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Chapter 123
Technomancer in MCU
Asgard
In the immediate aftermath of that final attack on the carriers’ ships, an attack that was comparable to that of Odin’s when he was in his prime, the sensors onboard the ship scrambled to find any data regarding Hela or rather, the remains of her because they were sure that she would not have survived an attack of such a calibre. The entirety of the area in front of the ships had been bathed in white as the massive attack that had used up the energies of six different carriers had collided with the spear that Hela had conjured at the last moment. Nobody had seen what else had happened after the collision as the amount of energy suffusing the atmosphere stopped them from viewing the current conditions.
All of the Asgardian soldiers had been accounted for and the ones who had been hit with Hela’s necromantic energy were undergoing CHI treatment in the medical division with promised full recovery in under an hour. Asgardian's Physique along with CHI that accelerated their natural healing processes made sure that they would not be down for long. The Hulk had been very startled when he had been teleported against his will and as such, had been transported straight to the prison that was specifically designed to hold beings of such physical calibre.
The cell that Bruce Banner was currently sleeping in was responsible for draining a large amount of energy almost instantaneously from somebody’s body by inserting hundreds of thin vibranium spikes into their body. The Hulk would have recovered against the energy drain if he had the time but the energy-hungry nature of Vibranium made sure that the Hulk was knocked out before he could do anything. Even then, as a precaution, Bruce Banner had been kept in that same cage with the spikes being at standby.
“Do we have anything?” Frank asked the commanders as even with all of their sensors, they were unable to see past the huge energy storm that had appeared in the middle of Asgard. It didn’t help that multiple spatial fissures had opened up due to the abrupt collision of the energy sphere with that spear. That spear was something that completely threw them off their game. Nowhere in their intel was it given that Hela could conjure some tools that could be strong enough to contend with an attack that was comparable to that of a Sky-Father’s? She had also conjured a shield at the same time so there was a solid chance that Hela had survived that attack, albeit with injuries because it was, in the end, just a shield and not an armour.
“No, sir. There is nothing after the moment that the spear collided with the attack,” One of the junior techs reported to him. Even now, they were working furiously to restore the data and had even sent in an unmanned vessel but somehow, the spatial fissures that had opened in between swallowed it, leaving behind no traces. The good thing was that the Royal palace was firmly in their sights so they would know if Hela came anywhere near it. All of them were on their toes, waiting for something to happen. Either the ritual would succeed and Ed would come out all-powerful so that Hela would not be their problem anymore or the ritual would fail and they would have to leave Asgard with all their allies and detonate the bomb that would kill Hela, Surtur, and destroy Asgard at the same time. In both scenarios, Hela would cease to be their problem and that was what they wanted the most.
So far, Hela had proven to be a particularly hard foe to fight against. Let alone her, the army she raised from the dead had already proven itself to be troublesome. Even their trump card, Thor empowered by the lightning that Collin gave him, proved itself to be just something that injured her. Nothing permanent came from that clash, aside from Thor being internally injured due to the amount of sheer energy that he carried through his body when he fought Hela in his empowered form. In that form, Thor would have easily bested even the Hulk in his current form. Even after that, Hela had gone on to become stronger to the point she easily withstood some of Thor’s last punches without even flinching, a feat that would not have been possible for any of them present in the carriers.
“Is the Palace secure?” Loki’s voice came from behind him, making a chill run down Frank’s spine. Loki’s magical capabilities had soured since their fight in New York. They had no idea of his current powers but it was a safe bet to say that containing the current Loki would be impossible for everyone save for Alfred, Toby, and maybe, Ed. He nodded to Loki’s question, managing to stop his body from flinching with difficulty. They would have to up Loki’s threat level in their systems once he got back to Earth.
He was already more worried about his wife and how she would be worried about the situation here. Unfortunately, they had decided against providing real-time updates back home before the situation could completely stabilise for reasons he could perfectly understand. It wouldn’t do to create chaos in the Moonbase before everything could be confirmed.
“We have something!” Someone shouted and was promptly startled as multiple people converged on his position with superhuman speed. He looked to the big screen to see that they were able to sense a single Energy signature, in line with the readings that they had taken from Hela when she had first emerged.
“She’s alive. That didn’t work,” Frank’s heart sank as he realised that even that level of attack was not enough to kill Hela, at least temporarily. Killing her should have brought them some time to regather but apparently, that shield that she had summoned in that last moment was not for naught then.
“We have visuals,” Somebody said before the feed switched to a camera that zoomed in on Hela’s location. The space fissures had mostly closed owing to the sturdy space that surrounded Asgard but what was of more interest was the area around Hela. The only things left in front of them were the Observatory or rather the Uru shielding layer of the Observatory and Hela who was standing on a black spike. Her condition was not good either as she discarded the almost cracked shield which promptly disappeared into motes of light. She was missing most of her torso and was standing on only a single leg. Her face had been partially burned away, leaving just the bone beneath the skin.
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Even so, Hela was rapidly healing away any damage that attack might have done to her, and with most of the carriers now out of charge, they could not afford to recreate the barrier that had stopped Hela’s attacks from piercing their barriers. At this point, they had tried everything individually. From now on, all they could do was attack her all at once and hope that it stopped her for long enough. They might also have to send in everything they had because while Hela might have lost Fenrir once and for all, the literal Dragon that had come out from the waters below was very concerning, especially since it was coupled with another wave of soldiers that rose from their ashes, courtesy of Hela’s magic.
“Alright team, this is it. Throw everything we have at her,” Frank ordered as he went back to the bay.
“Acknowledged,” Frank heard someone say before he heard hundreds of missiles along with all kinds of targeted energy systems hit Hela and her forces. He could also hear the footsteps that followed him, reassuring him of his allies. The carrier also jolted as they ran their repulsors at full throttle in the opposite direction, hoping to create as much distance as they could between the carriers full of the army and Hela. He got out from the Hangar and then landed straight down in front of the barrier that protected the Royal Palace. The others followed suit. They all saw as Hela effortlessly tanked all the attacks the ships launched on them. Not even a blemish on her suit or skin as a repulsor ray tanked on her face. Eventually, the barrage stopped as the ships took a suitable distance from them and yet, Frank knew that should the need arise, another volley of repulsor attacks would arrive at the same time.
“Done playing around, are we?” Hela taunted them, her voice crisp and smooth, a far cry from the hoarse mess it was when she first came to Asgard. Hela had completed the process of truly becoming the Ruler of Asgard and was enjoying all the perks and powers that came with it. With a thought, a new bridge arose from underneath her as she landed gracefully on that bridge. The same bridge connected to the Observatory which was about to fall into the void. The very ground she touched turned dark green according to her will as she continued to walk towards the last line of defense around the Royal Palace.
“I wonder what it is that you are protecting so desperately? Is it the Infinity Stones,” Hela questioned them and grinned once she detected the fear emanating from them. She would have loved playing with her prey more but she had more pressing matters to attend to. So, she waved her arms and was rewarded with the pained shrieks of the pests in front of her who were no longer standing but floating as they were all impaled by multiple necromantic spikes. She could already feel the weakest of the mortals about to die.
Her gaze snapped back to those annoying ships as she sensed a similar build-up of energy but Hela was ready this time. She waved her arms once more and was satisfied to find that multiple ships were impaled with her weapons, fizzling out that attack before it could reach her. She would have survived that as well but why would she risk getting her clothes burned?
She then walked past them and inspected the barrier that enveloped the Royal Palace. Interestingly, the barrier was not something she could control and that was supposed to be impossible so she placed her arm on it in hopes of figuring out how it works only for the barrier to begin exerting a tremendous amount of force back on her hand. Had she not been prepared, she would have been flung back and that would have been…humiliating.
A humiliation that she would not have and so, she pressed back with all her might, imbuing the barrier with her magic, corroding it visibly. The barrier put up a valiant fight but against her magic, it fell apart all the same.
As the last of the layers fell apart, the entire barrier popped like a balloon. She smirked in victory and was about to go inside when a storm of energy, unlike anything she had ever sensed, formed in the Ritual Room before it spread out of the room like a wave, destroying the Royal palace in its wake. Before she could process what had happened, an overwhelming pressure locked on her presence, making her body seize out of its natural survival instincts. She looked towards the palace only to see a pair of greenish-gold eyes staring straight at her. The next moment, something akin to a metal hammer slammed into her abdomen, folding her in half and smashing her straight back into the Observatory.
“Blergh,” She puked out blood as she kneeled on the ground, her entire being consumed by the pain that wracked her body. Her body refused to heal as well due to some liquid that continued to eat away at her wounds. She looked towards the Palace only to see someone, holding a platform that placed all of the people she had injured earlier, on his way to one of the ships as the ships had begun getting out of Asgard’s atmosphere for some reason.
She snarled, even as the very activity caused her excruciating pain, and waved her arms, hoping for her attacks to stop them in their tracks because she had a very bad feeling about them retreating. That person had the advantage and yet he was leaving? She could also sense the Infinity Stones on the same person which did not bode well for her. She took a step forward only to freeze once more as the gaze once again landed on her.
“Farewell, Goddess of Death. May you find your place in Valhalla,” The ominous words shook her out of her fear as she took one more step only for her body to fail as she noticed that the liquid had eaten away at half of her stomach and showed no signs of stopping.
So, Hela kneeled down there, powerless to do anything as the ships left. The moment the last ship went out of her sight, the entirety of Asgard began shaking. She looked around in growing panic as she felt the pain. Not the pain from having her body eaten but the pain from Asgard.
It was dying.
“No!” She screamed in pain as she heard a crack as Asgard itself was cracked in half. The pain radiated to her all the same as a large explosion engulfed her screaming form.
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And so ended the tale of Hela Odinsdottir, Goddess of Death.
Word Count - 2278
Next - Encounter with Thanos