Chapter 98: Asgardian Disputes

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CLASH!

"Ungh! Sara… You have to stop!"

A tall, muscular man wearing heavy blue and golden armor fell to the floor, his armor almost in tatters as a shadowy, phantom-like aura covered many of his wounds, weakening him severely.

A couple of minutes ago, he had been keeping watch over the large city walls with the rest of the members of his guild, but out of nowhere, a former comrade who had died gruesomely appeared out of nowhere.

Not only did she start attacking him while talking like a madwoman, but with her, she brought an army of thousands of Undead that quickly marched into the city walls; several of them surrounded her as well, attacking his entire guild.

"I told you that I am not Sara, mortal." The silver-haired woman spoke, her eyes glowing bright red. "My name is Hel, and I am the Queen of the Underworld. I've come to reap the Divine Essence of Thor dwelling within you! He is a sworn enemy of my family. I am sorry, but... Fufu, I'll have to take your life to get to that."

The nimble woman reached Hector with an almost phantasmal stride, her entire aura exuding a power Sara never truly possessed; it felt as if Hector was fighting a completely different being altogether, but with his comrade's face, voice, and even some of her expressions.

She swung her huge scythe, which materialized out of pure shadows, as she attacked Hector while he was kneeling on the floor. Behind her were already the dead bodies of several guild members who had jumped in front of Hector, sacrificing themselves for their guild master to not die.

"Shit! She's not even using her small dagger anymore, but a huge magic scythe!" Hector groaned, quickly lifting his huge hammer again and using it to defend against Hel's slashing and piercing blows.

However, despite her slim body, she had a greater advantage in strength, speed, and resilience. To make things worse, she fought with completely different patterns than the real Sara, whom Hector knew quite well as both had sparred many times.

"Is she really possessed by her Constellation?!" Wondered Hector. "Lord Thor's powers are already at their limits; I've unleashed the Incarnation form already, and yet…!"

While Hector thought a million things, Hel laughed, spreading a mass of phantasmal energy around her body and then shaping it into countless snakes that coiled around her arms.

"{Snakes of the Underworld}! Poison this man's soul!"

"Shaaaah!"

The snakes made of phantasmal energy leaped towards Hector, ignoring his physical body and biting his soul, injecting a deadly necrotic poison.

"F-Fuck off!!!" Hector roared, unleashing a powerful shockwave of electricity out of his body, killing the snakes instantly.

"Fufu, you're getting slower. I can't believe you let them bite you." Hel laughed, slowly walking towards Hector. "Thor, you've chosen quite the weakling as your Incarnation! Ooh, I'll enjoy reaping his soul out of his body! This is my revenge for what you've done to my father!"

Hel roared furiously, filled with resentment against Thor, which she targeted towards Hector, someone who didn't have anything to do with their rivalry or hatred. The man slowly started to realize that Constellations merely used humans to fight with one another, mere avatars of their wills and selfishness.

"{Thor's Thunderous Hammer}!" Hector roared, his eyes zapping with golden electricity as his hammer gained countless golden runes, unleashing a devastating strike hypercharged with electricity the moment Hel stepped near him.

BAAAM!

Hector smiled, glancing back at Hel. With this, she should have at least taken some really big damage. After all, Hector knew that although Sara was faster, her Health was the lowest among the guild masters of Stronghold.

"Fufu, very amusing. But you seem quite weak; I thought Thor's Incarnation would be at least a bit more up to mine. It looks like Sara has completely surpassed your Hector, Thor." Hel laughed, her body completely unscathed, and only her clothes looked slightly tattered.

"N-Nothing?!" Hector muttered, quickly beginning to be covered in his own cold sweat. "T-This is impossible... How come you can't take any damage at all from the might of my Lord Thor?! That's- Ah!"

Hector's {Thor Eyes} activated suddenly, as he quickly realized what was happening. The entire body of Sara had "evolved" despite looking the same; she was no longer a human. Her skin, flesh, bones, and everything else exuded a powerful Aura of Necrotic Energy, the unique death energy that undead produce and use to grow stronger.

Suddenly, half of Sara's face changed, resembling that of a white skull, with its empty eye socket glowing bright red. Hector immediately realized that Sara… was truly dead, and whatever was taking over her body now, it was not the Sara he knew.

"Fufu, did you finally realize?" Asked Hel. "Indeed, this body of mine is not a human anymore. It was too weak and too limited. I have upgraded it, so it can be easier to use and walk among you pathetic ants. Nice, isn't it? Once I am done with you and this pitiful city, I'll have enough souls to raise millions of Undead. This entire world will become an extension of my Domain, and those pathetic Aesir will learn that having done that to my father will have its repercussions."

"Your father?!" Hector cried. "I-I don't even know what you're talking about! Seriously, I don't have anything to do with that! P-Please spare me! I'm just a mortal, Lady Hel!"

The burly and powerful incarnation of Thor started stepping back, trembling in fear. When he realized he was fighting a being so above him, he lost all the bravery and heroism he held within his heart. The only thing left was cowardice and fear of death, whose embodiment he was facing right now.

"If you've understood your place, then kindly surrender your soul to me." Hel smiled. "As long as you do, I'll make sure you pass away painlessly~"

"S-Shit!" Hector screamed, standing back up with whatever strength he had as he gave out a rather pathetic shriek, running away from Hel.

"Catch him." Hel laughed as her phantasmal aura expanded around her and hundreds of phantasmal entities emerged.

The phantoms, all at least at B Rank, rushed towards Hector, grabbing his legs and making him fall to the floor headfirst, slowly dragging him towards Hel.

"Noooo! Get away! GET AWAY!!!" Hector screamed, using his hammer imbued with electricity and trying to destroy the phantoms.

"The more you scream, the more they enjoy it, you know?" Hel laughed.

Hector quickly noticed the phantoms had faces—the faces of his own guild members who had been killed by Hel just minutes ago. Their faces were twisted in huge smirks, reaching their ears, and they laughed with empty eyes.

"You'll pay for this!"

"You weak guild master!"

"Give Lady Hel your soul!"

"If you had given her your soul from the beginning, we wouldn't have died like that!"

"Weakling!"

Hector screamed in horror as he started crying, the voices of his comrades, the coldness of death embracing him, his body trembling without any more Mana to use—everything combined as he was inflicted with the Madness and Horror Status Effects.

"N-No! Stop! STOP!"

Hel's scythe reached him in an instant, slashing through his armor and revealing a huge wound on his chest.

SLASH!

"Aargh…!"

"Now…!" Hel smiled, pointing her hand towards his wounded chest, ready to take out his soul while he was still alive—the only way for her to actually extract the Divine Essence of Thor while it was imbued inside of him. If she killed him beforehand, such essence would go back to its rightful owner.

FLASH!

However, a spear of light suddenly pierced the skies, cleaning the dark clouds hovering above, as several angelic beings descended in a single split of a second.

"What…?!" Hel glanced into the distance, noticing a small group of hunters arriving from the skies. A young girl whose eyes glowed with the brilliance of light and cosmic energy quickly caught her attention. "This girl is…?"

CLASH!

Suddenly, a sword made of light hit her scythe, forcing her to step back. Hel suddenly found herself surrounded by ten Angelic Spirit Knights, transparent beings made of light in the slight shape of angels wearing golden armor, each holding a different weapon.

Their individual auras were nothing to scoff at either; each one was perhaps as strong as A-Rank monsters, and there were ten of them!

"I ended up summoning ten of them in my first use. It must have been my reversed Luck." Anna thought as she smiled at the scene.

[You have activated the [A Being Between Heaven and Earth (A Rank Privilege)]!]

[Ten [Angelic Spirit Knights] have descended from the Celestial Realm! Their power and Stats will be based on your own Status and accumulated Skills, plus 50% to all their Stats.]

[Duration: 1 Hour. Usages: 1/2 Per Day.]

This was Anna's newest Privilege, which allowed her to summon a team of Elite Angelic Spirit Knights, as strong as her own status 50% to all their stats. They possessed a few of her Skills as well, along with their own unique ones.

However, she couldn't summon them indefinitely and could only summon them twice a day, each squadron lasting about an hour before disappearing completely.

Nonetheless, for dire situations like these, they were an amazing new asset.

"D-Did you summon those?!" Jack asked in shock as Anna nodded.

"Yeah, it is one of my new Abilities," Anna explained. "For now, we have to save Hector and whoever is left alive! Let's hurry, brother!"

"Alright!" Jack roared, leading the entire party as they descended towards the walls.

The ten Angelic Spirit Knights cornered Hel, but she swiftly intercepted their blows with her scythe and her various Death Magic Spells.

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

Even as four heavy weapon-wielding Angelic Spirit Knights attacked her at once, she held off just fine, kicking one with a powerful Phantasmal Aura-powered kick, slashing another with her scythe until it fell over the floor, swarming another with hundreds of phantoms until it couldn't attack her, and blasting another with a huge beam of darkness.

"They're strong, but nothing too special." Hel laughed, quickly running towards Hector to grab him and escape, sensing the presence of several powerful Incarnations approaching. "I can't waste any more time here, sorry, but I'll have to carry you around!"

"Oh no, you won't!" Jack roared.

"Let go of Hector!" Anna synched with her brother.

Both of their weapons instantly reached Hel, as she swiftly unleashed a shockwave of Necrotic Energy, throwing both siblings away from her.

"Ungh?! This energy…! It burns my soul!" Jack muttered, suddenly falling to his knees.

"It is Necrotic Energy!" Anna easily recognized this power. "So that's really Hel like I told you guys! Sara died, but her Constellation somehow took over her body!"

"Yes, indeed, you're right." Hel laughed. "And this little guy over here belongs to me…" She quickly glared at Kevin, who was far away. "Soon, that boy as well—huh? Brother?!"

Hel suddenly stopped talking as she recognized the aura coming from Jack; it was not just his powers, but Fenrir himself was within it, emerging as a huge shadow wolf-like form.

"Hel! What are you doing?!" Fenrir roared.

"Brother…" Hel muttered. "Don't get in my way! I've already decided to do things on my own accord! Sara has given me her body; I won't waste it!"

"Stop this! Killing that human won't resolve anything! We won't be able to avenge Father either!" Fenrir roared. "You'll only enrage the Aesir even more... Even the Higher Ups…!"

"I don't care anymore," Hel said, her eyes glowing bright red. "I stopped caring long ago when you were defeated and sealed, and when Jormungandr was killed!" Hel's eyes cried in frustration as she evaded the Angelic Spirit Knights attacks and leaped out of the walls.

"HEL!!!" Fenrir roared. "Dammit! Jack, Anna! We have to stop her right away! That damn brat!"

"Fenrir, is this some sort of stupid family quarrel?!" Asked Jack angrily, rushing down and chasing Hel.

"Fenrir was the brother of Hel, alongside Jormungandr; both were the children of Loki, the adoptive son of Odin," Anna said, channeling her light aura as she led her army of Angelic Spirit Knights down below with everyone else behind them.

"So she's targeting Hector because he's Thor's incarnation!" Jack nodded. "Then Kevin… If we don't stop her now, he'll also become a victim in the future, as he's one of Odin's Incarnations."

"Me?!" Kevin panicked.

"I won't let that happen!" Henrietta roared. "We have to catch her, no matter what!"

As the group descended and confronted the enormous army of Undead that blocked their path, even the smallest skeleton being able to float in midair by being possessed by phantoms, they noticed Hilda, Heckert, and Dimitri down there, fighting against huge Bone Golems all by themselves.

They looked tired and covered in wounds, as they seemed to have already fought hundreds on their own, holding back the Undead army to break through the Magic Barrier surrounding the city of Stronghold.

"Hilda!" Anna cried, rushing down as she commanded her army of Angelic Spirit Knights, who quickly created shields of light and defended Hilda from two huge bone golem fists descending towards her!

"Anna?!" Hilda was finally able to catch a break, smiling. "You guys are here!"

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