Chapter 257: 257
"You?!"
Laufey had been carefully watching every change in Fenris's expression.
The frigid aura surrounding Fenris had already begun to subside, but it suddenly erupted once more. The instant Laufey met those ice-blue eyes, the faint hope that had risen while Fenris considered his plea was extinguished.
He knew that look all too well.
Countless enemies had once begged him for their lives just as desperately as he had now begged Fenris. Back then, Laufey had looked at them exactly as Fenris was looking at him now.
Gazing up at Fenris was like staring at his former self.
"He won't spare me..."
Although Laufey had anticipated this outcome, his heart was still filled with bitter resentment.
Even when he had suffered a crushing defeat at Odin's hands, he had never cast aside his pride as a king like this. He had never trampled his own dignity underfoot and humbled himself before another, pleading for the faintest chance to survive.
He hated this.
If there had never been any hope, Laufey would have accepted his defeat.
But he had been so close!
The opportunity he had awaited for hundreds of thousands of years had been right before him. He had already seized it, so why did someone like Fenris have to appear?
Agonizing pain constantly battered his mind, but it could not overwhelm the resentment burning within him.
"In that case, do it."
Laufey knew that once an enemy like Fenris made up his mind, nothing could change it.
Since begging was useless, he would rather preserve the last remnants of his dignity as a king than continue groveling.
After speaking, Laufey turned his head and took one final look at the surviving Frost Giants in the distance. Then he closed his eyes, concealing the tangled emotions within them.
Laufey's composure did not cause the slightest fluctuation in Fenris's gaze. He slowly raised his front claw.
Fenris no longer knew how much blood had stained his claws. Barring the unexpected, Laufey would be the strongest enemy he had ever killed, whether in the past, the present, or for a long time to come.
Fenris did not know how much resentment Laufey had hidden in that final glance toward the Frost Giants, nor did he care to know. None of it held any meaning to him.
A dead enemy was the only good enemy.
Giving Laufey a quick death was already the greatest mercy Fenris could offer.
"Don't make it hurt too much. Thank you."
With death approaching and the burden he had carried for ten thousand years suddenly lifted from his shoulders, Laufey instead felt a sense of relief he had not experienced in ages.
So be it...
His life had already been eventful enough.
Laufey closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually became calm and steady.
Yet as the seconds passed, the expected pain never came.
What was happening?
Laufey cautiously cracked one eye open.
A muscular figure covered in wounds and clad in shattered armor had appeared before him at some point.
With his arms spread wide and a small silver hammer in his hand, he stood between Laufey and Fenris's descending claw.
"Thor?"
Fenris had noticed Thor and the others approaching long ago, but he never imagined the first thing Thor would do upon arriving was protect Laufey.
"Fenris, Laufey deserves death, but he cannot be allowed to die this easily."
The frigid aura surrounding Fenris swept down his claw and struck Thor head-on, instantly coating his body in frost.
Fenris's claw, glinting with a deadly chill, stopped just short of Thor before slowly withdrawing.
Thor looked up just as Fenris lowered his enormous head. The white light in the beast's eyes surged, illuminating Thor's entire body.
The overwhelming presence of the colossal beast crashed down upon him. As Thor stared up at the creature towering countless times above him, he felt as though he were standing against the entire world. His whole body suddenly went rigid.
"Fenris, Laufey caused this catastrophe. He is also the war criminal most responsible for the devastating losses suffered by both Asgard and Jotunheim."
Thor glanced at Laufey lying motionless on the ground, then remembered that the being before him was his friend. He silently steadied his breathing before continuing in a slightly trembling voice.
"He cannot die this easily. He must answer to the people of both realms."
"Answer to them?"
A derisive laugh rang out. Loki, now dressed in a new set of robes, emerged from the side with Gungnir in hand.
Loki's face was still deathly pale, but that did nothing to conceal the mockery in his voice.
"Thor, don't tell me you intend to keep Laufey alive and put him on public trial before everyone."
"Not long ago, you wanted to storm Jotunheim alone and destroy Laufey. It has only been a few days, and now you're already imitating Father's benevolent king act?"
"Laufey!"
Before Thor could respond, Loki spun the spear in his hand and thrust it viciously toward Laufey.
The razor-sharp tip stopped less than half an inch from his head. Its golden edge tore across Laufey's skin, leaving a deep wound that nearly split his face in two.
"It felt good attacking me while I was vulnerable, didn't it?"
Seeing Laufey in such a pitiful state, Loki almost laughed aloud in satisfaction. He pushed Gungnir slightly farther forward.
"Did you ever imagine you would fall into my hands so soon? Hmm?"
"Stop, Loki!"
Loki's movement startled Thor. He immediately hurled Mjolnir, knocking Gungnir off course.
"No one wanted the situation to become like this, and the ordinary people of Jotunheim are innocent. Besides, Laufey is the source of all this evil. At the very least, we need to keep him alive for now."
"The long-standing peace of the Nine Realms cannot be shattered like this. Asgard cannot endure another catastrophe. Do you understand?"
"Thor! Don't try to silence me with your noble-sounding excuses. All I know is that I am the king of Asgard now!"
Loki's voice rose sharply. Empowered by his divine strength, it echoed rapidly across the battlefield.
The tip of Gungnir swept across the battlefield as Loki glared furiously at Thor.
"Open your eyes and look at Asgard! Look at what has happened to our people!"
"All I know is that if I do not kill Laufey now, I will have failed every person who died today! I will have failed the Gungnir I carry!"
As Loki's words faded, the entire battlefield instantly fell silent.
With Laufey utterly defeated, the remaining Frost Giants hid with their heads lowered. None of them dared make a sound for fear of drawing attention to themselves.
The surviving Asgardians also fell silent.
They understood nothing about the peace of the Nine Realms. They only knew that Loki's words expressed precisely what they felt.
Today, Asgard had truly come within a hair's breadth of losing everything.
"I don't know what you consider innocent or guilty by your standards, Thor."
"All I know is that without Fenris, Laufey would have won today. Every Frost Giant would be lying on top of Asgard, greedily draining it dry. They would show no mercy, and they certainly wouldn't hesitate like you, a spineless coward who has lost all his courage!"
Loki slammed Gungnir heavily into the ground, scattering a shower of ice as his voice turned bitterly cold.
"Get out of my way! Laufey must die today. No one will stop me, not even you!"
(End of Chapter)