A prisoner in the Underworld's great hall, turning the tables with taunts

The cold touch on my neck felt like a ring of venomous snakes covered in barbs.

Lynn was dragged along by the chain, which was purely formed from Death Energy, and staggered into the central hall of Helheim.

Chilling cold. Extremely chilling cold.

The air was thick with the stench of rotting corpses and the metallic smell of dried blood. The main hall had no dome, and in the dark, sunless sky, several enormous carrion birds emitted mournful cries as they circled above the stone pillars piled with withered bones.

Beneath his feet lay unevenly polished Obsidian tiles, the gaps filled with fragments of unknown creatures' bones. Lynn's knees dragged a long, bloody trail across the rough surface, but he didn't utter a sound.

"Bang."

Lynn was casually tossed into the center of the hall.

The chains were taut and straight.

On the Throne.

Hela reclined languidly on her Throne, pieced together from massive vertebrae. She toyed with a jet-black Night Sky Sword in her hand, her pale face, illuminated by the eerie green Underworld Fire, exuding a sickly, bewitching allure and an air of superiority.

"Kneel properly." Hela's voice echoed in the hall, carrying an undeniable arrogance. "This is your first lesson as a pet."

Lynn rubbed his neck, which had been strangled and left a purplish-black bruise, and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

Instead of kneeling, he sat down cross-legged with an air of nonchalance, and even kicked away a leg bone that was blocking his foot.

"The Throne of Asgard, is this all the taste you've got?" Lynn scoffed, his gaze sweeping around unabashedly.

Outside the main hall, countless undead berserkers were gathering.

They let out irrational growls, brandishing rusty giant axes and broken swords, their rotting flesh trembling in the eerie wind. This horde of monsters was like a pack of mad dogs that had smelled blood, completely disorganized; the Ghoul on the left flank had even begun to tear each other apart over a piece of rotten flesh.

Lynn's gaze swept over this so-called "army," and the sneer at the corner of his mouth grew deeper.

"What are you looking at?" Hela narrowed her eyes, the tip of the Night Sky Sword pointing at Lynn.

"Look at this bunch of rotten flesh about to be used as targets and blasted into dust." Lynn tugged at the chain around his neck, making a crisp metallic clanging sound.

Hela's eyes instantly turned cold.

"You ant, do you think I wouldn't dare kill you?"

Lynn, supporting himself on his knees, slowly stood up.

Even with a dog leash around his neck and his bones screaming in agony, his back remained ramrod straight.

"Odin's vanguard will arrive at the outskirts of the Underworld in no more than half an hour's time." Lynn raised his hand, pointing to the chaotic group of berserkers outside the hall. "What can your 'elite' do besides charge forward like wild boars?"

Hela sneered, leaning forward slightly. "Before the absolute power of death, any formation is a joke. My berserkers are tireless and fearless of death."

"Yes, a tireless live target." Lynn interrupted her mercilessly, his voice particularly jarring in the empty hall.

He took a step forward.

The chain was instantly taut, digging deep into the cartilage of his neck. Blood seeped out along the iron rings, dripping onto the Obsidian floor.

Lynn didn't even frown. He stared at Hela on the Throne, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt.

"Look at those skeletons on the left flank, wielding rusty battle axes. Their steps are unsteady; they can't even maintain the most basic charge formation. And the Ghoul on the right flank? Once the battle starts, they'll tear their own men apart. As for the center..." Lynn scoffed, "You plan to rely on these monsters with rotten brains to charge through Asgard's heavily armored shield lines?"

Hela's fingers, gripping the sword hilt, paused slightly.

"You know better than I what Odin's regular army is like," Lynn's voice suddenly rose, carrying a penetrating and oppressive quality. "The front row is a heavy shield formation forged from Uru Metal, the rear row is Rune mages, and on both flanks are Pegasus riding pegasus!"

"Your berserkers will charge in, but they won't even reach the edge of the shield wall before being riddled with bullets by the magical fire from the back. Once your formation is torn apart, the Pegasus Rangers can flank and slice these rotten bones to pieces!"

Lynn stared at Hela and stated his conclusion, word by word. "You call this an army? This is called a line of people going to their deaths."

The main hall was deathly silent.

Only the cold wind howled outside.

Hela's breath hitched for half a second. A hint of undisguised surprise flashed in her otherwise emotionless eyes.

Because she knew that this mortal was absolutely right.

She was used to crushing everything with absolute power, used to charging ahead and Carnage indiscriminately. Tactics? Deployment? Those were all tricks Odin played from behind the scenes.

But now, she is sealed in the Underworld, and her divine power is far less than at its peak. Facing Odin's well-prepared army, these mindless berserkers alone cannot hold out for long.

This lowly soldier, who didn't even possess magic, actually saw through the fatal weakness of her army at a glance!

A sense of humiliation, like being stripped naked and scrutinized by ants, grew wildly in Hela's heart.

"Shut up!"

Hela abruptly stood up, and a powerful aura of death instantly swept across the entire hall.

The eerie green Underworld Fire flickered violently, as if they might be extinguished at any moment. Sensing their master's rage, the berserkers outside the hall stopped roaring and prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling.

"What, did you hit a nerve?" Instead of backing down, Lynn took another step forward, facing the oppressive force that could crush an ordinary person into mincemeat.

"Creak--"

The chains groaned under the strain.

Lynn's neck was strangled, leaving a deep bloody gash, but he seemed oblivious to the pain, his arrogance growing ever stronger.

He's gambling.

Bet on Hela, this extremely arrogant and Yandere Deity desperately lacks a sense of belonging, and the most vulnerable sore spot deep within her heart.

"Do you know why Odin threw you away like trash after he finished with you?" Lynn's voice wasn't loud, but every word was piercing.

Hela's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints.

"Because you're just a knife. A stupid knife that knows nothing but killing!"

Lynn grinned, revealing his bloodstained teeth.

"You think you're worthy to be the king of the Nine Realms? Don't dream. A mad dog who doesn't even understand the most basic military strategy and only bites indiscriminately based on instinct, even if he sits on the Throne, he'll only be played with like a puppet!"

Even if you were given an invincible army, you would only lead them to your grave!

These words, like a battering ram weighing hundreds of pounds, struck Hela's soul with devastating force.

"Stupid knife," "mad dog," "being played with"...

These words were like poisoned daggers, piercing precisely into the deepest, most painful wounds of her heart.

She conquered the Nine Realms for Odin, her hands stained with blood, yet in the end, fearing her power, she was ruthlessly banished on the charge of "cruelty."

This was the hatred that haunted her for the rest of her life.

And now, this prisoner, whom she had kept like a pet, dared to tear that fig leaf to shreds right in front of her, devaluing her intelligence to nothing!

"You're asking for it!"

Hela let out a piercing scream.

"Boom!"

The Obsidian steps in front of the Throne shattered instantly, sending shards of stone flying everywhere.

Hela's figure transformed into a black lightning bolt, instantly traversing a distance of tens of meters and appearing directly in front of Lynn.

A cold, icy right hand, like an iron clamp, gripped Lynn's neck tightly.

"Well--"

Lynn's breath was instantly cut off.

Hela used one arm to lift Lynn high into the air, his feet dangling in the air.

"You think that just because you've figured out a few tactics, you have the right to bark at me?" Hela's face was contorted with extreme anger, and the murderous intent in her eyes almost solidified into tangible frost.

She stared at Lynn's face, flushed red from suffocation, her voice filled with chilling brutality.

"Believe it or not, I'll rip your tongue out right now and let you watch as the dead slowly devour your body!"

Lynn was suspended in mid-air, her legs struggling weakly.

The neck bone cracked dangerously under Hela's grip.

The brain turned black intermittently due to lack of oxygen.

But he did not beg for mercy.

Under Hela's eyes, filled with murderous intent and rage, Lynn managed a strained smile.

He looked at the high and mighty Goddess of Death and gave her a cold laugh that was extremely mocking, even tinged with pity.