Mutehus's pupils shrank sharply as he swiftly twisted his body to avoid the vital blow. Hela's long sword slashed past him, leaving a deep wound on his shoulder.
He groaned, gritting his teeth as he clutched his injured shoulder. A bluish glow radiated from his fingers, forming a web of light that closed the wound within seconds, sealing it with arcane precision.
Hela lunged again, her sword blazing with energy.
Mutehus's staff struck the ground, and the space between them shimmered like heat waves over a desert. A dense, invisible wall of compressed mana formed, distorting the surroundings with its sheer intensity.
As Hela's sword neared him, its incredible speed was abruptly hindered. It slowed drastically, as if slicing through molasses, unable to pierce the invisible barrier fully.
Sensing the hesitation, Loki's son, Rowe, raised his hand without hesitation and extended his middle finger.
Hand of Reckoning!
The golden spectral hand surged forth—a divine construct of Holy Light energy. Though it lacked destructive physical power, its spiritual force was nearly impossible to resist or deflect.
It passed through the barrier like light through fog, striking Mutehus square in the chest.
Mutehus's body stiffened. The power of the Holy Light dredged up ancient, buried memories. His eyes bulged in rage, his hands trembling uncontrollably as emotions overwhelmed him. He turned pale, then red with fury. "This... This despicable trick!"
His voice cracked with suppressed pain and fury.
Hela saw the opportunity. Her sword burst with radiant power, accelerating once more. It cleaved through the mana barrier, slashing downward in a radiant arc.
"Argh!"
Mutehus howled in agony. This time, the sword drove clean through his abdomen, crimson blood spraying from the wound. It was a grievous injury, and he staggered back, clutching his gut as he hissed with pain.
Awakened fully by the pain, Mutehus no longer dared to underestimate them.
"Boom!"
The earth beneath them convulsed violently. Tremors rippled outward as massive cracks spiderwebbed across the ground. Earth and stones erupted, forming a churning maelstrom of debris.
The chasm widened, threatening to swallow them whole. Rowe and Hela leaped back just in time to avoid the splitting terrain.
"Boom...!"
The seismic waves persisted. Stones surged into the air like a reverse avalanche, floating and spinning above the battlefield.
Mutehus, face grim and bloodied, extended his staff skyward. With a twist of his hand, he pulled Heimd's unconscious body to himself, then floated backwards, gaining distance.
"Now... witness my earth and stone giant!"
As he spoke, the massive mass of levitating rocks swirled into form. Limbs emerged, a torso followed, and finally, a vaguely human-shaped colossus stood formed midair—dozens of meters tall, like a living mountain.
The earth-shaking ceased just as the giant took its first step, the tremors replaced by an oppressive silence. The golem's foot rose and came crashing down toward Rowe.
The duo split and retaliated without delay. Rowe summoned the Hammer of Judgment, its shimmering arc striking at the giant's massive ankle. Hela's sword shot forward, glowing like a shooting star.
"BOOM!"
The hammer exploded on contact, throwing up rubble, but the damage was barely a scratch. Against the bulk of the giant, the debris scattered like harmless dust.
Hela's sword, however, struck truer. It pierced the rock body clean through, causing a deep, rumbling crack. The blade exited from the top of the head, dragging chunks of glowing earth with it.
"Crasshhh—"
A shower of radiant earth cascaded down like rain. The giant paused, momentarily inert.
But Mutehus remained unshaken. He tapped his staff against the ground, and the giant's form rippled. Earth and stones wriggled unnaturally as the wound closed and the form reconstituted itself.
Then, it resumed its charge.
"Boom!"
A fist the size of a wagon slammed into the ground beside Rowe. The force knocked him off balance, his footing lost.
He grunted and smashed the Fist of Verrigan into the dirt.
Sword of Justice!
A beam of divine flame erupted under the golem's feet. The heat distorted the air, and the giant teetered—but then stood firm once more.
Rowe clenched his jaw.
Neither the Sword of Justice nor the Hammer of Judgment inflicted any lasting damage. Even if he resorted to Holy Light Strike or Hammer of Justice, the results would likely be the same.
He turned to Hela.
Her sword, elegant and deadly, danced in the air like a phantom. Each strike tore away chunks of rock or impaled deep within the golem. Yet for every wound she delivered, the stone flesh regenerated quickly under Mutehus's command.
This wasn't a body of flesh and blood. It was an extension of Mutehus's will, molded from the earth, animated by mana. Its regeneration was near-instantaneous.
They were fighting a losing battle.
Worse yet, Heimd was still in enemy hands. Retreat was not an option—but neither was victory.
Just then, Rowe's ears caught distant rumbling. He turned sharply.
The troll scout had returned, now flanked by dozens of brutish warriors. A warband of trolls emerged from the shadows, circling around Rowe and Hela.
Hela's expression hardened. Surrounded, she hissed, "We can't stay here. We have to withdraw."
Rowe nodded grimly. It was clear they couldn't break through.
Without hesitation, he raised his palm toward the densest crowd of trolls.
Blind Light!
A sphere of blinding radiance erupted from his palm, flooding the battlefield with blinding illumination. Even brighter than sunlight, it forced screams and curses from the trolls as they shielded their eyes in panic.
In that chaos, Rowe and Hela sprang into motion, retreating at full speed. Rowe gulped down a Swiftness Potion, and his legs became blurs.
Mutehus winced, the light hurting his own vision, but his healing skills were uncanny. He pressed glowing fingers to his eyes, muttered something, and blinked.
In seconds, his vision was restored.
Cursing under his breath, he ordered the giant forward, directing it with sharp gestures.
"Boom—Boom—"
Each footfall of the golem was an earthquake. Though cumbersome, its massive strides allowed it to keep up. Rowe and Hela couldn't shake it off—they could only dodge frantically.
Rowe kept mental count. The Blind Light spell had unpredictable effects. For normal creatures, it could blind permanently, but trolls—whose resilience rivaled Asgardians—would recover fast.
He estimated they had half a minute, at most.
If they didn't lose the giant before then, they'd be swarmed by the reassembling troll army.
"BOOM!"
Another foot came crashing down, missing Rowe by inches. Dust and stone exploded upward.
Heart pounding, Rowe instinctively looked up—and something caught his eye. A particularly large boulder on the golem's knee joint.
A spark of inspiration lit in his mind.
He didn't hesitate. Using the burst from his potion, he vaulted upward, soaring a full ten meters. The boulder loomed before him like a platform.
"What are you doing?!" Hela called in alarm.
Rowe didn't answer. He pulled a staff from his Sanctuary space, aimed it at the boulder, and chanted.
Rock Mark!
Holy energy surged into the boulder. It shone briefly, starting to assume a humanoid shape—only to fail and collapse into glowing gravel.
Though the transformation didn't succeed, the outcome was better than expected. The radiant rubble became lodged in the giant's joint like sand in gears.
The joint seized.
The divine light formed a clog that halted movement. The entire golem staggered, its leg immobile.
Rowe landed in a crouch, adrenaline surging.
It worked. It actually worked!
He didn't know how long the clog would last—but it was enough.
"Move!" he yelled to Hela.
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