Odin's face darkened, he was on the verge of unleashing his fury.
So, it wasn't your son who got hurt?
That was my daughter.
Mine!
"Agamotto!"
Odin's voice cut through the tension, a low growl directed at the Sorcerer Supreme, who had been supporting both him and Thanos throughout the battle.
"I know," Agamotto responded, his voice heavy. "But unfortunately, Dormammu is absolutely determined to trap the three of us here."
Every attempt to break through the Dark Dimension had failed, again and again, each effort had been repelled without mercy.
Agamotto sighed. His tone carried a grave weight.
Now that Dormammu had fully returned to his home domain, his power output was overwhelming. Facing him here, in his realm, was a disadvantage they could not ignore.
"I just need more time, Odin."
Breaking the barrier of the Dark Dimension wasn't impossible for Agamotto, but it wasn't something he could do in the blink of an eye either.
"You'd better hurry, Agamotto."
Odin's eyes had already recognized the nature of the flames dancing upon his daughter's soul.
It was pure energy from the Dark Dimension, unfiltered and savage. In her current state, a mere soul, Hela wouldn't be able to endure for long.
She was burning alive from the inside.
"You actually have a better option, Odin."
"Join me."
Dormammu's form flickered between substance and illusion, but his voice rang clear as he offered Odin another path.
In truth, this had always been Dormammu's fallback. After realizing Agamotto had joined forces with both Thanos and Odin, he had concocted a new scheme.
He had sent his empowered cultist to capture the children of Odin and Thanos, hoping to fracture the alliance and turn it into a fair, one-on-one battle between himself and Agamotto.
But things hadn't gone quite as he expected.
His follower had returned… with two empty vessels, soulless bodies stripped of their essence.
"And you too, Thanos."
"I assume you don't want your son's body destroyed, do you?"
Dormammu's mastery of manipulation was no less refined than anyone else's.
Thanos was silent, his face emotionless as his name was called.
"Of course, if neither of you care, then by all means…"
The fire intensified in the projected image. Odin's grip on Gungnir, the Eternal Spear, tightened. Crackles of divine thunder sparked behind his eyes.
"You're hesitating, Odin."
Thanos' deep voice broke the silence as he stepped forward, his massive blade sweeping aside Dormammu's attack to shield Agamotto.
"Thanos."
Odin turned, meeting the calm, resolute gaze of the Mad Titan.
"You don't trust your daughter enough."
Wiping his blade clean with his left hand, Thanos stepped forward and slashed, cutting open a path through death and chaos alike.
"Thanos!"
Dormammu was caught off guard. He hadn't expected Thanos to commit so decisively. His shriek was filled with disbelief.
"You're really not afraid of your son's body being destroyed?!"
"I believe in him."
The edge of Thanos' blade shimmered with chilling clarity, his tone calm but unshakably firm.
"Maybe Lothar still has a lot of flaws. But there's one thing he's always had."
"He never lets me down."
No sooner had he spoken than the scene in the projection shifted violently.
...
Midgard, Northern Europe, Dormammu's Sanctuary.
Flames in full bloom, birthed from blood, flowed across Menis and Hela, while simultaneously scorching the mechanical core of the artificial intelligence lifeform, Woz.
The agony was unbearable.
"How does it feel?"
"My power, no, I should say, Dormammu's power."
Snowflakes fell silently, unable to extinguish the burning flames. Hela's soul flickered, turning transparent, then solid again under the force of her godhood.
Shifting between forms, her state was unstable.
"Damn…"
Hela couldn't even spare the effort to reply. Her soul was in such pain she could barely breathe, not that a soul should need to breathe in the first place.
Must be the work of that damn Sorcerer Supreme's ridiculous magic.
"Well, aren't you a mess, Hela."
A voice she knew all too well rang out across the sanctuary. A figure descended from the heavens, moving so fast he left afterimages in the snowstorm, crashing down with a violent boom that sent snow flying in every direction.
Arms crossed over his chest, a face full of cracks wore a mocking grin. A red tail coiled around his waist. Behind him, clinging to the Mind Stone Scepter, was a breathless The Other, barely managing to keep up.
"Lothar?!"
Hela's eyes widened. The figure standing before her shouldn't have been here, couldn't have been here. Her gaze shifted to Menis and Woz, equally frozen in disbelief.
"L-Lord Savior?!"
"Prince Lothar?!"
"Meow!" A streak of orange bolted out from behind a rock, it was the Flerken, who had been quietly observing from the shadows. It leapt toward Lothar, aiming for his shoulder.
But it passed right through him.
"Meow?"
The poor cat landed face-first in the snow, blinking in confusion with its wide, round eyes.
"Oh? So you're Thanos' son?"
"I thought you weren't going to show up," said Cuba, who paused his movements at the sight of Lothar.
"Well, now that you're here, Lord Dormammu has all the pieces he needs."
"Cut the crap. I'm not some rookie like Hela," Lothar scoffed, stepping between Cuba and the trio of Woz, Hela, and Menis.
"If you think you can beat me, you're twenty thousand years too early."
Before the last word left his lips, Lothar vanished from sight.
Even Hela couldn't follow his movement.
The fractures running across his soul deepened as his devastating whip-kick smashed into Cuba's skull!
What?!
Cuba had no time to react. He was sent flying into the milky-white sanctuary walls like a ragdoll.
BOOM!!
Bricks shattered. The raw force of the attack collapsed the entire structure in an instant.
Buzz!
Then, without warning, flames erupted across Lothar's body…
"Prince Lothar!" ×2
"Lord Savior!"
"Lothar!"
Their cries rang out, but were quickly drowned by a laugh echoing from the ruins.
"Hahahaha—hahaha…"
"Interesting! You're truly interesting!"
"You really are stronger than Odin's little girl."
Cuba emerged slowly from the wreckage, blood on his lips. He pointed at Lothar with his right hand, the source of the flame on Lothar's soul was clear.
The cracks running along Lothar's spectral form were illuminated in eerie red light.
"Is that so?"
Lothar's expression didn't change. He stared coldly at Cuba, pupils slowly shifting to emerald green.
"No, stop!"
"Don't do it, Prince Lothar!"
Woz's status panel went haywire, the damage metrics on Lothar's soul were skyrocketing. Woz panicked.
"Lothar, do you have a death wish?!"
Hela, also engulfed in flames, turned serious. "You can't transform into that Super Saiyan form anymore. Not like this."
"Shut up, Hela."
"This is my battle. It has nothing to do with you."
"My body, I'll take it back myself."
Lothar turned slightly. His lips curved into a proud, defiant smirk.
Golden light burst from his body, the raging aura tearing apart the mist that cloaked the Nordic skies.
"So, watch closely."
"My transformation."
BOOM!!!!
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