After entering the room, Coulson pointed at the pen in Professor Elliott Randolph's hand and said, "Waterfield 44 pen, with a 14K gold nib set in mother of pearl."
Elliott Randolph glanced at his pen and smiled, "You've got a keen eye. I didn't know you were a collector."
Coulson laughed, "On a government salary? Hardly."
Seeing the humor, Elliott Randolph asked, "So, I assume you found something in London?"
Coulson shook his head, "It was actually in a tree in Norway. Unfortunately, it wasn't us who found it."
He then pulled out a 3D model from Fitz's briefcase, "This is a 3D model."
Randolph took the model and marveled at it, "This is incredible!"
Holding it under the light and examining the runes, Randolph said, "From these inscriptions, it appears to be a fragment of a berserker staff."
"Let's see what the myths say," he added, grabbing a book and flipping through it.
"Ah, here it is. This myth goes back to the late 12th century and involves a powerful warrior from Asgard."
"Here," Randolph placed the book on the table, showing an illustration of a soldier wielding a staff-like weapon.
"A soldier from the berserker army," he explained.
Coulson raised an eyebrow, "Berserker army?"
Randolph nodded, "Yes, a powerful army, unstoppable in battle. Berserkers fought like enraged beasts, leaving nothing but devastation in their wake. Each berserker had the strength of 20 men."
Coulson summarized, "So, whoever wields the staff gains superhuman strength?"
Randolph continued to examine the 3D model, "The warrior who wields it enters a state of uncontrollable rage. The staff holds powerful magic in its very grip."
Simmons interjected skeptically, "Or perhaps there are scientific properties we haven't yet discovered."
Randolph looked at her and smiled, "Smart and beautiful."
Fitz, curious, asked, "What happened to the warrior in the legend?"
Randolph explained, "According to the legend, he came to Earth to fight, but he fell in love instead."
Simmons leaned in, intrigued, "Who did he fall in love with?"
Randolph replied seriously, "He fell in love with life on Earth, with humanity."
"He loved it so deeply that when his army returned to Asgard, he chose to stay behind."
Fitz asked, "And the staff?"
Randolph continued, "He didn't want its dark magic falling into the wrong hands, so he broke the staff into three pieces and hid each in different locations."
Coulson, sensing Randolph knew much more, asked, "Did the manuscript say where he hid them?"
Randolph smiled, "Actually, yes."
"In three poems."
"And you should know, these were summarized from ancient, long-lost writings."
"One of the poems was about a tree, which means they've already found one piece."
"East of the river, under the blazing sun. Buried in the earth, beside ancient bones."
Elliot Randolph chuckled, "A bit eerie, don't you think?"
"And one more—this one doesn't even rhyme. It says something about 'being near god.'"
"That could mean anything, couldn't it?"
Simmons laughed, "Or it could mean nothing at all."
Coulson sighed, "I didn't expect we'd have to solve riddles. I was hoping for exact coordinates."
Professor Elliot Randolph sighed as well, "Well, searching along the route of Viking raids seems like the most reasonable approach, doesn't it?"
"There's been some intriguing Norwegian ruins discovered near Baffin Island off the Canadian coast. Priceless, ancient relics."
Coulson nodded.
"Alright, we'll start from there. Thanks, Professor."
With that, Coulson left with the information, returning to his flying command center.
…
Elsewhere-
Charles was wandering around Helheim, pondering the situation with Hela.
Hela, Odin's eldest daughter, had once been Asgard's executioner, commanding a powerful army and accompanied by her formidable mount, the giant wolf Fenrir.
She wasn't content with ruling the Nine Realms; her ambition was to conquer the entire universe.
As for why Odin had abruptly abandoned his war campaigns, Charles suspected that he had encountered a member of the Celestials.
In some versions of the story, Odin, donning the Destroyer armor and wielding the combined power of Asgard's gods, still fell to the Celestials, forcing him to give up his conquests.
Returning to the issue at hand, Charles thought that perhaps impressing Hela with raw power could be a good strategy—especially starting with her beloved mount.
Charles had plenty of summons at his disposal, and when it came to armies, he had both ninja forces and magical troops.
Glancing at the two five-star A-rank ninja experience cards in his system's inventory, Charles mused that this could be a good direction to explore.
Unfortunately, they weren't S-rank, which would have been even more powerful.
Realizing that he had spent enough time away, Charles decided it was time to resume his mission.
His figure disappeared, and he reappeared in the location where Hela had been sealed.
Upon seeing Charles return, Hela no longer had the same cold, dismissive demeanor as before. Charles also noticed that her armor and cloak had been restored, and the bowl of ramen he had left was now empty.
"Odin sent you. What exactly are you here to do?" Hela asked.
Charles didn't respond immediately. Instead, he formed a hand seal and called out, "Summoning Jutsu!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
With three successive explosions, Shukaku, Matatabi, and Isobu—three of the Tailed Beasts—were summoned.
But Charles wasn't done. He then summoned the Gamabunta and Katsuyu. Gamabunta had been summoned using Naruto's ability, not through the usual summoning contracts.
Standing atop Katsuyu's head, Charles was surrounded by the other Tailed Beasts and Gamabunta.
The five massive summons towered over the battlefield. At 32 meters, Gamabunta was the shortest. Isobu stood at 49 meters, Shukaku at 50 meters, and Matatabi at 51 meters.
Katsuyu, however, at 199 meters tall, dwarfed the others—though even that wasn't a tenth of her true size.
The sheer size and power of these summoned creatures exuded an overwhelming sense of intimidation.
"Hela, I've heard you have a mount—a giant wolf named Fenrir. Now, feel the power of my summons."
Charles's words instantly brought back memories for Hela, reminding her of her beloved pet, Fenrir. She wondered how he had fared over the millennia.
Glancing at the five massive beasts beneath Charles, each far larger than Fenrir, she couldn't help but wonder how strong they really were.
Charles then issued his command. "Give it your all. Attack her."
With that, Charles flew into the air, leaving the battlefield to the five summoned creatures and Hela.