Stupid Odin

Thiazi's shapeshifting skills were remarkable; his eagle form even deceived Heimdall, the guardian god.

He spent his days idly wandering around Asgard, eventually becoming infatuated with Idun.

Despite Asgard's seemingly lax defenses, the main towns were teeming with Valkyrie-led guard units. Anywhere someone shouted, the Valkyries would arrive on winged steeds in two minutes, and the scene would be completely sealed off within five.

Thiazi was eager to make his move, but Idun was an extreme homebody, never leaving her house. Thiazi couldn't find an opportunity to abduct her.

Coincidentally, on this very day, he returned to Jotunheim and discovered Loki, the traitor to the giants.

With a magnificent dive, Thiazi, transformed into an eagle with an eight-meter wingspan, snatched Loki into the air.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Loki's cries for mercy echoed through the sky.

"Shut up! Or I'll drop you to your death!"

Loki, the master of disguise, who could easily have escaped by transforming into a bird but was currently bored, quickly covered his mouth, feigning terror as he looked up at the giant eagle.

Thiazi continued to threaten Loki fiercely: "You traitor to the giants, the underworld should have been your only destination. But I've decided to give you a chance—I don't care how you do it, but you will lure the goddess of youth, Idun, to the Ironwood. Otherwise, I will kill you the moment you leave Asgard."

Frankly, Thiazi's clumsy threat almost made Loki burst out laughing.

Don't forget, Loki was the god of mischief. He knew immediately that fun was about to begin.

If Thiazi had chosen a different target, Loki might have seriously considered it.

But Idun…

Firstly, she wasn't a direct relative of Thanes;

Secondly, she was Odin's daughter-in-law, and Loki wanted to get back at Odin for killing his grandson.

Thirdly, who would be most worried by Idun's disappearance? The answer: those elderly, pure-blooded Aesir gods whom Loki despised!

That settled it; Loki would take the job!

Loki immediately used his superb acting skills to appear utterly terrified: "No, no, don't kill me."

"Then get going!"

"No, I, I am hated by all the pure-blooded Aesir gods. The guardian god Heimdall checks my location every so often. If I'm not within Heimdall's line of sight, I'll mess things up."

"Then…" Thiazi was stumped.

"Actually, since you're a shapeshifter, you could transform into me and just trick Idun by saying you found a magical fruit tree in the Ironwood that can also grow golden apples. Trust me, Idun will definitely go with you."

Thiazi didn't understand the intricacies of Loki's schemes. He thought it sounded quite reliable, and considering Loki was constantly watched by that hateful white Aesir god, it seemed Loki really didn't have much of a chance.

Thiazi believed him: "You go now and distract Heimdall for me. Don't try any tricks, or I'll just fly away."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Loki actually went to cover for this sack-of-potatoes giant.

Soon after, Thiazi saw Loki run to the end of the Rainbow Bridge and start babbling nonsense to Heimdall, and he made his move.

Before long, a 'Loki' arrived at Idun's house.

"Oh! Beautiful goddess of youth, do you know what I found in the Ironwood? A golden apple tree! I ate a golden apple from it and immediately felt like I was back in my youthful prime."

'Loki' even excitedly flexed his bicep muscles to demonstrate the apple's power.

Frankly, Thiazi's exaggerated and terrible acting was in a completely different league from Loki's.

The key to trickery is knowing who to use it on.

This was a wisdom detector.

Even if it didn't work on 99% of the Aesir gods, it was more than enough to fool a naive goddess like Idun.

Idun's eyes widened, her pupils trembling violently. She blinked, her first reaction being: "That's impossible!"

"Really! I swear in Loki's name!" The Loki-impersonating Thiazi swore.

The funny thing was, Thiazi had no idea how 'good' Loki's reputation was among the Aesir.

As the saying goes, if you trust Loki, cows will fly.

An even funnier scene unfolded—Idun, she, she, she actually believed him!

"Really?"

"Really!" Thiazi thumped his chest.

Idun was unbelievably naive; she exclaimed with genuine joy, "Then I really have to go see!"

To compare, she even brought along a few genuine golden apples.

She hastily prepared some personal belongings and followed 'Loki' to the edge of a cliff in Asgard.

"Loki, why aren't we going to the Rainbow Bridge?" Idun asked curiously.

'Loki' dropped the act, turning his head with a mysterious smile: "No, this way is faster."

Before Idun could react, he suddenly transformed into a giant eagle, grabbed Idun, and swooped over the wall surrounding Asgard, plunging rapidly into the lower realm.

Everything happened so fast that the guards who arrived after hearing the news didn't notice anything.

It wasn't the guards' fault.

The wall surrounding Asgard was so long that there was only one watchtower every 500 meters and one arrow tower every 100 meters.

The guards who weren't paying attention only heard a woman's scream and saw nothing.

Out of caution, the incident was still reported.

However, it didn't reach Thanes.

After all, how could such a trivial matter as 'suddenly hearing a woman's scream near the wall' alarm the God-King?

Coincidentally, Idun's husband, Bragi, often had to travel between Asgard and Jotunheim, and he was away at the time.

As a result, about three weeks later, when those elderly, pure-blooded Aesir gods came to Idun for golden apples, everyone realized Idun was missing.

They panicked, immediately informing Thanes and calling an emergency meeting.

Skadi and a few other gods known for their hunting skills used magic to determine the exact time of Idun's disappearance and found eyewitnesses who said Loki had taken Idun away.

When everyone immediately pointed the finger at Loki, it so happened that Loki provided a perfect alibi for that time.

Watching the once handsome and proud Aesir gods rapidly age into old men and women, Loki was secretly bursting with laughter.

A master actor must have good self-control!

Loki put on an extremely wronged expression: "I'm innocent! That day, I happened to be chatting with Heimdall at the Rainbow Bridge. I was begging him to stop watching me every day. He wouldn't listen. I argued with him for three hours."

The guardian god Heimdall's lips twitched, and he wished he could bite Loki to death with his big golden teeth. Unfortunately, his personality dictated that he wouldn't lie.

He nodded to Thanes and the other Aesir gods in agreement: "Loki was indeed with me at that time."

The elderly Aesir gods were in an uproar.

An old god stepped forward, accusing incredulously: "Could someone else have used shapeshifting to impersonate Loki and trick you?"

The 'pure white Aesir god' Heimdall coldly retorted: "Impossible! He's the only one so hateful in all of Asgard."

Logical and well-founded, the gods were convinced!

Loki was unwilling to let it go: "Wait! Are you praising me or insulting me?"

"Shut up! I'm testifying for you!"