"Come on, just a little faster!"
Fenris lay motionless on the ground as though he had resigned himself to his fate. His expression remained unchanged, but his nearly frozen thoughts were focused entirely on the Titan Bestiary deep within his consciousness.
After enduring such a terrifying attack head-on, the power of the Casket of Ancient Winters contained within it should have been more than enough to unlock a new Titan. Yet the final sliver of progress seemed stuck at the last one percent, stubbornly refusing to take that final step.
Fenris was not afraid of death, but he certainly did not want to be killed so carelessly by Laufey, only to reappear before the Ancient One at Kamar-Taj as a plump little worm covered in dust and grime.
Moreover, if Asgard fell, obtaining the Casket of Ancient Winters again would become nearly impossible. Fenris knew all too well how suffocating it felt to be imprisoned within ice. He could not bear the thought of Wanda enduring that indescribable agony without end.
"What is he even babbling about?"
Fenris had not heard a single word of Laufey's rambling beside his ear. Only when Laufey rose into the air and dangerous energy began gathering around him did the warning signals in Fenris's mind erupt into a frenzy.
His heart sank, and despair finally consumed him.
"I was so close..."
"Farewell, my ax... I wonder if you'll still be able to find me after I'm reborn on Earth..."
At the final moment, the only thing on Fenris's mind was his beautiful ax.
To ensure Fenris was completely destroyed, Laufey intended to obliterate his brain. After a brief period of gathering power, the white light in his hand finally condensed to its critical limit.
Boom!
A roaring pillar of white light surged forward, shooting directly toward Fenris's eye.
Thor watched helplessly from nearby. He struggled with all his strength, muffled sounds escaping his sealed mouth, but there was ultimately nothing he could do.
Loki sighed mournfully, while the newly awakened Frigga watched with eyes filled with sorrow.
Unlike the despairing Asgardians, the Frost Giants were practically trembling with excitement.
Their king's greatest enemy was finally about to die!
The terrifying monster who had inflicted unprecedented casualties upon them, the nightmare that had haunted their hearts, was finally going to be killed!
No one would be able to stop them now!
Their cheers had already risen to their throats.
The pillar of light was nearly upon him.
"Kamar-Taj, here I come again..."
Fenris sighed, his body going limp.
Ding!
At the most critical instant, an exceptionally pleasant chime suddenly rang in his ears without warning.
"Hm?"
Fenris's eyes snapped open.
An inexplicable wave of energy erupted from his head and instantly spread in every direction.
Time froze.
Deep within his soul, brilliant white light suddenly blossomed. It seemed to break through an immensely heavy shackle, accompanied by the faint sound of something shattering.
It was as though a thick veil of fog blocking his vision had been gently swept away. Fenris suddenly felt his previously rigid thoughts begin flowing smoothly again. A torrent of information flooded his mind, and his awareness of the surrounding world, which had grown almost completely indistinct, returned once more.
An entirely new power flowed down from his head. Like a gentle stream, it instantly filled every cell and every inch of his body, even reaching the atomic reactor that had almost completely fallen dormant.
Whoosh...
It felt as though a cool breeze had swept across his body, carrying the same powerful life force as the Titan Beasts.
Fenris could clearly sense his body beginning to undergo a world-shaking transformation.
The cold that had accumulated within him and nearly destroyed every bodily function began to melt away.
The bitter chill could no longer harm him. Fenris's cells seemed to awaken, actively adapting to the power that had once been completely incompatible with his body and had overwhelmed him several times.
The power of the Casket of Ancient Winters seemed limitless. Its bone-chilling cold transformed into sweet spring water that nourished his body, while his grievously wounded and battered flesh ravenously absorbed every drop.
With the force suppressing his regeneration gone, his formidable healing ability finally activated in full. Fresh tissue grew across the horrific wound in his chest at a speed visible to the naked eye, restoring it completely within moments.
The newly formed skin was almost indistinguishable from the rest, dark, rough, and extraordinarily thick.
The dorsal spines that had faded into darkness once again lit up with a deep blue glow, sweeping away their previous weakness.
Feeling his familiar strength return, Fenris flexed his claws and began pushing himself up.
Just as he rose, however, a strange sensation spread through every part of his body.
His powerful bones suddenly erupted with a series of thunderous cracks. His forelimbs abruptly lengthened while his hind legs shortened beyond his control. In the space of an instant, his posture transformed completely as he shifted from standing on two legs to resting on all fours.
Even his long claws shortened slightly, becoming thick and powerful. They no longer looked as sharp as before, but appeared exceptionally heavy and sturdy.
At the same time, the black skin covering his body rapidly turned a brilliant white, revealing faint shades of blue and violet beneath the light of the sky.
His rough skin suddenly became smooth. Even the thick scales covering his body changed, forming layers that overlapped one another.
The deep blue spines along his back transformed as well, becoming two rows of thick crystalline spikes with razor-sharp tips. Their overall color was a translucent blue-violet, like magnificent gemstones extending down his back to his thick tail.
At the end of that tail, they split into several harpoon-like prongs. As the long tail swayed unconsciously, they gleamed with a frigid light.
His original vertical pupils transformed into a pair of eyes filled with brilliant white light. Their glow flickered in harmony with the blue-violet radiance flowing through his gemlike spines.
Fenris raised one foreclaw and carefully sensed the tremendous physical power surging through his body, a strength in no way inferior to Godzilla's.
Unlike Godzilla, whose entire body constantly emitted terrifying radiation, Fenris now released an overwhelming cold that inspired instinctive dread. Dense white mist rose everywhere he passed.
His crystalline spines flickered in and out of view, making him appear like an ancient creature emerging from some long-forgotten primordial wilderness. He did not possess Godzilla's overwhelming dominance, but instead radiated a desolate and deathly cold.
"Such incredible power... Does this mean...?"
Fenris slowly rose and turned his head, examining the form that was now completely different from the one he had possessed moments ago.
It felt both familiar and strange.
"This is my fourth form, unlocked by absorbing the power of the Casket of Ancient Winters... Shimo, the ancient ice Titan?!"
(End of Chapter)
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