The battlefield of New Asgard was chaos incarnate. The golden halls that once echoed with laughter and music were now stained with blood, ash, and the stench of decay. The feast tables were overturned, mead pooling beneath lifeless Asgardians who rose again with hollow eyes and gnashing teeth. In the midst of this carnage, Wanda Maximoff floated—her crimson aura flickering like a dying star, her voice whispering madness into the air.
And opposite her stood me.
Thor was already there, his skin pale and veined with sickly black lines. His once-proud eyes now glowed a faint, haunting green—the same cursed light that had devoured gods and men alike. The mighty Stormbreaker crackled with residual thunder, its wielder's heartbeat long since silenced.
Shalltear, far off on the steps of the ruined hall, was yawning between massacres—her spear twirling lazily through waves of infected Asgardians as if they were toys. "Master, are you sure you don't want me to join in?" she called with a wicked grin. "You're hogging all the fun."
I didn't answer. My eyes were locked on Wanda and Thor.
She smirked, her fingers twitching. "You resist so much, Alastor. Not even the virus touches you… how extraordinary."
Her voice was silk over steel, and as she spoke, a half-decayed Asgardian lunged from behind me. His teeth sank into my leg with a sickening crunch—yet instead of pain, there was silence. I looked down at the creature, its eyes flickering in confusion as smoke began to pour from its mouth. The rot spread backward, disintegrating its body until only ash remained.
I looked back up at Wanda with a grin. "Nothing can infect me, Wanda. Nothing can control me either. You're wasting your time."
For a moment, her confident façade cracked. Then she chuckled—a hollow, broken sound that reverberated across the courtyard. "Perhaps. But I can still destroy everything you protect."
With a wave of her hand, red chaos surged toward me, twisting the ground into molten threads. Thor roared, slamming Stormbreaker down. The shockwave shattered the nearest walls and sent me flying back into a pillar. Dust exploded around me as the building crumbled, but I stood firm, flexing my shoulders with a smirk.
"Alright," I muttered, cracking my neck. "Let's do this the old-fashioned way."
Thor charged first, lightning trailing behind him like a comet. I met his swing head-on, fist colliding with Stormbreaker. The impact was deafening—lightning arced across the hall, blinding and raw. The weapon held firm, but so did I. My arm throbbed from the force, skin tearing slightly.
Thor swung again, faster, each blow heavy enough to pulverize a mountain. I dodged, blocked, and countered. Every strike of his axe carved through stone, while every punch I landed sent cracks through the floor.
For all his power, Thor was gone—the soul behind the might had been consumed. The god who once laughed before battle now moved like a puppet bound by lightning.
Wanda hovered above, weaving crimson sigils, her whispers like an ancient lullaby of death. Blood-red threads of energy shot from her hands, trying to bind me. I tore through them like cobwebs, lunging toward her—but Thor intercepted me, slamming Stormbreaker into my chest.
I slid back across the broken marble, boots carving trenches through the ground. My fist clenched, veins glowing faintly gold as I stepped forward again.
He charged.
So did I.
When we collided, the shockwave tore through the courtyard. Zombies were disintegrated by the force alone. Shalltear, watching from afar, shielded herself with a dome of blood magic and laughed. "Now this is entertainment!"
I caught Stormbreaker mid-swing, the axe's edge grazing my knuckles. A thin line of blood traced across my fist. For the first time, I looked at the wound—and smiled.
"Not bad," I said, before twisting my wrist.
The weapon shattered the ground as I forced it away, slamming Thor's arm down. My other fist connected with his jaw, sending him hurtling into a wall. Before he could recover, I was already there—faster than lightning, fists moving like hammers of their own. Each blow cracked bone and dented armor until the wall behind him gave way.
Wanda sent a torrent of chaos energy my way. It tore through the air, reshaping the ruins into a crimson inferno. I dove through it, my clothes singed, my skin glowing faintly from the energy backlash.
She raised a shield—but I was already there.
My fist stopped inches from her face.
Wanda's eyes widened, seeing it—raw physical strength, untainted by sorcery or divine might. She vanished in a blur of scarlet mist before I could land the hit. A flicker of crimson appeared behind Thor.
She placed a hand on his chest.
And in the next instant, they were both gone—her chaos magic warping reality itself as they blinked out of existence.
The battlefield fell eerily quiet.
The remaining zombies, deprived of their queen's influence, staggered aimlessly. Shalltear, bored once again, finished them off with a lazy flick of her wrist, impaling dozens on a single crimson spike.
She approached, brushing dust off her elegant armor. "Master, they escaped. How disappointing."
I looked down at my bleeding knuckles. "She used Thor as bait," I murmured. "Smart move. She knew I'd never let her get away if she stayed."
Shalltear tilted her head. "Do you want me to chase them?"
I shook my head. "No. Let her run. She's not done yet."
Shalltear glanced at my wound. "That axe of his was strong, wasn't it?"
"Stormbreaker," I replied softly. "Even dead, Thor's power was no joke."
She smirked. "And yet, here you stand. I do enjoy watching gods fall before you."
Just then, I saw the spaceship Kamala and other debris falling back from the atmosphere with fire. And I saw Kamala's Noor sphere, which she used back in Raft, and then the Noor sphere just disappeared through what looked like a portal, which Kamar-taj uses.
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