"Mr. Tang wants to see you."
Playing the gracious host, the Grandmaster led Apocalypse, Thor, and Hela down to land before Valkyrie.
"What Mr. Tang?"
Seeing the Grandmaster descend in person, she realized he did not seem intent on attacking her.
Only then did Valkyrie lower her guard a little.
As Apocalypse and the others approached, Valkyrie's pupils constricted.
She abruptly recoiled, a savage killing intent erupting from her body.
She raised her short sword and pointed it straight at Hela.
"Hela?! It's you?"
She did not recognize Apocalypse or Thor.
Valkyrie's attention had been drawn to the Grandmaster and the snow-white Pegasus earlier, so she had not noticed Hela leading the horse.
Only when the Pegasus came closer did she get a clear look at Hela's face.
That face had appeared in her nightmares over and over for two thousand years.
Seeing it so suddenly was like watching her nightmare become reality, dragging Valkyrie back to that bloody battlefield.
She stared at Hela, and Hela studied her in turn.
Hela wanted to know just what nobody could possibly be more suited to the throne than she was.
Clutching her short sword, Valkyrie backed away step by step.
She hated Hela, but she feared her even more.
For two thousand years, Hela had been the nightmare she could never escape.
Apocalypse stepped forward. "Don't be nervous. She isn't here to kill you."
"Who are you?"
Apocalypse manifested the Princely Seal before his chest. "I'm a prince of Asgard. You can call me Prince Tang."
"And him?" Valkyrie indicated Thor with her eyes.
"He is Asgard's reigning king, Thor."
"Oh? What about Odin?"
"He reached the end of his natural lifespan. His soul has gone to Valhalla."
Valkyrie stopped, rooted to the spot.
To Asgardians, Odin was the heavens themselves, the