This time, the banquet was completely ruined. Under Loki's barrage-like verbal onslaught and his merciless exposing of dark histories, the entire feast had turned into a volley of sarcastic taunts and curses between Loki and the gods.
At this point, one upright god couldn't stand it anymore.
The war god Tyr, standing to the side, furrowed his brows. He had no interest in all this farce about sordid affairs. However, one god Loki mentioned made him want to retort.
"Freyr is a valiant warrior, the bravest among the gods. He would not seduce and abandon maidens, leaving them heartbroken, nor would he go after other men's wives. He is faithful, kind-hearted, and magnanimous. The warriors he captures are always released from their bonds. Freyr is not as despicable as you claim."
Unexpectedly, as soon as Tyr spoke up, Loki targeted him instead, directly laughing at him and mocking without restraint,
"Tyr, you can stop pretending to be all honest and upright. Humans see you as the god of oaths, but you yourself never keep your word. That right hand of yours, bitten off by Fenrir, is proof of your broken promise!"
Clearly, Loki still deeply resented the fact that his monstrous wolf child was imprisoned. The wolf had not broken any promise, yet it was the gods who tricked it into being bound, using a sword to prop open its jaws, leaving it howling in agony.
Tyr's face darkened with anger as he couldn't help but sneer,
"Loki, I may have lost a right hand, but you've lost a child. He is tightly locked in chains, likely unable to break free until the day the world ends."
Loki glared at him with a gloomy face, constantly giving cold laughs. Then he suddenly said,
"Poor handless Tyr, let's talk about your dear wife, shall we? She cheated on you with me and bore my child, yet you remain blissfully unaware, a cuckold!"
As soon as these words emerged, the hall erupted into an uproar, the gods in a frenzy.
The stunned Tyr stared at Loki before him. When he finally processed it, his face rapidly turned hideously ferocious.
"Loki… I will kill you! Loki!!!"
He roared, about to charge forward, but was forcefully held back by the gods beside him.
Regardless, spilling blood and killing a guest at a divine feast was not a good omen. Even though the gods were furious and resentful in their hearts, there were still rules among deities, so they had to forcibly restrain themselves for now.
Even so, Tyr, tightly held back by the gods and unable to rush forward, still had bloodshot eyes, his crimson pupils filled with burst blood vessels as he panted heavily, glaring at Loki.
And before Tyr, Loki just laughed coldly, his empty and indifferent eyes not caring about anything as he leisurely sipped the mead from his ox horn cup.
At this time, Freyr, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up.
"Fenrir has already been locked under a boulder, his entire body bound by iron chains. Loki, you'd best shut your mouth and stop spouting nonsense, or the gods will forge a set of chains for you too, locking you up tightly."
Loki glanced at him askance and scoffed,
"Freyr, you lusted after the giantess Gerd, daughter of Gymir. You coerced and enticed her, going to great lengths to marry her, but the bride-price was your invincible sword of victory. If one day a great calamity arrives and you don't have that magic sword to protect you, how will you survive? You fool, tricked and toyed with by others without even knowing it. Losing that magic sword, you will come to regret it."
Freyr had fallen in love with Gerd, the daughter of the giant Gymir. He sent his servant Skirnir to persuade Gerd. Skirnir tried all sorts of methods but failed. Finally, he threatened Gerd, saying that if she didn't marry Freyr, Skirnir would curse her with Runes, dooming her to either eternal solitude or marriage to an old, ugly Frost Giant.
Gerd, frightened, had no choice but to agree. And as the bride-price, Freyr gave Gerd his invincible sword of victory, in an attempt to please her. After marriage, Gerd and Freyr got along quite well.
However, Loki's words seemed to be sarcastically implying that this pure-hearted god, a rarity among deities, had been fooled without even realizing it.
Before Freyr could understand what was going on, the winter goddess Skadi spoke up.
"Loki, I think you're drunk, your mind addled, spouting all sorts of drivel. If you keep babbling such nonsense, the gods will certainly capture you, and you'll never break free again."
Facing Skadi's warning, Loki just gave a scornful laugh.
"Even if I'm caught, you'll still lose your father first. That giant Thiazi ultimately met his end at my hands."
The giant Thiazi was the father of Skadi, the winter goddess. He had once captured Loki, making Loki lure out the goddess of youth so he could kidnap her, in an attempt to obtain the golden apples that could make one young again.
Because even the gods would age, and only the golden apples of Idunn, the goddess of youth, could prevent the gods from aging. When the gods gradually aged, they realized this was a disaster caused by Loki. The gods then ordered Loki to rescue the goddess of youth. Loki borrowed the falcon cloak of Queen Frigg, transformed into a falcon, snuck into the castle of the giant Thiazi, turned the goddess of youth into a nut, held it in his beak, and prepared to fly away.
Unexpectedly, Skadi discovered this. Thiazi, upon hearing the news, turned into a hawk and chased after them. Just as he was about to catch up, Tyr used the torch in his hand to burn the hawk to death.
After this incident, Skadi came seeking revenge for her father. Although the Frost Giants were old and hideous, their daughters were extremely beautiful. With her silver armor, pointed feather arrows, short and light white hunting clothes, white fur leggings, and broad-headed snow boots, the gods didn't want to make things difficult for such a beautiful lady in military attire, so they tried to reconcile.
But no matter how the gods tried to persuade her, Skadi's snow-white face remained as cold as ice, without a hint of a smile, insisting on a life for a life.
It was Loki who came up with a plan. He brought in a cat and made all sorts of funny and ridiculous movements, finally making Skadi crack a smile.
Thus, Skadi no longer demanded a life for a life, but instead requested to marry one of the gods. So the giantess Skadi married Njord, the god of the sea, becoming the winter goddess who drove away the winter wolves.
It was precisely because of this that Skadi, the winter goddess, actually had a decent relationship with Loki, the one who could make her laugh. Even though Loki didn't give her a pleasant attitude, causing a hint of annoyance to appear on Skadi's face, she still said,
"Although your words are aggressive, I'm still willing to be kind and not take your words to heart. I advise you to stop with the wild claims."
Her voice was pleasant and her words quite sincere, but Loki just looked at her and laughed coldly.
"Your words sound nice, but being kind isn't necessarily genuine. Since things have already been said to this point, why bother hiding it? Your new husband Ull became the little paramour of Queen Frigg. You've whispered who knows how many sweet nothings to me, cursing them countless times when we were enjoying ourselves in bed. I dare not trust your words."
Upon hearing this, Skadi's face turned pale and she couldn't help but take a few steps back, momentarily at a loss for words.
After marrying Njord, Skadi and Njord didn't live happily. Skadi loved winter and the mountains, while Njord loved the sea and sea breeze.
Skadi felt the waves by the sea were too noisy, and Njord complained about the roaring of beasts in the mountains. In the end, they had no choice but to divorce. Later, Skadi found Ull, the son of Thor and Sif, the god of winter, and married him.
On the surface, a winter goddess and a winter god seemed to get along swimmingly. But in reality, this child of Thor and Sif caught the eye of Thor's stepmother - Queen Frigg, becoming her little paramour.
"Frigg, do you really want me to keep going…? There's far more to your affairs than just this bit."
This sarcastic remark Loki made earlier was precisely a warning to Frigg that he knew about this matter.
The banquet hall was now utterly silent. No one dared to speak, lest Loki point out their dirty laundry and humiliate them in public.
But at this moment, Thor's wife Sif actually approached Loki's side. She first filled his ox horn cup with sweet mead, then calmly said,
"Loki, this cup is now filled with sweet mead. Drain this cup before you continue. No matter how you accuse, you must admit that I am the only pure and untainted one among the Aesir gods."
At this, Loki actually fell silent.
He looked at the beautiful and dignified Sif beside him, her golden hair shining incomparably. She was the wife of Thor, the god of thunder - gentle, beautiful, kind, elegant, and virtuous. No god could find fault with her, not even Loki.
Loki seemed to be tongue-tied for a moment. He silently drained the mead from his ox horn cup, then finally said,
"If there's anyone in all of Asgard who is pure as ice and flawless as white jade, it can only be you. You are virtuous, deeply in love with your husband. I truly can't accuse you of anything."
Hearing Loki's words, a smile appeared at the corner of Sif's mouth.
"However…"
Suddenly, a hint of mockery appeared on Loki's face. Then, looking at Sif beside him, he softly said,
"But in this world, I alone know that this immaculate veneer hides an imperfection. Because besides your husband Thor, you secretly have a lover. And that is none other than the despicable, vulgar evil god…"
"Loki!"
"Boom…"
Although his voice was soft, in this deathly silent banquet hall, it was still clearly audible. In shock, the originally quieted feast suddenly exploded into an uproar, the gods all discussing fervently, their faces filled with astonishment.
No one could have imagined that the goddess Sif actually had a lover, and that it would be Loki?!?
"Ha ha… Hahaha… Hahahahahaha…"
And looking at Sif before him, her face instantly turning ashen pale, Loki suddenly burst into wild laughter.
He laughed while holding his stomach, forcefully pounding on the long table before him, making the heavy table resound with "bang bang". But at the same time, tears began to inexplicably flow from the corners of his eyes.
He laughed and he cried, his behavior incomparably frenzied.
He raised his head, looking all around. All the gods who made eye contact with him hurriedly averted their gazes, not daring to look directly into his eyes, lest he expose their dark histories and humiliate them in public.
These gods who feared neither life nor death, at this moment, they were actually afraid of him?
Seeing this absurd scene, Loki suddenly seemed to understand something. Whether it was him or Odin, they had both been desperately trying to avoid all sorts of misfortunes that could lead to Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods. From the birth of the world, they had slain countless monsters that could bring about the twilight of the gods, delaying the arrival of Ragnarok time and time again.
But… perhaps the reasons leading to Ragnarok, to the world's destruction, weren't limited to just that.
When did it start… The Aesir gods, originally valiant, heroic, fearless of death, proud to be warriors, actually began to become so extravagant and promiscuous, with gods and goddesses wantonly indulging in debauchery, goddesses competing over jewelry and beauty, gods slandering and framing each other, and all sorts of darkness and evil beginning to fester among the once wise and upright deities?
Whether it was him or the other gods, how many of them could say they were pure and clean?
In the past, the gods contemptuously accused the Frost Giants of being licentious, with fathers not knowing daughters and mothers not knowing sons, utterly shameless. But now, Loki found it a bit hard to tell who were the Frost Giants and who were the gods.
The once righteous gods had unwittingly degenerated to be no different from those savage Frost Giants…
Loki, in a daze, seemed to vaguely grasp something.
If those enemies were the sparks that ignited the world's destruction of Ragnarok, then a group of decaying and degenerating gods was likely the kindling that allowed those sparks to burn.
Just like in past eras, how many times had they prevented Ragnarok's arrival? How many times had they eliminated those monsters? How many times had they delayed the twilight of the gods again and again?
That war that erupted between the Vanir gods and the Aesir gods, wasn't it also nearly one instance of Ragnarok? But weren't the Vanir gods ultimately defeated by the Aesir gods?
No matter the situation, as long as the gods were united and worked together, what enemy could resist the gods when they stood as one? But now, could the Aesir gods truly continue to unite and fight like warriors…
Loki didn't know…
"Rumble!!!"
But just then, a thunderous rumbling suddenly came from outside the undersea palace. An oppressive and furious thunderclap reached inside the palace, as if the footsteps of giants were resounding. And hearing this sound, all the gods turned their heads to look. They all suddenly realized something.
Thor, the god of thunder, had arrived, having just rushed over from the battlefield where he was fighting the Frost Giants. He had heard the conversation between Sif and Loki.
Hearing that thunder, the gods couldn't help but tremble in fear. When this furious thunder god unleashed his wrath, perhaps no one could predict the consequences.
"Loki!!!!!!"
Outside the palace, that terrifying roar full of rage made the entire undersea palace shake.
The thunder god had arrived.