"Nobody has ever survived my attacks… just what are you?"
Hel stood still, baffled by Grimhild's immortality. She could come back from the complete erasure of not only her history and story, but her origins as well. Everything was supposed to be gone across time; the people who met her would forget her existence, and everything she interacted with would never happen. It was a tampering of causality itself, and yet it mattered not.
"It doesn't matter who I am… what matters is getting Elizabeth back, and I'll have to destroy you in order for that to happen."
Grimhild raised her staff, pointing the edge at the puzzled Hel, though something caught the Death's eye.
"…Could that be?" Hel focused her attention on Grimhild's staff and stomped forward, angered in her expression. "You! Tell me! Where did you get that magical staff? Why do you possess Lævateinn?"
Grimhild's stoic expression wavered for a moment as she was the first to discover the true origins of her weapon. Still pointing her staff at Hel, she said, "Me and Loki are old friends, he gave this to me as a gift." Grimhild lowered her brows. "It seems you know of him."
Hel frowned at her response, curling her fingers into a fist.
"With certainty… that man is my Father! He is the one who aided Boris in sealing me away inside this girl! To think he could make friends… how laughable!"
Dashing forward in a fit of rage, Hel erected a miniature magic circle around her fist, coating it in a ghastly black aura.
"This only gives me more motivation to kill you!!"
Throwing her fist forward, she slammed it into Grimhild's face, just enough to knock her back, and hopefully put an end to this… but to no surprise—
"…"
Grimhild skidded back through the forest, turning to face the Queen of Death who appeared shocked by the aftermath.
"No effect? That was Zieldaiya… it shatters the soul upon contact!"
"I know not of you and your father's relationship." Grimhild gazed upon the Queen, unfazed by her attack. "But I didn't come here to talk about family issues, Spirit." Lifting Lævateinn, a magic circle appeared. "Egnorza!" Multiple magical stones shot from her blueprint, moving with deadly speed.
Hel watched their movements with precise analysis, ducking under one of them before jumping over the others, casting Flonta to take flight and pounce at the witch.
"Nie El Ma!" Grimhild lifted her hand, nullifying the effects of Flonta and sending her crashing to the ground.
"Grrr!" Hel somersaulted in midair and landed on her feet, standing a few meters in front of Grimhild. "Haaah!" With a deadly front jab, Grimhild tilted her head to the side, lifting her palm at their chest.
"Whuulwen!"
A sudden gust of air between Grimhild and Hel separated them from the sheer force alone, as a massive tornado surrounded them both—cutting them off from the outside world. Anything that tried entering this domain of wind would be shredded apart.
"Tsk…" Hel looked around her before facing the witch. "Do you think something as useless as wind magic would be enough to hold me?"
Hel lifted her hand into the air, summoning a magic blueprint.
"Zuulheim!"
A beam of dark mana shot into the sky, traversing up the massive tornado, slowly corrupting it from the inside out.
"This is now my domain!"
Hel smiled as the tornado slowly turned black; embodying death itself. Massive amounts of Spirit Mana, or in other words, Spirit Particles, transformed the tornado into a sentient force.
"Zuulheim transforms magic, people, and inanimate objects into abstract forces that embody death! As of now, you stand before your demise, mage!"
Grimhild stood unfazed as the deathly winds blew her cape and hair in multiple directions.
With the flapping of her clothes and the confidence of Hel, she spoke up, saying, "You seemed worried about Lævateinn a moment ago… but it seems you don't know the power it wields if you believe something like this will stop me."
"What?" Hel widened her eyes before taking a stance, preparing for Grimhild's next attack.
"Do you truly believe some trivial abstract force like death can stop me? How naive, little girl."
"Little girl?" Hel frowned, feeling her pride threatened.
"Observe."
Grimhild lifted her staff into the air as ancient runes appeared on its surface. The sentient tornado swirled with the intent to kill, but it wasn't enough to overcome the witch.
Slowly, but surely, the tornado started to shrink as its deadly winds were being absorbed into the floating orb atop Grimhild's staff.
"What? She's absorbing it?" Hel looked up to see her spell being devoured by the staff, realizing the strength Lævateinn truly possessed. "Damn you!"
"Lævateinn is a weapon that can absorb any spell, even those far beyond my power, allowing me to convert the spell's mana into my own."
The black tornado was absorbed into the staff as the blue magic orb adorning Lævateinn pulsed with magic power.
"Have a taste of your own medicine."
Hel stood ready, gritting her teeth in frustration. She didn't know of the power Grimhild possessed… so moving close was out of question; she had to play at a safe distance from now on.
"Give me your best shot, mage!"
Stern in her expression, the Queen of Hel was focused on this battle of life and death.
Grimhild shot Hel's spell right back at her, catching the Queen of Death off guard.
"What? She can also use the spells she absorbed?" Widening her eyes, a sly grin suddenly crossed her face. "Well… no matter… my own magic will do no harm to me! I am its founder!"
The tornado moved at deadly speeds until Hel lifted both hands, halting its advancement.
"Pwa ha ha! You fool! Did you really think I'll be vulnerable to my own magic?"
Hel suddenly winced in pain as the palms of her hands started to burn.
"Agh…! What's happening?"
"Lævateinn modifies a spell it has absorbed to be harmful against my enemies. A spirit who represents fire will have their spell transformed into water, or a spirit who represents darkness will have their spell transformed into light." A cocky grin spread across Grimhild's face. "So what do you think will happen to a spirit who represents death?"
"Gnnnghh… gaaaaahhh!"
Hel struggled against Grimhild's magic as she realized her spell was transformed into something else entirely.
"This… is… life!!" She shouted in pain, coming to an understanding of this newfound magic.
"Correct, it is life… your direct counterpart as death."
"I… cannot… be defeated! Not by you! Not by anyone!!" Hel struggled against the spinning tornado as it pushed her back, burning her hand to the bone. "Everything is destined to die! I am absolute! I am the end!"
Everything in Yggdrasil was destined to die by death. Mortals, Spirits, Gods, and even Stories. It was an inescapable force that everything in the world is fated to experience in one way or another.
Yet Grimhild remained in the face of this powerful force of nature, unfazed.
The Witch of Destruction has unshackled herself from the end of all things, and is now unbound by its fate. Death ended the stories and concepts of all its victims… but it mattered naught to someone who removed their story and concept out of existence.
Grimhild's victory was inevitable
"This is the end for you, Hel, Elizabeth will take back her mind and body while you are destroyed."
"No… I will not falter!"
Closing her eyes, Hel felt a surge of determination swell up in her body, and thanks to Elizabeth's nucleus, her willpower shot through the roof.
Thus… a possibility was created.
"Haaaaaahhhh!"
A possibility born through sheer willpower allowed Hel to resist the representation of life itself.
Lifting the tornado above her head, she regained control of her spell and redirected it to the sky.
"…This is going to be much longer than I thought." Said the witch, watching Hel stand there, determined to win.
Willpower was a natural force everyone had; it determined the logic and reason of certain phenomena. With enough of it, one could create possibilities and form their own logic and reason. It was subjective to everyone.
If Hel was determined to resist the abstract force of life, then with enough willpower, she could generate her own logic into reality and create a possibility for victory.
With her own logic and reasoning being forced into reality, Hel stood victorious in front of the witch, now laughing triumphantly.
"Pwa ha ha! Baahahaha! I am inevitable! Nothing can stop me, not even Lævateinn!" Hel reveled in the moment before facing the witch with a wide grin. "There is nothing you can throw at me that I haven't seen before!"
She pointed at Grimhild with her long fingernail, confident in her next words.
"You may have resisted my death magic, but now… things have changed! I figured out how to defeat you!"
Grimhild stood firm, wielding her staff.
"Go ahead and try."
"With pleasure!" Hel wasted no time moving at blinding speeds and blitzing even Grimhild's perception. "Behold, Zyulthrumir!" A scythe manifested in Death's hands as she lifted it above her head with a maniacal grin.
Widening her eyes, Grimhild barely had time to form a counterattack.
Hel sliced forward, cutting through the witch's body, and decapitating her in half.
The witch, shocked by this, glanced at her scythe, watching it cleave her into two before her mangled corpse fell lifeless to the ground.
"It is over, victory is mine!"
Hel, unknowingly… found the weakness to the Witch of Destruction.
As the Yorgana System analyzes and bestows immunity to whatever has killed Grimhild, it doesn't take into account future spells created by the enemy.
It was a major flaw that made Grimhild Yorgana vulnerable.
The Yorgana System only gives her immunity to the complete arsenal of her enemy in the "present" rather than the "future."
She has now died again…