DIVINE CHAMPIONS 6: A FINAL CONFLICT

FROST: DARKNESS FALLS TO START

Mikael rose his head. He had just received a big boost of confidence. He had destroyed the Nokks. He had assisted the Valkyries in battle. And everything was all set for a fabulous finale.

Only one problem existed. Bergfinn, son of Thrymm, still lived. And he was looking unstoppable, with the four Crystals attached to his body. Frost had never worked on him, given he was a literal Frost Giant. And with the Nature Crystal with him, none of the divine champions' powers worked on him. Whatever had hurt him so far were weapons of great might.

It took Mikael a fraction of seconds to hit it. Berg was not prophesied to die by a god. He was prophesied to die by a champion of the gods. But the powers of the champions were not working on him. Only divine weapons were, so far. Alas, the champions were short of that. Could anything else work? 'Darkness falls to start.' The last line of the prophecy. What was the start? What did the start mean?

Mikael looked around. The gods had just picked themselves up, and had understood that Berg was unbeatable to any divine. Odin looked at Mikael. Rishi had just helped Rick up. Ishaan, who had fallen on an steel rod that would have surely killed him, had turned into his phoenix fylgja, and burned and turned to ashes. Now, he was rising from his own ashes. Aitri was readying herself for another launch of attack. Anaya, meanwhile, picked up her bow. Her quiver was magical, as Kira had said. Infinite arrow quiver gifted to her by Mani after her success in her quest. Rishi looked at all of five of them, and shouted, "He is getting weaker. Andvari's ring is working its curse. He's slowing down. Our patrons have done all they can. Come on, guys. This is for our families, our people, our whole world. This sicko must be stopped."

"One final time!" Rick roared.

Rishi flew high and charged himself. Aitri stood where she was, and opened the ground, before closing it, catching both of Berg's feet underground. The Giant King tried his best to free himself. Mikael realized that this wouldn't hold him for long. Debris around them started to float mid-air, as Rick launched them all at Berg's face. The blood trickled down his face. Ishaan's fireballs made sure the armor caught fire. At that moment, Rishi came in and punched Berg's face. And the entire pantheon realized that Rishi's physical strength was of Thor's. And Thor's physical strength had always been the Achilles heel for Frost Giants. The punch was so strong that it shook Berg's jaw, who roared in anger. Berg's physical strength could actually be matched.

Mikael saw the window of opportunity at that moment. He called for Maja, who rode a flying horse, and sent Mik up, towards the Giant King's right shoulder. All the blood that trickled down his body gave Mikael the idea. "Let me introduce you to Sub-Zero, Bergfinn." He quickly froze the blood and formed two ice-daggers of Berg's blood. Then, he went for the Nature Crystal, which was getting loose from the now-melting armor.

Mikael Nyqvist made a mistake. The biggest mistake of his life.

Rishi saw through his plan, and cried, "Mik, stop." But Mikael paid no heed, and jumped at Berg's left arm. Berg instantly blocked him. His brute force made Mikael loose both the daggers, as he fell on the ground. Mikael came down on his feet, as he saw Berg hail both the daggers at him. Mik reacted by doing a Sub-Zero trademark, duplicating himself in ice-form, and taking a step back. And the very next moment, he felt a super-powerful burning sensation right under his chest.

Mikael had taken out the first dagger by the ice-duplicate, but in doing so, taken a fraction of a second too long to see to the second dagger. The dagger pierced through his chest.

The pain was beyond anything he had ever felt. Mikael felt weak in his knees, as he clutched his chest. He actually saw his life in front of him. The entirety of it. The literature classes, his father, his mother, Maja, his friends, Ishaan, the adventures. He quickly took out the dagger, and willed it, with all the energy left, to fly and strike at the Nature Crystal. It did, as the armor broke off. And Mikael collapsed on the floor.

Far away, the gods came running at him. His friends, however, were shocked. They couldn't move, or see that Berg didn't have the Crystals of Fate anymore. And at that moment, the lines made sense to Mikael. "When the ice melts, darkness falls to start." He murmured. That's it. He was the ice that needed to melt. And the start. The start. 

All of this started with Rishi saving Pankhpur from a substance dealer. And he, to be honest, started with just raw physical strength. No lightning, no storm, just force. That was the start, the frost giants' Achilles heel. With whatever energy was left, Mikael cried up to Rishi, and showed his biceps. "The start, Rishi, the start."

Rishi's face turned from shock to anger. He screamed a sky-tearing scream, as lightning flashed. The clouds turned darker, and darker, as it started to rain. Maja came running towards Mikael, tears in her eyes. "Why did you..."

"Shhh!" Mikael shushed her, and held her hand, "We have to see this." Maja closed his wound, trying to stop the flow of blood. Meanwhile, Rishi had started for Berg's head. Rick had started inflicting pain on the Giant King. Aitri was suffocating him, while Ishaan, in his phoenix form, blinded him. "After tonight," Rishi thundered, "You'll go to Helheim, without your eyes, ears, or head. And the souls in Helheim will laugh at you, and call you out, as the ignorant fool who thought he could defy his destiny."

Lightning struck all across Pankhpur, as Rishi's strength increased. Mikael realized why. Thor had touched his Mjolnir on the ground, and was flexing his own strength, channeling bits of it into his champion. All the gods, except Hnoss and Thrud, who were comforting Maja and helping Mikael, stood watching.

The cursing pain, the suffocation, the blindness, and the pull close to the neck was too much for even the strongest Frost Giant. Bergfinn cried, bellowed. Freya conjured a pair of iron chains and tied them to Berg's hands. Vidar put the chains under his shoes. A helpless Berg groaned, as Ishaan tore off his ears. "We are champions of Norse gods. Know how we avenge our loved ones?" Rishi asked, cramming his teeth. Berg only groaned. "What is that? Louder, Bergfinn. I can't hear you." He pulled Berg's neck even more forcefully. Mikael peeked at Odin, who stood there calmly. Magni and Modi looked quite worried. Tyr had just come and stood beside Maja. "Can't remember? No matter. You'll get a lot of time in Helheim. Find Narfi and ask him."

Rishi seemed to be winning the battle of strength and endurance. With one last scream of unbelievable power, Rishi did a Kratos, and tore off Berg's head from his neck. The colourless blood that spurted out of the decapitated body bathed Rishi in it. An ultimate relaxation set over Mikael. If he was melting, he was leaving having ended chaos.

Bergfinn, the Giant King, son of Thrymm, ruler of Jotunheim, and a pain in the behind in the Norse world, was dead.