115 Hellfire Crown
The dwarves' forging lasted about an hour. From making the cast, melting the celestial ore Uru, pouring into the cast, and further refining, the crown was completed.
Selene held onto a pitch-black crown with pale blue flames flickering around it yet not burning her in the slightest.
A dwarf scratched his beard as he spoke.
"Well, it seems that this…'modified' forge had altered some of the properties of the crown while we were making it. I'm afraid even we do not know its full capabilities."
Selene didn't mind it as she looked at the crown with a smile.
"Does it have a name?"
"You guys name it. We don't want anything to do with that damned thing."
Although the dwarves were quite proud of their work, there was something about the crown that didn't sit well with them.
It wasn't the fact that it had 'dark' or 'evil' properties. But more on the fact that they had no control over how the crown came into being.
Yes, they were the ones who forged it from scratch, but they had no control over its abilities and such.
Back when they were making Thor's Mjolnir, they knew what the hammer would become.
And so, while they 'made' the crown, they themselves don't acknowledge themselves as the creator of it.
If anyone deserves to be the creator of that crown, it would be Benjamin.
At least, that's how it felt to them.
Selene didn't care much about the dwarves' reaction and simply turned to Benjamin.
"How about you name it, Ben?"
"Me? If you ask me, I'll just simply name it Hellfire Crown though."
"...That's pretty simple but fine. Let's call it Hellfire Crown(temp) for now!"
"Is the (temp) really necessary…?"
Selene shrugged.
"In case we think of a better name."
The dwarves were speechless.
Somehow…they felt pity for the crown…
Selene didn't mind them and looked at the black crown a bit more.
After a moment of hesitation, she took a deep breath and placed it on top of her head.
The moment she did, blue flames burst out from the crown and engulfed her!
Still, the flames did nothing to hurt her and instead, seemingly transformed her outfit into what looked like black robes fitting an Empress.
Benjamin was a bit surprised.
Damn! This crown was even capable of costume change!
Right now, Selene looked like an Empress from hell. Full of majesty and darkness.
Benjamin asked.
"How does it feel? Can it only change your clothes?"
Selene ignored his teasing as she was too busy feeling the power of the crown.
"This is amazing…this power…it feels like I can even take on an army of Emma Frost now!"
"...Why did you have to use Emma as a measurement?"
"Just because."
"..."
"Anyway, there's more that this crown can do."
Suddenly, behind Selene, a throne made of bodes appeared from the ground.
When she sat on the throne, dozens of skeletal soldiers with flaming skulls appeared in front of her and knelt.
Benjamin was once again surprised.
"You can summon skeleton soldiers now!?"
"That's right! Amazing, right?"
Benjamin clicked his tongue in amazement.
Mors and Mara who were watching also looked at the skeletons with interest.
They could feel the aura of Death on these skeletons which meant that the crown was capable of using it in order to summon these things.
"Interesting. Did our presence also lead to this creation?"
"Perhaps. From what I know, Uru is capable of absorbing most energies. Maybe it had also absorbed a fraction of the Death energy we naturally emit and allowed it to gain this ability?"
"Whatever the case, we have gained a powerful weapon. We should start heading to Sakaar now and meet with the others."
Benjamin was pretty satisfied with their trip this time.
Not only did they gain another potential ally in Knowhere, they also got an amazing weapon in Nidavellir.
Benjamin deactivated his Hellfire ability and everything returned to normal.
Then, using the Necklace of One, he 'ignited' the star and Nidavellir returned to its normal form.
Mors and Mara got bored again and went back to Earth.
Mara took Selene with her claiming that she needed to start being her maid.
Selene grumbled about how she became an empress and then back to being a maid but didn't dare complain in front of Death herself.
Benjamin simply patter her on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about it. Other than you, there's Hela, a goddess now turned to maid as well."
"..."
Selene was speechless.
However, thinking about it, she felt a bit better.
In any case, she wasn't alone!
With the two Deaths and Selene leaving, Benjamin was left alone as he began to travel to Sakaar.
…Well, it's not really so much as travel as Benjamin just directly opened up a portal this time to go to where the others were.
He had plenty of space travel already so there wasn't a need to waste more time.
When Benjamin appeared, he saw Carol, Nightcrawler, Iron Fist, Daredevil, and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Carol saw Benjamin appear and smiled.
"Ben! You're finally here."
"I'm here. Hm? Where's Thor?"
"Well…"
Carol smiled wryly and hesitated.
Benjamin raised a brow at that and turned to the others.
Daredevil merely pointed behind him with his thumb.
Only now did Benjamin realize where they were.
Looking at the surroundings, they seemed to be in the VIP spectator area of a large arena.
Benjamin looked at where Daredevil pointed and saw Thor in the middle of the arena hyping up the crowd…
"...Did he really sign up to fight? What happened to negotiating with the Grandmaster?"
Carol shrugged.
"This was the negotiation. Simply put, our side wins, we get more money from selling Thanos' army."
"...And if we lose?"
"We get none! Hahaha!"
Rocket Racoon laughed.
Benjamin was speechless.
He turned to the logical people in the group. Namely, Iron Fist, Daredevil, Carol, and Gamora but they all collectively sighed and shook their heads.
When Benjamin asked for an explanation, they said that Thor was provoked and before they could stop him, he already accepted the bet.
Benjamin could only sigh and rub his forehead.
It was indeed a mistake to include this guy!
The only good thing is that in this timeline, or rather, in this world, Hulk wasn't sent to this place and isn't Grandmaster's fighter.
There shouldn't be any strong aliens capable of defeating Thor
At this moment, someone approached them.
"What's this? A new guest?"
Benjamin turned and saw a person with blue skin and white hair wearing a yellow robe.
"You must be the Grandmaster. I'm Benjamin Freed. It seems my people have caused you some trouble."
"Oh, no trouble at all. It's just fun and games."
The Grandmaster chuckled, seemingly already feeling he would win.
Benjamin turned to another person besides the Grandmaster.
Noticing his gaze, the Grandmaster introduced her.
"This is my daughter, Va Nee Gast. Or as she likes to call herself, Voyager."
"Hehe, Benjamin, was it? You seem a lot more powerful than that guy in the arena."
Voyager narrowed her eyes as she smiled.
Benjamin didn't care about her probing and simply answered.
"If you think that way, can I switch with Thor in this fight?"
"I'm afraid not. The game has already begun."
The Grandmaster grinned.
As he spoke, a gate in the arena began to slowly open.
Nightcrawler sighed.
"It's okay. Thor is strong. There's no way he could lose against some alien."
"Don't say that, you're jinxing it."
Peter Quill facepalmed.
Benjamin ignored their banter and focused on the figure emerging from the huge gates.
However, different from the expectation that a large alien will be appearing, the silhouette only showed a small figure similar to Thor's figure.
When that figure stepped out of the shadows, Benjamin's eyes widened in shock!
"No…how…why is he here!?"
Benjamin stuttered in shock and disbelief.
Seeing his reaction, the others were confused.
Carol asked.
"What's wrong, Ben? Do you know that guy?"
"Is he also from Earth? He looks like an Earthling."
Gamora also asked while frowning.
"He's…"
Benjamin's voice shook as he started to speak.
At the same time, Grandmaster loudly announced to the audience.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! It's time for the fight of the century! The God of Thunder, Thor! Versus the one and only Grand Champion! KAL…EL!!!"
The figure…Kal-El…roared with both arms raised to hype up the crowd.
He wore something similar to a gladiator's outfire with a chest plate bearing an S logo on it.
That's right.
This person was someone that shouldn't exist in this world.
He was none other than…
"Superman!"
