Ch. 111
Hela kicked hard on the floor and rocketed towards me at a surprisingly fast speed. When she got close, she swung both of her conjured swords at me from different directions.
I threw my hands to my own sides and blocked her swings with two [Lightshields]. Her swords bounced off the shields, and she had a look of shock on her face.
She was clearly not expecting me to block her so easily. I pulled my fist back before rocketing it forward and nailing her in the face. A shockwave reverberated throughout the chamber. Hela's head snapped backward from the blow.
I went to hit her again with my other hand, but she recovered quickly and kicked me right in the diaphragm!
-50 HP
I grunted in pain and felt the air leave me. She kicked like a mule! I stumbled backward and took a moment to reassess my opponent.
Hela seemingly did the same as she wiped her slightly bruised cheek. The bruise vanished slowly before my eyes. It looked like she had a minor healing factor on top of her other abilities.
"I admit," Hela spoke, "that I underestimated you thieves. It's been a while since someone landed a blow on me." She glanced to the floor where Surtur's charred crown lay. "Even the Mighty Surtur couldn't harm me. Who are you?" Hela asked me angrily.
"Holy crap! Those two moved so fast I could even see them. How is that even fair?" I heard Andrea whine to Sif from behind me.
"Even in another dimension, Hela is still fearsome. Although, this one seems to be mentally unstable," Sif commented.
"I'm Layla of the Fallen. And I guess you could state that you and I are courting…in another dimension," I explained to her while keeping my guard up. Her swords had disappeared, but I knew she could summon more blades near instantly.
Hela's eyes simmered as I spoke to her. "Courting? Let me see if I have this correct? You claim to be from another dimension and are courting that dimension's version of me?" Hela asked in disbelief.
"That's right." I confirmed.
Hela bit her lip and clenched her fists tightly. "Hoh? Is that right? Well then…there's only one thing I can do now, isn't there?" She grinned at me madly in a way that made me uncomfortable.
[Crazy chicks…Am I right?]
Hela summoned another sword to her right hand and pointed it towards me. "I admit you are incredibly beautiful, and the other me obviously has good taste. But I can't lose to another version of myself! I will capture you and make you this Queen's bed slave for all time! You'll never need to see that other Hela again!" She said with a mad grin.
That logic was absolutely wild, but at the same time I knew that it was pretty spot on for her personality. She wants to steal me away from…herself.
[Kinky…]
I could tell that this Hela was being completely serious. Part of me found her dominance kind of hot, but I certainly wasn't staying another moment in this dimension that I didn't have to. I was going to beat, steal all her treasures, and leave.
[Not going to kill her?]
I grimaced at the system's question. I felt bad for her. My [Observe] had told me that Hela being isolated for so long had driven her crazy. I didn't think I could kill her in good conscience.
[She literally murdered every Asgardian...]
Yeah…she did do that… I don't really have an excuse for that because it was pretty messed up.
[Alright then?]
[Quest Issued! Defeat Hela without killing her!]
A [Lightspear] materialized in my hand. I flapped my ten wings hard and launched myself forward at Hela.
I went for a stab in her torso that wouldn't be immediately fatal. Hela parried my stab with her blade. I knew she was better than me in fighting skills, though, so I immediately let go of the spear and tried to tackle.
Her empty hand suddenly wasn't empty anymore. When I put my hand on her, a black dagger snarked forward and tried to stab me in the same place I aimed for her!
CLANG!
"WHAT!?" Hela exclaimed in shock when her dagger bounced off the seemingly ordinary black dress I was wearing.
I was also surprised Death's gift was so sturdy, but I took advantage of it. I wrapped my arms around her and spun her around. With a heave, I hurled her body with all my strength towards the stairway! Considering I was approaching a non-enraged Hulk in power, she hit the stone hard.
CRASH!
Across from me, Hela slowly extracted herself from the rubble. She looked around with a frown on her face. "Why don't we take our fight out of the treasury? There are some things in here I would rather not have broken." Hela suggested with a frown.
I smirked at her before turning back towards Andrea and Sif. "That's a good idea! While I'm busy fighting Hela, you two can finish looting this place!" I said. Andrea gave me a shaky thumbs up while Sif just nodded.
Hela was glaring at me. "It matters not. I'll simply take back all of the trinkets they've stolen from their corpses after I deal with you!"
I followed Hela out of the Treasury and back up towards the palace interior. Throughout the entire journey, she never once tried to land a sneak attack on me.
"Here, this shall be the proper spot for our duel." Hela said once we reached the throne room. I noticed her eyes trailed towards Odin's Empty throne And a smirk appeared on her face. Her eyes then drifted towards a familiar spot on the ground And she frowned before turning towards me in indignation. "You've even taken Gungnir!? I wasn't even gone that long. How did you manage to already raid so much of the palace!?"
I laughed and pulled the golden spear from my inventory temporarily to show it off. I gave it a twirl in my hand. "Well if you didn't want anyone to take it, you shouldn't have left it lying around." I said. The golden spear disappeared back into my inventory as I created my own. I wasn't going to use an untested weapon in a battle against a strong opponent. Especially Gungir, as it's not really even that impressive. All it does is shoot incredibly telegraphed lasers out of its tip. I pointed my [Lightspear] towards Hela. "Round two then. Shall we dance?"
XXX
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