"Hum..."
The countless blue motes that Laufey had transformed into flickered with a faint, eerie radiance. Scattered throughout the area, they gradually gathered into a single mass, radiating such bitter cold that no one dared approach them lightly.
Water vapor hazily enveloped the motes. At first glance, they resembled a nebula in the depths of space, with countless stars flickering in and out of sight within a cloud of cosmic dust.
It was strangely beautiful.
However, the nebula suddenly began expanding with extreme instability.
Its size increased several hundredfold in an instant, swelling to nearly a kilometer in height. Yet in the next moment, it contracted at incredible speed into a dangerous blue point of light, shrinking until it was almost nonexistent.
Expansion...
Then contraction.
Amid the chaotic, irregular humming, the cycle repeated tens of thousands of times within an extremely short period. It soon became so fast that the naked eye could no longer follow it.
Thor's vision blurred as he stared at it. He involuntarily furrowed his brow and looked away.
Without warning, the nebula scattered throughout Asgard.
Countless dangerous blue motes containing all of Laufey's remaining energy simultaneously released a dazzling radiance. In an instant, the entire world was filled with beautiful blue light.
"It's over!"
"The energy is dispersing!"
An overwhelming sense of danger flooded Thor's mind.
He abruptly looked up at Fenris in the sky, only to find Fenris already looking back at him.
Their gazes met.
"Run!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Thor turned around and scooped up a shattered section of flooring carrying dozens of people. He then flew toward the exit at full speed.
"Mother!"
"If we don't leave now, even we won't make it out!"
Within moments, the motes of light had expanded until each was the size of a basketball.
As a Frost Giant himself, Loki understood the terrifying power contained within them better than anyone.
However, Frigga and Loki had remained near the middle of the crowd so they could direct the evacuation. A considerable distance still separated them from the exit.
Seeing his mother desperately trying to save a few more people, Loki clenched his teeth. Ignoring her struggles, he lifted her onto his shoulder.
Using Gungnir as a staff, Loki sprinted at astonishing speed. He almost became a green blur as he raced toward the exit through the crowd.
Thunder rumbled overhead as Thor arrived.
Loki looked up, and the brothers exchanged a glance. Both immediately pushed themselves even faster.
"We're almost there!"
The exit was close enough for Loki to faintly see the light on the other side.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief, and a relaxed smile appeared on his face.
However, just as the three of them came within a hundred meters of the tunnel...
"Hum!"
The humming, which had fallen silent for several seconds, returned.
This time, it was louder and more urgent.
It resembled the final few seconds before the Bifrost activated, a terrifying and oppressively deep hum heralding an imminent eruption of energy.
"No!"
Thor and Loki widened their eyes in despair at almost the exact same moment.
They had been so close.
Only a little farther...
Icicles fell continuously from the dome overhead. Fragments of ice sprayed across the ground wherever they struck, while terror spread across the faces of everyone nearby.
Then there were the blue motes surrounding them from every direction.
They erupted almost simultaneously.
Brilliant blue light flooded the world, its intensity so great that it became almost pure white.
The deathly, absolute cold Laufey had wielded in battle was nowhere to be found.
After the Frost Giant King's physical body had completely dispersed, what erupted was the pure energy he had accumulated within himself over tens of thousands of years.
Unlike a self-detonation intended to drag everyone nearby into death, the natural dispersal of this energy was not particularly violent.
However, under the current circumstances, the long-brewing eruption became the final straw. It effortlessly destroyed the fragile balance Fenris had struggled to maintain.
Boom!
In Fenris's eyes, the blue energy surging through the air looked like real water.
It gathered in the void before transforming into a terrifying wave capable of drowning everything.
Wave after wave of energy swept outward.
The first things they struck were the hundreds of ice pillars.
After several consecutive explosions, Fenris clearly heard countless cracks echoing around him as the solid ice began to fracture.
"Hold together!"
Fenris gritted his teeth.
The Casket of Ancient Winters suddenly trembled in his palm, releasing another burst of cold energy as he attempted to repair the damaged pillars.
However, after supporting the entire structure alone for so long, Fenris no longer had enough strength to produce another eruption of energy on that scale.
His final effort was like pouring a cup of water onto a raging fire. It barely produced any visible effect.
Countless cracks spread wildly through every ice pillar, moving even faster than the pillars had originally grown.
In an instant, the enormous columns were covered in horrifying fractures.
"The pillars are going to collapse..."
After so many battles and repeated eruptions of power, a long-forgotten sense of weakness quietly spread throughout Fenris's body.
He gathered his remaining strength and tried to endure a little longer, hoping he might save a few more people.
However, when he looked at everything around him, Fenris had no choice but to admit the truth, no matter how unwilling he was.
He could not save them.
The energy tide did not last long.
After only a few breaths, the blue radiance completely faded. A handful of scattered motes flickered weakly, but they soon vanished as well.
Laufey's power had completely dispersed.
Yet the damage it caused was nearly impossible to repair.
The impact inflicted fresh injuries upon countless people who were already wounded.
At the same time, the enormous walls of ice had been formed from countless overlapping layers, leaving numerous gaps throughout the structure.
The already unstable interior suffered catastrophic damage from the impact. The sounds of continuous collapses began echoing from every direction.
"Just hold on a little longer... Just a little longer..."
Fenris's strength had already reached its limit.
Even the light of the Casket of Ancient Winters had dimmed, yet the artifact stubbornly continued releasing cold energy.
Fenris stared intently at the crowd below.
Those who had survived the impact and retained the ability to move were still desperately pushing forward.
That meant the collapse inside the ice wall had not yet reached the tunnel that carried everyone's hopes for survival.
Then, without warning, the crowd descended into chaos.
The line suddenly stopped moving.
No matter how hard the people pushed, they could not advance another step. Anxious shouting instantly erupted throughout the crowd.
"The tunnel... It still collapsed in the end."
Fenris could not help but sigh at the sight.
Barring a miracle, the passage was probably now completely buried.
Their only escape route was gone.
The people still trapped inside this frozen prison had little hope of survival. Their fate had already been decided.
"I did everything I could..."
Fenris could no longer bear to watch and turned his eyes away.
The Asgardians called him a god.
But he was not truly a god.
He could not save everyone. He could only do everything within his power to save one more person, even if it was only one.
Now, however, the energy within his body had been completely exhausted.
A moment later, the Casket of Ancient Winters went dark as well.
Fenris gave the panicked crowd below one final, lingering look.
The Casket vanished from his palm, and he slowly lowered the arms he had held above his head.
"I'm sorry..."
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]