Chapter 43 - The World on Fire Part 7

POV: Amora.

Belgium, 1944.

During the fight against Apocalypse.

Alice's message gave me a pleasant surprise. I was getting bored of seeing this war without worthy enemies, but I didn't expect an omega-level threat. A being powerful enough for Baldur to request containment.

So I quickly came to this isolated place surrounded by trees and mountains. I was just healing young Freyja a short while ago, and after that, she immediately returned to the battlefield, much to the Germans' misfortune. I had to contain Baldur's rage myself, not because I care about these mortals, but because he does. When he regains his senses and sees that he killed hundreds of innocents in his fury, it will destroy him. I really don't like Freyja. She's too close to Baldur, who loves her like a daughter, but that won't matter when we have our own children.

I'm in the middle of the forest preparing the spell when I see my students appear.

"My queen!"

They all greet me politely. They are the third generation of sorcerers from Genosha. Initially, I wanted to create this force as a compensation for my guilt, but then I started to enjoy the feeling of teaching. Unfortunately, none of them have the talent for true magic.

All thirty magicians are wearing long golden tunics and holding magical staffs. The idea for the attire was made by Baldur, the tunics have magical runes that enhance the power of the sorcerers. I must say, my husband has terrible taste in clothes and armor. All the ones he created are so strange.

"Spread out and start the spell."

"Yes, milady!"

The containment spell is a magical shield that camouflages and protects the surroundings, from the entire Norse pantheon. Baldur may not be the most powerful yet, but he certainly has the greatest destructive power. Containment is necessary if he's going to fight at full strength.

"Milady, I found General Nordur. He's badly injured but out of danger."

"Understood."

One of the men reports that they found the general. Now, there's no one alive except Baldur and his enemy on the mountain. So, we can create the shield.

POV: Amora.

Belgium, 1944.

During the fight against Apocalypse.

The message from Alice gave me quite a surprise. I was getting bored of seeing this war without worthy enemies, but I didn't expect an omega-level threat. A being powerful enough for Baldur to request containment.

So, I quickly came to this isolated place surrounded by trees and mountains. I was healing the young Freyja not long ago, and after that, she immediately returned to the battlefield, to the Germans' misfortune. I had to contain Baldur's rage myself, not because I care about these mortals, but because he does. When he regains his senses and sees that he killed hundreds of innocents in his fury, it will destroy him. I really don't like Freyja. She is too close to Baldur, who loves her like a daughter, but that won't matter when we have our own children.

I'm in the middle of the forest preparing the spell when I see my students appear.

"My queen!"

They all greet me politely. They are the third generation of Genosha's wizards. Initially, I wanted to create this force as a compensation for my guilt, but then I started to enjoy the feeling of teaching. Unfortunately, none of them have the talent for true magic.

All thirty wizards are wearing long golden robes and holding magical staffs. The idea for the garments came from Baldur, the robes have magical runes that enhance the wizards' power. I must say, my husband has terrible taste in clothes and armor. All the ones he created are so strange.

"Spread out and begin the spell."

"Yes, ma'am!"

The containment spell and a magical shield that camouflages and protects the surroundings from the entire Norse pantheon. Baldur may not yet be the most powerful, but he certainly has the greatest destructive power, so containment is necessary if he is to fight with his full strength.

"My lady, I found General Nordur. He's badly injured but out of danger."

"Understood."

One of the men reports that he found the general. Now, there's no one alive except for Baldur and his enemy on the mountain. So, we can create the shield.

Shortly after, everyone takes position around the forest with the mountain in the center in a circular formation, just waiting for my orders to begin.

"Everyone knows what to do, let's begin."

My voice is projected with magic to all my students, who orderly begin the execution of the spell. I raise my staff, ready to initiate the spell when the explosion occurs.

"BOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!"

It seems like a gigantic bomb explodes from inside the mountain, hurling massive rocks and dust into the sky, leaving everyone standing still without executing the spell.

After the smoke begins to clear, we can see a giant over fifty meters tall wearing heavy armor with a blue face standing atop the destroyed mountain.

Out of nowhere, a golden and purple glow flies towards his face to be struck by the giant's fist, I know that glow is Baldur. I can recognize his power from here. Baldur was thrown by the punch and falls like a comet towards the ground, but he manages to regain control of the fall before crashing.

He launches himself once again, flying at tremendous speed, now colliding against the creature's chest.

"BOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!"

Another explosion occurs, almost deafening us with the noise. Unlike the first explosion, this one sends a wave of golden and purple fire cascading from the giant's body, engulfing all vegetation and heading towards me and my men.

"DO IT NOW!"

Everyone awakens at my voice and strikes their staffs on the ground along with me. Shortly after, the energies connect, creating a transparent magical shield that covers the entire area, just in time to protect us from the flames crashing against the containment shield.

Baldur and the giant don't seem to care about the destruction they cause, merely exchanging blows and continuing their fight. I don't understand why the giant doesn't even seem burned by the power of these flames. They are hot enough to burn Asgard in minutes.

I must say, I'm really getting excited to see him fighting like this, it's been years since my love has been unleashed. And finally, he's facing a worthy enemy. If it weren't my duty to protect this place, I'd be by his side too.

"BEEP!"

POV: Baldur.

Belgium, 1944.

Before the energy shield is executed.

My first blow caused a huge explosion, destroying the mountain we were on. To my surprise, Apocalypse was unharmed. And as I was almost buried by rocks, he changed his size to the giant standing in front of me now.

I took a punch from this giant and almost lost consciousness. Luckily, I regained it before crashing to the ground. After another blow, I saw my flames spreading and burning everything on the ground. Before they could spread further, they collided with a wall of energy.

(Finally, she arrived.)

"BEEP!"

I send a message to Amora outlining my plan to defeat Apocalypse. To put it into action, I need more time, so I return to close combat.

"I heard that you have a mage under your command, but I never imagined you possessed so many."

He speaks, looking at the magical shield with the wizards around us. They are spread out over several kilometers, giving us plenty of room for our fight.

"Only a fool reveals all their hidden cards."

"Indeed."

He doesn't speak further and tries to grab me with his giant hands. I manage to dodge them, taking advantage of his size disadvantage. But Apocalypse has hundreds of years of experience, and seeing that he won't be able to grab me, he sends a telepathic shock at me. The force was so great that I crashed to the ground, creating a small crater.

When I get up, I see him emerging from the remains of the mountain and stomping the ground with all his force. The blow creates a large fissure in the earth that comes towards me. When the fissure gets close to me, I lose my balance long enough for Apocalypse to hit me with two energy blasts that make me fall into the fissure.

He fires again, aiming at the fissure in the earth. The energy explosion was so large that it resembled an earthquake. Afraid of being buried, I unleash all my power upwards, exploding everything in flames. The flames under my command spin, forming a huge tornado. I stand right in the center of it, spinning the spear to send the flaming tornado towards the giant in front of me. The flame tornado is large enough to engulf Apocalypse's gigantic form.

Seconds later, only the whirlwind of golden and purple flames spinning at high speed remained, but I knew that wasn't enough to stop him.

"I invoke the fury of Balthakk!"

The clouds in the sky turned purple, then they spun open, and a huge cascade of purple energy and golden light fell into the center of the fiery whirlwind, illuminating everything.

"BOOM!"

The noise of the explosion didn't come from the energy falling from the sky or the flames, but from the earth receiving all the damage. The entire attack lasted only seconds before it ended.

At the site of the attack, there was now an enormous hole so deep that it was impossible to see the bottom. The flames from the tornado spread across the containment field, leaving everything with an apocalyptic look. It was truly a degree of destruction second only to the attack I made against the army of ice giants.

But I wasn't happy about it. Because my enemy, who received the full force of the attack head-on, was now floating in the center of the enormous hole, now reduced in size back to three meters tall.

"Glorious, it's been centuries since I've had such a invigorating fight. Now, I don't want to kill you or use you as a guinea pig. I'll turn you into my most powerful knight. Together we will bring destruction to this land, and then rebuild it in my image."

"No, thank you."

"I wasn't asking if you wanted that. I'm telling you how it's going to happen."

I attacked with Seig, aiming for his head. He easily defended my blow with his arm and then forced me to move away from him. I then noticed changes in his body, his armor began to emit a purple glow, and the same happened with his eyes.

"It would be impolite not to return such a glorious blow."

He raised his hand and fired a massive beam of purple energy. I tried to cut through the beam of light with my spear, but without success. I was hit head-on by his power. When the energy hit my body, I recognized the power, it was the energy of Balthakk that I had shot at him before. Apocalypse had absorbed a part of it and was now firing it back at me.

I was thrown against the energy barrier with such force that it knocked the wind out of me. I tried to avoid the fall, but then I realized that the boots I used to fly were completely destroyed. So when I got up from the ground, I looked down at my body, with only my waist down covered with my nearly destroyed armor, and my injuries were burns and cuts all over my torso.

"A sorry state indeed," I joked, thinking about my injuries.

But the attack wasn't over yet. Apocalypse appeared in front of me and grabbed my neck. He looked into my eyes, and then everything went black. When I came to, I was in a totally empty place surrounded by darkness.

"Teleportation? No. This seems different."

I looked around trying to figure out where I was, and then I saw a giant hand trying to grab me.

"COME HERE!"

A force froze my body, forcing me to stay still. The giant hand grabbed me and took me to Apocalypse's face. Unlike the previous size increase, he was now the size of a planet.

"Let's see what secrets you hide!"

The force attacked again, now trying to enter my head. It felt like a drill trying to crack my skull. Now I knew I was in a mental space, Apocalypse was using his Psionic powers.

"AAAAAAH!"

I screamed in pain, trying to resist this power. I have to say that the resistance of the Asgardians is much greater than that of a human. The power I was resisting now could easily turn a mortal into a vegetable.

"BALDURRR!!"

A familiar voice made me look to the side, and in a flash of green light, Amora appeared floating in the air, wearing her long green dress with her staff in hand.

"WHO DARES TO INTERRUPT ME!"

Amora ignored my enemy's shout and fired a blast of magic with her staff, hitting him right in the face, causing him to release me. As I was falling into the void, Amora waved her staff, and a green light enveloped the entire space. When I came to, I was once again facing Apocalypse in the forest destroyed by our battle.

Apocalypse seemed a bit surprised by the change and didn't move, so I took advantage of it. Seig returned to my hand just in time for this.

I spun my spear and put all my strength, enhanced with my magic, into it, hitting him squarely in the chest. The blow didn't pierce his armor, but it sent him flying across the destroyed field. When he was near the enormous hole created by my previous attack, a golden mirror appeared above the hole. I fired a beam of energy with the spear, hitting the mirror, which reflected it back at Apocalypse, changing his direction and causing him to fall into the hole.

"NOW AMORA!"

She was ready since my message. So as soon as my voice faded, she magically appeared at the edge of the hole. She was without her magic staff, which was sustaining the energy walls. Amora began to glow with a bright green light, and when the light subsided, I saw a kind of electrical grid sealing the hole's exit. Apocalypse was trapped for a few minutes.

Amora teleports once again and appears by my side.

"It won't last long, if we're going to do this, we need to do it now," she urgently tells me.

"Thrummmmmm!" "Thrummmmmm!" "Thrummmmmm!" "Thrummmmmm!"

The ground starts shaking as if we're experiencing an earthquake, he's trying to break free, and he'll succeed in a few minutes. Without wasting any time, I place my spear on the ground. Amora begins to chant something in the ancient language of Asgard, a language so powerful in magic that it can distort reality. Several runes made of energy appear in the air and dance around my spear.

"Now, Baldur!"

I create a knife from my manipulation of light and cut my wrist. My blood falls, bathing Seig entirely. Seig begins to absorb this blood along with the magic runes. I start feeling dizzy from the blood loss. This ritual shouldn't be done during battle for logical reasons.

Fortunately, before losing consciousness, the ritual ends, revealing my spear, which is now emitting not only a golden light from my power but also a divine feeling, as if it were the most powerful spear ever made.

"The ritual is complete," Amora tells me happily with her accomplishment.

I heal my wound with runic magic and try to recover as much as I can.

"BOOM!"

(He can't even give me a minute?)

The magic protecting the exit of the hole explodes, and from within, Apocalypse emerges in his giant form. I can see nothing but anger in his eyes.

"I've grown tired of your mortal tricks!"

Apocalypse knows that his giant form is a disadvantage and changes back to being three meters tall.

"It's the first time I've been called mortal since I was born, to everyone else, I've always been Baldur Odinson."

I pick up Seig from the ground, smiling.

"What do you mean?"

"It's not worth explaining, you'll be dead in a few seconds anyway."

"HAAAAAAA!"

Furious, Apocalypse fires energy blasts at me. I'm practically exhausted and in danger of being consumed by the entity, so I can't use any more magic, close combat is my only option.

I dodge the two energy rays and attack with all my speed, aiming for his belly. Apocalypse deflects my spear with his arm and tries to punch me. I duck, escaping his attack by a millimeter. I take advantage of his opening and spin my spear.

Unlike all my other attacks, this one pierces the celestial armor, hitting his abdomen.

Apocalypse takes a few steps back, surprised, but my attack isn't over yet. Another blow hits his unprotected chest. Now Apocalypse has two wounds forming an X across his chest.

"How is this possible?" he asks me, surprised.

"It's not the first time my people have encountered celestial technology."

I attack again, Apocalypse tries to defend himself by putting both his arms in front of his body, but my spear cuts through them easily.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

His arms and chest are now bleeding heavily, and the enchantment also has an effect on his healing factor, delaying it. It's the first time I've seen a fearful look instead of the arrogant one he's given me since the beginning of our fight.

My next attack aims for his leg, Apocalypse realizes he's now at a disadvantage fighting up close and retreats using telekinesis to levitate above the ground. I jump in the air, aiming for his head in a downward strike, which is defended against, but the force is so great that it sends him back to the ground.

The onslaught continues, each blow inflicting a new wound on Apocalypse's body, and now his blood spills before me.

"It's time to go to another world and apologize to the soldiers you killed."

"I AM ETERNAL AND IMMORTAL, NOTHING CAN KILL ME."

I pay no heed to his irrational shout. I gather my strength for my final trick, emitting a glow for a few seconds and then a small flame appears at the tip of Sigel.

The first strike cuts his leg, forcing him to kneel. As the wound heals, flames erupt from it, destroying any chance of regeneration.

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The second blow severs his right arm, which falls to the ground, and from his shoulder, the same flame burns.

He finally takes action when he uses his hand with all his might like a spear. The hand pierces my body, and as he sees this, he smiles confidently in his victory. But my body begins to crack like glass and shatters.

"How is this possible?" he cries out, confused.

"I'm right here!"

The clone created with light that carried out the attack, meanwhile, left me free to approach his back invisibly, waiting for my chance. Sigel, which had fallen to the ground, returns to my hand at my call. I thrust it with all my strength into his heart.

"How?"

He falls to his knees, holding weakly onto the spear protruding from his chest.

"The weakness of all who deem themselves invincible is arrogance."

I wrench the spear from his chest and stand facing him, now weakly kneeling on the ground.

"I am immortal, one day I will return for my vengeance," he tells me, still confident.

"Immortality is nothing more than an illusion. Nothing lives forever, no matter how long it lasts. You are a fool for not understanding that."

The next blow hits his neck, almost severing his massive head with one stroke, but not quite, as the flames burn the site of my strike, preventing regeneration.

"Perhaps, but I will not fall without taking you with me!"

I hear his voice in my mind, and with the little life he has left, he grabs my arm. A gray substance flows from him to me, and then Apocalypse releases me.

He falls in front of me, burning. He is dead.

But the substance he passed to me before dying begins to devour my arm, causing me to scream in agony like never before.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The pain is so intense that I fall backwards, and as I am losing consciousness, all I can hear is Amora's voice screaming my name.

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