Chapter 542: Lao Luo, Come Out to Receive Guests
Hela?
Looking at the iconic black robe, black hair and cold face in front of him, Odin, the organizer, looked vaguely and explained with a dry cough:
"It's not convenient for you to leave the underworld, so I can't bother you with these little things."
"I see. Thank you for your understanding."
Hela nodded with a hint of a smile, her tone tinged with sarcasm.
Isn't it all because of her biological father that she has fallen into this state?
When he exiled her for the benefit of the entire Asar clan, he didn't show the slightest bit of softness in his heart, but now he is considerate instead.
To put it bluntly, she was just afraid that her daughter would really show up and ruin everyone's fun.
Hela sneered, and her body like smoke and mist moved to the dining table where Odin was sitting. Her pale and slender five fingers picked up a delicate and juicy fruit of youth from the silver plate and put it to her mouth, ready to taste the taste of the past.
However, before she could eat the flesh, the whole young apple quickly withered, rotted, and died, and in the blink of an eye it turned into a pile of grayish-white flocs in her hands.
Still not working?
A trace of disappointment appeared on Hela’s face, and she threw away the gray-white residue in her hand.
Even if she crossed the Rainbow Bridge and came to Asgard in the form of a divine incarnation, the power of death in her body was still very strong and would automatically strip the vitality of all objects around her.
Seeing this, the surrounding Fairy Palace guards also realized the danger of the princess. They were startled and instinctively raised the divine iron shield and put their hands on their weapons.
As flashes of divine shields came into view, Hela came back to her senses and looked grimly at the Asgardian guards surrounding her, the deathly intent in her body boiling.
In an instant, the stone slabs under her feet quickly weathered and cracked, the wine and food on the nearby tables quickly rotted and spoiled, the surrounding grass and trees gradually withered, and even the Fairy Palace guards who were on martial law felt their skin loosen, and the vitality in their bodies was almost being devoured by some overbearing force.
In horror, the alert at the venue was stepped up again, and the Asgardian guards subconsciously raised their spears, drew their swords, and prepared for battle.
"Everyone, step back!"
With a low, cold snort, Luo En stood up suddenly and reprimanded seriously,
"Hela is my student, Odin's eldest daughter. She has been stationed in the underworld for a thousand years for the peace of the nine realms. Today, I, her teacher, have returned, and her brother is about to be born. She has come all the way to celebrate despite the double burden of physical and mental burden. Odin and I are so happy. Is this how you entertain guests?"
As he spoke, the power of [Fire] in his body surged and dispelled the chill of [Death].
The guards of Asgard woke up as if from a dream, hurriedly put away their weapons, and distanced themselves from the legendary princess.
Upon seeing this, Hela also tried hard to suppress the deathly desire churning in her body and looked at her teacher with satisfaction.
Although there was a lot of whitewashing in what was said just now for both sides and one could only believe about 60% of it, the care and protection for her contained in it had not diminished in the slightest.
Seeing that the atmosphere on the field had eased, Loen couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, secretly thanking himself for having acted in time.
Eris and the golden apple, Sleeping Beauty and the evil witch, Baldur and the mistletoe... These examples of serious consequences caused by not inviting the right guests to a banquet are everywhere in myths and fantasy stories.
Although the father-daughter relationship between Odin and Hela was in name only, even if he invited his eldest daughter to the banquet, she might not come. But in this matter, Odin's handling was indeed a bit rough.
Hela can choose not to come, but Odin cannot refuse to come.
However, this is also his old problem of utilitarianism and pragmatism.
Loen secretly criticized his blood brother, then walked up to Hela with a smile and said softly:
"You didn't even tell me you were coming, so I could prepare well."
The intimate yet slightly reproachful tone made Hela feel very comfortable, and the gloom on her face faded away.
Glancing at the crowded venue, Hela coughed lightly and said:
"I came in a hurry this time and didn't bring you any decent gifts."
As she spoke, Hela raised her hand slightly, and the deathly intent around her outlined a red and black magic circle in front of her. A majestic black warhorse snorted and leaped out of it.
It has a red mane and tail that flutters like flames, and it walks on all fours in the air. Wrapped around its body is a daunting aura of fear, and it exhales flames that are enough to burn everything, and flowing in its body is hot magma.
--nightmare.
A powerful beast in ancient Scandinavian (Norse) mythology that can control lightning and travel through dreams. It is usually described as a black horse that can float in the air. It is reborn from the hateful soul of a warhorse that died on the battlefield and bathed in magma.
Obviously, this gift fits Lorne's divinity of fire and trickery, and was specially given by Hela to Lorne, her mentor.
As for Balder's share, Frigga tactfully did not ask any further questions.
In order to facilitate the union of Asa and Warner, this vicious stepmother demanded that the dangerous Hela be exiled.
Moreover, according to the Aesir tradition of martialism and respecting the strong, Hela had made great contributions to the Aesir in the ancient war of gods. In addition, as the eldest daughter of Odin and a student of Loki, she may not be unable to inherit the throne of the Aesir in the future.
But now, Hela is forced to stay in the desolate underworld. Her and Odin's unborn son Baldur may inherit everything that originally belonged to Hela and become the new king that the Aesir and the Vanir are looking forward to.
Even if Hela didn't say it openly, she probably didn't have any good feelings towards the brother born by this vicious stepmother.
However, unexpectedly, Hela took out a small boat engraved with intricate spells and threw it on Odin's table:
"This is called the Sun Spirit Boat. I built this warship using its keel. I'll give it to your precious son today."
Odin and Frigga were skeptical when they heard this.
Out of caution, the couple carefully inspected the [Sun Spirit Boat]. After confirming that there was nothing fishy inside, their doubts were not eliminated, but they were even more surprised by Hela's attitude.
What happened to her today? Did she change her personality?
Even if he wanted to reconcile with the Asgardian, wasn't his attitude changing too quickly?
Just as Odin was puzzled, Hela raised her hand:
"I've given the gifts I should have given, but I won't drink the wine. What about the return gift?"
Seeing the meaningful look in his daughter's eyes, Odin suddenly understood. He forced a smile from his old face and pushed his blood brothers forward:
“Loki, take Hela to the treasury to pick out a few items she likes, and see the guests off for me.”
"I know the road, this way!"
Hela stretched out her misty right hand, grabbed Lorne's arm, and dragged him out of the field without saying a word.
But that is not the way to the treasure house, but to the Rainbow Bridge.
Colorful rainbow light bands shoot into the underworld.
After a flash of light, Loen looked at the Temple of Death in front of him, which seemed familiar yet unfamiliar. At this moment, he understood that he was the [return gift].
Odin, you bitch!
Half an hour ago, I was saying that when brothers work together, they can accomplish anything.
But then, in order to appease your daughter and stop her from causing trouble at the party, you sold me out, right?
Fuck you!
Just as Loen was cursing his apparent brother in his heart, a pair of slender white arms reached out from the darkness behind him and pressed on his shoulders.
"Teacher, on such a nice day, you don't want to embarrass everyone, right?"
A beautiful head poked out from the gauze curtain, leaned close to Loen's ear and whispered softly, with a playful look in her eyes.
Loen turned around and saw in the darkness a beautiful body covered in a veil, with skin slightly flushed with excitement, and a newly changed large bed.
Immediately, the door of the Temple of Death slammed shut, and a violent shaking sound was heard from inside the temple.
——
Meanwhile, in Asgard.
The square was filled with fragrance, guests were toasting each other, and everything was immersed in the waves of joy.
Since another protagonist of the banquet, Lorne, was given away as a gift, Odin had to personally bring the Queen of Gods Frigga to shuttle between different camps and tables to greet each other in order to maintain the harmonious atmosphere.
After two days and two nights, this grand celebration finally came to a successful conclusion.
Odin and Frigga, who were exhausted from coping, just felt exhausted, so they dropped the follow-up work and returned to the Golden Palace to rest.
The main gods such as Thor, Freya, Bragi, and the gods with unique identities such as Brunhilde and Eden took on the trivial tasks of welcoming and seeing off, and escorted the visitors of various races from the nine kingdoms out of Asgard, bringing the banquet to an end.
But as the banquet ended and the guests left, one of the welcoming staff who were supposed to gradually return to their posts was missing.
~~
"What? Eden is missing?"
Loen rushed out of the Temple of Death and his face darkened as he looked at Brunhilde who came to report the news.
Brunhilde nodded and explained the whole story in a deep voice:
"On the day the banquet ended, Iden was responsible for seeing off the chiefs of the seven dwarf clans. However, when the seven chiefs of the dwarf clan left the Fairy Palace and returned to the Dwarf Kingdom, Iden did not return."
"Did Eden personally send them to the Dwarven Kingdom?"
"Yes! You know, she is originally from the Dwarf Country, so she gave those uncles an extra ride."
"So, the girl disappeared on her way back to Asgard from the Dwarf Country?"
Lorne frowned and asked,
"Could it be that he got lost, or that the teleportation technique of the Rainbow Bridge malfunctioned?"
"We checked and sent many Valkyries to search, but we couldn't find any trace of Eden along the way."
Brunhilde replied in a deep voice, and then added,
"Moreover, the World Tree seems to have been affected as well, with some of the [Fruits of Youth] showing varying degrees of disease."
In trouble!
Luo En's heart sank and his face turned gloomy.
At the beginning, he not only gave Eden the divine duty of managing the [Eternal Garden] and maintaining the World Tree, making her the [Goddess of Youth]. In addition, in order to allow this overly naive little girl to have some ability to protect herself, he also used the divinity of the World Tree to protect her.
Now that the World Tree has become diseased, it proves that Eden is likely in danger.
"What about Odin? What did he say?"
"Father God has sent all his men to search for her, but Lady Frigga accidentally had a miscarriage while trying to slow down the disease of the World Tree. She is in urgent need of rest and care. Father God cannot spare her time, so he ordered me to come and report what happened to you. Please make your decision."
Brunhilde bowed her head and answered respectfully.
Loen nodded slightly, and read another intention of Odin from it.
The criminal must have considerable strength to be able to capture Eden silently without leaving any sign of resistance, and must be familiar with the route between Asgard and the Dwarf Kingdom to a certain extent.
Therefore, the target is most likely among the group of people attending the banquet, and has some connections with Eden, so he can at least be familiar to him.
But the people attending the banquet were always the same few people, and they were all more or less related to him, the god of trickery.
If something is found out, the honeymoon period that has been created with great difficulty may be broken prematurely.
Therefore, Odin simply sent Brunhilde to let his blood brother think about how to deal with the crisis himself.
Based on the relevant clues in his mind and his tracing of Norse mythology, Loen had a rough guess about the identity of the suspect:
"You go back first. I need to go to Solemheim!"
When Brunhilde heard the confident tone, she finally felt relieved.
[Land of Noise] Solemheim, that is the territory of the mountain giant king Shaki.
In other words, the disappearance of the goddess of youth Eden is very likely related to the mountain giants.
"Don't worry, I will go back and report to Father God right away!"
Seeing that Brunhilde had understood what he meant, Lorne nodded and sent his subordinate out of the underworld.
After making sure that the other party had left, he lifted the cloth that he had hastily used to cover his body, took out the [God's Battle Robe] presented to him by humans, elves, and dwarves from the magic array, and put it on his body covered with bite marks and scratches.
As the golden and black divine armor automatically tightened, Loen decisively drew runes on the ground and opened the teleportation array leading to the Land of Giants.
"Do you have to go?"
A cold and low voice came from behind. Hela stood in front of the door of the Temple of Death, her lips tightly pursed.
Sensing the unhappiness in his beloved disciple's heart, Luo En explained helplessly:
"I'm sorry, Eden got into some trouble and I need to go there myself."
Hela was silent for a moment, then smiled:
"Well, be careful. Take it with you, too. It'll be faster."
As Hela spoke, she raised her hand slightly, and the black dragon king Nidhogg flapped his wings and came roaring over. At the command of his owner, he lowered his body obediently, using his dignity as a dragon king to serve as a temporary mount for the person in front of him.
Luo Enben was prepared to persuade him again and again, but he didn't expect that his originally stubborn student would be so sensible, not anxious or angry, and even took the initiative to help. This made him quite relieved at this time.
"Once I have settled this matter, I will bring Eden to visit you!"
Loen decisively jumped onto the dragon's back and rode the black dragon king Nidhogg into the teleportation array.
Seeing the figures of the man and the dragon disappear in the vast snow and wind of the Giant Kingdom, the smile on Hela's face faded and her eyes became gloomy.
"Bang!"
The pale fist struck out, smashing through the stone pillars in front of the Temple of Death with unstoppable force.
Because of Asa again! Because of another woman again!
Why can they live in the sunshine and enjoy everything that should belong to me!
Why should I have to pay such a high price just to see you and get some companionship?
Why should I use the time I spend with you to benefit others?
This is not fair!
The five pale fingers slowly closed together, confining a few stones in the palm and crushing them into powder inch by inch.
Looking at the sand and dust flowing through her fingers, Hela raised the corners of her lips, and a morbid and crazy smile appeared on her face immersed in darkness.
What I want, I will definitely get.
If you don't give it to me, I'll take it myself.
——
At the same time, Lorne, riding the black dragon king Nidhogg, rushed to the noisy place and blasted the dome of the mountain giant palace without mercy, then rushed into the hall and shouted:
"Shaki, get out here!"
(End of this chapter)
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