Without any suspense, the black blade in Hela's hands was easily severed by Masamune.
Even though she'd used death power to strengthen her weapons, she couldn't change the outcome.
While Hela enhanced her black sword with death power, Richard had simultaneously channeled magical energy to coat Masamune's blade.
Without the obstruction of her defensive weapons, Masamune continued its path across Hela's body.
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
In just an instant, Hela sustained six or seven massive wounds visible to the naked eye.
If she hadn't possessed a physique far exceeding ordinary beings, she would have been carved into pieces by Masamune.
Though not killed, Hela's face displayed uncontrollable shock.
She'd been injured before while following Odin in campaigns across the Nine Realms, but never this severely.
The shortest wounds Masamune had left on her body exceeded ten to twenty centimeters in length. The longest spans stretched halfway across her torso, from shoulder to abdomen.
When Hela first encountered Richard, she'd been contemplating how to vent over two millennia of imprisoned rage on whoever Odin had sent to Hel.
Now, she wasn't thinking about venting anger but about survival.
Facts proved Richard was formidable—stronger than she'd imagined.
Though she hadn't regained full strength currently, she knew Richard also wasn't using his complete power.
When Masamune passed through her body, she could clearly sense Richard had held back. Otherwise, the blade would have reduced her to minced meat instead of merely slashing across her form.
Realizing this, Hela's expression became extremely ugly.
It wasn't that she couldn't accept defeat—she couldn't accept being defeated by some "nobody" Odin had sent.
Just as she contemplated her next move, Richard didn't continue attacking and spoke calmly. "Odin didn't send me to kill you, but to defeat you. More precisely, to make you acknowledge defeat convincingly."
Hearing Richard's words, Hela looked at him warily and replied slowly, "If you want me to admit defeat, you're not worthy!"
"Whether I'm worthy isn't determined by words alone. Very well—if I can't convince you to admit defeat within thirty minutes, you win."
"Then what?" Hela asked quickly.
"Then I leave here and you continue your prison life," Richard replied.
Though there were no extra benefits if he won, Hela didn't need additional incentives now. For her, Richard leaving Hel would suffice.
"Fine—you said it. I'd like to see how you can convince me within thirty minutes," Hela said with disdain.
Richard ignored her contemptuous expression and returned Masamune to his system space.
Then he activated the Mangekyō Sharingan he'd obtained from Uchiha Itachi.
Seeing his eyes transform into blood-red orbs with strange black patterns, Hela immediately experienced a bad premonition.
She didn't know what Richard's currently activated Mangekyō Sharingan represented, but intuition warned her that those blood-red eyes weren't simple.
Her instincts were remarkably accurate.
After opening the Mangekyō Sharingan, Richard didn't immediately use Tsukuyomi. Instead, he retrieved a thirty-minute hourglass from his system space and addressed Hela.
"This is a thirty-minute hourglass. You'll understand its purpose shortly."
Without waiting for Hela's response, Richard placed the hourglass before her.
The device landed steadily on the ground, and sand began trickling downward gradually.
After this preparation, Richard wasted no more time and mobilized his internal magical power.
Tsukuyomi!
Without hesitation, he immediately used Tsukuyomi on Hela.
More precisely, he employed a transformed and optimized Tsukuyomi cast through magical power.
During his time on Xandar, besides perfecting the Divine Realm during leisure hours, he'd also optimized various abilities acquired from the Naruto world.
Tsukuyomi was among them.
Though Tsukuyomi was described as the strongest genjutsu in the Naruto world, under normal circumstances, it would be difficult for the technique to affect enemies of Hela's caliber.
However, the Tsukuyomi Richard currently performed wasn't the original version but an optimized variant.
To enhance Tsukuyomi's power so it could affect enemies with higher life levels and greater strength, he'd made extensive modifications.
If he judged correctly, the optimized Tsukuyomi should prove effective against Hela.
If not, he'd find alternative methods to convince her within thirty minutes.
As Tsukuyomi activated, Hela immediately sensed powerful spiritual energy completely enveloping her.
Just as she attempted to counter the spiritual force with death power, she discovered the scene before her had suddenly changed, transforming into the familiar Golden Palace.
"Is this what you rely on?" Hela first examined her surroundings, then spoke with disdain. "Mere mental magic wants me to be convinced and admit defeat. Are you underestimating me?"
"Mental magic? No, this isn't mental magic. Strictly speaking, this is genjutsu," Richard corrected.
Hearing his response, the contempt on Hela's face became more pronounced.
In her opinion, illusion was lower-level magic than mental manipulation.
In Asgard's magical system, illusion was indeed considered inferior to mental magic.
However, Hela misunderstood Richard's meaning.
The genjutsu Richard referenced wasn't from Asgardian magical systems but from the Naruto world.
Initially, he hadn't been completely certain the optimized Tsukuyomi would affect Hela.
Now he could confirm the enhanced technique was effective, because the Golden Palace Hela currently observed was the Tsukuyomi space he'd specifically created.
In other words, he'd successfully used Tsukuyomi to draw Hela's spirit into the Tsukuyomi world.
After answering Hela, Richard wasted no more time. Under her watchful gaze, he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
The next second, Hela was surprised to discover that she—originally standing in the Golden Palace's center—was now seated on the hall's throne.
What?
Hela's expression changed dramatically, her previous disdain vanishing completely.
Though Richard hadn't begun actually harming her yet, she'd already realized this wasn't simple illusion.
Because when she'd transferred to the throne, she'd experienced distinct teleportation sensations—the feeling of passive spatial displacement.
At that moment, Richard's voice sounded again.
"Allow me to introduce you to the genjutsu I just cast—it's called Tsukuyomi, a powerful illusion from alternate universes. The place we currently occupy is called the Tsukuyomi World."
"As Tsukuyomi's caster, everything in this world is under my control—time, space, gravity, air, and more."
"Simply put, in the Tsukuyomi world, I am the creator god who controls everything."
Richard observed Hela on the throne with calm expression, explaining Tsukuyomi's nature.
"I'm not stupid enough to believe whatever you say," Hela replied quickly.
"Whether you believe it or not, it's all true."
As he finished speaking, Richard—who had been standing in the Golden Palace's center—also appeared at the throne.
The next second, Masamune materialized in his hand.
Seeing the blade, Hela's first instinct was to rise from the throne.
Soon, however, she realized she was thinking too optimistically.
No matter how hard she struggled, her body remained firmly bound to the throne.
Furthermore, she discovered the death power within her body had completely vanished.
"Don't worry—the Tsukuyomi world is a fantasy realm, and the sword in my hand is fake, not real. However..."
Thrust!
Masamune in Richard's hand immediately pierced Hela's heart.
Without suspense, Hela experienced the excruciating pain of cardiac penetration.
"Though this is a false illusory world, the pain produced is real. This time, I'll adjust the temporal flow—one day here equals one minute outside. Enjoy yourself."
After speaking, Richard withdrew Masamune from Hela's heart.
As the blade was removed, Hela's heart recovered instantly.
Before Hela could speak, he once again pierced her heart with Masamune.
Thrust! Withdraw! Thrust! Withdraw! Thrust! Withdraw!
Masamune was repeatedly withdrawn and thrust, piercing Hela's heart again and again.
Initially, Hela endured the cardiac penetration pain without making sound.
However, she lasted less than thirty minutes before releasing agonized screams.
Sharp cries suddenly echoed throughout the entire Golden Palace.
Though Hela's current screams resembled sonic attacks, Richard paid no attention and continued piercing her heart with Masamune.
Time passed gradually.
One day later in the Tsukuyomi world, Hela could no longer speak and stared at Richard with vacant eyes.
Seeing Hela's completely devastated expression, Richard ended this Tsukuyomi session.
As the technique ceased, Hela's spirit returned to her body.
The next second, Hela—who had been tortured for an entire day in the Tsukuyomi world—lost strength in her legs and collapsed weakly to her knees.
Simultaneously, the hourglass Richard had placed earlier appeared in Hela's sight.
Observing that only a small amount of sand had leaked from the hourglass, Hela—completely weakened and mentally devastated—displayed an incredulous expression.
Is everything he said true? Has it really only been one minute here?
Hela raised her head and looked at Richard in disbelief.
Before she could speak, she found herself once again seated on the Golden Palace throne.
"This is the second Tsukuyomi session. This time the temporal ratio is ten days here to one minute outside. If you can survive this round, next time I'll adjust it to one hundred days here per minute outside."
"If you can persist, I'll increase the internal time tenfold each session."
"Though continuously performing Tsukuyomi consumes considerable energy, I can still bear this expenditure."
"Alright, no more discussion—you still have twenty-nine rounds to endure."
"Come on, I'm optimistic about you. After all, you're the Goddess of Death, Odin the All-Father's eldest daughter, and Asgard's princess."
After speaking, Richard thrust Masamune forward again.
Repeatedly, like a tireless automaton, he pierced Hela's heart with the blade.
Richard had expected Hela could at least survive this Tsukuyomi session, requiring him to perform a third round.
However, he'd overestimated Hela's endurance capacity.
Less than five days had passed in the Tsukuyomi world when Hela—stabbed in the heart countless times—began begging for mercy.
"I surrender! Stop it—let me out!" Hela shouted at Richard.
Richard didn't stop and continued his actions.
"Bastard, I surrender—let me out!" Hela began cursing Richard.
Her curses not only failed to stop Richard but caused him to create two additional clones. All three attacked Hela with Masamune.
"Stop! Stop immediately, or I'll kill you!" Hela began threatening Richard.
Like her previous curses, threats proved ineffective and instead increased the number of Richards before her from three to seven.
"Ahhh... damn bastard, I will kill you! I swear on my soul, I will kill you!" Hela continued threatening.
The number of Richards before her then increased from seven to fourteen.
After discovering that threats and curses only caused Richard to summon more clones, Hela finally stopped and simply released miserable howls.
Time passed gradually.
Just as Hela's spirit was about to collapse completely, Richard ended this Tsukuyomi session, and her spirit returned to her body once more.
The moment her consciousness returned, she collapsed from her kneeling position, staring at the hourglass mere centimeters away with lifeless eyes.
Compared to the previous session, slightly more sand had accumulated below, but not significantly more.
"Congratulations—you successfully survived the second Tsukuyomi session. Next comes the third."
Richard approached Hela and crouched down, stroking her head with his right hand while ensuring she could see his Mangekyō Sharingan.
The next second, Hela found herself in the Golden Palace for the third time, firmly bound to the throne.
"This time, I won't use Masamune to pierce your heart—let's try a different approach."
Gungnir, the Eternal Spear, appeared in Richard's hand.
Like Masamune, the Eternal Spear was illusory. However, it was sufficient to inflict pain on Hela.