"This guy…"
"If it's really him…"
As the golden-haired figure descended slowly from the heavens and landed atop the royal walls of the capital, Cuba, dressed in a flowing white robe, felt a strange thought stirring in his mind.
That kind of power… surely that old man has sensed it by now.
If I can use him… then maybe Lord Dormammu could finally breach that old man's defenses and pull Midgard into the Dark Dimension.
The more Cuba thought about it, the more exhilarated he became. His usually calm and refined face now twitched with veins, a rare sign of emotion cracking through.
The Titan's son, is it?
It's settled then. Lothar, you're the one.
A twisted smile curled across his lips. But then, suddenly, his expression changed, and in the blink of an eye, Cuba vanished into the desert, leaving no trace behind.
"Hmm?"
"He disappeared?"
Perched atop the ancient Egyptian capital's towering walls, Lothar furrowed his brows and retracted his gaze, inwardly trying to discern who, or what, had been watching him from the shadows.
"Woz?"
"Yes, Prince Lothar. Woz is currently scanning…"
"Scan complete. Regretfully, Prince Lothar, Woz has detected no signs of life."
Data overlays flickered across the lens-like projection before Lothar's right eye.
The readings were stable. No sign of any lifeforms.
"What's wrong, oh great Savior? Getting drunk off the applause?"
Hela, who had once again lost a wager to Lothar, regarded him with poorly concealed irritation. Her voice was sharp, with a touch of sarcasm.
She had, after all, lost, again, and passive aggression was all she had left.
This monster…
Since the day she met Lothar, Hela had never bested him. Not once.
Lothar dispersed the golden energy still surging around his body. His radiant blond hair dimmed back to its natural obsidian black. He cast a side glance at Hela, smirking, one brow arched in teasing defiance. The expression darkened her already stormy face.
"Thank you, Savior!"
Menis knelt to the ground, overcome with emotion. His gratitude toward Lothar was impossible to miss. Not far behind him, The Other stood silently, his gaze frigid, locked tightly onto the Pharaoh.
Had his eyes been capable of killing, Upper Egypt would've lost its sovereign that very moment.
"Let's go."
Lothar looked down at the Pharaoh prostrating before him, then turned and called casually over his shoulder to Hela.
Leaving Midgard was best done via the Bifrost. His mission here was complete; there was no reason to linger.
Especially not when he was technically still grounded by Asgardian military command.
He stroked the soft fur of the ginger cat curled on his shoulder and lifted his gaze toward the distant unknown.
"Mrrrow~"
The orange tabby purred with delight, flicking its tongue across its fur and swaying its tail contentedly.
"Eh?"
"You're leaving already?!"
Startled, Menis looked up abruptly. His eyes were filled with reluctant yearning as he pleaded for Lothar to stay a little longer.
The construction of the peculiar pyramid was nearly complete. Just a few more days. Gritting his teeth, Menis gathered his courage and made his request:
"I… I would like to invite both Savior Lords to personally attend the inauguration ceremony of the pyramid."
"It would mean a great deal, to me, and to the entire kingdom."
Had it not been for Lothar and Hela's intervention during the half-year siege in the frozen north, Menis would never have become Pharaoh of Egypt.
The moment he commissioned statues in their likeness, he'd nurtured a dream: that they would one day stand witness at this sacred ceremony.
"I see…"
"I've got no problem with that," Hela answered nonchalantly, then turned with a glint of mischief in her eye to Lothar, whose expression remained unreadable.
She had made divine appearances before on Midgard, it was practically tradition for Asgardian royalty. As the Princess of Asgard and future Queen of the Nine Realms, she actually enjoyed these sorts of spectacles.
"Prince Lothar, I believe we should leave Midgard immediately."
Seeing an opening, The Other seized the moment. He cast a venomous glance at Menis before bowing respectfully to Lothar.
The only thing in The Other's heart right now was the burning desire to leave. The farther, the better.
That man, Menis, gave him a sense of existential threat.
An adversary on equal footing.
"You cannot leave Midgard just yet, son of Thanos."
A calm, unfamiliar voice echoed immediately after The Other's plea.
A scarlet spell circle flared to life before them, and from within it stepped a middle-aged man with graying temples. He wore deep yellow robes, and an oddly shaped pendant gleamed on his chest.
"Who are you?!"
Menis stepped instinctively in front of Lothar and Hela, raising the Eye of Horus high. Its power to pierce all illusions surged forth, only to be shattered in an instant by the stranger's raised finger.
"??!!"
"Your grasp of the Eye of Horus is still quite superficial, Pharaoh," the man said with a gentle smile, his eyes easily seeing through Menis' magical core.
He raised his hand slowly, fingers spread.
An invisible surge of mystical power erupted, forming a unique subspace domain that engulfed both Lothar and Hela in an instant.
"?!"
"Prince Lothar?!"
The sudden disappearance of their figures threw The Other into chaos.
"Alert! Alert! Prince Lothar—"
"Alert! Alert! Prince Lothar—"
"Alert—"
Woz's urgent alarms echoed in Lothar's ears.
The moment the stranger appeared, the black void was replaced by a dazzling brightness.
"Relax. I mean you no harm."
The middle-aged man, now standing firmly on the ground, looked at Lothar and Hela with a warm smile.
"Who are you?" Hela asked warily, her hair now loosely wrapped into a whip-like strand, ready to strike.
She despised the look in this man's eyes, it was the gaze of an elder toward a younger generation.
"My name is Agamotto."
"Or, if you prefer, call me the Sorcerer Supreme."
Agamotto smiled gently.
Perhaps the word didn't fully suit him, but the first thing that came to Hela's mind was, undeniably, kindness.
"Sorcerer Supreme? The 'teacher' that Cuba spoke of?"
A blast of golden aura exploded around Lothar as he instantly ascended to Super Saiyan 2. Cold fury etched itself across his face.
Dragging him into this so-called subspace without permission?
That hardly screamed "no ill intent."
"Technically, I'm no longer his teacher."
Mentioning his former prized pupil, Agamotto's eyes flickered with a trace of sorrow.
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