Odin's speed was astonishing; he reached the rune in an instant, but when he reached out to grab it, his hand closed on empty air.
The rune, which had been within arm's reach, had vanished. He was no longer in the treasury, but standing atop a high mountain far from the Golden Palace.
"Ancient One!"
This time, Odin was truly alarmed. He summoned Gungnir to his hand, his golden armor and helmet materializing instantly. Behind him, the royal cloak materialized, billowing in the wind with a murderous aura.
"Do you know what that was? The very source of Asgard's power! I used it to suppress Hela!"
The rune had already reached Qin Xiao. Odin knew it was too late to retrieve it, and moreover, in the Ancient One's presence, unless one killed him, no one could leave if he didn't want them to.
He spoke through gritted teeth.
If Hela was unleashed, Ragnarok would immediately descend. Who knew the price Odin and all of Asgard had paid over the years to suppress her and delay the inevitable?
Odin dared not unleash even a single powerful Divine Origin. Only the designated heir to the throne, Thor, received the Divine Origin of the Thunder God.
The other deities, such as the Warriors Three of Asgard and even Thor's betrothed, Sif, were merely goddesses of land and harvest. Their divine titles alone made it clear they were not characters with formidable combat prowess.
This was because Odin had compressed all the potent Divine Origins into individual Runes, transforming them into a formation to suppress Hela.
Even so, facing Hela—who shared Asgard's fundamental power—and with Odin growing increasingly frail while Hela grew stronger, he could barely contain her without constantly replenishing her with his own power.
Without the Divine Origin of the Fire God, the seals of Helheim would soon begin to stir.
Ragnarok was approaching, and Odin was not fully prepared.
Thus, he put on a desperate act without hesitation.
In contrast, the Ancient One remained utterly composed.
"Odin, I understand everything you've said. If you want to fight Hela to a mutual destruction before she breaks free from her seal, I have no objections. But if not, calm down first, and let's solve this together."
Meanwhile, after Odin and the Ancient One appeared and vanished again, Thor, though he didn't understand why his father wanted to stop the rune, trusted that Odin's actions were for the good of Asgard.
So, the moment Odin and the Ancient One disappeared, Thor unhesitatingly reached out to grasp the rune.
Alas, how could a mere mortal like Thor, whose Thor's Power had yet to fully awaken, block a rune of the Fire God's source power?
Before his palm could even approach the rune, a devastating, world-shattering flame power surged toward him.
The force was as violent and overwhelming as thousands of volcanoes erupting simultaneously.
Thor instinctively recoiled, snatching his hand back.
In that single step back, the entire fiery force vanished without a trace.
"Damn it! I was tricked!"
Thor had actually been scared away by a dead object's psychic simulation attack.
Angrily cursing under his breath, Thor tried to reach out and stop the Rune, but it was too late.
The Rune, having terrified Thor, shot straight towards Qin Xiao. It spun rapidly before his face and burrowed into his forehead.
The moment the Rune entered his body, Qin Xiao's entire aura transformed. Though flames still billowed around him, the initial Qin Xiao had been like a fire-resistant vessel, with the flames merely flowing across his body.
Now, the Rune's entry fused Qin Xiao with the flames, making him appear as if he had become fire itself.
"This... this is the Fire God's primordial power! How is this possible...?" Thor's eyes were filled with disbelief.
Legend had it that in ancient times, Asgard had twelve Primordial Gods beneath the Allfather, the most powerful beings in the realm. Thor's own divine position was one of these.
But at some point, these mighty gods vanished without a trace, leaving only Thor's position and Heimdall, who represented the God of Light.
Even after Thor repeatedly questioned Odin, the All-Father remained tight-lipped.
Thor had always assumed that during Odin's past conquests across the universe, he had encountered some powerful enemy. Not only had those Primordial Gods been slain, but the very essence of their Divine Origins had been destroyed.
Only Thor's own Divine Origin remained.
Who could have known that today...
So, that Rune earlier was the Divine Origin power of the Fire God, one of the Twelve Primordial Gods.
But why had it appeared here? Why had it burrowed into the body of Qin Xiao, an Earthling?
Completely unaware of what had transpired, Thor, having failed to intervene, resigned himself to sitting quietly nearby, patiently awaiting Qin Xiao's awakening.
In truth, he had no other choice. His Thor's Power had yet to undergo its first awakening, and he couldn't prevent Qin Xiao's current state.
He could have forcibly destroyed the Rune with Mjolnir, but he wasn't yet certain what this event meant for Asgard. After all, Odin had only sought to suppress the Rune, not to kill Qin Xiao outright.
Thus, Thor stood helplessly nearby, observing Qin Xiao absorb the Divine Origin.
Odin and the Ancient One had arrived at a mysterious location deep beneath the Golden Palace.
The space here was distorted, and a massive black portal radiated a faint, eerie light. The portal's depths were pitch-black, making it impossible to discern what lay on the other side—or indeed, what kind of environment it was.
Occasionally, the portal emitted piercing, wailing roars, a clear warning that the other side was no place for a leisurely vacation.
Odin's face still contorted with rage as he waved his hand at the portal.
Golden light surged forth, forming a colossal magical array before the portal. The array was densely covered with incomprehensible texts and intricate symbols.
Golden chains forged from magical energy coiled tightly around both the array and the portal.
Each chain bore runes similar to the crimson ones seen earlier—white and azure, representing the Divine Authority Origin Runes of various elemental energies. These runes suppressed the chains, completely sealing the portal.
However, one chain, devoid of runes, flickered with magical energy, its surface already showing faint cracks.
Clearly, this chain corresponded to the Fire God's Divine Authority Origin Rune, which Qin Xiao had unfortunately absorbed.
Deprived of its power source, this chain was estimated to shatter completely soon.
When that happened, the entire seal would collapse at this single point.
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