novelonline Chapter 2280
Chapter 2280
Chapter 2280
Thor wanted to say something.
But Sif clearly didn't want to say anything more.
She suddenly moved, and the Bult Steel appeared above Thor's head!
Thor blocked the longsword with his hammer!
"Sif, are you insane?! You want to kill me?!"
Even now, Thor still can't believe that Sif really turned her sword against him and wanted to kill him!
This is absolutely crazy!
Among Thor's group of friends.
Volstagg was a seasoned warrior; he might not be the strongest warrior in Asgard, but he was certainly the most experienced. He joined Odin's army in his youth, participated in almost every war Odin waged, and ultimately survived!
It's well known that Asgardians consider dying in battle an honor, but Volstagg survived and was respected by everyone. This shows he wasn't just a battlefield slacker; rather, it was his skill, awareness, and unparalleled willpower that made everyone realize he was a tough guy! As he aged, Volstagg gradually shed his fierce, battle-hardened warrior image, becoming a kind-hearted and respected elder. Due to weight gain, Volstagg's combat power declined slightly, but he remained among the strongest warriors in Asgard.
He can teach Thor a lot, the most important of which is experience!
He always played the role of the elder brother in Thor's small group, and everyone respected him and liked to listen to his advice.
Fandral, the only one in the group who could rival Thor in unreliability. Fandral is somewhat narcissistic; he considers himself a perfect man and enjoys flirting with the fairies of Asgard. In reality, the women of Asgard simply enjoy his smooth-talking manner and tease him. Yet, he is the best swordsman in the Nine Realms. At the same time, while unreliable, he is also the most trustworthy in the most crucial moments.
Of course, the premise is not to listen to any of his suggestions... This guy and Thor are like a pair of hidden dragons and phoenix chicks. There's a saying that when three men are together, a genius of ideas will be born... These two together always bring some 'surprises'!
Next up is Hall!
Hall was the least noticeable member of the group, but he was actually exceptionally reliable. Unlike Fandral, who liked to alternate between reliable and unreliable, Hall was always stable. He was the most level-headed one among them, and also the group's brake... Unfortunately, he could stop Thor and Fandral, but he couldn't stop these two brilliant strategists from merging... So he always ended up getting into trouble with them.
For example, back then, a group of people impulsively stormed into Jotunheim. Thor was the mastermind, while Fandral was the strategist, constantly stirring up trouble!
Vostagg hadn't originally intended to go, but he couldn't resist the encouragement from the two idea kings.
Only Hall firmly refused, but unfortunately... after everyone else was dragged into it, he had no choice but to follow suit. He couldn't abandon his brothers. Of course, he thought about secretly reporting them... but Fandral saw through him... This is the downside of having a cunning strategist by the side of the Idea King. This guy can always 'patch up the leaks' and make things run wild in an uncontrollable direction...
Oh, right, and Loki too.
I completely forgot about Loki.
Honestly, Loki is a real gem.
He succeeded; he made the entire clique hate him!
That takes skill too.
He's more like the kind of kid who just hangs out with his older brother. He's clearly not very capable, but because his brother is the leader of the group, everyone has to give him face, even though he's clueless about his own abilities. He thinks he's more popular than his brother, and at the same time, he likes to act all clever. He's clearly just there to make up the numbers, but he's inexplicably confident that he should be the core of the group.
It's important to know that this group exists because of Thor.
Although Thor is reckless and hot-tempered, he possesses charisma and a sense of responsibility. (This doesn't contradict his lack of responsibility towards girls; people are multifaceted. Just like in real life, some people are the best brothers—they're incredibly good to their friends, even willing to risk their lives for their brothers—but what about their girlfriends…?)
Thor has a natural leadership quality, which has nothing to do with intelligence. He is the kind of person who is born to be in the center of attention. He doesn't even need to emphasize his authority; people will naturally listen to him.
This wasn't even something he gained from being a prince; it was something he inherently possessed.
But Loki clearly didn't think so. He felt that he and Thor were both princes, and that he was smarter than Thor, so he should be the center of attention.
So he kept resorting to underhanded tactics, thinking he had done everything perfectly.
They have cleverness, but lack true wisdom.
He's been pulling all sorts of dirty tricks, hoping to embarrass Thor and make everyone see the so-called 'truth': Thor is a fool!
But in reality, Thor himself didn't care at all about those little tricks that made him look bad.
Thor was very unfazed by his embarrassing moments.
They might even find it amusing.
That's just how people are; if something embarrassing happens, the more you care, the more embarrassed you become.
On the contrary, those who face things calmly are the ones who seem very carefree.
The others aren't fools either.
Everyone knew Loki was behind it, so their attitude towards him naturally worsened.
Thor himself knew this, but he didn't care, even taking it as a kind of interaction between Loki and himself. For example, when he was eight years old, Loki transformed into a snake and tricked his brother into picking him up, then suddenly transformed back into himself and stabbed his brother... Of course, Thor himself wasn't exactly gentle with Loki either; for instance, Thor's way of greeting Loki was to suddenly appear and punch him in the nose!
Honestly, this kind of 'intense' brotherly interaction is extremely outrageous, even in Asgard.
But neither Thor himself, nor Odin and Frigga seemed to take it for granted... thinking that it was normal for children to play around... It has to be said that, as members of royal blood, these two were definitely physically superior to ordinary people, well, ordinary Asgardians.
Speaking of which, it seems someone is missing.
who?
Sif!
Why not say Sif?
Because Sif is Thor.
She has no opinions of her own; her opinion is whatever Thor says.
She is Thor's shadow.
Many people even unconsciously ignore her.
She was the only girl in the group, yet no one cared about her opinion... because everyone knew that she would agree with whatever Thor said.
If that's the case, why bother asking her?
I used to think it was just a case of husband and wife working together harmoniously, but now that I think about it, I suddenly feel very sad.
She was completely an accessory.
Even Loki's desire to attract Sif's attention wasn't truly out of affection for her, but rather because he saw her as Thor's possession. Loki felt a greater sense of accomplishment in taking her away from Thor!
Similarly, Thor was somewhat at a loss when faced with Sif's sudden resistance!
However, the power emanating from the longsword made Thor understand.
Sif is serious.
"Stop! Sif! What's wrong with you? Are you crazy?!"
However, Sif did not reply, but only launched an even more frantic attack!
For a moment, Thor was even a little overwhelmed!
Just then, the three warriors of Asgard led a large force and charged over, then stopped.
Fandall looked incredulous and rubbed his eyes.
Then I asked two friends.
"Am I drunk today? Why did I see Sif slashing Thor? What new prank is this?"
Hall frowned, and Vostagg immediately put down his axe.
“I think we should go back to drinking. To be honest, I don’t really want to get involved in this. And I’m on Sif’s side!”
"Volstagg said."
If anyone in the small group had the biggest opinion about Thor's infidelity, it would be Vostagg.
To be honest, these children were all raised under Vostagg's watchful eye.
He felt like he was looking after his own children.
He never thought Thor was right in this matter; in fact, Vostagg had criticized Thor in the Jane incident.
He is a traditional Asgardian. He and his wife were united in the most traditional Asgardian way, and he now has five children. He and his wife have a very loving relationship and he doesn't think there's anything wrong with this way of life!
(If Thor corresponds to Xu Zhimo, then if Vostag corresponds to a figure from the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, it should be Lin Juemin. I highly recommend reading Lin Juemin's "Letter to My Wife"—it's truly moving every time I read it. Lin Juemin was a typical modern talent, deeply dissatisfied with the state of the country. He even participated in the imperial examinations. As a child, Lin Juemin was adopted by his uncle, a learned scholar renowned for his poetry and prose; his adoptive mother was kind and loving, a typical virtuous wife and mother. Lin Juemin was naturally intelligent, possessing a photographic memory, and was deeply loved by his adoptive father, who personally taught him to read from a young age. Later, he participated in the imperial examinations but had no intention of achieving official rank. He wrote the seven characters "A young man does not aspire to high office" on his exam paper and left the examination hall. His marriage to Chen Yiying was also arranged, but their affection was deep—a fact no one who has read "Letter to My Wife" would doubt. Therefore, compared to the talented and more famous Xu Zhimo, the author prefers Lin Juemin; he is the truly responsible man!)
So when he saw Sif beating up Thor, Volstagg didn't bother to intervene at all!
Anyway, you can't kill them by cutting them. It's not that easy to die; at most, you'll just be seriously injured.
Since they won't die, we don't need to worry about them!
Vandall, however, thought about it more deeply.
"This must be Loki's scheme! Where are you, Loki! I see you! Come out right now!!"
Yes, if you find something that seems very illogical, then you can't go wrong by suspecting Loki first!
Loki often uses magic to play pranks like this.
“No, it’s not Loki!” Hall said from silence.
Hall was a silent man, and he was very different from many Asgardians.
While not every Asgardian is fond of boasting, almost every Asgardian will brag and exaggerate when drunk, even Odin, and so do women and children. (Yes, Asgardian children are allowed to drink alcohol; they don't have a law prohibiting minors from drinking. In fact, at an Asgardian birth ceremony, a child receives two gifts: a miniature weapon and a bottle of mead laced with no special ingredients. That mead is actually drunk by the baby; to Asgardians, it's like canned baby formula to Earthlings.)
But Hall was different; he was silent normally, and he remained silent after drinking.
But every time Hall spoke, he got to the point.
“I see no signs that Sif is being controlled.”
“I think it’s normal. Listen, if I were a girl and my fiancé betrayed me, I would use Bloodhawk against him!” Volstagg said viciously.
Blood Eagle Punishment.
An ancient and cruel form of punishment.
Because it was too cruel, it has been banned in Asgard, and anyone who uses this punishment will be punished.
The Blood Eagle was an extreme form of execution used in ancient tribal times for the public execution of defeated chiefs or kings, and it had religious sacrificial characteristics. The execution process was extremely cruel: the victim's back was split open, ribs were cut, lungs were pulled out to form "wings," and salt was sprinkled to intensify the pain, ultimately leading to death due to pressure imbalance.
This punishment was extremely inhumane. During the execution, the executioner would use a sharp axe to split open the victim's back, exposing the spine and ribs, and then pull out the lungs from the wound, causing the victim's back to form a bloody 'wing' shape. The victim would eventually die from the violent rise and fall caused by the imbalance of air pressure in the lungs. This way of dying was anything but pleasant.
Legend has it that some highly skilled executioners could make their victims scream for a whole day and night before finally dying in agony. (This is somewhat similar to the Chinese legend of Lingchi, also known as being sliced into a thousand pieces, but in reality, it's impossible to reach that level of agony.)
However, the Bloodhawk is indeed much more painful than the head-slaying technique, and victims can often endure it for a short period of time. This is especially true given the physical capabilities of Asgardians.