Chapter 504 - Asgardian Council (2)

"I don't recall giving you the permission to speak in this council." Odin slammed his spear on the ground, "You and that moron Zeus, have no right to speak here, after causing all of this mess."

Zeus and Loki might have turned everyone into thinking that Arnold was the real threat here, but Odin knew both Loki and Zeus better than anyone there. He didn't grow a rugged beard like his own without gaining experience and knowledge. For all he knew, it could as well be another one of their tricks to overthrow Shiva from his place of power.

If this was the case, then he wouldn't allow any of their plans to succeed. Still, despite what he wanted to do or not, his hands were more or less tied regarding Arnold's matter. The moment Arnold killed Heimdall, he had turned Asgard into his enemies as well. 

Also, after what they had seen right now, was troubling as well. Odin was hoping he would somehow be able to help Arnold out because he knew Zeus and Loki were behind all of this, but after Arnold's actions, it didn't look like anyone would be able to help him now.

The strangest part of it all was Shiva's silence. He wasn't someone to keep quiet especially if he had been wronged in some way. But so far he had not done anything and had most probably gone into one of his meditative periods. Meaning... Arnold was on his own against so many gods. 

'It doesn't matter how strong he is... no one can stand up against the united pantheon of the gods, dragons and the demons... not even me.' Odin slowly calmed his nerves after rebuking Loki.

"All-father, it is not right to rebuke Loki for suggesting something that would get us out of this mess and destroy that rogue god once and for all." 

To nobody's surprise, Hades, Loki's close aide, immediately rushed to his rescue. With his flaming hair and beard flowing in the air, he looked more like a volcano than a god. His ridiculous physique also only backed it up.

Also, he referred to Odin as All-father because his standing was higher than even Zeus at this point in time. But he had ulterior motives for saying so as well. By referring to him as the All-father, Hades immediately won over quite a few Asgardian's attention. 

"I know Loki has done quite a few wrong things in the past, but he had already paid for it as well. There is no other reason for any of us to still keep treating him the same. We need to forgive him and focus on the grave task at our hands."

Hades ended his speech and numerous gods nodded in agreement. However, most of them were susceptible regarding Loki's entrance into Asgard, the place he had betrayed too often and even had killed the All-father once to take over the throne. That was the kind of God he was, one who would betray anyone without a tinge of hesitation. 

But thanks to Hades' plan, Odin got an idea to get the focus off of Arnold for the time being. Meanwhile, Hades had no idea his plan was going to backfire on him so bad. Had he known, he would never open his mouth in front of the council, in the first place.

"Alright." Odin mumbled once again, "Your reasoning is sound Hades."

Hades face was beaming and so was Loki's. They thought they had the cat in the bag now, but there were about to realise that the animal they were thinking of like a cat, was in fact a lion. An old and wise Lion. 

"Then based on that logic... Arnold has not done anything that's even remotely close to what Loki did." Odin smirked as he saw the colours drain from Loki's face, "Thus, I don't think there is anything any of us need to do to him. He is a newly ascended god, we all know how it feels to have all that power. Let him run amock for a while, let him gather his followers, he will calm down soon enough."

Odin wasn't done yet, "He had killed a couple of gods, but the way I see it, he never intended to do so. Hermes was killed because of the conditions he imposed on the duel, killing Heimdall was wrong, but even then Heimdall was the one to attack him first. It was the same case with Sif and the warriors."

"Every time he has killed a god, was because we interfered with him first. If we leave him be, he will eventually get quiet once again like before. But if we keep pushing him, he will keep retaliating and we will keep on losing."

"But All-father-" Vale, the ruler of the winds and third son of Odin knew what his father was suggesting and tried to stop him, however, his feeble attempts weren't going to dissuade Odin's resolve.

"I wasn't done speaking yet, Vale." Odin replied sternly and turned back towards the other gods, "That being said, we should prepare for the worst. As Loki said, we should forge an alliance with the Dragons and the Demons, but we should not rush into it blindly. We need to remember our complex relationship with both of those parties and thus it will take time to forge trust between us."

At this time Mimir's severed head decided to interfere, "All-father is correct. Hastily planning an alliance with races that we haven't been on good terms for ages would be a bad decision. For all we know, they might betray us right after we are done taking care of the rogue god. It will be like replacing one problem with another one."

Although the gods were a bit susceptible to this plan, it was the right way to go about things thus all of them agreed to leave Arnold be for the meantime, and focus on increasing their strength. Much to Loki's dismay.

But at that moment, Loki decided it was more important than ever to overthrow Odin once again. And he knew just how to do it. After all, Thor would not like the decision Odin had made... and in his anger, who knows, Thor might even end up killing Odin.