Chapter 213: Hela’s Curse, Return

"This rune...you got from the God of Stories?"

"GOD Loki?"

"Who is Loki?"

Hela frowned, her face expressed her confusion.

She had never heard of this god. She knew little about the current situation in Asgard, only that Odin had two children.

After the death of Asgardians when they came to Hel the knowledge in their mind became blurred or incomplete, fragmented,

But to even got the information of some popular event of Asgard .. that was already a pleasant surprise.

"Loki…" she murmured.

"He is now the God of Time," Orion explained calmly, "and controls all timelines."

"There is an Asgard in every space and time."

Orion smiled. His goal now was simple: arouse Hela's interest, steady her. The longer he kept her engaged, the better his chance of finding a way out. He needed to escape this dream. No matter what. He wouldn't stay trapped with Hela forever.

Time flowed differently in dreams. Slower, faster who knew? What was happening in the real world while he was stuck here? Theoretically, anything was possible. Maybe days had passed outside, or weeks. Maybe even months.

"Multiverse?" Hela's voice cut into his thoughts.

"He's stronger than Odin?" Her lips twisted into a wicked grin. "I'm so happy to know such an amazing god. Interesting." She crossed her arms, her figure exuding grace, elegance, and danger. Her perfect cleavage made her look like a poisonous mandala in full bloom. "I don't understand this primal rune either. Explain it to me."

Orion didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her demand. He gave a soft sigh. "Your Majesty, Hela, you really make things difficult for me. I just got this rune not long ago."

His eyes flickered with thought. "Perhaps… there may be an answer in the library of Kamar-Taj."

While speaking, Orion had already begun releasing his perception, sending his spiritual awareness into the depths of the dream. He needed to find his physical body. His senses expanded, reaching. He had learned long ago that blood was the best anchor for finding one's self. DNA carried all the information. If he could just locate his physical form, he could force his way out and return to the real world.

"Are you teasing me, Orion?"

Hela's voice turned icy, piercing his focus.

"Put away your little tricks. You've come into my dream. You're not leaving. Now, tell me everything you know, including news of Odin."

"When exactly will Odin die?" Her beautiful eyes gleamed coldly.

She had noticed Orion's efforts to escape. Her fingers curled around the hilt of a sword, summoning it from the night sky itself. A wave of death energy surged through the dream, twisting and warping the fabric of the world around them. Everything started to collapse.

As Lord of this Dimension, master of this dream, Hela's power was absolute here.

She had finally caught a living spirit. There was no way she was letting him go.

In fact, she had already made her decision: she would enslave Orion's soul, control his body, and use him to summon herself back into the real world. The pentagram array would ensure her return. With that, she would break Odin's seal and reclaim Asgard without lifting a finger.

Orion's life or death?

She didn't care in the slightest.

If he died, he died. His soul would still be hers. Dead or alive, he would serve her as an undead vanguard. He would help her raze Asgard to the ground.

"Lady Hela…" Orion spoke carefully, shaken. His perception had nearly pinpointed his body's location. He was close to finding a way out. If Hela interrupted him now, all that effort would be for nothing. He'd have to start from scratch.

Swiftly, Orion pulled Raven back, retreating. The blood armor he had shed reappeared around him. In his hand, a red sword gleamed. He was ready for her attack.

"No wonder…" Hela murmured. "Nightmare is coming after you." Her eyes gleamed with amusement. "Your power can even manifest in dreams? Impressive."

Orion's expression hardened.

Hela narrowed her eyes. A sneer played on her lips. Not everyone could display their abilities in dreams. It was something only the most powerful could achieve. For ordinary people, controlling their power in dreams was as impossible as ascending to the heavens.

But Orion wasn't ordinary.

Most dimension lords could only manipulate their own dreams, never another's. Entering someone else's dream was like entering another person's home borrowing their space and tools, but ultimately powerless to take over.

And yet here was Orion, using his powers freely in her domain.

Hela's grin widened.

She finally understood the source of the nightmare riots. It had nothing to do with her. The acting Supreme Sorcerer, standing before her, was the one causing the chaos!

A trace of malice welled up within her. She wanted to test him, to see just how powerful this Supreme Sorcerer really was. After all, Odin wouldn't have appointed him without a reason. Odin, with his cunning and domineering nature, never made a move without gaining something in return.

"Show me your true abilities," Hela said, her voice sharp and mocking. "If you still think words alone will get you out of this, you've disrespected me far too much."

Her eyes flashed with deadly intent.

Without warning, the sword of the night sky flew from her hand.

Its shape was irregular, cold and sharp, exuding a breath of death. Black light gleamed around its edges, like lightning tearing through the underworld. Even in a dream, Hela was the Goddess of Death, and Orion could feel the weight of that power.

Clang!

He raised his red sword just in time, standing between Raven and the attack. His hands shook from the impact, pain shooting through his palm. The force was immense.

Hela's power was enough to crush Thor's hammer in the real world. Here, in her dream, it wasn't diminished at all.

Orion's caution sharpened. He couldn't take his eyes off Hela, but Raven… her condition was worsening. She was growing weaker, teetering on the edge of collapse. If she fell asleep in this dream, she'd never wake up in the real world. It would be impossible to bring her back.

"Raven." Orion's voice was urgent. "Stay awake. Otherwise, I can't take you away."

He grasped her shoulders, pouring a stream of magic into her body. She stirred, her breathing becoming a little steadier.

"I'll try…" Raven's voice was faint, her face pale. Her vision blurred, and even her spirit was growing translucent.

They had jumped through too many dreams together, and now reality and fantasy blurred. Raven could no longer tell where she was. Niflheim itself seemed to whisper to her, beckoning her to sleep forever.

Hela's smirk returned. "The woman next to you can't hold on much longer. And you won't be able to defeat me here, not in my dream."

Orion's gaze darkened.

Three thousand years. That's how long it had been since Hela last saw living beings in her realm. Watching Raven die was almost amusing.

"I can't do anything to you, and you can't do anything to me," Orion said, his tone strained. "So… what do you want? What will it take for you to let us leave?"

Hela's grin widened. She had him now.

"I have only one request," she said slowly, savoring the moment. "When you return to Earth, draw the pentagram, recite my divine name, and summon me to Midgard. I will kill Odin myself. And… the woman beside you will remain in my dream until I leave Hel."

Hela's sword glowed with dark magic as she laid out her terms. She wanted Raven to stay here. Forever.

Although this was a dream, Hela, as the Lord of the Dimension, could manipulate her own reality. She could pull Raven's spirit from the dream and keep her trapped in Niflheim, never allowing her to return to the real world.

"What are you waiting for?" Hela's voice was a soft, dangerous purr. "She won't hold on much longer. And I can nourish her soul."

With a curl of her finger, Hela tightened her grip on Orion's fate.

After all, he had brought Raven to Sokovia and infiltrated her dreams, which had attracted the attention of Nightmare.

And now, it had come to this.He had no other choice. But it was indeed better to leave Raven to Hela than to Nightmare.

"Can."

"I will fulfill my promise. Draw a pentagram…"

Orion nodded, determination set in his eyes. Without hesitation, he pushed Raven towards Hela.

"You are indeed likable, Orion," Hela mused, her voice filled with a chilling amusement. "I hope you won't break your promise. Otherwise, your woman's life will be in danger."

Her tone darkened. "I will use every possible means to torture her! Let her wish she could neither live... nor die!"

Hela narrowed her eyes slightly, as if already imagining the torment she could inflict.

Orion didn't falter. His mind was resolute, and his reading went uninterrupted. He released his spiritual sense, and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes he had found the location of his physical body!

In one swift motion, he swung the red sword and sliced through the curtain of the dream world. A gorgeous, colorful dreamscape immediately unfolded before him. As long as he entered this dream, he could return to reality smoothly.

And this... this was the power of unified dreams!

Orion himself didn't even know when he had gained this power. It seemed that Hela didn't possess this ability.

"The power of unified dreams..." Hela's voice cut through the air, colder now. "You make me more and more curious, Orion."

She narrowed her beautiful eyes, but remained where she stood. She did not follow him. Her body was still in Niflheim. Once she left her physical form and entered the dream world of another, her power would be greatly weakened.

It would be restricted by the rules.

However, Orion's power had not weakened at all. Apparently, this was what Nightmare feared!

"Hela," Orion said, his voice strained, "Nightmare... Nightmare is back!"

His pupils shrank in fear as his gaze darted behind Hela, his face contorted in horror as though witnessing something unspeakably terrifying.

"Nightmare?! How dare you?!" Hela spun around, the sword of the night sky flashing in her hand as she stabbed with a deadly backhand, but there was nothing in front of her no enemy, no presence at all.

And then, in that moment of distraction, Orion took his chance. He grabbed Raven, dragging her directly into the surface dream.

"All is fair in war, Hela," Orion said, his voice carrying a cold edge. "I can't summon you to Midgard. Niflheim is where you belong."

He smiled slyly, standing at the border between Hela's dream and the surface dream. With a casual wave to the goddess of death, he walked directly into the surface dream, reappearing in Pietro's dream!

"Damn it!" Hela roared, fury pouring from her as she trembled with rage. "I'm going to kill you! How dare you mock me? Mock a goddess of death?! I will curse you! You will die by my hands!"

Hela's fury shook the entire dreamscape, space itself twisting and warping under the force of her divine wrath. She burned through endless divine power, casting a vicious curse with every ounce of her being.

[Your entry panel has undergone subtle changes.]

A line of text bubbled in front of Orion.

"Um?! What's going on?" Orion muttered, a strange expression crossing his face.

Swiftly, he dodged Hela's attacks, repairing the dream curtain, neatly separating the two different dreams. But even with the barrier between them, Hela's enraged roars echoed in his mind, sending a shiver down his spine.

When Orion opened his entry panel, his eyes widened in shock, and a mixture of surprise and joy spread across his face.

[Name]: Orion

[Identity]: Acting Supreme Sorcerer, Rune Sorcerer

[Entries]: One of the smartest people on Earth (red), able to do what others cannot (red), Great Sage +0 (gold), Winning by doing nothing is the best way (red), Protagonist's halo (red), Omega level (red), Mind overcomes everything (red), Invincible against evil and ghosts (red), Time traveler (pink), Cangjie agent (black), Shuma-Gorath's gaze (black), Hela's curse (black).

[Luck Value]: 50,175.9

[Curse of Hela] (Black): You are cursed by the goddess of death. Death will accompany you, but only Hela can kill you.

"Death will be with me..." Orion read aloud.

"But only Hela can kill me?"

A smirk crossed his face.

"Is this a curse? It's clearly a blessing!"

Orion chuckled to himself. This entry meant that no one other than Hela could kill him! It was like having an extra layer of protection.

Nice.Very nice!

But he couldn't be too optimistic. If Hela ever broke the seal and arrived in Asgard, she might still be able to kill him!

He needed to find a way to get rid of this black entry, as well as the [Gaze of the One Eyed Ancient god]

"Sigh." Orion let out a long breath.

"Finally, I'm back."He looked around, observing his surroundings.

"Pietro's dream... Is really .....?" Orion clicked his tongue in amusement.

The room was bathed in soft pink candlelight, charming and warm. Pietro, dressed in the emperor's new clothes, lay surrounded by many concubines, intoxicated and lost in his dream.

Seeing this scene, Orion didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"So Pietro, it turns out, appears poor and domineering on the outside, but is actually a rather reserved man."

He shook his head. "Never mind. It's just a dream. It's better not to disturb him while he enjoys his life."

Orion's figure moved swiftly, flying directly out of Pietro's dream. He carefully sent Raven's spirit back to her body and returned to Wanda's boudoir once more.

The soul returned.

Orion, lying on the bed, immediately opened his eyes, and a bright light flashed within them.

The power of dreams...It seemed he really should return to the library and look up some relevant information.