Chapter 276: Loki, Threatened by Thanos
Thanos rubbed his chin thoughtfully at Corvus Glaive's words, considering for a moment before speaking. "Then have General Corvus Glaive and Ebony Maw go along with you this time. With the two of them at your side, surely even the strongest man on Midgard won't pose much of a problem."
"Loki — I expect the Tesseract brought back to me." There was something in his tone that left no room for doubt.
By Thanos's own reckoning, he'd already shown this so-called strongest man of Midgard considerable respect — sending both Corvus Glaive and Ebony Maw, one a master of combat, the other of strategy and manipulation. It was rare enough for Thanos to send the two of them out together at all; they were, in effect, his own right and left hands. He could think of no reason this should fail.
Thanos even found himself wondering, briefly, whether he'd overestimated this Ethan Cross after all. Perhaps Loki simply wasn't strong enough himself — plain incompetence, nothing more.
But if the mission failed even with these two along, then the fault would lie squarely with Loki.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Corvus Glaive answered, bowing his obedience.
Ebony Maw offered a shallow bow of his own in acknowledgment, a sly gleam already sparking in his eyes — clearly already calculating how best to turn this venture to his personal advantage.
Loki dropped to one knee, swearing solemnly, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will bring the Tesseract back to you without fail. If I fail to retrieve it, I will offer my own life in atonement." His voice rang firm and resolute — but behind his lowered eyes flickered a barely-perceptible glint of malice.
Clearly, he had no real intention of honoring that promise.
Thanos simply watched Loki in silence, those deep-set eyes seeming to see through everything.
"Rest assured," he continued, "my promise to you still stands. Do your part well, and you may yet rule Midgard as its king."
"I will send the Chitauri army and Leviathans to support you, to clear away any obstacle standing in your path on Midgard."
Then Thanos's tone shifted abruptly, a cold edge creeping into his voice. "But I expect you not to disappoint me. Should you betray me, or fail in your task, I will hold the people of Asgard accountable — and your own kin along with them."
A cruel light flashed in Thanos's eyes, as though he meant to swallow Loki whole.
Loki felt a crushing weight of pressure bear down on him, his body trembling faintly despite himself.
He fought to hold his composure, forcing a thin smile to mask the panic rising inside him.
He hadn't expected Thanos to threaten him with the lives of Asgard's people.
It left him furious and helpless in equal measure — but he knew better than to show even a flicker of resistance or discontent now. All he could do was swallow the humiliation and the pressure in silence.
In truth, the people of Asgard didn't hold much weight in Loki's heart. He knew his own ambitions and desires well enough — his hunger for power and standing was the kind of thing he'd sacrifice almost anything for. But if it came to his mother, Loki would step forward without a second's hesitation to protect her.
In this entire universe, she was the only person Loki genuinely, truly cared about.
As for Thor — perhaps some measure of care and respect lingered there, but not much. These days, the throne mattered more to him than any so-called brotherly bond.
Loki was a man willing to sacrifice nearly everything in service of his own ambition — but he still had his limits, his one true line: his mother, the Queen.
He understood clearly enough that Thanos's threat wasn't an idle one. This was a man who followed through on his word. If Loki genuinely disappointed him, the consequences didn't bear imagining. So Loki quickly bowed his head in acknowledgment, doing his best to keep his voice level and steady.
"Go and prepare," Thanos said, waving a dismissive hand, clearly already confident the arrangement was settled. "Corvus Glaive and Ebony Maw will send for you when it's time."
At those words, Loki bowed and turned at once, hurrying out of Thanos's chamber.
Once Loki had gone, Ebony Maw couldn't help but voice a question to Thanos. "Your Majesty — why hand this task to an outsider? Now that we know where the Tesseract is, wouldn't it be simpler to just handle the rest ourselves?"
Thanos turned, his deep gaze settling on Ebony Maw, and spoke slowly. "It isn't so simple as that."
"Odin may be old, but he is far from finished."
"And more to the point — that sorcerer on Midgard is genuinely powerful. Without Loki leading the charge, the two of you would likely go over there and never come back. You're only meant to assist."
"Best not to complicate things further right now. Focus on gathering what remains, as quickly as possible."
Loki soon spotted Kaito Kumon leaning against the wall just outside the door — Kaito, naturally, had no standing to be granted an audience with Thanos himself.
While Loki had been inside meeting with Thanos, Kaito hadn't exactly been idle either — he'd taken a quiet lap around, scoping out whether there was anything worth stealing.
He hadn't dared get too bold about it, though. He could sense four distinct presences here at least equal to his own strength, and this so-called Thanos, faintly but unmistakably, seemed to rank above even that.
Still — not being able to beat someone didn't mean he couldn't outrun them. And besides, now wasn't the time to steal anything anyway. Watching Loki's stormy expression, Kaito found the whole thing rather entertaining.
Loki paid no attention to Kaito's expression. With Supergiant in the room a moment ago, he hadn't dared let his thoughts wander too freely — after all, she could see straight through them.
But now, out of her sight, his mind began working furiously. He turned over how best to maximize his own gain in the days ahead.
The ideal outcome, of course, would be to let the Black Order and Ethan Cross collide head-on — best case, grinding each other down to mutual ruin. Then he could slip in at the perfect moment and seize that tantalizing Space Stone for himself.
Once he held the Space Stone's power, Loki would fear nothing and no one. No one would stand a chance against him ever again.
Loki knew well enough that the plan wasn't foolproof.
He'd have to stay alert every step of the way, to keep Ethan from being crushed too quickly by the Black Order. If Ethan fell, Loki would have no choice but to remain at Thanos's side, swallowing his pride and scraping by indefinitely.
The other possibility — the one Loki dreaded most — was that Ethan proved shockingly powerful and made short work of the Black Order instead.
Because that would mean losing any chance of returning to Thanos's side at all, leaving him to wander the cosmos utterly alone.
So the only thing Loki needed to do now was steer the Black Order calmly toward Midgard to fight Ethan, then lend a hand to whichever side looked weaker as the fight unfolded — because only if both sides ground each other down would there be any profit in it for him. The real danger was simply mishandling the timing and losing his own life in the process.
Watching Loki lost in thought, Kaito spoke up — a rare thing for him. "Need a hand? Fair warning, though — my rates aren't cheap."
Loki snapped out of his thoughts, glanced at Kaito, and suddenly understood — with Kaito's portal ability on hand, there was really no way this could go badly wrong.
Kaito had no idea what exactly had just happened, but watching Loki's face shift from clouded worry back to his usual haughty composure, he simply smiled faintly.
Knew it — sticking with this Loki character was bound to turn up something interesting.
Still, it was about time to go meet this "Ethan Cross" everyone kept talking about. From the sound of it, the man had quite the collection of treasures worth having.
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