"No, we have to go back."
The two brothers exchanged thoughts. Listening to Loki's analysis, Thor held his wine glass, unable to let go for a long time. The decadence in his eyes had lessened, but he was very confused. He didn't understand why his Father would do this or what benefit there was. In his dictionary, Asgard never had the concept of faking Death, nor the word 'escape.' He truly couldn't understand how his once-mighty Father could lead the entirety of Asgard to vanish before his eyes, even using a fake Death to make him give up Hope. He didn't think his Father would do such a thing no matter what. He wanted to see his Father and ask him clearly face-to-face.
"Are you sure he'll see you? If he were going to see you so easily, he wouldn't have gone to such trouble to put on an act."
Watching Thor, who was eager to return to Asgard, Loki calmly took a sip of fine wine and spoke indifferently, his eyes full of disdain for Thor. His current attitude toward Odin was very subtle. On one hand, he hoped for his Father's love, but on the other hand, some of Odin's actions had made him very sad. Now he was extremely disappointed in Odin and didn't want to see this 'Father' at all. Facing Thor's behavior of seeking out his Father for answers, Loki couldn't help but speak mockingly, yet his words were well-founded. He was certain Odin wouldn't see the two of them—or rather, Odin wouldn't see them until they met his expectations. Otherwise, why go to such great lengths to deceive them?
"Perhaps we let him down too much."
Hearing Loki's words, the originally frantic Thor instantly calmed down. He closed his eyes and sat back in his original position. Though he didn't want to admit it, Loki's words were the plain truth. Having been banished to Earth once, Thor naturally knew this—Odin was definitely capable of it. He couldn't figure out why his Father did it, but such an action clearly showed an attitude of extreme disappointment toward the two of them. Loki aside, he no longer had his former arrogance and willful behavior, so why treat him this way? He couldn't understand. Could it be that he wasn't biological either! For a moment, Thor even doubted his own parentage.
"No matter what you think, since things have reached this point, I don't want to return to Asgard anymore."
Loki took a heavy gulp of wine and wiped the wine stains from his mouth. He had completely given up Hope now, both for the throne and for family. After seeing Thor this once, he would leave Earth and wander elsewhere. If possible, he never wanted to see Odin's face again in this lifetime because his heart was filled with hatred for this Father—the hatred of unrequited love. He didn't want to live in Odin's shadow anymore. Perhaps he was lying at other times, but this time he was playing for real; he would absolutely never return to that damn place, nor see the person who had broken his heart.
"Listen, Loki, Asgard is forever your home. I am your brother, Odin is your Father, and Frigga is your mother. That can never, ever change."
Thor, who was just mourning privately, now looked at Loki with a serious face. As a qualified'self-proclaimed' elder brother, he had to lecture his younger brother on this idea of wanting to go off and wander, especially seeing that rebellious expression of never returning. It made his anger flare up. As a son of Odin, he felt immense glory and responsibility. Even if Loki was adopted, he was still his brother. He had the right to punish this brother on behalf of their Father. He took out his hammer, staring fixedly at Loki, a flash of blue electricity passing through his eyes. From his appearance, if he didn't get a satisfactory answer, he would give Loki a strike with the hammer in the next moment.
"That's your home, not mine."
Unfortunately, Loki couldn't listen to anything at this moment. His eyes revealed resentment. After being Odin's son for so many years, he thought he would be treated fairly. To make his parents happy, he worked hard to learn how to use a dagger to stab an opponent's kidney. After discovering he really had no talent for close combat, he switched to the field of magic. Even though his talent in magic was quite good, it never earned him a single word of praise from 'Father.' What he wanted wasn't the so-called King of Asgard, but recognition—the recognition of a loving old Father, which was more important than the throne. In the end, what he got was the news that he wasn't biological. If Loki had to choose, he would rather have starved to Death in a corner back then than be adopted by Odin.
"You... bastard."
Hearing Loki's "rebellious" words, Thor angrily raised Mjolnir and summoned lightning, intending to give his younger brother a harsh lesson. Loki was not to be outdone; with a flash of green light, a magic staff appeared in his hand. This time, he was going to confront his brother, whose head was full of muscle—or rather, "fatty brother" as he should be called now. Someone like Thor could never understand his thoughts, his heart, or the emotional trauma he had suffered; Thor simply kept lecturing him from the height of an elder brother, looking exactly like Odin.
"You don't know me, Thor."
Thinking of Odin, who stood before him as majestic as a mountain, Loki spoke to Thor with red eyes. His anger, suppressed for years, finally erupted. He no longer played mind games as before; instead, like a true warrior, he cast a magic shield around himself, holding a magic staff in one hand and a small dagger in the other. His battle spirit was fully ignited; he wanted to have a decisive battle with Thor right here, not for the throne, but simply to prove his own consciousness. Thor wanted to prove they were a family, while Loki wanted to say, "You don't understand my pain." The two brothers fought once again, and the battle commenced at this moment.
"These brothers are fighting again."
The cameras around their fighting area had been hacked by Saturday. Artoria watched the live broadcast with some emotion. Although the image flickered due to Thor's lightning disrupting the electromagnetism, the battle between the two was clearly intense. Loki's strength was actually quite good; if he had specialized in magic, Thor might have lost long ago. Unfortunately, growing up in the rugged culture of Asgard, this magic user had grown up wrong and preferred melee weapons. But now, he seemed to have realized his mistake and began picking up the magic he had once cast aside.
"Master, do you need them taken down?"
Seeing Artoria attach such importance to these two, Saturday thought it might be better to see them on a laboratory table; perhaps they could make her data flow more smoothly. So she suggested to Artoria that if she gave the order, she would directly hack the satellites and deploy the 'Weapon Maiden' body—that humanoid weapon in the likeness of Hatsune Miku. Once deployed, she would kill those two to save her Master from watching them and having no time to play with her.
"Ignore them."
Unaware of Saturday's "sinister intentions," Artoria closed the video. She had a very bad premonition, as if the thing she feared most was about to descend recently. Scáthach's learning ability was indeed much faster than Kiyohime's, and she had started teaching Kiyohime, so she wasn't by Artoria's side for the moment. However, Artoria could use Command Spells to summon them, which wasn't a big deal. She felt uncertain and wanted to continue summoning Heroic Spirits to replenish her harem... bah! To replenish her combat power. But being unlucky, she feared she might faint from anger, so she could only focus on Wanda, teaching her how to develop her abilities. Scáthach had given many suggestions on this point.
"I Hope these 'big idiots' can be happy every day."
Artoria walked to the window and looked at the women preparing for the barbecue party, thinking with some emotion. The modification of the Hyperion had been completed, so Artoria naturally let everyone take a holiday to relax. She planned to set off within two days into space to see if she could encounter Thanos. If possible, stopping Thanos outside the solar system would reduce the losses to Earth. Artoria didn't know Thanos's current strength, but if she couldn't win, she could run! Without the Infinity Stones, Thanos could never catch up to her. She had all the Infinity Stones in her possession. With the addition of the Noble Phantasm, the immortality of the scabbard, and the Infinity Stones, Artoria really wasn't afraid of a young Thanos who had neither the Infinity Gauntlet nor the Heart of the Universe. As long as an old Thanos didn't travel through time, everything would be fine.
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