An indescribable aura spread across the field.
Lucas remained calm, quietly loosening his grip a little.
Vaguely, Sindr saw her father, Surtur. He held the Twilight Sword, towering above everyone. Wherever his longsword passed, no one could stand against him.
Father was still so tall and mighty, as if he was omnipotent.
Sindr thought to herself, as if she had returned to her childhood.
At that time, she had looked up to her father in the same way.
Suddenly, Sindr's fate, which had been tightly constricted, loosened, and she could breathe deeply again.
The next moment, icy water rushed into her mouth and nose.
Sindr struggled to sit up, coughing violently.
It turned out that the ice layer beneath her had been blasted into a giant pit, and as the ice melted, the icy water flowed down, forming a small lake.
And she was in the very center, at the deepest part of the lake.
A moment later, Sindr came to her senses and saw Surtur holding the Twilight Sword in one hand, protecting her beneath his feet.
That had not been her delusion before losing consciousness, but Surtur, realizing his daughter was in trouble, had arrived in time to help.
"Be careful, Sindr." Surtur said in a deep voice.
In a place Sindr could not see, his left palm trembled slightly, uncontrollably.
This was the price.
Although Thor's combat power was slightly inferior to his, it was not an easy task for him to shake off Thor and rescue his daughter.
"Yes, father."
Sindr coughed out a few mouthfuls of blood, replying.
Afterward, she looked at Laufey, who was walking over from a distance, looking somewhat ashamed, and said coldly, "Laufey, keep an eye on your people."
Laufey smiled sheepishly, noncommittal.
"Alright, the battle isn't over yet, don't let yourselves get disorganized."
Surtur appeased the two, then continued towards Thor.
Laufey did the same, as ice spikes surged out, dividing the battlefield, and then, with the cooperation of the Frost Giants, forced Lucas far away.
Laufey and Surtur's elemental attributes clashed, and their combined combat power did not increase but rather decreased, so fighting separately was more suitable.
Lucas, Thor, and Loki were aware of this, but they didn't take it to heart.
If Lucas didn't restrain himself, he could wipe out the three opponents in a matter of minutes.
"Loki, you be careful too."
Before separating, Thor cautioned Loki.
If Lucas hadn't intervened earlier to interrupt Sindr's spell, Loki would have been in danger.
"Mm."
Loki nodded, determined to be even more cautious.
Soon, the battle erupted again, with the six individuals engaging in fierce combat.
The situation was slightly different from before: Surtur's strength had declined after being injured, putting him almost evenly matched with Thor.
Laufey, seeing Lucas's energy once again "depleted," wanted to seize the opportunity to avenge his previous humiliation. He fully activated the casket of ancient winters, generating ice birds that swarmed towards Lucas.
The ice birds blotted out the sky and covered the ground, appearing everywhere, and were even harder to avoid than the ice spikes. From time to time, an ice bird would strike Lucas, causing ripples in the protective shield on his body.
The situation looked very favorable for Laufey.
However, a sense of unease welled up in Laufey's heart and continued to churn. It was as if it was reminding him that there was danger here, and he should quickly get away.
Laufey observed his surroundings, trying to find the source of the danger, and noticed that Lucas seemed somewhat dazed, staring blankly at him.
Just as Laufey saw, Lucas was indeed in a daze.
When Sindr was on the verge of death just now, he had felt a sense of déjà vu, a feeling of fate.
And after Surtur saved Sindr, this sense of déjà vu faded.
Lucas looked up in the direction of Asgard.
Regarding Ragnarok, he had some questions to ask Odin.
Infinite distance was crossed in an instant, and a phantom figure condensed beside Odin.
"All-Father, did you discover anything just now?"
The phantom figure was Lucas, and he asked directly.
Odin had his back to Lucas, overlooking the void of the Universe below, seemingly crossing infinite distances to witness the battle on Earth.
"The Gods of the World Tree made a move just now, and the threads of fate shifted slightly. But unfortunately, I couldn't grasp it."
Lucas nodded. "Indeed, I suspect that whenever a powerful deity or giant dies, the Gods of the World Tree are drawn in, taking the opportunity to absorb their primordial energy."
"Later, I will find an opportunity to reasonably inflict heavy damage on Laufey. Prepare yourself and see if you can grasp the threads of fate."
"It might not be that simple." Odin's tone was distant, as if he was contemplating something.
"Let's give it a try. If it works, it's a gain. If not, there's no loss."
"Alright, let's try again."
Odin nodded in agreement, his gaze profound, as if he had made some sort of decision.
Back on the Norwegian Sea battlefield, Laufey saw Lucas's eyes shift from confusion to sharpness, and his heart skipped a beat.
His ominous premonition grew stronger.
He should have accepted Loki's challenge earlier.
"Sword, come!"
Lucas raised his hand to the sky, and a longsword glowing with sacred silver light pierced through the air, caught in his hand.
Along with the longsword came a silvery, sticky, unknown substance.
The unknown substance collided with Lucas's body, spreading out to form a ferocious, sharply angled battle armor.
Under the sunlight, the armor shone brilliantly.
"This sword is named Sword of Dawn, meaning to dispel darkness."
"This armor is named Sol, meaning the glorious great sun."
Lucas, clad in Sol and wielding Sword of Dawn, shot forward, attacking Laufey.
The armor seemed to absorb the sun's energy, and the solar fire burned fiercely on his body. Laufey's released ice birds melted before they could even get close.
As the sword's edge swept past, the power of light surged forth, dazzling and visually striking. The light refracted through the ice layers, creating a vibrant spectrum of colors but it had no substantial meaning.
Laufey was of the ice attribute, not the darkness attribute. He was unaffected, and propped up his greatsword with both hands, lowering his center of gravity to block.
Laufey knew well that this sorcerer in front of him was a beast in human skin, possessing immense power.
Clang!
With a crisp sound, Sword of Dawn struck Laufey's greatsword.
A terrifying clash of power, and a shockwave brewed.
After a brief stalemate, a figure was sent flying backward by the shockwave.
The size difference between the two was immense, yet it was the larger Laufey who was sent flying.
Even though Laufey had exerted all his strength, receiving Lucas's attack in a defensive posture, he still couldn't stop Lucas.
Lucas pressed his advantage, catching up to Laufey's retreating figure, and then fiercely slashed his chest with another sword strike.
This time, Laufey was not like Sindr, who had someone to rescue her in time. With a tearing sound, a slash appeared, stretching from Laufey's left shoulder to his right abdomen, and blood spilled out as if it were free.
Boom!
Laufey's trajectory, as he was sent flying, was altered by the power from the sword, and he crashed heavily onto the ice surface in front of Lucas.
"Ugh!"
Upon landing, Laufey couldn't help but spit out several more mouthfuls of blood.
Although Lucas had held back and not aimed for his head, Laufey had taken a sword to the chest, his internal organs were severely damaged, and blood continued to gush out uncontrollably. Undoubtedly, such injuries were enough to be fatal.
In a little while, he would likely lose his life force.
"Cough, cough. I didn't expect that I'm still not your match."
Laufey struggled to prop himself up, unwilling to fall before this "arch-rival."
"You won, but Asgard won't win, and Midgard certainly won't win."
Laufey said, looking at Lucas, who, after unleashing his "full power" attack, feigned weakness.
In the distance, the battle between the Angel Queen and Sif and the others had also reached a conclusion.
Or rather, the Angel Queen had almost slaughtered Asgard's elite. Only a few severely wounded individuals lay on the ground, temporarily out of the fight.
"Hoo... Hoo..."
Laufey gasped for air, but the air escaped from the wound in his chest.
"To… die at the hands of someone like you… can be considered my… good fortune." Laufey spoke intermittently.
His voice grew fainter and fainter, and the sense of déjà vu of fate grew stronger and stronger.
Lucas concentrated, sensing carefully. Although finding the threads of fate was Odin's task, he wouldn't completely ignore it. In terms of sensory ability alone, he surpassed Odin.
It was just that he was not a member of Ragnarok and didn't have a connection with it. Otherwise, he would have long since followed the trajectory of fate and found the Gods behind the world Tree.
Just then, Laufey's dim eyes suddenly brightened. He used his last but of life to activate the casket of ancient winters, and a cold current surged out.
Lucas's eyes flickered, and he sighed inwardly. He deliberately pretended not to react, showing a hint of panic.
In an instant, the cold current engulfed Lucas, freezing him.
Seeing this, Laufey's eyes dimmed, and his life force completely disappeared. After losing his life force, his body still followed the obsession he had in life, controlling the casket of ancient winters to aim at Lucas, continuously reinforcing the ice seal.
Jotunheim, this is the last thing I can do for you.