Marvel x Genshin: Mavuika, The Sun Goddess Rules Asgard — Chapter 22

Chapter 22: The Fury of Muspelheim

First, the sky.

The crimson clouds that perpetually stained the firmament of Muspelheim suddenly ripped apart. From the gash, thousands of Cinderwing Raptors dove down like a torrential rain of living fire. These creatures possessed the gaunt physique of vultures, their feathers forged entirely from smoldering, igneous rock. With wingspans exceeding three meters, their razor-sharp beaks could spit searing bombs of liquid lava. They moved in a chaotic swarm, devoid of any discernible formation, yet their sheer numbers formed an offensive wave that blotted out the sky.

Then, the ground.

From the churning seas of magma, a countless horde of bizarre fire-spawn surged forth, their forms twisted and monstrous.

Finally, the very landscape joined the assault. Hills that had appeared to be inert rock formations suddenly cracked open, revealing molten cores. They transformed into massive, organic catapults, heaving enormous molten boulders at the Asgardian fleet.

“Fire! All weapons, fire at will!”

The Asgardian warships unleashed a unified volley. Golden beams of concentrated energy crisscrossed the dark red sky, weaving a destructive web of light. The Cinderwing Raptors that flew into the beams were instantly vaporized, exploding into showers of burning fragments. The lava creatures on the ground were torn to shreds by the cannon fire, and the molten boulders were shattered in mid-air before they could find their mark.

But the creatures of Muspelheim were simply too numerous, their ranks so vast it bordered on despair-inducing. They seemed to possess no concept of fear; or perhaps in this violent, primordial kingdom, such an emotion simply did not exist. When those at the front were blown to pieces, the ones behind trampled over their smoldering remains to continue the charge, as if death were merely a process of returning to the great sea of magma from which they were born.

The onslaught was relentless. One of the frigates was swarmed by a thick cloud of Cinderwing Raptors. Its energy shields flickered violently under the sustained assault before overloading and collapsing with a sharp crackle. The burning flock crashed through the hull and poured into the ship’s interior. The sounds of agonized screams from the soldiers and the thunder of internal explosions echoed from within. The vessel listed heavily, billowing thick black smoke as it plummeted toward the roiling magma below.

“Hela!” Mavuika’s voice cut through the chaos, a sharp command.

“Understood!” Hela had already vaulted over the flagship’s rail before the words were fully spoken.

Summoning her night-black blades in mid-air, she unleashed a spiraling sword formation that unfolded like a whirling meat grinder, instantly slicing hundreds of Cinderwing Raptors charging the flagship into scorched pieces. She landed with a solid thud on the deck of another warship in distress. With a ferocious cry, she swung Mjolnir in a wide arc. A wave of raw thunder exploded outwards, clearing all fire-spawn within a fifty-meter radius into ash and cinders.

Mavuika moved as well, her own blade, the Sun-Blaze of a Thousand Suns, materializing in her hand as she leaped from the deck. With a single, elegant horizontal slash, the divine fire wreathing her sword erupted into a colossal wave of pure solar flame, swallowing every creature in the area before her.

The igneous armor of the great lava lizards melted and sloughed off like wax. The wings of the fiery birds were instantly consumed by a greater fire. The volatile, fireball-like creatures in the wave’s path detonated prematurely in the overwhelming heat, their substance turning directly to ash.

She was devouring fire with fire.

Even for creatures born of flame, who lived their entire existence bathed in the heat of Muspelheim, they could not withstand the sovereign flames of Mavuika. Her movements were a fluid dance of destruction, every swing of her sword carrying the power to purify and unmake. No fire-spawn could endure a single one of her attacks.

The two sisters were like twin, unstoppable torrents of divine wrath, sweeping through the horde of lesser beings. In short order, they had cleared the bulk of the offensive, granting the fleet a moment of reprieve.

Just as the Asgardian soldiers began to think the crisis was over, a deafening roar resounded through heaven and earth, so powerful it felt as though thunder had exploded right inside their skulls.

The sea of magma boiled with a new, terrifying intensity. This time, what surged forth was no mere cannon fodder.

It was a dragon.

A true fire dragon, its body stretching over eighty meters long, with a wingspan that cast a vast shadow over the battlefield. Its scales were not the keratin of lesser drakes, but a living armor of flowing, incandescent lava. Most uniquely, a pair of biological structures akin to thrusters flared behind its wings, spraying brilliant azure pillars of plasma fire, granting it a terrifying, explosive speed.

The moment it appeared, its baleful gaze locked onto the largest target in the Asgardian fleet—the flagship.

“ROAR!”

The dragon’s bellow shattered several nearby volcanoes, the concussive shockwave causing three warships to shake violently in the air. The thrusters behind its wings erupted with a blinding blue light, and it shot toward the bow of the flagship like a living meteor.

“Bring it on!” Hela’s eyes ignited with an intense, predatory fighting spirit.

A three-meter-long black sword instantly condensed beneath her feet, serving as a launchpad. She shot toward the oncoming dragon like an arrow loosed from a divine bow.

The goddess and the beast met in mid-air.

The fire dragon roared and opened its massive, cavernous mouth, attempting to swallow Hela whole. A torrent of scorching, superheated air spewed from its maw, nearly igniting the very atmosphere around them.

Hela did not dodge. She did not evade. The dark green energy of her Death Divine Power condensed around her, forming a suit of solid, formidable armor. She gripped Mjolnir with both hands, the head of the hammer beginning to rotate, accelerating and visibly expanding with crackling energy as she charged!

“Shut… up!”

In the split second before the dragon’s devastating breath attack could fully erupt, Hela smashed her hammer squarely into the creature’s lower jaw.

*BOOM!*

The head of Mjolnir unleashed a blinding blast of thunder at the point of impact. The dragon’s molten jaw scales shattered, and lava-like blood splattered through the air. The dragon’s breath, which had been building in its throat, exploded uncontrollably.

“Awooo!” The dragon let out a pained, strangled roar, its entire head violently knocked backward by the force of its own internal detonation.

But it did not fall. Instead, the pain only incited it to an even greater ferocity. A massive dragon claw, each talon the size of a man, tore through the air, swiping at Hela.

Hela rolled nimbly in the air, the black sword beneath her feet changing direction like an expert’s surfboard, allowing her to narrowly avoid the killing blow. The tips of the dragon’s claws still grazed her shoulder armor, carving three deep, burning gouges that exposed the bone beneath. The flesh at the edges of the wound was instantly carbonized, but her Death Divine Power immediately surged to the injury, arresting the spread of the dragon’s corrupting fire.

“Pretty tough,” Hela smirked, licking a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth, her eyes burning with an even greater, more ecstatic battle lust.

The dragon adjusted its posture, the thrusters behind its wings roaring at full power. It abandoned any further attempts at long-range attacks, now intent on crushing this tiny, insolent provocateur with pure, overwhelming speed and power.

The dragon’s speed was like lightning, every pounce creating a sonic boom that rippled through the air. Hela, relying on her exceptional combat instincts and the extraordinary mobility granted by her necro-swords, wove through the deadly siege of claws, tail, and wings. She no longer engaged in head-on collisions, instead darting about to strike at its weaknesses: the dragon’s eyes, the joints of its wing membranes, the roots of its thrusters—any part that seemed remotely fragile.

The fire dragon angrily swung its neck, its massive head slamming toward Hela like a battering ram. The black sword beneath Hela’s feet accelerated again, allowing her to nimbly evade the collision. At the same time, she raised Mjolnir high. The Death Divine Power and the thunderous energy within her exploded at full force, the intertwining energies of dark green and pitch black condensing at the tip of the hammer, forming a massive, crackling ball of destructive force.

“Stay down!”

With a furious shout, Mjolnir, carrying the power to shatter mountains, smashed fiercely onto the fire dragon’s skull!

*BOOM!*

Thunder exploded with world-shaking force. The massive impact caused the fire dragon to let out a piercing, painful wail. Its body, which had been flying at high speed, instantly lost all balance and fell from the sky like a kite with a snapped string, crashing heavily into the magma pool below.

The impact sent a colossal splash of magma high into the air, forming a fiery mushroom cloud. Scorching droplets rained down across the battlefield, sizzling and steaming as they splattered against the defensive runes of the warships.

The fire dragon struggled to rise from the magma, its head dizzy and its eyes unfocused, clearly having been stunned by that devastating hammer blow. But its vitality was terrifyingly tenacious. It shook its colossal head, opened its great mouth again, and began to spray a thick pillar of concentrated fire toward Hela.

Hela, however, had no intention of giving it a chance to catch its breath. A trace of cold fury flashed in her eyes. She brought her fingers together and lifted them upward in a sharp, commanding gesture.

From the depths of the magma sea, a giant black sword began to rise. It was roughly the same size as the fire dragon itself, the width of its blade exceeding ten meters. It was composed entirely of solidified, obsidian-like death essence, with baleful, dark green runes flowing across its surface like malevolent rivers.

*Squelch!*

A sickening, teeth-grinding sound of penetration echoed across the battlefield.