"Enough!" Solomon turned his body, and the eagle with outstretched wings engraved on his thick shoulder plate was beheaded. He finally ran out of patience and severed Hela's arm with the Holy Sword, the tip of the Holy Lance pressing against the fallen goddess of death's throat. The brutal pain and devastating injury finally jolted Hela back from her madness. The Arcanist pinned her black sword, Nightfall, under his armored boot, cutting off any hope of a counterattack. The nearly destroyed vocal unit in his throat managed to sputter out his voice, laced with a sizzling electric current that made it hard to hear. Perhaps Malbas had anticipated the need and used rare materials in crafting the vocal modulator—just enough to stop Nightfall from slicing through it, sparing Solomon from a slashed throat.
"You are no match for me now!"
"You're not bad yourself." Hela spat blood. Her burning sweat was quickly cooled by the mountaintop wind. She struggled to suppress her fury and force her reason to return. "If it weren't for that damned Odin…"
Through his servo-linked electronic eyes, Solomon saw the defiant glint in Hela's gaze. Her madness had forced him to use extraordinary power, shifting the duel from swordsmanship to raw strength. He found little satisfaction in that shift—it was the art of swordplay he had originally come to enjoy. But now wasn't the time to dwell on pleasure in combat. "I admit, your skill is excellent. If you ever get out of here, perhaps we'll cross blades again," he said. "But now's not the time for self-pity. If you'll hear my proposal—"
"Regardless, you've won. The victor has the right to make demands. You're a strong warrior. I look forward to a rematch in Asgard." Hela shifted her recovering arm and stood up from the ground. Though disheveled and soaked in blood, she held her head high, proud, believing she had lost by only a narrow margin. She raised her chin. "Speak. Your queen is listening!"
"Oh, such a shy child! Just carry her to the bed already!" Frigga was dancing with impatience in front of the silver mirror.
But the terms Solomon offered were of alliances and concessions—and naturally, even exhausted, Hela could not accept such proposals. She wasn't so far gone that she'd surrender Asgard's throne for a promised title in a yet-unformed empire.
"I know you won't agree now," Solomon said, as Hela prepared to hurl herself into another desperate assault, "but don't forget—I'm a sorcerer. Ragnarök will come. Asgard will fall, and after its ruin, it will not be reborn. I can offer you something else: a chance to conquer the galaxy. Endless war. Isn't that what you crave most?"
"I am the future Queen of Asgard! I am no one's weapon!"
"A queen of corpses and rubble? Is that really what you want?" Solomon taunted her. He didn't even look at her as she wiped away the blood from her face. He simply sat on the cliff's edge, gazing out over the bleak, unchanging Helheim. The iron forests and underworld rivers shimmered faintly in the gloom.
"You've always been a weapon—a tool Odin used to expand Asgard's dominion. And I was created as a tool for a mission. The difference between us is: I understand mine, and I accept it." He looked at her calmly. "You can go your own way, but in the end, what will you rule over—bones? You want to be Queen of Rocks?"
"What a clever tongue! Don't think I'll give up my revenge on Odin, mortal!" Hela shouted furiously. "I knew it! You were sent by that liar to persuade me! What did he promise you? What reward could make you walk willingly into death?"
"I have nothing to do with Odin. And I never intended to stop you. I knew you wouldn't listen until you saw the end for yourself." Solomon removed his helmet, revealing damp black hair and a face pale from blood loss. The wounds from Nightfall, touched by the power of [Death], continued to fester despite his armor's life-support systems. His skin and muscles decayed slowly, and no amount of antibiotics or alchemical salves could halt it. But he showed no sign of pain or fear, as if those terrible wounds beneath his armor were merely ink on a scroll. "In fact, you are the herald of the dark future," he said. "My calculations show that if I can recruit you, the future of the human empire will rise to a new level. I need you, Hela. I need you to lead the remnants of Asgard and merge them into humanity—to finish what the Aesir left incomplete."
"Unify the galaxy?"
"Yes. Unify the galaxy. Complete the ascent that neither humans nor Asgardians have achieved." Solomon's eyes blazed with golden fire. Hela understood exactly what he meant. Even if she didn't care much for history, she knew about the Celestials, the origins of life in the Nine Realms, and the genetic engineering behind it. In a way, Asgardians and humans shared a common ancestry—both borne of Celestial blood. Asgardians called themselves gods, but the truth was they were far from true divinity. Humanity held the potential for ascension, but hadn't yet crossed the threshold.
For a moment, the vision moved her. But she quickly snapped back to reality, breaking free of Solomon's hypnotic voice.
"I am the Queen of Asgard!"
"If completing my goal means you call yourself Empress of the Galaxy, I don't mind," Solomon replied, meeting her gaze. "Think bigger, Hela. Then, whether Asgardian or human, we'll escape the universe's chains. Once the mission is done, I won't be needed anymore. You can do whatever you want."
"You'd give up power?"
"Power is just a means to an end, not the end itself."
Hela felt like an invisible hand was gripping her heart. "You fool!" she screamed. "You're content to be a tool?"
"I was born for this. I know I have no true free will. I don't mind. But that doesn't mean I'll follow the path of the Old Gods," Solomon said softly. "I am a tool of humanity. A tool of my own will."
"What difference does that make?" Hela demanded.
"There's a difference. I have a plan…"
The Sorcerer Supreme raised a finger, disturbing the surface of the silver mirror.
Frigga looked up, horrified, still reeling from the plan Solomon had described. "That's your real plan?" she whispered, clutching the hem of her sky-blue battle skirt. The golden ornaments at her waist bent under her clenched fists. "Do you have any idea what this means?"
"I know. So does my disciple. In fact, the plan was his idea," the Sorcerer Supreme said calmly.
"You're even more insane than I thought! You're declaring war on the entire universe! There's no way this ends well for you!"
"But it's the only way for humanity to escape the Gods' manipulations," the Sorcerer Supreme said firmly, eyes burning. "I share this with you because I want your support, Frigga. Would you rather watch Asgard endure endless Ragnaröks, your souls devoured by ancient horrors?"
"Such arrogance!"
"This is humanity raising its banner in rebellion against the Old Gods!" the Sorcerer Supreme thundered. "Solomon's very birth is a chance. Did you think I forgot the fate of Camelot? Humanity must not repeat that failure. I found, among billions of futures, the one path to mold him into what he is now. I killed him millions of times! Saved him millions of times! Educated him millions of times! Now he knows—he is human. And he will fulfill his destiny. He will finish what Odin never dared to finish. Only such a man is worthy to be called the Lord of Humanity!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get early access to chapters by joining my Patre@n!Find me at: patre@n*com/Mutter
You can read each novel for $5 or get them all for just $15.
I Am Zeus, KING OF GODS (Chapter 79)
Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 391)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 471)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 677)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 1059)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1418)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1422)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1452)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1504)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld!(Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 703)
[+50 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter][+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]