Looking at the pitch-black blade in Aron's hands, Gorr fell silent.
He knew his fate.
With the All-Black the Necrosword, he could not defeat Aron, but neither could he lose it.
"Come on!"
"There is only one way to completely take this sword from my hands!"
Gorr decided to die in battle.
However, just as Aron and Gorr were about to continue, a figure as black as tar rushed in from the distance.
It was the Gorr of this world!
"Gram!" he roared, holding the Necrosword of his world.
His eyes were fixed on the divine treasure Aron held - Gram.
That look… it was all too familiar.
That's right!
It was the same look Gorr had when he first saw the All-Black the Necrosword in the hands of another self.
"That sword can open the Bifrost… it is my key to Eternity!"
This Gorr did not have the same ideology nor plans as the Gorr from the film Thor: Love and Thunder.
He did not care for slaughtering gods. He had only one small but immeasurably important wish, to bring his daughter back to life.
The gods of Omnipotence City told him that if he wished to resurrect someone, he had to find Eternity.
And Gorr took that seriously!
And now, all he needed was the key to the Path to Eternity.
In the film, Gorr used Stormbreaker to open the portal to Eternity's Land.
But in this timeline, Stormbreaker did not even exist yet.
Therefore… Gorr set his sights on another weapon that could open the Bifrost.
Aron's Gram!
"This is… interesting."
Aron had not expected that, while he himself longed for someone else's weapon, another would covet his.
If that was the case, then there was no need for words. Only for battle.
The appearance of this world's Gorr did not change the course of the fight.
Not even Hela's return had any effect.
The focus of it all remained the same: Aron and Gorr from another universe.
With the power of the All-Black Necrosword, split into two, Aron himself had become a god-slayer.
With a single swing of the sword, the energy was enough to shatter meteors and shake the stars themselves.
As if even they feared his might!
"Aron!"
"I gave you my power!"
"I placed so much faith in you!"
Black light flashed from the blade. With a single strike, Aron severed Gorr's arms at the shoulders.
The sword continued, slashing backward and cleaving a massive asteroid in two.
Gorr could no longer withstand Aron's onslaught.
Especially now, with Aron carrying within him a portion of the All-Black's power. Gorr's strength was weakening by the second.
"I crossed the universe for a dream!" Gorr screamed, trying to resist.
From the All-Black, he forged himself a new, black arm.
But in the very next moment—
Zooooom!
A ray of annihilation tore through the cosmos. The new arm, just formed, vanished instantly.
Gorr could not comprehend why Aron had so many different ways to attack… and why each one was so powerful.
He was desperate.
"Aron… why can't you stand on my side!?"
"Why do you help those false gods!?"
"You know it yourself!"
"Mortals were not created by gods! There is no Creator! All of it is their lies! Lives deceived!"
Gorr was hysterical, black blood streaming from his wounds, and he knew the end was near.
"You think too much."
"I only need this weapon." Aron spoke the truth.
"Then, if I give you this sword, will you help me kill all the gods?" Gorr roared furiously.
"Yes, give me the sword first." Aron finished speaking.
Did Gorr really think he was a fool?
"How exactly do you not understand that the world is not black and white?"
Aron now knew why Gorr was a villain in the comics. His thinking was extreme, without a trace of flexibility.
Aron never understood why villains always chose the path of extremes. Could they not be more pragmatic? For him, there was no division of "good" and "evil."
What was good for him - that was a good person. Those who stood in his way and threatened his interests - those were enemies.
"We're all adults, selfishness is natural. But one can be fair to everyone."
Aron even gave Gorr a chance. If he handed over the All-Black the Necrosword, he would help him resurrect his wife and daughter. But if he refused, then there would be no more chances.
"A pity."
Just as Aron raised the sword to finish Gorr off, something stopped him.
"No!"
"This cannot be!"
Gorr looked as though he saw something unimaginable.
On a nearby planet, Thor, who had regained his divine power, had managed to save alien lives, primitive beings still living in ignorance and uncivilization.
Those beings fell to their knees, grateful, offering prayers to the gods.
"No… No! No!"
To Gorr, it seemed as though his entire world had collapsed. As if a mirror, into which he had gazed for thousands of years, had suddenly shattered into pieces.
He heard their prayers. He understood them. The words echoed: "Thank the gods! Glory to the gods!"
"This… this cannot be…"
Gorr fell onto the cold surface of the meteor. Those prayers had shattered his faith, his persistence of thousands of years.
As if his soul was torn away, his strength drained. He returned to his original form, without mask, without power.
"I… I also…" he murmured.
What could be worse than for the god-slayer to realize that he had become the very thing he fought against?
Gorr sat, broken, without even the strength to lift his sword. His lifelong obsession now seemed like a mere joke.
He raised his gaze toward his other self in the distance, who still fought Hela for his dream. But that Gorr was weaker, his Necrosword insufficient to contend.
Yet, he did not give up. Hela struck him down again and again, and still he rose to his feet.
"Aron…" Gorr spoke softly.
"Is it true, what you said… can you resurrect the dead? Or… are you lying again?"
His gaze, once filled with rage and hatred, was now only calm, like that of a man who had made peace with death.
"…Why do you ask me that?" Aron responded with a question.
"Don't you want this weapon?"
Gorr extended his hand and handed him the last dark blade.
Aron accepted it. The black symbiotic venom fused with him instantly.
In that moment, the All-Black the Necrosword fully belonged to Aron. The black liquid enveloped him like battle armor, and a dark cloak spread behind him, resembling the shadow of the Great Demon.
Darkness spread outward, covering vast expanses of the universe.
"You resemble a god-slayer more than I ever did…"
Gorr surrendered the sword, and with it all that remained of him. His life dimmed, like a candle in the wind.
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