"It's starting."
"It's begun."
"He's about to die."
"Almost dead."
Countless indistinct voices echoed around Thor—neither fully male nor female, like spirits whispering from beyond.
"Father?"
"Where am I?"
"This is the boundary between life and death," Odin replied.
"This is where Asgard's fallen warriors gather."
"Thor… I regret to say, you are about to join Valhalla."
"Valhalla?!"
Thor's pulse spiked.
He had only been fighting Cull Obsidian. How had it come to this?
"No!"
"I can't die!"
"Mjolnir!"
He raised his hand.
Nothing answered.
"It is too late," Odin said quietly.
"No! Father—you must have a way!"
Thor's voice trembled. He was not ready. Not like this.
"Thor!"
Odin's voice boomed with restrained fury.
"Look at yourself! A single brute has shattered your confidence!"
"He's too strong! Without Mjolnir, I'm nothing!"
Thor dropped to one knee, grief and frustration choking him.
Odin stepped closer.
"Without your hammer, you are nothing?" he asked.
"Are you the God of Hammers?"
Thor looked up.
"That hammer was never the source of your power," Odin continued. "It helped you focus. To control what was already yours."
"But it's too late," Thor said hoarsely. "I'm dying."
Odin smiled faintly.
"No."
"This is only the beginning… God of Thunder."
With a single motion of his hand, Thor vanished from the white expanse.
The surrounding spirits dissolved as well.
Soon, only Odin remained.
He turned his lone eye toward a patch of mist far denser than the rest.
"You may step out now, Leon."
The fog parted.
Leon emerged.
"Hard to hide from you, Father-in-law."
This place was the boundary between Valhalla and reality. As master of another spiritual dominion of his own, Leon possessed limited authority to observe such thresholds.
Odin studied him for a moment.
Then—
The vision faded.
Back in the Arena
Thor's eyes snapped open.
Blue-white lightning erupted from his body, flooding the arena in blinding radiance. His irises burned pure white.
BOOM—
A surge of thunder exploded outward.
Thor drove a single punch into Cull Obsidian's chest and sent the massive warrior flying.
He rose slowly.
Electricity pooled in his palms like liquid plasma, crackling and alive.
The power was there.
It had always been there.
Even without Mjolnir—
He was still the God of Thunder.
Cull roared and charged.
Thor leapt, body seemingly dissolving into lightning.
They collided midair—
And Cull was blasted away again with a casual strike.
The arena fell silent.
Then—
"Thunder! Thunder! Thunder!"
The chant shifted. The crowd changed allegiance instantly.
Up in the VIP suite, the Grandmaster shot to his feet.
"What are you doing?! Get up! You can't lose!"
Cull Obsidian struggled.
His gaze flickered upward—toward the VIP box.
He saw Supergiant.
Recognition flared.
But before he could act, Thor descended like a bolt from the heavens and drove him into the arena floor.
The tide had fully turned.
Punch after punch rained down.
The earlier humiliation repaid.
The Grandmaster fumbled for the control device of the obedience disk—then froze.
Thor wasn't wearing one.
He could only watch helplessly.
In the VIP Suite
"Master…"
Supergiant gently tugged Leon's arm.
"Yes?"
Leon regarded her with amusement, fingers idly tracing along her waist before lifting her chin.
"Could you… spare Cull Obsidian?" she whispered close to his ear. "He is valuable. I can ensure his loyalty—to you."
She meant it.
But not purely out of strategy.
For reasons she could not understand, her telepathy and psychic corruption abilities were suppressed. Completely unusable.
Without them, she was reduced to physical strength alone—formidable, but insufficient.
Cull Obsidian, for all his lack of subtlety, was dependable muscle.
Right now, he was the only one she dared rely on.
Leon's expression did not change.
Below, Thor stood bathed in lightning.
Above, Supergiant waited for judgment.
The God of Thunder had awakened.
And so had the board.
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