Primitive life on a distant planet.
Frost was everywhere.
Grass and trees were freezing.
Only in a few places on this planet, where eternal night shrouded the ground, lights still flickered.
There lived one of the rare creatures that had learned to use fire.
They lit the last piece of wood.
They waited for it to burn out.
And when it was gone, they too would disappear, along with the other extinct creatures on the planet.
Even now…
They wished the flame would last just a little longer.
Boom—!
The power of the Celestial destroyed planets in this galaxy.
At that moment, a group of primitive people gathered around the bonfire watched with their own eyes the extinguishing of the star.
Their nearest planet, gaseous…
Similar to Jupiter in the Solar System.
Huge, like an overturned bowl in their sky.
And now…
Even that gas planet was swallowed by the eerie darkness!
"Ahh!"
The primitive beings cried out to the sky.
They prayed to the gods in their simple language.
They prayed to the wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and the sky.
And then someone answered them.
But it was not the god they prayed to.
Boom—!
Thor fell from the sky, pierced the cold atmosphere, and crashed into the ground.
He crushed the frozen soil and left a deep crater.
The impact nearly broke his ankle, but Thor did not care about the pain.
"Listen! You must come with me!"
He followed the light to find life near the campfire.
But as he spoke, surprise arose within him.
Come? How?
Thor had overlooked the most important thing.
He was no longer the god of thunder with a hammer in his hand, the master of wind and rain.
He had lost his divine nature.
"Heimdall, do you see me? Have you returned to Asgard?"
Thor still placed his hope in Heimdall.
When the God Butcher attacked Asgard, Thor fought him.
He bought time for Heimdall and a few Asgardians to escape.
His sacrifice allowed some to survive.
And now… Thor wanted only one thing: that these people continue to live.
Back in Asgard…
"Heimdall, if you see me, please, open the Bifrost!"
"I need you!"
Thor shouted to the sky.
But there was no answer.
The primitive beings around the fire did not understand what this strange stranger was trying to do.
Until a young girl stepped forward.
She raised a torch and handed it to Thor.
"Ahh…"
Thor did not understand her language.
But when she gestured with her hand, he understood: where there is fire, there is no cold.
"Thank you, but you keep it. I can endure the wind of Jotunheim."
Thor refused her kindness.
But when the pillar of light from the Bifrost did not fall from the sky, he realized the terrible truth.
Heimdall had not returned to Asgard!
"If only I still held the hammer… I could summon thunder…"
Thor raised his gaze.
Darkness was approaching.
The question that had always haunted him returned once more.
Do mortals truly need gods?
What if Gorr was not alone in his hatred?
What if there were others whose gods never answered, whose prayers were left in silence?
Thor could not find the answer in his heart.
For a moment, he even thought… Gorr was right!
Could it be…
If there are no gods, how will mortals survive?
Thor looked at the alien girl beside him who had offered him the torch.
His gaze then shifted to the others, gathered around the campfire, their faces filled with fear.
Other gods might give up on these ignorant lives.
After all, in the vast universe…
There are so many intelligent species!
It is quite normal for a few species to go extinct because of catastrophe.
"No! It should not be this way!"
Thor took the axe from his back.
He gripped the handle with both hands.
He stared straight into the darkness spreading above him.
Each breath turned into rage, and his warrior spirit rose to its peak.
"I swear by the name of Odinson!"
"Today!"
"No one dies!"
Thor leapt, rushed forward, and faced the darkness.
He quietly finished the thought in his heart.
"If I must die… let the sky shed blood and tears! Let the blood of Odinson sprinkle the earth!"
...
"What is he doing!?"
The battle between Aron and Gorr was interrupted by a powerful strike that echoed in the depths of space.
The two of them crashed into an asteroid belt far from the abandoned planet.
Gorr felt his bones breaking.
But the pain did not matter to him…
Because what he saw now was more unbelievable than pain.
Thor was saving mortals!
"No, no, no!"
"It's all a lie! Hypocrisy!"
"These false gods never take mortals seriously!"
Thor's actions were like a sharp knife that pierced Gorr's heart.
The damage that scene dealt him was more painful than any strike of Gram in Aron's hands.
"…"
"Mentor Camille once said: the world is not black or white, but gently gray."
Aron was in a difficult situation.
Gorr, drawn from the comic book universe, was probably the most dangerous enemy he had ever faced one on one.
Even stronger than Mephisto himself, the supreme Heavenly Father.
He clenched his fists.
Gorr's black blade still raged against him.
Every clash…
Every contact…
A part of the power of the All-Black the Necrosword seeped into Aron's body.
The black, liquid weapon pierced flesh, clung to bones, carved into the marrow, and corroded him from within.
That was Gorr's weapon and method of battle.
The longer the clash lasted, the more the opponent unknowingly broke down from within.
The weak grew weaker, and the strong opponents fell.
But this time…
Gorr miscalculated!
[Ding!]
[Abnormal substance detected!]
[System purifying and expelling corruption!]
Every time that sound rang out, it meant that the ownership of the All-Black Sword was slowly shifting.
As if a silent struggle for dominance was taking place.
Aron was gradually seizing piece by piece of that weapon from Gorr.
"It's all deception!"
"He cannot save those people!"
"He is only giving them false hope!"
"And then you will crush it with your own hands!"
Gorr screamed in fury.
Thor's actions were a heavy blow to his thousand-year conviction in butchering gods.
Yes, he had met gods of goodness.
Some who sometimes answered prayers.
But never…
Never had any god been willing to give his life for mortals.
Never!
"Surprised?"
Aron watched both Gorr and Thor.
"Sometimes what seems like weakness… can be strength."
Gorr gripped the black sword tightly, desperately fighting to regain dominance.
But what he saw in Thor's despair and determination… was something he could never understand.
And that consumed him more than any blow.
–––
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