"The Eternal Spear… what a powerful, perfect divine artifact." Meruem gently stroked the long spear in his hand, sensing the boundless divine power contained within.
In the end, the battle between Loki and Meruem still concluded with Meruem's victory. Soul Burial Wave was not destructive enough to kill Loki, but it consumed most of Loki's divine power and the spear's as well. Meruem then took advantage and seized the divine spear from Loki's hand. And with the spear gone and most of his divine power spent, how could Loki possibly be a match for Meruem?
Still, considering that the north was, after all, Odin's turf—and Loki, no matter what, was Odin's son—it would be hard to justify taking the spear and then killing Odin's child. So in the end, Meruem chose to seal Loki instead. (Incidentally, Norse divine genealogy is overly chaotic, so the story follows the Asgardian setting from the Marvel universe.)
After that, things became much simpler. Asgard returned to Odin's rule. Only Odin's former proxy on earth, Hilda, was replaced by Lyfia.
Hilda really had it rough. As a proxy she was either controlled or imprisoned, and now even that position was taken away. In the Sea Realm arc, nearly all her God Warriors died, and by the end not even the rank-and-file soldiers respected her. She truly was the most miserable divine proxy imaginable.
When leaving Asgard, Deathmask took Helena and her younger siblings with him. Aiolia, meanwhile, could only bid Lyfia a reluctant farewell. Though they hadn't endured as much hardship together as in Soul of Gold, matters between a man and a woman are never something anyone can predict.
Once the feeling is there, it's there. Lyfia was Aiolia's first love—and Aiolia was Lyfia's first love too. As for Frodi? Sorry, Lyfia only ever saw him as an older brother.
But every banquet ends. Aiolia was a Gold Saint, and this was Asgard. Loki, Asgard's greatest enemy, had been sealed; at the very least he wouldn't be coming out for a thousand years. There was no reason for the Saints to remain in Asgard's lands.
And Lyfia was now Odin's proxy; her will represented Odin's. So she could not, like Helena, follow the Gold Saints back to the Sanctuary.
All Meruem could do was comfort Aiolia by saying that a Gold Saint's annual leave would allow him to visit her in the north.
This was probably Odin's way of venting displeasure at Meruem taking a Norse divine artifact—without daring to use force. First, Odin only had his soul right now. Second, even if he had a body, he still couldn't beat Meruem.
In this world, the Norse pantheon was not the number one divine race; the top-tier rulers were the Olympians. Even Abel and Ares had been sealed by Meruem. Odin wasn't about to invite disaster—he wasn't stupid.
So, in a roundabout way, he could only vent over small matters—playing the villain who split up lovers. And to be fair, Lyfia really was more suited than Hilda to be Odin's proxy.
"Saga, I'm taking the loot back to the Sanctuary first. You guys hurry back too. There are plenty of surprises waiting for you in the Sanctuary." After saying this to the Gold Saints, Meruem opened a spatial passage and stepped through on his own.
"Surprises… why do I suddenly feel like something bad is coming?" Even the usually steady Saga couldn't help complaining.
"War spoils: the divine artifact Eternal Spear, and Loki's God Cloth. The Eternal Spear is indeed a fine artifact. But that God Cloth is useless—feed it to it."
Back in the Sanctuary, after Meruem's avatar returned to the main body, he spoke while looking at the spoils taken in the northern war.
The Eternal Spear naturally went into Meruem's treasury, while Loki's God Cloth was tossed in front of his own Four Fiends Armor—Taotie Fiend Armor.
This was a discovery Meruem had made earlier: this fiend armor possessed a terrifying talent, one very similar to Meruem's own innate ability—devouring. A top-tier growth-type God Cloth that could swallow other God Cloths and continuously evolve.
Poseidon's, Ares's, and Abel's God Cloths had already been devoured by the Taotie Fiend Armor. Only Aphrodite's God Cloth had survived because the Taotie armor seemed to disdain it. But that cloth still didn't escape in the end—Meruem melted it down, claiming he was forging an even stronger Cloth.
After devouring several God Cloths, the Cosmo contained within the Taotie Fiend Armor could be felt from far away. It was unbelievably powerful. Not only had its Cosmo changed, even its appearance had shifted in subtle ways, becoming more imposing and splendid.
If before, the fiend armor was something you wore simply to fight better, now the Taotie Fiend Armor carried true authority. Meruem felt that even Zeus's God Cloth likely wasn't as strong as this Taotie Fiend Armor.
When Meruem placed Loki's God Cloth before it, the Taotie Fiend Armor opened a gaping maw and swallowed it whole.
With Loki sealed, his God Cloth naturally lost its supply of Cosmo. And with Meruem right beside the Taotie Fiend Armor, there was no need to worry about any Cosmo issues anyway. Besides, it already had the devouring attribute; Loki's God Cloth had no chance of escaping.
Watching the Taotie armor eat with relish, Meruem couldn't help marveling at its appetite. What it was consuming were God Cloths—battle armor meant to withstand attacks. Yet in front of the Taotie armor, they were no different from a plate of food.
Oh, and it was picky. If it wasn't a God Cloth, it wouldn't eat it. Last time, Meruem placed the Corona Cloth of the Corona Saints in front of it and the thing didn't even glance at it.
And in the lore, that Corona Cloth was supposed to rival Gold Cloths. In the end, it was melted down too. As for the Beauty Cloths of Aphrodite's Beauty Warriors, Meruem didn't even bother melting and reforging them. Aside from being flashy, they were worthless—about as strong as the Beauty Warriors themselves. In real defense, they probably couldn't even match the worst Black Cloths, only barely better than common soldiers' gear.
And yet, her nominal husband Hephaestus was the god of craftsmen and fire. See? That's what you get for brazen infidelity.
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