Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1396 Illegitimate Child (Part 2)

Lorelei's first phase of the mission has been successfully completed.

Finding information about Hliskjálf was only part of the story; she also obtained a map of the Golden Palace's defenses and terrain. This was essential information for the second phase of the quest, and it was generally difficult to obtain through divination, as the entire Golden Palace was shrouded in powerful magic, and forcibly acquiring it would likely require sacrifices.

Following the Emperor's methods, Lorelei established the Interstellar Commerce Guild. With the help of the Kamar-Taj Embassy, ​​she gradually ascertained the defenses of the Golden Palace's various halls, starting with low-ranking officials, through bribery, intimidation, and kidnapping. The Silver Hall, being the most important, was particularly infiltrated by Lorelei due to the presence and unique nature of the Sildren, a council chamber frequented by numerous Aesir and Vanir gods.

She even raised a mercenary army composed of refugees from the Asgardian colonies. This was not difficult for her; it wasn't the first time she had recruited mercenaries to form an army against Asgard, and she had used her magic to manipulate people on numerous occasions. But this time, her mission went exceptionally smoothly, requiring very little magic—she simply sent people to the rioting colonies to give speeches reciting passages from the "United Truth" and delivering some food, and she found she had gained soldiers—not only because Kamar-Taj provided substantial financial support, but also because Asgard's taxes had become increasingly harsh in recent years. The effects of Fimbulwinter first manifested in Asgard, with reduced food production being one of the least noticeable aspects.

However, to support Asgard's massive trade volume, the tithes Asgardians extracted from colonies like Nornheim grew increasingly higher, frequently leading to riots and displacing many refugees. Yet, no one in Asgard cared about the living conditions in those colonies, including the most ordinary Asgardian civilians. They might be moved to tears by the poverty in the colonies, but stopping the lifestyle they had gained through the colonies was absolutely unacceptable.

Like the middle-class citizens of Victorian London, they were proud of their city, even if the black soot from factories polluted the sky and emaciated child laborers starved to death in the streets—it was none of their concern. The colonies' discontent with Asgard had reached its limit, and Lorelei's job was to push them to their limits, to instill the Emperor's ideas and knowledge in the Nornheim colonies. Perhaps Thor could quell a riot with his warhammer, but he could never suppress an endless uprising fueled by countless starving poor and laborers.

If Asgard sends a large army to handle this matter, its troop deployment in the final battle of Ragnarok will be limited, its strategic decisions will be affected, and it will become one of the straws that break the camel's back. If Asgard refuses to deal with the colonial rebellion, the colonies will break free from Asgard's influence and become completely independent, severing trade ties with Asgard, amplifying the impact of Fimbulwinter on Asgard, further exacerbating Asgard's destruction in Ragnarok, and completely crushing the prophetic description of the new world of Asgard.

This game of strategy had already begun when the Emperor captured Lorelei. While it didn't play a decisive role, all victories were built upon a foundation of numerous small tactical advantages. His goal was the new world after Ragnarok, not Ragnarok itself—the war between the giants and the Aesir had little impact on Earth. But if humanity were to escape the shadow of Asgard, it would have to utterly destroy the Aesir and absorb Asgard's millennia-long knowledge and experience as nourishment. Without the Sorcerer Supreme, humanity's fate wouldn't have been any better than that of the colonies in Nornheim, which was the true reason the Emperor consistently opposed Asgard.

But in Odin and Frigga's eyes, all the Emperor's actions stemmed from a different perspective: the desire of a newly born god to establish himself in the new world after Ragnarok. Odin wanted to promise the Emperor a place in the new world, while keeping the overall prophecy unchanged, in exchange for the Emperor, Kamar-Taj, and Earth's support for Asgard. Even Frigga thought so; otherwise, she wouldn't have proposed such a ridiculous idea as a marriage alliance between the Emperor and Hela. They didn't know that the Emperor never considered himself a god. He believed himself to be merely an ordinary person with divine power. If he didn't have that power, he still had his thoughts, knowledge, and foresight as weapons. His power was just a small part of a vast arsenal, no different from a loaded rifle.

Lorelei also found some information that would interest the emperor.

"My sister Amora once seduced Thor, and he, like other men, became Amora's slave. That's why Sif can't tolerate us sisters." The Enchantress narrowed her eyes, her body pressed tightly against the Emperor's grey cloak, her gaze overflowing with allure. "Of course, no one in the world can compare to my lord… My sister obtained some interesting information from Thor, such as Thor's bastard children. Poor Sif, she has been trying to ignore those two children, wanting to fulfill the mission given to her by Queen Frigga."

But when the Emperor asked to see Amora to get a more direct understanding of the situation, Lorelei's eyes suddenly changed, turning vicious and angry. "Amora and I do not get along. She seduces men and seduces herself. She falls in love easily. If you show hostility toward Asgard, she will not tell you anything about Thor's bastard."

She took a deep breath. "Even I admire her cruelty and debauchery. All Asgardians know of her torment of the Water Nymph, and that she once publicly declared she would sleep with three dwarves for a necklace. If you want to conquer her, you must do to her what you did to me, if you're willing to consider my jealousy..."

The emperor nodded, but did not accept Lorelei's account entirely, because she was not telling the truth.

Her strained relationship with her blood relative Amora stemmed from a rivalry over who could successfully seduce Thor. Amora emerged victorious, escaping Asgard's pursuit and making Lorelei the scapegoat for the loser. However, Lorelei seemed reluctant to discuss the competition, perhaps fearing the Emperor would hold a grudge against her, unaware that the Emperor had already conducted a thorough investigation into her upon her capture.

"Regarding Magni and Modi, do you know where they are now?"

Lorelei pointed to the outside of the tavern's private room, indicating that the target was there.

"Thor has shown no concern for his bastards. Sometimes I suspect he doesn't even know they exist. Only Odin has provided them with some basic necessities, but that help has now vanished, and they have to fend for themselves." She tried to take the Emperor's hand, hidden beneath his cloak, and he didn't resist her increasingly assertive behavior, knowing that Lorelei needed some reward. "But those two fools are still mingling with commoners, trying to display their power to attract the attention of bards, just as foolish as their father, thinking they are the protagonists of this world. I must admit, though, this tactic has a fatal attraction for some uneducated Asgardian girls, especially when they boast about joining the suppression of the colonies. In the eyes of Asgardian girls, they are brave warriors." The Rhine River Sylph flapped her beautiful eyes, her long eyelashes casting shadows on her cheeks like fans. "Should we kill them, my lord, or do you have other plans for them?"

Hammurabi was extremely grateful for the excellent performance of the breathing filter in his helmet; otherwise, he would have been choked by the overwhelming stench of vomit and alcohol in the tavern. Especially when some foolish idiots tried to provoke the far stronger Praetorian Guard, their breath was particularly foul—a drunkard pointed at Hammurabi, and the translator in his helmet translated the sentence directly. The Praetorian Guard had studied the ancient Asgardian language, but he still needed the translator to understand the drunkard's incessant mutterings.

Now he realized that the people standing before him were warriors who had fought in the Nornheim rebellion.

Hammurabi looked down at the warrior's filthy, tangled curls and the traces of congealed mead stained his beard, and shook his head helplessly. The man seemed to take this as a provocation, shouting a few more times before turning to the tavern's spectators with outstretched arms. The guards didn't see the axe in his opponent's hand as a threat, nor his swaying, obese body as a prelude to attack, but when he swung his blade at him, Hammurabi reacted swiftly—he kicked aside the chair in front of him, sending it flying like a cannonball, slamming a fool who was also trying to attack the guards against the wall—before finally striking the drunkard in the face with the end of his garrison spear. Although the movements were so fast that they were almost invisible, the Asgardians, who had experience fighting Heimdall, had figured out the individual strength of the Asgardians. The only thing that surprised him was that his counterattack had failed to break the drunkard's skull, and the latter fell to the ground and fell fast asleep.

"He killed Modi!" shouted another drunkard who looked similar; he was the one Hammurabi had slammed against the wall earlier. "Avenge Modi! This man owes a blood debt, and he must pay!" With the shouts, a large group of men, also clad in filthy animal skins and wielding blades, rose from various parts of the tavern. These men, with braided warrior hairpins, were equally drunk, their filthy beards and hair emitting a pungent odor. Immediately, the savage roars drowned out the cheesy, sickeningly sweet music of the bard and the love poems sung to the tavern waitresses.

Amon fired first, immediately killing one of the men who had aimed a long-range weapon at him.

He stood guard over the only passage into the box, while Hammurabi charged towards the drunkards who had raised their weapons. Before the drunkards could even raise their weapons, he had already rushed into the crowd. The steel imbued with the runes of Gador by the blacksmith's hammer was cleaved by his halberd, and those who tried to resist the attack with weapons or shields were all cut to pieces, their bones and flesh severed.

Hammurabi swept through the tavern like a golden hurricane. He didn't kill those who raised their weapons, but destroyed the weapons and limbs. Even so, the agonizing screams and gushing blood sent chills down the spines of those who were itching to attack. The tavern's stone floor was soaked with mead, food scraps, and blood. The stench of blood seeped into the muddy gray mortar between the stones, and those who were slightly regaining their senses felt a sticky residue on their shoes—they weren't afraid of Hammurabi, but of Amun standing in the doorway. He had smashed two fools to pieces with his guard spear, and no one knew whether their shoes were covered in mead or corpses—now the tavern was completely silent; no one dared to make a move for fear of provoking another attack.

"Modi!" A agonizing voice ripped across the floor, breaking the silence. "Oh! He's alive! He's been knocked unconscious!" This was followed by the sound of wet slaps, a roar of rage as someone awoke from sleep, and another person's unrestrained laughter. "Get up, Modi, or I'll throw you into the latrine of the Hades' watchdogs! No…no, his jaw's broken! You…"

Hammurabi did not hesitate and threw a punch directly at the target.

When the Emperor and Lorelei, who had practically crawled into his cloak with only her head sticking out, emerged from the room, they found that the tavern was empty except for two guards. Some were lucky enough to have bled to death, while others were reduced to bits of bone and flesh stuck to the walls. The luckiest of the bunch were the two drunkards closest to the guards, who, aside from the redness and bruises on their obviously broken jaws, were fast asleep until Hammurabi kicked them aside.

“I’m talking about those two idiots, Manny and Morty.” The Emperor felt Lorelei clinging to his arm like a koala. The Rhine Banshee mocked the two fallen men in an unbearable tone, seemingly oblivious to the deaths in the tavern. Perhaps Lorelei was more cruel and ruthless than her blood relative, but more useful as a weapon. “Now it seems they’re even more useless than I thought.” She tiptoed, hiding herself in the Emperor’s cloak, where he could even feel her slight trembling and burning heat. “If you have any plans for them, you’d better change them. I told you, they’re as stupid as their father, and they have no place in the New World.”

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)