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The scenery of Hel was always monotonous, dull, desolate, and gloomy, enough to weigh down anyone's heart with a deep sense of melancholy and isolation.
Arthur spread the Wings of the Raven God, preparing a defensive stance. But the anticipated scene, of Hela charging at him with a head full of barbed spikes, desperate and furious, never happened.
"Where is she?"
Caught off guard, Arthur traced a symbol, the Eye of Horus.
As the energy within him grew, the range of movement for his Eye of Horus had also expanded. This was due to the fusion of his mental energy and the golden energy inside his body…
Honestly, Arthur still hadn't fully adapted to the sudden transition from colorless energy to golden energy.
As he moved mid-air, the Eye of Horus began scanning the area.
The portion of Hel Odin had carved out wasn't particularly large, so Arthur quickly located Hela. The woman was seated on the ground, staring blankly at a small pool of water before her…
Arthur hesitated, then held his breath, suppressing his aura, and stealthily descended behind her.
Surprisingly… he wasn't detected!
Arthur blinked, tilting his head to glance at whatever had captured Hela's attention.
It was nothing special. Just a small lake, murky and unremarkable, with nothing particularly beautiful about it so it was hard to tell what was so fascinating about it.
"Is she reminiscing about the glorious past?" He wondered silently, then cleared his throat.
"Sit," Hela's voice rang out, calm and devoid of any emotion.
Arthur grinned awkwardly. Clearly, she had already sensed him. Which made sense. He had been a bit late in masking his presence. Normally, she should've picked up on him instantly.
He shrugged and walked over, sitting beside her. "Hela, what are you doing?"
Hela glanced at him expressionlessly, then turned her gaze back to the water. Arthur was baffled. After a while, she finally spoke.
"Why are you here again?"
"I came to tell you: no abandonment, no surrender. Do you believe me?"
"Did you take the wrong meds?" Hela gave him a helpless look. "You keep coming here, what exactly do you want?"
"To have a proper talk with you," Arthur replied.
"Unless you can defeat me, there's nothing for us to talk about," Hela said flatly. "Now that Odin's dead, I'll leave this place and return to Asgard to reclaim what's mine. I don't understand, why does a mere mortal like you insist on interfering?"
"Hmm… because your old man promised you to me," Arthur said it offhandedly, without thinking, and he was totally running his mouth.
Hela's eyes snapped to him, invisible energy bursting forth. Her black hair fluttered in the wind as she stared at him, gaze sharp as blades.
"I-I mean, you…"
Arthur was just about to tell her to calm down and that they could talk things out,
But then he heard her chuckle coldly. "I dare to marry, do you dare to take me?"
"Absolutely not!!!"
Arthur didn't hesitate for a second. Joking around was one thing, but when it came to matters of principle, Arthur could be very firm in his stance.
"Mortals," Hela sneered.
"Stop with the 'mortals this, mortals that'... Did a mortal eat your food? Did one of us jump into a well holding your kid or something?"
"…I don't have a kid! Stop spouting nonsense!"
"Alright, alright," Arthur muttered. "Anyway, that old man Odin did give me the title of God of War. So technically, I'm not just some nobody in Asgard."
"You? God of War?" Hela glanced at Arthur and couldn't help but laugh. "Is Asgard out of people? Or has Odin completely lost his mind? Otherwise, how did such a ridiculous order even come from him?"
"..." Arthur was helpless. "Can we just talk normally? That's basically a personal attack, you know."
"You really want to change all this?"
Suddenly, Hela looked at Arthur with a serious gaze. "If you want me to give up everything I'm destined to take back, then there are only two ways!"
"What ways?" Arthur perked up instantly.
"First!"
Hela fixed her gaze on Arthur. "You compensate for my losses! If I can't reclaim Asgard, then you'll have to give me a power or force roughly equal to it in return!"
"…Are you kidding?" Arthur nearly rolled his eyes. In this entire universe, there's only one Asgard!
If Odin weren't already aging and his strength deteriorating, Arthur wouldn't have to run around trying to clean up messes. If Thanos came knocking, Odin would've just blasted him away without even blinking.
Back in the day, that old man was brutal.
Why else would the legends of the Realm Eternal echo across the universe?
Where was Arthur supposed to find a force even remotely comparable to Asgard to hand over to Hela?
"I don't have a kingdom, but I do have a red skull lying around, interested?" Arthur joked. Honestly, Hela and Schmidt were both huge pains in the ass. If one headache could be used to solve another, he was all for it… Though yeah, he was just talking crap. That was never gonna happen.
As expected, Hela didn't even dignify that with a response.
She just sighed lightly. "The second way… is even harder."
"What is it?" Arthur asked.
"Conquer me."
Hela stood up and a massive, oppressive aura surged from her body like a storm.
"I'll give you three chances. That's already more grace than anyone's ever received. Starting now, this is your first chance. After this, only two remain. If within these three battles you can't defeat me, can't use force to completely subdue me, then drop it. Don't ever bring it up again. I won't keep giving you chances to run away."
Her voice was low but immensely powerful. The divine might surging from her shook the entire dimensional barrier around them.
If she wanted to, she could leave this place at any time.
But Odin was still alive.
She could still feel it.
As long as Odin lived, even just for one more day, she wouldn't leave. Not out of fear… but because she didn't want to see him.
There were deep, complicated emotions in play, ones that an outsider like Arthur would never understand. Arthur exhaled softly, standing up as well. Golden energy wrapped around his body, nearly solid in form, spiraling like a celestial force orbiting him.
Only now, at this moment, did Arthur finally realize something.
In all their previous battles, Hela had been holding back.
He didn't know why, every time she acted like she was about to go completely berserk, as if she wanted to cut him in half with a single strike.
But now… this was her true self. Her strongest state.
If she had ever gone all out before, he probably wouldn't have survived long enough to escape.
But now…
'If it's a fight you want, then let's fight!!'
(End of Chapter)