Hela glanced toward where Charles pointed, seeing him still standing in the same place he had been when he first arrived.
His blood-red eyes bore three tomoe, and the figure in front of her transformed into several crows, dispersing into the air.
Watching the illusion of Charles vanish, Hela scoffed, "Hmph, a sorcerer's trick."
In the next instant, she appeared directly in front of Charles again, her sword once more piercing through his chest. Blood dripped from the tip of her blade.
Gripping the hilt of her sword, she raised her head slightly, looking down at Charles with disdain.
"Tell me, what did Odin send you here for?" she asked, her voice laced with contempt.
"Your time is running out."
Charles, showing no emotion, replied, "Do you really think that Odin, who just left, would need me to do anything?"
At his words, Hela furiously launched her sword toward another target as if she had lost control. Yet, strangely, Charles's figure was still standing there.
Charles then smiled, "Hela, it seems your view of the world is rather limited."
"If this is all you've got, I'm truly disappointed."
Hela simply stared at Charles without sending her sword flying again.
Suddenly, a cracking sound rang out, and the entire world shattered like broken glass.
Hela was once again sitting on her stone throne, and Charles was standing in the same spot, neither of them having moved an inch.
The moment Charles first locked eyes with her, he had silently drawn her into the world of his Sharingan's illusion.
Hela rose from her stone seat, smiling, "Not bad for Merlin's successor. Impressive illusion."
As soon as she spoke, Hela waved her hands, and countless swords began flying rapidly toward Charles.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Charles, wielding the legendary Excalibur, swiftly parried the swords, blocking them all. Sparks flew as the swords collided with his blade, falling to the ground.
Just as Charles defended himself, another Charles suddenly appeared in midair, hurling a massive Fūma Shuriken toward Hela.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The shadow clone sent the giant shuriken flying with double the power straight at Hela.
Whoosh!
Hela shot one of her swords toward the shuriken, but it was deflected instantly.
Unbothered, Hela dodged the shuriken with a mere sidestep as it flew past her.
"Nice power, but your aim's off," Hela mocked.
Charles smiled in response, "Is that so?"
The Fūma Shuriken, which had flown past Hela, suddenly changed its course and came back, this time striking her and sending her flying.
Using the momentum of the shuriken's impact, Hela closed the distance between herself and Charles in an instant. She raised her hand to deliver a killing blow, her raw strength far surpassing Thor's.
If he tried to block with a weapon, she would shatter it.
Boom!
At the last second, Charles used the Substitution Jutsu to evade the attack, leaving only a wooden log in his place, which Hela shattered to pieces.
Charles, now standing to the side, drove Excalibur into the ground. A terrifying surge of energy erupted from the sword's point of impact, rushing toward Hela.
The earth turned to scorched ground as the energy wave swept over her, burning her skin to a crisp like charcoal.
However, after the attack, Hela casually brushed her hands through her hair, transforming it into her helmet. Her divine energy surged, rapidly healing her wounds, and in mere moments, she was fully restored.
With a wave of his hand, Charles swiftly stored the sword in the stone into his storage space, not wanting to let it be destroyed by Hela.
He marveled at her regeneration abilities—this was Hela, even while suppressed by a seal and cut off from Asgard's power source.
If she returned to Asgard, she would be even more formidable.
"Whoosh!"
In an instant, Hela appeared before Charles, striking down with her sword. Charles quickly summoned a vibranium longsword to block the attack.
"Boom!"
The force sent Charles flying, tumbling through the air before he managed to regain his footing.
His right arm, which had taken the brunt of the blow, hung limp. But in the blink of an eye, it regenerated as if nothing had happened, matching Hela's rapid recovery.
Charles shook his arm and muttered, "Such terrifying power!"
"Now, let's start round two," he declared.
In the next second, a crimson gourd appeared at his waist, a seven-star sword in his hand, and his arm coiled with the golden canopy rope.
With a thought, Charles sent the golden canopy rope disappearing from his arm, reappearing beneath Hela, quickly entangling her from below and binding her tightly, immobilizing her arms.
"Kneel!" Hela shouted instinctively.
Charles was taken aback, realizing that this must be Hela's kotodama, or magic command phrase. Without hesitation, he marked the word onto his seven-star sword.
Hela, realizing her uncontrollable outburst, quickly shut her mouth. She sensed something amiss—the words she uttered were not entirely her own.
Hela summoned her death power, trying to break free from the golden canopy rope.
However, the rope shimmered with golden light, sealing her deathly energy and suppressing her strength. The weakening sigils on the rope drained her physical power, making her frail.
Panic flashed in Hela's mind, "No… my powers, my body, why am I becoming weaker?"
The three enchantments on the golden canopy rope worked in unison, fully restraining Hela.
But Charles wasn't faring much better. His chakra was draining rapidly, as though a dam had burst. In just one second, he had lost a hundred units of chakra.
Charles quickly realized that against a foe as powerful as Hela, his chakra reserves could only sustain control of the golden canopy rope for about four seconds.
Wasting no time, Charles used his body flicker technique to appear in front of Hela and, in a split second, severed her kotodama with the seven-star sword.
Simultaneously, he opened the mouth of the crimson gourd, sealing Hela inside.
As he plugged the gourd's opening, Charles collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
All of his attacks had been executed in under a second—severing Hela's power and sealing her within the gourd.
However, the process had consumed over two hundred units of chakra, leaving him drained.
But it wasn't over yet. Without the golden canopy rope's suppression, Hela began to regain her strength inside the gourd.