Ring of the Nibelung

The Giants had suffered enormous losses. The Frost Giants were nearly wiped out, and few Hill Giants remained. The Wisdom Giants had been overrun by a berserker unit led by a commander from the Asgardian gods, who cut them down mercilessly. Ymir had been killed by Odin's son, Vidar God of Spring, and the Wisdom Giants had begun to rout.

The undead had been all but wiped out.

Loki's death had yielded a key. Its theme was Loki's sinister grin, and its tip was formed by the Tesseract scepter, crackling with energy, opening a portal. Since Brunhilde was Kirk's [Warrior's Soul], the kill had been credited to Kirk, earning him 5 points of Fate power. He now had a total of 6 Fate Gold Threads.

The only remaining center of resistance was the army of 50,000 Fire Giants Surtr had brought with him.

It was like a massive reef, stubbornly resisting the advance of the gods' army.

Hundreds of thousands of corpses—gods, demons, and Giants—littered the battlefield. The dead lay piled upon one another, and blood ran so thick it could float boats. The scene resembled Midgard Hell.

Few remained standing.

Kirk watched Thor and Surtr's decisive battle.

It was a fated clash, a conversation between the new ruler of Asgard and the strongest opponent of the gods' rule.

Thor's strength was beyond question, but Surtr was stronger still. Thor's only chance lay in taking advantage of Surtr's fatigue from a prolonged battle and his accumulating wounds, then landing a fatal blow on the King of Fire Giants!

Sure enough, the experienced Thor seized on one of Surtr's mistakes. At the midpoint of the battle, Surtr should have turned and delivered a sweeping slash, but Tyr had wounded him in the waist. His movement faltered just slightly, and Thor hurled