"This ends here!"
A calm voice spread.
Not loud, but clearly audible.
Not only to Hela, who was coming face to face with Superman, but also to Heimdall, who was standing at a high point in the palace, at a considerable distance both heard Superman declaration.
"Ends here?"
"Are you unilaterally declaring my defeat?"
"What right do you have to judge me?"
Hela grew increasingly angry.
The hand gripping the divine sword bulged with veins, an unrivaled divine power gathered on the blade, bursting forth in earth-shattering, brilliant colors like dazzling fireworks, yet brewing a scalp-numbing destructive force.
Superman remained motionless, his expression as calm as ever, despite Hela drawing closer.
Behind him.
Wonder Woman smile at the corner of her lips also deepened.
The next moment, Hela finally reached Superman.
Under several gazes, Hela swung her divine sword, hacking heavily towards Superman head.
A sonic boom resounded.
This strike was like thunder descending, exploding thunderously.
Everyone held their breath.
Silence fell, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Under Heimdall horrified gaze, he saw this astonishing attack, unmatched in all of Asgard, blocked by Superman with one hand.
Superman palm collided with the divine sword, the sound of metal clashing ringing clear and sharp.
"This…"
Hela eyes widened, her pupils shrank, her heart raced, sensing that something was wrong, and she tried to retreat.
But she couldn't.
Because the sword in her hand was clamped tightly by Superman hand, the tip of the sword, sharp enough to cut through anything in the world, could not even scratch Superman palm, not even able to cut a single hair, seemingly leaving only a white mark.
Hela decisively abandoned the divine sword.
However, Superman didn't give her any space to maneuver.
The moment Hela let go of the divine sword and tried to pull back, Superman stepped forward.
This step bridged meters of distance, bringing him directly in front of Hela.
Both figures stood parallel in mid-air, moving at speeds surpassing the speed of sound, their intense sonic booms stirring the air.
"You—"
Hela was terrified, barely uttering a word before Superman action interrupted her.
Superman fist had already landed on Hela face.
Hela was struck hard, instantly turning into a rag doll, her body uncontrollably thrown backward, moving like a cannonball, heavily crashing into the mountains behind the palace.
Boom!
The mountain crumbled.
Countless rocks fell from the mountain face.
Hela directly smashed into the mountain, opening a hole in the mountain that had stood beside the palace for years, and then there was silence for a long while, as if she had been hammered to death by Superman punch.
"Gulp!"
Seeing this, Heimdall swallowed, his eyes filled with an unprecedented shock.
He suddenly remembered, the last time Superman acted in Asgard, he faced Asgard once most formidable enemy, the Dark Elves.
During Odin conquest of the Nine Realms, the Dark Elves were already repelled by Odin father, the previous King of the Gods, Bor, and had since disappeared from the Nine Realms.
Thousands of years passed, the older generation died off, and the Dark Elves only existed in books, everyone knew they were once Asgard formidable enemies, but exactly how strong they were, no one had seen firsthand.
Even when the Dark Elves last invaded Asgard, the situation was indeed perilous, but ultimately, they were defeated by Superman and the Asgardians working together.
The remaining Dark Elves all became captives of the Asgardians.
Asgard triumphed greatly.
After that, no one bothered to understand the Dark Elves anymore.
Only Heimdall, the ears and eyes of Asgard, truly understood the strength of the Dark Elves and their leader, Malekith, from Odin words and his own observations.
But even Malekith was no match for Superman…
Now, seeing Superman casually defeat Hela…
Heimdall truly realized that humanity was destined to rise, and if Asgard did not progress, in another hundred years or so, they might not even be able to see the shadows of Earthlings.
"Twilight of the Gods!"
Heimdall had a premonition in his heart: "Perhaps the rise of humanity and the disappearance of deities is the true Twilight of the Gods..."
Even if Hela is defeated today, in the eyes of Earth people, perhaps there are no such things as gods anymore.
The people of Earth already have their own gods.
Gods among men.
As Superman threw his punch, not only was Hela defeated, but Asgard itself was brought low.
His expression was complex as he watched Superman floating in mid-air, his immense presence and lofty stance reminiscent of Odin at his peak, perhaps even surpassing Odin of old, his emotions self-evident.
At this moment, the palace guards acted quickly.
All the residents of Asgard were gathered by them and brought to the mid-slopes of a high mountain on the outskirts of the city.
Many stood on the platform at the mountainside, looking down at the city below and the distant palace and battle, their faces a mix of panic and excitement.
They saw Superman rise into the sky and repel that fearsome enemy.
Especially the palace guards.
They had witnessed the battle between Thor and Hela, and the comrades Hela had killed as she advanced towards the palace.
Hela power was unquestionable.
Just the sheer magnitude of her divine power was suffocating.
Yet, such a powerful deity was crushed by a single punch from Superman, even smashed into the mountain behind, with no movement afterward.
This meant that a crisis that could have affected Asgard was averted.
Thanks to Superman.
At that moment.
Thor, who had been flung somewhere unknown by Hela, finally came running back at full strength.
He saw the wreckage around the palace, including the stairs outside the great hall, first stunned, then saw Heimdall approaching quickly.
"Heimdall, what the situation?"
Thor face was grave, slightly anxious.
At this time, his armor was dented from Hela blows, his face smeared with dirt, and his golden hair messy and fluffy, quite disheveled.
But Heimdall didn't care.
He smiled and said, "It been resolved."
"Resolved?"
Thor was stunned, instantly understanding, looking towards Superman in mid-air, and fell silent.
"No, it not resolved yet."
Superman suddenly spoke, his voice reaching Thor and Heimdall below, snapping them back to attention.
At that moment, the mountain into which Hela had crashed began to tremble violently.
The ground under Thor and Heimdall feet seemed to experience a minor earthquake, with pebbles bouncing on the surface.
With a loud boom, a large cloud of dust erupted from the mountain, swirling in mid-air.
Within the dust, Hela flew out from inside the mountain.
At this moment, Hela face was swollen, blood streaked her mouth, her eyes bloodshot, her body covered in various scrapes, and the helmet atop her head, which used to be fierce with its prongs, now had most of its "teeth" broken off.
Clearly, Superman recent punch had not only injured her severely but had also shattered her inner pride.
But Hela had no intention of surrendering.
She had never surrendered.
And she would not make an exception today.
"To the death!"
Hela gritted her teeth, bloodlight emerging around her, her terrifying divine power sweeping up again, her eyes flashing fiercely, swords appearing around her once more.
Thor and Heimdall exchanged glances, the former actually quite understanding of Hela.
As the crown prince, Thor had experienced defeats in his life, but never had he been so thoroughly decimated.
Such humiliation was enough to last a lifetime.
Only a fight to the death could cleanse it.
But the current Hela, though she appeared formidable, was actually a hollow shell.
Hela had no way to turn the battle around.
Even at her peak, she could not withstand a single punch from Superman, not to mention now that she was severely injured, nearly exhausted.
The reason Hela could fly out from the mountain was merely because of the unresolved anger in her heart.
"Can you really still fight now?"
Superman, unchanging in expression, looked at the Death Goddess floating before him and shook his head.
"I was wrong."
As he spoke, he no longer intended to continue the standoff with Hela, his eyes releasing heat vision.
The heat vision instantly pierced through Hela chest.
Hiss!
Hela chest didn't even spill a drop of blood it was completely evaporated by the energy beam of the heat vision.
And the swords summoned by Hela dissipated into nothingness, her body weakly falling from mid-air to the ground, disheveled and completely silenced.
"I was wrong... It already over! I thought she could hold on a bit longer…"
Superman turned to look at Thor and Heimdall.
He nodded.
Then, without any intention of catching up, he activated his teleportation bracelet. Instantly, he was enveloped in a purple energy wave and disappeared from Asgard.
Maintaining Superman clone consumed a significant amount of fan points.
Even though there were enough fan points for Superman to remain for days, Anton wouldn't allow Superman to appear without necessity.
Superman is always meant for emergencies.
To date, the world had actually become quite dull. If there came a day when Superman could appear as long and whenever he wished, the world would be even less interesting.
Superman is indeed a savior.
But not everyone is worth saving by Superman.
Therefore, Superman must stay hidden, not appearing casually, nor should he give unnecessary hope.
"Wait."
Thor and Heimdall started to speak just as Superman left Asgard.
"He doesn't have time to chat with you."
A voice came, and Wonder Woman said with a smile, "In fact, he just returned to the Nine Realms not long ago.
Right now, Earth needs him more than Asgard. If it weren't for Odin request and gift, we probably wouldn't have spared the energy to come to Asgard."
"Diana."
Thor and Heimdall greeted Wonder Woman again when they saw her.
"We owe you our thanks this time."
Thor thought of his destroyed Mjolnir, his sister, the Goddess of Death Hela, who had just fallen from the sky and been pierced through the chest, likely not surviving, and his father Odin, who had just died today. It felt like too much had happened.
He found it hard to accept everything in one day.
Even now, he had no idea where his brother, the trickster god Loki, was.
After the last Dark Elf incident, Loki disappeared from Asgard. Thor had thought Loki might be on Earth, but after searching the entire planet, he hadn't found him...
"Diana, regarding the upcoming attack on Earth, Asgard will provide help," Heimdall suddenly spoke, snapping Thor back to reality.
Thor didn't mind Heimdall overstepping to promise Asgard help in the upcoming war on Earth.
Because he was about to say the same thing.
"Good."
Since Heimdall had already spoken, Thor just continued, adding, "I will personally join the fight and bring Asgard most powerful legion to help Earth face this Thanos!"
Asgard had a certain understanding of the universe, but it wasn't very deep.
Especially since Odin had ruled the Nine Realms, they had begun to isolate themselves a bit, acting like emperors in their own star system.
So, Thor didn't know Thanos.
Of course, even if he did know him, Thor wouldn't be too concerned.
Who to help in the fight between Earth and Thanos, what more needs to be said?
"I, on behalf of Earth and the Justice League, thank Asgard for its support," Wonder Woman was not surprised by Thor promise.
Then, she too took her leave.
Activating the teleportation bracelet, energy waves flashed, and Wonder Woman disappeared from Thor and Heimdall sight.
"Let the warriors bring the people back, the crisis is over."
Thor sighed.
He paused, then said, "Heimdall, come with me, let check on Hela."
"You know, I never heard from Father that I had a sister. I only just found out from Mother..."
He spoke somewhat disjointedly.
It was enough to show that he really didn't know how to face Hela.
Especially since he was about to view the body of the sister he had just met today.
"I actually didn't want to kill her... nor did I want Superman to kill her... I didn't want anyone to kill her."
"But I know, this was actually Father wish."
"Is this the price of taking the throne?"
After a while.
Thor approached Hela, stood silently for a long time, then finally gestured.
"Someone."
"I want her buried next to Father."
Earth.
New York, Manhattan, DC Corporation.
Anton was pleased as he watched the drama unfold in Asgard.
After Hela death, the system panel notified him that because the Twilight of the Gods was resolved, the system awarded 10 million justice points.
In other words, Anton current balance of justice points had reached a staggering 80 million.
The remaining 20 million seemed a lot, but it was just the final step.
A few more moderately significant events could potentially fulfill one of the conditions to exchange for the ultimate armor.
However, with the imminent battle with Thanos approaching.
With the forces Anton could currently muster, the threat of Thanos wasn't as significant in his mind.
Displaying the ultimate armor seemed almost like bullying.
Moreover, with time being so tight, there wasn't much opportunity for Anton to resolve any events.
Instead, Thanoss invasion of Earth was the most significant event at hand.
"Perhaps after this event ends, I'll gather the 100 million justice points..."
Anton pondered for a moment, feeling it was not impossible.