DOTM: Chapter 345: Sending Loki Back Home

Tony Stark fully demonstrated what it means to be outrageously rich. His villa, built into the cliffside, occupied an exceptionally rare and exclusive location. This place wasn’t even on the market—ordinary people couldn’t dream of buying land here, let alone building a home.

Not only had Tony secured a lot for his own mansion, but he had also purchased the neighboring plot, which was likewise unavailable for sale, and helped Ethan construct a large house there.

Both mansions covered vast areas. Tony’s so-called “next door” would take over ten minutes to reach by car, and much longer on foot.

Ethan stood before the enormous seaside mansion. Unlike Tony’s home, which was mostly hidden underground and blended with the cliff, this one had a more traditional architectural style. It wasn’t quirky or avant-garde in design. The overall style leaned toward classical European, with a hint of palace-like grandeur.

“I think this style suits your identity very well,” Tony commented.

He was referring to Ethan’s identity as a mage. Ethan could only shrug noncommittally. Shouldn’t a tower be more fitting for a mage? Where did the whole palace idea even come from?

Regardless of the style, the house was spacious, elegant, and well-built. Ethan had no complaints.

A mansion of this size naturally required a staff. Even before Ethan arrived, Pepper had already arranged everything—gardeners, cleaners, housekeepers, and chefs. The only thing missing was an English-trained butler.

“Do I really need one?”

“I think it’s best to hire a professional butler,” Tony said. “You’re not going to be here most of the time, and someone has to manage this property.”

A mansion of this scale required a lot of upkeep. Without someone in charge, it would quickly fall into disrepair, and he couldn’t always rely on Pepper to handle trivial chores.

Tony had a point. Ethan rarely stayed in this world, but finding a trustworthy butler wasn’t easy.

After all, he wasn’t Bruce Wayne and didn’t happen to know a retired British special forces soldier named Alfred.

There were plenty of talented individuals in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but who could he recruit?

Should he try to talk Phil Coulson into becoming his butler? That guy would probably turn the mansion into a new S.H.I.E.L.D. base to recruit agents.

As he thought about it, one candidate came to mind—Maria Hill, Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury.

Ethan wasn’t sure whether Maria Hill had officially attained that title yet, but she was capable, had excellent character, and seemed like a good fit.

The problem was that Maria Hill had a clear aversion to superheroes, and disliked Ethan even more, especially since he was an outsider “superhero.” Their previous encounter had been far from pleasant—she had made her disdain for him nearly impossible to ignore.

Setting that aside for now, there was no urgency to fill the position. Even though S.H.I.E.L.D. was in crisis, until it completely collapsed, Maria Hill would still be busy. He couldn't poach her easily.

As everyone finished selecting their rooms, Ethan noticed Loki lingering nearby. No matter where he turned, he could always see him standing close.

“Can’t wait any longer?”

“Of course not.”

On the way from Tony’s place, Ethan had briefly explained Loki’s situation. Tony knew Loki had been following Ethan for some time now.

Nominally, Loki had been exiled to other worlds by Allfather Odin. But Tony understood the situation—it was likely Odin’s method of training his rebellious son.

Judging by the current results, it seemed Ethan had done a good job teaching Loki. Tony’s curiosity about Ethan’s “adventures” only grew stronger.

“Looks like I’ll have to wait on my matters. I need to take care of Loki first.”

“Is it troublesome?”

Ethan shrugged. “Not at all. I just need to send him back.” Then he glanced at Tony, who looked eager. “What, you want to see Asgard?”

Tony did want to explore “outer space,” but he still had many things to deal with. While he often acted impulsively and ignored his business, vanishing to space would cause a huge uproar, and Stark Industries would suffer greatly.

“I need to arrange a few things before I can leave.”

“Then you’d better get started. I plan to take you somewhere soon.”

Ethan also remembered that Tony couldn’t just pop off to Xandar. He needed to make proper arrangements—prepare for his absence, manage his company’s operations, and come up with a plausible reason for vanishing.

After explaining this, Ethan didn’t inform the others. He simply took Loki and opened a portal to Asgard.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, teleportation was much easier for Ethan than in other worlds because the Tesseract was usable again.

He didn’t even need to rely on his magic. As long as he had the “coordinates” of a location in this universe, he could go there instantly.

He had memorized Asgard’s coordinates during his last visit. With a single step, Ethan brought Loki to the entrance of Odin’s great hall.

Asgardian soldiers were already waiting and approached the moment they saw Ethan appear.

“His Majesty the Allfather is expecting you, sir.”

This meant Ethan could go in immediately without any report or delay.

Ethan wasn’t surprised. When he brought Loki back into the Marvel Universe, he had already sensed several “gazes” watching him.

He knew that Heimdall, the gatekeeper, possessed miraculous vision and could observe nearly every corner of the universe. It was his duty to monitor all realms under Asgard’s protection, so it was no surprise that he noticed Ethan.

Another gaze belonged to Odin.

How powerful was the Allfather Odin? Few truly knew. What abilities did he possess? Even fewer understood. To most, the Allfather of Asgard was nearly omnipotent.

With Ethan’s current strength, he could have avoided being detected by Odin upon entering this world. But there was no need. In addition to concealing himself, he would also have to hide Loki—otherwise, Odin would sense Loki’s return and discover them anyway.

But Loki had no desire to hide. He now wanted to display the results of his training to his parents and Thor. The only reason he hadn’t impulsively returned to plunge Earth into an ice age was because he had matured—at least a little.

Walking into the great hall with Loki, Ethan saw that Odin was not seated on the throne, but standing quietly, waiting for them to approach.

As Ethan stepped closer, Odin descended the steps, greeting him like a warm and gentle old man.

“I knew you would return. I just didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

Thor was also waiting in the hall. He was even more enthusiastic than Odin, giving Ethan a strong hug.

Then he looked at Loki “affectionately” and pulled him into an even tighter hug.

“Welcome home, my brother.”

Loki looked extremely uncomfortable. He wanted to pull out a dagger and stab Thor, but his years of “training” helped him control that urge.

“If I didn’t know my memory was fine, I’d think you were the one who’d been gone for years, not me.”

For the two in front of him, he had only been gone half a year.

Compared to the Asgardians’ long lifespans, half a year was nothing. That was why Odin was so surprised Ethan returned so quickly. He had thought Ethan might wander with Loki for thirty to fifty years before returning, and then go off wandering again for another century.

He had already given Ethan the highest expectations he could, but he had never imagined such a short time could result in such a dramatic transformation in Loki.

It did seem Loki had become more composed.

Odin didn’t realize how much impact Ethan’s casual comment—calling Loki “too weak”—had on Loki’s young and sensitive heart. That simple jab had pushed Loki out of his “happy childhood” and toward adulthood.

From Loki’s words, Odin realized one thing: time flowed differently between worlds.

“So that’s how it is.”

Since Ethan entered the hall, Odin had been paying attention not only to Loki’s condition but also to this young mage.

Loki had seen Ethan’s divine nature back then, so how could Odin not see it?

He hadn’t expected that the young man who had only glimpsed the mysteries of magic back then had now reached this level.

Previously, Odin could roughly estimate Ethan’s strength with a single glance. Now, even Odin couldn’t determine it with certainty.

He could only be sure that he himself could defeat this young man, but his chosen heir, Thor, might not be able to.

“Should I have sent Thor with him too?”

Odin hadn’t considered the inconsistent time flow across worlds. If he had known, why would he have worried about Thor being absent from Asgard? Half a year was nothing. Thor often spent more time than that traveling the universe.

As Asgardians lived long lives, even ten years away from home was trivial.

Just as he was contemplating whether to send Thor out to train as well, Odin suddenly noticed something.

The “transformation” magic he had cast on Loki had disappeared. But despite the spell wearing off, Loki did not appear as a Frost Giant.

(To be continued.)