"You fools thought you could defeat the Lord of Chaos!" Loki's voice echoed across the room, long slick hair covering one of his eyes, the other glowing with green light. Blake leaned over his own wounds, blood spurting out of his stomach.

It was useless to try, even the power of Hresvelgr's belt was useless against him. Blake's hand trembled as he reached for a vial of [Mead of Renewal], but it exploded in his hand before he could even uncap it.

"Freya thinks she has power," Loki shouted. "She thinks herself the goddess of [Galdr]. But I am [Galdr]! I have greater power than she ever will! I have mastered its magic with thoughts, and not with song."

By his side, Brynhilde and Alruna struggled to their feet. Alruna had drawn her sword, and Brynhilde waited with Mjölnir in hand.

Blake grasped [God-killer]. What could he do? Loki's [HP] was monstrous. A staggering [2000], greater than any Aesir he'd seen, except for Odin.

Brynhilde charged. She pivoted mid air. Loki disappeared and coalesced behind her, reaching out to stab her with his sword. She dodged rapidly and tried to smash his head with Mjölnir, but he was already on the opposite side. What kind of [Galdr] allowed him to disappear and re-appear at will?

And that stupid belt didn't even work when he needed it to.

Thinking fast, Blake crouched, sliding a poisoned dagger out of its holster, using [Egil's Accuracy] and throwing it at Loki. To his shock, the blade disappeared, and, as though he had thrown it at himself, it reappeared behind him, flying toward his own back.

Blake barely managed to dodge.

Behind him, Alruna swung her sword at Loki while he was facing Bryn, but he disappeared altogether and reappeared behind Alruna, this time, driving his blade through her back before she could even turn.

Blake screamed, drifting toward him as fast as lightning, pivoting and attacking with [God-killer].

To his shock, Loki appeared in front of him, grabbing the handle of the spear and effortlessly taking it away from Blake. It seemed to slip from his hands as Blake tried to grasp it tighter.

"This," Loki's voice reeled with poison. "You do not deserve this."

Holding it in two hands, Loki snapped [God-killer] in two.

Brynhilde then struck him in the back, Loki grunted, a powerful shock of energy rocking his core. Blake could hear Loki's bones cracking under Mjölnir's power.

It barely made a dent on his [HP]. It was not at [1782/2000]. Could he even resist Mjölnir's power? Loki was using some kind of magic to shield himself from her attack.

Then, Alruna took a chance to swing toward his head, but Loki got ready again, crouched and stretched his hand, sending a blur of lightning toward Alruna and throwing her to the wall.

Her body crashed against it, she gasped in pain, then fell to her knees, her [HP] reaching its lower limits.

Blake had to fight. He had to protect them, but charging mindlessly against a god would do no good.

And then, Brynhilde feinted, attempting a sideways attack, then drifting to the opposite side to attack from his flank.

But this time, Loki had another trick under his sleeve: deflection. As soon as Bryn's hammer struck, her own body was thrown to the side, as if she crashed against a train, flying toward the wall. The rings on her chainmail hand been crushed, and the sound of broken ribs puncturing her own body, Mjölnir crashing against the floor and making a dent in the concrete.

"No!" Blake shouted, this time, attempting Brynhilde's combat technique, knowing full well how pointless it would be.

He reached, attempting a feint and a sword thrust, but suddenly found himself transported into a dark forest, and Loki's figure turned into that of Brynhilde. He felt the urge to stop his attack. Brynhilde, was in front of him, wounded and broken, eyes open in a pitiful glare that Blake would've never seen in her actual face.

He stepped back, trying to think of a solution.

And his [Odr] was just [13].

Then, he felt a hand grasp his neck and throw him violently toward the wall. He tried to use his [Deflection] ring, but his body crashed before he could.

He collapsed on his knees, deep pain pushing into his mind and body...

[-45 HP]

[HP: 91]

And Eir's bond was becoming weaker with every passing second.

Loki appeared in front of him, holding that magic sword, and attempting to thrust it into Blake's heart. He tried to dodge, but Loki had already appeared behind him, sliding the blade into his back. Blake let out a pained scream, just as the Loki's blade emerged from around his liver and he collapsed to his knees.

[HP -83]

[HP: 8]

All of his lovers were wounded. What would he do, attempt a transformation? He reached for his pocket, grasping a shard of his shield, and crawling forward, all of his bones aching. He had no weapon... but...

Mjölnir was in front of him, digging into the ground with its massive weight. Thoughts crossed his mind, regarding what he had read on Friedrich's diaries, regarding that truth that he didn't want to accept. That strange idea that could change his whole identity.

It was ridiculous. No one could lift the thing but Brynhilde and a few of the strongest Aesir.

But if what Friedrich's diaries implied were true...

No. It was just weird.

Loki snickered as Blake's hand circled around the hammer.

And then, Blake felt a connection, something in the depths of his soul, something that reacted with him. He felt a bond, like a blessing, in between him and the hammer, as if it had a mind of its own and had opened his eyes after a long night's sleep, like a puppy after a master returned home.

The hammer was his.

Blake felt something in him change, as if a buildup of energy was coalescing inside him.

[STRENGTH: + 100]

"What?" Loki asked, watching him lift the hammer, static curling around his arms. "Impossible. This means you..."

Blake lifted the hammer, as if it were just another part of himself, feeling it multiply his power, his speed, his energy. He fond that leaning his thoughts into a spot of the hammer made him soar over the ground. He visualized himself flying higher, and he raised into the air like a drone.

"Well, this explains things," Loki said. "A fool you were, and a fool you always will be."

Blake sped up toward Loki, but the Lord of Chaos faded from view, appearing behind, multiplying into ten different versions of Blake, Alruna and Eir.

He glanced at his mirror shard, discerning the real Loki and swinging at high speed. The god shifted faster than a hummingbird. Blake sighed in frustration as the hammer passed inches away from his chest.

Loki reappeared in front of him. Blake caught sight of him and dodged rapidly.

"Huh?" Loki said, turning around.

Alruna was standing, a hand pressed against her wounds, holding paralyzing knife against Loki's back.

"Poison?" Loki shouted. "I am the Master of Poisons..."

In that moment, Blake swung Mjölnir with his right and slammed it against Loki's jaw. The sound of cracking bones echoed as Loki was thrown to the other side of the room, his back crashing against the wall and leaving a dent into the concrete.

"You!" Loki said, almost unintelligibly, crawling to his feet, his jaw pulled out of the socket, bathed with blue blood.

Blake held on to the hammer, Alruna and Bryn standing by his side.

Until an electrical sound rang on the other side of the room and Eir raised up from the hospital bed, with a gasp.

"Impossible!" Loki shouted, just as a black light started burning in Eir's chest. Blake's relief turned to wonder as another light started coalescing out of Eir, it seemed vaguely like the outline of a person or two, struggling, pushing each other away. Soon, they coalesced, a muscular naked man, white hair, pushing a woman in a black robe, eyes burning red, long black hair down to her hips.

"Ah," he said through his broken jaw. "You're here."

The man was trying to push the woman back toward Eir.

"It's over, Baldur!" Eir shouted. "The gate is closed!"

"You can't be here!" Baldur shouted at the woman in black, but she stood straight, stepping away from him, looking at her hands and nails.

"Thank you..." the strange woman had a childish, shrieky voice.

Loki crawled toward her. "Welcome back, Hel!"

"I've made it father... I'm out of my prison."

"You," Loki said, as he helped her to his feet. "You..."

"Don't worry, father," Hel said, pointing at her chest. Something glowed in the middle of it, a strange amber light that glowed with its own light.

"Kill her!" Baldur said.

"Do it!" Loki ordered, but not to Baldur. To her. "They deserve this! They deserve it all! Let's let them burn."

She looked at Blake, then at the rest of the group. "Very well. I have a doorway in my heart. Your father, Odin, told me to keep it. But now, I'll let it all out. You'll come to my kingdom soon. I'll welcome you all."

The white haired man jumped at them. Loki's glance turned toward him for an instant, and for the first time, Blake saw fear in Loki's eyes.

And then, they disappeared. The only thing that remained was the amber color light that had covered the woman's heart, but Blake didn't care, he pushed his way, dropping his hammer and reaching Eir.

"My love," she jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms around him. Blake leaned in and kissed her gently. "I knew you'd come!"

"I've been dying to find you again! I'm glad you're safe!"

She kissed him again, her beautiful gray eyes staring at him intently.

"Wait," he said. "I've got to find Hrymr!"

"Go!" Eir said into his ear.

Reaching out his hand, Mjölnir dashed toward his palm. He used it to raise about the sky and crossed through the path Brynhilde had carved into the wall.

But from behind, he could hear Brynhilde talking to Baldur.

"It's... Not a good time, I guess, brother. Is this what I really think it is?"

"I'm afraid so..." Baldur said, while Blake rose into the sky. Where could that freak be hiding? He raised into the air, sipping the last drops of [Mead of Power] from the wineskin, surveying the land around him. He wouldn't let Hrymr escape once again. He had to finish him, for Brynhilde's sake and for himself.

He remembered the superior vision of a raven, and invoked his transformation. All his weapons and forms faded inward as he glided across the sky at high speed...

There he was, flying like an arrow, almost away from the island, watching the dark northern seas.

Blake's avian form sped through the black clouds, approaching the giant more and more. He used Hresvelgr's belt once, then once again to close the distance. When he was close enough, he let go of his transformation, appearing before the giant.

Hrymr gritted his teeth, preparing his sword and leaping toward Blake at high speed.

Blake dodged, slipping from the giant's swing, then avoiding another, and using a last once of [Odr] to use his [Speed Rings] to the maximum. Once he was close enough, he swung Mjölnir downward. Hrymr raised his sword to block but it crashed under the hammer's weight. His eyes bulged in shock right before the hammer struck his head, denting it like a cracked coconut.

Then, Blake sling Mjölnir back through his girdle, taking out the last dagger, while the stunned Hrymr writhed to get out of his grasp, Blake sunk his dagger into the giant's chest. His muscles spasmed just once, as his body had now become paralyzed. This man, this creature had caused so much suffering to Brynhilde. He had sown humiliation into the depths of her mind, that left her with nightmares and feelings of shame. Blake had felt it too. And now, Blake looked at him, completely helpless, wishing that he could cause just as much fear.

"You deserve much worse," Blake said, letting the giant drop over the fields.

Hrymr's body collapsed into the snow. Blake dived like a seagull, stepping toward him as Hrymr's eyes stared in shock.

His eyes remained wide open as Blake's blade carved deep into his flesh, blue fluid spurting out of his skin as Blake finished a ᛒ rune across his entire torso. Hrymr panted, in humiliation and fear as Blake held him by the neck. Blake then slid his knife into his ribs, cutting across his lungs, deeper, feeling tension in the giant's pupils, although his muscles didn't respond.

He'd never thought he'd imitate Athanaric's tactics, and since he didn't know exactly what he was doing, it was a bloody process, but he could finally take Hrymr's lung out of his body, at least half of it, the other half remained embedded in between his ribs. Hrymr still breathed. Jotun's organs were efficient, it seemed, and his high [HP] helped.

"You would be able to move in approximately two minutes," Blake said. "You deserve much more than this for all the millions you've killed, and for what you've done. I wish there was a Hel on which you could experience it for a million years."

Blake leaned forward. "But I am no torturer."

He reached for Hrymr's neck and sliced it with one quick swing.

Blake took his head in hand and left the body in the snow..

This was the end of Hrymr, tyrant of mankind, and master of Jotunheim.

Down below, miles away, Blake could fell the bond of his lovers quiver in preparation for battle. Something was terribly wrong. He left Hrymr's body to the snow and flew back toward the compound, lifting Mjölnir and letting it guide him.

When he came back, he found his lovers and their brother Baldur standing in front of the red glare that Hel had left in the room.

Blake descended, Hrymr's head hanging from his hand.

Brynhilde's eyes drifted toward him. He saw her, already healed, possibly after drinking [Mead of Renewal]. Baldur had drawn a blanket over his own shoulders.

"Blake..." Bryn said, staring at Mjölnir. "How..."

"You didn't know?" Eir asked.

"You guys don't tell me anything!" Bryn shouting, her face red. "You even asked me about the hammer!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're Thor! You've been Thor all along! And you didn't say anything."

"I'm not... Thor. I mean, I wasn't sure. Friedrich had something to say."

But Bryn's face had turned pale. "Why didn't you all tell me about this? Now I'm engaged to my own brother!"

"He's not our brother in the sense you and I are," Baldur said. "Souls are all children of Odin, but a soul is nothing but his awareness and some general traits."

"So then," Bryn said, with a shrug.

"Baldur," Blake said, bowing slightly and stretching his hand. "I'm Blake, married to Eir and Alruna. It's an honor to meet the god of light.."

"I know much about you, Blake."

Blake leaned back.

Baldur had a charming smile, and his firm handshake was not something he'd expect from a Norseman, especially one who'd been away from both Asgard and Midgard for thousands of years.

"I had an eternity to follow things that happened in Midgard, through the eyes of the dead, and since your soul got repurposed on earth, I'd figured I'd follow you."

Blake narrowed his eyes.

"I've brought your memories," Eir said, presenting him with a white object, like a sheet of paper, no, more like a leaf.

"Memories?" Blake asked.

"From Thor's life."

Blake hesitated, casting a glance at the others. "I... can't take that. Thank you, Eir. But I don't want to have those memories."

"Blake, It could be useful. You could awaken powers you didn't know you had."

"I don't think it's a good idea. Just the thought of being someone else baffles me. So now. Why were you all worried?" Blake asked, looking at the amber light in the middle of the room.

"This is Muspelheim," Baldur said. "Hel carried it in her chest. She had the only entrance to Muspelheim, given to Odin."

"And I brought her back," Eir said, her face paler than ever, shock ringing through her voice.

"You know what Muspelheim means, don't you Blake?" asked Baldur.

"Wreckage? Destruction?"

"It's the opposite of our world. If there is life here, there, it's the opposite of life."

"This shouldn't have happened, Blake," Brynhilde said. "We must find a way to seal it."

There was a faint noise emerging that seemed to emerge from the light.

"As long as whoever is behind don't find the tension point," Baldur said. "We shouldn't have a problem."

There was something coming out of that light. In the back of Blake's mind, it sounded like a shrill scream, not of pain or agony. If Blake could describe it, it sounded like hell itself.

And it was growing louder.

The room became tense.

Suddenly, the amber light in the middle of the room started expanding like fire on a sheet of paper.