CHAPTER 228: CHAPTER 229: SHACKLED AND IMPRISONED

The howling wind and snow, once blanketing the skies in fury, slowly began to smother the flames of rage burning within Odin’s heart. Staring into his daughter’s eyes, eyes filled with unshakable confidence in the "future," he let out a weary sigh.

In the next instant, the storm ceased entirely.

"Hela... you’ve crossed the line."

After the sigh came the judgment, a sovereign’s verdict.

Asgard’s military might had always been Odin’s top priority. He had entrusted Hela with immense authority only because he believed in her, allowing her to mobilize a vast Asgardian army in her own name.

But now... his daughter had betrayed that trust.

Worse still, she had personally led those very troops in open defiance against him.

"Father, what are you saying?" Hela’s voice quivered with disbelief.

She had thought that once she stormed into Jotunheim, Odin would recall the glorious campaigns of their past, those blood-soaked days of conquest. Instead, all she received was a sigh... and blame.

"I... I am Hela! Your daughter!"

"Not a stranger!"

"Look at the army I brought! Look at our warriors!"

"With my power, they could lay waste to Jotunheim!"

"Isn’t this exactly what you taught me?"

It was only through blood and fire, through unrelenting conquest, that the supreme throne of Asgard could be forged.

"Times have changed, Hela," Odin said coldly.

With a single sweeping motion of his hand, an overwhelming force surged forth, crushing down upon every soldier Hela had brought with her, rooting them in place.

He would not reveal the threat posed by the Celestial he had encountered; it was a secret he intended to bury deep in his heart. Hela could never know.

"Father!"

"What’s happened to you?!"

She had led the charge into Jotunheim, thinking the war itself would awaken her father from his pacifistic stupor. But what she saw now etched disbelief across her face.

"We’re winning! We’re on the verge of total victory!"

"Look at them!"

"Look at those giants, soon to be nothing more than mangy, defeated dogs! They’re no match for me!"

"Not even close!"

The Mind Stone embedded in her brow pulsed with a steady flow of energy, reinforcing her dominance and emboldening her words. But as her power climbed, so too did the violent edge in her tone.

"Only conquest brings peace!"

"If they’re not forced into submission, how can you call it peace?!"

"Or do you intend for your future orders in Jotunheim to be openly ignored, Father?!"

"Asgard is a complete empire, whole and indivisible!"

Hela’s voice rose to a hoarse scream as she pointed accusingly at Laufey, who stood silently in the snow, watching the spectacle.

"Vanaheim is a perfect example. The Dwarves are an even better one, Father."

"We beat them into submission, and now, they serve us loyally. Not a single act of rebellion."

"Even though the Vanir and Dwarves maintain their own laws, they willingly and gratefully submit to Asgardian rule."

"But Jotunheim?!"

"These savages, these giants whose skulls are filled with nothing but ice and wind, you really think a peace treaty will change them?"

"Do you honestly believe, Father, that if you sign a treaty with Laufey, that peace will last more than a century or two?"

"And during those decades, what do you think Laufey and his court will do?"

"They’ll brainwash every newborn Giant with anti-Asgard ideology, using the very resources you gave them in the name of peace!"

"Then what, Father?! What happens when those children grow up?"

"They’ll rebel! They’ll scream for independence! They’ll demand to break free of the Asgardian realm!"

"They’ll take advantage of everything we’ve given them, our protection, our resources, and turn it against us!"

"When that day comes, will your treaty still mean anything?"

"Or will it be nothing but a worthless scrap of paper?!"

Her final words were practically a roar, her voice raw and torn from the strain.

To Hela, the Jotunheim elite were nothing more than insatiable parasites. Her opinion of them had never changed.

"The war has already reached its final stages. We are the destined victors, Father! There’s no need to strike meaningless deals with the trash of Jotunheim!"

The glow of the Mind Stone between her brows shone brighter and brighter.

This... was her truth, her deepest conviction.

"Are you finished?"

"If so, take your troops and leave. I’ll pretend none of this happened."

Odin’s tone was flat, his face like stone.

And yet the calmness in his voice sent a chill straight through Hela’s heart.

"Father..."

"Don’t make me repeat myself, Hela."

"This... this is surrender to Jotunheim," she whispered, eyes closing as sorrow overtook her.

She took a deep breath, forcing her emotions down into silence.

"But I... and the warriors behind me... will not surrender."

When she reopened her eyes, every trace of sorrow was gone, replaced by cold, defiant resolve.

Her sleek black battle armor shimmered with power as an oppressive aura of death began to radiate from her body.

That abyssal dread, born from the depths of Hel itself, spread to every Giant’s heart under the Mind Stone’s amplification.

"All forces!"

"Charge!"

The blaring call of the warhorn pierced the frozen battlefield, and in a blinding instant, Hela’s divine power of death shattered Odin’s suppressive spell.

"Let me see who dares!"

Odin’s thunderous shout rang out, his sheer presence caused hesitation to ripple through the ranks—none dared move.

"Laufey," Odin said coldly, turning to the silent Jotun king. "Today was my oversight. We’ll speak again soon about the peace accord."

Reaching into his robes, Odin withdrew the Space Stone. With a single wave of his hand, every Asgardian soldier on Jotunheim vanished without a trace.

"Just what... is Odin thinking?" Laufey muttered to himself, watching the father-daughter confrontation play out before him.

Odin’s actions were so uncharacteristic, so inexplicable, that Laufey found himself reevaluating everything, turning over every possibility in his mind...

And the more he thought, the less it made sense.

What... was really going on?

...

Centauri System, Black Quadrant.

Far beyond Asgard and Jotunheim, in the deep expanse of space surrounding the Penal Zone, Ebony Maw stood aboard his command vessel, transmitting the latest intelligence to his master.

He had reached the outer perimeter of the prison zone.

"Lord Thanos," he said, "there has been a monumental shift on Asgard. Princess Hela rebelled against Odin with an army, but failed. Odin stripped her of her military command and royal status. She’s now been imprisoned... in the Asgardian dungeons."

"...Oh?" Thanos murmured.

He had been flipping through reports submitted by planetary observers across the Black Quadrant, but Ebony Maw’s update gave him pause.

"So... it begins."

Thanos sat in silence, fingers steepled beneath his chin.

Odin... actually took action against his own daughter?

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