Chapter 537 - An Alliance Like Never Before (4)

"Prepare the Bifrost again," Arnold said in an authoritative tone, "it's time to make some changes in Muspelheim."

"What do you mean?" Baldr was the one to question Arnold.

"I mean, I'm going down there myself."

The Asgardian council erupted into chaos as soon as Arnold uttered those words. None of them knew what Arnold was planning and that's why they were being overly cautious. In the few hours he had spent in Asgard, his plans had changed at least 3 times. 

At first, he wanted Odin to ensue as much chaos on Muspelheim as he could. But changed his plan midway by telling Odin to order the Valhallan warriors to minimise the killing. And now he was changing the plan once again by expressing his wishes to go to Muspelheim by himself.

No matter how the Asgardians viewed the situation, Arnold's moves were getting more and more suspicious. But the ones who were suspicious of his behaviour could not come up with a reason to feel that way.

They wanted to advise Baldr, their new king, to not trust the outsider blindly. But they needed to come with a reason to do so. Just saying that they should not trust him because he was an outsider wasn't enough as they were now in an alliance.

On top of that, the one god Odin respected the most was an outsider as well so this absurd reasoning could end up enraging the All-father. They could also argue over the point that Arnold had killed so many Asgardian soldiers during the night of the tournament. 

But it was no secret that he only did so because they were the ones to instigate it. It was the same case with almost every god he killed. They were the ones who came after him, he did not go seeking them out.

By this time, Odin raised his hand and the chatter amongst the gods seized immediately.

"That was not the plan you proposed, Deathless..." 

As Odin uttered those words, Arnold raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had never expected Odin of all the gods to treat him like an equal. Unlike the rest of them who even then refused to acknowledge Arnold as a fellow god. Arnold quickly regained his composure and replied in kind.

"Plans change. They always do."

Odin broke a smile as he remembered something... Shiva was the one who told him the same thing when they were fighting together against an enemy none of them had faced before. But that was a tale for some other time, right now, he needed to focus on the task at hand. 

Baldr attentively looked at his father. While Baldr was the king of Asgard for all intent and purposes, Odin was still the most respected one among the Asgardians. As a result, his words and decisions were final.

A moment later Odin looked at Baldr and nodded. For some reason, he felt like Arnold wasn't going to betray them. Not until they tried to do something like that first. A moment later Arnold was escorted to the rainbow bridge, closely followed by Heimdall and Thor.

"Just remember what you said about not doing anything to the Asgardians," Thor mumbled as soon as they arrived at the teleporter.

"You do not need to remind me of my promises, Thor. I'm not like Loki who would stab the others when their back is turned." Arnold glared at Thor, "If I wanted to destroy Asgard, I would have already done so and none of your little gods would be able to stop me. That's the kind of man I am."

Arnold's words might have seemed a bit too harsh. But Heimdall knew he was correct. If Arnold wanted to attack Asgard, he was afraid that without him and Thor to help them... the battle would end in Asgard's defeat. Especially considering the number of Gods Arnold currently had as his summons.

Thor was about to say something else too, but Heimdall placed his hand on his shoulder. Signalling him to stop pushing his luck or else he might become the reason why Arnold would end up destroying Asgard.

"If you two have nothing else to do, just go back and wait for me. You might need to handle things here. As things are about to get heated when I return." Arnold instructed them before leaping through the Bifrost, leaving the two of his summons confused.

"Why would the things get heated here?" Thor asked Heimdall who got wide-eyed as he realised what Arnold was planning to do.

"He did not..." Heimdall started to speak but then shrugged his shoulders, "You know what, fck it all. I don't even care what he does anymore."

First Arnold and now Heimdall, both of them were confusing the heck out of him, "The hell are you blabbering on about?"

"Arnold! He didn't go to Muspelheim to kill Surtr and replace him with someone else. He is going there to make everybody else obey him!"

"Nah... you're overthinking a bit too much." Thor dismissed what Heimdall was thinking... until he realised something.

Before leaving Arnold told them to prepare for the heat... 

"The fire giants become one with Muspelheim when they die right?" Thor asked Heimdall.

"Why are you asking a question you already know the answer to?"

"Just wanted to confirm it before spewing my bullshit." Thor said with a nervous cackle, "I don't think he is going there to make Surtr or anyone else their leader... Instead, he is going to a graveyard filled with millions of fire giants."

It took a few moments for Heimdall to realise what Thor was trying to say. And suddenly all of it made sense. Why would someone like Arnold bother to form an alliance with a few hundred thousand giants... when he could easily resurrect the millions who had died and merge themselves with Muspelheim.

"This... is much more fcked up than anything I could ever come up with." Heimdall shook his head, "Immortal one... you really chose a unique man to fill your shoes."

***

Author's note: I haven't made a reference to Halo in a long time, so here you go! Kudos if you could recognise which part of the chapter is a reference!