Vanaheim, once the most prosperous kingdom in the Nine Realms, is now nothing but ruins.
In a secluded cave hidden by boulders and vines, a faint firelight dispelled some of the chill.
Five figures stood around the campfire, silently tearing at the roasted meat of an unknown Beast, the grease dripping into the fire and making a sizzling sound.
"Damn it, why isn't there any wine?!" Valkyrie tore off a large piece of roast meat and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling his complaints.
She irritably wiped the grease from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, her icy blue eyes filled with thirst.
"If you want some, you can steal it." The Enchantress Amora didn't even look up, elegantly poking at the fire with a sharpened twig, her golden-green crown gleaming with a cold, eerie light.
"Those places outside that Hela conquered are now filled with her endless undead skeletons. I don't think it's worth it for a bottle of wine."
Valkyrie grunted in annoyance, but ultimately remained silent.
Of course she wasn't stupid. She had seen that ocean of skeletons with her own eyes. If someone rushed in, they wouldn't even make a ripple; they would be devoured until not even bone fragments were left.
The atmosphere in the cave froze again, leaving only the sounds of chewing and the crackling of the flames.
" Thor and Loki... are they really dead?" Angela's voice broke the silence.
She meticulously polished her Glaive, inlaid with milky-white crystals, as if performing some kind of ritual.
There was no emotion in his pale golden eyes; he simply stated a fact that needed to be confirmed.
Amora stopped fiddling with the flames, her emerald eyes turning to Angela, a familiar, languid, and slightly mocking smile playing on her lips.
"Of course he's dead." Her voice was as smooth as fine silk, yet icy cold. " Loki was torn to shreds by Hela on the spot. As for Thor..."
She paused for a moment, as if recalling that apocalyptic scene.
"Don't you realize that the Midgard Serpent Jormungandr, Fenris Wolf, the entire Frost Giants race, Malekith's Dark Elves, and the Surtur, the Fire Giant... all of Asgard's nemesis descended on that day. That was the true Ragnarok."
Amora's gaze swept over everyone present. "Even if Thor is strong, can he defeat those things by himself?"
" Thor is a real man!" Valkyrie suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse but unusually firm.
"Anyway, they're more powerful than me! If I were in that situation, I would have run away long ago. Who would be so stubborn as to go and fight those monsters head-on?"
After she finished speaking, she grabbed a piece of meat and took a big bite, as if to express her respect in this way.
Amora's gaze returned to Angela, her smile deepening, tinged with a hint of inquiry.
"What? You're worried about them? I remember you shouldn't know them at all."
Angela didn't stop wiping the blade; she didn't even look at Amora, but simply asked:
"Don't you care about him? You were his former flirtation." She enunciated the last four words with particular clarity.
Amora's smile froze for a moment, then blossomed again, but the warmth in her eyes subsided.
"Of course I care about him," she said casually, as if discussing an insignificant collectible, "But my life is more important than him."
"Why... why don't you ask Heimdall?" Lorelei asked weakly from the corner.
She had been huddled behind her sister, and now finally found a chance to interject, her light emerald eyes filled with a hint of expectant anticipation, "He should... be able to see whether Thor is dead or not, right?"
Instantly, all eyes were drawn to the silent black guardian.
Heimdall kept his eyes closed, as if empathizing with the lamentations of the entire universe.
At this moment, he slowly opened his eyes, which could see through the Nine Realms. The golden pupils reflected the flickering firelight, yet they seemed to pierce through the cave and see the distant past.
He looked at everyone, and finally just shook his head heavily and slowly.
" Thor is long dead." His voice was low and hoarse, as if it came from an ancient stone tablet. "He ended Ragnarok, and Ragnarok buried him. His Soul Stone... has returned to Valhalla."
The cave was deathly silent.
This news, confirmed by the guardian of the Bifrost himself, was like a boulder thrown into a deep pool, completely extinguishing the last glimmer of hope in everyone's hearts.
"... He truly is the man I've set my sights on."
After a long silence, Amora uttered a soft sentence, her voice betraying neither pride nor sorrow.
She lowered her eyes, her long, golden eyelashes casting a shadow on her cheek.
However, in the next moment, her brows furrowed sharply, and her emerald eyes instantly sharpened like knives, snapping upwards to sweep towards the dark cave entrance.
That elegant and languid demeanor vanished, replaced by the alertness of a startled beast.
"What's wrong?!" Angela was the first to react. She held her Glaive horizontally in front of her, instantly entering a state of combat readiness.
Valkyrie also threw away the bone in her hand and placed one hand on the hilt of the broadsword at her waist.
"We..." Amora's voice was low, carrying a hint of seriousness she herself didn't realize, "... it seems like we're being watched."
She had barely finished speaking.
Hehehehehe--
A sharp, distorted laugh, as if metal were scraping against the nerves, suddenly poured in from the cave entrance!
The laughter was filled with madness and undisguised malice, making the temperature inside the cave seem to drop several degrees.
A red, ghostly figure, piloting a bat-shaped glider, hurtled into the cave like a Falcon from Hell!
The pumpkin lanterns at the tip of the hang glider flickered with an eerie light, illuminating the pilot's face, which was covered by a demon mask.
The Ghost Green Goblin!
The glider came to an abrupt stop in mid-air above the cave, hovering there. The Green Goblin looked down at the five people below who instantly tensed up, his eyes behind the mask flashing with a morbid fanaticism.
Immediately afterwards, two figures emerged from behind him, one on the left and one on the right, blocking the entrance to the cave.
One is a king, Killmonger, clad in a Black Panther Suit and eyes as fierce as a beast.
The other one is even more bizarre. She has Mystique's blue skin and signature red hair, but her body is surrounded by ominous, dark red Phoenix Force that devours light like a black hole.
Black Phoenix Mystique.
"Let me see... hehehe..." The Ghost Green Goblin's laughter echoed in the cramped space, piercing the eardrums. "A bunch of escaped little mice hiding in their holes. Now, I've come to send you on your way..."
He spread his arms wide, like a comedian on stage, and asked, in an aria-like tone, enunciating each word clearly:
Are you happy or not?!