While Su Ming searched for Gullveig amidst the chaos, the Vanir queen hid at the rear, behind a great tree, spying on "Odin" from afar.
She was anxious. Her intelligence was wrong—Odin was awake. This man, undefeated by her father Freyr or Surtur, was far beyond her.
If she showed herself, Gungnir might pierce her heart in an instant.
Just like her father's fate.
Memories of that distant past flooded back.
It was long, long ago.
Young Odin visited their home. Freyr offered mead, while Freya and Gullveig played by the hearth with wooden dolls Odin brought.
Carved from World Tree branches, the dolls were lifelike, capable of simple movements. The girls dressed them in tiny armor, mimicking Valkyries.
But the adults' talk was far from pleasant. Odin delivered an ultimatum.
He gave Freyr two choices: submit or perish.
"You know, Odin, this means war," Freyr said, standing beside him with a goblet, watching his daughters play.
"War? Ha! We'll reach an understanding, I'm sure," Odin replied, drinking carelessly.
"No. The Vanir won't kneel. We're equals to the Asgardians. You, the sole king? Delusion," Freyr said firmly.
He refused to let the Vanir become Asgard's granary and breeding stock.
Furious, Odin smashed his goblet. The clatter of horn on the floor made Freya and Gullveig turn, trembling as Odin stormed out.
"Stubborn fool, dumber than an old elf. Our tribes will unite when my spear pierces your skulls. Answer by dawn."
That night, Freyr slipped from his palace. Freya chased after him, but he sent her back to bed.
"You're a clever child, but the world holds more secrets than stars. Go back. There'll be no war."
He lied to send her home, then sought Surtur in the fire realm.
Surtur loathed Odin and pledged to aid his enemies. He imbued the Vanir with fire, adding flame and lava to their wind and water powers.
At dawn, as the sky glowed, Odin descended on Vanaheim with Asgard's army.
"I'm here, Freyr! Your answer?" he roared.
Freyr, with Vanaheim's forces assembled, their eyes blazing, replied, "My answer? Let everything burn!"
Thus began the greatest divine war in history. Frost and fire giants joined, the conflict raging for millennia, both sides suffering catastrophic losses.
The Vanir coalition briefly held the upper hand, even pushing into Asgard.
But Bor's spirit guided Odin.
Odin blinded himself, hung on the World Tree, and discovered the Runes, awakening as the Rune King.
No creature could stand against him. Freyr fell, his head impaled on Odin's spear. Surtur was sealed in a volcano. The story ended.
Odin stormed Vanaheim, took Freya, and declared "peace." The Vanir became Asgard's laborers.
Odin planned to target Midgard next, but met resistance from beyond the timeline—the Vishanti, the trinity of divine power.
The Vishanti—Holy Mother, Son, and Spirit—became humanity's legend of The Presence, unmatched in might.
When Galactus tried to devour Earth, Agamotto, one of the Vishanti, fought him as a caterpillar and obliterated him instantly.
Odin, no match for the Vishanti, the Ancient One, and the Time Stone, returned to the Golden Palace, meditating under the World Tree.
It changed him. Less warlike, wiser in Runes, he became a benevolent king, halting expansion.
He even joined Earth's ancient Avengers, defending against cosmic threats, a changed man.
Thus, Midgard's Norse myths of Asgard were born.
But for Gullveig, it was too late. Her father and sister were gone.
Gullveig became Vanaheim's "regent queen," ruling in Freya's stead, who was confined in the Golden Palace.
Freya ignored the Vanir's enslavement, and her people no longer recognized her.
When the World Tree burned, signaling the time, Gullveig seized Surtur's offer. With Vanaheim as fuel, she'd burn all!
Resolved, supported by a people weary of Asgard's exploitation, she'd let Vanaheim become a barren inferno to drag Asgard down with it.
Surtur gave her trump cards—Uru-forged, fire-infused beast colossi, rivaling Asgard's Destroyer.
Over a dozen burrowed toward the Golden Palace from below, ready to catch Odin off guard.
Sealed for millennia, Surtur hadn't been idle. He crafted weapons to counter the Rune King.
They might not defeat Odin, but they'd stall him.
If Odin was delayed, Gullveig would use Surtur's flames to torch the World Tree, ending everything.
But as she awaited the beasts, her army's rear was attacked.
Foul-smelling demons poured from crimson portals, charging the Vanir.
Demons of all sizes, blood-red, with serpent-like tongues, wielded bloodied weapons, laughing maniacally.
They devoured their kills, ravenous.
Leading the million-strong demon army were gaunt women in gray rags, faces like ghouls. Skilled and starving, they bit off heads like crocodiles.
Gullveig covered her mouth, ducking behind the tree. She recognized them—the Maids of Destruction.
Bor's Valkyries, thirteen in number, famed for bravery and cruelty.
After a battle, Bor couldn't find them. He discovered them in a cave, eating friend and foe alike.
Enraged, Bor cursed and banished them to the universe's edge, where torment and time turned them into monsters.
Thereafter, Valkyries were called "corpse-eaters," an ill-omened name later forgotten.
Odin hid this history, rebranding Valkyries as honored guides to Valhalla.
But Gullveig and Freya knew.
Freyr and Bor were friends. These mad women, once normal, had visited Vanaheim, even played with the girls.
Seeing them now chilled Gullveig. Leading demons, attacking her army, meant a hell-lord was in the war.
Who? Odin, summoning demons?
No, he despised other-dimensional beings. Allying with a demon lord was like bargaining with a tiger.
The situation worsened. The Vanir were caught between demons and Asgardians, taking double blows, nearing collapse.
"Retreat! Eastward!" Gullveig ordered.
Her army scattered, fighting as they fled.
Their fire weapons and powers were useless against demons, who relished being struck.
But the demons didn't pursue the Vanir. They surged like a tide toward Asgard's lines.
They'd eat anything, though Asgardians might taste better.
Their kill-all stance gave Gullveig pause. This locust army would devour everything. If Asgard fell, Vanaheim was next.
She wanted equality, to destroy unfair symbols, not to reduce both races to demon dung.