After using the Mind Stone to turn Hela and Odin against each other, everything that followed became almost laughably simple.
Once Asgard lost its medium and large warships, its remaining forces were nothing more than lambs waiting for the knife. Thanos didn't even bother sparing them a glance.
But Heimdall was gone.
After searching for a while, Thanos realized the man had somehow already returned to the continent of Asgard. By then, the continent itself was starting to collapse under the relentless bombardment of the antimatter cannon. If nothing unexpected happened, it would only be a matter of time before Asgard shattered completely.
The Rainbow Bridge, however, still stood.
Soon, it began to glow, its light flickering wildly before firing off into the depths of the unknown universe. At the same time, Thor's faint aura vanished entirely.
Heimdall did not follow.
After teleporting Thor away, he flew straight out of the Rainbow Bridge and into open space, positioning himself between Thanos and the dying continent.
Seeing this, Thanos couldn't help but feel a flicker of admiration.
After all, who doesn't respect a man that loyal?
To honor his opponent, Thanos sheathed the Blade of Destruction and charged forward bare-handed.
Then the punches came.
Heavy. Brutal. Relentless.
He intended to beat this tough nut to death with nothing but his fists.
Although Heimdall had reached the peak of a sub-Father-level existence, he was still utterly powerless in front of Thanos. He managed to block two punches with his greatsword, but the blade shattered on the second impact. After that, every blow landed cleanly.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
They were close enough to the continent that the thunderous impacts echoed across Asgard itself.
Odin, having just stabbed Hela again and forced her back, turned his head—and saw Heimdall reduced to a pile of mangled flesh.
"No!"
With a furious roar, Odin abandoned any attempt to reason with Hela and charged straight at Thanos.
If Frigga had been the woman he loved most, then Heimdall was his most loyal subordinate.
The bond forged over a thousand years sometimes surpassed even that of ruler and subject. Otherwise, Odin would never have entrusted the Rainbow Bridge—Asgard's most critical defense—to Heimdall for so long, without doubt or hesitation, for an entire millennium.
Thanos merely gave a cold smile as Odin rushed toward him.
He gripped the Blade of Destruction, unleashing the power of rulership and annihilation at once. Purple energy erupted from his body like a storm, and he slashed forward.
"Ding!"
Odin blocked the attack with the Spear of Eternity, but the force sent him flying hundreds of meters away. His expression changed instantly.
He could no longer maintain his divine presence. The backlash had begun.
Pain crept through his body, his divine power draining away like sand through his fingers.
They were no match for Thanos. Not even close.
In the blink of an eye, Thanos vanished and reappeared behind Odin. Without hesitation, he brought the Blade of Destruction down in a ruthless arc.
Sensing death at his back, Odin barely managed to turn and raise the Spear of Eternity.
"Ding!"
The next instant, the overwhelming force crushed him downward, sending him plummeting toward the surface of Asgard. His strength spent, flight no longer an option, Odin allowed himself to fall.
"Bang!"
He slammed into the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
Thanos could still sense him, though. The aura was fading, but not gone.
Those of Asgardian royal blood were not so easily killed.
But someone else moved faster than he did.
Hela descended from above like a falling omen, her body wreathed in an overwhelming aura of death. As she charged downward, countless black short swords streaked through the air toward Odin.
They were easy to overlook—until they weren't.
Though Thanos and Odin casually knocked them aside, each blade was a solidified manifestation of death energy itself, sharp enough to carve divinity.
And Hela had plenty more where those came from.
Once struck, the target would be rapidly corrupted by the power of death itself. Vital energy drained away at a terrifying pace, flesh losing its vitality until, in extreme cases, the body could rot outright while still standing.
Thanos halted when he saw this, his steps freezing mid-stride. He watched coldly as father and daughter clashed, eyes sharp and calculating, like a general observing an inevitable outcome.
Hela moved as if a storm of blades had answered her call. Countless flying swords condensed in the air, their edges screaming as they shot downward toward Odin on the ground.
In an instant, violent impacts erupted one after another—boom, boom, boom—the explosions overlapping as a massive cloud of dust and shattered stone rose into the air.
Yet Thanos frowned slightly. He could sense it clearly: although Odin's aura was weakening, its rate of decline hadn't increased.
Hela's attack had looked spectacular, but it hadn't truly broken through.
"This won't work," Thanos said calmly. "The attack frequency is high, but each strike is too weak. You won't pierce Odin's defenses like this."
Hela glanced at him, irritation flashing across her face. A moment later, she raised her hand, and a massive black sword—nearly ten meters long—formed above her. She drove it downward with brutal force.
A deafening roar tore through the battlefield.
Thanos shook his head again. "It looks powerful, but the energy's still too scattered."
This time, Hela paused. Her expression shifted, hatred momentarily giving way to thought.
Then, a much smaller black sword appeared—barely a meter long.
But its presence was suffocating.
A bone-deep chill spread through the air as though reality itself were bracing for impact. Everything before it seemed fragile, as if it could be pierced without resistance.
Whoosh.
The sword broke through the sound barrier—no, shattered it—descending in an instant.
Ding!
Odin was already on his feet, though barely. Blood streamed from his forehead and down his side, soaking into his armor. His left arm hung uselessly, clearly dislocated. Only his right hand remained steady, gripping the Spear of Eternity as it blocked the fatal blow.
"Huff… huff…"
After a few ragged breaths, his strength failed him again, and he dropped to one knee.
The backlash from divine intervention, the antimatter cannon, and Thanos's relentless attacks were finally catching up to him. His body had long since passed its limit.
The only reason I'm still standing, he realized, is because I refuse to abandon Asgard… and my people.
A sharp tickle rose in his throat.
He coughed.
Then coughed again—
And spat out a mouthful of blood.
Still, he did not fall.
With his only functioning hand, he drove the butt of the Spear of Eternity into the ground and forced himself upright, trembling but unyielding.
I cannot die. If I fall, Asgard falls with me.
Fueled by resentment, guilt, and sheer stubborn will, Odin endured far beyond what his body should have allowed.
But Hela saw only defiance.
Blinded by hatred, she descended from the sky.
"Odin!" she roared. "Go to Hell and repent!"
Boom!
The final impact shook the heavens.
At last, Odin—burdened by regret, sorrow, and a lifetime of choices—fell by Hela's hand.
He looked down at the black sword piercing his chest, then slowly lifted his gaze to Hela, her face twisted with rage.
And suddenly, he felt… free.
In that moment, he set aside the crown, the throne, the title of King of Asgard. He looked at her not as a ruler, but as a father.
I'm sorry, my child, he thought. This suffering… it's my fault.
The light in his eyes began to fade. He cast one final, lingering glance toward Asgard—filled with longing, with reluctance, with love.
He did not ask for forgiveness.
He knew he had no right.
He had sacrificed too much in the name of Asgard… and too much had been lost because of it.
As his life slipped away, the Spear of Eternity lost its divine glow. Cracks spread across its surface, and slowly, silently, it shattered—crumbling into dust that scattered into the wind.
.....
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