When Karl arrived at the location where the disturbance had originated, he froze in place.
He was completely stunned.
Standing there was not the terrifying Goddess of Death, Hela—
But a small girl with black hair, wearing a dark leather jacket.
Hela herself was nowhere to be seen.
Karl blinked in disbelief.
Meanwhile, the little girl's eyes suddenly lit up when she saw him.
For thousands of years, she had been trapped here completely alone.
The endless darkness had nearly driven her insane.
Now someone had finally appeared.
And not just anyone—
Someone who had clearly entered from the outside world.
That meant one thing.
Perhaps she could finally leave.
Karl looked down at the small girl before him.
Immediately, he sensed something unusual.
Within her body flowed Asgardian divine power.
More specifically—
The authority of Death.
Karl's eyes widened slightly.
Could this… actually be Hela?
But that didn't make sense.
In the memories of Karl's previous life—based on what he had seen in films—Hela had always appeared as an adult warrior queen.
So why had she become a child?
Karl frowned and finally asked:
"Are you… Hela?"
After all, there should be no one else here besides Hela.
Still, Karl wanted confirmation.
"I am Hela!"
The little girl shouted angrily.
"Who are you?!"
"Did that old bastard Odin send you here?!"
Her eyes burned with hatred.
"I can already feel the seal weakening."
"He's about to die!"
"When he does—"
"Asgard will belong to me!"
Then her voice turned cold.
"Since you're Odin's man…"
"You can stay here forever!"
Little Hela immediately launched an attack.
BANG—!
The attack struck Karl directly.
But it had absolutely no effect.
Karl stood there motionless.
Hela's attack power was nowhere near what a Celestial-level powerhouse should possess.
In fact, her strength seemed closer to planetary level at best.
Karl stared at her for a moment.
Then—
He burst out laughing.
It suddenly made sense.
In Asgardian physiology, divine power and physical strength increase with age.
But the girl before him was clearly stuck in a childlike state.
Which meant—
Hela had likely been regressed by temporal effects while trapped here.
Seeing Karl laugh so openly, Hela's face turned bright red with fury.
BOOM!
BANG!
She launched another series of attacks.
Death energy erupted from her body.
But none of it affected Karl.
Karl laughed even harder.
Enraged, Hela stomped toward a nearby stone pillar and smashed it repeatedly.
Since attacking Karl was completely pointless.
"Hahaha—"
Karl tried to stop laughing.
"Cough… cough…"
Finally he descended slowly until he stood directly in front of her.
"Can you tell me why you became like this?"
He asked.
Then he started laughing again.
Hela's face flushed red with anger.
She swung punches toward Karl's face.
Karl blocked them casually.
"Why should I tell you?!"
Hela shouted.
"When I get out of here, I'll kill you!"
"I'll return to my original form once I escape!"
"Just wait!"
She crossed her arms and turned her head away arrogantly.
Although Hela refused to explain, Karl had already guessed the truth.
It was likely the Self Stone.
This mysterious gem possessed abilities similar to the Infinity Stones.
Karl had also detected traces of time manipulation affecting Hela's body.
That meant the stone had likely reversed her age, transforming her into this childlike state.
Karl sighed in relief.
Fortunately, Hela had not obtained the Self Stone itself.
Otherwise, the situation could have become catastrophic.
Still—
Looking at Hela's current appearance—
Karl couldn't help feeling amused.
He had never imagined that Hela would look so adorable as a child.
Her cheeks were soft and round.
Without thinking, Karl reached out.
And pinched her cheek.
His first thought was simple.
So soft.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Little Hela exploded with rage.
"YOU'RE ASKING FOR DEATH!"
She couldn't believe someone had dared to pinch her face.
In fury, Hela began gathering death energy from the surrounding space and launched another attack.
Karl scratched his nose awkwardly.
It really had been difficult to resist.
After all—
It was loli Hela's chubby face.
BOOM!
BANG!
BOOM!
Hela continued attacking him furiously.
Karl didn't even bother defending.
Her attacks were harmless to him.
Eventually, Hela exhausted herself.
Panting with anger, she ran behind a large stone pillar.
Karl rubbed his nose awkwardly again.
Then he decided to focus on the real objective.
Finding the Self Stone.
Now that he knew Hela hadn't obtained it, Karl felt much more relaxed.
However—
Hela secretly watched him fly away.
And a mischievous smile appeared on her lips.
Karl soon arrived at the location.
Floating above a stone pillar not far away—
Was a golden gem.
The Self Stone.
But Karl knew things would not be so simple.
Even Hela had clearly suffered some kind of setback here.
So Karl proceeded cautiously.
The moment he stepped forward—
The environment changed instantly.
Suddenly he was standing in the middle of a cosmic battlefield.
In the distance, a mysterious woman was fighting a towering being resembling a Celestial.
Karl did not recognize the woman.
But he could guess.
She was most likely Nemesis, the entity connected to the Self Stone.
Karl watched the battle briefly.
Without realizing it—
He almost became completely absorbed in the illusion.
Fortunately, the Mind Stone and Soul Stone embedded in his armor flashed.
Karl immediately regained clarity.
Cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
He had nearly been trapped within the illusion.
And his current strength was already pseudo single-universal level.
Realizing the danger, Karl stopped observing.
He activated the Power Stone.
Purple energy erupted outward.
The entire illusion shattered.
The cosmic battlefield vanished instantly.
The environment returned to the original sealed space.
Recalling what had just happened, Karl became extremely cautious.
He activated all six Infinity Stones simultaneously and continued forward.
Suddenly—
A beam of golden energy shot out from the Self Stone.
It struck Karl directly.
Instantly, Karl felt his personal timeline begin reversing.
His age.
His body.
Even his power—
Everything began regressing backward through time.
But Karl possessed the Time Stone.
A surge of green energy erupted.
The Time Stone counteracted the effect.
Karl's body returned to normal.
The entire process lasted only a moment.
But Karl realized something terrifying.
He had almost been turned into an infant.
Now he finally understood.
This was why Hela had become a child.
Even Karl—who possessed the Time Stone—had nearly been reverted to infancy.
Meanwhile—
Hela had endured thousands of years inside this temporal reversal zone.
...
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