Marvel x Genshin: Mavuika, The Sun Goddess Rules Asgard — Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Wrath of Asgard

In those three seconds, he saw the jagged frost wound gaping on Heimdall’s chest and the corpse of the young guard, whose cold hands were still locked around the hilt of his sword in death.

Then, Odin raised Gungnir, the Eternal Spear, and struck its butt heavily against the battleship’s deck.

*Boom—!!!*

It was not the sharp clang of metal striking metal, but a deep, resonant roar, like ancient thunder exploding from the heart of the storm clouds. The sound wave rippled out from the flagship, a tangible force that washed over all of Asgard. It was so powerful that even Thor, nestled deep within the royal nursery of the Golden Palace, was startled into silence, his crying abruptly cut short.

“Asgard—” Odin’s voice followed, not a shout, but a pronouncement where every word landed with the weight of a crashing boulder. “Never fears war!”

He descended from the bow, each step causing the mighty warship to tremble beneath his feet. As he reached the railing, he looked down upon his daughters and his soldiers, and the light blazing in his single eye made the midday sun seem pale and distant.

“Since Jotunheim is so impatient for its own demise… then here, in the name of the King of the Gods and Ruler of Asgard, I command—”

His voice suddenly rose, its cadence shifting into the thunderous beat of war drums rolling across the heavens.

“All troops, prepare for immediate departure!”

“Target: Jotunheim!”

A world-shaking war cry erupted from every battleship, bursting from the chest of every warrior. It was a battle lust that had been suppressed for over a year, a collective fury ignited by a cowardly sneak attack, and the innate thirst for glory and vengeance that flowed in the very blood of every Asgardian. The voices converged into a physical torrent of sound, a wave of pure will so potent that even Frigga, tending to the gardens of the Heavenly Palace far away, could hear it clear as day.

Heimdall gently pushed away Mavuika’s supporting hand. Though his steps were unsteady, he forced his spine to straighten, his form once again a pillar of defiance. “Your Majesty, I can still fight.”

“Your duty is to guard the Bifrost Bridge and see to its repairs,” Odin commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Heimdall, today you have proven yourself worthy of the title ‘Guardian.’ Now, entrust the sword of vengeance to your brethren.”

The Guardian nodded in stoic silence and turned toward the central control tower. His first steps were a stumble, but they quickly found their purchase, becoming steady and firm with each stride.

Mavuika drew Sun-Blaze of a Thousand Suns, and the magnificent blade sang with a joyful, almost eager hum. She took one last, lingering look at the guards who had sacrificed their lives on the bridge, carving their resolute faces into her memory before she leaped into the air. A wave of fire erupted beneath her feet, propelling her back onto the deck of the flagship with graceful force.

Hela’s lips curled into a grin, the excited, predatory smile of a hunter finally unleashed upon her prey. She did not bother jumping back aboard the ship. Instead, she swung Mjolnir with one hand, the head of the war hammer aimed directly at the Bifrost’s central hub. “Heimdall! Open the gate!”

The Guardian of the Bifrost Bridge had already reached the control tower. He raised his greatsword high with both hands and plunged the blade into the crystal control console, pouring his golden divine power into it like a torrential flood.

The entire Bifrost Bridge began to vibrate violently. Ancient runes etched into its crystalline surface lit up one by one, their light shifting from a faint glow to a brilliant shine, and then to a blinding blaze.

“Target locked—Jotunheim,” Heimdall’s voice, amplified by magic, connected through the entire assembled army.

“Channel opening countdown: ten… nine… eight…”

Hela strode toward the bridge’s surface, Mjolnir resting on her shoulder. With every step she took, the frost-covered corpses of the fallen Jotuns seemed to tremble. The Death Guard, her loyal legion, lined up behind her in perfect, menacing silence, their dark green armor reflecting an eerie luster under the Bifrost’s burgeoning light.

“Seven… six… five…”

Mavuika stood beside her father, the tip of Sun-Blaze of a Thousand Suns resting lightly on the deck. She closed her eyes, centering herself, feeling the flow of the two immense powers within her. The golden river of her Asgardian divine power intertwined with the eternal furnace of her Pyro Archon source fire from Teyvat.

Today, she would let them both burn.

“Four… three… two…”

Odin raised Gungnir high, its gleaming spear tip aimed toward the swirling rainbow vortex forming at the very end of the Bifrost Bridge. The engines of every battleship ignited at full power, spewing forth plumes of golden flame.

“One!” Heimdall’s final count rang out.

“Channel stabilized—Advance!”

The Bifrost Bridge erupted with an unprecedented torrent of light. A colossal pillar of rainbow energy soared into the heavens, tearing a hole through the fabric of space to forge a direct path between Asgard and Jotunheim.

The flagship entered the pillar of light first, its golden hull vanishing into the kaleidoscopic tunnel. It was followed by hundreds of warships, a river of steel and fire. Finally, the ground troops began their march: the silent, deadly Death Guard and the majestic Valkyrie Legion, their winged steeds carrying them into the celestial torrent.

As Hela was the last to step into the light, she cast a look back at the golden dome of Asgard. She licked the corner of her mouth, a bloodthirsty smile gracing her features as she whispered to herself:

“The hunt begins.”

***

Jotunheim, the Permafrost Royal Court.

Laufey sat upon a throne carved from ten-thousand-year-old glacial ice, his long, sharp fingers tapping a restless rhythm on its armrest. The royal hall was vast and frigid, its walls adorned with crystalline frost flowers that never melted. From the high, domed ceiling hung countless icicles, each one as long and sharp as a sword.

Kneeling before him were the thirty-odd Frost Giants who had fled back from their failed raid. These warriors, once lauded for their bravery, were now covered in wounds, their armor shattered. Their faces were etched with the profound terror of the utterly defeated.

“Explain,” Laufey’s voice was not loud, yet its chilling timber caused the temperature in the great hall to plummet several more degrees. “Why did you fail?”

The lead Frost Giant bowed his head even lower. “Heimdall… he was stronger than our intelligence suggested. We could not break through his defense in time, and Asgard’s reaction was far too swift…”

Laufey’s hand suddenly clenched into a fist. With a sharp *crack*, the armrest of his ice throne fractured, a web of fine lines spreading across its surface.

“Useless!” Laufey could no longer suppress his glacial fury, his voice booming like a collapsing glacier. “Three hundred of my elite warriors, attacking when their defenses were at their weakest during a royal banquet, and you failed to even touch the Bifrost hub!”

With a furious wave of his hand, the hundreds of icicles hanging from the ceiling snapped in unison. They rained down upon the kneeling giants like a volley of deadly arrows. The Frost Giants below did not dare to move, allowing the shards of ice to pierce their shoulders and backs. With muffled groans of pain, their blue blood blossomed across the ice floor, a startling crimson on a canvas of white.

“My King… please, calm your anger,” an elderly Frost Giant Priest pleaded, his voice trembling. “Now is not the time for punishment. The raid has failed, and Asgard will surely retaliate. We must immediately prepare our forces for battle—”

Before he could finish, a piercing alarm horn blared from outside the Royal Court. The horn’s cry, driven by magic, echoed throughout the entire Royal City of Jotunheim, a sound thick with urgency and rising panic.

“Report—!!!” A sentinel scrambled into the hall, stumbling on the slick ice. The frost coating his face could not conceal the sheer terror in his eyes. “The sky… abnormal energy fluctuations have appeared in the sky! It is the signature of the Bifrost Bridge!”

Laufey shot to his feet, the motion so abrupt that his massive throne shuddered. “So soon?!”

He rushed out of the hall and onto the high observation deck. This was the highest point of the Jotunheim Royal Court, a vantage that overlooked the entire Permafrost Ice Field.

At this moment, the perpetually grey, overcast sky was being violently torn asunder.

A blazing rainbow light poured from the rift, a phenomenon completely alien to the mists and eternal cold of Jotunheim. The air itself seemed to recoil, sizzling as if a red-hot iron had been plunged into ice water.

Immediately afterward, the pillar of light took form. A radiant, rainbow-hued column descended from the heavens like a spear of divine punishment, pinning itself to the ice field fifty miles from the Royal Court.

The moment the Bifrost made contact, a cataclysmic shockwave spread out in a perfect ring. Wherever it passed, thousand-year-old permafrost shattered into dust, mountains of ice collapsed into rubble, and even the formidable walls of the Royal Court began to vibrate.

Then, the gold appeared.

The first Asgardian flagship sailed slowly out from the column of light, its golden ram bow gleaming, as dazzling as a second sun in the dim sky of Jotunheim.

Then came the second, and the third. In just three minutes, over a hundred battleships emerged from the Bifrost Bridge like a golden swarm of hornets, unfolding into a perfect battle formation above the broken ice field.