The tear pulsed like a fresh wound, black tendrils creeping along its edges as something massive shifted behind the veil, pressing harder against the fragile seal Peter had barely managed to close.
Odin noticed it immediately.
With a thunderous battle cry, the All-Father charged forward, Gungnir blazing with blinding solar fire. He met Gorr head-on, their weapons colliding in a cataclysmic explosion of gold and shadow that lit up the shattered bridge like a second sunrise. Every strike shook the entire realm, Gungnir piercing through waves of darkness, only for the Necrosword to lash back viciously, carving deep gashes across Odin's armor and drawing divine blood that smoked on contact.
Malice threw herself into the fight without a second's hesitation.
She moved like vengeance given form, silver hair whipping wildly behind her as crimson force fields slammed into Gorr from the flank, crushing and tearing at his shadowy body. Her power felt raw and unfiltered, fueled by a grief so deep it had finally broken free. Where Susan would have shielded and protected, Malice attacked with terrifying precision, compressing the air around Gorr into violent spheres that tried to pulp him where he stood.
"You don't get to take him from me!" she snarled, her voice layered with something ancient and vicious. "Not him. Not ever."
Gorr laughed through the onslaught, a dry, broken sound that somehow made the chaos feel even colder. He twisted, the Necrosword morphing into a massive scythe that sliced through one of Malice's fields and forced Odin to leap back. Black tendrils erupted from the ground, trying to ensnare them both, but Malice shattered them with a scream of red energy while Odin burned them away with a thrust of his spear.
The two of them, the All-Father and the crimson storm wearing Susan's face, fought like they'd been doing it for centuries, their attacks weaving together in brutal, instinctive harmony.
Meanwhile, Thor landed heavily beside Peter, armor scorched and streaked with blood. Without wasting a word, he scooped Peter up in one massive arm, holding him carefully.
"Easy, Brother," Thor murmured, voice rough with worry. "I've got you. Just hold on."
Peter groaned, head lolling against Thor's shoulder as the symbiote worked frantically to keep his chest wound from spilling out the last of his life. "Don't... let them fight alone..."
"You've done enough," Thor said firmly, already launching into the air, Mjolnir spinning to carry them both toward the rear lines.
Sable was waiting there, having dragged herself behind a partially collapsed wall. The moment Thor landed and gently lowered Peter to the ground, she dropped to her knees beside him, one hand pressing firmly against the worst of the wounds while the other checked his pulse. The symbiote's black tendrils shifted under her touch, making room but never retreating.
"Go," she told Thor, her voice tight but steady. "We'll hold here. Just... go help them."
Thor hesitated for half a second, eyes flicking between Peter and the raging battle, then nodded. Lightning crackled around him as he launched back into the fray with a roar that shook the sky.
Sable looked down at Peter. His face was deathly pale, breathing shallow and ragged, but his eyes were still open, still fighting to stay focused.
"You absolute idiot," she whispered, brushing blood from his cheek with surprising gentleness. Her hand was shaking. "You don't get to do this to us. Not now."
Peter managed a weak, pained smile, his voice barely a whisper. "Love you too..."
She let out a shaky breath and pulled him closer, shielding his body with her own while keeping her pistols ready, eyes scanning the chaos around them.
In the distance, the battle between Odin, Malice, and Gorr continued to rage, flashes of gold, crimson, and devouring black lighting up the ruined bridge like a war between gods and oblivion itself.
---
The battle between Odin, Malice, and Gorr had become a whirlwind of gold, crimson, and devouring black. Gorr moved like a force of nature, the Necrosword shifting forms faster than the eye could follow, forcing even the All-Father to give ground. Malice's crimson fields slammed into him again and again, crushing and tearing, but Gorr kept pushing forward, relentless, his sunken eyes burning with cold purpose.
Then Thor arrived.
The God of Thunder came in like a storm breaking, Mjolnir spinning wildly above his head, lightning crackling across his armor as he roared.
"ENOUGH!"
He hurled the hammer with everything he had.
Mjolnir streaked across the battlefield like a comet, trailing thunder and fury, and slammed directly into Gorr's chest with a deafening crack. The impact was monstrous, the force lifted the God Butcher clean off his feet and hurled him backward off the edge of the shattered Rainbow Bridge.
Gorr plummeted toward the city below, twisting mid-air like a falling shadow.
He hit the streets hard, cratering the golden pavement and sending cracks racing outward. For a moment, dust and debris clouded the air.
Then the Einherjar moved.
Dozens of them, elite warriors who had stood guard over Asgard for centuries, charged in from all sides, spears lowered, shields raised, battle cries echoing through the streets. They swarmed Gorr like wolves on a wounded bear, leaping at him with enchanted blades and divine fury.
It was a mistake.
Gorr rose from the crater slowly, almost casually, the Necrosword lengthening in his grip. His eyes swept over the charging soldiers with something close to boredom.
Then he moved.
The Necrosword became a whirlwind of death.
One swing cleaved three Einherjar in half before they could even strike. Another lash of the blade turned two more into ash mid-leap. Gorr walked forward through the chaos like a man taking a quiet stroll, the sword moving almost lazily, slicing, impaling, devouring. Golden armor shattered. Immortal blood sprayed across the streets. Screams filled the air as soldier after soldier fell, their essence sucked into the hungry blade.
Gorr didn't roar. He didn't laugh.
He simply killed.
Efficient.
Relentless.
Unstoppable.
One warrior managed to drive a spear into Gorr's shoulder. The God Butcher looked down at it, almost curious, then grabbed the soldier by the throat and crushed his neck with a sickening snap before tossing the body aside like trash.
Within moments, the street ran black with corrupted blood and golden fragments of armor. The surviving Einherjar began to fall back, horror dawning on their faces as they realized this wasn't a fight they could win through numbers or courage alone.
High above on the broken bridge, Thor watched with clenched fists, lightning still dancing across his shoulders.
Odin's expression darkened.
Malice's crimson eyes narrowed, her silver hair whipping in the wind.
And Peter, still slumped against the broken wall with Sable shielding him, forced his head up, breathing ragged.
"He's... tearing them apart," he whispered, voice weak but urgent. "We can't let him win..."
Sable pressed harder against his wound, her face pale. "You're not moving. Not yet."
But even as she said it, the sounds of slaughter echoed up from the streets below.
Gorr was here.
And Asgard was bleeding.
---
Gorr tore through the streets of Asgard like a nightmare that refused to end.
He didn't charge or roar. He simply walked, steady and inevitable, the Necrosword moving with lazy, brutal efficiency. Every swing cut down another group of Einherjar, spears shattered, shields split, bodies reduced to ash and shadow before they even hit the ground. Golden blood stained the once-pristine streets. Screams echoed between the crumbling towers as warrior after warrior fell.
A squad tried to surround him, forming a tight circle of shields and spears. For a heartbeat, they held.
Then Gorr swung.
The Necrosword stretched into a wide, black scythe and carved clean through half of them in one motion. The rest tried to fall back, but shadows erupted from the ground, dragging them screaming into the dark. Gorr didn't even glance at them as they died. He just kept moving forward, eyes fixed on the palace in the distance.
That was when the others hit him.
Odin descended like a falling star, Gungnir blazing in his grip. The spear struck Gorr's shoulder with enough force to crack the street beneath them, solar fire erupting from the wound. At the same time, Thor came crashing in from the side, Mjolnir swinging in a thunderous arc that slammed into Gorr's ribs like a meteor. Lightning exploded on impact, scorching the God Butcher's flesh.
Malice arrived like vengeance incarnate, silver hair streaming behind her, crimson energy flaring violently as she slammed a crushing force field into Gorr from the front, trying to grind him into the pavement.
For a moment, the three of them had him pinned.
Gorr snarled, black blood leaking from his wounds, but the Necrosword drank it back in almost instantly, healing him as fast as they hurt him. He twisted violently, shadows exploding outward in every direction, forcing all three back a step.
"You think this is enough?" Gorr rasped, voice low and venomous. "Three of you against everything I am?"
He lunged.
The battle turned into a storm of gold, crimson, lightning, and devouring black.
Odin fought with the cold precision of a king who had waged war for millennia, Gungnir flashing in perfect, lethal arcs, each thrust aimed to end the fight. Thor attacked with raw, thunderous power, roaring as he brought Mjolnir down again and again, lightning cracking across the battlefield. Malice was pure fury, her crimson fields slamming into Gorr like violent waves, crushing and tearing, her silver hair whipping wildly as she poured every ounce of rage into keeping him from advancing.
Gorr met them all without flinching.
The Necrosword shifted forms constantly, scythe, spear, whip, cleaver, striking with brutal efficiency. He caught Thor's hammer on the flat of his blade and used the momentum to hurl him into a nearby building. He parried Odin's spear and countered with a lash that carved a deep gash across the All-Father's chest. When Malice tried to crush him again, he drove the sword straight through her force field, forcing her to stumble back with blood trickling from her nose.
The four of them tore through the ruined streets, their clash shaking the ground and toppling what was left of nearby towers. Golden debris rained down around them. The air itself seemed to burn and freeze at the same time.
Gorr was smiling now, a cold, tired smile.
"You bleed for him," he said between strikes, eyes flicking toward the distant balcony where Peter lay. "All of you. For that worthless spider who pretends he's more than prey."
Malice's eyes flashed with pure hatred. "Shut your mouth."
She unleashed a devastating wave of crimson energy that slammed Gorr backward. Thor followed up with a lightning-charged hammer strike that sent him skidding across the street. Odin drove Gungnir into the ground, sending a pulse of binding light that tried to root the Butcher in place.
For a brief, shining moment, they had him on the defensive.
But Gorr simply laughed again, that dry, broken sound, and the shadows around him surged stronger than before.
The fight was far from over.
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