"Are you ready yet?"
"No."
"How about now?"
"...Still nothing. Seriously, what's wrong with you? Could you not rush it like that?"
Lothar's expression darkened as he flung the purple crystal device in his hand at The Other, who scrambled to catch it, terrified it might hit the ground.
That crystal was no cheap trinket—it had taken dismantling three whole warships to create it.
"Lord Lothar," Woz said earnestly, "I advise you to continue working on your synchronization with Lady Hela. I'm confident the two of you can reach the required energy resonance threshold to activate the crystal and release the spell."
Woz was genuinely concerned for Lothar's success.
Destroying the magical node that allowed the undead to revive endlessly was beyond Hela's power alone. Only by combining her might with Lothar's could they hope to succeed.
Unfortunately, the two of them wielded completely different types of energy. Forcing those together without calibration risked unpredictable consequences.
To overcome this incompatibility, Woz had analyzed both of their energy spectrums and used the core reactors of three decommissioned warships to engineer an Energy Neutralization Converter—the very purple crystal Lothar had just tossed.
Both Hela and Lothar were to channel their power into this converter. The harmonized energy would then feed back into Hela, empowering her to cast a spell potent enough to obliterate the revival node of the undead.
In Woz's simulations—three thousand runs in total—this method had yielded a 2,500 success rate. That was the only reason Lothar, though visibly irritated, was still standing side by side with Hela, feeding energy into the converter.
Among all the models Woz had tested, this one had the highest probability of success.
"Lord Lothar, your energy resonance with Lady Hela is nearing optimal levels. Please, don't give up."
But after ninety failed attempts, Lothar's patience was wearing thin.
"That's ninety tries, and your energy output is still all over the place. Do you even have a brain?" Hela snapped, clearly running out of patience herself. She was increasingly convinced that this man's terrifying combat prowess had been paid for in sheer lack of intelligence.
"As a man, aren't you ashamed to be so quick?"
"I'm fast? You're the slow one, you dumb woman." Lothar crossed his arms and scoffed, clearly uninterested in matching her rhythm.
"Do you really not get what I'm saying?" Hela chuckled, her voice laced with amusement—as if she'd just discovered a new toy.
"...?"
Lothar frowned. His entire life had been a cycle of training and studying. As he grew older, it became endless combat missions. He had no idea what to make of the odd glint in Hela's eyes, but it definitely didn't bode well.
So, he chose to ignore it.
Boom!
The crash of a mechanical behemoth falling to the ground yanked the two of them from their awkward standoff. South of their position, the line of defense was starting to collapse under the relentless assault of the undead horde.
"Don't worry, Prince Lothar! I'll dispatch reinforcements immediately!" The Other wisely refrained from provoking Lothar further. He placed the purple crystal gently on the boulder beside him and began issuing commands with his staff.
More Chitauri soldiers, now equipped with Woz's salvaged warship magic tech, surged into battle, engaging the endlessly reviving undead warriors once more.
But Chitauri soldiers still could die. If they wanted a permanent solution, syncing with Hela seemed to be their only option.
Lothar had even tried using the Mind Stone directly on himself. But perhaps his obsession with unlocking Super Saiyan powers through his own strength was too deeply rooted—this time, it had failed.
"Let's go again. And remember—slower this time. Stop being so damn fast," Hela said, tossing his crystal back into his arms, her smile infuriatingly smug.
And Lothar had no idea why it annoyed him so much.
"Dumb woman. Just keep up with my pace this time," Lothar grumbled, gripping the converter again.
No sooner had he spoken than the crystal in both their hands lit up in brilliant, dazzling light.
"Now, Lord Lothar!" Woz's voice rang out right on cue.
Lothar and Hela each held their crystal with one hand and clasped the other's hand tightly.
BOOM!
"Synchronization!"
"Conversion initiated!"
The Energy Neutralization Converter activated under Woz's command, and the massive harmonized power surged into Hela's body!
"It worked!"
The sudden influx of power stung like hell, and Hela let out a stifled gasp. Though her voice was barely a whisper, it didn't escape Lothar's ears.
Biting back the pain that felt like her body was being torn from the inside, Hela shut her eyes. Her crimson lips parted in a groan, pained yet resolute, as the incantation Woz had prepared echoed across the sky above the undead army.
A force so overwhelming that it could annihilate the resurrection node burst forth from Hela's right arm—the arm holding the converter—and streaked toward the location Woz had marked.
"We did it..."
Spent from unleashing all that power in a single blast, Hela collapsed onto the ground, her eyes locked on the path the energy had taken.
The endlessly reviving undead soldiers seemed to sense the impending threat. They froze, then surged forward in an attempt to block it—only to be instantly vaporized.
"Was that it?" Lothar asked, glancing down at Hela, who was slumped at his feet. Before he could finish his thought, a flash of orange emerged from the same direction the energy had traveled, landing behind enemy lines.
"...What?"
A skeletal orange creature stared into the wave of magical energy, its gaunt eyes reflecting the raw, surging power. Then it opened its mouth.
Terrifying tentacles shot out and devoured the energy whole.
"Meow~"
The orange being, now clearly a cat—albeit not an ordinary one—extended a soft pink tongue and licked its paw contentedly, then fixed its wide, curious eyes on Lothar and Hela.
It had clearly sensed that this energy—so delectable—had come from the two of them.
"Wh-what the hell is that thing?!"
The Other shrieked, frozen in disbelief. When the small, orange feline hopped casually in front of Lothar and Hela, his heart nearly stopped. He was terrified it might devour them next.
"Meow~"
The little creature sat down, licked its paw again, tilted its round head, and let out a gentle mewl.
Lothar and Hela exchanged wary glances.
Both could see it in each other's eyes: this wasn't over.
"Meow!"
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