"No! Father! Don't! No!!!"
Thor's frozen voice roared in despair within his chest.
He wanted to deny what he was seeing, but Odin's majestic figure was gone, swallowed by the sea.
The aging All-Father had been defeated.
In that moment, Thor finally saw clearly. His father was old. He was no longer the child whose father would always clean up his mistakes, no matter how much chaos he caused.
"Father... he, he was defeated..." Loki collapsed to the ground before the palace, his voice hollow.
Compared to Thor, Loki's torment was deeper. He had been the one who set this chain of events in motion. His heart swirled with confusion about his identity, anger at Odin's lies, despair at the All-Father's fall, and fury toward the Frost Giants.
Inside the golden halls of the palace, Malrick struggled to keep his composure.
"Odin! No... how can this old man be such a convincing actor?" he muttered, his brow furrowed.
These beings who had lived for thousands of years—did they spend eternity perfecting their performances?
At the Bifrost control bridge, Laufey raised the Casket of Ancient Winters high.
The icy current that had struck down Odin surged through the skies, freezing everything it touched.
The clouds shattered into ice crystals, falling in a storm of frozen rain that battered the Realm Eternal.
The tiny shards of ice struck Laufey's face as he stared toward the sea where Odin had vanished.
"Odin... the All-Father is defeated. He's defeated! Hahaha!"
His stern features twisted into a wide grin as his laughter echoed across the frozen sky.
"A thousand years! I have waited a thousand years!" Laufey roared. "Asgard, Odin, everything ends tonight!"
The Frost Giant unleashed the casket's full power, no longer restrained by Odin's presence.
A torrent of cold poured outward like a river breaking its banks.
From the shorelines outward, Asgard's ocean froze solid, inch by inch. Warriors who had fallen into the waters were locked in ice within moments, their life force stolen by the deadly chill.
The heavens above and the ground below shimmered blue beneath the starlight. Asgard itself was becoming a second Jotunheim.
The cold rolled over the land, cutting down even the bravest warriors. No matter their valor, they could not stand against the unstoppable wave of frost.
Thor, trapped in the frozen mass, his eyes bloodshot, realized the truth. With Odin defeated, he was Asgard's final hope. Yet he could do nothing but watch as his comrades perished helplessly.
Slaughter. This was nothing but slaughter.
Something inside Thor snapped.
Lightning flared across his body, sparks flickering along the surface of the ice. Mjolnir, trapped in another frozen block nearby, shook violently.
The dark skies split open with electric fury, bolts of lightning tearing through the storm.
Laufey's eyes narrowed as he saw the change. His gaze fell on Thor, who strained against the cracking ice.
"I nearly forgot about you, little brute," Laufey sneered.
He approached, the ice around Thor fracturing further. The God of Thunder was on the brink of breaking free.
"Because of Odin, I left you imprisoned," Laufey growled, raising the casket. "But now that Odin walks toward Valhalla, why don't you go ahead and prepare a banquet for him?"
The casket flared. A surge of freezing power engulfed Thor.
In an instant, the would-be savior of Asgard became a statue of ice, his defiance silenced.
Inside the palace, those watching through Malrick's conjured magic were stunned.
"My son! No!" Queen Frigga cried out, her hands covering her mouth as tears welled in her eyes.
Only the Kamar-Taj mages and Frigga remained in the hall.
When Odin fell, Wanda and Pietro had nearly rushed into the fray, but Malrick had stopped them. His quick words explained that Odin had staged this disaster as a trial for his sons.
But Odin had taken the casket's full force. Even he could not escape its price. The old king was likely drifting into Odin Sleep, frozen on the brink of death.
"Malrick, please," Frigga turned to him, her voice trembling. "I beg you, intervene now. If you wait, Thor will be truly lost..."
Her sorrow was palpable. Though a goddess of Vanaheim, she grieved deeply for the countless warriors sacrificed for Odin's plan. Only Odin, cold and calculating, would gamble with so many lives for the sake of his sons' growth. He had once cast aside the Valkyries to cage Hela. Now he fed Asgard's warriors to Laufey's frost to temper Thor and Loki.
In the original timeline, Odin had let Earth bear the burden, sending the Destroyer to test Thor there. But with Malrick present, Odin had chosen another path.
"Do not despair, Queen Frigga," Malrick said, giving her a steady nod. "Thor and Loki will grow from this crucible. But now, it's my turn."
He rose into the air, his magic shifting fluidly into a sleek battle suit.
The suit's surface shimmered with dark energy, a familiar design—one he had forged in battles against Dormammu's realm.
"It's a pity," Malrick muttered, "Thor was on the verge of awakening a greater power, only to be halted by Laufey's cowardice."
Frigga shook her head, tears glistening. "If Thor can truly mature, that will be enough for Odin. That is all he desires."
"Mature, huh," Malrick smirked faintly. "We'll see about that."
Raising his hand, he turned toward the frozen battlefield.
"Stay here. I'll deal with this."
He darted into the air, a streak of light leaving the palace.
"I'm not sitting this one out!" Tony shouted, armor whirring as he gave chase.
But within seconds, Malrick pushed him back with a forceful wave of energy. Stark skidded to a stop, the shockwave echoing through the hall.
The others exchanged uneasy glances. For now, they stayed behind, waiting.
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