One blow and the Archmage fell once again, succumbing to the power of Hela. Though Hela reveled in her victory, the cycle of their eternal battle had taken its toll. Countless times they had clashed, and each time the Archmage would die, only to be resurrected again, their struggles growing longer and more futile with each iteration.

This endless loop had begun to unravel Hela's physical form. The overwhelming energy of death she wielded proved too much for her divine essence to bear. Her body decayed gradually due to the inexorable decomposition caused by the relentless force of death. Hela's fall was imminent, as she would eventually become a mere vessel of destruction, devoid of purpose or reason.

As the Archmage reappeared, Hela noticed the pallor of her face and the sheen of cold sweat covering her body. A surge of realization swept through her mind, understanding the cause of the Archmage's condition. "Hahaha, your mortal soul has reached its limit. The countless deaths you've endured and the manipulation of time artifacts have burdened your soul excessively. A few more deaths and your soul will crumble, finally freeing me from this eternal cycle."

Hela found solace in the knowledge that she had once again triumphed and emerged as the victor. It seemed her life was destined to be an unending series of victories.

"Your joy is premature, Death Goddess Hela. Do you think I'm blind to the toll on your body? It won't be long before you succumb entirely to the power of death. Moreover, you can no longer control your might. Once you escape the confines of the mirror dimension, you will be met with nothing but desolate wastelands and death at every turn. Ultimately, you'll become a mindless beast, devoid of reason and purpose."

Hela remained silent in the face of this accusation, knowing that if she were to unleash all her pent-up energy, the mirror dimension would be obliterated, and the devastation would spill over into Midgard, sealing her demise. How ironic for the goddess of death to lose her own life.

Hela and the Archmage locked eyes, frozen in their stalemate. Each understood that continuing their conflict would only lead to mutual destruction. There would be no true victor or loser—Hela would lose her freedom and sanity, and the Archmage would perish as her soul collapsed, dragging the world she protected into oblivion.

As Hela pondered a way out of this dire predicament, the Archmage spoke once more. "I have a proposition. I can offer you a chance to remain on Earth, but in return, you must assist me in undoing the consequences of your reckless actions and restoring peace to our world."

"Heh, you believe yourself to be the cleverest of all. Once I assist you, you'll sacrifice your own life to rid yourself of me. Unlike you, I have centuries of battle experience and war. Your simple trickery will not deceive me."

"I can swear upon my magic, and unlike you gods, sorcerers uphold their word."

"Ah, yes, tell that to the souls I encountered during my time in Helheim. They were traitors who betrayed and killed their kin for a modicum of power, succumbing to the temptations of the lords of that realm and bringing destruction to their world."

The Archmage offered no retort to this accusation. There was no need, for she had already presented a solution to their shared dilemma. The choice now lay in Hela's hands—whether to accept the offer and work together to rectify their mistakes or to remain trapped in the eternal cycle of destruction.

Hela kept her piercing gaze fixed on the Archmage and considered her offer. She didn't want to trust her and couldn't. Having survived the betrayal of her family, she was severely wounded and it's just impossible to trust a stranger, especially someone who also wants to imprison her.

Not to mention the pride that she had grown over all these centuries, thanks to endless training and victories, simply did not allow her to bow her head and accept the offer. Even if it means that she will die without even starting her revenge and elevation.

Seeing that Hela could not accept this offer, the Archmage decided to take the first step and take an oath so that Hela could at least trust her words a little. Otherwise, she will have to try to imprison Hela in this place forever at the cost of her life.

She is not afraid of death and would have already taken this step, but the problem is that not only Hela, but also other dimensional lords are a problem for the earth, and after her death and the loss of Agamotto's eye, the new archmage will not be able to protect the world and everything for which she sacrificed herself will be meaningless.

"I swear by all my knowledge and my magic that I will not betray the trust of the Goddess of Death Hela as long as she agrees to help me restore peace and will no longer bring such huge destruction."

The magic oath was taken, and although it is not a more stable and reliable contract, it should be enough for now. Hela also understood this and still decided to accept the offer and is ready to help the Supreme Magician to return the world to normal.

"I will use my artifact and rewind time for the whole world, you will feed me with the energy of death and share the burden of using the artifact with me. This way, not only will I be able to bring everything back, but your overflowing death energy will be spent and you can start to recover."

Hela nodded and together they began to cast a spell. Hela channeled her power into the Archmage and also took on some of the burdens of the time artifact. So they came out of the mirror dimension and appeared outside the planet so that the spell could work normally and so that the energy of Hela's death would not bring even more destruction.

Hela, as a Goddess, could safely stay in the vacuum of space for a while, and the Archmage, too, thanks to the artifacts on her body. After a couple of seconds, Midgard was covered by a green light and all the destruction began to roll back. The lives sacrificed to fuel Hela's powers began to come back to life, and death's energy was quickly consumed.

The body of Hela and the Archmage were covered with green lines and they endured great pain. After all, to use an artifact of time, also on a huge scale. One thing can be said, the price they will have to pay will not be small.

Time on the whole earth quickly returned to the moment when Hela had just descended into the world and the Archmage met her. They had already returned to the world and Hela was lying on the ground and only breathing weakly. Her body was subjected not only to decomposition but also to a backlash for using such a powerful artifact.

The Archmage didn't say anything, just opened the portal and disappeared. Hela didn't care, she tried to use the remaining grains of divinity to at least understand how she could recover.

While this is happening, the keeper of the key in Midgard approached her and, bowing slightly, began to wait for orders. Hela did not pay attention to him but continued to check her body. However, quickly the divinity in her body ended and she lost consciousness.