Sparking Soul: Ch.33

“How is Fandral?”, I asked as I entered the medical room, looking at a still Fandral lying on the Soul Forge while the physician had a frown on her face.

“I would like to say that he is well and for the most part, he is. He managed to turn at the last second to avoid any injury to his organs. However, it's the wound itself that concerns me,” Eir, physician of the royal family, spoke with a frown, making me narrow my eyes as Volstagg and Hogun looked concerned.

“In what way?”

“Well, every Asgardian has some form of regenerative capabilities and while it is most definitely not on par with yours, Fandral's is still quite capable of sealing shut a wound shut within minutes. Yet, the wound has not even started to try and close.”

“Maybe the blade the assailant used had some poisoning ability?”, I said with an unsure look and Eir thinned her lips as we looked at the floating hologram made by the Soul Forge that showed the wound on Fandral.

“If that were the case, his heart would have ceased beating by now. Instead, do you the tendrils here and here?”, she said as she pointed to the dark tendrils slowly stretching out from the wound and I nodded, watching as the image zoomed in and showed the tendrils changing each cell bit by bit.

“It appears that the wound itself has some sort of necrotic effect that doesn't kill off the cells, but instead changes them into some kind of…foreign substance,” she finished grimly and I tuned out Vollstagg and Hogun continuing to ask her questions as I stared at the wound.

I might just be tripping balls here, but…it does look eerily similar to how the symbiotes, or Venom to be more specific, looks like. It has the same pitch black colour with tendrils stretching outwards in every direction and it appears to be corrupting Fandral's body from the inside out just like how Venom's symbiote form would do with Spider-Man.

'Not to mention, that figure kind of looked like that one guy in that Thor Love and Thunder Movie. I didn't get to watch that one, but I'm fairly sure that the figure I fought was that very same figure. Wasn't his name Gorro the God Butcher or something along those lines?', I thought before turning as the door opened, watching as Hela opened and looked at me with a frown.

“Thor, come.”

“Volstagg, Hogun, stay here and protect Fandral. I'll send Emil and Hulk over later to make sure you guys have enough power here.”

“We shall guard our friend to the best of our capabilities, my King,” Volstagg saluted with a determined frown, Hogun doing the same and I nodded before following Hela out of the room.

“What's the matter now?”

“It's Zeus.”

“He didn't try and sleep with anyone, did he?”

“No, I vowed to cut off his genitals if he dared to do so,” Hela spoke with a wave of her hand, making me chuckle as we turned the corner.

“Okay, then. What did he do?”

“He and his entourage have decided to go hide in Omnipotence City.”

“Did he say that?”

“No, but he did say that he will stay in Omnipotence City and bolster its defences just in case the enemy from earlier today tries to attack the city.”

“…Yeah, we're getting no help from him.”

“Although, I will say that he looked a bit terrified when he left and I do not blame him. After all, the assailant was using the Necrosword of Knull.”

“The what of who?”, I asked with a frown, the name sounding a bit familiar as Hela stopped before slowly turning her gaze to me with a frown.

“Please tell me that Father taught you of the Necroswords, the Symbiotes and Knull the Primordial.”

'…Well, at least I was right in them being symbiotes.'

“Well, with the look on my face, does it say that I know?”, I asked, smiling as Hela palmed her face before gesturing for me to follow.

“Forget the meeting and call that idiot brother of ours. It is time you learned the true darkness of the universe.”

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“Ooh~ Story time~! I sure do love a good story~”

“Loki, enough,” I spoke with a sigh as the two of us followed Hela, who did not look fazed by Loki's attempts to mock her as we stopped at the vault before they looked at me.

“What?”

“You remember that you have the keys to the vault, yes?”

“Key-Oh, right,” I muttered as Gungnir floated from behind me and into my grasp, the door shimmering when the spear did before it opened with soft rumble.

“Now, Hela. Tell us about this Knull.”

“Knull, the King in Black and Primordial of the Darkness, used to reside within the Shadow Realm that existed between Life and Death. The god was intent to slumber in the Shadow Realm until it was awakened by a surge of cosmic energy, energy that was caused when Odin and I landed in his realm.”

“Oh, so you're the reason we have to deal with Knull now?”

“No, that was not Knull.”

“And how can we be so sure, sister?”, Loki asked while I glanced at the artifacts we passed, to which Hela turned and stared him dead in the eye with a frown.

“Because Knull himself is gone.”

“…So, he's dead?”

“That would mean that he still had a soul left. No, Odin and I along with the entire Celestial existence made sure that he could not be reborn or reincarnated ever again, though we did lose almost all but a few Celestials to the monster.”

'That might be the reason why there are no longer so many Celestials around.'

“It must have been a glorious battle then,” I spoke with a smile, Loki snorting at my words before we blinked as Hela scoffed with a smirk.

“I would not know. One moment, I was rushing at him and the next, I found myself being woken up by Father after the battle was over.”

“Wait, you, the so-called goddess of Death, got knocked out by this Knull?”

“In one blow, yes,” Hela nodded as we turned the corner, Loki turning to me with wide eyes as I shrugged before we stopped in front of a burning flame in a chalice that was seated on a small pillar.

“The Eternal Flame? What is your need for that?”

“I'm here to resurrect my army because Knull did not fight us alone. He had an army of symbiotes that he could use as he pleased and each symbiote was capable of forcibly possessing the bodies of the Celestials. That might just also be because of his power, but if this new wielder of the Necrosword is even remotely close in power to Knull, then we'll need all the help we can get.”

“If that's the case,” I muttered as I continued walking down the hallway, making Hela and Loki follow while both Gungnir and Jarnbjorn glowed when I called them to my hands.

At the far back of the hallway, the wall shifted and twisted away to let a large figure walk through, the Destroyer walking towards us before it knelt down.

“The Destroyer? I thought he had destroyed it long ago?”

“It was always here, but then Thor destroyed it when I sent it to kill him. Then, Father simply repaired it and had it sit in the vault to protect the artifacts like usual.”

“No, I thought he had destroyed it because it was made to fight the Celestials.”

“…This thing? It could barely handle a hit from me.”

“Well, of course, it couldn't take a hit from you. It was made to worn as armour by the King of Asgard whenever they needed to face off against a threat to the universe.”

“Then, why didn't Father wear it when we fought against Thanos?”

“I…do not know. Perhaps he felt that Thanos was not a threat at the time or perhaps, he simply did not wish to,” She answered and I frowned before flaring the Odinforce in Gungnir, watching as the armour bowed its head before standing up and walking back to the wall.

“Even so, it will now be even more useful than it would have been before, but it won't mean much for us to prepare when we can't find the opponent that struck.”

“Knull's Necrosword has a unique energy to it that most living beings can't avoid so if we get someone with the best senses in the universe…”

“They might be able to sense it,” I finished Hela's words, nodding as I thought of the one person on Asgard that can do so before Loki spoke up.

“I'll go see if Heimdall has not done so already.”

“Then, I shall get started on the resurrection ritual for our army. A portion of the Eternal Flame should be more than sufficient to do so.”

“I'll go see then if there has been any change to Fandral's condition before readying the Einherjar for battle,” I spoke, to which the other two nodded before I looked back as the wall to the Destroyed closed off.

'Without more information, preparation is all that we can do, but not all I can do. After all, I did promise Beta Ray that duel, didn't I?'

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“Are you sure you do not need your weapons?”, Emil asked with a frown as the two of us along with Hulk walked out onto the sparring fields and I snorted at his words while turning to look at where Beta Ray was already waiting.

“Besides, if I needed them to fight him, then I clearly don't deserve to use them,” I spoke with a smirk, to which Emil rolled his eyes while Hulk chuckled at my words as we approached the centre of the sparring fields.

“You're late.”

“I'm a King now, Beta Ray. I'm allowed to be late.”

“That excuse only works once and that's today. After that, it just sounds like you're trying your best to avoid me,” I chuckled at his words as the two of us stood in the centre while Hulk and Emil walked off to the side where Hela, Brunhilde and Sif were watching.

Thankfully, the two of them haven't tried to kill each other since yesterday's incident, but I've had Sif stay with Brunhilde just in case a fight ever breaks out between them.

Not that she would have been able to stop it, but just because it would give me enough time to figure out how to stop them should a fight start.

“So, loser is the first to have their back touch the ground?”

“I don't mind that rule,” I answered as I cracked my neck, stretching from side to side while Beta Ray shook his arms before I watched as more and more people gather.

“Begi-”, Before I could start the match, Beta Ray moved fast and his fist came swinging straight for my jaw. I leaned back and dodged the punch, surprised to feel the shockwave whistling past my face before I kicked up and drove my foot into his chest.

The blow sent him sliding back before he steadied himself, a frown on my face as I shook my leg to get rid of the tingling in it. I had hit him, but his skin felt a lot more compact than I was expecting.

'It's almost as tough as Hulk's skin, which isn't surprising since Hulk is only a bit taller and a fair bit wider than him.'

“Even without your axe, you are quite powerful,” He spoke and I chuckled before the both of us dashed forward, fist meeting fist and sending shockwaves rippling across the field.

Dust flew as the Einherjar let out a cheering roar, both Beta Ray and I grinning before we pushed the other back and rushed in again. Each blow from us had enough force to tear boulders asunder, a spinning elbow from Beta Ray catching my side before I retaliated with an uppercut to his jaw.

He recovered quickly before charging in again, a bit faster this time with a left feint before landing a palm strike to my chest that lifted me off the ground. Yet, I grinned through the pain and grabbed onto his arm, lifting him up with me and sending him back to the ground with a headbutt.

The ground cracked as he managed to land on his feet, with me doing the same as he looked up with a grin while wiping away the blood dripping from his nose.

“That all you have, goldie locks?”

“Not even close, horseface,” I whispered before I shot forward, shifting right as he threw a kick before grabbing onto his leg and throwing him back.

The horse humanoid flipped backwards to stop himself from falling before I leapt up, a gasp escaping his lips as I dropkicked him in the chest and sent him flying backwards.

The crowd quickly parted as I spun midair and landed on my hands, landing on my feet while staring at where Beta Ray was lying on all fours and staring me down.

All right, then,” I heard him mutter, watching him rise with his chest heaving and his breathing heavy. I simply dusted the dirt from my hands before the man began walking forward, the crowd quickly backing away as I did the same.

“You want me to hold back a bit more?”

“No. If anything, you're still a bit too weak,” He answered before he launched himself forward with a thunderous boom. I quickly braced before his shoulder slammed into me like a meteor, digging my feet into the ground as he continued charging and dragged the two of us across the ground.

Yet, I dug my feet in further and we began to slow down, Beta Ray looking both surprised and ecstatic as I gripped his shoulders and grinned.

“Let me show you how!”, I growled as I dug my feet into the ground, the guy's eyes widening as I began to push him back before I pushed him backwards and roared.

The air rumbled as I steadied myself, swinging my left fist low across the ground before it slammed into his stomach with the force of a hurricane. The horse humanoid's eyes widen as the air popped with the impact and I pulled my fist back while watching as he dropped to his knees with a gasp.

“I think we can end it here. I do not wish to be responsible for anything worse that could happen,” I spoke with an apologetic smile as I helped him up, not surprised when Beta Ray let out a raspy chuckle while standing up.

“If I had my hammer, this would have been a much closer battle than before.”

“I've also been enhanced by the powers of nigh-omnipotent mystical items so I would disagree, but we'll have to test that at a later date when we get you a new weapon.”

“A new weapon?”, Beta Ray asked with a raised eyebrow and I nodded as the crowd clapped, most of them dispersing while Hela and the others walked closer.

“Of course, since you're now a part of my personal guard, we'll need to outfit you with the necessary armour and weaponry. Hulk and Emil already have their new Uru armour and weaponry that they use.”

“Don't worry, you can turn it into jewelry,” Emil spoke with a smirk as he tapped the necklace and ring he had on, Hulk showing off the bone necklace he had on and Bill hummed before I turned to Hela.

“It is time. Loki says that Heimdall may have found a lead to this new Necrosword wielder.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Everyone, get dressed and let's get ready for this fight.”

A/N: And we'll end it here. Apologies for the late upload, but I was in a meeting and I was thinking of how to do Gorr for this arc.

Also, the fight was quick, but that's because this is not the 616 Beta Ray Bill. You guys will also see why when we continue the story.

Anyway, next chapter: Darkness vs Lightning.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!