Chapter 68 - A man above gods

"No... You're lying!" Odin yelled out. "I'm not. Why would lie about such a thing? What would it give me?" Ryu smirked. "Isn't this what you wanted? Your fate isn't sealed by a prophecy anymore. Congratulations, you achieved your goal. You also wanted to find out where gods go when they die, right? How about we show you?" Ryu asked sarcastically as he neared the panicking Odin.

"Kratos, do you want to do the honors?" Ryu inquired as he looked at the god of war. Without so much as a breath, Kratos buried the blade of his axe in Odin's head. Killing the god. Odin's body started to evaporate into tiny, shimmering, blue orbs that slowly faded away as the group stared in shock at the rather anticlimactic death.

"I still can't believe he came into the enemy base without a backup plan. Especially when an unknown variable appeared just a day or two before. He's a really stupid god of wisdom," Ryu chuckled. "So... What happens with Ragnarok?" Atreus asked, confused. "Not relevant anymore. Now, we make a better Asgard. I believe that when the king is dead, his son takes the throne," Ryu said.

"Thor? That idiot is the last person who's fit to rule!" Mimir exclaimed. "We'll teach him. Now he really does have the will to change," Ryu said. "And what if someone opposes?" Kratos inquired. "Don't worry, I'll take care of that. Mimir, you hate Heimdall, right?" Ryu asked. "That stuck-up boot licker can kiss my stump!" Mimir yelled. "Good. Then you'll enjoy what comes next," Ryu said as his mischievous smile widened.

"Well, I guess we're off to Asgard," Mimir said with excitement evident in his voice.

As the group arrived in Asgard something was... Off. The streets were empty, and a heavy clobbering sound rang throughout the area. Walking towards to area, groups of people could be seen trying to get a glimpse of something.

Pushing his way through the people, Ryu saw a teenager jumping joyfully. She was a girl of average height with a stocky, curvaceous build, blue eyes, pale skin, and shoulder-length strawberry-blonde hair with a streak of red. She wore armor made of Asgardian steel and animal skin.

At the center of attention was Thor, who was mercilessly beating another man. He looked like an average man with a rather handsome face, pale skin, and blonde braided hair. The most striking thing regarding his appearance is his glowing purple eyes and his golden teeth. He wore a simple black and white tunic over chain armor.

"What good is seeing my next move if you can't react to it, you cunt!" Thor spat at Heimdall's beaten and broken face. "Keep my daughter's name out of your arrogant mouth if you want to stay alive," Thor turned to leave, but Heimdall needed to have the last word.

"Do you think you can just do whatever you want, you pathetic excuse of a god? When the All-father comes back he'll have you answer for this," Heimdall yelled. "He can try," Thor said simply before turning to leave, but then he spotted Ryu.

"Don't worry, Thor. Odin won't bother you anymore," Ryu said as he tossed Odin's severed head near Heimdall for all to see. "Since the king is dead, his son takes the throne. Congratulations, Thor, you're the new ruler of Asgard," Ryu said casually as he patted the shocked Thor on the back.

"All-father!" Heimdall screamed as he grabbed Odin's head. "Oh, right. Everyone here still thinks of him as a saint. I've got a fix for this, wait for a second," Ryu said as he snapped his fingers. Ryu transformed the neural networks of all the Asgardians to include memories he gathered from Odin, ones that reveal his true nature.

"You! What have you done to my mind!" Heimdall screeched as he refused to believe the information presented to him. "I just showed you the truth. You can deny it if you want, but it won't change the facts," Ryu shrugged. "How dare a mere mortal slander the gods! I'll kill you!" Heimdall announced as he picked up his sword, his broken face healing as he prepared for another battle.

"I'm a puny mortal, huh? You can see the future to some extent, right? My next move, if I recall correctly?" Ryu asked with an expression that sent shivers down Thor's spine. He almost pitied Heimdall for what he was about to witness.

"Then look into my eyes and tell me how puny I am," Ryu said as he stared Heimdall dead in the eyes. At first, Heimdall showed no reaction, but then he realized something, nothing was coming up. Why couldn't he see anything?! "I'll help you out. You can't see anything since you're dead," Ryu said with a flat expression. "But that's not enough for you to realize who you're talking to, so look into my eyes again," Ryu said as fear crept into Heimdall's heart.

As Heimdall stared into Ryu's eyes, he saw an impossible sight. Asgard... Was in ruins. It was completely destroyed, reduced to nothing more than a bunch of crumbling houses and mountains of dead bodies. But that didn't make sense, Heimdall could only see a couple of seconds into the future, enough to know his opponent's next move. There had to be something wrong with his ability. If everything was working properly... Then that would mean... Heimdall stared at Ryu with pure terror as he crashed onto the ground.

"You're just a big fish in a very small pond. Don't get ahead of yourself," Ryu said condescendingly as the shell-shock Heimdall tried to process the information.

"Alright. Now that that's done, you need to learn how to lead," Ryu pointed at Thor, who became mortified. "I can't lead Asgard. You know better than anyone else what I've done. I agreed to make things better, but I don't deserve that seat," Thor insisted.

"That seat is part of your responsibilities now. Do you want to make things better? Take it and lead Asgard into a better age. You're undoubtedly not fit to lead right now, but anyone can learn with enough will. And I think you have that in abundance now," Ryu said as Thor thought things over.

"...Fine, but I'm still not next in line for the throne. The queen of Asgard still breathes, so that seat is hers by right," Thor said. "Alright, I'll go get her. Let's see what she thinks" Ryu said as he turned to leave.

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