The great sword pierced through the dragon's abdomen and emerged from its back, skewering its entire body in mid-air.
Molten blood poured down like a waterfall, falling into the sea of magma below and stirring up towering waves of fire.
The dragon was not yet dead; it struggled, its dragon claws tearing at the great sword, attempting to pull itself free.
Hela would not give it a chance; she appeared before the dragon, gripping mjolnir with both hands, the hammer head emitting a low hum as it gathered power.
"Game over."
A bloodthirsty smile curled at the corner of her mouth, and she slammed mjolnir down hard onto the fire dragon's head; this strike was even more powerful than the last, the power of thunder sending the fire dragon into a momentary daze.
Hela raised her hand in a beckoning gesture, and another, even larger black sword rose from the ground, its blade flashing with a cold glint.
Her eyes narrowed, and the black sword, like an arrow released from a bow, slashed fiercely at the fire dragon's neck!
With a crisp "crack," the fire dragon's ferocious head was severed completely, rolling into the magma pool and splashing up a large amount of magma.
The headless body twitched a few times before stopping, the dark green blood flowing like a waterfall and quickly being swallowed by the magma.
Hela landed on the fire dragon's corpse, licked the dark green blood splattered on the corner of her mouth, her eyes filled with lingering excitement: "Not bad, much more interesting than those small fry."
The warriors of Asgard erupted into thunderous cheers.
The fame of the Goddess of Death was deeply branded into everyone's soul at this moment.
But Mavuika did not cheer; her gaze passed over Hela and looked toward the vastest, deepest sea of magma in the distance.
There, something was waking up.
Hela sensed it too; she turned her head sharply and looked at that sea of magma.
The surface of the sea was rising, as if a mountain range on the seabed was breaking out of the sea.
Magma slid down from the rising surface like a waterfall, revealing the dark red "mountain body" beneath, flowing with the luster of runes.
But that was not a mountain.
It was a palm.
A palm formed of solidified lava and flowing fire, followed by another hand, pressed against the edge of the "sea surface," pushing up with force.
"Rumble—!!!"
Muspelheim was trembling.
It was not an earthquake, but the entire World paying tribute to its monarch.
Volcanoes erupted simultaneously, magma rivers flowed backward, and the dark red clouds in the sky swirled into a vortex.
A giant stood up from the sea of magma.
It was a giant nearly a hundred meters tall, its body composed of boiling magma, spewing raging fire with every breath, the magma on its skin constantly flowing and congealing, emitting a terrifyingly high temperature.
On its head, it wore a huge crown of fire, the crown formed from pure flames.
In its hand, it gripped a great flame sword almost as tall as itself, the blade wreathed in the Fire of Destruction, every swing capable of tearing the air, its might extremely terrifying.
The giant lowered its head and looked at the Asgardian fleet.
Its gaze first landed on Hela, then shifted to Mavuika at the bow of the flagship, and finally, fixed on Odin.
"Asgard—"
The voice was deafening, filled with anger and majesty.
"How dare you... step into my domain!"
Surtur, King of the Fire Giants, the absolute master of Muspelheim, issued a declaration of destruction to the invaders at this moment.
Mavuika gripped the sun-blaze thousand suns, eyes grave.
She could clearly feel the terrifying power contained within Surtur, the pure Fire of Destruction, carrying an aura that annihilated everything; it might be even more powerful than Laufey wielding the casket of ancient winters.
Hela hovered at the peak of the great sword, looking up at this giant a hundred times larger than herself.
Shocked? Of course.
But those emotions soon disappeared, and then she smiled, a smile that was crazy and joyful.
"This is what's interesting..." She licked her dry lips.
Before she finished speaking, the great sword beneath her feet disintegrated, returning to her body as Death Divine Power.
Then she stepped on a series of black sword stairs that condensed in the air, rushing toward Surtur's face!
"Hela! Wait—" Mavuika's warning was drowned out by the thunderous roar of the volcanic eruption.
She was already too late to stop it.
The sun-blaze thousand suns was unsheathed, her hair instantly turned into flames, and Mavuika transformed into a stream of light, chasing after her sister.
When Hela's charge was still three hundred meters from Surtur's face, she waved her hand continuously, and countless black swords condensed in the air, shooting toward Surtur like raindrops.
Surtur's massive body meant Hela didn't need to aim at all; all the black swords hit their target with ease.
Facing Hela's long-range attack, Surtur did not choose to dodge, or rather, he did not need to dodge at all.
The black swords shot into Surtur's body without any obstruction, swallowed by his magma-like body.
Except for splashing up some sparks, it did not have any effect on Surtur.
"Tsk." The attack was completely ineffective, and Hela frowned, but her speed did not decrease.
She gave up on long-range attacks, deciding to use the most direct method: get close and use mjolnir to smash that giant magma face.
Just as Hela approached Surtur's head, preparing to launch an attack, Surtur just turned his head slightly and opened his huge mouth toward Hela's direction.
"Boom—" A pillar of fire, thicker than Hela herself, erupted from Surtur's mouth.
Hela's expression changed slightly, and she had to abandon her attack, blocking in front of her with mjolnir.
As thunder flashed, Surtur's pillar of fire was blocked by Hela, but she was also blasted back hundreds of meters by the terrifying impact.
"Damn it..." She gritted her teeth, Death Divine Power erupting with full force, attempting to counteract the immense force pushing her back.
Just at this moment, golden-red light surged from behind her.
Mavuika had arrived.
She raised her hand and pressed it against Hela's shoulder, stopping her backward momentum.
The giant flame sword in Surtur's hand swung violently, and an overwhelming flame slash chopped toward Hela.
Where the flame slash passed, the air was ignited, forming a long wall of fire, completely blocking Hela's retreat.
Mavuika raised the sun-blaze thousand suns and leaped in front of Hela.
"Clang!"
The two collided, emitting a deafening roar, golden-red and deep blue flames frantically intertwining and consuming each other, bursting into sparks that filled the sky.
Mavuika gritted her teeth, veins bulging on her arms, the Asgardian Divine Power and Teyvat Fire Origin in her body running at full capacity, only then barely blocking this terrifying blow.
Surtur was attracted by Mavuika's flames and cast his gaze toward her.
Then, Surtur let out a low laugh, as if he had discovered something interesting.
"Your flames..." Its voice was filled with greed: "My intuition tells me your flames can help me go further; I will devour you!"
Surtur's giant hand reached toward Mavuika, wanting to grab her.
The two looked at each other and reached a tacit understanding in an instant.
The black sword beneath Hela's feet surged, splitting into hundreds of dark green small swords, flying toward Surtur's limbs like a swarm of bees, Death Divine Power attached to them, attempting to pierce the lava shell and destroy his joints.
Mavuika, holding the sun-blaze thousand suns, transformed into a streak of golden-red light, circling behind Surtur; the solar fire on the blade condensed into a single point, like a stellar core, carrying the power to purify everything, and stabbed fiercely at Surtur's back.