Not So Friendly Anymore

Chapter 47: The Rounds Not Over Yet

Gorr's dry, broken laugh echoed across the ruined streets like gravel scraping against bone. The shadows around him surged thicker than before, coiling like living smoke, feeding on the chaos and growing stronger with every drop of divine blood spilled.

Odin pressed the attack without pause. Gungnir flashed in precise, devastating arcs, each thrust carrying the fury of a king who had ruled for millennia. One spear strike pierced Gorr's side, solar fire erupting from the wound. The All-Father twisted the weapon, trying to burn the corruption from within.

Malice was a whirlwind of crimson fury beside him. Her silver hair whipped wildly as she slammed layered force fields into Gorr from every angle, crushing, grinding, trying to pulp him where he stood. "You don't get to laugh," she snarled, voice raw with Susan's pain and something far darker. "Not after what you did to him."

Thor came in like a storm unleashed. Mjolnir spun in wide, thunderous arcs, lightning exploding on every impact. He roared with each swing, driving Gorr back step by bloody step, cracking the already shattered streets beneath them.

For a moment, a brief, desperate moment, the three of them had the God Butcher on the defensive.

Gorr took hit after hit. Black blood sprayed. Wounds opened and tried to close. The Necrosword screamed as it drank deeply to heal him, but even it couldn't keep up with the combined assault.

Then Gorr stopped retreating.

He planted his feet.

And smiled.

The Necrosword exploded outward in a storm of blades and tendrils. One lash caught Thor across the chest, sending him crashing through a collapsing tower. Another whip of shadow slammed into Malice's fields, shattering them and hurling her backward. Odin barely managed to block a spear-form thrust aimed at his heart, the force of the blow driving him to one knee.

"You dance well," Gorr rasped, breathing steady despite the damage. "For a pair of corpses."

He advanced again.

The Necrosword morphed into a massive cleaver and came down in a brutal overhead strike. Odin met it with Gungnir, but the impact forced him back, boots carving furrows in the stone. Malice tried to pin Gorr with a crushing field; he shattered it with a contemptuous swing and backhanded her hard enough to send her skidding across the ground.

Thor launched himself forward once more, roaring, lightning crackling wildly around him. Mjolnir collided with the Necrosword in a cataclysmic clash that lit up the entire district. For a heartbeat, thunder god and god-slayer stood locked, power pushing against power.

Gorr leaned in close.

"I have killed beings far mightier than you, Boy," he whispered.

He twisted.

Mjolnir flew from Thor's grip.

The hammer spun away, crashing somewhere in the distance. Thor staggered, and Gorr drove a fist wrapped in shadow straight into his gut, lifting him off his feet before slamming him down so hard the street cratered beneath them.

Odin and Malice attacked together, spear and crimson force striking at the same time.

Gorr turned.

The Necrosword met both attacks and pushed them back, forcing the All-Father and the crimson storm to retreat several steps.

Gorr stood tall in the center of the destruction, breathing steady, the Necrosword dripping with the blood of gods and warriors alike. His sunken eyes swept over the battlefield, cold and unyielding.