Aron exhaled, pulling himself back from the depths of Hela's mind. The swirling darkness around them began to crack and dissolve, breaking apart like shattered glass. Reality reasserted itself, and in a blink, he was back.
Hela stood before him with her arms folded.
The deal had been struck.
Five years.
Aron smirked. 'That should be enough time to break her out of Odin's chains. And if I kill Thanos now, it'd be even better. I've stalled long enough anyway.'
But first, he had to take care of the girls.
Jubilee, who had been waiting near the edge of the crater, approached cautiously. "Uh… so, that took a while," she said, eyeing both Aron and Hela. "Everything good? She's not gonna, like, try to kill us, right?"
Aron turned to her, smiling slightly. "We're good. But I need you to head back to Genosha for now."
Jubilee pouted, crossing her arms. "What? Why?"
"Because I need to fix this mess." He gestured toward Hela, whose half-rotted body still pulsed with unstable energy. "And I'd rather you not get caught in the middle of it."
Jubilee huffed. "Okay, fine. But you owe me a proper date after this." She knew her limits. No matter how much she'd have liked to help, her power won't be enough.
Aron chuckled, stepping forward and pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. "Promise. And don't think useless things like that. If you want to help out... I'm pretty sure Storm can find something for you."
With a flick of his wrist, a blue portal opened behind her, swirling with energy. Before she could say anything, she was gently pulled into the vortex. Her body vanished in a flash of light and reappeared inside her room.
Now, for the other set of troublemakers.
Aron didn't even need to turn around. His senses had already detected them long ago.
"I know you three are watching," he said, his voice carrying effortlessly across the snow-covered peaks. "Jean. Emma. Kitty."
A long pause.
The trio came out. They flew down before him.
Jean stood with her arms crossed, her fiery hair glowing slightly in the cold wind. Emma, in her flawless white coat, looked entirely unbothered as usual, a knowing smirk playing on her lips. Kitty, meanwhile, had the decency to look at least a little sheepish.
"Well, we were watching," Jean admitted. "And to be fair, it was supposed to be my turn to go on a date…"
"Consider it monitoring, not spying," Emma added smoothly.
Kitty raised a hand. "Uh, yeah. I was totally just here for safety reasons. Not for drama."
Aron pinched the bridge of his nose. "You guys are ridiculous."
Emma's smirk widened. "Flattery will get you nowhere, darling."
Aron waved his hand, summoning a portal beneath their feet. Before any of them could react, the three women vanished in a flash of light, sent straight back to Genosha.
"Wait, what—!"
Gone.
Finally. Some peace.
He turned his attention back to Hela.
She had been silent throughout all of this, watching with a raised brow. "Hmph. You certainly have a way of dealing with nuisances."
Aron sighed. "You've got no idea."
Then, he stepped forward.
Hela stiffened slightly as he reached out, placing a firm hand on her shoulder. The Phoenix Force flared to life within him, burning golden-red as its warmth wrapped around them both.
Hela's decayed side pulsed.
Her breath hitched as the ancient, eldritch energy of death resisted his touch, but Aron wasn't deterred. The Phoenix Force was life and destruction, but more than that—it was rebirth.
The blackened flesh on her left arm twitched, the rot writhing as if alive. Her body was fighting him.
"Relax," Aron murmured. "Let me in."
Hela hesitated. She had spent millennia trapped in this state, forced to wear a cloak that masked her rot, a constant reminder of her existence as a weapon forged by Odin.
Could she really trust him?
She clenched her jaw.
'Five years.'
She had made the deal.
She closed her eyes—and let go.
BOOM!
A golden shockwave erupted outward, sending snow flying in all directions. The mountain trembled beneath them as the Phoenix Force fully surged into her body, breaking through Odin's shackles.
Hela gasped, her entire form trembling as a flood of power rushed through her veins.
The rotted, skeletal flesh on her left side began to crack and peel away, not in decay, but in renewal.
New skin—smooth, strong, whole—emerged beneath the blackened husk, glowing faintly as the corruption was burned away. Her once-withered fingers flexed, gaining strength. The sickly, necrotic energy that had bound her for so long dissipated, replaced by something purer, something more her.
For the first time in centuries, Hela felt balanced.
She opened her eyes, stunned.
Aron smirked. "Told you I could do it."
Hela flexed her hand, staring down at it as if seeing herself for the first time. The decayed flesh was gone. The unnatural rot that had plagued her body since childhood had been erased.
She clenched her fist.
Power surged through her, unburdened by Odin's influence. It felt… intoxicating.
She looked at Aron, her expression unreadable.
"Just like that?"
Aron gave a slight nod. "Yup."
Hela studied him for a long moment. Then, a slow, almost wicked grin spread across her lips.
"Oh," she purred, stepping closer, her fingers grazing his chest. "I think I might actually start to enjoy these five years."
Aron sighed. "Here we go…"
Hela chuckled darkly.
The Goddess of Death had been reborn.
Then...
She reached up, grasping the black cloak that had bound her for so long. For centuries, it had been both her armor and her prison, the only thing keeping Odin's leash on her soul.
But now?
She no longer needed it.
Hela tore the cloak from her shoulders. It unraveled like smoke, dissipating into the frigid wind. She let out a slow breath and stretched her arms, relishing in the sensation. Then, she clenched her fists.
A pulse of something dark and raw radiated from her body, sending shockwaves rippling through the air. The energy was unlike the necrotic magic she had wielded before—it was purer, denser, and unrestricted by Odin's limits. It was hers.
Her lips curled into a slow, satisfied smile.
"Oh… this is delicious."
Aron watched, arms crossed, as Hela flexed her fingers, black tendrils of energy flickering to life at her fingertips. Even he had to admit that this was impressive. She had been strong before, but now?
Now, she was something else entirely.
Without warning, Hela flicked her wrist.
A jet-black hex formed in her palm, swirling with raw death magic, its core pulsing with unstable energy. With a casual motion, she hurled it forward.
BOOM!
The hex exploded upon impact with the mountain's peak, disintegrating an entire section of rock and ice in an instant. Snow vaporized into mist. The peak trembled beneath them, cracks splintering outward like veins of shadow.
A wicked grin spread across Hela's lips. "Oh, I feel so free."
Not satisfied, she conjured another hex. It was larger this time and its edges crackled with an unnatural dark glow. With a flick of her fingers, she sent it spiraling toward another peak in the distance.
The explosion was monstrous.
An entire section of the mountain vanished, reduced to nothing but scattered debris and swirling black smoke. The sheer force of it sent avalanches roaring down the slopes, burying everything in their path.
Hela let out a low, satisfied chuckle. "This… this is what I was meant to be."
Aron let out a slow whistle. "Well, you certainly know how to cause destruction."
Hela turned to him, a glint of amusement in her emerald eyes. "Oh, don't act like you're not impressed, boy."
Aron smirked. "Impressed? Maybe. But now you've got the entire world wondering what just happened. You really couldn't help yourself, could you?"
Hela shrugged, not looking the least bit guilty. "I've been restrained for far too long. I deserve some fun."
Aron swiped his hand in the air, using reality manipulation. The destruction Hela unleashed got fixed in the blink of an eye.
"Speaking of fun," He cracked his knuckles. "Let's go and kill Thanos and Loki. You can have your favorite bro. I'll kill Thanos."
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[14 advance chapters] [No double billing]
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