New York Harbor, the small island where the Statue of Liberty is located.
The darkness of night could not hide the devastation of the day; the sea breeze was permeated with gunpowder and a cold breath of death.
Hela stood on the broken pedestal of the statue, arms crossed, looking relaxed as if admiring her own masterpiece.
Behind her, that World-famous Statue of Liberty was now a wreck.
The massive head was severed, the hand holding the torch had smashed into the sea, and the entire verdigris-covered body was slowly toppling toward Manhattan in a pathetic posture.
Rumble—
The giant bronze statue crashed completely into the water, kicking up a towering wave, as if the World were weeping for its own symbol.
A quinjet hovered over an open space not far away, and the hatch opened.
The Avengers leaped down one by one, stepping onto this crack-riddled land.
"She pushed over the symbol of the United States..."
Natasha watched the churning seawater.
This wasn't just destruction; it was a declaration, an ultimate trampling and mockery of the spiritual symbol of this country and even the entire mortal World.
"Hela? You're the older sister Father sealed away?"
Thor's eyes were fixed on Hela, filled with curiosity, anger, and confusion.
Hela turned around slowly, her movements as elegant as if she were attending a court ball.
She saw Thor in front of her, then glanced at Loki beside him, who had a complex expression but subconsciously gripped his daggers; the corners of her mouth curled down in sheer disdain.
"Oh? So you're my brothers? That old man Odin spent all this time only to raise two pieces of trash like you?"
"You've finally arrived. I thought you'd be hiding in some corner crying your eyes out."
"What do you think of my masterpiece?"
She extended a finger, drawing a phantom circle in the air to encompass the mess before her.
"This statue was too ugly, its taste was absolutely wretched, and it didn't fit my aesthetic at all. I think a much grander image should be put here instead."
Her gaze passed over everyone, finally landing on the tin can in the flashy armor at the back of the group.
It was none other than Tony Stark, who not long ago had been hugging her leg and acting utterly sycophantic.
"You, that interesting toy."
Hela extended a slender finger, pointing at Tony.
"I remember you saying you wanted to join me, right?"
"Then I command you: within three days, erect a statue of me right here."
"It must be a hundred times taller and ten thousand times more magnificent than this green piece of garbage."
"I want all living beings in the Nine Realms to be able to look up at the form of their new Master. I want my glory to illuminate this barren land!"
Tony opened his faceplate and spoke up immediately. "That was Tony Stark talking. The one standing before you now is Iron Man, and right now, you should leave this Planet."
Steve raised his shield and walked to the front, the Holy Light on his body beginning to shine.
"Stark is an Avenger! He is not your servant!"
His voice was steady and resolute.
"Oh?"
Hela acted as if she had heard a funny joke; she tilted her head, looking at the self-righteous Steve.
"Is that so? But I remember in a recording of a certain battlefield just now, he was quicker to kneel than anyone else."
Tony's face turned red instantly, but as a seasoned performer, he quickly shifted gears. "If you want me to join you, ask my good brother first. Lin, you're up."
After saying that, he pulled Lin Huai in front of him and rubbed his own flushed face.
"Alright, alright, stop putting on this family drama and the 'loyalty to the crown' act."
A calm voice tinged with a hint of impatience abruptly broke the tension-filled atmosphere.
Lin Huai looked up at the ruins of the toppled statue and shook his head regretfully.
"Tsk tsk, truly crude art. Odin locked you up for a thousand years, and it seems your taste hasn't improved one bit. This demolition work is far too sloppy."
"And who are you?"
Hela's gaze finally landed on Lin Huai. Her lazy, playful eyes turned sharp for the first time, carrying a hint of scrutiny and displeasure.
This mortal was the only one who had remained calm from beginning to end.
This kind of calmness was an ultimate insult to her majesty as the Goddess of Death.
"Me?"
Lin Huai turned around with a professional smile on his face. He shook his left hand, which was wearing the Infinity Gauntlet, the light of two stones shimmering in the night.
"I'm a director, and I occasionally moon-light as a screenwriter. I think the script for your character is written very poorly, and I'd like to offer some revisions."
"For instance, give up that outdated revenge plot. Odin is already dead; even if you tear Asgard apart like building blocks now, he won't see it."
Lin Huai spread his hands, his tone as relaxed as if he were discussing dinner with a sulky little girl.
"Look at you, coming out and immediately shouting about killing; your vision is too small. This is the cosmic age—what's the point of obsessing over that tiny bit of land every day? You're very powerful; you could be doing much more interesting things."
"Like exploring the boundaries of the Universe, or just going to Hell to be a queen. Mephisto was just carried away, so they're exactly in need of a boss. Someone with your style is perfect for that kind of career change."
"Presumptuous!"
Hela's face darkened instantly, and a visible dark-green divine power of death swirled around her, as if it were about to swallow all the surrounding light.
"A mere mortal dares to lecture me? Who do you think you are?"
"See, getting worked up again, aren't we?"
Lin Huai shook his head with an expression that said she was a lost cause.
"Fine, since you're so unwilling to listen to advice, I'll have to switch to a way of communicating that you can understand."
The smile on his face slowly faded, and his eyes became unfathomably deep, as if he could see through the boundaries of life and death.
"I could get you out, so naturally, I can shove you back in—the kind where you go in vertically and come out horizontally."
"Now, I'll give you one last chance. Leave your dog behind and leave Earth yourself, and I can act as if nothing happened."
"Otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?"
Hela laughed out of pure rage, her laughter laced with murderous intent, as if she had heard the funniest joke of the century.
"Otherwise, I'll let you, this false god, truly experience what is called the authority of a deity!"
Lin Huai's voice suddenly turned cold.
The moment he finished speaking, Hela had already struck!
She was truly enraged by this mortal who repeatedly provoked her majesty.
Without holding back at all, hundreds of spikes formed from the divine power of death condensed out of the void. Like a black rainstorm, they tore through the air with ear-piercing shrieks, raining down upon Lin Huai.
"Lin!"
Steve cried out in alarm, instinctively moving to block with his shield.
However, the scene before them left everyone stunned.
Facing an attack capable of shredding an interstellar fleet, Lin Huai merely raised his gloved left hand unhurriedly.
The Space Stone flashed with blue light.
A deep blue vortex appeared out of thin air in front of him like a giant maw, swallowing all the death spikes without a sound.
Then, under Hela's shocked gaze, another identical vortex appeared directly above her head.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Those death spikes shot out from it perfectly intact, reversing direction and hurtling toward their Master at an even faster speed than before!
"What?"
Hela's expression changed drastically; she had never seen such a bizarre ability.
It was like spitting at someone, only for the spit to turn around mid-air and fly back to cover your own face.
She immediately condensed several layers of death energy barriers around her to block her own attack, the aftershocks of the explosion tearing up a layer of the ground.
But Lin Huai's figure had already vanished from where he stood.
Millennia of battle instincts made Hela feel a fatal danger coming from behind.
She spun around violently, condensing a massive longsword of death and sweeping it out with a momentum that could cleave mountains!
However, the blade only swept through a shattering phantom.
Hela looked up sharply.
She saw Lin Huai floating in mid-air, arms crossed, looking down at her from above with a gaze like one watching a performing monkey.
On his left hand, the Reality Stone, representing reality, was shining with an eerie red light.
"Honestly,"
Lin Huai spoke softly; his voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.
"You truly know nothing of power."
He snapped his fingers.
The crisp sound was like the sentence of the God of Death.
The hard concrete pedestal beneath Hela's feet suddenly turned into a viscous black swamp without any warning.
The proud Goddess of Death was caught off guard, half her body sinking in instantly, her posture utterly pathetic.
She let out a roar, her divine power erupting as she tried to break free from this bizarre restraint.
But Lin Huai snapped his fingers again.
This time, the surrounding air instantly became like solidified crystal, pressing in from all sides and pinning her firmly in place, unable to move even a finger.
"What... what power is this?"
For the first time, fear appeared in Hela's eyes.
This wasn't divine power, nor was it any magic she was familiar with.
It was a power she had never understood, one that directly modified the rules of the World.
The deathly divine power she took such pride in was as fragile as a child's toy before this unreasonable force.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, a tragic battle broke out.
The moment Hela made her move, the giant wolf named Fenrir transformed into a black whirlwind like a landslide or a tsunami, pouncing on the remaining Avengers with an aura of total destruction.
"Hulk, smash!"
Banner transformed immediately. Amidst an angry roar, his massive green body charged toward the giant wolf.
He stomped hard on the ground and leapt into mid-air, delivering a heavy punch capable of collapsing a small mountain right onto the top of Fenrir's head!
However, after a dull "thud," Hulk's heavy punch felt as if it had hit a ball of cotton.
At the moment of impact, a part of the giant wolf's body became illusory and unstable, easily shedding ninety percent of Hulk's power.
Hulk's massive frame fell from the air, stumbling because he had overextended his force.
Fenrir seized this fleeting opportunity, opening its maw—wide enough to crush Divine Gold—and bit down on Hulk's shoulder!
"Roar!"
Hulk let out an Earth-shattering roar of pain. His skin, which could withstand shell fire, was actually torn open easily by Fenrir's sharp teeth.
Dark green blood gushed out. At the wound, an ominous mist lingered, frantically eroding his vitality.
"Its teeth are cursed!"
Steve issued a warning, his expression grave to the extreme.
He threw the vibranium shield in his hand with all his might. The shield traced a sharp arc, attempting to draw Fenrir's attention.
But Fenrir's figure constantly flickered between solid and illusory while moving at high speeds. The vibranium shield passed straight through its body several times, unable to inflict any effective damage.
"I'll do it!"
Wanda's eyes lit up with a scarlet glow. Powerful Chaos Magic energy transformed into chains, wrapping around the giant wolf from all directions.
Pietro transformed into a streak of silver lightning, harassing Fenrir at ultra-high speeds in an attempt to disrupt its rhythm.
However, facing the combined attack of the siblings, Fenrir let out a soul-rending roar, and an even denser black mist emanated from its entire body.
Within the black mist, countless pairs of scarlet, bloodthirsty eyes emerged, each pair emitting malicious whispers that induced insanity.
"Ah!"
Wanda bore the brunt of it. Feeling as if countless steel needles were piercing her brain, she clutched her head and screamed in pain; her Chaos Magic instantly spiraled out of control.
Pietro was also affected by the evil whispers. His senses and thoughts fell into a moment of chaos, and his speed slowed by half a beat.
That half-beat of sluggishness became a fatal flaw.
Fenrir's massive claw swept through with a whistling, foul wind, striking Pietro square in the chest.
The silver-haired youth flew backward like a broken kite, rolling dozens of times on the ground before stopping. Blood sprayed from his mouth, and his sternum had completely collapsed.
"For Asgard!"
Thor roared as he summoned thunder. Bolts of lightning as thick as barrels fell from the sky, all striking Fenrir.
In a flash, Fenrir's body completely atomized. The thunder passed through its body, only causing the black mist to churn violently, failing to inflict any substantial damage on its true form.
Loki's illusions were like the tricks of a three-year-old child under Fenrir's scarlet eyes, which could see through to the essence of things.
This former World-ending Demonic Wolf, after being implanted with a Beyonder characteristic, had evolved into a perfect, nearly invincible killing machine.
Physical attacks were neutralized by atomization, energy attacks were avoided through shifting between reality and illusion, magic attacks were eroded by the Abyss's aura, and its mental attacks were its greatest weapon.
Every hero present was a powerhouse in their own right, yet all their abilities were utterly countered by Fenrir.
The battle turned into a one-sided slaughter.
In less than ten minutes, Thor's war hammer was swatted away, and he was sent crashing into a building.
Steve's vibranium shield was covered in claw marks. After the holy light on his body flickered a few times, it dissipated directly, and he fell unconscious from exhaustion and concussion.
Hulk's wounds grew more numerous, his movements more sluggish, until he was finally swept to the ground by a tail whip.
The siblings, Wanda and Pietro, had long since fallen to the ground, completely losing their ability to fight.
Only Loki, relying on an endless stream of life-saving methods and sharp intuition, was still struggling to hold on, though he was in constant peril.
Fenrir toyed with its final prey like a cat with a mouse, approaching step by step and gathering all the fallen heroes together as if guarding its trophies.
On the other side, the "battle" between Lin Huai and Hela finally neared its end.
Or rather, it was a one-sided, mischievous toying.
Lin Huai floated in mid-air throughout, flicking his fingers like an elegant conductor, tormenting the Goddess of Death until she was in miserable pain.
He used the Space Stone to teleport Hela ten thousand meters into the air, letting her experience freefall, then opened a portal to the deep sea beneath her feet just as she was about to hit the ground.
He used the Reality Stone to transform Hela's surroundings into Helheim, letting her continue to experience the feeling of being sealed.
Hela resurrected time and again using the power of Asgard, but each time she returned, she was met with even more bizarre and humiliating strikes.
The deathly divine power she took pride in was being toyed with in the palm of his hand.
Her immortal body had become a toy for the other party to test his abilities.
When she resurrected for the umpteenth time, standing soaked and disheveled atop the ruins, the arrogance of conquering the Nine Realms in her eyes had been replaced by deep fear and humiliation.
She looked at the man in mid-air, who had remained unscathed from beginning to end.
"Demon... you are a Demon! I curse you!"
She shouted hoarsely, her voice filled with resentment.
"You outsiders are just stupid; you don't even know how to curse properly."
Lin Huai wagged his finger, a gentle smile on his face as he corrected her.
"Alright, the female lead's suffering scene has been enough. Now, it's time for the curtain call. The Queen of the Gods asked me to spare you. Tell me, where do you want to go to sleep: Asgard or Helheim?"
As he spoke, he slowly landed on the ground.
Hela instinctively took a step back, her face full of vigilance like a startled wildcat.
Just then, she saw the scene on the other side of the battlefield.
All the Avengers lay in pools of blood, their fates unknown.
And her capable ally, the majestic giant wolf Fenrir, was preparing to bite down on Hulk.
The scales of victory still seemed to be on her side.
A faint glimmer of hope was rekindled in Hela's eyes.
As long as Fenrir was still there... she still had a chance to turn the tables!
Lin Huai also saw the Avengers collapsed on the ground and shook his head while holding it. Then he cast his gaze toward Fenrir in the distance and lightly snapped his fingers.
There were no words, not even any extra movements.
The insufferably arrogant giant wolf, emitting an aura of World destruction, instantly turned its massive head the moment it heard the finger snap.
It glanced at the heroes it was trampling underfoot, then looked up at Lin Huai from several hundred meters away.
Within those scarlet, bloodthirsty eyes, a hint of human-like contemplation actually surfaced.
Lin Huai looked at Hela, then pointed to the Avengers on the ground. "OK?"
Then, under Hela's disbelieving gaze, Fenrir silently lifted its claw from Steve's chest.
It took a few steps back.
Lin Huai also raised his chin, gesturing toward Hela to indicate she could go over.
A silent exchange.
Hela was completely stunned, her mind falling into unprecedented chaos.
Did Fenrir... ever have such high intelligence?
This kind of... unspoken understanding.
It was as if a ball game had ended, and the two sides were swapping ends, preparing to start the second half.
Hela walked toward Fenrir step by step, almost mechanically.
Once Hela drew near, Fenrir proactively stood in front of her, shielding her.
Its massive wolf head slowly turned toward Lin Huai, a low, wary growl emanating from its throat.
The man and the wolf faced each other from a distance, across the ruins and the unconscious heroes.