Hela moved first.
Holding the Sword of Death, she vanished from her previous position and appeared directly before Zeus.
The black blade descended.
The terrifying aura of death tore through the surrounding space.
Zeus reacted immediately.
Golden lightning erupted around his body.
The divine energy alone was enough to crack the surrounding spatial barriers.
He dodged sideways while simultaneously launching a counterattack.
The divine Thunderbolt left his hand.
Wrapped in endless golden lightning, it shot toward Hela.
For an instant, the entire Mirror Dimension was illuminated by blinding gold.
Boom!
...
Hela showed no intention of retreating.
Instead, she accelerated.
Her body became a streak of black light as she charged directly toward the incoming attack.
The moment danger approached—
She raised the Sword of Death before her chest.
The blade collided with the divine lightning.
Boom!
The impact was overwhelming.
Hela and the Sword of Death were blasted backward together.
The force carried her across vast stretches of the battlefield.
Wherever she passed, space shattered.
The edge of the Mirror Dimension fractured under the pressure.
Fortunately, Karl calmly repaired the damage the moment it appeared.
...
He had never intended to maintain the Mirror Dimension at full power.
Doing so during a battle between two Single-Universe-level beings would consume unnecessary energy.
Allowing the battlefield to break and then repairing it afterward was far more efficient.
With the Space Stone and the Self Stone at his disposal, restoring shattered space required less than a thought.
...
Snap!
Before Hela could fully stabilize herself, Zeus recalled the Thunderbolt.
The divine weapon changed direction instantly.
Another blast of golden lightning descended.
Boom!
The attack struck Hela once more.
Yet when the light faded, she remained completely unharmed.
Only her appearance had become slightly disordered.
After all, this was Hela.
A being empowered by death itself.
Combined with the Kryptonian genes within her body, she was far from fragile.
An attack capable of annihilating multiple Celestial-level beings was insufficient to truly injure her.
...
Dark energy erupted from Hela's eyes.
The Sword of Death began gathering power.
The surrounding space dimmed.
The temperature of the battlefield seemed to plummet.
Boom!
Hela vanished again.
The next moment she appeared directly before Zeus.
This time, she attacked first.
The Sword of Death unleashed a massive wave of black energy.
The strike expanded instantly.
It covered such a vast area that dodging became impossible.
Even space itself shattered beneath the attack.
The black wave rushed directly toward Zeus' head.
...
Zeus immediately understood.
There was no room to evade.
Golden divine power erupted from his body.
Without hesitation, he threw the Thunderbolt again.
At the same time, he poured an enormous amount of energy into the divine shield held in his left hand.
His plan was simple.
Use the Thunderbolt to weaken the incoming attack.
Then rely upon the shield to block whatever remained.
...
Unfortunately, Hela wasn't willing to cooperate.
She raised her free hand.
Another wave of death energy surged forward.
Boom!
The second attack struck the Thunderbolt directly.
The divine weapon was knocked aside.
Its interception failed.
Now only the shield remained between Zeus and Hela's attack.
...
Among the Olympian gods, nervous expressions appeared everywhere.
Many stared at Zeus anxiously.
Only Hera remained calm.
Almost indifferent.
...
Unlike the others, she had already accepted reality.
The moment Karl sealed the battlefield, Hera understood that none of them were likely to leave alive.
She had even noticed Zeus secretly attempting to send away his youngest son earlier.
That alone told her everything she needed to know.
Even Zeus had lost confidence.
...
At the same time, another thought had begun forming in her mind.
Ever since entering the Mirror Dimension, she had noticed Karl glancing in her direction several times.
Perhaps it was coincidence.
Perhaps not.
...
Hera had long since stopped loving Zeus.
The King of Olympus spent centuries traveling from world to world, indulging himself wherever he pleased.
He constantly returned with new descendants.
New lovers.
New scandals.
Eventually, Hera simply stopped caring.
The two rarely lived together anymore.
...
Unlike some darker versions of Greek mythology, the Olympian civilization of this universe operated differently.
Zeus' obsession wasn't directed inward.
Instead, he constantly sought women from other planets and civilizations.
With his power, status, and charisma, attracting ordinary women was effortless.
As a result, Hera had long grown tired of him.
...
She remained beautiful.
Elegant.
Wise.
Dignified.
A true queen.
And now, seeing Karl's strength, youth, and appearance, certain thoughts she hadn't entertained in a very long time began resurfacing.
...
Boom!
The battlefield exploded.
Zeus raised the divine shield.
Hela's attack struck head-on.
The impact launched him backward.
The death energy surged across the shield like a tidal wave.
A deep black sword mark appeared across its surface.
The King of Olympus flew across the battlefield until he crashed into the edge of the Mirror Dimension.
The spatial barrier shattered around him.
...
When Zeus finally stopped, the golden aura surrounding him had vanished.
Death energy covered his body.
It continuously attempted to corrode his divine essence.
...
To survive the attack, Zeus had poured nearly half his remaining divine power into the shield.
Without that sacrifice, the outcome would have been far worse.
Possibly fatal.
...
Golden light erupted again.
Zeus forcefully expelled the invading death energy.
Then he slowly rose.
The Thunderbolt returned to his hand.
Above him, countless golden lightning bolts gathered.
The entire Mirror Dimension became a sea of lightning.
His body was wrapped in divine thunder.
The power continued rising.
Higher.
And higher.
...
Karl's expression changed slightly.
Not because of Zeus.
But because of the lightning itself.
...
The Thunderbolt was extraordinary.
Even now, its true limits had not been fully revealed.
The attack currently gathering before Zeus had already approached the middle stage of the Single-Universe level.
Its destructive power was genuinely terrifying.
For the first time, concern appeared in Karl's eyes.
He looked toward Hela.
Could she block it?
...
Then Karl suddenly remembered something.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Even if Hela couldn't stop it—
He could.
And perhaps Zeus would conveniently leave behind another powerful divine artifact afterward.
...
Across the battlefield, Hela naturally sensed the danger as well.
Her expression became solemn.
The death energy around her body condensed continuously.
The power of death within her surged into the Sword of Death.
Her eyes turned completely black.
Although her aura didn't increase, it became increasingly eerie.
Increasingly terrifying.
...
Boom!
Zeus finally completed his attack.
The Thunderbolt left his hand.
The gathered lightning of the entire Mirror Dimension followed behind it.
Everything in its path shattered.
Space collapsed.
Reality fractured.
Golden divine power merged completely with the attack.
The result was a beam of destruction capable of annihilating worlds.
...
Hela raised the Sword of Death.
At that moment—
Something unexpected appeared behind her.
A white river.
Ancient.
Boundless.
Endless.
It seemed to flow from the beginning of existence toward eternity itself.
...
White energy surged from the river.
It flowed directly into the Sword of Death.
The black blade immediately began emitting an even more terrifying aura.
...
The instant the river appeared—
Karl stood up.
...
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