Hearing that Odin was going to take William to the treasure vault, Angela quickly made an excuse about needing to patrol and slipped away.
William had no choice but to follow Odin back into the Golden Palace. He was hoping to finally get a glimpse of the legendary Asgardian treasury—but Odin deliberately slowed his pace, describing the palace scenery along the way. Then, shamelessly, he claimed to have lost track of time and that opening the vault now would be "too much of a hassle."
When William's expression changed, one of Odin's guards stepped forward to report that before the vault was closed, the guards had already brought out the Casket of Ancient Winters and placed it in the guest room prepared for William.
After only a brief moment of thought, William realized the old man was afraid that if he took him into the vault, there might not be anything left afterward.
Fortunately, William only knew about a few of the vault's treasures—like the Casket, the Eternal Flame, and that fake Infinity Gauntlet Hela once mentioned.
If he didn't see the rest, he wouldn't be tempted to covet things that didn't belong to him.
"No problem," William said calmly. "As long as I get to sleep holding the Casket, that's enough."
"Well…" Odin hesitated for a moment, then nodded, adding, "You can hold on to it temporarily—but if you lose it, you'll have to marry my daughter Angela. How about that?"
William rolled his eyes. "Then let's talk about it if I lose it."
Marrying an assassin and bringing her home? Who knew if Angela's daggers would one day point at him? And if he really did marry an Asgardian princess, how would he keep enjoying his carefree adventures?
When they arrived at the guest room, William didn't even get the chance to admire the massive, open-plan suite. His eyes were immediately drawn to the brilliant sapphire-colored crystal casket displayed in the center of the sitting area.
Though his heart burned with excitement, William didn't approach it right away. Instead, he swept his spiritual sense across the room.
Unsurprisingly, he detected no fewer than ten hidden figures concealed in the shadows.
But rather than concern him, their presence put him at ease. As he walked toward the Casket, shimmering space distortions began to appear beneath his feet.
By the time he stood before the artifact, not only Odin but all the hidden guards were pulled into a mirror dimension.
Only then did William grasp the Casket with both hands. His golden armor rippled like waves and retracted into his storage space, replaced by a jet-black suit of armor—untouched by any magic energy.
Odin, observing from the side, only needed a second to understand: William was collecting different variants of his Sentinel Armor, each infused with a unique power.
As the new Sentinel Armor enveloped William, the Casket was engulfed within it. A chilling cold spread through the room, and the armor began to change color—shifting from black to blue, then to deep navy.
Even Odin, the ruler of the Nine Realms, couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy and disbelief at such a crude yet effective method of absorbing frost energy.
He couldn't stop himself from wondering: if William were to absorb the Eternal Flame next, would it be a blessing—or a catastrophe?
He knew all too well that when the fire giant Surtur merged with the Eternal Flame, his power grew exponentially.
If William's armor could absorb the flame itself—not just fire energy—it would become a massive threat to Asgard.
But this wasn't the time for that conversation.
Just as Odin was about to take his leave, he remembered this was a separate dimension and had to speak aloud, "It's late, William. Perhaps we should say goodnight?"
The moment he finished, the mirror space shattered and disappeared. Odin glanced once more at the unmoving William before calling for the ten shadow guards to leave with him.
In his eyes, aside from himself, no one in the divine realm could threaten William.
The moment Odin was gone, William acted. With a thought, a magical clone appeared where he had just been, holding an identical replica of the Casket.
Meanwhile, the real William—and the real Casket—reentered the mirror space.
Time passed unnoticed.
Hours later, William, eyes closed, rested inside the mirror realm while the armor absorbed frost energy. Suddenly, he opened his eyes.
Back in the real world, the clone holding the fake Casket split off another clone.
That new figure, indistinguishable from the real William, left the center of the sitting room and climbed into the massive, dimly lit bed in sleepwear, pretending to sleep.
Not long after, a staggering Loki—who earlier had needed help walking—dissolved his invisibility spell and revealed himself in the sitting room.
Staring at the unmoving William from behind, Loki hesitated. Something felt off—how could he have walked in this easily?
More suspiciously, the figure hadn't reacted at all to his presence.
Ever the skeptic, Loki crept carefully across the room. Only after taking several cautious steps did he confirm that the standing William was just an illusion.
With a mocking grin, he turned and crept toward the bedroom.
Sure enough, he found "William" lying asleep on the massive bed, snoring.
Holding his breath, Loki spent a full ten minutes silently approaching.
Once he stood beside the bed, he grinned sinisterly, pulled out a small golden flask, and uncorked it. A wisp of green smoke slipped out and flowed straight into the sleeping William's nose.
After sealing the flask, Loki beamed and whispered an incantation into William's ear, expecting the mage to awaken under his control.
But before his eyes, the body on the bed shimmered—and vanished.
A voice echoed from the sitting room, making Loki's heart pound: "This kind of illusionary trickery is designed specifically for people like you."
Before Loki could even attempt to vanish again, an invisible force locked him in place.
Even though Aegyn's Form—William's magical clones—would vanish when struck, they could still wield all the powers of the original.
A binding spell snapped into place, immobilizing Loki. Then a wave of spiritual force lifted him off the ground and carried him out to the sitting room, where he floated before William's clone.
The clone opened its eyes and, staring at the faintly panicked Loki, said something unexpectedly pleasant.
"Should we discuss compensation?"
"N-no problem," Loki stammered. He didn't believe William would actually spare him, but he had no choice but to play along. "What kind of compensation do you want?"
The clone closed its eyes again. "Why don't you tell me… what your life is worth?" Then it added thoughtfully, "Or perhaps…"
The flask floated up from Loki's body under William's psychic control. At the same time, the clone recited the exact incantation Loki had whispered to the bed just moments before.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Loki's face twisted in horror.
He shouted, "Anything! I'll give you anything I have!"
William blinked. Honestly, he didn't really need anything. If he had to name something, the only thing he truly lacked… was a weapon.
"I heard Odin's Eternal Spear and Thor's hammer were forged using Uru metal, unique to Asgard.
So, don't you think I should also have the dwarves forge a weapon for me—using Uru?"
Loki didn't hesitate. "What kind of weapon do you want?"
Smiling, the clone replied, "Tell me—if we combine the Casket of Ancient Winters with Uru metal… could we make an Ice Hammer even stronger than Thor's Mjölnir?"
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