Boom… ROOOOM…
The dim remnants of the Eternal Flame rushed into the lava artifact like a river of molten stars. The blade literally howled as the stolen fire surged through it.
Flames shot upward in a towering pillar, burning so fiercely that even Soren's arm trembled.
For the first time, the artifact was almost too hot for him to hold.
If Soren's own body weren't absurdly durable, the weapon would have incinerated him long ago.
"…" He stared at the artifact, stunned.
The lava blade was shaking violently, drinking the Eternal Flame with a hunger that bordered on madness.
The blade's body glowed white-hot for a moment, so bright it seemed on the brink of bursting apart.
Fine cracks spiderwebbed across its surface… but then slowly began to seal.
The fractures knitted themselves closed, the blade's glow shrinking from blinding white to a deep, steady molten red.
The flames swirling around it gradually thickening into a more stable aura.
Soren hadn't expected the Eternal Flame to be this potent.
A tiny cluster, barely a spark of the giant's original core, had pushed the artifact to advance again. But thinking about it… it made sense.
This same spark had resurrected Surtur and allowed him to unleash enough destruction to end worlds.
Of course it was powerful.
Surtur, however, had paid the price.
A massive, hollow wound gaped through the giant's chest, burned straight through by Soren's spatial strike.
The Eternal Flame that fueled his existence was devoured entirely by the artifact.
The flames covering his body flickered weakly… then died.
Even the burning eyes in his skull sputtered and dimmed, blinking out after a final tremble.
BOOM
The Flame Giant collapsed, hitting the earth and dust exploded upward in a towering plume.
And yet, even his body began to fade… melting away into an astral mist until only a colossal, cracked skull remained in the crater he had formed.
Soren dropped down lightly and retrieved the massive skull with a casual sweep of his hand. Only then did he lift his gaze toward Thor and the others.
Thor, Valkyrie, Freyja, and Heimdall were visibly exhausted… faces slick with sweat under Hela's relentless storm of blades. But when they saw Surtur's flames extinguished, relief washed over them.
If Soren was free, then Hela was no longer the nightmare she had been moments ago.
Soren scanned the battlefield.
Hulk and the undead giant wolf were still locked in a brutal wrestling match, each slamming the other into stone, grappling and smashing.
Neither creature seemed seriously injured. Their defenses were absurd, and their battle looked like it could last forever.
Soren couldn't help but chuckle.
These two might fight for days without a conclusion.
But… something unexpected happened.
The moment Soren's eyes fell on the giant wolf, the lava artifact in his hand let out a trembling cry… like a living creature begging, yearning.
From the blade, he felt a distinct pull.
A craving.
The artifact had just advanced after consuming Surtur's Eternal Flame and it clearly understood the benefits. Now it had set its sights on the undead wolf.
The wolf carried fire, too.
A different fire.
And the artifact wanted it desperately.
Soren tightened his grip. "Greedy thing…"
In an instant, his body blurred into motion. space folding and he appeared beside the undead wolf.
The newly advanced lava blade ignited the moment he reactivated it.
Its form changed drastically. The flames rising from it were almost transparent, the heat so intense it seemed to melt the air itself.
A massive phantom blade materialized around the weapon, stretching several times longer than the wolf's enormous body.
"…!" The undead wolf felt the danger immediately.
"ROOOAR!"
It snapped its head around, weaving into a storm of dark slashes to intercept the descending flame.
But the flame artifact was no longer the same weapon as before.
The giant wolf's massive claw, wreathed in black aura moments ago, hit the ground with a wet thud.
"WOOO-OOORR!"
Black blood poured from the severed limb. The undead wolf's roar was no longer fierce…
Soren's strike had hurt it badly.
"…" Hela's eyes widened.
For countless ages, this wolf had been her companion, her shadow, her only comfort in a dead world. Seeing it crippled, writhing on the ground, tore something deep inside her.
Thor and the others were forgotten.
Hela summoned a forest of massive black spikes and hurled them toward Soren, who hovered above the wounded beast.
Soren had never taken his attention off her.
The moment her killing intent was directed at him, His lips curled into a taunting smile.
SWISH!
Soren vanished, slipping through space.
The spikes tore through his afterimage, shredding the spot where he had been standing, nothing but an empty illusion.
At the same instant…
"PUFF!"
The undead wolf's screams stopped.
Hela watched, as Soren appeared beside the beast and brought the newly evolved lava artifact down in a single merciless arc.
The massive wolf head flew free.
A final burst of inner fire escaped from its body instantly swallowed by the artifact, which pulsed with renewed vitality.
The wolf's body dissolved into ash and scattered on the burned stones below.
Hela's expression worsened.
Pain. Rage. Hatred so deep it seemed to shake the air.
Her companion of ages was gone. Killed by Soren. Erased so completely that even resurrection was impossible.
"SOREN!! DIE!" Her power surged explosively.
The fury that erupted from her was beyond anything Thor and the others had ever felt. Her aura, fully released, pressed down like the weight of a collapsing world.
Freyja's knees nearly buckled.
Heimdall clenched his teeth and looked away from the goddess's oppressive energy.
Just from her presence, they almost lost the strength to stand.
Soren felt the tremendous force, one worthy of the title of pseudo EX.
Finally… a fight that deserved his full power.
"Heimdall," Soren said lightly, as if discussing something mundane instead of facing a goddess's wrath, "Use the portal."
"Take everyone and leave. Asgard won't survive what's coming."
As he spoke, Soren's aura began to rise…
Magic circles of time and space formed in his hands, a spiritual sigil blossomed at the center of his brow.
Three radiant colors wrapped around his body, intertwining like flames.
For a moment, he looked less like a warrior and more like a celestial being descending to judge a world.
With a simple wave of his hand…
FWUMP
Thor and the others felt the crushing weight of Hela's aura vanish, lifted from them in an instant.
Soren had pushed back her pressure and freed them completely.
Heimdall didn't hesitate. He activated the portal Soren had entrusted to him. A glowing doorway of space-time burst open.
"Move!" Heimdall commanded, ushering the others through with urgency. "We must go, now!"