Thanos didn't want to be a villain.

"So you're going to participate in a war that could start at any time, but you're not planning to take me with you?!"

When the time stop ended, Loki returned to normal, but this wasn't a good thing, since Loki had died in front of all of Asgard.

Loki really wanted to beat up Dio, but after weighing the strength of both sides, Loki wisely gave in. So, the illusion ended, and Loki used invisibility to run back to his room.

Before time stopped, Hela noticed something amiss, so after Loki slipped away, she took Dio to her room in Asgard to ask him why.

Dio had no intention of hiding it from Hela, so he told her the truth.

This leads to the sentence at the beginning.

"Forget it. If your strength improved further, I would definitely take you away, but you are not as strong as you are in other universes right now." Dio said calmly, uttering words that drove Hela crazy.

In an attempt to win him over, Loki gave Dio some of the memories of time travelers who died in the Marvel universe. This allowed Dio to learn about some of the future plot developments in Marvel, much like the Marvel "what if" series.

A white Hela who is in love with Wenwu.

In terms of strength, white Hela can suppress Odin, but the Hela in front of him, let alone Odin, even a fully powered Frigga might not be able to defeat.

It's important to know that Frigga in this universe was once the Valkyrie Queen, just like Frigga in the God of War game.

"What did you say?!" Assessing strength is a taboo subject for Hela.

Perhaps due to Odin's upbringing, Hela is both very proud of her own strength and extremely sensitive.

Dio shrugged, utterly speechless.

This was also something Odin revealed to Dio in the City of All Power, which left Dio speechless.

……

The next day, Loki's news caused jubilation throughout Asgard. Odin and Frigga were also curious about what happened in the illusion, but they had no good feelings towards the TVA organization.

After all, in the illusion, Sylvie, Loki's daughter who was a variant of himself, was actually taken away by the TVA in Asgard.

This is equivalent to rubbing Odin and Asgard's faces into the ground!

Loki was in an awkward position, since he was the male lead, and interestingly, he was also the female lead!

Now, with every step Loki takes, he sees someone looking at him with a half-smile.

"Damn it all!" Loki cried out in despair, looking up at the sky with a long sigh.

With no other option, Loki had to hide quickly, and also to avoid Thor mocking him.

However, while Loki could evade the eyes of many, in Asgard, "many" did not include Thor.

"Loki!" Thor laughed, noticing his brother trying to dodge.

He grabbed it with a wave of his hand.

Ignoring Loki's flushed face, he loudly proclaimed yesterday's illusion.

As Dio watched this scene, he thought that if Thor were to suffer another defeat this time, the situation should be reversed now.

After all, Thor has basically been fooled by Loki since he was a child.

"It's only been one night, and he's already leaving?" When Dio and Hela found Odin, he was walking with his brother-in-law Frigga.

“Your Majesty, we have already disturbed you for a whole night. After all, the other party is also a God-King, and I cannot break my promise,” Dio said, bowing slightly.

Odin remained expressionless. He was getting a bit annoyed by the TVA, whose very existence was uncertain, and didn't care about his son-in-law's family's future. He waved for him to leave.

Dio bid farewell to Odin and Frigga, then took Hela and headed to the Rainbow Bridge.

“I cannot be certain of the current location of the Tarot Realm; I can only send you to the entrance of the realm we saw last time.” Heimdall inserted his greatsword into the device, activating the Rainbow Bridge.

"It's alright. The entrance to the Tarot Realm should still be there for now. After all, we were invited, and they can't expect us to arrive completely in the dark." Dio and Hela were both unconcerned.

Heimdall nodded, gripped the sword guard and twisted it, causing the entire room to begin rotating and charging. Soon, a rotating golden passage appeared in front of him.

Dio and Hela said goodbye to Heimdall. Led by Hela, Dio leaned forward slightly. He felt a slight pull, and then transformed into a phantom and rushed into the Rainbow Bridge.

Earth.

With a loud bang, a rainbow-colored beam of light slammed into the ground, carving several mysterious runes into the earth.

As the smoke cleared, Dio and Hela were revealed.

"Who would have thought that such a small planet holds so many secrets?" Hela exclaimed, looking at the bamboo forest before her.

After receiving a message from Loki in a parallel universe, Dio learned that all the myths on Earth had left behind secret realms or artifacts that could make one a messenger of the gods!

The Knight of the Moon in Egypt was one of them.

There's even a dimensional portal near Mount Olympus on Earth that leads to the real Mount Olympus from Greek mythology!

Moreover, there are also those Eternals, bio-engineered robots created by the Celestials, living on Earth.

It was only after receiving this news that Dio realized that his Thanos was actually portrayed differently in the comics and movies.

In the comics, Thanos is just a member of the Eternals. The term "Eternal Titan" simply means that Thanos is an Eternal born on Titan.

In the movie version, the Eternals are merely bio-engineered robots created by the Celestials to ensure the smooth birth of new Celestial members.

Thanos, on the other hand, was merely a Titan.

Titan is both Thanos's birthplace and the name of his race!

However, perhaps because of what Loki said about the absence of any variants of the Eternals, he remains an eternal Titan in this universe, while the Eternals on Earth may be derivatives created by the Celestials after their attempt to recreate the superior genes of the Eternals failed.

Dio nodded in agreement after hearing Hela's words.

Soon, as the two were observing the bamboo forest, an acquaintance suddenly emerged from it.

"Taibai?" Dio was quite impressed with this beautiful woman dressed as a man.

"Long time no see, young friend." Venus laughed heartily, then bowed to the two of them.

Dio and Hela immediately returned the greeting.

After straightening up, Venus stretched out his hand and said, "The Great Celestial Venerable has prepared a banquet, please."

"Please." Dio instinctively reached out his hand as he walked.

The three of them then walked into the bamboo forest together.

“I originally thought you had arrived yesterday, but the Great Celestial Venerable instructed us to make preparations today. I didn’t expect to run into you as soon as I came out.” Taibai Jinxing stroked his beard and chuckled.

With that kind face, no one would guess that he was the Venus, the god of war and killing in the west!

“I spent some time playing with my two brothers-in-law in Asgard yesterday, which delayed me a bit, so I only arrived today,” Dio replied with a smile.

Taibai nodded with a look of sudden realization.

“Alright, let’s hurry up and go. The banquet was already prepared when I came out. Since this is a banquet hosted by the Great Celestial Venerable alone, we shouldn’t keep him waiting.” Taibai Jinxing stood still and nodded. Then, with a wave of his hand, a portal opened in the void.

Venus stepped forward and entered the portal first, followed by Dio and Hela after exchanging a glance.

Inside was a patch of white clouds, and not far away stood a massive gate.

No amount of description, whether it's carved beams and painted rafters or exquisite beauty, can adequately capture its essence.

Amidst the drifting clouds, one can see the three characters "Nantianmen" (South Heaven Gate) written on the gate.

Hela's eyes widened in disbelief; this place was completely different from the small room she had entered Asgard.

This place is grand and majestic, while Asgard is small and cramped.

“However, like Mount Olympus, this place also has a huge gate,” Hela said.

"But even the gates to Mount Olympus weren't this impressive."

Dio didn't think much of it. In his previous life, he had seen many movies and TV shows depicting the Southern Heavenly Gate. Although those were imagined by modern people, the structure of the one in front of him was actually quite similar to the one he had seen in his previous life.

The only difference is probably the atmosphere?

Dio couldn't quite describe the feeling, but looking at the South Heavenly Gate, he felt a mysterious and peculiar sensation.