"And now, my father has decided to abandon the ambition of returning to the Astral Boundary. In past years, he has decided to just meddle with natives and become Pantheon to the Draconic Deus, forever being trapped in the Dimensional Gap. When I was little, I have always heard stories about the vast Astral Boundary and wished to lead conquest there... not to be confined in this prison."
She said with mild anger visible in her voice.
In a certain sense, the entire Dimensional Gap was a prison, as nothing could go in and out. Resources were finite here, and planes were also finite. While here there may appear a new one, it was an extremely rare occurrence, not comparable to the vaster world, where it is common.
Leaving the Dimensional Gap was something I had wished to achieve when I learned about the grand world beyond. And now it even seemed possible to leave it with an entire plane on your back. If Asgard did it, I will too...
"I have a proposal for you. Leaven Asgard to join Underworld, and I promise you that you can lead armies to conquer, kill and slaughter as you wish. In the future, even in the Astral Boundary, as Dimensional Gap is too small for my ambition."
I said with a small smile.
Hela looked at me, surprised; perhaps she was considering the option.
"And how do you plan to evacuate approximately 160 million people from here?"
She asked me, to my shock. I didn't await for about 160 million Asgardians to follow Hela; this was good.
She had a critical resource that I lacked... a combat-ready population.
"I can easily open large-scale portals with a bit of Arcanotech and your control over Helheim that would allow transporting even such a large population. My lands are able to accommodate such a number of people."
I answered swiftly. I already had such an Arcanotech device prepared at my territory; the only thing that awaited was Hela's help.
"Hmm... then swear Lifeblood Geass and I will agree. Sooner or later, Odin will strike, and as hypocritical as that bastard is, he will strike hard to annihilate my followers and seal me in some god-dammed pocket dimension, never seeing the light. Then he will fabricate some lies about how nothing happened and how I never existed."
She said with a sarcastic laugh, and I nodded in agreement.
We swore Lifeblood Geass to don't betray each other and fulfill some things, nothing serious. At least I have gained a little bit of her trust.
"How many soldiers do you have from your total population?"
I asked one of the things that interested me most.
"30 million Bersekers and 10 million Einherjars. Around 5 million Magicians. The rest are civilians, mainly families of soldiers, craftsmen, artisans, and similar. Also, I have around 20 Ultimate-Class followers."
Damm... these numbers were overwhelming; if I could have her follow my lead, then I would probably have the same military strength as Archduke Agares, only a bit below Great King Zekram Bael.
"I have a question. Why did you accept?"
Something that bugged me. She was far stronger than me, had far higher military strength than me, so why willingly follow.
"While it may seem I have something, in reality, I lack the means to leave Helheim with my army and civilians. I could leave with my strongest ones, but for what end? I will lose everything, and all of these men and women that followed me here were personally trained and cultivated by myself from the moment they joined the military and are loyal. They chose me over their King, something I cannot betray. If I leave, Odin will kill them all, to silence them and bury the truth, as always he did. So what should I do? Go to other Pantheons? Not an option, as I have harmed them too much, and bad blood is among us. So the Underworld is the only opinion. Additionally, soon Odin will banish me and strip me of my Divinity, leaving me at the pinnacle of the Ultimate-Class."
She said.
They were valid arguments. I came in the direst time with a solution to her problem.
"He will probably sense that someone from outside entered Helheim and sent Royal Guard and some Gods to capture me and annihilate my followers. So, I don't have much time to make decisions. When can you open the portal to the Underworld?"
She asked me, to which I threw her small ball-shaped device with a runic inscription.
"Active it, and use Helheim's source. This thing will subsequently open several portals around locations you wish."
I said, and Hela immediately did what I had said and activated the device.
In a split of a second enormous space-rifts appeared around the entire Helheim.
"How long will the evacuation last?"
I asked.
"Two to three days. What about when Odin notices this and tries forcibly to cancel those portals? What then?"
She asked rather nervously.
"Not possible, as now, they have already obtained Source Code of the World's Will and are able to bypass all magical restrictions. Additionally, energy is fueled by the Underworld itself and Dimensional Gap. Unless Odin uses the strength of all Nine Realms and Yggdrasil to disrupt it for a chance to shut them down, portals will remain open."
I answered. I made many countermeasures to the situation if Odin attempts to destroy portals.
"He won't. The strength of Nine Realms is not great as it was, and Yggdrasil is sleeping. If he used it, he would risk the destruction of Asgard itself, as he won't have an advantage in the fight against Malekith, Laufey, and Surtr. Maybe even other Pantheons will attack Asgard. Divine Power reserves of Pantheon are small."
Said Hela, and now I was sure the evacuation plan was secured, at least for some parts.
"And what if he sends in a larger army than just Royal Guards and some Gods?"
"Not possible. When I left, I took around a third of the soldiers in our military. Asgard's army is around 150 million largely due to constant de-militarization, and most of its strength comes from Berserkers, which all to the last one followed me."
Said Hela with a victory grin.