Chapter 156: Sending You Off to Ragnarok!
For Thor, one question had been troubling him for some time.
How exactly did Du Wa become a Deity when Knull led his billions of Symbiotes in a massive invasion of the World Tree?
And not just any Deity, but the crucial God of the World Tree.
What was more embarrassing was that Thor was, after all, the king of Asgard. Logically, he should hold a very high position in the World Tree's chain of divine power. After all, with Odin's death, the Odinforce had passed to him, in addition to his original power as Thor and the authority of the God-King.
But what was the result? He had never figured out how Du Wa, in terms of the World Tree's divine power, had managed to ascend to the rank of a Cosmic God in a single leap.
This was equivalent to saying that Du Wa had directly bypassed him, a powerful Skyfather, and become his superior in one go.
Thor had once guessed that this might be related to the things in the shadows that Odin had mentioned. Du Wa was aware of the existence of these things and was fully capable of using them, but Thor simply couldn't imagine what unknown existence in the shadows could possibly help Du Wa take control of the World Tree.
A bunch of cowards who didn't even dare to show their faces—it was one thing for them to be of some use, but could they really help Du Wa become a Cosmic God? If they truly had that kind of ability, why wouldn't they become Cosmic Gods themselves instead of helping Du Wa attain godhood?
Thor didn't really believe it, but that didn't stop him from wanting to clean out all these ghouls from the shadows. It would be a way to fulfill Odin's last wish and eliminate a threat to Asgard.
Empowered by the Shadow Gods, Hela was currently like a phantom. Her form constantly twisted as if she had lost her physical body, evading Thor's attacks, yet she could materialize when necessary to strike him.
This style of fighting was agonizing. Thor needed a little time to find a way to combat a shadow being.
Fighting like in the past, swinging his weapon wildly and pursuing relentlessly, was definitely not going to work anymore. Hela wouldn't grant him that wish.
"So, you betrayed Asgard and found a master? I always thought that the children of Odin would rather die than bow their heads. Is that all your hatred is worth?" Thor swung his axe forward, and terrifying lightning transformed into a descending ocean, swallowing everything in its path.
But with a ripple of distortion, Hela had already merged with the omnipresent shadow, disappearing from Thor's sight.
"Master? A group of ambitious beings is trying to use another ambitious being to achieve their goals. Who succeeds in the end all depends on whose methods are more brilliant. They won't let me use their power for free, but by the same token, I won't use their power for nothing. I will find an opportunity to seize it all."
Hela made no secret of her malice. This was also the first time she had learned that a group of gods was hidden in the shadow of the World Tree. Perhaps the shadow could be considered the Tenth Realm of the World Tree? It didn't matter. Whatever this bunch of Shadow Gods wanted to do, Hela would find a way to stop them after she killed Thor and reclaimed the throne of Asgard.
The first thing she would do upon her coronation would be to lead the Asgardian army to storm the shadows and eliminate this entire group.
Whatever the Shadow Gods wanted her to do, she was determined not to do. In any case, it was a relationship of mutual exploitation. There was no need for any form of pretense; neither side would believe it anyway.
Various divine powers surged continuously. Around the continent of Asgard, the deep cosmos itself trembled from the battle between these two top-tier Skyfathers.
Space shattered repeatedly, and time fell into subtle chaos. The collision and interweaving of various divine powers, mixed with some magic, tore apart everything in the vicinity.
This was a battle between top-tier Skyfathers, its scale utterly astonishing. From a purely appreciative standpoint, this battle could be considered a textbook example of combat between Skyfather-level beings.
"Hela... her hatred hasn't diminished with the passage of time; instead, it's grown even stronger. And now she's obtained a strange divine power. I've never heard of a system of divine power like this within the World Tree... It's somewhat similar to the darkness the Dark Elves pursue."
Frigga, leading Heimdall and a group of the God Race, spread out across Asgard, working hard to stabilize the continent's structure.
Although Asgard was incredibly sturdy and wouldn't be easily destroyed by a single battle, if Thor and Hela accidentally shattered a piece of it, taking a portion of the already small population with them, it would be a huge loss.
Frigga remained worried, closely watching the progress of the battle. The more she watched, the more anxious she became.
This top-tier sorceress of the Nine Realms had already realized that she couldn't just let Thor handle Hela on his own. In the current situation, she couldn't guarantee that Thor would win. Who knew how strong these beings providing Hela with divine power were, what they wanted to do, or what kind of bargain they had struck with Hela?
Frigga had no idea that the Shadow Gods were at the end of their rope. Helping Hela at this point was a move of desperation, using up almost the last dregs of their remaining divine power, hoping Hela could pull through.
Once Thor was dead, war would inevitably erupt all over Asgard, with the Resistance Force opposing Hela's coronation everywhere.
Following a normal progression, Hela would surely go on a killing spree across Asgard. To say nothing else, wiping out seventy or eighty percent of the population wouldn't be going too far, would it?
After all, Hela was a Skyfather on the side of death; killing a few people was as common as breathing for her.
At that point, the few Shadow Gods would detonate the shadow divine power within Hela's body, destroying the continent of Asgard itself and completing Ragnarok.
This series of tactics wasn't particularly brilliant and only required action at a few key junctures. The process was a bit crude, but as long as it worked.
There was no other choice. Previously, Du Wa had taken away the authority of the World Tree and brutally swept away the billions of years of accumulation they had lent him, not returning a single bit.
So for this Ragnarok, the Shadow Gods were in no mood to play with any refined or high-class operations. Simple and crude, saving time and effort, was what they desperately needed now.
But Frigga would absolutely not allow this to happen. Faced with an unpredictable and enormous risk, as Odin's wife who had also experienced many wars, she preferred to choose a more stable plan to solve this problem.
She called for backup on the spot.
Make no mistake, Frigga certainly did not contact Du Wa himself directly. She was a smart woman and knew that in her current state, and indeed for anyone in Asgard, she was not qualified to speak directly with Du Wa.
Perhaps if Odin were still alive, at the peak of his power when he could arm-wrestle with the Celestials, only then would he have been barely qualified to speak with Du Wa.
Frigga closed her eyes and began to use mind magic to communicate with the Xenomorphs on Asgard.
In effect, a message to any Xenomorph was a message to Du Wa himself, yet she was careful not to disturb him directly.
After Frigga sent out the message requesting aid, Earth responded quickly.
An astonishing bolt of lightning tore through the cosmos. Observed from the structure of the World Tree, the stunning lightning instantly shot from the middle of the World Tree's trunk straight to the treetop.
Jane Foster had arrived, wielding Mjolnir, and forcefully entered the battlefield.
At this moment, Foster, at first glance, still looked like Thor. But both Thor and Hela could see that the divine power surging from her body was unbelievably strong. Sensing carefully, they could faintly perceive that the divine power Foster wielded was not limited to just the power of thunder.
"So she took your hammer. My dear brother, how is someone who doesn't even have Mjolnir qualified to be the king of Asgard?" Hela showed a perfectly appropriate amount of surprise.
Thor said to Foster in a deep voice, "Leave this place. I can handle her alone. This is a civil war of Odin's family."
"It was a civil war a few minutes ago, but your mother asked me for help, so the nature of it has changed. My identity is not just the Female Thor, but also a God of the World Tree. When there is a conflict between divine powers, I am here to pass judgment."
"Judgment? Asgard invited a god of judgment from another world? Thor never told me about this. Is your method of judgment to strike a table with a hammer?"
"I won't be banging on a table, but I can smash your skull open and see what kind of crap is stuffed inside."
Strictly speaking, Foster was the being closest to being the God of the World Tree.
The reason she wasn't the true God of the World Tree was that when Du Wa relinquished his authority over the World Tree's divine power, he gave the vast power to Foster and the other Xenomorphs who followed the path of divine power, not just to Foster alone.
Therefore, Foster defined herself as one half of the God of the World Tree.
The others, such as the Laufey Xenomorph and so on, collectively made up the other half.
But in any case, Foster stared at Hela, then glanced at the majestic and fierce Thor, and pondered that she should have no problem taking on these two. The only difference was how much time and effort it would take.
On the chain of divine power, she was the superior of the two before her.
Foster flung Mjolnir, sending it smashing towards Hela.
"My dear, you have no idea that Mjolnir was my weapon. I abandoned it, and you're actually using it against me?"
Hela smiled, opening her hand to block Mjolnir. She was determined to destroy this weapon that had once brought her glory but was also a witness to her humiliation.
But the moment Hela touched Mjolnir, her expression changed drastically. The divine power brewing within the hammer increased exponentially at that moment and then erupted, shattering one of her hands on the spot.
For a split second, the level of this divine power broke through the boundary of a Skyfather, causing Hela, who possessed enhanced senses after gaining shadow power, to feel a momentary sense of terror.
What the hell is this Mjolnir?
She had used this hammer for many years. How did she never know this thing possessed such immense power? Moreover, it had overpowered her control with brute force, attacking with full power like it was facing an unfamiliar enemy, extremely ferocious.
Hela was a bit stunned by the intensity of this attack.
But Foster was just getting started. In her hands, Mjolnir had almost broken through its original limits. Various divine powers converged on the hammer and then surged forth continuously.
Hela endured the bombardment from an ocean of divine powers, primarily the power of thunder. In a sorry state, she tried to transform into a shadow, to merge with the ever-present darkness.
But then, among the vast divine power Foster was wielding, she also began to tentatively use shadow divine power, immediately leaving Hela with nowhere to hide. No matter where she hid, Foster would drag her out and ruthlessly bombard her with divine power.
"You've also mastered that strange divine power... Also, what's going on with your strength? Why have you suddenly become so strong and possessed so many types of divine power? It feels just like..." Thor was shocked and uncertain.
"Just like Du Wa back then. He defeated Knull and could easily wield the full power of the World Tree, condensing it into a single force to use. But I'm still far from being able to do that. I still need to spend time analyzing different divine powers," Foster said. "The reality is more complicated than you think. That is a realm you weren't meant to encounter so soon."
Thor's breath hitched. His first reaction was a suffocating sense of frustration. He was a top-tier Skyfather who had inherited Odin's power. Even if he couldn't yet perfectly unleash the full might of the Odinforce, in terms of the power he possessed, he had been left in the dust by Foster, who was once far inferior to him.
He clearly remembered that Foster had been an ordinary human and only became the fourth-generation Thor, in Du Wa's words, by lifting his Mjolnir.
Thor was merely shocked and unwilling to accept it.
The Shadow Gods, on the other hand, were flustered and exasperated.
"Look, just look what that woman is doing! She's trying to kill the person we've chosen!"
"If Hela is killed, what will we do? We just want to push Ragnarok forward, no matter the method. Why is it so difficult?"
"Ragnarok is the destiny within the World Tree, and it's time for it to unfold! We haven't done anything wrong! Only with Destruction can there be Rebirth. This is an effective way for the World Tree to grow stronger and healthier."
"Du Wa looked down on the power of the World Tree. It's one thing for him not to want it, and another for him not to return it to us, but he even gave it away to his subordinates! This human, Foster, is using the power that should have been ours, and now she's stopping us at the most critical moment!"
The Shadow Gods were about to go mad. They couldn't even imagine what a terrifying scene it would be if Foster were to kill Hela.
It would mean they would completely lose their last hope. In the future, no matter what they wanted to do, they would have to endure hunger and the anxiety of exposure, and do it themselves.
At this thought, this bunch of guys became even more frantic, various thoughts constantly breeding in their minds.
But before these Shadow Gods could come up with any good ideas, or simply muster their meager courage for a desperate, all-or-nothing move, Foster knocked Hela down and paused.
Du Wa's voice echoed in her mind.
"Too noisy, those rats... I need to concentrate. I don't like this bunch making a fuss under my nose. Go kill them, Jane. They want Ragnarok, so send them to Ragnarok. Bring the World Tree completely under our control. This way, it might provide me with some insignificant assistance..."
(end of chapter)