Chapter 156: Owes Me Twice (Part 2)

Kratos’ iron fists seemed to carry some personal emotions. Most Earthlings must utterly despise Loki, the one who brought alien enemies to them, right?

“Wow—” Fandral let out a playful whistle.

The other two warriors also showed exaggerated expressions.

Thor, feeling smug, didn’t even notice the look of pure excitement and flush on Sif’s face.

Thousands of years ago, Sif had long, golden hair. She wasn’t a Valkyrie yet but was known as one of the most beautiful women in Asgard. However, mischievous Loki, while Sif was asleep, snuck in and cut off all of her golden hair, making her cry in anger.

Afterward, Loki was forced by the gods to compensate Sif. He had no choice but to present her with golden hair from the dwarves. But soon after Sif wore it, the hair turned black because Loki had applied some mysterious potion to it.

Thus, Sif’s hair became permanently black, and she felt deeply saddened by the change. This incident caused a deep grudge between her and Loki.

So, the best way to bring them together would be to have them team up against a common enemy.

Thor, on the other hand, remained oblivious, bragging proudly, “I had my good buddy, Tony Stark, record this for me. It’s right at his house.”

Sif’s voice trembled slightly as she asked, “Is Loki really that afraid of Kratos?”

“Like a mouse afraid of a cat,” Thor laughed, spreading his hands. “Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that I’m his brother, I’d personally love to have a drink with Kratos.”

“No worries, I already made contact with him for you,” Sif said, her eyes shining brightly.

The three warriors joined in with enthusiasm: “Then we’ll have to find a chance to drink a barrel of beer with him.”

Note: The unit of measurement is barrel.

To be honest, no one in Asgard really liked Loki. Even before he betrayed Asgard, he was already a “god hated by both gods and demons.” Not to mention the fact that he first brought the Frost Giant King Laufey to Asgard, then led the Chitauri to Midgard (Earth).

These two acts alone branded him as a full-fledged traitor! The only reason Loki wasn’t torn apart was because of the kindness of Odin, Frigga, and Thor.

Watching Kratos and Loki’s battle, Sif and the others fully agreed with Thor’s assessment—Kratos truly had Loki’s number.

“Alright! I’ll go talk to Kratos,” Sif took on the task herself.

“And! I’ll need your help with something else...” Thor lowered his voice, speaking not only to his four confidants but also pulling Heimdall into the mix.

In fact, even Heimdall, the ever-just and impartial guardian of Asgard, was convinced.

The five of them could never betray Odin, but for the future of Asgard, for their friend, and for the countless people of Asgard, they were willing to endure Odin’s wrath.

A plan was set into motion.

Unlike in history, this time, before Thor took action, he got Odin’s permission to release Atreus.

“Father! Mother’s injuries have stabilized. Though she may need to sleep for a long time, we Asgardians should not imprison our benefactor without cause.”

After a moment of contemplation, Odin agreed: “Let him leave, then. A month from now, I will personally host a banquet for him, and allow him to choose one item from the top floor of my treasury.”

The “top floor” referred to where the least valuable treasures were kept.

Even so, this meant Odin would gift Atreus something equivalent to a divine artifact.

“Thank you for your generosity!” Thor bowed gracefully.

“This is for your mother!”

As the queen of the Aesir gods, she was certainly worth that price!

When Sif approached Atreus to deliver Odin’s decree, Atreus was a bit surprised.

The old man Odin wasn’t being stingy for once.

“Please thank the Allfather for me.”

“I will,” Sif replied before revealing the plan, which didn’t surprise the time traveler at all.

“I agree. When it comes to dealing with the Aether, we share the same stance. I just don’t know where Loki’s so-called secret exit is, so I can’t guarantee I’ll get there immediately.”

“Thor believes he and Loki can handle everything. You’re just an insurance.”

Just as Atreus thought things were settled and he was about to head to the Bifrost under Heimdall’s watchful eye, Sif suddenly leaned in and said, “Due to Odin’s orders, we can’t leave Asgard, so we need you to keep an eye on Thor. Don’t let Loki hurt him.”

“Understood.”

“And after this is over, I’ll owe you twice.”

“Twice?” Atreus asked, surprised.

“Yes! The first time was when you beat Loki in New York.”

Atreus couldn’t resist a playful comment: “If I keep beating Loki, does that mean you’ll owe me for life?”

Sif froze for a moment, clearly not having thought that far ahead. Her expression was complicated—first instinctively happy, then realizing it was inappropriate, and finally uncomfortable at the ambiguity of his words. After all, even though Thor planned to marry Jane Foster, Sif was still Frigga’s chosen future queen, so the statement was a bit awkward.

With a stern face, Sif responded, “An Asgardian Valkyrie’s favor is worth a lot.”

Atreus shrugged. “Well, Thor owes me favors all the time.”

Thinking of Thor’s naive nature, Sif felt a wave of despair—Thor really did owe people favors too easily: “...”

Atreus waved it off, no longer teasing her.

Her home had just been torn apart and was in turmoil, so it wasn’t the time for jokes.

Atreus left casually, opening a portal to return to his island villa under Heimdall’s watchful eye.

Upon arriving at his villa, he noticed the living room was mostly empty.

Atreus only saw Helen.

The most beautiful woman of Greece glanced at him timidly, “The Lance sisters and Miss Kyle are training in the basement. Miss Prince had something to take care of and went out. Queen Penthesilea is out for a drive.”

Atreus smiled. The recent string of alien invasions had left Earthlings on edge.

Ordinary people could only rely on their governments for protection.

Those with superhero potential instinctively wanted to improve themselves.

Originally, Black and White Canary, along with Catwoman, were just average heroes, but thanks to Atreus providing them with red soul essence, their physical abilities had greatly improved, and they were training hard.

Since they didn’t have innate systems like him, they needed plenty of actual combat to understand the full extent of their enhanced powers.

Atreus guessed that by now, they were probably close to Captain America’s level. How far they would go in the future depended on their fate.

Feeling a bit bored, Atreus headed to his study, but as soon as he sat down, he noticed a set of teeth gleaming in the darkness under his desk.

“Freyja?”

Atreus wasn’t surprised. He suddenly recalled a classic line: “When you can call out her name just by seeing her teeth, you know you’re definitely not going to heaven.”

But...this was a heaven experience card that could be used over and over!

(End of the chapter)