Elena stopped pursuing her Valkyrie heritage in the sense of power when she put her whole heart into Transcended Death. At that time, the armies of Valhalla that she'd raised also became useless.
But she didn't want to completely throw them away. After all, they were incredibly useful and loyal to only her.
The main reason Elena hadn't used them in a long time was simply because her fighting style changed.
When she was young, she was a close combatant. As she grew, she slowly became someone who fought from the backlines. And as her Divinity formed, shaping her power to be truest to her, she gained the ability to do both without losing anything.
Her potential was maximized, and suddenly, she realized how to connect her Valkyrie heritage with the Transcended Death that she now prioritized.
This way, it could still become a piece of her power without inhibiting her.