"Now I know why Beckett's mouth is so annoying."
Stunned by Thanos's appearance, Hela immediately shifted her gaze to the cosmic overlord. What impressed her most, besides his arrogance in calling Laufey a "crawler" the moment he appeared, was his broad chin, covered in wrinkles, and his purple skin.
It reminded Hela of a certain food.
"Father?" Beckett looked at the golden-armored war god who had appeared before him, a rare look of surprise on his face.
"Well done, Beckett." Thanos walked to Beckett's side, patted his son's shoulder, his face a mixture of relief and satisfaction.
His son hadn't embarrassed him; in fact, he'd beaten Laufey to a pulp in his Great Ape form. Excellent, he'd brought him great honor.
"Thanos..."
The moment Laufey saw Thanos appear, his expression turned extremely grim. It grew even worse when he saw Thanos and Beckett conversing as if no one else was around.
Hela couldn't be killed, because Odin had arrived.
Beckett couldn't be killed either, because Thanos had arrived.
Unless he could kill both Odin and Thanos single-handedly, it seemed he was destined to suffer this loss given the current situation.
The two juniors had their fathers as backing, allowing them to do as they pleased. But he, an elder whose age far surpassed theirs, had no father to rely on. Instead, he had a group of people dependent on him for survival amidst the wars in the Nine Realms.
What kind of situation was this...
Laufey felt incredibly aggrieved. He should have just used his forbidden power to kill these two troublesome brats earlier; at least he wouldn't be so passive now.
"Now, tell me, Laufey."
Thanos, holding his great saber, stood beside Beckett, his gaze indifferent.
Odin, standing beside Hela, remained silent, merely raising Gungnir in his hand.
"You will regret this."
"Thanos, Odin."
Hiding all his grievances deep within, the Frost Giant Laufey swept his gaze across the four people standing opposite him. A vast frost immediately enveloped his massive form, and he disappeared from the sight of this quartet of father-son and father-daughter.
Being able to bend when necessary, this was the last choice Laufey could make.
The combined power of Thanos and Odin was something he couldn't possibly contend with in his current state, let alone the fact that the Casket of Ancient Winters, one of the treasures that amplified his power, had already been taken by Beckett.
Carrying the hope of the Frost Giant race to rule the Nine Realms, he absolutely could not die here. He absolutely could not.
Hesitation leads to defeat.
To preserve his last shred of dignity, Laufey chose to retreat, doing so with extreme decisiveness and finality, without the slightest hesitation.
Thanos and Odin did not intervene.
Laufey's strength was inferior to theirs, but with the boost from the world of Jotunheim, it was not far from their current level. Laufey, who was determined to leave, was not someone Thanos and Odin could stop at this moment.
Unless both of them were willing to go all out.
Odin was certainly willing, as Laufey was one of his arch-nemeses. But Thanos wouldn't be so foolish. His sphere of influence was outside the Nine Realms, and the Dark Order's reach had not yet extended into the Nine Realms.
"Odin."
"Thanos."
After Laufey's departure, Thanos and Odin, who normally never met, found their gazes locked.
This was their first meeting after hearing of each other's reputations, one coming for his daughter, the other for his son.
"You have a very outstanding son, Thanos." Odin patted his daughter Hela's shoulder and looked towards Beckett, who stood beside Thanos. To defeat Laufey without using forbidden power, without breaking a sweat, was something even his daughter Hela couldn't achieve yet.
Not to mention, treating Laufey like a sandbag and slamming him around.
This was undoubtedly the greatest shame of Laufey's life. Odin was already planning how to spread this news across the front lines.
"Your daughter is also quite capable." Beckett's excellent performance put Thanos in a great mood. Having no vested interest in Odin, he naturally returned the compliment. Although, to Hela's ears, the words were exceptionally jarring.
Clutching the tracker her father Odin had retrieved for her earlier, Hela took a deep breath, calmed her emotions, and then walked away from Odin's side. Step by step, she approached Beckett and extended her hand towards him.
"What?"
Beckett raised an eyebrow and looked at the woman before him.
"Here, this is yours." Hela flicked her fingers, and the small tracker, still emitting a signal, flew towards Beckett's eyes. He instinctively reached out and caught it, opening his palm to reveal the device.
It was the very thing he had injected into Hela's body along with the healing fluid earlier.
"Next time we meet, I will definitely defeat you."
Hela looked directly into Beckett's eyes and said each word deliberately.
Upon hearing this, Beckett put away the tracker in his hand. Looking at Hela, who appeared serious, he extended two fingers towards her, tilted his head back, and sneered, "You're still two thousand years too early."
"..."
Hela clenched her fists, concealing the fighting spirit and anger burning in her eyes. She turned and left.
She needed to go back and train diligently. She needed to prove herself to her father, Odin. Most importantly, she wanted to tear that annoying mouth of Beckett's apart.
She wanted to show this arrogant and conceited man that she wouldn't need two thousand years; she could easily defeat him.
"You lost to him?"
Odin turned the Gungnir in his hand as he looked at his daughter, who had returned to his side. A rainbow-colored light instantly enveloped the father and daughter.
"I will defeat him, I will."
Odin smiled as he looked at his daughter, whose fighting spirit was brimming. It seemed his daughter had found a rival at her own age level.
Is it Thanos's son?
Odin felt as though he could see further into the future. The Nine Realms might be vast to them, but they were merely an insignificant part of the universe.
This universe was vast, so vast that it could excite any ambitious monarch.
"She lost to you?"
Inside the main ship, Thanos looked at Beckett beside him as he watched the rainbow-colored light disappear into the sky.
"Mm."
"That woman's potential is not bad." Even though Hela hadn't displayed her power in front of him, Thanos could still sense the Death Divinity awakened within Hela.
Death was one of the most powerful laws of power in this universe.
"She will never surpass me."
Beckett's stern and confident face was reflected on the azure Casket of Ancient Winters. Thanos's gratified laughter rang out, "After all, your evolution speed is faster than light?"
"Of course."
The massive fleet set sail above the Jotunheim Royal Court. Thanos, who no longer used his personal teleportation device, remained on the main ship, discussing recent events with his most beloved adopted son, Beckett.
"Beckett."
"Have you heard of the Kree?"
Requesting recommendations for the double update~
Thanks for the tips from [What's Your Name, I Don't Care], [chujyo], [Ka Gu], [Banda Lu], [Men Are All Fickle], [Spring River Flower Moon Night slll]~
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