Chapter 18) New plans

Having encountered Hades and engaged in deep thought, Hela found herself seated on the riverbank.

"Damn skeleton. I anticipated that other gods would intervene sooner or later, but I never expected it to happen this soon. The connection with Midgard has once again been severed. Even if I restore it, I won't have enough time to train warriors before I can personally descend to Midgard."

She held August's soul in her hand, contemplating how she could capitalize on the situation and come out as the victor. Meanwhile, the soul in Hela's grasp was enduring its grim fate. Being a mere plaything in the hands of the Goddess of Death was far from a pleasant experience.

"Enough, please have mercy, my lady, or I won't be able to bear it any longer."

The soul trembled slightly, emitting a sound. To ordinary mortals, it would be perceived as mere noise, but skilled soul mages and death deities could discern the words spoken by souls. In truth, souls could communicate in this manner.

Hela regarded her warrior's soul with a newfound interest and remarked, "I wonder if you can still think and speak despite being in Helheim."

The realm of the dead was named so for a reason – only the deceased and the Gods of Death could be there without suffering health consequences. Living beings would constantly endure the corrosive effects of death energy, eventually succumbing to death themselves. Upon entering the realm of death, souls would fall into an eternal slumber until they were reborn or until the gods of death intervened. Rarely would a soul retain its ability to think and remain aware after entering the realm of death.

"Please have mercy, I have not fulfilled my mission and failed my world. As a benevolent goddess, I implore you to allow me to return to the mortal world and carry out my duties and spread your word."

Hela couldn't help but scoff at the mortal's audacity. Not only had she bestowed her power upon him, but she had also granted him the freedom to do as he pleased in Midgard. In the end, he hadn't lived up to his potential and had met his demise. And now he dared to ask for resurrection and a return to the mortal realm.

"Send you back so you can die again and end up back in my realm? How many times must I resurrect you before you can live at least a century and prove useful to me?"

Hela had already grown tired of his ego and contemplated extracting the reasons for his uniqueness, hoping to replicate her success. However, she decided to halfheartedly guess what he would say in his defense.

"Goddess, I was too arrogant and neglected my development for far too long. Even when faced with an adversary much stronger than myself, I fought on without retreating. Please grant me one more chance, and I shall forever be faithful to you."

Hela no longer paid any attention to this nonsense. Since he was already dead, he was of no use. She utilized her powers and absorbed his soul's accumulated death energy.

"No... please spare me!"

August endured immense suffering as his soul was drained of its power. Hela refrained from absorbing his memories, as she had yet to devise a method to remove the ego of a soul's past life without damaging the soul itself or its memories.

The death energy flowed from the soul into Hela's hand, assimilated by her divine essence as it underwent purification. After all, a portion of the death energy had been influenced by a mortal. Although he possessed a fragment of her divinity, which should have aided in adjusting the death energy to the appropriate quality and density, it proved insufficient for Hela's needs.

"What a disappointment. Although everything went as expected, there is still too much contamination and the density remains inadequate. Over seventy percent is unsuitable for absorption, and the remaining energy needs further compression to reach the desired level. Taking into account a mortal's strength, I would need more than a hundred thousand mortals of August's caliber to ascend to the next level of power."

While Hela, being an immortal deity, could afford to wait and gradually amass strength, such a massive release of death energy would not only attract her father's attention but also draw the interest of other death deities. Hades was already facing difficulties, and encountering additional gods of death would only bring further trouble.

Hela had never been one to fear trouble, but her current predicament was rather pitiful, and she didn't desire any additional problems. Furthermore, the meeting of other Gods of Death could potentially destroy Midgard, leaving her with no choice but to wait for her father's demise and her liberation.

She wasn't weak and wasn't afraid of fighting with other death gods, but she was too young and couldn't use Helheim's power, so she loses in a battle with others. This put her at a disadvantage in battles against her counterparts. "Damn cowardly bastards, whenever I tried to confront them, they ran off to their realms and hid there or exploited their connection to the world of the dead to continuously bolster their powers."

Hela somberly recalled her encounters with other Gods of Death, and these memories were far from pleasant. After all, each God of Death was as old as her father or even older.

"Regardless, I must focus on my current goal."

Hela gazed at the transparent soul, which had almost lost all its color, with only small black spots remaining on its surface, representing the remnants of its death energy.

"How fascinating, in such a short span of life, mortal, you were still able to get at least a drop, but completely of your death energy."

"Thank you, my lady," August replied in a low, raspy voice.

"Ah, so you're still conscious. Well, that doesn't change what I will do with you."

"Allow me to continue serving you, my lady. I am prepared to safeguard the human world on your behalf."

Hela observed the soul before her and made a decision. Gathering a couple of souls from fallen warriors, she stripped away their egos, causing harm to their souls and memories. However, that was of no consequence. The most critical part was yet to come.

She transferred the memories of these warriors into August's soul. The souls began to flicker and vibrate intensely, visibly undergoing destruction, but Hela paid no mind. She simply infused a small amount of power into August's soul to gauge her success.

After a while, August's soul ceased flickering and stabilized, while the souls of the warriors sank into the river of death, descending to the depths.

Hela observed the outcome with interest and spoke, "Well, you managed to endure and absorb the knowledge. Now let's refine you further."

"I am Hela Odinsdottir, the Goddess of Death and ruler of the mortal world Helheim. As the daughter of the All-Father Odin and the rightful heir of the nine worlds, I appoint this soul as the keeper of knowledge. It shall be the eternal key to the realm of Helheim, while also being a part of the key itself. Anyone who possesses it shall gain access to its memories and forever leave their knowledge within it."

Runes began to be etched onto the soul, and Hela realized that the soul couldn't withstand the process. It quickly started to disintegrate, barely able to contain even a portion of her spell.

Hela attempted to sustain the soul by infusing it with her divinity, but the soul crumbled even faster.

In the end, Hela bound the soul to her Necrosword Puzzle, which remained in Midgard at the location of August's death. She tampered with the runes, greatly weakening their effect, and slipped a death worm into the soul. The worm would attach itself to any mortal who touched the blade.

Without a host, the death worm wouldn't survive for long, but within the cemetery, it would manage to endure for a couple of years. Sighing at the partial success, Hela continued to wait to learn the results of her experiment, all the while honing her rune and combat skills. Progress, though excruciatingly slow, was being made, and that was all that mattered for her pursuit of revenge.