Blue-white electrical energy emanated from Thor's left eye socket. Electric currents flowed around his body in crackling arcs.
Thor looked at his hands with newfound understanding, then at Sebastian. He nodded to his friend with gratitude and instantly disappeared from his original position. He reappeared in front of Hela, grabbed her neck with one hand, and punched her in the abdomen with a fist full of thunder. With a shocking thunderclap, Hela flew backwards. She broke through the wall of the palace and flew out of Asgard entirely.
Reaching out to grab a long sword that had pierced his body when Hela was blown away, Thor pulled the sword out of his chest. He rushed towards the direction where Hela had flown out of the palace.
At this time, seeing Thor's actions, Sebastian used his Phantom Form to split into a duplicate. The duplicate returned to merge with his main body. Then, he did not chase after Thor. Instead, he continued to go deeper into the palace, preparing to take away everything valuable here. He would take out some of it to make a new weapon for Thor, and the rest would be his well-earned reward.
Although the reward far outweighed his expenses and efforts, Sebastian did not feel guilty about it at all.
The deserted palace was like a doorless treasury, free for Sebastian to come and go as he pleased.
Entering Odin's Vault, he found items like the fake Infinity Gauntlet, the Eternal Flame, and the Crown of Black Fire left behind after Surtur's death. The crown contained Surtur's soul and power, awaiting resurrection through the Eternal Flame. All the valuable items were sorted and sealed with magic. Then they were stuffed into his storage bag that had been enlarged by countless uses of the Undetectable Extension Charm.
Finally, Sebastian reached the interior of the vault. There was a place resembling an artificial garden. He found Asgard's most precious treasure, its final treasure: the golden apple tree!
The tree looked unremarkable at first glance. It appeared like any other apple tree, not particularly sturdy in appearance. Its branches looked ordinary. Only the occasional flicker of golden light from its trunk and leaves betrayed its extraordinary magical power.
"Unfortunately, the golden apple tree has not borne any fruit yet."
The fruit of the golden apple tree was rare, requiring a very long time to grow. Naturally, once it bore fruit, the apples would be picked immediately and used in many ways. They would not just be left hanging there.
Without further hesitation, Sebastian waved his wand. He unleashed a stream of lightning magic that destroyed the magical defenses protecting the tree. Then, he used magic to seal the land where the golden apple tree grew, along with the tree itself. He placed the entire section in his storage bag. Finally, Sebastian nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave the vault.
As Sebastian emerged from the dilapidated and crumbling palace, he witnessed Bill wielding his Black Thunder Hammer in coordination with Thor. The two thunder-wielders, working together effectively, had subdued Hela. The others had completely dispatched Hela's Berserker soldiers and warriors. Now they were providing support for the two thunder gods.
At that moment, Thor unleashed a massive bolt of lightning, forcing Hela to retreat backwards. Just then, Bill swung his Thunder Hammer and struck Hela hard in the back, making her stumble forward. Crucially, Hela was unable to dodge Thor's follow-up blow. She was sent flying high into the air by the powerful bolt of lightning.
Thor and Bill followed closely behind, chasing the soaring Hela through the sky. They surrounded Hela from both sides. Bill launched a hammer strike at her, only to be blocked by Hela's manifested necroswords. Hela swung her left hand violently, sending five swords flying through the air. The blades forced Bill back and knocked his Thunder Hammer away from his grasp.
But at that moment, Thor reached out and caught the spinning Thunder Hammer mid-flight. Then he expertly backhanded it, striking Hela squarely in the face and sending her flying backwards.
At the same time, Thor hurled Bill's Black Thunder Hammer back towards him. Bill caught it with both hands. The two men, one raising his hand and the other raising his hammer, summoned two massive bolts of lightning from the sky. The lightning bolts entangled and merged together, striking Hela with tremendous force. The combined attack sent her flying off the Rainbow Bridge. The impact severely damaged the bridge, causing a large portion of it to collapse into the waters below.
Bang!
Bang!
Thor and Bill landed one after another on the remaining portion of the Rainbow Bridge. Neither of them relaxed their vigilance. They believed that while the previous attack was powerful, it was far from enough to kill Hela permanently.
As expected, at that moment, beneath the turbulent waters below the Rainbow Bridge, a dark blue mountain of swords suddenly rose from the depths. This slender and sharp peak was filled with a variety of swords, spears, and other weapons. Hela stood atop the sword mountain, looking down at Thor and Bill from above with contempt.
"I have to admit that the cooperation between you two makes me feel the pressure I have not felt for a long time. If it were outside Asgard, I might have been defeated by you just now.
But unfortunately, we are in Asgard now. And now I am the Lord of Asgard. The whole realm of Asgard is cooperating with me, responding to me, and giving me powerful strength. In Asgard, I am the immortal Goddess of Death!
I am God-King Hela!"
"Hela, you are not worthy of being the Lord of Asgard. You are not worthy of being the God-King who leads our people."
Looking at Thor with contempt and disdain, Hela sneered mockingly. "Whether you are worthy or not depends on your strength alone. History is written by the victors, and the victors naturally have everything. Now I am the winner, so naturally I am qualified to have everything. I am qualified to be the Lord of Asgard and become the God-King!"
The Authority of the God-King of Asgard was actually very similar to the dimensional Authority of the major dimensions and their rulers.
In other words, the Asgardian God-King shared a great deal of similarity with the Lords of Dimensions. Within their own domain, they possessed boundless power and were nearly immortal. Perhaps the Asgardian God-King was somewhat inferior to the Lords of Dimensions in this regard, but generally speaking, the difference was not particularly significant.
This was the case with Hela at this moment.
She had returned to Asgard before Thor and Loki. As Odin's daughter, she preemptively seized the Authority of the God-King. She controlled Asgard and received its blessing and power.
Thor wanted to kill Hela and restore Asgard to its original state. There was only one way: become a God-King himself who was capable of voluntarily separating the Authority of the God-King from Hela. He needed to prove he was more suitable to become the future Lord of Asgard!
At this time, Sebastian and the others arrived at Thor's side on the bridge.
Sebastian looked at Thor carefully, then at Hela standing atop her mountain of blades. Then he smiled and said to Thor thoughtfully, "Thor, what do you think Asgard is? Is it this place we are standing on? The Rainbow Bridge? The palace? Or is it this realm called Asgard? What do you think is the real Asgard?"
Listening to Sebastian's words, Thor looked around himself in a daze. This devastated palace, this deserted realm, suddenly made Thor feel unfamiliar. This place of death was not the Asgard in his memory. The Asgard in his memory should be...
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