CHAPTER 230: CHAPTER 231: ASGARD’S GREAT FAMILY DRAMA, THE COUP AND THE ABDICATION

"Hela, did you know?"

"My father once told me, when trouble comes, never sit and wait for death..."

The echoes of Lothar’s words, spoken long ago, reverberated in Hela’s ears. With a cold gaze fixed on the single passageway before her, she summoned her weapons and shot down every prison guard in her path without hesitation. Her battle boots beat in rhythm with her heartbeat as she strode forward, away from the prison and into the heart of destiny.

She loathed Lothar and his insufferable "My father once said..." platitudes. But she had to admit, it was that very phrase that finally solidified her resolve.

The resolve not to wait for death.

"I’m back now, Father," she whispered.

"And I’ve come... to overthrow you."

BOOM!!!

A thunderous explosion from the palace grounds shattered the stillness of Asgard. The moment it erupted, every Asgardian turned toward the royal halls in shock.

From the wreckage of the palace’s side wing, an enormous dragon forged from countless steel weapons burst into the sky. The sacred hall crumbled beneath it.

"What is that?!"

"Has it... begun?!"

Thor, crouched atop a rooftop with a jug of ale, spotted the figure standing tall on the iron dragon’s head. Without hesitation, he leapt down.

"Thor!"

"What are you looking at?!"

"Move!"

"It’s time!"

Rocket Raccoon had been waiting for this moment. Clinging to Thor’s ear, he shouted to snap him out of his trance. Whatever Hela was doing, they needed to act, now. Their target was the Bifrost.

Or more accurately... their feline target.

"Hurry up!"

Despite his diminutive frame, Rocket pulled the broad-shouldered god toward the Bifrost, passing by crowds of panicked Asgardians who stared, dazed or terrified, at the steel dragon beneath Hela’s feet.

"Hela?"

"This can’t be happening!"

The explosion in the palace side wing hadn’t gone unnoticed by those in the main hall. Odin and Frigga, seated within, both rose immediately.

"My love, there has to be some kind of mistake—"

Frigga reached for her husband’s hand to steady him, only to find she could no longer hold onto him.

"No! Odin!"

CLANG!

The Spear of Heaven (prev. Eternity), the symbol of Asgardian sovereignty, fell from the heavens in a flash of light. Garbed in white robes that billowed with the wind, Odin appeared before all of Asgard.

"Hela!"

"Return to your prison, now!"

His voice, loud and thunderous like a storm breaking the skies, shattered the calm façade he had always shown his people.

"I refuse!"

"This is my decision, Father."

Her crimson eyes burned with passion, yet even now, Hela still addressed him with the respect of a daughter.

"I want you to witness it. This is my will, and the will of the people of Asgard!"

"We Asgardians will not sign any so-called peace treaty!"

"Because that is not the peace we seek!"

Peace treaty?

A treaty with Jotunheim?!

Hela’s declaration echoed through the skies. Thor, running toward the Bifrost, stopped cold in his tracks and looked back toward the confrontation in the clouds.

His father.

His sister.

"This is just your delusion, Hela."

"This is the last time I will warn you. Do not make me say it a third time."

"Return to your prison, now!"

Odin’s face darkened like a thundercloud. Never before had anyone dared provoke him like this, let alone his own daughter. He had once imagined many who might challenge his throne, but never had he expected it would be her.

And after Hela’s prior unauthorized mobilization of Asgard’s forces, his fury had reached a boiling point.

"You really have grown senile, Odin."

After a long moment of locking eyes with her father, Hela’s cold response finally came.

With those words, any last sliver of hope within her vanished. And with it, the way she addressed him changed.

No longer "Father."

Now, just Odin.

"Do you even understand what you’re doing, Hela?!"

His voice thundered, his fury evident. Yet to Hela, the sight of him holding the Spear of Heaven no longer felt imposing.

He no longer looked like a king.

"Things weren’t supposed to be like this, Father."

"Asgard is the greatest of the Nine Realms!"

"You’re the one who told me, as a child, that we were destined to reign at the summit of the realms!"

"All those wars we fought over the years, what were they for?!"

"All those warriors who died in battle, what did they die for?!"

"You’re the one who betrayed us. You betrayed Asgard!"

"Not me!!"

Anger and sorrow intertwined, and Hela’s body trembled with barely contained emotion.

Her voice, nearly a roar, still carried clearly across the skies and into the hearts of every Asgardian who looked skyward.

"I will not make peace with the Jotuns!"

Her fury pierced Odin like a blade.

"I will not make peace with the Jotuns, either!!!"

Suddenly, as if on cue, tens of thousands of Asgardians erupted in unison.

Their blood-boiling roar shook the skies:

"We will not make peace with the Jotuns!!"

"We will not make peace with the Jotuns!!"

Again. And again.

The righteous fury in their voices sent shivers down the spines of even the most stoic warriors.

Even Thor and Rocket, who had never witnessed anything like it, stood frozen in awe.

"I thought you said your sister was a ruthless, bloodthirsty killer," Rocket muttered.

"Why does she have this kind of support among your people?!"

"Thor?"

But Thor couldn’t answer. His eyes remained fixed on the woman standing in midair—powerful, commanding, divine.

"This... is the will of the people."

"This is the will of Asgard, Father."

Hela, clad in obsidian armor, stood atop the iron dragon with arms spread wide, like a queen descending from the heavens.

With the will of the people behind her, she would crown herself queen.

She would see her aging father step down and live out his twilight years in peace. This was the path Hela had chosen in just a few short days.

Thankfully, her former lieutenant, Kiel Marza, and the soldiers she once led... they all stood behind her.

She was not alone on this path to rebellion.

"Madness!!!"

For the first time in his life, Odin faced a coup d’état, and the blood in his face surged. Gripping the Spear of Heaven so tightly his veins bulged, he stood, humiliated.

Since Asgard’s founding, never had a king been forced to abdicate. And now... it was happening to him.

"This is not madness, Father."

"You’ve grown old. And this peace treaty proves it, you are no longer fit to lead Asgard forward."

"Now, I am the new King of Asgard!"

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