210

I Will Turn into a Serpent

Cronos hesitated.

This condition was extremely harsh, only marginally better than the extermination of his race. But he had no room to bargain.

"Promise, or perish," Odin declared, his right hand radiating the combined power of the Infinity Stones and the Eternal Spear.

At this moment, Odin's strength was absolute, evidenced by the corpses of the nine celestrials around him. Cronos had no choice but to agree.

"I promise..." he sighed.

After making his oath, Odin took Cronos and Cul, who was still bound by the power of the gem and unable to move. They rode the eight-legged horse Sleipnir and rushed towards Asgard.

Soon, they reached the sky over Asgard. Carrying Cronos, Odin's voice thundered throughout the realm: "Cronos of the Eternals has surrendered to me. The war is over. You have lost!"

"Cronos swears by his divine power that the Eternals will abandon all territories and resources beyond Titan. From now on, you will remain on Titan and never step outside its boundaries."

The warriors below stopped fighting and looked up at Cronos, captured by Odin.

"How can this be?"

"We had nine gods. How could we not defeat Odin?"

"We've actually lost, and now we can't leave Titan... this is unacceptable," many Eternals muttered, unable to believe their defeat.

Odin raised his hand and released Cronos: "Now, send your people back to Titan and stay there forever."

Odin departed immediately. Cronos, embarrassed, then called the Eternal warriors back to their spaceship.

As soon as Cronos returned, a purple-skinned Eternal rushed over and asked, "Grandfather, have we lost?"

"Yes, Thanos, we have lost," Cronos replied solemnly.

Thanos was in disbelief: "You, Cul, and the nine celestrials—eleven in total—could not defeat Odin?"

"We could defeat Odin, but not his Infinity Gauntlet," Cronos explained.

"Infinity Gauntlet?" Thanos asked.

"The artifact created by the Dwarf King Nidavellir for Odin, designed to hold six Infinity Stones," Cronos said slowly.

After a pause, he continued with some emotion: "The power is beyond imagination, seemingly endless. Odin's gloves only have three Infinity Stones, yet we had almost no power to fight back. If someone could collect all six stones, they could likely destroy the entire universe with a snap of their fingers."

"Just a snap of fingers..." Thanos muttered, lost in thought.

...

Odin rode his eight-legged horse quickly to the dungeon, where he found Jord's body and Hela.

"Your Majesty," Forseti and the others saluted Odin.

Odin ignored them, walked to Hela, and shouted, "Daughter?"

Hela did not respond, still in a coma, her brows furrowed.

"Forseti, isn't your Holy Light magic good at healing?" Odin asked.

Forseti shook his head: "I tried. Princess Hela's injuries are healed, but she remains unconscious."

Odin was stunned, then looked at Ullr, who was holding Jord's body.

His expression was a mixture of sadness, anger, loss, and guilt. The relationship between Odin and his wife had been strained, almost a superficial marriage, but after so many years, her death brought genuine sorrow and a burning rage at Ullr.

Odin snorted coldly, grabbed Ullr by the neck.

Undaunted, Ullr scolded, "Odin, you coward! You start a civil war and can't even protect your own wife! Marrying you was Jord's biggest mistake!"

"I should have killed you," Odin trembled with anger.

"Yes, you should have killed me!" Ullr retorted. "Do it, you vile coward!"

Thunder cracked around Odin, and the oppressive force made everyone tremble.

"Odin, calm down!" a voice called out, directly addressing Odin. Surprisingly, Odin calmed down a little.

Forseti saw a middle-aged man entering. This man looked older than Odin and seemed vaguely familiar. Forseti remembered he was Scala, the medical officer who had once saved Odin's life.

Scala approached: "Your Majesty, Ullr is Asgard's gatekeeper, and also a father."

Ullr was about to speak, but Scala's words silenced him. He gradually calmed down.

Scala continued: "We have all lost much. Let us not indulge in grief and anger, or we will lose even more."

After a while, Odin released Ullr. The civil war in Asgard was finally over.

Odin triumphed, officially becoming Asgard's new god-king, likely the most powerful god-king of all time, as evidenced by the blood of the nine celestrials.

A few months later, in Asgard Dungeon:

The Asgard dungeon had been renovated. The special cell once holding Ullr now imprisoned Cul.

Odin appeared in the dungeon and walked slowly.

Sensing something, Cul turned around: "Long time no see, brother. How does it feel to be the king of gods?"

"Not bad. I am surprised by Asgard's complete power. It is far greater than when it was under you," Odin said.

Cul's expression darkened, then he composed himself and changed the subject: "Are you here to kill me?"

"Of course not," Odin replied. "I said I wouldn't kill you."

"Because of the prophecy?" Cul asked.

"You could think so," Odin said.

Cul smiled grimly: "Odin, I know some prophecies too. Would you like to hear them?"

"What prophecy?" Odin asked.

Cul laughed darkly: "I will turn into a serpent that devours the world!"

Odin frowned: "You won't have the chance to devour the world. Though I won't kill you, I will banish and seal you. You will die in the seal and be forgotten by history."