The atmosphere fell into a deathly silence for a moment.
Thanos, Odin, Laufey, Beckett, and even Hela – all five pairs of eyes were fixed on the small, frail kitten.
The orange cat, with its eyes wide open, looked around curiously. Its adorable little face was filled with inquisitiveness towards Thanos and Odin.
As an Energy Devouring Beast, it sensed danger from these two men, an entirely novel experience for it.
"Meow~"
Licking its lips, the orange cat leaped, intending to return to Beckett's side. However, its small body was caught by Thanos's hand around its scruff mid-air.
???
The orange cat, its body firmly restrained by an invisible force field, was utterly bewildered.
It tried to break free, but its attempts were all in vain.
"An Energy Devouring Beast?"
Thanos, knowledgeable and experienced, recognized the species of this rare creature at a glance.
Retrieving the Reality Stone from this cat's belly would be a difficult task, even for Thanos.
The reason was simple: legend had it that the stomach of an Energy Devouring Beast was connected to a universe.
The difficulty of accurately locating and retrieving the Reality Stone from such a vast expanse was unimaginable.
"Rua..."
Sensing its restraint and struggling fruitlessly, the orange cat opened its mouth and spat out, filling half of Svartalfheim with undead!
A dense army of undead, clad in the standard armor of Dark Elf soldiers – this was the accumulation of millennia from Malekith's [Artificial Underworld]. Of course, along with this undead army, it also spat out a Mind Stone that Thanos recognized instantly, and two broken pieces of a scepter.
After The Other had turned to dust, out of curiosity, it had swallowed the Mind Stone that fell to the ground, along with the scepter.
"Meow!"
Clutching the Mind Stone with its right front paw, after a milky meow, came a terrifying undead scourge!
Under the manipulation of the Mind Stone, the undead army accumulated by Malekith over thousands of years was enough to make any civilization in the Nine Realms tremble.
Including Asgard.
After all, Odin did not want Asgard itself to be tainted by war.
Although these undead soldiers had lost the ability to revive infinitely, they still maintained considerable combat effectiveness, making them adept at destruction.
"Meow!"
The bristling Energy Devouring Beast threatened in a milky voice, its boundless undead horde glaring menacingly at Thanos.
"The Mind Stone?"
Thanos's gaze turned to his adopted son, Beckett. Beckett suddenly clenched his fists, and a ball of energy appeared in his palm.
"Leave it to me, Father."
Freed from its restraint, the Energy Devouring Beast fell to the ground, rolled a few times, shook off its orange fur, and bared its teeth at Thanos, who had grabbed it: "Meow!"
"Hand it over."
The ball of energy that appeared before its mouth instantly stunned the baring Energy Devouring Beast. It twitched its nose, smelled the familiar scent, wagged its tail, and dropped the Mind Stone on the ground. It then cupped the energy ball offered by Beckett in its paws and ate it little by little, its adorable little face filled with a look of satisfaction.
"Meow~"
Chewing the energy ball as if it were a delicacy, the orange cat rubbed against Beckett's tattered pant leg. As if remembering something, it turned its head, opened its mouth, and swallowed back the undead soldiers that had filled half of Svartalfheim.
Holding the energy ball contentedly, the orange cat smacked its lips, then leaped up and settled onto Beckett's shoulder.
"This Energy Devouring Beast seems to like you a lot."
Thanos, who had witnessed everything, raised his hand, and the scepter previously broken by The Other flew into his grasp.
"Probably," Beckett tilted his head. The orange cat, still nibbling on the energy ball, tilted its head and looked at him with its big, curious eyes.
Beckett had already known that the Energy Devouring Beast liked to eat his energy when they were in the [Artificial Underworld].
Snap!
Thanos personally inserted the Mind Stone back into the tip of the broken scepter. An inexplicable energy field rapidly spread outward from Thanos.
Crack!
Under the influence of the Mind Stone, the scepter directly returned to its original state. The only change was that The Other had held it before, and now it was Thanos.
"Let's go, child, it's time for us to return."
Holding the scepter, Thanos didn't say anything more. His objective for visiting the Nine Realms had been achieved. Although the Energy Devouring Beast had interfered, it now seemed to have become a good storage unit for the gem.
To collect the Aether, which had no fixed form, Thanos would need to use another Infinity Stone. And to use a gem, his power would inevitably be diverted and weakened.
With Odin still present, Thanos would never do something as foolish as weakening himself.
These two individuals, who had previously avoided each other, now had a connection due to their children, but they still harbored deep distrust for each other.
Their mutual presence in Svartalfheim was the best proof of this distrust.
As for Laufey...
Without the Casket of Ancient Winters, Laufey was not even worth Thanos's notice. Unless he could awaken the power left in the Frost Giant bloodline by their ancestors, his days of Jotunheim being trampled by Odin were fast approaching, especially after losing the powerful Dark Elf King as an ally.
"Yes, Father."
Beckett responded, his indifferent gaze sweeping over everyone present. He lingered for a second longer on Hela's expressionless face before following closely behind Thanos into the dazzling portal's light.
"It seems this time, you've left quite an impression on Beckett." Odin's eyes hadn't missed the extra second Beckett had lingered.
Hela pouted, unwilling to speak.
Out of pride, she didn't want her father to know about the humiliating history of being completely dominated by Beckett.
All she wanted now was to diligently fuse and train her Death Divinity. Sooner or later, she would reclaim her honor and pin this arrogant Saiyan down, choking him!
Hela unconsciously touched her throat.
Perhaps it was because Beckett was so fond of choking people, but she had also developed a peculiar fondness for the skill.
"Father, Laufey ran away."
"He can't run far. Jotunheim is still there."
...
In the universe, aboard Thanos's flagship.
"Lord Thanos."
Ebony Maw, operating the ship's teleportation system, respectfully greeted the returning Thanos. Beckett, with an orange cat perched on his shoulder, had a cold expression, his golden hair having reverted to jet black under his will.
"It seems you suffered quite a loss this time, Beckett." Ebony Maw looked playfully at the empty space behind Beckett, where his usual sycophant was nowhere to be seen.
Even that sycophant's scepter was now in Thanos's hand.
"Do you want to die?"
Beckett, in a foul mood, narrowed his eyes and, to Ebony Maw's shocked gaze, tightly gripped his throat!
How could this be?!
"Enough, Beckett."
Thanos spoke as he sat back in the command chair of the main ship. Only then did Beckett release his grip.
"I know this is cruel for you."
"But this is reality."
"You must learn to accept it."
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