The moment the white river appeared behind Hela, Karl's expression changed.
Because he immediately recognized what it represented.
Rules.
More specifically—
The Rule of Death itself.
The endless white river behind Hela was a manifestation of death on a conceptual level.
For a brief moment, Karl felt both surprise and concern.
Hela had absorbed an enormous amount of energy over the years.
Now she had actually touched the Rule of Death and temporarily drawn upon its power.
Would this attract the attention of higher beings?
Would it expose her existence to entities connected to death throughout the multiverse?
Karl couldn't be certain.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do now.
The rule had already manifested.
All he could do was watch.
...
Boom!
The Sword of Death descended.
Empowered by both Hela's death energy and the Rule of Death itself, the black blade collided directly with Zeus' Thunderbolt.
The resulting explosion shook the entire Mirror Dimension.
Massive cracks spread through space.
Reality fractured.
Had Karl not intervened immediately, the entire battlefield might have collapsed.
With a thought, he stabilized the dimension.
Space instantly solidified again.
...
The result of the clash was obvious.
The Thunderbolt was powerful.
Extremely powerful.
Yet it lacked one thing.
A conceptual advantage.
Hela's attack carried the Rule of Death.
As a result, the collision lasted only a moment before the balance tilted.
The Thunderbolt was knocked away.
Golden lightning scattered across the battlefield.
...
Zeus stared in disbelief.
His eyes widened as he looked at the river behind Hela.
As a ruler who had lived for countless years, he naturally understood what he was seeing.
Rules.
True rules.
Not imitation.
Not borrowed authority.
Actual conceptual power.
...
Unfortunately, Hela had no interest in explaining anything.
The moment the Thunderbolt was repelled, she attacked again.
The Sword of Death cut through space.
A black streak crossed the battlefield.
...
Zeus abandoned any thought of recalling the Thunderbolt.
Instead, he raised the divine shield.
At the same time, another artifact appeared in his hand.
A weapon formed from condensed divine light and cosmic energy.
The moment Karl saw it, his eyes lit up.
...
This old man might not be particularly impressive compared to Karl's current level.
But he certainly possessed plenty of treasures.
...
Bang!
The two divine weapons collided.
The Mirror Dimension shattered once more.
Space repeatedly collapsed and regenerated under Karl's maintenance.
The battlefield resembled a constantly repairing broken mirror.
...
As the battle continued, Hela became increasingly aware of Zeus' condition.
He was weakening.
Rapidly.
The previous clash had already consumed a huge portion of his remaining divine power.
Meanwhile, Hela still possessed abundant reserves.
The outcome was becoming inevitable.
...
The Rule of Death continuously eroded Zeus' defenses.
Every exchange left behind traces of conceptual damage.
Although Zeus also possessed authority related to thunder and divine kingship, his understanding of those powers had not reached the level necessary to invoke true rules.
At most, he could borrow fragments of their power.
That was fundamentally different from Hela's current state.
...
After several more exchanges, Zeus finally reached his limit.
His movements slowed.
His divine power became unstable.
Then—
Sizzle!
The Sword of Death pierced straight through his chest.
...
The black blade entered his body.
Hela showed no mercy.
Death energy flooded into Zeus like a tidal wave.
The corrosive power immediately began destroying everything inside him.
Divine power.
Organs.
Life force.
Soul essence.
Everything was consumed.
...
His skin rapidly darkened.
Black veins spread across his body.
The King of Olympus could no longer resist.
...
Hela looked into his eyes.
Then withdrew the sword.
The next moment—
She swung again.
Bang!
Zeus' head separated from his body.
The ruler of Olympus fell.
His severed head struck the ground of the Mirror Dimension and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop.
...
Silence.
Complete silence.
The Greek gods stared blankly at the scene.
No one could accept what had happened.
Their king.
Their ruler.
The strongest Olympian.
Had fallen.
...
Then chaos erupted.
Many gods roared in anger.
Divine power exploded everywhere.
Some attempted revenge.
Others prepared desperate attacks.
...
Unfortunately—
They never got the chance.
Boom!
A terrifying pressure descended.
Every remaining Olympian was slammed to the ground.
Male.
Female.
God.
Demigod.
None were exceptions.
...
Only Karl remained floating in the air.
Far away, Hera silently watched him.
Something complicated flickered in her eyes.
...
Whoosh!
The remaining Olympians suddenly vanished.
Karl had transferred them elsewhere.
...
Inside another isolated dimension, Karl calmly observed the gods pinned before him.
Poseidon.
Hades.
Apollo.
And the rest.
...
There was no speech.
No judgment.
No negotiation.
...
Boom!
Poseidon's head exploded.
Then another.
And another.
And another.
...
Within moments, every male Olympian god had been killed.
The surviving goddesses watched in disbelief.
Many were horrified.
Others were furious.
Some were simply numb.
...
Karl remained expressionless.
In truth, he already had a reason for doing this.
His System required suitable targets for future sign-ins.
Strength mattered.
Potential mattered.
The Olympian goddesses happened to satisfy those requirements.
...
At the front stood Hera.
Queen of Olympus.
A woman of extraordinary beauty and intelligence.
The moment Karl looked toward her, her body involuntarily floated upward.
She stopped directly before him.
...
Surprisingly, Hera felt little hatred.
Her husband was dead.
Her son was dead.
Yet she remained strangely calm.
Perhaps she had already grown tired of Olympus.
Tired of Zeus.
Tired of endless divine conflicts.
...
For countless years, the Olympian gods had fought among themselves.
Power struggles never ceased.
Children schemed against parents.
Siblings competed against siblings.
Zeus himself spent much of his time pursuing pleasure rather than ruling.
Eventually, Hera had simply stopped caring.
...
Karl studied her silently.
Even after giving birth, her figure remained graceful and flawless.
Her golden hair flowed over her shoulders.
Her bearing remained elegant.
...
Karl raised a hand and gently lifted her chin.
Because of the pressure earlier, parts of her divine garments had become disordered.
Several areas of fair skin were visible.
Karl made no effort to hide his gaze.
...
Then all remaining goddesses were brought forward.
Athena.
Artemis.
Aphrodite.
Hestia.
Demeter.
Gaia.
Nyx.
Hebe.
Metis.
Eos.
Leto.
Phoebe.
Persephone.
Erinyes.
Mnemosyne.
Daphne.
And many others.
Nearly fifty goddesses in total.
...
Each possessed extraordinary beauty.
Each carried divine authority.
Each met the requirements Karl desired.
...
The next moment, all of them were sealed within the depths of the Shadow World.
Numerous shadow creatures were assigned to guard them.
Only after everything was completed did Karl leave.
...
Returning to the Mirror Dimension, Karl dispelled the spell.
Reality restored itself.
Everyone reappeared within Asgard exactly where they had stood before.
...
Hela approached Karl.
In her hands were Zeus' spoils.
The divine shield.
The Thunderbolt.
And the artifact Zeus had previously used.
...
Karl accepted them with a smile.
Then he casually tossed the Thunderbolt toward Thor.
The God of Thunder nearly dropped it in shock.
...
"As a gift from your brother-in-law."
Karl laughed.
...
Thor immediately caught the divine weapon.
His eyes nearly shone.
Meanwhile, Karl tossed the second artifact toward Loki.
The Trickster instantly grabbed it and hid it somewhere unknown.
No one could tell where it went.
...
"Thank you, Brother-in-law!"
"Thank you, Brother-in-law!"
Thor and Loki simultaneously stepped forward.
Both formally bowed.
...
The next second—
Bang!
Bang!
Hela kicked both of them away.
...
Yet neither brother looked angry.
Instead, both wore unusually bright smiles.
...
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