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"When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth."
- Peter Washington, (Voyage of the Dead)
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<(Atem POV)>
"Now, do you remember what we discussed before I open the way to Midgard? You cannot kill anyone you meet unless you feel that they absolutely deserve it. Oh, and no attacking Asgard or Odin until I say so. I have made the foolish error of fighting him once without preparations, mistakenly thinking him a decrepit old man who is no longer capable of the feats he once was, but I won't make that same mistake again. I have realized how merciless he is to have been the Sky Father of the Norse pantheon for so long. To match my strength, that old man didn't even hesitate to absorb more than half of the life force of every Asgardian in the realm into himself. I am sure some of the weaker Norse gods even died because of that dick move of his. Battling him basically means fighting every Asgardian at the same time.
Also, now that I have fought him once, I am sure that the All-Father is mad enough that he would prefer to destroy the entire Asgard and kill all its residents than let one of us win and rule it. Initially, I thought I managed to land a critical blow on him with my last move, but I am not going to bet my chips on it. So, it's wiser for us to prepare in advance before we battle him than just go in blind and unprepared." I explained, trying to convince Hela not to let her desire for vengeance force her to do something stupid.
"... You do know that I was Odin's general once, right? My duty was not just to slaughter his enemies with my blades but also to command his armies and create strategies for wars. We did not take over the nine realms by just killing everything in front of us like a bunch of brutes. And yes, I do know about the capabilities of his Odinforce. Unlike me, Odin doesn't just draw power from the realm of Asgard but also from all of its residents since it is connected to every Asgardian's soul, living or dead. To him, everything in the realm of Asgard, including the dimension itself, is his property, and the old man can gladly sacrifice all of it if it means that he can get his way.
However, despite all that, the Odinforce has a weakness; it can't absorb the life force of his children. Even though we can be considered Asgardians, he has no control over us since we have his royal blood flowing through our veins." She responded with a look of slight disgust. "So, you don't have to worry, my dear husband. I have waited multiple millennia for my revenge; I can wait a few more days. As for his Odinforce, leave it to me. Even though I can't take over its power while he is still alive, I can at least weaken him and stop him from using it to its full potential when we fight. Even in the worst-case scenario, I can always tap into Hel's power to bolster mine, although I would prefer not to." She stated confidently.
I kept silently listening to her words. However, the moment I heard her calling me her husband again, I couldn't help but feel a slight chill all over my body. And no, it wasn't because she was my own blood sister, since marriage between relatives among gods was pretty common. Moreover, my sense of morality was too loose in my second life to be disgusted by things like this. No, I was feeling the chills because every time she called me her husband or her soulmate, I could notice an unsettling and creepy look in her eyes, much like how a drunkard would look at his last bottle of alcohol. It was as if she viewed me as a delicate prize that needed to be guarded and stored somewhere safe and secure.
"Zoya, open a Hush Tube to our Earth," I commanded the camouflaged Mother Box floating beside me as I shrugged off the creepy feeling before turning to Hela, "I wish I had a way to hide you from Odin's or Heimdall's eyes. Because of my... special circumstances, they can't seem to be able to find me with the help of their magic, but they might start plotting something once they notice that you are out of Helheim. I am confident that I can easily take on the entire Asgardian army on my own, but I would prefer not to since I don't have a direct enmity against them, just their foolish king." I said with a thoughtful look.
"Don't worry, Heimdall won't be able to see me with his eyes. I am a goddess of death, and even as an All-Seer, he can't see death coming. Odin might be able to find me if he uses his Odinforce, but I doubt he will be actively looking for me since he is confident that, besides the Bifrost, there is no other way for me to escape my prison." Hela revealed with a sneer.
"I see," I replied, somewhat impressed at her ability as a red hole was silently drilled into reality itself, connecting Helheim to Midgard through a temporary interdimensional energy tunnel.
"Impressive. I have never seen anything like this. This isn't ordinary magic, nor is it like those portals wizards use. No, it's much more... powerful. And it's faster than the Bifrost, too. You called this a Hush Tube, right? Tell me, can this open a way to any realm?" She asked, raising one of her eyebrows.
"More or less. At least as long as she has its dimensional coordinates, she can open a Hush Tube anywhere in existence. And, since Zoya here was able to scan all the realms the world tree is connected to, she can now open a Hush Tube to all the nine realms, ten if you count Heven as well." I answered, pointing to the godly cube.
Hela looked fascinated at my words. She looked at Zoya with a curious expression on her face, as if she were studying the unknown technology with her eyes. "I think we might have a few uses for her once we take over the nine realms." She declared, which seemed to please Zoya since this was the most praise Hela had ever uttered about anyone since we met her, and the words of the Goddess of Death also made it obvious that Hela had acknowledged Zoya.
"She is more than useful. She has been one of my greatest friends and constant companions. I probably wouldn't have been able to come this far without her." I nodded in agreement, praising Hela's words. "Anyway, I'll see you on the other side," I announced before walking through the Hush Tube.
***
<(Omniscient POV)>
"Just as I thought, he is indeed special," Hela mumbled to herself the moment she took her first step on the Earth of Midgard.
The very second she was out of her prison, free of the seal Odin had placed on her, Hela was again able to access some of the Odinforce that the All-Father had been keeping away from her, or at least what were slivers of its immense powers that Odin didn't even seem to notice. Of course, she made sure not to pull too much of it at once since that would definitely alert the Sky Father. However, even through the tiny amount of Odinforce that Hela was able to access, she was able to sense the entirety of Asgard all the way from Earth, and to say she was surprised would be an understatement.
'By Bor's beard, what happened here?' For the first time in many MANY millennia, Hela was genuinely taken aback as she noticed the dire situation of the home of the Norse gods.
The realm of Asgard was damaged beyond repair, fragments of broken reality littered the darkest corners of the dimension's space, while the entire realm was filled with a strange dark energy that was slowly spreading while seemingly wanting to obliterate everything in its path. Additionally, there were what looked like badly stitched holes in the very time and space of the realm, holes that seemed to be forcefully made by some extremely powerful, unknown interdimensional beings.
Shocked by what she was seeing, Hela decided to look deeper and tried to take a peek into the main city of Asgard, hoping that the All-father would not discover her. It was a risk, but one that she was ready to take to quench her immense curiosity about the true nature of her recent soulmate.
However, the moment she peeked into the city and its gigantic golden castle, Hela knew that she had made the right decision. She found that thousands of Asgardians had died because of the fight between Atem and Odin, their souls safely stored away in Valhalla, with the city practically in ruins. In fact, the surviving citizens didn't even look interested in rebuilding their homes. Instead, it seemed like they were preparing to leave, to escape the wretched nightmare their home was slowly becoming. However, the most surprising aspect of all this was the state the All-Father himself was in.
Odin was lying unconscious in his healing chamber, his body wrecked by fatal injuries both internal and external. His once mighty physique was reduced to a husk of its former self, with his skin barely hanging on from his frail skeleton. There was no more muscle or strength left in him, no more invincible aura emanating from his once mighty self. All one could feel from him was endless pain and utter weakness. Even his sleeping face was a reflection of fear and regret. The All-Father was barely hanging on a thin thread between life and death. Sooner or later, he was going to die. The only question was when.
Hela wondered if she should tell her findings to Atem, but she decided to keep her silence for now. She needed her husband to get stronger so that the two of them could take over all nine realms in one swift strike, and the fear of the All-Father would be the best sort of motivation for him. After all, as a Goddess of Death, she knew that people get stronger the fastest when they fight for their very life. Moreover, her new husband was right in one thing: power was truly only a means to an end, a means to achieve purpose. And Hela had found her purpose. It was to get everything in the world for herself and her newfound love, everything that she had never gotten.
The Asgardian Goddess of Death had decided. She was definitely going to get her happily ever after with her husband, no matter how many she had to slaughter, no matter how many realms she had to burn to ash.
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