Odin pressed forward, his strikes relentless. "You think mimicry makes you powerful?"
"Let me tell you from experience, it does," Erik smiled, channeling Gambit's molecular acceleration into the scepter.
The weapon glowed crimson as he swung, its explosive charge detonating against Gungnir's spear.
Odin staggered, his armor scorched.
Odin slammed Gungnir's base onto the crumbling floor. The ground trembled as a deafening hiss split the air.
From a rift in reality, Jörmungandr—the Midgard Serpent—surged forth, its gargantuan fangs dripping venom, scales shimmering with primordial magic. The serpent coiled, ready to strike.
Erik raised an eyebrow. "Oh, summoning creatures? I can do that as well!"
He snapped his fingers. Beelzebuth swirled behind him, and a monstrous Leviathan—a biomechanical beast from the Chitaurian race—crashed onto the battlefield, roaring with metallic fury.
The two titans collided, Jörmungandr's fangs sinking into the Leviathan's armor as its tail crushed entire pillars.
For a moment, the serpent dominated, its venom melting the Leviathan's plating. Odin smirked. "Your toys are pathetic."
"Maybe so, but I believe in quantity over quality."
The vortex of Beelzebuth that swirled behind Erik non-stop ever since the battle began, to absorb any and all Odin's disintegration blasts, poured not one but hundreds of Leviathans. Their shrieks and size shook and destroyed the palace.
Without wasting time, Erik's eyes glowed crimson as he unleashed Cyclops' optic blasts, forcing Odin to raise Gungnir in defense.
At the same time, his telekinesis ripped chunks of the ceiling loose, hurling them at the All-Father.
Odin batted them aside with contempt, but Erik was already multitasking—snapping his fingers again.
Meanwhile, the dozens of Leviathans swarmed Jörmungandr. The serpent thrashed, venom spraying wildly, but the sheer numbers overwhelmed it. Leviathans clamped onto its scales, tearing chunks of flesh with mechanical jaws.
Odin's eye widened. "You… insect."
"Did you say insects?" A silk thread zipped past Odin's ear, yanking Gungnir sideways.
Cindy swung down from the ceiling, her black-and-red suit torn but her grin feral.
"Miss me, Erik?" She fired a web-bomb at Odin's face, momentarily blinding him.
"Not much," He joked and telepathically told her the strategy to defeat the god. His most powerful skills at the moment to deal a killing blow were Beelzebuth and Domain.
And Odin could counter both.
Odinforce was a troublesome power, Erik admitted.
With just a quick burst, Odin could force the fog of Beelzebuth to back away and with just the tip of his Gungnir, he could pierce the Shield which was required for Domain.
*I need to separate him from the Gungnir.* Erik told Cindy telepathically, after debriefing the whole plan to her.
*On it,* Cindy replied.
Flames erupted from his free hand, merging with Iceman's cryokinesis to create a searing frostfire tornado. Odin roared, encased in a paradox of burning ice, before shattering it with a burst of Odinforce.
Not relenting in his attacks, Erik channeled Gambit's molecular acceleration, he charged a marble pillar with explosive energy and pushed it toward Odin with telekinesis.
The All-Father disintegrated it too, but the resulting blast rattled even his invincible physique.
Cindy, perched on a half-destroyed pillar, hurled fate-sealing webs at Odin's legs.
Odin snarled, obliterating the webs with a glance. "You dare—?!"
"Dare? Gramps, I invented audacity." Cindy's giant spiders swarmed in, but Odin shot a blast from Gungir.
The twin monstrous spiders however just dispersed into thousands upon thousands of smaller spiders, skittering up his armor to bite at his exposed skin.
Erik quickly closed the distance and tried to consume Odin into Beelzebuth, however, Odin raised his palm golden light emitted from it pushing the dark purplish fog away. But then Erik's other hand which was covered with the same dark fog emitted a similar golden beam.
"Remember this?" he taunted, unleashing a copied Odinforce blast point-blank. The golden energy tore through Odin's armor, hurling him across the room.
Before he could even get up, Erik's boot slammed into his ribs, cracking divine bone, and sending a visible shockwave around the entire palace.
Gungnir left his arm, and Cindy didn't waste time before she snatched it away with her webs.
For the first time in a millennia, the old god spit up blood from his mouth.
"Time to end this." He joined his hands, and his [Shield] erupted around them—a translucent dome sealing Odin inside. "—Domain," he whispered.
Reality warped within the barrier. Gravity inverted; fire burned blue and cold. Odin floated helplessly, his armor crumbling under paradoxical physics. He opened his palm, probably calling the Gungnir back to his palm however it didn't return no matter how much he called.
Meanwhile, outside of Erik's domain, Cindy was coiling webs upon webs on the golden spear. Of course, the webs weren't ordinary, they were fate-sealing ones.
"Make it fast, Erik, I can't hold it back for long!" She shouted.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Odin's eye glowed as he summoned more power, however, he coughed up blood instead.
Something was wrong! Why wasn't Odinforce obeying him? Why was his own power harming him?
Erik strode forward, scepter morphing into a blade. "Unlock the runes that are protecting the treasury now. Now."
Odin's eye burned with defiance. "Asgard… will never yield…"
"Wrong answer." Erik plunged the blade into Odin's chest.
Odin's single eye locked onto Erik's as the blade pierced his chest. There was no rage, no defiance—only quiet resignation.
A faint smile tugged at his lips, his gaze almost… grateful.
Erik froze. 'Relief?'
After all the rage, the battle, the struggle—why did Odin look so at peace in his final moments? That was the kind of expression someone had when they knew their death meant something. The kind of expressions that these all-knowing types had... Like a final move in a game of chess.
Erik hated that. He didn't like being a pawn in someone else's plans. Watcher was already on Erik's hit list.
The All-Father's body began to dissolve into golden light as if his very essence welcomed oblivion. Erik halted the process, in his [Domain], where he ruled over reality, he denied Odin the right to fade into light.
He slammed his palm onto Odin's forehead. "[Resurrect]."
Odin's disintegrating form jerked violently. Dark tendrils of Erik's power slithered into his veins, stitching flesh and bone back together. The golden light dimmed, replaced by an oily, necrotic sheen. Odin gasped, lurching forward as his wounds sealed—but his eye no longer burned with divine fury. Only hollow obedience.
Erik yanked the blade free, watching coldly as the resurrected Odin knelt, one hand pressed to his healed chest.
Cindy slumped against a shattered pillar, her right arm charred black from shoulder to fingertips. "Oh, you're finally back…" she mumbled before her grip loosened and the spear slipped from her fingers.
"Took you… long enough," she wheezed, her legs buckling.
Erik caught her before she hit the ground.
Her skin was fever-hot, veins pulsing with residual Odinforce. "Idiot," he muttered, covering her with [Shield - Domain] and then healed her charred body. "Told you not to touch the spear directly."
"S'not like… you gave me… gloves…" she mumbled, her head lolling against his chest.
Before Erik could retort, a sickly crack echoed behind them.
The air split open, vomiting a vortex of putrid green energy. From its depths stepped out a woman.
Her curly hair hung in matted strands, framing a gaunt face. One bloodshot eye gleamed through the darkness, ringed by dark shadows.
Her lips stretched into a grin too wide, too sharp, as she clapped slowly.
"Hela," Erik gritted his teeth.
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