Anubis's avatar charged first.
With only one ear and a curved saber in hand, he closed the distance toward Odin in a blur of sand and shadow, answering words with action.
A flicker of regret crossed Odin's face.
He raised the Spear of Eternity, its tip lifting him into the air as radiant golden light gathered and detonated outward.
The one-eared Anubis crossed his saber before his chest, bracing himself.
He was blasted backward, crashing into the desert sands, but when he rose, he realized something was wrong.
He had not been struck.
He paused, checked himself, then laughed harshly.
"Odin," He sneered, "You're old. You missed."
"Did I?" Odin smiled faintly.
Odin's aim was never careless, certainly not at this distance.
A wave of dread surged through Anubis's avatar. He reached for his connection to the Scorpion King, instinctively trying to channel resurrection once more.
Nothing answered.
The bond was severed.
The Scorpion King, his anchor was gone.
Anubis stared, stunned, at Odin's calm expression and understood too late… he had been deceived.
Behind him, thunder rolled.
Thor stepped forward, hammer in hand. Trained by Odin specifically to end the Scorpion King, he now understood the strategy completely.
He lifted Mjolnir and pointed it toward Anubis. "Let's finish this."
Grinding his teeth, knowing he no longer stood a chance against Odin himself, Anubis raised his saber and slashed at Thor.
Steel met divine metal.
Thor blocked effortlessly, then drove a brutal kick into Anubis's chest, sending him flying.
In the same motion, Thor swung Mjolnir skyward, lightning coiling around the hammer as he brought it crashing down in a devastating arc.
The thunderbolt struck Anubis beneath the chin, smashing him out of the air.
Before he could recover…
Boom.
Boom.
Thor descended like a storm, hammering Anubis into the desert sands repeatedly.
As Anubis lay embedded in the ground, Thor raised Mjolnir once more.
A lightning bolt fell straight from the heavens.
It struck Anubis directly in the face.
Electricity engulfed him, scorching his body black as the surrounding sand fused into molten glass.
At that moment…
A portal snapped open in midair.
Garfield emerged, hovering above the battlefield.
Whether O'Connell's group survived the escape was no longer within his operational priority, fate would sort that out on its own.
From above, Garfield watched Thor reduce Anubis's avatar to charred ruin.
This clone possessed barely one-tenth of the original god's power. Against Thor, especially without meaningful resistance to lightning, it never stood a chance.
Moments later, the one-eared avatar let out a final, unwilling roar before losing consciousness.
The instant Anubis's clone fell, the summoned army disintegrated.
Thousands of towering warriors collapsed into lifeless sand, scattered by the desert wind until nothing remained.
The battlefield went silent.
The Warriors Three and Loki moved swiftly to regroup Asgard's forces, tending to the wounded.
The Bifrost activated repeatedly, transporting injured soldiers back to Asgard for treatment.
With Asgardian medical technology, any warrior not dead on the spot, missing limbs included, could be saved.
As for Odin's missing eye?
There was no need to restore it. A one-eyed Allfather was far more intimidating and far more deceptive.
An injury was easier to conceal than perfection, and nothing unsettled an enemy more than uncertainty.
Some wounds, after all, were chosen.
Garfield descended from mid-air, landing lightly beside Thor.
Thor grinned broadly and grabbed the little orange cat's paw in excitement. "You finally arrived, third brother!"
"You missed it, my combo just now was spectacular!"
The surrounding Asgardian warriors blinked in bewilderment, glancing at each other. Why was their prince calling a plump, orange cat his brother?
Thor, sensing their confusion, raised his voice. "This," He announced proudly, "Is my brother, the future Third Prince of Asgard!"
The warriors were stunned. Odin, the all-powerful God King, had given birth to… a cat?
Whispers spread instantly, perhaps the Queen Frigga was displeased, or perhaps this feline was some immortal trickster. Speculation ran wild.
Sif, ever practical, pushed through the crowd and nudged Thor. "Thor, this is hardly the time for introductions," she said, exasperated.
Thor scratched his head sheepishly. "Ah, yes… a proper welcome feast should be held back in Asgard, I suppose."
Sif sighed inwardly. Thor, Thor, she thought, must you embarrass the God King Odin in front of the mortals?
Odin approached on horseback, his gaze shifting between Thor, Garfield, and Sif.
He seemed slightly exasperated with Garfield. That clone had escaped, wreaked havoc, and now the little orange troublemaker stood before him casually.
He fixed Garfield with the weight of a father teaching his son.
"In the future." Odin said solemnly, "You must pay closer attention to unusual matters. Do not let this sort of thing happen again."
"Understood, Old Man Odin," Garfield replied absently, causing a ripple of disapproval among the assembled Asgardians.
Sif, observing this, couldn't help but wonder if Garfield really was some illegitimate offspring of Odin.
Garfield ignored Sif's judgmental stare.
His focus was on the defeated one-eared clone of Anubis sprawled like a lump of charred coal on the sand.
"What should we do with this clone?" He asked Odin, tilting his head.
Thor glanced down at the scorched figure. Could this have been bitten off by their "third brother"?
He wasn't entirely sure, but Garfield's sharp teeth suggested it was possible.
Odin did not answer directly. Instead, he asked, "What do you think should be done?"
Garfield rubbed his chin thoughtfully, weighing his options.
"He's got secrets." He said finally. "Normally, you'd capture him and interrogate him."
"But curiosity kills the cat… so I think it's safer to handle him decisively."
Odin raised an eyebrow, surprised. He had expected Garfield to investigate the clone's connection to Anubis or probe the divine secrets he carried.
But Garfield's decision was practical, not inquisitive.
"Then do as you see fit." Odin said, stepping back.
Garfield's amber eyes gleamed. He turned toward the scorched Anubis clone and the nearby oasis.
Raising his paws, he traced intricate sigils in the air, weaving a golden magic circle that rapidly expanded.
The spell flared, drawing on the destructive energies of the universe itself.
As the circle engulfed the oasis, a terrifying force began to surge, shimmering with golden light, ready to neutralize Anubis and secure the area.
Garfield's tail flicked lazily as he hovered above the chaos.
Even for a cat, the responsibility of dealing with divine chaos was… exhausting. But he had it well in hand.
The oasis trembled under the expanding power, and the universe itself seemed to hum in anticipation.
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream