Under his furious gaze, Odin did not speak, but as always, leaned on the divine throne in silence, saying nothing, as if lost in thought, while behind him, two handmaidens quietly attended to him.
"That damned thing has already caused us far too much trouble, it's time to teach it a lesson, but…"
Another voice spoke up, it was Forseti, the son of Baldr, Odin's son - the god of light. Although among the twelve leading gods, he was of a younger generation and lesser divine power, and was not renowned for his combat prowess among the many deities, he was regarded as the god of truth and justice for his composure, impartiality, and decisiveness, earning the respect of the gods and being ranked as one of the twelve leaders of the pantheon.
Unlike the brave and fearless war god Tyr who acted without considering the consequences, Forseti pondered far more than Tyr. Although from a standpoint of fairness, he also agreed that the great serpent Jormungandr should face consequences for its actions, he had some reservations.
No matter what, Jormungandr was ultimately Loki's offspring, and Loki was one of the twelve leaders of the Aesir gods, Odin's sworn brother. Even if punishment was to be dealt out, Loki's opinion should be heard first.
With this in mind, he asked:
"Where is Loki now?"
"Who knows, probably off in Jotunheim fooling around with some giantess again, as he always does."
The one who replied was Nott, the goddess of night. Her face was etched with weariness, speaking in a listless manner.
Ever since the sun goddess Sol was devoured by the great serpent, without the companionship of Sol, Nott the goddess of night found it difficult to adapt. But what was even more troublesome were those tiny fissures knocked into the dome of the sky by the great serpent. The eldritch flames from beyond the firmament pouring in through those small cracks were not to be trifled with. Before the birth of heaven and earth, when there was no sky or land and the world was in primordial chaos, such disorder and flames filled the ancient world, and it was in such an environment that the gods themselves had emerged.
For the divine beings, these things naturally weren't much of an issue, but for those mortal lives, this chaos from beyond the celestial vault was enough to threaten their very existence. It was precisely for this reason that the gods had built the dome of the sky, to ward off the chaos from beyond and prevent those fragile beings from being unable to withstand the onslaught of the outer turmoil and perishing completely.
But the appearance of holes in the dome of the sky meant that someone had to go and patch up those gaps, and the goddess of night and the stars in the sky had been constantly trying to seal those fissures during this time, to prevent the chaos from beyond from continuing to invade the nine realms.
And the impact brought to this world by the serpent's reckless actions was not so simple. The turning of the seasons, the warmth and coolness of the climate, the growth of plants and trees, even the normal flow of all the waters, rivers, and seas in the nine realms all required the gods' intervention.
The sudden disappearance of the sun had far-reaching consequences, and the various adverse effects caused by this matter were forcing the gods to work tirelessly day and night to repair the damage.
Just as the gods were discussing something, suddenly, the great door of the golden palace was kicked open with a resounding crash.
"BANG!!!"
The thunderous sound instantly drew the attention of the gods.
Under the gaze of the deities, the bronze door of the golden palace stood wide open, and in the middle stood the muscular figure of Thor, the god of thunder. He was drenched in blood, as if he had bathed in a sea of gore. Blood constantly flowed from his body onto the ground. His crimson hair and beard made it difficult to discern if they had been stained red by blood or were originally that color.
His right hand gripped the famous hammer Mjolnir, while his other hand was holding… or rather, dragging the severed head of a frost giant, far larger than his own body, with hideous features and jutting fangs.
Sweeping his gaze over the gods seated in the palace, the displeasure and fury on Thor's face were quite evident. He casually tossed the frost giant's head, larger than his own frame, into the center of the palace, causing a series of heavy, clanging thuds. Then he strode forward and slammed his hammer Mjolnir down in the center of the hall.
"BOOM!"
When Mjolnir struck the hardwood floor, the entire golden palace shook and swayed, emitting a rumbling sound that nearly caused the unprepared gods to topple from their seats.
But Thor paid no heed to the state of the other gods and furiously bellowed:
"I'm going to rip that damned beast to shreds!"
Among the gods, only Odin, the king of the gods, sat steadily on his throne without any reaction. He quietly watched Thor venting his rage before him, saying nothing, waiting for him to finish unleashing his anger before speaking:
"Are the frost giants taken care of?"
After the great serpent Jormungandr charged into Idavoll, the sun vanished without a trace, plunging the entire world into darkness. The ambitious frost giants naturally would not miss this opportunity. They launched a massive army, intending to storm Idavoll via the rainbow bridge.
To repel this invasion of the frost giants, the gods had no choice but to send Thor, the god of thunder, Freyr, the god of fertility, Vidar, the god of the forest, and many other deities to wage a great war against the frost giants while dealing with the aftermath of the serpent's rampage.
"Taken care of."
Hearing this, Thor answered offhandedly, while Freyr, the god of fertility who had followed closely behind Thor into the golden palace, added:
"Those fools, I reckon they won't be able to muster an army to attack the rainbow bridge for several decades."
He clicked his tongue in amazement as he spoke, while reverently gazing at Thor beside him.
Freyr was not of the Aesir, but rather a member of the Vanir who had entered Idavoll as a hostage after an unprecedented great war between the Aesir and the Vanir in the past. However, with his gentle nature and handsome appearance, he quickly became favored by the Aesir gods and was accepted as one of the twelve leaders of the Aesir.
Although he knew of Thor's reputation and was aware that Thor's strength was unquestionably the greatest among the gods, even Odin the king of the gods would find it difficult to contend with him, making him the mightiest of the gods, he had never truly witnessed Thor in action and had not fully grasped just what the concept of "the strongest among the gods" entailed. But in the recent battle, he finally realized what a terrifying monster Thor was.
With his hammer Mjolnir in hand, he could cleanly smash the head of any frost giant with a single blow. At full strength, he could directly turn a thousand-foot-tall mountain into a deep crater. Those brave and brutish frost giants, even the gods found troublesome to deal with. But as long as Thor stood there, even a horde of frost giants would be utterly terrified, fleeing in a rout without a fight.
Towards the end of the great battle, Thor, his battle spirit ignited, single-handedly swept away the frost giant hordes. If they hadn't desperately held him back, Thor might have dared to cross the obstacle of the Iron-wood alone and slaughter his way to the stronghold of the frost giants - Jotunheim.
After suffering such heavy losses in this war, even if the frost giants could regenerate, they likely wouldn't dare to invade the rainbow bridge again for several decades.
In his heart, Freyr considered himself quite brave and valiant, one of the best among the gods. But compared to Thor, he still sincerely felt that there was an invisible, vast gulf separating him from the god of thunder.
"They're in completely different leagues."
Freyr sighed.