Never Sit Back and Wait for Death When Trouble Strikes

"Drip…"

"Drip…"

"Drip…"

Asgard, prison.

Hela, who had been personally thrown in by her father Odin, sat on the floor with her back against the wall and her head hanging low. Her disheveled appearance showed none of the pride and splendor she had once possessed as the Asgardian Princess.

The overturned bottle continued to drip what should have been sweet nectar, while shattered decorations scattered everywhere fully illustrated the extent of the Princess’s fury.

"Why…"

"Why…"

Her mosquito-like question received no answer. Hela, curled up alone in the corner against the wall, could not help shrinking into herself as images of her father Odin flashed repeatedly through her mind.

You are making trouble, Hela!

I am the King of Asgard, not you!

Or do you think you are already qualified to replace me?

Hela would never forget the furious expression Odin had worn three hours ago for the rest of her life.

From this moment onward, you no longer have your own army. Not only that, you are to go to the ancient prison beneath the Asgardian palace and reflect on your actions!

You may come out when you understand what you did wrong.

Everything after that had been nothing more than her mother Frigga pleading on her behalf, followed by Odin’s merciless words.

Hela did not even want to remember it.

Because every time she did, her heart grew colder.

She had clearly done everything for Asgard…

Anyone could see that it was only a matter of time before Asgard completely conquered Jotunheim…

"Why…"

The crimson blood at the wound between her brows had already congealed. The Mind Stone Hela had borrowed from Beckett had been forcibly gouged out by Odin at the height of his power.

"Odin, can you talk to me now?"

"Why did you do this?"

"Do you know how much harm what you did will cause Hela?"

Inside the royal hall, seeing Odin’s emotions gradually calm, Frigga appeared before her husband once more.

"She brought this upon herself."

Toying with the Mind Scepter that had been fitted with the Mind Stone once again, Odin snorted coldly.

A king’s dignity could not be challenged by anyone, even if that person was his own daughter.

"Why go so far, Odin?"

"You should know Hela had no intention of rebelling."

Frigga walked to Odin’s side and sat on her husband’s lap, her right hand gently stroking his back.

If Hela had truly harbored treasonous thoughts, she would not still be sitting here unharmed, comforting Odin.

"Of course I know."

"But Hela truly went too far this time." Feeling his wife’s caress, Odin closed his eyes.

When Hela had appeared before him with an army, heaven knew how shocked he had been.

He was the king. He was the King of Asgard. Hela was merely his daughter.

And it was precisely this incident that allowed Odin to see the prestige his daughter held among the troops.

This act, so close to treason, had still drawn so many willing followers…

Having had his fighting spirit crushed by the Celestial in a single day, Odin inexplicably felt a surge of fear rise within him.

"Hela merely needs time, Odin."

Frigga did not know how to excuse Hela’s actions this time and could only attribute them to time.

"This is my fault, Frigga."

His wife might not dare say it, but that did not mean Odin would not admit it.

The reason Hela had become so extreme was naturally Odin himself.

If he had not constantly instilled in her ideas of war, slaughter, and expansion since her childhood, raising her to be his executioner.

How could Hela’s thinking have become so extreme?

Or rather…

If he had not encountered that terrifying Celestial, Odin himself probably would not have undergone such a drastic change…

"For now, let Hela remain in prison."

Opening his eyes, Odin sighed.

He had lost count of how many times he had sighed already.

Holding a wedding under the current circumstances would be nothing but asking for trouble.

Heimdall’s injuries, the threat of the Celestial descending upon Asgard at any moment, and the foundation of the Nine Realms.

All of it had left him mentally and physically exhausted.

"Then what about Hela and Beckett’s wedding date?" Frigga, whose attention had turned to her child’s lifelong affair, hesitated before asking.

"As planned."

"Let Hela calm down by herself for a few days. Go bring her out in two days, then make the preparations."

Thanos’s existence was the final source of outside support Odin had left for his daughter.

If the Celestial descended as he expected, he would surely do everything in his power to send Hela out of Asgard and into the Dark Order.

If it did not descend, then naturally everything would be well.

A political marriage was a political marriage.

Nothing more.

"Oh, and have someone return this thing."

Before Frigga left, Odin tossed the Mind Scepter in his hand to her.

Three days later, the punishment grounds.

The bored Beckett lay on the ground with food Woz had brought him clenched between his teeth, staring up at the unchanging starry sky.

His face was full of displeasure.

Hela had played him.

She had promised to return the Mind Stone after one day, and she had indeed returned it—but she had returned it directly to his foster father, Thanos?!

This had exposed the fact that Beckett had left the punishment grounds midway.

With an expressionless face, Thanos not only confiscated the Mind Scepter, but also doubled Beckett’s self-criticism assignments.

They had risen from ten to twenty.

The extra amount he had originally made Hela write had all been used up in one go.

No, that was not right. He still had to make up one himself.

Hela had only given him nineteen.

"Damn it."

The more Beckett thought about it, the angrier he became.

After three days, he had only managed to write the title "Self-Criticism," and the frustration drove him nearly mad.

"Woz, has Hela not contacted me yet?"

"No, His Highness Beckett."

At some point, the robotic cat Woz had wandered into the punishment grounds and bowed as he answered.

"Contact her!"

"I am sorry, His Highness Beckett. Because you are currently confined, Lord Thanos has completely locked Woz’s active external communication module."

"Unless Lady Hela contacts you first, Woz cannot communicate with her."

Bang!

Driven frantic by confinement, Beckett began blasting rocks apart.

"HE! LA!"

His gritted fury had nowhere to go.

Women are all pigs’ trotters!

They are all liars!

Asgard, prison.

"Princess Hela, you have not eaten for five days."

"Princess Hela?"

"Princess Hela?"

The maid delivering food as part of her routine stared worriedly at the silent figure in the corner of the prison, head lowered.

Having gone without food for five entire days, Hela’s condition was enough to worry her.

Plop.

Perhaps because the maid had spoken too loudly, Hela’s head suddenly fell off right in front of her.

"Ah!!!"

"Princess Hela?!!!"

"Princess Hela!!!"

The panicked maid called for the guards. After they hurriedly opened the door, what greeted them were pitch-black weapons shooting out from the wall!

Squelch!

Blades pierced flesh, and blood sprayed everywhere!

Tap… tap… tap…

The sound of combat boots striking the floor was especially piercing in the enclosed space. Hela, her hair combed into a neat bun, stepped out from the shadows of the wall.

"Wh… why… Pri… Princess Hela…?"

The maid, her vision swimming as she struggled on the ground, stared with eyes full of shock and disbelief.

"Why?"

"Once, a man told me something." Hela stopped beside the maid, a vicious gleam glowing in her eyes.

"Never sit back and wait for death when trouble strikes."