Thor, Odin's Bloodline—the Lord of Thunder

"Help!"

A shrill scream suddenly tore through the silence. The battle-hardened Thor immediately tensed and swiftly ducked into the shadows. From the corner of his eye, he saw a group of skeleton soldiers clad in Asgardian armor, slaughtering civilians in the streets.

"What kind of monsters are these?!" Thor's hair stood on end, and he involuntarily sucked in a cold breath.

In the past, such cannon fodder would never have caught his attention. But now, just four or five skeleton soldiers would be enough to turn him into a pincushion. Though the civilians' cries pained him, Thor, who understood the reality of his situation, wisely chose to avoid them. He quietly circled around the chaos and continued toward the divine palace—only by finding his father Odin and his brother Loki could he figure out what had happened.

The severed limbs scattered across the ground made Thor curse uncontrollably. Even the dullest person should have realized that Asgard had suffered a tremendous upheaval. His gaze swept over the wreckage everywhere, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

"No... it can't be..."

Slowing his pace, Thor vaguely recognized the familiar patterns on the armor. He held his breath and cautiously approached, praying frantically in his heart. But fate never answered pleas—lying across the ground were his comrades who had shared life and death with him, the Warriors Three: Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun, along with the valiant female warrior Sif.

The comrades who had once charged into battle alongside Thor had emerged unharmed from countless vicious fights.

Yet this time, he had only been gone for a month and a half.

Those companions who had shared life and death with him had all fallen, their cold remains scattered haphazardly across the ground.

It felt as though Thor's heart had been pierced by a sharp blade, and agonizing pain swept through his entire body.

"Who did this?!"

Rage erupted in his chest. He grabbed a bloodstained longsword from the ground and strode toward the depths of the divine palace.

The situation was far worse than he had imagined—given Odin's strength, he should have been capable of suppressing any rebellion. Otherwise, he could never have ruled the Nine Realms for thousands of years.

At that moment, Thor only wanted to confirm his mother's whereabouts.

"Creak—"

As he pushed open the heavy palace doors, a pungent stench of blood rushed at him. Crimson liquid wound across the floor, outlining strange patterns.

Upon the throne sat a woman shrouded in black mist of death.

Three familiar bodies lay beneath the throne: the guardian god Heimdall, the Allfather Odin, and his brother Loki—their hearts had all been pierced by black demonic swords.

"Well, well, what little bug has crawled in?"

"Who exactly are you?!"

"Hehe, that hypocrite Odin truly erased every trace of my existence."

As the woman of death rose, the black mist writhed like a living thing. Every word she spoke was filled with bone-deep hatred:

"I am Hela, Goddess of Death! Odin's eldest daughter!"

"Nonsense! I've never heard of you!" Thor clenched Mjolnir. As far as he knew, Odin had only two children.

"You foolish, pitiful worm!" Hela's voice was like a venomous snake hissing. "Without my power, how could Odin have conquered the Nine Realms? Yet that coward ambushed and sealed me away, then completely erased my achievements from history!"

Every word Hela spoke sounded like an indisputable historical fact. Even Thor, filled with hatred, could not help but waver—would his father truly have done something so despicable?

"Now, I've returned." Her black mist took the shape of skulls. "All who resist will die."

"I personally dealt with that stubborn old fool, Odin."

"It was utterly exhilarating."

Hela revealed an intoxicated expression, as though she had drunk thousand-year-old wine, then burst into maniacal laughter.

There was no pleasure in this world more wonderful than the satisfaction of personally killing one's enemy.

"You—"

"What a pity about those Asgardian warriors," Hela suddenly said in a regretful tone. "They never needed to die so humbly. But they insisted on following that senile old fool and resisting me." She flicked back her long hair. "Such loyalty and courage, wasted for nothing."

"Where is my mother?!"

"Mother?" Hela raised an eyebrow mockingly. "If you are willing to be my loyal dog, perhaps I can spare that old woman's life."

"She is Queen Frigga."

The air suddenly froze.

Blood-red light surged in Hela's eyes, and killing intent spread as though it had substance. The identity of the person before her was now obvious—apart from Loki, whom she had just dealt with, only Odin's exiled son remained.

"I had planned to go to Earth myself and clean up the remnants," she said, running a finger over the carvings on the throne's armrest. "But you've saved me quite a bit of trouble."

"You arrogant lunatic! If you dare set foot on Earth, the president will make you regret ever being born!"

"Though I don't understand your mad ramblings," Hela said, suddenly clapping her hands, "you have successfully angered me."

Two skeletal warriors escorted the haggard Frigga into the hall.

When she saw the flash of hope in Thor's eyes, the Goddess of Death narrowed her eyes with delight. What she enjoyed most was snuffing out that spark of hope.

"Mother!"

"Run... my child..." Frigga's tear tracks had not yet dried, and her voice was hoarse as though scraped by sandpaper. The grief of losing her husband and adopted son in succession had nearly crushed the former mother of the Nine Realms.

Thor quickly activated the bracelet on his wrist, but the blue light flickered twice before falling silent.

—League of Heroes communications had been completely blocked!

"What touching mother-son affection." Hela casually threw out two swords, their black blade-light carving deadly arcs through the air. "Let me see how many rounds you can endure."

Amid the explosive clang of metal colliding, Thor was thrown to the ground by the shockwave. Meanwhile, the woman on the throne rested her chin in her hand, admiring her prey's futile struggle.

The Thunder Blade blocked the first wave of attacks, but the recoil split Thor's palms. His mortal body was sent crashing down like a kite with snapped strings.

A black blade immediately stabbed into the flesh of his thigh.

"Pathetically weak." Hela tilted her head, revealing a puzzled expression. "Trash weaker than even an Asgardian recruit dares call himself blood of the Son of the Gods?"

"I am Odin's bloodline—Thor, Lord of Thunder!"

"Heh." The Goddess of Death wound a lock of hair around her fingertip. "Then let me see the might of Mjolnir."

"I don't need Mjolnir to kill you!"

Thor abruptly pulled the black blade from his leg, his facial muscles twitching from the agony. He grabbed a twisted piece of scrap metal from the ground and pointed it at Hela—not because he was unwilling to summon Mjolnir, but because he knew perfectly well that in Hela's hands, that war hammer was nothing more than a fragile toy.

"Interesting." Hela suddenly curled her crimson lips. "I'll give you sixty breaths to crawl to my feet." She casually dragged over Frigga, who was being held by skeleton soldiers. "Otherwise, the queen's blood will splatter this divine palace."

"I'll tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

The God of Thunder dragged his mangled body forward, every step leaving a trail of blood across the golden tiles. Hela snapped her fingers impatiently, and countless black swords poured down like a rainstorm. Though Thor desperately rolled and dodged, he was still pierced all over and forced to his knees like a blood-soaked gourd.

"So this is all the God of Thunder amounts to." Hela waved her hand impatiently. "Execute her."

"Stop—!"

The crisp sound of a bone blade piercing Frigga's breastplate exploded at the same moment as Thor's heart-rending roar. The queen fell from the divine altar like a silver bird with broken wings, her magnificent royal gown spreading dark red patterns across the pool of blood.

"Mother... Mother!"

Thor hammered the ground with fists that exposed white bone. What poured from his tear ducts was not only tears, but bloody droplets mixed with despair. His comrades, his father, his brother, and now even his last remaining loved one had been taken from him. The successive devastation completely crushed the god's pride.

"How revolting." Hela stepped through the pool of blood, her black boots stopping before Thor's eyes. "I've suddenly realized... it might be more amusing to let a homeless dog live forever in a nightmare."

She turned and walked toward the Bifrost, her cape sweeping over Thor's bloodstained face. To her, the God of Thunder reduced to a mortal body was nothing more than roadside filth.

"Hela—!!" Thor's roar shattered the broken glass in the palace dome. "I swear I'll devour your flesh and blood!!"

A bloodied hand suddenly clamped around Hela's ankle. Thor's blood-covered face twisted hideously as a beastlike howl burst from his throat.

A flash of sword-light appeared, and droplets of blood blossomed in midair. Where the blade passed, his left eye burst into sticky pulp, and a savage scar split the God of Thunder's face in two.

"Interesting. Now you look even more like that old fool Odin." Hela's tongue swept across her lips. "What, can't you even squeeze out the tiniest spark?"

She casually kicked him, and Thor crashed into the wall like a rag doll. Spiderweb cracks burst across the snow-white surface, while his winding bloodstain resembled a dying snake.

"I..." Thor forced out a breathy sound through his shattered throat.

"I can't hear you." Hela bent down closer, blood dripping from her hair.

"I!" Sparks burst from between his bloodied teeth.

"Trash." Her high heel crushed the floor tiles.

His dying body suddenly erupted with blue light, thunder serpents coursing through his flesh. Within Thor's ruined eye socket, brilliant blue lightning plasma began to boil.

"God of Thunder—"

Boom! A thunderstorm from the nine heavens erupted from within him, and a purple lightning dragon tore apart the illusion. The Goddess of Death shattered into fragments amid the lightning, and the entire space began to collapse...

Outside the illusion, the blood-red color faded from Li Chen's Sharingan.

A thunderstorm raged across the plains as the awakened God of Thunder vented his fury. Li Chen casually waved a hand, and a dark purple pillar of lightning bursting from his palm instantly swallowed Thor's body.

"I am the true God of Thunder." He crushed the jumping electric arcs beneath his foot.

Thor controlled the power of thunder, but Li Chen possessed divine power as well—power even greater than Thor's.

The deliberately restrained lightning scorched Thor black. He abruptly woke from the illusion and staggered to his feet.

"Are you awake now?"

"No! President, please save Asgard!"

The illusion created earlier had been far too real. Thor still could not distinguish truth from falsehood.

His first reaction after waking was actually to ask Li Chen for help, hoping he could eliminate that powerful enemy who called herself the Goddess of Death.

Otherwise, all of Asgard would eventually become ruins.

"She was so powerful it was despairing. Even when I unleashed the strongest thunder of my life, I couldn't harm her in the slightest."

Thor pressed a hand to his temple, his voice filled with frustration.

Even his father Odin had been defeated. The thunderous power he had awakened at the risk of his life was nothing more than a tickle to Hela, the Goddess of Death.

An enemy of that level could probably only be handled by the president.

"Calm down. What you experienced was only an illusion."

"An illusion? But it felt so real..."

Thor let out a long breath, feeling as though a burden had been lifted.

If it was an illusion, that meant his father, mother, brother, and comrades were all safe and sound.

Compared to that, suffering a little himself meant nothing.

"But Hela, the Goddess of Death, truly will descend upon Asgard in the future, and she really is your sister."

"What?!"

"Steady yourself. You are now the God of Thunder who has awakened divine power."

"How am I supposed to stay calm?! Even if I unleash everything I have, I still can't beat that woman!"

Thor said this with his facial muscles twitching.

He would rather shave his head again than fight the Goddess of Death—the crushing sense of despair she inspired was suffocating.

"President, could you please seal her away?"

"Not interested. I'm busy."

Li Chen refused cleanly.

Though Hela was powerful, she was not worth mentioning before a wielder of divine power at his vice-president level.

Thor's lightning could not harm her, but a casual blow from Li Chen would be enough to reduce her to ashes.

With the vast reserves of energy in his body, he could beat the Goddess of Death to her knees with one hand.

"But..."

"Clean up your own mess."

"..."

"I understand your concerns, but strength is never fixed."

"You expect me to catch up with that woman in just a few years? Even I don't believe that."

"Activate the enhancement system of the Battle Ring."

"Uh... alright..."

The blond God of Thunder scratched his head and clumsily operated the device on his wrist.

After fumbling with it for quite a while, a light screen slowly unfolded:

[Enhance 'Divine Hammer' (A): 100000 points]

[Enhance 'Divine Body' (A): 150000 points]

[Enhance 'Thunder Energy' (A): 300000 points]

[...]

The data for every ability was clearly displayed.

To raise an ability to S-rank required energy comparable to directly summoning an S-rank Heroic Spirit. After handing over ninety percent to the association, ordinary members had pitifully few energy points at their disposal.

Thus, this system was generally only used by D- and C-rank members. The enhancement cost for high-ranking heroes was terrifying—despite the Deep-Sea Clan campaign, only a handful met the requirements.

For Thor, who had made no contribution whatsoever in that battle, those numbers were as distant and unreachable as the stars.