Her slender fingers fumbled around the door, and the lights inside the room lit up.
Asgard is a place where technology and magic coexist, relying on the energy of the World Tree to drive some technological products, though not as many entertainment facilities as Saka Star.
The roots of the World Tree are like cables, densely packed throughout Asgard's underground, and the technology of the Aesir Race is almost all developed based on it.
The bright light made her armor reflect, and she sighed while lowering her head, uncloaking her cape, and preparing to undress for a bath.
"Cough, cough!"
She heard someone coughing in the room and immediately regretted being too careless. On Saka Star, she picked up the habit of drinking excessively, and her combat awareness had declined significantly.
Returning to Asgard, she instinctively relaxed her vigilance, not expecting someone to have sneaked into her room.
Brynhild focused and found Mist standing in the living room, with a stranger sitting expressionlessly on the chair next to her.
Gin winked at her with a mischievous smile, indicating that besides her, there's a man here. Even if she wanted to undress, she shouldn't do it boldly in front of the door.
"How did you get out?"
Brynhild just frowned slightly, a bit puzzled, but she still sheathed her sword and hung her cape on the rack.
Her room was simply furnished, even with only one chair, but there were plenty of beast hides used as carpets.
The room was full of various bottles, broken pottery shards, and cups, as if not long after returning to Asgard, she had already gotten drunk at home.
In Asgard, cups are consumables, and when you drink happily, you have to throw a few on the floor to hear them shatter.
"Another glass!"
You have to shout this loudly; it shows boldness and the spirit of a warrior.
Yet looking at Brynhild's face now, she's clearly far from happy. She must have felt so frustrated to smash a few.
Su Ming was observing Brynhild and discovered that as a Valkyrie, they aren't particularly strong or tall; at least Gin and she are not as tall as Diana.
Perhaps flying cavalry needs to be lighter, or maybe the evolution direction of the Aesir Race is different from the Amazon.
Moreover, Brynhild's appearance is infinitely close to the cartoons, not like the mixed-blood black sister in the MCU.
The movie was made like this purely for political correctness, which Su Ming can understand.
A country of Black Panther can be full of black people; in reality, Asgard doesn't have any black races.
Brynhild presents classic Nordic features, with long blonde hair braided into two thick and shiny braids, draped from her chest down to her waist.
Her gaze was sharp, her blue eyes clear as spring water, a delicate nose as exquisite as white jade, and her lips as warm as honey wine.
Yet these facial features combined bring a unique air of heroism and steadfastness, revealing her as a warrior at first glance.
Su Ming thought if she wore a suit with glasses, she'd look more like a strong woman than Gin does now. Gin's long time on Earth made her appear more gentle.
Seems like life on Saka Star isn't easy. Is she still working for the Celestial Venerable Gao to capture gladiators?
Gin approached her, the two forcefully slapping each other's shoulders and backs, calling each other by past titles.
But their expressions seemed a bit unnatural, as if they were both uncomfortable with Immortal Palace etiquette, which Su Ming found quite interesting.
Moments later, Gin took Brynhild over and introduced Su Ming: "I told you, my boss would come to rescue me, and he's already here."
Brynhild scrutinized Su Ming, discovering she simply couldn't see through him. Though he appeared to be an ordinary human, being in Asgard meant he couldn't be ordinary.
"I am Valkyrie, Brynhild of the charge. What's your name, warrior from Midgard?"
She said earnestly, even using ancient Norwegian.
Su Ming glanced at her with his single eye, a powerful aura spreading instantly.
A golden long spear instantly appeared in his hand, which he forcefully thrust into the ground, leaning relaxedly against the chair back, holding the spear calmly:
"I am Odin."
Brynhild's eyes widened, mouth agape, saying nothing: "..."
She felt her scalp tingling, for this one eye, the spear, and the majestic air couldn't possibly be faked.
Why is Mist, deemed a traitor by the Divine Mothers, always Odin's trusted confidant? What kind of power struggle is hiding behind this? What is Odin planning against whom?
Various conspiracy theories flashed through her mind, reminded of similar situations often seen on Saka Star, where its chaotic society taught her much.
The mind of the Divine King is deep as the sea; she found herself unable to fathom it, shuddering with goosebumps out of fear.
She immediately wanted to kneel and salute, but Gin held her back.
Gin gave her boss a slight eye-roll, thinking it must be Godslayer's transformation tricked the two princes?
Posing as the dormant Odin, this indeed was an unexpected blind spot, even Heimdall did not dare to closely observe Odin's visage; the boss remains as cunning.
"Stop fooling around, boss, Brynhild is my friend."
"Just having some fun, Odin really does enjoy people kneeling." Su Ming smiled briefly and withdrew his aura, and the long spear instantly changed back into a curved blade, which he stashed into his bag.
He took out several bottles of Earth's wine, motioning Brynhild to sit down for a conversation.
"???" Brynhild looked confused, unable to react to the many twists.
However, when she was led by Misty to sit on the carpet and had a few drinks, her mind seemed to return to normal operation.
This wasn't Odin, but Misty's new master, a... prank-loving weirdo, and quite bold too.
Impersonating Odin, that is undoubtedly a serious crime.
But for Misty's sake, she could refrain from reporting it.
"Why haven't you run away yet? If Odin wakes up, things will get troublesome."
"Running away is never the solution. When Odin wakes up, I still want to negotiate some terms with him."
Su Ming downed a glass of wine, wiped his beard, and revealed a meaningful smile.
Brynhild turned the glass in her hand; she actually knew that Misty obviously didn't have the intention to serve Asgard any longer.
Misty had always been watching her boss, even more admirably than she used to look at Odin.
She came here as if just to meet a friend, with a sense of nostalgia for revisiting the place but not the same belief in protecting it as before.
"So why are you looking for me? Although I have a small spaceship, it's stranded on Saka Star."
Brynhild picked up the bottle herself and started drinking directly from it, as if planning to get herself drunk.
"I'm Slade, you can also call me Deathstroke. We're here because Gin wants to know what exactly happened in Asgard, why you Valkyries were recalled, even neglecting Hel's secrets."
"Gin?"
"Oh, that's what I'm called on Earth," Gin added.
"Earth?"
"That's Midgard, Midgard," Gin explained again.
Brynhild smirked bitterly, placed the bottle on the ground, and lowered her head to shake it, as if looking through the brown bottle to see the liquid inside.
"I know, but you are completely an Earthling now, both in words and deeds... but I can't seem to shake off my identity as a Valkyrie. Even when disguised as a Black Man on Saka Star, I still feel shrouded by the shadows of the past."
Gin clearly recalled the previous situation, where they charged at Hel on Flying Horses, shouting slogans for Asgard.
But Hel, with a wave of her hand and an expressionless face, wiped them out completely.
Brynhild didn't die because her girlfriend and deputy, Sigurd, used herself to block Hel's attack for her.
Watching her lover die in her arms caused severe psychological trauma for Brynhild, not to mention that the souls of those dead Valkyries fell into Hel's hands.
Yes, Brynhild likes women. Though she doesn't mind men, women are better.
This is someone else's private matter, something even Odin couldn't interfere in. In fact, the Divine King quite admired the love between women.
The result was that even before Su Ming could ask for information, the scene turned into Brynhild's complaint session, as she wept silently while reminiscing with Gin.
Gin could only comfort her first; it would be too cold-hearted to press for details in such a situation, especially when reminiscing about the past was so poignant for Gin as well.
Su Ming just sat quietly on the chair, waiting for them to settle down.
Outside the window was bright, and the burning World Tree was visible.
As long as the fire didn't extinguish, it indicated he hadn't been discovered, serving as the best alarm, visible from any location within the kingdom, a large torch.
He now had plenty of time, at least until Thor returned from Surtur, before he could discern the differences in the flames.
As for when they might realize Odin was a fake, it might take even longer.
.............
"Omens? Are you saying the Divine Mothers recalled everyone just because of some ambiguous omens?"
Su Ming raised an eyebrow and sat on the carpet facing Brynhild, contemplating the information the Valkyrie had told him.
The night breeze brought a slight chill from outside, along with a faint scent of fireworks. He touched the fur spread out on the floor, feeling the Asgardian ambiance reminiscent of Northern Europe.
In prophecy, Fimbulwinter is the beginning of all destruction, representing three long winters: Wind of Winter, Sword of Winter, and Winter of the Wolf.
The Wind of Winter had long occurred, when the God of Light, Balder, was killed by a long spear made from mistletoe, and light no longer shone. The prolonged winter came to Midgard and all the Nine Realms.
That was during the last Little Ice Age, the 14th to 17th century, nearly 300 years of a Little Ice Age, during which half of Northern Europe's humans starved to death, and the other Nine Realms didn't fare much better.
The Frost Giants attacked Asgard then, causing heavy casualties on both sides.
Next, it should logically be the Sword of Winter.
The Sword of Winter signifies warfare, a massive war in winter spanning the Nine Realms, with countless prophesied deaths among the Gods.
Finally, there's the Winter of the Wolf, where Odin will die in the jaws of the giant wolf Fenrir.
After these winters, the prophecy then foretells the world tree catching fire, the dead rising, the Immortal Palace falling, and the world ending.
Could it be that the Divine Mothers regard the recent World Wars on Midgard as the start of the Sword of Winter...
For now, Su Ming hasn't seen a substantial amount of deaths on Earth affecting the other Eight Realms significantly, especially since those who don't believe in the Nordic Gods wouldn't have their souls fall into Hel's hands.
Brynhild's information isn't entirely useless, but Su Ming needs to think it over carefully.