Hela's form turned into a streak of black lightning, charging toward Fenrir.
She had to confirm whether this thing was still her Fenrir!
But at the moment she was about to touch Fenrir, the giant wolf's body suddenly turned into a thick mist, enveloping her.
Vision, hearing, and divine sense were all blocked at that instant.
Hela's heart chilled, and then a set of sharp claws struck from behind without warning, piercing through her heart.
"Puchi—"
Hela looked down at the wolf claws protruding from her chest, and her body dissipated into points of light.
In an instant, she reformed not far away, her face full of astonishment and fury.
She had actually been killed once by her own pet?
"Interesting."
Hela cracked her neck, laughing with a hint of madness.
"A mist-like body, combat prediction counters, and deception techniques? You've learned new tricks, my child."
Within the thick mist, Fenrir's figure loomed indistinctly, and pairs of green eyes lit up in the fog, making it impossible to tell the real from the fake.
Hela charged forward again.
This time, the power of death condensed in her hands into countless black spears, shooting into every corner of the mist like a torrential rain.
But the spears passed through those phantoms without causing a single ripple.
In the gap between her attacks, another silent claw strike came from a completely unexpected angle, tearing her body apart once more.
After her second resurrection, Hela finally stopped these meaningless attacks.
She slowly closed her eyes, and her authority as the Goddess of Death fully unfolded.
The entire realm of Helheim trembled under her will.
She no longer relied on sight or hearing, but used her connection to death to sense the only anomaly in this dead zone.
"Found you."
Hela snapped her eyes open, a massive black sword appearing in her hand, and without the slightest hesitation, she slashed with all her might toward an empty space!
"Awoo—!"
A pained wolf howl rang out.
Where the sword's edge passed, all the mist and illusions dissipated like snow under a fierce sun.
Fenrir's true form was revealed; on its front paw, a deep wound reaching the bone was oozing black mist.
Hela walked forward step by step, looking down at her companion.
Fenrir whimpered, struggling to stand up, but in those cold green eyes, there was now a hint of grievance and confusion, like a child who had done something wrong.
After staring for a long time, the killing intent in Hela's eyes slowly faded.
She had confirmed it; this was still her Fenrir, but its gaze was no longer that of a pure Beast, but filled with a wisdom comparable to a human's.
It was no longer just a pet.
"Well done."
Hela put away her sword, a look of approval and a cruel smile returning to her face.
"It seems I should call you a comrade-in-arms now."
Fenrir understood; it stood up, shook its massive head, walked to Hela's side, and stood shoulder to shoulder with her.
One goddess and one wolf simultaneously cast their gazes beyond Helheim, toward the sea of stars they were about to reconquer.
Asgard.
In the ruins of the Golden Palace, Lin Huai held the Reality Stone and the Tesseract, his brow furrowed deeply.
Frigga's voice rang out beside him.
"What are you thinking about, Mentor Lin Huai?"
Lin Huai suddenly snapped out of it; an overlooked and extremely terrifying possibility had just flashed through his mind.
"Queen of the Gods, I need to know the exact spatial coordinates of Nidavellir immediately!"
Lin Huai's tone was very urgent.
"Nidavellir? The land of the Dwarves?"
Frigga was somewhat confused.
"I can tell you, but..."
"No buts!"
Lin Huai interrupted her.
"That Lunatic Thanos, on his path to collecting the stones, will certainly need a vessel capable of carrying their power. Who will he go to? Where are the best Artificers in the whole Universe?"
"The Dwarves!"
Frigga instantly understood Lin Huai's meaning, her face turning pale.
"Exactly," Lin Huai said in a low voice.
"I just performed a divination (recollection); that Lunatic will force the Dwarf King to forge the Infinity Gauntlet for him. Then, to prevent them from forging a weapon for anyone else that could rival the Gauntlet, he will destroy all of Nidavellir, leaving no one alive except for the Dwarf King Eitri."
This terrible future made Frigga shudder.
"I must go there immediately!"
Lin Huai made up his mind.
"Not only must I have the Dwarf King forge a gauntlet for me, but I must also take the entire Dwarf race away before Thanos arrives!"
"I understand."
Frigga no longer hesitated and quickly imprinted the coordinates of Nidavellir into a rune, handing it to Lin Huai.
"Do you need help?"
"Of course."
Lin Huai took the rune and glanced at Thor, who was comforting his Mother, and Loki, who was standing to the side with a grim expression.
"Also, Queen of the Gods, please make sure to have someone closely monitor the seal on Helheim. I have a premonition that we will be facing Hela very soon. Additionally, please inform Stark and the Sorcerer Ancient One about Hela and the Infinity Stones; we need more allies."
After saying this, Lin Huai walked straight toward the brothers.
"There's no time. Thor, Loki, come with me. There's work to do; accompany me on a business trip."
"To where?" Thor asked, his eyes red around the edges.
"To find the blacksmith who forged that hammer of yours, to see if he can make good weapons for me and Loki as well."
Lin Huai was brief and pulled the two along without allowing for argument toward the runic brand left by the Bifrost Bridge, where a golden Asgardian ship was already waiting.
The ship took off, quickly heading into the deep reaches of space.
Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was somewhat somber.
Thor was still immersed in the grief of losing his father, while Loki looked wary and disgruntled.
"So, what exactly are we going to do? And why bring him along?"
Thor pointed at Loki.
"We need one smart brain and one who can fight; the Universe isn't that safe."
Lin Huai answered calmly.
"You two are a perfect pair—one sharp, one simple, you complement each other. Loki can gather information, and you'll be responsible for intimidation checks."
Loki's face darkened, but he didn't retort.
"Alright, while we have time on the way, let me give you a primer on who our real enemy actually is."
Lin Huai activated the holographic projection inside the cabin.
A massive star map unfolded, and a burly figure appeared in the center.
"His name is Thanos, a Titan. His life philosophy is simple: the Universe's resources are limited, there is too much life, and things need to be balanced. So his goal is to collect the six Infinity Stones and then snap his fingers to randomly wipe out half of all life in the Universe."
"That Lunatic!" Thor shouted out.
Loki's expression also became solemn; he had heard this name before.
"He is not fighting alone."
Lin Huai's fingertip slid across the star map, and several figures of different forms appeared.
"These are his adopted children, taken from various destroyed Planets and trained as assassins. They are collectively known as the Black Order, though some call them the Five Generals of Corvus Glaive."
Lin Huai detailed the abilities of the Black Order and the massive Chitauri army under Thanos's command, as well as the various atrocities they had already committed in the Universe.
As Thor listened, his fists clenched tightly, his knuckles cracking; he wanted nothing more than to rush over and give Thanos a hammer strike right now.
Loki listened exceptionally intently, occasionally asking Lin Huai to confirm the organizational structure of the Black Order, certain troop configurations, and the weaknesses of various unit types.
This pre-war briefing on the spaceship allowed the two brothers, for the first time in a true sense, to step out of Asgard's royal infighting and turn their gaze toward the safety of the entire Universe.
They realized that compared to Thanos's mad plan, the grievances between them were so small they weren't even worth mentioning.
An unknown amount of time passed, and after the ship passed through a brilliant Nebula, a magnificent ring-shaped World orbiting a dying star appeared before their eyes.
That was Nidavellir.
The ship landed smoothly on the metallic continent, the hatch opened, and a blast of searing air rushed toward them.
In the distance, the constant clanging of hammers could be heard.
A figure several times taller and burlier than an Asgardian, but with extremely abstract body proportions as if made of rock, stood before a massive forge, swinging a disproportionately large hammer.
"The Dwarf King, Eitri."
Lin Huai looked at that figure and said softly.