Even I wouldn't dare claim I could defeat him.
I've never used that Rune King state, which is only reserved for the final moment. But I imagine, no matter what, my divine power could never surpass Odin's.
You could defeat him without even being a god yourself, let alone now. I... I fear I may never have the chance to defeat you..."
Thud...!
Hela lay back on the bed in despondency, her unfocused eyes aimed at the ceiling.
What she was looking at, of course, wasn't the ceiling, but the glory and future that Asgard had utterly lost.
"If even I am no match for you, and Odin died by your hand, who else in my realm could possibly defeat you?
Thor?
Loki?
Those two, one foolish and one rotten, those brats?"
She let out a long sigh, then rolled onto her side to look at Heisenberg.
"Kill me, new King of Gods, just as Odin once killed Cul!
Only by erasing all traces of the past can you become a true sovereign.
Send me to my death. Let the people forget my weakness.
Spare me the final disgrace of further tarnishing the honor of the Aesir!"
"No, no, no!"
Hearing these utterly lifeless words, Heisenberg smiled helplessly.
He shook his head, reached out toward Hela, and tousled her long black hair.
"Everything I possess, I seized through my own strength, not through slaughter or intimidation.
Do you think a guy as strong as me still needs to fear some betrayal from his subordinates, or worry that Odin's influence still lingers among my people?"
Heisenberg gave a disdainful smirk.
"As long as I keep winning, no one will have the qualifications, the ability, the ambition, or the guts to betray me.
And if I myself ever lose, then even if I, like Odin, annihilated every last trace left by the previous god, it would be useless.
Destroying all traces of the former god... Odin accomplished that. But he lost just once, and everything he owned fell into my hands.
Therefore, what secures everything for me is simply my strength, not power or status, nor the reverence or faith of others!"
Heisenberg patted Hela's cheek and spoke softly to her.
"So live on well, for your Asgard.
Because I intend to appoint you as my vanguard and general, just as you once served Odin.
I know everything about you. I understand your ambitions and aspirations. Odin may have failed you, but I will not.
Without ambition and the grand vision of conquering the cosmos, do you think I would have had any reason to kill Odin and seize control of Asgard's military might?
I am this strong. If it weren't for even greater achievements to come, I wouldn't need all of you the way I do now, right?"
As he spoke, Heisenberg withdrew his hand from tousling Hela's hair.
He rose to his feet and retreated back to his chair.
"Come, Hela. Follow your heart.
Because you, more than anyone, long to see the blades of Asgard trample across the capital stars of those ancient empires of the universe!"
His words faded. Hela pondered in silence for a moment, then resolutely rose from the bed.
She walked up to Heisenberg, looked at him deeply, and asked softly,
"Only the Three Great Empires?"
"Of course not!"
Heisenberg immediately replied with a grin.
"There's also what your heart has been yearning for... the Celestials, with Ego at their head, and even the Five Great Gods, with Galactus leading them!
Don't you want to raise your blade and challenge those true gods and mighty beings?"
"I certainly do. And you, whose power far surpasses my own, are indeed worthy of my service, Your Majesty!"
/-\
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