Upon hearing Ron's mockery, Hela was even more enraged; she pointed her longsword, and boundless divine power converged.
Above the sky, the weather changed dramatically, and thick, ink-like dark clouds rolled and spread.
Ron looked up.
A dark green magic circle, etched with mysterious and complex Runes, covered a thousand meters of sky.
Runes, in Norse mythology, are magical and mysterious characters possessing incredible power.
In Norse mythology, it is said that Odin, the All-Father, sacrificed his right eye for the wisdom of Mimir's Well, and hung himself upside down on a tree for nine days and nine nights, contemplating the mysteries of the Universe.
When he descended from the tree, he comprehended the Runes, which he then taught to the World.
But in reality, Runes are the foundation of magic in the Nine Realms, even older than Odin.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Beneath the magic circle, thousands of jet-black Swords of Night Sky flew down, densely hovering beside Hela.
"You will pay the price, mortal!"
Hela's face was filled with cold killing intent; she leaped high, raising her sword to attack Ron, while simultaneously controlling the endless Swords of Night Sky to launch a combined assault.
The Swords of Night Sky streaked across the sky, their sharp blades converging into a long river, capable of instantly pulverizing a person.
Ron flew up, fighting Hela bare-handed, and facing the incoming Swords of Night Sky, he shot plasma energy from his eyes, destroying them.
The two engaged in a fierce battle at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
Hela, wielding the Sword of Night Sky, displayed exquisite and ruthless sword techniques; every movement was filled with the sharp beauty of Death, each a fatal killing blow.
Her fighting style was even more vicious and unpredictable, with her rich combat experience, she always found an angle to counterattack from a disadvantage.
In the past, Death Goddess Hela's reputation, along with Odin's, shook the Nine Realms; she had fought for over a thousand years, and she believed her martial arts had reached the peak of human ability.
But when she met Ron, she realized she seemed to be mistaken.
Ron always managed to neutralize her attacks with the most exquisite angles and power, striking directly at tiny flaws and fatal weaknesses that should have been imperceptible.
Just as she barely dodged a dangerous blow, before she could catch her breath, the next precise and ruthless attack arrived, making one's hair stand on end.
His moves were perfect to the smallest detail, almost divine.
Hela was not only inferior to Ron in strength and speed, but also greatly outmatched in martial arts, which she had practiced and battled with for over a millennium.
From time to time, her body was severely wounded, spitting blood; if not for her being the Death Goddess, whose life was linked to Asgard, and thus immortal as long as Asgard existed, she would have been in danger long ago.
Bang!
Another punch came, violently hitting Hela's face; the air exploded, and she was sent flying.
"You—"
With her face struck, she stabilized her body and turned back, her face showing anger as she tried to say something.
But Ron instantly broke through the air and appeared before her, expressionlessly punching back the words she wanted to say, speaking in a contemptuous tone.
"Trying to talk while fighting? You would have died a hundred times on the battlefield."
"Midgardian, you seek Death!"
Blocking the blow with her sword, Hela's face darkened at his words, almost spitting blood from anger.
She had commanded and experienced tens of thousands of battles, big and small; when did she ever need someone to lecture her?
"Ignorance!"
"Go!"
Hela was furious, controlling millions of jet-black longswords to converge into a long river and attack.
Ron released energy from his eyes, destroying the Swords of Night Sky that surged and stabbed like a river, but his speed couldn't keep up with the incoming rush.
He dodged swiftly.
The next instant, the Swords of Night Sky scattered and followed him like a persistent malady.
He powerfully punched, shattering the river; the waves paused, and the World seemed to freeze for an instant, then the river of longswords dispersed and flew backward.
But just then...
From the center of the river of longswords, a Sword of Night Sky suddenly flew out, with a speed and power different from the others.
Like a dark green aurora, full of beauty and Death, it flashed past instantly.
Whoosh!
Ron tilted his head to dodge, and the longsword left a blood mark on him.
"One point for you.
Killed by me a dozen times, and you finally managed to wound me."
He chuckled, raising his hand to touch his face, but the wound healed in the blink of an eye, and he couldn't feel a trace of blood on his hand.
"Too bad the wound was too shallow; it healed before I finished speaking."
Ron lowered his clean hand, shaking his head.
"I will surely cut off your head in front of your people."
Hela, who had felt a hint of triumph from ambushing Ron, roared with uncontrollable rage, and then unleashed her full power.
Hela's power was quite formidable; even Odin back then had to exhaust the Valkyrie, Asgard's most elite unit that even Thor wanted to join, and consume a certain amount of her divine power, before he, at his strongest stage of middle age, could subdue and seal her.
"Nearly two millennia have passed; I have grown stronger. The old man is dead; there is no one in the Nine Realms who can stop me!"
Even though she was not at her peak in Asgard, Hela received a significant boost because Earth was connected to Asgard through the World Tree, with a mysterious link between them.
However, she was still no match for Ron.
"This is taking a bit long."
But Ron, who had been in control, was the first to show slight impatience.
He had not wanted to use divine power to avoid disrupting his plans, but now he held back no longer, condensing a golden Lightning Spear in his palm and suddenly throwing it.
"Father?"
The vast divine power of lightning, a familiar aura, shocked Hela; her pupils dilated. She swung her sword but failed to block it; her shoulder was pierced by the lightning, leaving a charred blood hole.
She cried out, clutching her wound, looking on in astonishment.
For a moment, she had a feeling as if she were facing her hypocritical and ruthless father.
Hela even suspected that Ron was Odin transformed by magic.
"Don't talk nonsense.
I don't have a daughter as old as you."
In the sky above, Ron once again condensed a Lightning Spear, chuckling.
"No, you are not him.
He is already dead!"
Since she had escaped, her father could not possibly still be alive. Hela frowned, and hearing Ron's words, her face contorted with ferocity and killing intent, she urged the river of Swords of Night Sky to attack.
Rumble!
Thunderclouds churned in the sky, as if a god was enraged.
Large bolts of lightning tore through the sky and struck down fiercely.
The river of Swords of Night Sky was swept away and destroyed like dry leaves.
Ron's body shimmered with lightning, and he instantly appeared before Hela, wielding the Lightning Spear, forcing her to constantly retreat in disarray.
When he didn't use divine power, Hela could still put up a fight.
But when he unleashed his divine power, Hela was unable to resist and was pushed onto the defensive; his powerful offensive, like a raging storm of thunder, left her only able to barely parry.
After another dozen rounds, her body was continuously severely wounded, and suddenly her neck was firmly gripped.
"The Death Goddess, linked to Asgard, who can never be killed?"
Ron grabbed Hela, electric light flashed in his eyes, and a ruthless divine might emanated from him.
He muttered inwardly, wanting to test how Hela's immortality worked.
Vast divine power erupted.
"Ah!"
Hela's face contorted in pain.
Boundless divine power, violent as a tsunami, destroyed her body inch by inch; she screamed.
"It's useless, you can't kill me!"
She admitted that Ron's strength was beyond her expectations, but she had her confidence; as long as Asgard remained, no one could kill her!
Reduced to ashes!
Hela's entire being turned into dust, vanishing from the World.
But the next moment...
A dark green light appeared.
Hela's body reappeared; she wore a black horned crown and battle armor, and her aura seemed to have returned to its peak, as if the exhaustion from the previous battle had all disappeared, like she had been reborn.
"Thank you for helping me regain my strength."
Looking at Hela, who had fully recovered on the spot, Ron raised an eyebrow: "Is that so?"
He raised his palm, and dazzling golden lightning streaked across the sky.
Hela's hand, which was raising her battle sword to attack, was erased as if by a golden paintbrush, disappearing.
She cried out in pain, clutching her shoulder as she flew backward.
"Your power is insignificant to me."
Ron attacked continuously; Hela's attempts to dodge or block were all useless, and within less than a second, her other arm was also annihilated.
He punched Hela away, then extended his hand and activated the power of the Green Lantern Ring.
In the air not far away, emerald light condensed into a peculiar medieval Iron Maiden torture device.
The two halves of the human-shaped mold opened, filled with steel spikes, and Hela happened to fly backward into it.
Clang!
The torture device slammed shut, countless spikes piercing her entire body.
"Ah!"
Her arm wounds were jammed, preventing flesh from regenerating, and whenever Hela had the thought of using magic, the spikes of the mold instantly expanded, almost tearing her body apart, preventing her from using her power.
Her current situation was similar to Thor's controlled state on Sakaar, but Ron's method of preventing her from using divine power was even more brutal.
"Now, I want to ask you how you will atone for my disrespect."
Ron slowly flew over, smiling.
"Spit on my face?
That seems to be all you can do."
"No matter what you do, you can't kill me.
When I escape, I will tear you into ten thousand pieces."
Even the usually cold and elegant Hela couldn't help but have her face contort into a twisted, ferocious expression due to extreme rage; as the Daughter of the All-Father and the Death Goddess, when had she ever suffered such humiliation?
"Still cursing?
You have quite a bit of strength."
He chuckled.
After trying, Hela's immortality was a rule-based one; even annihilating her body from head to toe couldn't kill her.
Her life-saving ability was almost stronger than Apocalypse's.
However, Ron had never intended to kill Hela anyway.
He surveyed the unfortunate Death Goddess before him.
"Hela was Odin's first child, helping Odin conquer the Nine Realms, she was the strongest contender for the Heavenly Palace throne, and once the executioner of Asgard, the Master of Mjolnir."
Unfortunately, after conquering the Nine Realms, Odin changed his brutal and ruthless ways, wishing to rule the Nine Realms with benevolence, content with the status quo, and also wary of the unfathomable Universe, he decided to stop expanding and seek a way to survive Ragnarok.
But Hela had grown up fighting alongside Odin in the Nine Realms; most of her life was spent in battle, accompanied by blood and Death, she had long grown accustomed to these things.
"Under Odin's successful tutelage, Hela was like a younger version of Odin, equally ambitious, equally arrogant, warlike, and ruthless; she could not accept Odin's decision."
The two thus became enemies, and Hela was finally imprisoned by Odin on Earth.
This daughter, Hela, was almost a sacrifice for Odin's great achievements.
"Tell me, what are you doing in my kingdom?"
Ron asked as if he didn't know.
In fact, one could guess Hela's purpose in coming to Wakanda without even thinking.
It was either for the Tesseract or for the spaceship.
With nearly two millennia of accumulated hatred and resentment, Hela must be eager to return to Asgard, unleash a massacre, and ascend to the throne.
"Ah!"
The spikes of the torture device contracted, allowing Hela's body to recover, then expanded again the next moment, almost tearing her body apart, inflicting incomparable pain upon her.
But even so, unable to suppress her screams, she clenched her teeth, looking at him with eyes that seemed to want to devour Ron alive, not saying a word.
"Not talking?
Then let's talk about Asgard."
He asked with a smile: "I remember you just mentioned Asgard, didn't you?"
At the mention of Asgard, Hela finally reacted, but still did not speak, only looking at him with hateful eyes.
Ron seemed greatly bored.
He waved his hand, releasing energy to destroy the Swords of Night Sky that were jamming the Vibranium Sentinels.
Then he handed the humanoid torture device over to them.
"This kind of pain can make a person collapse into a madman in just ten minutes.
Let's see how long you can hold out."
Hela was taken away and placed in a dungeon.
The battle subsided, and Najia dispatched the Iron Sentinels and other personnel to begin repairing the damaged streets, a task Wakanda was already exceptionally skilled at.
At night, the deep night was dotted with stars.
In the dungeon, the suffering Hela suddenly endured the pain and activated magic, her entire being turning into a dark green mist, escaping from the torture device.
Her injuries fully recovered, her eyes filled with resentment.
"You underestimated me too much, Ron.
Few in all of Asgard can surpass my mastery of magic."
Hela wished she could tear Ron, who had defeated and humiliated her, into ten thousand pieces as she had said, and before killing him, inflict a hundred kinds of humiliation and a thousand kinds of pain to repay everything.
But "Now is not the time!"
Hela's face showed deep apprehension; she had to admit that the man was terrifyingly strong, even stronger than Odin.
She had to return to Asgard and use Asgard's power to avenge this humiliation.
"Ron, you are very strong, but can you withstand the Bifrost Bridge?"
The Bifrost Bridge was Asgard's planet-destroying weapon; even Odin dared not confront it head-on.
"I will surely avenge this; you have angered Death."
Hela had heard Ron's name when she first entered Wakanda, but she had been very dismissive before, never addressing Ron by name; now it was different.
Her figure vanished, and along the way, she used magic to find out the location of Wakanda's Vibranium spaceship, then boarded it, made the spaceship invisible, and silently left Wakanda, preparing to return to Asgard.
Hela, Odin's daughter, had never had to sneak around like a thief before, but circumstances forced her to put aside her former pride, though it made her feel utterly humiliated, she had to endure it.
However, she didn't know that just after she left, Ron, holding the Mind Scepter, appeared in the sky, gazing calmly as Hela flew away in the spaceship.
His goal was never to defeat or kill Hela; on the contrary, he also wanted Hela to return to Asgard.
His actions against Hela were mainly because she was too arrogant, causing widespread destruction in his territory, and acting as if he should kneel to welcome her, so he acted to teach her a lesson.
It wasn't that easy to get what she wanted and achieve her goals from him.
"Hela, when you return to Asgard, that's when the real show begins."
A smile played on his lips.