"Skurge!"
Hela's voice cracked through the throne room.
From beneath the blackened steps of the hall, her executioner jolted to attention, trembling.
"Where," She said slowly. "Is the sword I asked for?"
Her impatience radiated, the moment she discovered the Bifrost sword missing, she had sent Skurge to find it. Hours had passed.
He had returned empty-handed.
No sword… no captured civilians and NO progress.
Hela's eyes narrowed with quiet, simmering murder.
Skurge swallowed hard. "My Lady… there is still no trace. I~I believe the sword is no longer in the Realm Eternal."
Hela's aura grew cold enough to freeze breath.
Skurge felt his spine twitch as he stammered on. "I've searched everywhere. All of Asgard… twice."
"The undead legion as well. There's… no sign at all."
He wasn't wrong.
The sword was long gone.
Shortly after the upheaval in Asgard, Heimdall had seized the blade and vanished into the shadows.
With Soren's help, he ferried countless Asgardian civilians to Earth before the situation collapsed completely.
And when escape was no longer possible, he disappeared into the sacred ancestral lands to wait for the tides of fate.
Hela knew none of that… only that the key to Bifrost had vanished under her watch.
Rage curled like fire through her veins.
Without the sword, conquering the Nine Realms became infinitely more troublesome. Bifrost was the fastest and most stable path and searching for alternative methods would slow her plans considerably.
Her fingers drummed against the armrest.
"…" She closed her eyes and looked up.
Divine power surged abruptly through her frame, filling the throne room like a crushing wave.
Skurge stumbled back in terror, thinking she was about to strike him down.
But after a tense moment, Hela opened her eyes.
Her aura receded.
"Someone is trying to breach Asgard's space," she said coldly. "I blocked it."
Skurge blinked, then realization struck him. "L-Lady Hela, that must be the Healer Soren!"
At the name, Hela turned her head slightly. "Soren… The Earthling?"
Skurge nodded. He had witnessed Soren's strength with his own eyes. Even Asgard's fiercest warriors were mere children before him.
Hela paused thoughtfully.
From the few high-ranking survivors who had submitted to her, she had learned much about recent events.
About Thor, about the fall of Asgard.
And about Soren.
She also knew he possessed several Infinity Stones, an alarming fact even for the Goddess of Death.
Her lips curved slowly. "Skurge."
"Gather the entire undead legion."
Skurge bowed grateful, above all, that she wasn't killing him and rushed out to relay her commands.
Hela rose from her throne, emerald light rippling across her armor.
A hungry smile crossed her face. "So… Soren has come."
"His Stones will empower me." Her eyes gleamed with greed and anticipation.
"And his strength… will serve me."
She spread her hands, the shadows responding like loyal beasts.
If she was to conquer the cosmos, she would need more than an undead army.
She would need champions.
And Soren… the Earth-born titan who had shaken the universe…
"…will make a perfect one."
That moment Hela felt a ripple of violent power tore through the skies above Asgard, space itself shuddering under an invasive force.
This time, she did nothing to halt it, her lips curved. Let them in. Leaving will be another matter entirely.
She intended to trap Soren like a turtle in an urn.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
Far beyond the main city, in a barren stretch of land untouched by Asgard's grandeur, Soren's portal cracked open. The air hummed with tension, even he could feel the oppressive weight blanketing the realm.
"Freyja," Soren said quietly, eyes fixed on the distant glow of the Golden City.
"Go to the ancestral lands. Find Heimdall. But your priority is the civilians, make sure they're safe before anything else."
Freyja hesitated, clearly wanting to stay by his side.
But one look from Soren made the urgency unmistakable. She gave a curt nod before vanishing into the winds of the wilderness.
When she was gone, Soren turned to Thor and the others, his expression grave. "Hela is strong, strong enough that I'll need to fight with everything I have."
"If battle truly breaks out, I might not be able to restrain the fallout. Asgard could be destroyed by what happens between us. Whether this realm survives… depends on the choice you make now."
Thor's heart clenched. The weight of the Nine Realms seemed to press down on him all at once.
If they chose not to confront Hela, she would unleash her undead armies without hesitation, slaughtering countless innocents and plunging the cosmos into chaos.
But if they did confront her… the battle itself might ignite a man-made Ragnarök.
Asgard could be shattered by their power, lost forever.
He stood frozen, torn between duty to his people and the legacy of the realm his ancestors had built.
Then… softly at first… his father's final words echoed in his mind.
'Remember this place, home. Asgard is not a place, it's a people.'
Understanding flooded through him.
"Soren," Thor said at last, lifting his head, "Once we are certain the civilians are safely evacuated… I ask you to defeat Hela."
"No matter the cost."
"Thor… what about Asgard?"
Thor inhaled deeply, then spoke each word with the conviction of a true king.
"Where our people live, that is our home. That is Asgard."