"I have done nothing wrong!"
Hela's voice erupted with fury.
But just as quickly, her emotions settled again. She spoke coldly.
"I helped Odin defeat Asgard's enemies. I expanded Asgard's influence across the entire universe. I gave everything I had."
She looked at the two brothers.
They remained silent.
Without waiting for an answer, Hela continued.
"And what did I receive in return?"
She let out a mocking laugh, her eyes full of contempt.
"Sealing. Exile."
"They used the excuse that I might threaten the peace of the universe to banish me, locking me away in that dead realm with no living soul."
Hela sneered.
"Peace?"
"True peace comes from domination. Only when Asgard's glory spreads across the universe can real peace exist."
Thor tightened his grip on Mjolnir and said firmly,
"No. Peace is not conquest. Peace is not war. Endless war will never bring true peace."
This was something he had only recently begun to understand.
Loki nodded slightly.
After briefly sitting on Asgard's throne, he finally realized how difficult it was to rule.
In such a short time, multiple realms had already begun to rebel.
Before he experienced it himself, he had never imagined such chaos was possible.
Because of that, once Thor discovered his identity, Loki did not resist or run.
And because of that experience, he understood something clearly. Hela's logic was wrong.
But Hela clearly did not agree.
She looked at them with disdain.
In her peak era, these two brothers had not even been able to glimpse her full power.
"War cannot bring peace?" Hela said coldly. "That is only what the weak believe."
"What I do is order. What I bring is true rule."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Hela, what exactly do you want?" Thor asked.
Hela did not answer directly.
Instead, she said,
"My dear brother, aren't you going to call me sister?"
There was a playful tone in her voice.
But Thor's expression did not change.
In his mind, there was no such sister. And from Odin's prophecy, he knew exactly what Hela would become.
She would destroy Asgard.
He would never call her sister.
Seeing his reaction, Hela's expression finally shifted.
"I see…"
Her voice turned faintly cold.
The last trace of familial expectation in her heart vanished.
Even she did not know what she had been waiting for. If Thor had called her sister, perhaps she might have hesitated.
But there were no "ifs."
"Then let me show you my power."
At that moment, Thor turned to Loki.
"Loki!"
It was a signal.
Loki immediately reacted. The two attacked at the same time.
Thor raised Mjolnir high.
After awakening his divine power, the hammer's energy surged to a new level.
Thunderclouds gathered violently overhead, crackling with lightning.
Thor roared and swung Mjolnir down at Hela.
He believed that with Loki's support, they still had a chance.
But in the next instant, when the hammer strike was about to land, Hela simply raised her hand.
And caught it.
Mjolnir was stopped instantly.
Hela studied Thor with amusement.
"Didn't you know? This hammer used to be my toy. You are only its successor."
Thor's expression changed drastically.
He tried to pull Mjolnir back, but it would not move.
Even when he tried to summon its power, the hammer refused him.
Damn it.
Hela tightened her grip.
And then, she crushed it.
Mjolnir shattered.
Both brothers froze.
"Mjolnir… broke?" Loki said in disbelief.
The core of the hammer came from a dying star. Not even Loki could lift it.
And yet Hela had destroyed it with one hand.
The gap in power was absolute.
Loki felt despair.
Thor's reaction was even worse.
Mjolnir was more than a weapon to him.
It was part of his identity.
And now it had rejected him, and been destroyed by Hela herself.
His spirit shook.
Hela tossed the broken pieces aside and said calmly,
"From this moment on, Asgard belongs to me."
"What a joke!" Thor roared.
But Hela did not care at all.
"If you are willing to call me Queen, I may forgive your previous mistakes."
"Shut up!" Thor charged at her again.
That was his answer.
Loki gritted his teeth, but he did not call her Queen. Instead, he followed Thor into battle.
However, compared to Thor, Loki's strength was far weaker.
He was defeated almost immediately and collapsed unconscious, his condition unknown.
Thor, now without Mjolnir, was driven entirely by rage.
His power surged explosively. For a brief moment, he even managed to exchange a few blows with Hela.
But the difference between them was too vast.
No amount of rage could bridge that gap.
In an instant, Thor followed Loki to the ground.
He struggled to stand, but Hela stepped on his chest, pinning him down completely.
"This is your strength?" she said coldly.
"This is the so-called King of Asgard?"
"You are unworthy. Only I, the Goddess of Death, am fit to rule Asgard."
Thor struggled beneath her foot.
"You bastard…"
Hela's expression darkened slightly.
"You really want to die."
She had not intended to kill them.
But Thor's defiance changed her mind.
At that moment, a portal opened.
Nolan Locke stepped out.
He glanced at Thor and sighed inwardly.
Idiot.
Power without restraint was arrogance. Power without strength was stupidity.
And Thor was clearly the latter.
He even wondered if the original timeline Thor had been this reckless.
"Give me a favor," Nolan said casually. "This is Earth. Let them go."
Hela looked at him.
"And who are you?"
Someone who knew her, and who clearly understood these two fools.
Yet he still dared to speak so casually in front of her.
Interesting.
"I am just a merchant," Nolan replied with a light smile.
Hela did not care.
If someone interfered, she would simply kill them.
In an instant, her armor formed over her body. Twin blades appeared in her hands.
Every step she took carried overwhelming pressure.
As the battlefield unfolded, countless eyes across the world turned toward this moment.
Satellites became silent witnesses.
"That's Thor?" someone said.
They saw Thor, Loki, and the mysterious woman.
And then they saw Nolan Locke standing against her.
"Thor lost?" someone else said in disbelief.
In their minds, Thor was the strongest Avenger.
Even Wanda Maximoff could not compare.
And Loki was no weakling either.
So what exactly was happening here?
Meanwhile, inside S.H.I.E.L.D., Maria Hill watched the footage with a cold expression.
"This is the crisis he warned about…"
She immediately contacted all agencies and the Avengers.
Back on the battlefield, Nolan faced Hela directly.
The fight was inevitable.
He could not abandon Thor and Loki.
Not if he still valued the promise he made to Odin.
So he smiled faintly.
"It seems negotiation has failed."
Hela answered simply.
"Yes."
In the next instant, they moved.
Nolan drew a battle blade.
Blue energy flared across its edge as he slashed forward.
The clash erupted like thunder.
Shockwaves ripped through the air.
Thor was nearly thrown off the ground.
Loki regained consciousness only to immediately feel death pressing down on him.
But when he saw the battle, he froze.
This level of power was beyond anything he had ever imagined.
Even Nolan Locke now felt like something beyond mortal comprehension.
And Hela was no weaker.
Their collision tore the earth apart, exposing molten rock beneath.
It was a battle that altered the sky itself.
"Not bad," Nolan said calmly.
Hela smiled, exhilarated.
Finally, a worthy opponent.
But she also understood something.
She was not at full strength yet.
She had only just broken free.
This was not the time to finish the fight.
"I'll end this here for now," Hela said. "We will meet again soon."
And then she vanished.
Nolan frowned slightly and looked at the unconscious brothers.
"Trouble…"
It seemed the Goddess of Death had taken an interest in him.
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