"Supreme Magician, since you are already here, I assume that using the Time Gem to return to the timeline of the past to investigate the murderer wouldn't be too much of a hassle for you?" Frigga gently smiled as she spoke to Strange.
The queen's demeanor was as welcoming as a spring breeze; her conduct impeccable, without any offense. Even when asking someone for help, she made it seem right and necessary.
"My dear, perhaps you are unaware that using the Infinity Gem comes at a price, and disturbing the timeline is even more dangerous."
"I have no intentions of questioning the Supreme Magician's expertise, but we all know that he is a merciful soul. If he cannot bear to see the Queen's death in the past timeline and decides to intervene, the murderer's target might change. We might be looking at a different corpse altogether now."
Odin, rarely verbose, spoke a great deal, which unnerved the spectators. Having Earth's Supreme Magician travel back in time to investigate a murder was no joke. Were they sure they'd only find one corpse, and not a mass grave?
Strange's reputation in the cosmos was nothing extraordinary, but his predecessor, his mentor, the Ancient One, had a significant reputation. The Ancient One had not necessarily given any of the interstellar leaders' fathers or grandfathers a beating, but she had definitely dealt blows to their neighboring Dimensional Demon Gods.
For a lengthy period, witnessing the Ancient One's thrashing of Demon Gods had been a critical developmental stage for interstellar civilizations to observe the cosmos. When you see a bald female mage blasting a lump of strange energy, you can congratulate yourself. This means that your civilization has reached an advanced level of astronomy.
The Noble Master's reputation was not particularly good, especially when it came to violence. Sending him to go back in time would potentially result in more than just uncovering a corpse. Even if he did not intend to beat anyone, it would be disastrous if he inadvertently triggered any timeline alterations.
"Your Highness, please don't cry yet. Can we first take a look at the corpse?" Loki calmly moved forward, deftly changing the topic and drawing everyone's attention to the body. She continued, "Even if we plan to go back in time, we need to know at what point the Queen was murdered. Can we inspect the wounds?"
The seemingly robust male member of the Ferocious Feather Tribe continued to shake and sob, unable to produce coherent speech.
A young human guard stepped forward from behind him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. He whispered soothing words, stabilizing his emotions, before he trembled and said.
"Alright, but you must promise me that you'll catch Lylan's murderer. Her Majesty, Her Majesty, how could..."
"Rest assured, Your Highness. The murderer has disrupted the Divine King's banquet. We want to catch the culprit as much as you do, if not more. We will not let him get away scot-free."
As Loki coldly responded and advanced, she kneelt beside the Queen's corpse, turning it over. The sight that met their eyes drew sharp intakes of breath from the crowd.
The Queen's chest bore a large hole where her heart had been ripped out. The wound was horrifically messy, but even more terrifiyng were the three sharp claw marks running across her face, obliterating her delicate features.
Shiller, standing off to the side, recalled information about the Shi'ar Empire's Ferocious Feather Tribe. They were a peculiar race who shared characteristics with the feathered dinosaurs that lived during Earth's jurassic era.
To draw an analogy from the evolutionary perspective of humans, the feathered dinosaurs of the Ferocious Feather Star evolved into a bird-like species in the medieval period. These birds eventually evolved into the Ferocious Feather Tribe.
As a result, members of the Ferocious Feather Tribe bore traits of both birds and lizards. They had feathers on their heads and around their necks and shoulders, but scales covered their extremities. They were taller than humans and had longer limbs.
Another feature was that their hearts were much larger than those of humans, occupying a more significant proportion of their chests, centrally located, unlike human hearts that lean to one side.
Therefore, the crime scene of a heart theft was even more gruesome. Almost all the skin and muscles from the Queen's chest were gone, revealing a large, gaping hole. The absence of the heart made the hole look darker, with the flowing blood appearing like terrifying tentacles reaching out from some abysmal depths.
"The Queen's body is surrounded by the aura of death."
A low, hoarse voice seemed to come from afar, causing a shiver in those gathered. Loki looked up to see a tall, black figure silently observing the body.
Hela's eyes were filled with a black fog of death. Loki scanned the surrounding as if explaining to someone, "None of us here are familiar with the physiological traits of the Ferocious Feather Tribe. We can't use the coagulation of Asgardian blood or the appearances of wounds as indicators of their time of death."
"Prince Hela, I need your help. Can you determine the time of her death by analyzing the aura of death surrounding her body?"
Hela slowly stepped forward. She didn't kneel like Loki but instead stood silently beside the lifeless body, as if seeing the youthful, innocent face of the princess in the mature face of the body.
Hela extended a hand: a dense fog of death emanated from her fingertips, moving towards the body.