Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 2300: Clashing Thunder

Though the Bifrost led directly to the center of Asgard, those attempting to cross it would invariably come face to face with its guardian, Heimdall.

With ivory skin, golden eyes, golden teeth, and standing 711cm tall, most who met Heimdall would assume he was part giant. In reality, his origins were far stranger, as, rather than a single mother, he was born to a group of nine maidens who ‘sacrificed’ their virginities to appease Odin.

Sensing what was about to happen through his foresight, a frown marred Heimdall’s expression as he donned a dark, almost obsidian gold helmet with horns reminiscent of a blade’s guard. Shortly after that, the sound of a violent thunderclap filled his dwelling as a 228cm tall man with fiery red hair and an intricately braided beard smashed through his ceiling.

Rising to his feet, the burly, bare-chested figure used his pulsating iron gauntlets to wipe away the debris coating his rune-covered body as he said, “Heimdall, it’s good to see you, old friend.”

Despite towering over the red-haired man by three-fold, Heimdall felt looked down upon as he thumped his chest and replied in a deep, almost scarily resonating tone, “Thor, Odinson, it is good to see you. I do wonder, though. What reason have you for your sudden visit?”

“Hmph.”

Never fond of being questioned, Thor began channeling energy through the runes covering his body. Heimdall wasn’t an opponent he could defeat easily, but he was more than willing to teach the ‘all-seeing’ God a lesson.

Squinting his fiery golden eyes, Heimdall prepared to defend himself. Thor had a habit of beating up anyone that didn’t immediately sing his praises, so he wasn’t even remotely surprised by his errant, half-brother’s temper.

Accompanied by a thunderous boom, Thor launched himself toward the much-taller God with the casual momentum of a freight train. He had his legendary hammer, Mjolnir, in a holster on the left side of his hips, but he generally only used it when trying to kill or maim his opponents.

Suppressing a sigh, Heimdall blocked Thor’s initial punch with crossed arms. When Thor’s fist impacted his forearms, the nearly-indestructible metal comprising his armguards gained a fist-shaped indentation as he was sent smashing through the wall at his back.

Though most knew him as the God of Thunder and Lightning, Thor was also the God of Strength and, curiously enough, Agriculture. His fame had dwindled since his previous incarnation’s death, but he was still regarded as one of the physically most powerful Gods in the Divine Realm. With his belt, Megingjord, doubling his already legendary strength, there were very few people who could withstand his blows.

Despite being one of the few that could, Heimdall allowed himself to be sent flying by Thor’s punch. He knew the latter was there to seek trouble with Vahn, so he would rather prepare Asgard’s defenses than waste time trying to reason with the Nine Realms’ most hot-headed God.

Realizing that Heimdall didn’t intend to fight, Thor shouted, “Coward!” as thick bands of lightning erupted from his body, tearing through or melting his surroundings. However, before he could even think to give chase, the Bifrost beneath him pulsed as a group comprised of sixteen women and one man appeared at the Midgard-side entrance of Heimdall’s abode.

Redirecting his anger towards the man at the center of the group, Thor pointed towards the relaxed-looking and bellowed, “You must be Vahn Aldrnari Mason! I am Thor Odinson, the God of Thunder! Come, show me what you’re made of…!”

After unholstering the ornate, ostensibly stone-carved hammer at his hip, Thor charged at Vahn with reality-warping momentum. He didn’t appear to be that fast, but he was able to close the distance between himself and his opponents in an instant.

Stopping Thor’s hammer with the palm of his hand, the smile faded from Vahn’s face as he asked, “What reason do you have to attack me? I don’t recall antagonizing the Nine Realms…”

Seeing Vahn stop his attack with ease, an almost comically stupefied expression marred Thor’s face. When his brain finally finished processing Vahn’s words, it immediately transitioned into a battle-crazed smile as he shouted, “For glory! What else is there!?”

Empowered by his shout, the runes covering Thor’s body burned with a fiery blue light that crawled down his arm, quickly spreading through his gauntlet before igniting the mural-like runes covering Mjolnir’s sides. As it did, Vahn’s seemingly immovable hand buckled slightly, an eerie humming sound reverberating within Heimdall’s observatory as the force contained within Thor’s blow continued to compound without limit.

“Hmmm…”

With Loi-chan confirming that Thor just wanted to prove himself against a powerful opponent, Vahn’s inviolable defenses began to crumble. He was virtually unbeatable against those who wished harm upon him and his kin, but he was considerably less so when the person attacking him had ‘pure’ intentions.

Deciding to humor the battle-hungry God, Vahn continued to hold Mjolnir in place as he kicked forward, impacting Thor’s chest. A blue, barrier-like ripple spread across the muscular God’s body, but it was far from enough to mitigate the force behind Vahn’s blow.

Not expecting Vahn to attack from such an awkward position, Thor found himself crashing through the same wall as Heimdall. He had attempted to hold onto Mjolnir, but his right arm ended up getting dislocated, reducing his grip strength.

Finding himself floating in the nebulous void that surrounded the planet-sized city of Asgard, Thor coughed up a mouthful of blood as he traced the foot-shaped imprint on his chest. He didn’t feel any pain, but he could tell he had sustained tremendous damage as he muttered, “Son of a-“

Before Thor could make a grave mistake, Vahn appeared a few hundred meters away, hurling Mjolnir towards the befuddled God with a deadpan expression on his face. The enchantments on Mjolnir made it so that only Thor could wield it, but such restrictions had never gotten in his way.

With Mjolnir impacting his chest, propelling him at faster-than-light speeds through the void, an incredulous expression marred Thor’s face. He found himself unable to get his faithful companion under control as an invisible force kept him from escaping to the sides.

Appearing in Thor’s path, Vahn manifested a similar, albeit considerably larger hammer in his right hand as he warned, “I don’t mind humoring you, Thor, God of Thunder. However, you should choose your words very, very carefully…”

Punctuating his statement, Vahn used his giant version of Mjolnir to send Thor careening towards a moon-sized planetoid. Instead of smashing into the surface, the latter’s body penetrated the entire planetoid as if it were an illusion before the back half violently erupted.

Deciding to give Thor a chance to recover, Vahn held up the enormous stone hammer vibrating in his right hand, amusedly remarking, “Someone is excited.”

As the runes lit up across the surface of the hammer, a tomboyish voice excitedly replied, (“Of course I’m excited! I get to fight with Papa! Let’s go, go, go, go~!”)

Exhaling a light chuckle, Vahn swung the oversized hammer to produce a bolt of lightning comparable to a solar flare. Thor had attempted to blast him with a similarly sized bolt of lightning, so Vahn countered it with his own before charging through both to meet the enraged God at the center.

Swinging their respective Mjolnirs, Vahn and Thor created an explosion that ripped apart the surrounding space and spread outward with enough force to vaporize the partially destroyed planetoid. Soon after, despite being several tens of millions of kilometers away, violent ripples could be seen spreading across the luminous, rune-covered barrier encompassing the entirety of Asgard.

With Sis informing him that the echoes of their conflict were reaching Asgard, Vahn evaded one of Thor’s succeeding blows before surprising the battle-crazed God with a hand to the face. Then, using an advanced form of Shundo, he practically teleported them several lightyears away before closing his fingers around Thor’s beard, spinning him around, and throwing him towards a nearby star.

Despite the vacuum of space, Vahn could hear Thor unleashing a furious battle cry before he impacted the star, sinking into its surface and causing a massive plume of fiery plasma to erupt outward.

Without giving Thor time to recover, Vahn raised his Mjolnir over his head, tremendous amounts of Lightning Elemental Energy gathering above him to form a small star as he said, “Let’s kick things up a notch.”

Dropping his hammer in the direction of the star, Vahn sent the massive ball of Lightning Elemental Energy surging toward it in the form of a giant dragon’s maw. It was initially smaller than the star but quickly expanded to a size capable of devouring the entire thing before coiling around itself and imploding with the force of several supernovas.

Unaffected by the shockwave produced by his attack, Vahn watched in silence as the destroyed star collapsed into a black hole. Naturally formed black holes were far more potent than those created through magic, so he was curious to see if Thor would be able to break free.

Demonstrating just how absurd the Divine Realm could be, several cracks appeared across the surface of the black hole as if the event horizon was a physical object. Moments later, it completely shattered as Thor emerged from the center, body covered in wounds and veiled in blue lightning.

After absorbing the energy contained within Vahn’s previous attack, Thor felt utterly unstoppable. It didn’t matter that the energy was tearing him apart from the inside, barely kept in check by immortality. So long as he could channel it into his Mjolnir and strike Vahn, Thor was confident of his victory.

Seeing Thor making use of his gift, a faint yet distinctly battle-hungry smile developed across Vahn’s face as he charged towards the resolute God. It had been quite some time since he faced an opponent who just wanted to fight him, so he intended to make the most of it.

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Despite the many lightyears separating them, Sis was able to experience everything Vahn was undergoing as if she were right there with him. She could see through his eyes, hear through his ears, and feel the excitement coursing through his body as he and Thor traded blows.

Like Sis, Fenrir could also feel her Master’s emotions through the link they shared. Thus, for the past couple of minutes, her tail had been wagging as she stared silently at the heavens above.

“Master is having fun…”

Nodding her head in both approval and affirmation, Sis replied, “Indeed.” before extending her hand to pat Fenrir’s head. When she did, the latter immediately leaned into her caress, as, despite recognizing that Sis was a separate entity, Fenrir viewed her as an extension of her Master.

Intruding upon the duo’s intimacy, Muninn cautiously approached Sis and Fenrir, asking, “Can I ask the two of you to accompany me? The Allfather has asked that we escort you someplace safe.”

Though Fenrir was about to refuse, she stopped herself when Sis calmly replied, “Certainly.”

Sharing her awareness with Vahn, Sis was well aware of events taking place ‘behind the scenes.’ She also knew Vahn would have a much easier time acting if he had the excuse of ‘protecting’ them, so she didn’t mind placing herself into ostensibly compromising positions.

Noticing how Fenrir deferred to Sis, despite her reputation as Vahn’s most trusted companion, Muninn couldn’t help squinting her eyes in interest. If she weren’t afraid of offending Vahn, she would have liked to question the peculiar cat woman to ascertain her secrets. Instead, she offered a polite bow and said, “Well then, allow me to show you to your quarters. I’m sure they will be to you and your Master’s liking.”

Returning a faint, squinty-eyed smile of her own, Sis mused, “I’m looking forward to it.” before grabbing Fenrir’s paw and dragging her away from the actual Muninn.

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