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Staring at the earth-and-stone giant with one leg frozen and unable to move forward, Hela was momentarily stunned.
Luo Wei had faintly heard the sounds of trolls pursuing from behind, but now was not the time to hesitate. Without a second thought, he grabbed Hela's hand and took off running.
Snapping back to reality, Hela instinctively pulled her hand away.
Luo Wei didn't know if it was just his imagination, but her hand had felt… shy? That slight quiver, the way she hesitated—very unlike the Hela he had come to know. If it were real, it was likely the first time he had seen such a vulnerable side of her.
With the earth-and-stone giant immobilized, they took the opportunity to escape, vanishing into the night shadows.
Minutes later, Muthurs and a squad of trolls caught up. Seeing the immobilized stone giant still frozen mid-step, Muthurs stopped cold.
His expression darkened as he stepped closer. As soon as he saw the faint shimmer of holy light glowing around the giant's knee joint, his face twisted even more.
Raising his law enforcement staff, he pointed at the affected area. The divine energy of the light quivered and extinguished as if crushed under invisible pressure. The stone giant stirred, its mobility restored.
The holy light had faded, but Muthurs's face turned from grim to stormy. He muttered under his breath, "Light energy? No… something beyond that…"
Heimdall, still bound by earth and stone, was slung over a troll's shoulder.
From that position, he spotted the last glimmer of holy light on the stone giant and then Muthurs's furious reaction. He couldn't help but let out a short, sharp laugh: "Ha."
The troll carrying him growled and struck him across the face. "Shut up, Zerg!"
"Zerg" was a slur trolls used for the Aesir—an insult rooted in disdain for their smaller size and humanoid features.
Heimdall's nose began to bleed. He twisted his head with a grunt, snorted defiantly, and fell silent.
…
Elsewhere, Luo Wei and Hela had run far enough to feel reasonably safe. They slowed and finally stopped to rest in a thicket of twilight-shadowed trees.
Hela sat down without a word, her gaze lowered to the forest floor. Her mood was heavy, weighed down by regret and internal turmoil.
After a long silence, she let out a slow breath. "I made another wrong call."
Luo Wei looked at her, momentarily confused. But then it clicked. She was referring to the decision to split up their forces.
He attempted to console her. "Every decision carries risk. If things go south, it's labeled a mistake. If they don't, it's called a strategy."
"If we had deployed in three teams instead of one, the trolls might have hesitated to strike, thinking our numbers were greater. Maybe we would've made it through unscathed… but we'd have lost Hunt Day. That also counts as a failure in another way."
He paused, then added, "Heimdall has the divine power of speed. If anyone can get out of trouble, it's him. I believe he's still alive."
Hela's eyes flickered. Her shoulders loosened just slightly, and after another moment of silence, she said, "Let's head for the rally point and report the trolls' presence."
They moved out immediately.
The road was long and quiet, the silence thick between them. Two hours passed in the hushed darkness before Hela finally broke the stillness.
"Luo Wei… what divine power do you desire most?"
Caught off guard by the question, Luo Wei glanced over at her but answered honestly, "Well, the stronger the better. Something legendary, like time manipulation… or the power to create divine force from nothing."
"That's not legend," Hela replied calmly. "Those divine powers do exist."
Luo Wei blinked, surprised.
"They're mentioned in the Book of the World Tree," she continued. "Though they belong to a time long before even Odumbra."
Odumbra—mother of Bully, great-grandmother of Odin—was a pivotal figure in ancient Aesir genealogy.
Asgard's history stretched across billions of years, but very few records existed from before Odumbra's era. That era's mysteries were buried beneath eons of forgotten lore.
Some said the entire universe had once faced a catastrophe so vast, it shattered the Aesir's lineage and nearly erased their inheritance.
Hela sighed. "Every god wants divine power. Without it, we're just long-lived warriors. Unfortunately… I haven't awakened mine yet."
"Your Highness," Luo Wei said earnestly, "I think you're already incredibly strong."
"That's because you haven't seen what second-tier divine powers can do," she said. "Gods who rely solely on weapons and skill can never hope to defeat one who wields true divine power."
Luo Wei went silent, thinking it over.
He'd long thought of divine power as a more evolved form of superhuman ability. Like the mutant classification system back on Midgard, divine power too had tiers. The Asgardians used a three-tier scale, ranging from First to Third Order. The King of Gods stood above even that, drawing power from all of Asgard.
By his estimation, Thor, when he first appeared in Midgard, wielded Second Order divine power—eventually ascending to Third Order in Ragnarok, where he truly became the linchpin of the Avengers.
A god with Second Order divine power was already a near-unstoppable force.
After a few moments, Luo Wei broke the silence. "Your Highness… if I may, you seem… restless. Anxious."
"You're right," Hela admitted plainly. "I received a dreadful prophecy in the Time Cave. I've been haunted by it ever since."
Luo Wei's eyes narrowed. He had a guess.
"What kind of prophecy?" he asked.
"Ragnarok," she answered, voice low and distant.
A chill settled over Luo Wei.
Would Hela one day become the Goddess of Death, ruthless and merciless? Would Asgard truly fall to Surtur's Twilight Sword as in the visions?
Neither spoke again for a long time.
Then, abruptly, Hela raised a hand, halting their movement.
Luo Wei followed her gaze.
Beneath a tree not far ahead lay a majestic beast, its crimson fur shining like flames.
A Fire-Bathing Beast.
It lay motionless except for the rhythmic rise and fall of its chest.
A sleeping Fire-Bathing Beast.
Luo Wei's eyes gleamed with anticipation.
They didn't need words. Both began to creep forward silently, every step measured.
The Fire-Bathing Beast wasn't known for its strength, but its speed was legendary—rumored to even surpass Heimdall's divine swiftness. If it woke, it would vanish before they could even react.
As they edged within a meter, the beast twitched its nose and perked its ears.
It had sensed them.
Luo Wei's eyes widened. Without hesitation, he swung Verrigan's Fist. The Hammer of Justice arced toward the beast. At the same time, Hela struck with her sword.
Boom!
The attacks struck only afterimages. The Fire-Bathing Beast had vanished, leaving no trace.
Frustrated, they looked around in vain.
Heimdall had been captured, the Pegasus was gone, and now they had missed their shot at the Fire-Bathing Beast.
It was an unrelenting streak of failures.
Just then, an amused voice broke the silence.
"Looking for this little thing?"
An old man stepped forward, smiling.
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