While Gullveig was tangled in thoughts, Deathstroke naturally saw the newly arrived enemy—the red Demon Army spreading over like a crimson tide directly from the horizon.
He immediately felt a headache coming on.
Why did the Lords of Hell get involved? What does the World Tree catching fire have to do with them?
But regardless of which Lord of Hell it is, they are known for not showing their hand without a reason. The appearance of the Demon Army here is absolutely no coincidence.
Someone must have reached an agreement with their rulers.
But in the Marvel World, there are too many Lords of Hell—Mephisto, Serrator, Dormammu, Lucifer, Eye Demon, Snake God, Zom, and so on.
In Marvel, alternate dimensions are generally referred to as Hell, and their rulers are the Lords of Hell.
Whose army has arrived now?
Without knowing the opponent, plans are difficult to formulate.
For instance, Zom, his flames are a weakness for the Magic Floating Cloak, such strange alternate dimension fire would burn the cloak's threads.
And if it's the Eye Demon's vanguard, then Deathstroke would have to prepare to face the entire Cthulhu System.
However, it currently seems that these armies have fallen into endless hunger, behavior not fitting any Demon King's characteristics.
Is it because of those leading 'mummies'? Those monsters appear incredibly hungry—could it be influenced by their leader?
If this were the DND system, Deathstroke might brainstorm a skill like 'Hungry Spirit Light', but whether Marvel has a similar concept, he is unsure.
Dealing with demons and alternate dimension invasions, if it were on Earth, it's The Ancient One's responsibility; in Asgard, it's Odin's task.
But Odin is now dead asleep, showing no sign of waking up.
Anyway, let the warriors hold the line for now. Although there are no city walls, the defensive weaponry is quite comprehensive, he can seize the opportunity to have a good talk with Gullveig.
The previously heated battle between them, now faced with a common enemy of life, offers grounds for negotiation.
At worst, Deathstroke could replace Odin and agree to some of her conditions.
However, when Warnerheim's army retreated just now, he also did not see Queen Gullveig, that woman probably used magic to hide herself.
But the retreat direction was too obvious, Deathstroke can find her.
"Hold the line! Warriors of the Immortal Palace, behind us is our homeland, everyone has nowhere else to retreat!"
He shouted loudly, while more officers passed the command across the battlefield.
Deathstroke isn't sure how long the line can hold, Asgardians don't lack combat will, but they must not let the dead rise and join the fight.
Actually, Odin still has a trump card—the 40 million Heroic Spirits in the Heroic Spirit Hall, but that was prepared for the Twilight of the Gods, only he knows how to utilize it.
As Deathstroke rode his horse in chaos, suddenly the ground beside him bulged, alerting him to danger instantly.
The Eight-legged Celestial Horse also sensed it, swiftly turning aside to dodge.
The ground bulge exploded almost immediately, spewing flames several men tall—a living flame monster as if trapped in a beast-form iron cage, struggling out of the earth with magma and high temperature.
Strangulation instantly oscillated with unease, it particularly disliked these creatures.
This means if Deathstroke fights these things, it might blow his cover—the fake Odin would 'melt' due to the heat, with his surface becoming like ice cream.
"Troublesome, but appearing at just the right time."
Fearless of these creatures, which couldn't fly, yet making a move now would blow his cover, he still needed Odin's identity.
The beasts emerged from the wall, the metal flooring seemingly posed no hindrance to them. Amidst the flashing flames, many Asgardian warriors were blasted into the sky.
Prayers and wails filled the air, numerous gazes turned towards Deathstroke, hoping their Divine King would aid them.
These looks did not escape Deathstroke, after all, he entered the battlefield as Odin, even mounted a horse—he couldn't simply do nothing.
But dealing with flame monsters wasn't an option, getting too close would melt Strangulation.
Deathstroke glanced at the Demon Army on the other side, maneuvering his horse to dodge the erupting Flaming Giant Beasts.
"Hmm, Uru Alloy shell huh, like a stripped-down version of the Destructive Robot... I see."
It's now confirmed that Gullveig's backer is Surtur. Uru metal is easy for him to acquire, and he's good at sowing discord.
However, it seems these entities and the subsequent Demon Army are not on the same side.
"Faster, head outside the city."
Deathstroke patted the divine steed's neck, pointing a direction for it.
The Flaming Giant Beasts targeted Odin, pursuing with metallic bars and rivets forming beast-shaped cages 'clanging' along, leaving behind burning round footprints.
At this point, he noticed the World Tree's fire had been extinguished, Gin's efficiency was as high as ever, though he didn't know how things were on Brynhild's side.
Yet these flame monsters possessed speed and agility disproportionate to their size, which should be noted since they could catch up to the Eight-legged Celestial Horse.
But faster speed was more advantageous, as they focused on pursuing him, Deathstroke led them directly into the demon lines.
The long spear in his hand became a halo, with the essence of Godslayer granting the weapon extreme sharpness.
If any demon brushed past, the flesh at that spot would fly off.
Slash, sweep, flick, chop—Deathstroke remained proficient in long spear techniques on horseback, while the Celestial Horse itself, seasoned through battles, occasionally offered assistance with its four extra legs.
Almost encircled completely by various devils, Strangulation also secretly lent a hand from the dark, making progress relatively smooth.
Deathstroke charged straight with over a dozen flaming beasts, reaching those mummy leaders of the demon army.
Only then he noticed that these mummy-like dried corpses actually had genders, and under their gray cloth strips, a hint of armor aligned with the Immortal Palace's style.
He recognized these as the Destruction Maidens, their dried ghost-witch faces combined with the Nordic equipment style, akin to corpses frozen under snow and ice.
Someone in the Immortal Palace knows the method to summon them, and it seems they've made a deal with a Hell Lord.
As for which Hell Lord, Deathstroke also heard the demon army shouting their master's name in battle. Though the Demon Language is awkward, the pronunciation largely sounded like—'Mephisto'.
If it's Old Mo...
Deathstroke could be a bit relieved, Mephisto is strong, but his strongest trait is his mind; his army is merely average, and he dislikes personally battling.
Be cautious of schemes and tricks, avoid greed and unrealistic delusions, Mephisto's tactics wouldn't work on Deathstroke.
Moreover, Mephisto himself has plenty of enemies; now that things have escalated substantially, if worse comes to worst, Deathstroke can further escalate by actively inviting Mephisto's enemies into the fray.
Like making a deal with Old Mo's son, 'Black Heart'.
That loathsome offspring loves confronting his father most, and he's quite genuine, essentially an alien species among devils.
Any remotely feasible plot can be used to form a coalition with Black Heart, with offers of gold or magic items as payment for these schemes.
Now amidst the attacking enemies, Deathstroke has deduced the backgrounds of two factions, which is somewhat good news.
While pondering, he guided the beasts to slaughter through the demon lines, breaking through seven times over. Where the Celestial Horse and beasts passed, the enemy ranks flattened like wheat fields under a bulldozer.
Predictably, shortly, thirteen Destruction Maidens faced off against those dozen beasts.