The Pierced Heart

Thor…

No…

History wasn’t supposed to be like this…

"NO!!!"

Though they usually bickered fiercely, to Rocket, that man who called himself Thor was his companion.

A true companion.

"Beckett! You demon!!!"

"Demon!!!"

"Die!!!!"

With his eyes split wide in fury, Rocket hoisted the rocket launcher he had prepared long ago. The time Thor had bought was enough for him to assemble the advanced technological weapons on his body.

Amid his roar, a shell from two thousand years in the future was fired straight at Beckett, who stood with his hands behind his back.

"What?"

What he had thought he could casually destroy instead easily blocked the energy blast fired from Beckett’s fingertips. The latest anti-Saiyan technology from two thousand years later caught Beckett of two thousand years ago off guard and dealt him a painful setback.

BOOM!!!!

The explosive gusts made The Other, who had been watching the battle tensely from the side, instinctively raise his arm to shield his eyes from the blinding glare. The ignorant orange cat had just opened its mouth to call for Beckett when, in the next second, it was tightly bound by a massive net descending from the sky!

"Meow!!!"

The most terrifying thing about humans was their intelligence.

Using the Energy Devouring Beast Capture Device developed by Tony Stark, Rocket used the rocket launcher as cover, leaped forward, and vanished from magnificent Asgard with the netted orange cat!

Thick smoke rolled across the Bifrost. Only after several seconds did a figure slowly emerge from within it.

Blond-haired and blue-eyed, with brutal savagery written across his face.

"Come out!!!!"

His low growl brimmed with killing intent as Beckett’s gaze swept over the Asgardian soldiers who had gathered around him. He saw no sign of that raccoon.

"Meow~"

The returned Energy Devouring Beast lowered its head to look at its surroundings. Its pink paw patted at its somewhat damp orange fur, its face utterly bewildered.

Where was everyone???

Where was that huge person who had just been holding it?

Where had he gone?

Why was there only water left?

"Beckett! Calm down!"

Odin had gone to Midgard to seek Agamotto’s support, so Asgard’s current leader was naturally his wife, Frigga.

After rushing to the Bifrost and failing to see her future son, Frigga breathed a sigh of relief before turning her gaze toward Beckett, who had come alone.

He could barely be considered alone.

After all, The Other was just a flatterer, and he had brought along a soaking-wet Energy Devouring Beast.

"Frigga?"

Beckett, having been tricked by a raccoon, wore a cold expression as he extended his hand toward the woman before him. "Bring Hela back and hand her over to me. Now."

"Otherwise, you will all die."

The intense waves of killing intent nearly condensed into tangible energy, pressing down on the Asgardian soldiers until they could barely breathe.

"Listen to me, Beckett. Nothing will happen to Hela, and there is nothing wrong with her. This is merely an internal matter for Asgard, understand?"

"Besides, not long ago, Odin already annulled your engagement to Hela. Your father should have received Odin’s message by now. So, Beckett, what just happened in Asgard has nothing to do with you. There is absolutely no need for you to do this."

Though she also had grievances about Odin’s actions, as his wife and Asgard’s queen, she could only do her best to preserve Odin’s authority before an outsider like Beckett.

Odin could only be right, never wrong.

"Besides, you do not really like Hela that much, do you?"

"What lies between you is more like the mutual appreciation of comrades-in-arms. You have simply experienced many battles together, nothing more."

"So listen to me, Beckett. Stop now. I—and even Odin—can pretend that nothing ever happened."

"As for Hela, I can also guarantee that Odin absolutely did not kill her."

Frigga swore upon her name as queen. In truth, she genuinely believed it.

Hela was Odin’s daughter, after all. At most, the enraged Odin would confine Hela for a while this time.

"She still owes me a self-criticism."

"And I want that self-criticism right now, because my father will be asking me for it soon."

Beckett’s string of baffling words left Frigga unable to respond.

How did Hela get involved with a self-criticism?

No, when had Hela ever helped someone write one?

"Beckett—"

Slap!

Golden light flashed. The Asgardian soldiers along its path collapsed in an instant, unable to rise again.

Beckett’s right hand effortlessly locked around Frigga’s throat. "Do you know? I will not repeat the same question more than three times."

"So hand Hela over to me. Right now."

His voice was hoarse, his words murderous. Beckett’s fingers gradually tightened, and Frigga found it increasingly difficult to breathe.

"Odin probably would not want to see his wife die, would he?"

Whoosh!

With a savage grin, Beckett suddenly sensed danger. Without changing expression, he flung Frigga away like a sandbag. A man clad in golden armor withdrew his swiftly flying sword and appeared before Beckett.

"Heimdall?"

Beckett clapped his hands dismissively.

He knew this man. Hela had introduced him before.

Asgard’s gatekeeper, Odin’s most trusted companion, and the keeper of the Bifrost’s key.

"Leave Asgard, Beckett."

Heimdall, awakened from the sleeping chamber, dragged the tip of his sword across the ground, sending brilliant sparks flying.

"You can try."

Beckett’s face was full of contempt and disdain. His feet slammed into the Bifrost, and within a breath, he had appeared before Heimdall.

Thud!

The energy-wreathed fist left a dent in Heimdall’s golden armor.

Heimdall himself was knocked to the ground by that irresistible force, sliding dozens of meters across the Bifrost…

"Everyone! Take formation thirteen!"

The well-trained Asgardian soldiers held their weapons and shielded the fallen Heimdall behind them. Bolstered by Frigga’s magic, they charged at Beckett, who flicked his hand disdainfully.

"All of you, disappear."

Indifference toward life was carved into his emerald eyes. Beckett raised his hand, and the surging golden aura around his body poured entirely into his right palm.

BOOM!!!!!

All of Asgard’s land trembled beneath Beckett’s strike. Centered around the Bifrost structure, the towering buildings before Beckett were reduced to ashes in a single blow!

Naturally, that included those fearless Asgardian soldiers.

"How could this be?"

Still injured, Heimdall stared at everything before him in disbelief. The gateway he had guarded as gatekeeper had been directly blasted through by Beckett at this moment.

"Be—"

Before the fury surging in his heart could erupt from his mouth, Beckett’s fist had already crashed down upon Heimdall’s chest.

The same spot as before, the same force as before.

The golden armor personally forged by Odin instantly shattered into pieces!

Clang!

His instinct for survival forced Heimdall to swing his sword in an attempt to block Beckett’s third punch, only for the energy shockwave fired by Beckett to blast him open in a spray of blood!

"Heimdall!!" Frigga cried out in alarm, even though she had been injured despite raising a protective barrier.

"Heimdall?"

"No. From today onward, there will be no Heimdall in Asgard anymore."

Picking up the sword that had fallen from the gatekeeper’s hand, Beckett stomped on and snapped the last remaining horn on his helmet. The gleaming blade plunged directly into his beating heart!

Squelch!

Spraying blood stained Frigga’s disbelieving face red.

"Now, it is your turn."