Chapter thirty-one.

~~~Royal forest, Xandar~~~

~~~July 1942~~~

"I'm afraid I have to, Odin, the Earth is under my protection, as you well saw when those demons sent by Jakar tried to invade the Earth, but of course, you were too busy to find out." The Ancient One immediately stepped between Odin and Azrael's forces, standing without fear or trepidation.

"Asgard has never been interested in the affairs of the Nine Realms, unless their troubles come knocking at their doors, so under the power of Agamotto, and as protector of Kamar Taj and what he represents, I ask you to leave Earth and withdraw your forces, forever, for Earth will no longer be under your dominion."

Odin stared at the Ancient One for several seconds, his one good eye still glowing, and his face showing only still anger beneath his scowl and tempered veins, "prepare your forces for possible battle," came the Ancient One's voice suddenly in Azrael's ears, causing him to grimace and his eyes to narrow.

"Akeyn, Makey!" shouted Azrael, which caused the hundred Unsullied to form uniformly, lower their spears, and arrange themselves in a phalanx position, at the same time, the witches unsheathed their whips and prepared to protect Azrael.

But the most amazing sight was when a dark cloud full of purple swirls fell from the sky. Which fell behind the Unsullied and appeared as Enderman, causing Odin to show surprise and fury.

"You are a hypocrite, Ancient One, you claim to see to the protection of Midgard, but on the planet, there are these interdimensional demons, do you seek war against the Nine Realms by letting them into this plane?"

"They are called Enderman, Odin, faithful servants to the Xandarian Crown, and they are not demons, they are wraiths, and they know how to murder very well," Azrael spoke again as if he wanted to start a conflict by all possible measures, he again goaded Odin.

"Very well, so be it," was Odin's simple comment, and Gungnir, who was still subdued by the whips of cosmic energy summoned by the Ancient One, was released from his bonds and returned to the hands of his master.

"Sons must be rebuked when they dare to rebel," and with that, Odin slammed his spear into the ground, causing the Bifrost to fall, this time stronger and wider than before.

And once he retreated, he revealed over five hundred heavily armed Asgardian soldiers, but they did not attract attention, the attention was gained by something else, a five-meter tall monstrosity, made of a steel-like material, and humanoid in shape, stood among all the soldiers.

The Destroyer was called, and the conflict was about to begin. And without warning, the armor forming the face of the Destroyer opened wide, and soon a yellow beam shot out from the opening in the direction of Endoxes and Azrael.

But this time, Endoxes was ready, and just as quickly, he fired his breath with all his might, as he raised his membranous wings like arms and positioned them in such a way that they covered Azrael behind them.

"BOOOM!"

The two forces met halfway, creating a sonic boom that caused many to cover their ears due to the din, and in the midst of it all, the two lightning bolts sought to gain more ground, purple and yellow, both bolts fired from feared and revered forces.

However, the winner was soon shown, when Endoxes tired of being challenged put more strength and power into his breath, causing the already strong breath to begin to cause the air near it to distort, with the temperature rising to hundreds of thousands of degrees. As the Destroyer's beam began to give way.

"BOOOOOM!" The result was seen when the Destroyer could no longer hold off Endoxes' relentless attack, thus causing Endoxes' breath to reach the Destroyer and impact it, sending it flying several meters.

"Angõs bantis eskōrverdōn!" With Azrael's command, the Enderman, who had remained static the entire time, let out their unmistakable wails of agony and without thinking, broke through the line of Unsullied in front of them, passing between them like smoke and flying to meet head-on the Asgardian forces.

But before they reached their targets, Odin struck his spear against the ground, and from it sprang a dome of yellow light, the cosmic energy expanded rapidly and crashed into the Enderman, who was stopped by the dome and at the same time hurt.

Azrael didn't wait for Odin to make another move, and with a simple; "Baerok!" The two Withers that were floating in front of him fired skulls towards the dome that Odin erected, who upon seeing the attack, sent another round of cosmic energy, only this time stronger than the previous one.

But great was his surprise when the skulls fired by the Wither penetrated his attack and reached him without problems. But Odin was not the Father of All for nothing, and with Gungnir, he swung it as if it were a staff, and with it, he was able to disintegrate both skulls.

But the damage was done, and the Enderman wave could continue on its way without the dome from before, and so they did, crashing into the front line of Asgardians and starting the altercation.

The Unsullied did not stand still, and seeing that the front line was covered, they lowered their shields and placed them on mechanisms that attached them to their right legs, with their spears sticking them into the ground and taking their enchanted bows that hung from their backs.

Thus they began to shoot enchanted arrows at the Asgardian hosts. The Sorcerers of Kamar Taj began to open portals in front of the Unsullied, thus causing the latter to fire their arrows at the portals, sending them to their targets more accurately and lethally.

"I've had enough of this!" Odin's cry of unleashed rage stopped the combat for only two seconds, as his body was covered by cosmic energy in its entirety, and Gungnir was launched again. And this time it hit its target.

The spear reached Azrael and knocked him off Endoxes' back, sending him several meters backward, causing him to hit the ground several times and end up unconscious on the ground.

It only took seeing that scene for the witches around Endoxes to rush full speed toward Odin. With his full transformation, dark face and broken mouth, with the scars on their faces secreting black liquid.

Odin soon found himself surrounded by at least fifteen witches, who did not hesitate to die if it meant another of their sisters could hurt Odin, with Odin had to parry the hundreds of attacks the witches were throwing at him from all sides.

Thor, seeing this, became a little worried, and when he went to help his father, he was intercepted by several explosions that hit him squarely, as the Withers began to attack him with all their unbridled power. At the same time, the Asgardians were not left behind, and grabbing their weapons with strength and courage, they ran to fight alongside their king.

The Ancient One quickly reached where Azrael was, noticing how Endoxes surrounded him, and even roared at him as he saw her getting too close, "I don't want to hurt him, I want to help him," she explained, and only then did she win Endoxes retreat a little, but without taking his eyes off her.

"Azrael, are you okay?" She asked, noticing how he had the Gungnir spear through his torso. She quickly reached over and grabbed Gungnir, and covering her hands and arms with mystical energy, she began to pull Gungnir out of Azrael's body, causing both Azrael and Endoxes to grunt.

"That was a good hit," Azrael said between coughs, vomiting blood in spurts in the process, "you can't die Azrael, your death is not now, the Stone could not have lied to me," the Ancient One said to herself, and just watching the life drain out of Azrael's body, even at the cost of the healing spells Ancestral applied to his.

Suddenly, the Totem of Immortality attached to a chain around Azrael's neck broke, releasing golden motes that climbed up Azrael's face and entered him through his nose, eyes, and mouth. At the same time the large wound Gungnir had made began to close in a matter of only seconds. Leaving only a hole in his armor where the spear had passed through.

"Surprised Ancient One?" Azrael asked after regaining consciousness, as he looked at the Ancient One who only gave him a puzzled look, "but how?"

"That will be a conversation for later," was all Azrael said, getting up from the ground and looking at the battlefield in the distance. "That was a good shot, I guess it's my turn now isn't it?" Azrael said, looking at Odin in the distance, who in a burst of energy had momentarily gotten rid of the witches.

"I will end this farce once and for all," Odin said, calling the spear that was a meter away from Azrael back to him. With the sky turning blood red and a pillar of energy rising from his location into space.

"Same here" Azrael nodded and Endoxes let out a roar, being answered by five other distinct roars. Suddenly, several tremors occurred, and soon, the ground around Azrael began to open up, and three huge beings made themselves known, their bodies purple and black, bipedal and with bones protruding from their arms and backs, as well as two huge horns on their heads, and a hole in their chests.

The Warden, the third most dangerous creature in all of Xandar along with the Wither and Endoxes, arrived on the battlefield, kicking up dust and sending up strong tremors every time they moved their huge arms in an attempt to get off the ground and out of it. Soon, the three Warden came completely out of the ground, like demons coming out of hell, letting out massive roars and preparing to attack.

Azrael did not make them wait, and with an order, he told the three Warden, the two Wither and Endoxes to attack Odin at the same time. And so they did. The Withers fired blue skulls one after another, Endoxes fired his breath and the three Warden attacked with the formation of a sonic attack produced from their hollow chests.

Odin created cosmic energy shields and even empowered them with the Odinforce, but the Warden's attacks were responsible for inhibiting the shields, armor, and even enchantments or runes Odin used. Thus causing the Wither's exploding skulls, along with Endoxes' breath, to hit Odin in full force.

"PUUUUUUM!"

The shock was such that it sent a shockwave throughout the place, throwing Odin hundreds of feet backward slowing the change in the weather, and returning everything to 'normal'.

In the distance, Thor ran to his father, seeing how he had been exhausted after taking the blow from Xandar's greatest forces, with Odin dripping blood from the corner of his mouth and his body burned in several places.

"Heimdall" Thor shouted, only to have a bolt of rainbow lightning come and take Odin away, leaving Thor and the other Asgardians behind. Thor stood watching Azrael in the distance, noting how he was in good shape even after taking an attack from Gungnir, so he knew he was no match for him at the moment, and against his impulses, he put the lives of his people first.

"We shall meet again, Thor Odinson!" shouted Azrael in the distance, only to have the Bifrost come again, taking Thor along with the remaining Asgardians, as well as the fallen Destroyer and the bodies of the dead Asgardians.