At S.H.I.E.L.D.
headquarters, Nick Fury was anxiously awaiting news about Thor.
His desk was covered with all kinds of books on Norse mythology.
Clearly, Director Fury understood perfectly well the importance of striking while the iron was hot.
Before long, the satellite phone display on his desk lit up.
Fury answered the call, and Coulson’s face immediately appeared on the screen.
“Coulson, what’s the situation?”
Nick Fury asked urgently.
“The situation has basically been resolved, Director.
According to Adrian, the two people who came to Earth should be Thor, the God of Thunder of Asgard, and Loki, the God of Mischief.”
Even Coulson’s voice still carried a hint of disbelief at the identities of the two men.
“Loki?
Thor’s uncle?”
Having thoroughly studied Norse mythology, Nick Fury immediately reacted.
“No.
According to Adrian, Loki is actually Thor’s younger brother.”
“His brother?”
Fury immediately understood.
That would make Loki the second prince of Asgard.
“I’ll bring a team over there tomorrow.
You and Barton make sure you keep a close eye on them.
Don’t let anything happen to either of them.”
Fury hurriedly gave Coulson his instructions.
These were two princes of an extraterrestrial kingdom.
If anything happened to them, Fury would have one hell of a headache on his hands.
Moreover, he had already reported the matter to the Security Council, and they were taking Thor’s presence extremely seriously.
After all, if handled properly, this could very well become humanity’s first step toward establishing contact with an extraterrestrial civilization!
“Uh…
Right.
Don’t worry, Director.”
Coulson’s expression looked distinctly strange.
Fury instinctively sensed that something was wrong.
“Coulson.
What’s their current condition?”
“Uh…”
Coulson hesitated before moving slightly to the side.
Nick Fury immediately saw what was behind him.
A man whose face was completely obscured was lying motionless on a bed, his entire body wrapped from head to toe in bandages.
Floating above him was a tiny figure.
Fury recognized it at once as Adrian Cross’s summoned Pokémon—
Celebi.
Off to the other side, a group of guards from the laboratory were gathered around an enormous block of ice, desperately chipping away at it.
“W-What the hell happened?”
Nick Fury asked in a trembling voice.
“To put it simply—Loki tried to use magic to destroy the experimental facility, but Adrian stopped him.
Then Adrian beat him until he ended up looking like that.
Adrian’s summoned Pokémon Celebi is currently guarding him.”
“As for his brother Thor, he was hit by Loki’s magic and turned into that giant block of ice…
He still seems to be alive, though.
We’re currently trying to chip him out.”
Coulson succinctly finished his report.
Then he saw his Director’s bald head abruptly disappear from the screen. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
At the same time, a series of loud bangs came from the other end of the call, as though Fury were stomping his feet or smashing something.
A long while later, Nick Fury’s bald head reappeared on the screen.
“So…
where’s Adrian?”
“Adrian?
He…
seems to be sleeping.”
“I—FUCKING—!”
And so, for the first time in many years, Nick Fury—the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., famous for his deep composure—burst into profanity.
Meanwhile, Adrian Cross, completely unaware of just how badly Nick Fury’s mental state had deteriorated, was struggling with a very important question.
“Should I exchange it or not?”
In his hands was the Casket of Ancient Winters that he’d taken from Loki.
And this was precisely the source of his dilemma.
Of course Adrian Cross knew the origins of this treasure.
The Casket of Ancient Winters—
It was the greatest treasure of the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, one of the Nine Realms.
In the distant past, the Frost Giants had attempted to use this treasure to plunge the entire Earth back into an ice age, only to be stopped by Odin and the armies of Asgard.
After a great war between the two sides, Asgard emerged victorious.
Only then did Odin take the Frost Giants’ source of power, the Casket of Ancient Winters, away from Jotunheim.
And while he was at it, he also took Loki, the son of Laufey, King of the Frost Giants, back to Asgard and adopted him.
From then on, the Casket had remained inside Asgard’s treasure vault.
It wasn’t until recently, after Odin entered the Odinsleep and Loki became acting King of Asgard, that Loki had removed the treasure from the palace.
So technically speaking, once Odin awakened, he would definitely want this thing back.
But…
Adrian Cross couldn’t bear to give it up!
[Casket of Ancient Winters — Special Treasure]
[The host may exchange it for 3,000 System Points.]
A full 3,000 System Points!
That was an enormous amount.
If it were merely Points, Adrian Cross might have been able to resist the temptation.
After all, summoning with Points depended heavily on luck.
It was entirely possible that even 3,500 Points wouldn’t summon a damn thing.
But the crucial part was—
[Detected: This item contains the special energy ‘Power of the Ancient Winters.’]
[The host may choose to absorb this energy and store it within the System Space.]
[Once stored, the host need only spend an additional 500 System Points to exchange it for one Ice-type Legendary or Mythical Pokémon with a 100% success rate.]
After receiving that System notification, Adrian Cross finally became conflicted.
This meant that, in effect, 3,500 System Points could guarantee him an Ice-type Legendary or Mythical Pokémon!
Compared to random summoning, this option was far more reliable!
“At the end of the day, this thing is just a spoil of war.
It’s not like Mjolnir, which symbolizes Thor’s authority.”
“Besides, I saved Thor this time and prevented the brothers from killing each other.
That means I’ve done Asgard a favor.”
“Odin probably isn’t going to kill me over this…
right?”
After thinking it over again and again, Adrian Cross finally gritted his teeth.
“Screw it!
For a Legendary Pokémon, I’m taking the risk!”
“System, absorb the Power of the Ancient Winters and store it!”
[Host request detected.
Absorbing the Power of the Ancient Winters…]
As the System’s voice sounded, Adrian Cross watched the blue light within the Casket of Ancient Winters rapidly fade at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Before long—
[Absorption complete.] This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Adrian Cross clearly saw the blue glow within the Casket vanish completely.
At the same time, the faint icy sensation it had constantly emitted disappeared without a trace.
And just as Adrian Cross finished absorbing the Power of the Ancient Winters—
Within the Nine Realms, on Jotunheim.
“ROOOAAAR!”
Inside a massive fortress of ice, Laufey, King of the Frost Giants, let out an agonized roar.
“Damn it!
Damn it!”
“My Casket has been—ROOOAAAR!”
Feeling the presence of the Casket of Ancient Winters disappear, Laufey unleashed a tremendous roar that shook the entire fortress.
“My King, it must have been Odin.
Odin destroyed the Casket.”
A Frost Giant below immediately knelt before him.
“No!”
Laufey’s crimson eyes widened.
“That arrogant bastard Odin would never break his promise.”
“The Casket’s presence…
disappeared on Midgard.”
With those words, he rose directly from his throne.
“My warriors, we are going to Midgard…
to reclaim the Casket.”
Hearing Laufey’s command, another Frost Giant stepped forward.
“But, my King, Midgard is protected by the magical formations established by their Sorcerer Supreme.
And there’s also our treaty with Asgard…”
He didn’t need to finish.
Laufey understood perfectly well what he meant.
In the ancient war between Jotunheim and Asgard, the Frost Giants had been the defeated side.
And the scale of that defeat had been unprecedentedly devastating.
More than seventy percent of the entire Frost Giant race had been lost.
Even after all these years, their people still hadn’t recovered.
Worse still, the Casket of Ancient Winters—the source of their race’s power—had been taken from them, causing the individual combat strength of the Frost Giants to plummet.
This was especially true for Laufey, their king.
Without the Casket, he had lost a full ninety percent of his power.
Back then, Odin had also imposed a condition upon them.
He would spare the Frost Giants from extinction, but in exchange, the Frost Giants could never leave Jotunheim.
But after considering it for a moment, Laufey’s expression hardened.
“So what?”
“Odin is currently sleeping in the Odinsleep.
If I can reclaim the Casket and restore my power, then naturally I’ll have the leverage to negotiate with him.”
“As for the Sorcerer Supreme and her magical formations…
those formations cannot stop the Bifrost.”
“We can use the secret passages to reach the Bifrost!”
Laufey had clearly made up his mind.
The Bifrost was the bridge connecting the Nine Realms and had always been controlled by Asgard.
However, as one of the native races of the Nine Realms, the Frost Giants knew of certain secret passages that could allow them to reach the Bifrost without being detected by Heimdall, its guardian.
But every use of those secret passages carried the risk of Odin discovering them.
For Laufey to make this decision showed just how resolute he had become.
And after making up his mind, King Laufey stood there brimming with confidence, completely unaware that he was raising a flag for himself.
“Once I reclaim the Casket and restore my power, we…”
“Will reclaim the glory of our people!”