-----

"You're hurting my heart! How could you…? You're my dear daughter, my life! My greatest treasure! How could you…! Papa does everything for you!" Loki insisted, his voice cracking with desperation.

"I-I know, but…!" Hel kept crying. "It's wrong… you don't have to do this for me. I don't want you to kill everyone!"

"…?" Loki looked genuinely puzzled. "What? But why not? Why would it matter?"

"Hel…!" Fenrir barked. "You've gone soft because of that mortal, haven't you?!"

"None of those people matter anyway! And you know it!" Jormungandr added. "We fought together, but in the end… they're not our family! They'll mock us, call us monsters, fear us for how we look…! They're not our kin."

"…!" Hel glanced back at Maria, but Maria remained calm.

She was smiling gently.

Somehow, that quiet smile steadied Hel's trembling heart.

"Well done, Hel," Maria said softly. "Sometimes, even when it means going against your family and loved ones, you have to do what you believe is right. Believe in yourself, in your convictions… and in your heart."

"…?" Hel's eyes widened as something warm blossomed inside her chest.

A crystallized heart of dreams took shape, enveloping her with the power of Dreams and allowing her to step more than ten meters beyond Maria's Aura.

"T-This power…?" Hel whispered, stunned.

"Congratulations," Maria said. "You have awakened a Dream Heart. You now hold the power to change your fate."

"To change… my fate?" Hel murmured, watching sparkling Dream Essence surge from her hands. "I… can change fate."

Her entire life she had lived confined in the depths of the Underworld. For countless years Hel had wished the world would simply end—that Odin and his gods would perish, that humanity would vanish, that everything would disappear.

She had shared those dark thoughts with her family for eons, and Loki had always listened. In the end, he had plotted all of this for her and her siblings—to build a world just for his beloved children.

In a way, his love was admirable. Yet something was deeply broken in his mind.

"I see. So that's how it is," Loki sighed. "You've been quite the brat lately, my dear daughter. I suppose you'll be punished and grounded once this is over. Luckily Yggdrasil has an inner realm where we can stay. You'll have your own room and everything. You'll stay there and think carefully about how you dared raise your voice against your father!"

"Stop it…" Hel said quietly.

"Hm?" Loki blinked, confused.

"Stop treating me like a child…" Hel continued, her Aura beginning to surge. "I am no longer the little girl you think I am, Father! Fenrir, Jormungandr—you're both stupid idiots too! Why do you always follow everything Father says so blindly?!"

"W-What?!" Fenrir gasped. "Hel, how can you speak to your brother like that?!"

"I guess she's gone a little mad. Maria must have gotten inside her head," Jormungandr sighed. "Well, that's about to end. She's alone, so if we work together we can defeat her."

Maria gazed calmly at Loki and his two children.

Then at Yggdrasil.

The dog and the snake were no real threat to her.

But Loki was unpredictable, and Yggdrasil was quite literally a Primordial Being.

"Loki cursed Tyr into a chaotic abomination like a mini Outer God with ease…" Maria thought. "I can't underestimate his command over the Element of Chaos. And Yggdrasil… she's the largest living being in this world—tougher than diamonds, with endless vitality and tremendous divine and spirit power… hah."

Even though the situation felt less overwhelming than her battle with Odin, it still didn't feel easy at all.

But Maria had evolved. The powers she gained in that fight remained with her.

Her level had risen sharply as well; she now stood at Level 864.

Perhaps if she simply killed Yggdrasil, she could reach Level 1000…

"To think I'm even considering killing Yggdrasil… Wait, I could revive her later, right? Then make her obey me—yeah!"

Maria's killing intent flared endlessly. Where she had once been cautious, she now resolved to go all out and eliminate them all.

"Hel, are you ready?" Maria asked.

"I can't really say I'm ready, but I'll do what I can!" Hel nodded firmly, her Aura surging brighter.

Both sides stared at one another for a tense second.

Then Loki snapped his fingers.

Chaos Power erupted from Fenrir and Jormungandr.

"My children, it's time to awaken your truest power!" Loki roared.

"AWOOOOO!"

"YESSSSS!"

The two titans swelled to colossal size, each stretching over a kilometer long. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Their forms grew even more wicked and monstrous, overflowing with dark, chaotic energies.

"Hoo?" Maria mused, unsheathing her sword with a faint smile. "Don't mind me if I kill your kids, Loki. Don't worry—I'll revive them later."

"Hmph! As if I'll ever let you!" Loki bellowed, his eyes blazing like black flames. "Yggdrasil! Don't just stand there—fight!"

RUMBLE!

Yggdrasil began to move.

When she moved, the entire world trembled.

Titanic roots erupted from the ground, hurtling toward Maria and Hel at lightning speed.

From above, razor-sharp branches descended.

Maria made a quick judgment as she watched.

Yggdrasil couldn't cast fancy spells or techniques.

She relied purely on her absurd size and vitality to fight…

Mostly because she was a world-creating tree, not a warrior!

Still…

"Hel, stand behind me."

"…?!"

Hel's eyes widened as Maria accelerated her body and mind tenfold.

And then…

"{Myriad Firmaments Sword Soul Heart Dream Paths}: {First Form – Path Of Nihility}"

Her sword surged, taking the form of a vast firmament of dream stars.

Even without anyone merging as stars for her…

She could replicate that power anyway!

Rather, the stars were indeed "people."

Her Undead.

Millions of them had fused into her Firmament Aura with ease.

Becoming her "Stars."

Their combined strength was all she needed.

A single upward horizontal slash was enough.

SLAAASH!

Every branch of Yggdrasil was sliced cleanly into thousands of tiny fragments.

Fenrir, charging straight at her, was split apart—once, twice, three times, four, five, ten times.

"GRYYAAAACK! FATHERRRRRR!"

In agony, Fenrir was reduced to smithereens.

Jormungandr halted his attack. Yggdrasil froze.

Loki stared at the scene in utter horror.

So did Hel.

"What?" Maria asked calmly, flicking blood from her sword. "Did you think I wouldn't take this seriously, you fucking idiot? You're trying to destroy MY world, and you think I won't kill you all?"

"Y-YOU…!" Loki screamed in anguish. "I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU!!!"

As he roared, his body began to mutate violently.

His form exploded outward, and from within…

Loki's true form emerged.

As the son of two Titans, he was naturally a titan himself.

Yet he had disguised himself as an Aesir, appearing far smaller than his real size.

As a shapeshifter, he could do that much.

But now, in his fury, Loki revealed his true self.

The true form of a Primordial Titan.

-----