Just as Odin warily watched Thanos in the distance, his thoughts heavy with thoughts of fate and the future, a sudden surge of terrifying energy erupted from the continent of Asgard.
The power shot forward like a golden tide and slammed straight into Hela's lifeless skeleton.
In the very next second, blazing golden flames burst to life around the bones Odin had believed long dead.
His eyes widened.
"This is…" Odin whispered in disbelief. "The Eternal Flame?"
Yes. What burned before them now was unmistakably the Eternal Flame itself.
As it roared, organs began to form within the skeleton—first faint outlines, then solid reality. The fire wrapped around her completely, weaving life back into existence. Tendons followed. Then flesh. Then skin, slowly reclaiming its place.
Moments later, Hela stood once more before everyone—restored to her original form.
Her long, jet-black hair spilled down her back as her eyes snapped open.
A black bodysuit formed over her body like living shadow.
"Huff… huff…" She exhaled sharply, lingering fear still clinging to her chest.
If she hadn't been close to the continent of Asgard—if she hadn't spent a thousand years cultivating in the Underworld and mastering the Eternal Flame—she would have been dead beyond all doubt.
But relief was a luxury she couldn't afford.
She spun around and hurled black daggers toward Odin in a relentless storm.
Odin had already been on guard. He raised the Spear of Eternity, deflecting each strike with sharp metallic clashes.
"What are you doing?" he shouted. "This is not the time for infighting!"
Hela ignored him completely and pressed her attack.
Moments ago, she had nearly been killed.
Killed by her own biological father.
How could she not hate him?
From afar, Thanos watched the scene unfold and allowed himself a faint, amused smile. He made no move to interfere.
Instead, he turned his attention to the Asgardian warships still struggling desperately in space. Casually, he swung his blade a few times.
Purple destructive energy surged outward.
The warships were sliced apart as if they were made of tofu—one after another, erased in an instant.
Seeing this, Odin's expression darkened. While fending off Hela's attacks, he snapped impatiently, "Is this ever going to end? Don't force me to take action!"
That strange enemy attack earlier had already destroyed at least three thousand ships.
Now, Asgard's forces were clearly losing ground. If Thanos destroyed a few more large vessels, the war would be over.
At that point, running would be the only option.
"Go to hell!"
Hela no longer cared about victory, defeat, or the future of Asgard.
Hatred consumed her. Old grudges, new wounds—everything burned together into a single desire for revenge.
But as more warships exploded in the distance, Odin's last shred of patience finally vanished.
In a flash, he appeared before her.
The Eternal Spear thrust forward mercilessly.
Hela did not dodge.
The spear pierced straight through her body.
"Cough… cough…" Blood poured from her mouth as her body trembled.
She looked at Odin quietly.
No tears. No laughter.
Only calm.
The kind of calm one gives a stranger.
It wasn't worth it anymore.
This world was no longer worth staying in.
Her thoughts drifted to the Underworld.
It had been dull. Lonely. Endless.
But there had been hope.
A faint, stubborn hope that one day Odin might realize his mistake and allow her to return.
That hope was why she had agreed to his request, even knowing he faced an unimaginably powerful enemy.
Now, that hope was gone.
Completely.
All that remained was disappointment—thick, suffocating disappointment—and an endless, hollow despair.
Hela's feelings for Odin had always been a tangled mess.
It was impossible to say there had been no love.
When she was young, Odin had been good to her. More than good. He had praised her talent, guided her hand, and—once her potential became impossible to ignore—quietly shaped her as his chosen successor. A crown had hovered over her head long before she understood what it would cost.
She had pushed herself twice as hard because of that.
She hadn't wanted to disappoint him.
Even when Odin sealed her away for awakening her witch bloodline. Even when he forced her to butcher her own subordinates with her own hands. Even then, she had never felt despair like this.
That was why she hadn't resisted.
That was why she had let Odin pierce her.
There was no sorrow greater than a shattered heart—and that was exactly where she stood now, broken and bleeding.
"Hela!"
Frigga's scream tore through the battlefield.
She had just recovered from the antimatter cannon's backlash when she saw it—her daughter impaled by Odin's spear. Horror twisted her face as she surged forward without hesitation.
"Odin! What are you doing?!"
As she flew, her hands moved in a blur. Soft white light bloomed around her palms, warm and gentle, rushing into Hela's body to knit torn flesh and mend shattered vitality.
Odin yanked the Spear of Eternity free.
He didn't look at Hela.
He didn't look at Frigga.
Instead, he turned toward Thanos.
The Titan stood in the distance, arms relaxed, lips curled in an unmistakable sneer.
That look snapped something inside Odin.
"Thanos! Die!"
Golden light exploded from his body as he charged forward like a maddened god.
Fueled by rage so intense it drowned out reason, Odin felt it—his power surging past its previous limits. His limbs felt lighter. Faster. Stronger.
For the first time in the battle, Thanos was driven back.
Blow after blow rained down.
Then Odin feinted.
The spear vanished from Thanos's line of sight—only to reappear from an impossible angle.
Poof.
Warm blood splashed across Odin's armor.
Some of it sprayed into his eyes.
The world lurched.
When his vision cleared, his heart stopped.
The spear was not in Thanos's chest.
It was buried deep in Frigga's.
Her eyes were wide with disbelief. Not pain—shock. As though her mind simply refused to accept what had happened. The light within them dimmed, fading away like a dying star.
Odin couldn't breathe.
Frigga had aged. Time had softened her beauty, stolen the sharpness of youth.
But he had never stopped loving her.
Otherwise, he would not have remained unmarried all these years—content with fleeting affairs that meant nothing. He had never allowed those moments to bear fruit. No children. No attachments.
If he had wanted heirs, he could have had thousands.
So why had he put everything into Thor?
Why had he tolerated Frigga binding Asgard's energy source to Hela—something that weakened him directly—without removing her?
Why had he indulged her stubbornness again and again?
It hadn't been because of some ancient contract.
It had been love.
Love for the small witch who once clutched his robes and stared up at him with tear-filled eyes.
And now—
He had killed her.
With his own hands.
Reality crashed down on him like a collapsing realm.
Behind him, Hela's eyes snapped open, flooded with red.
Her face twisted—not with grief alone, but with pure, murderous hatred.
"Odin," she hissed. "Die."
Death itself answered her call.
A tidal wave of black energy erupted from her body, warping the air, freezing the battlefield in dread.
From afar, Thanos calmly closed his fingers around the Mind Stone, its glow dimming as he withdrew its power.
Without Odin's helmet, what did he think he could use to resist the Mind Stone?
Thanos watched Hela with mild curiosity.
She really dared to glare at him like that.
…Bold.
Or stupid.
Either way, fear clearly wasn't one of her talents.
.....
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