After gaining a brief respite, the remnant forces of Asgard reorganized and joined the counterattack of the Allied Forces.
“Push them back!
Warriors of the Nine Realms, push them back!”
The sounds of battle shook the earth and echoed endlessly in the night sky.
However, just as the Nine Realms Allied Forces began to gain the upper hand, the three thousand motionless black figures at the rear of the battlefield finally moved.
Void Rangers.
They poured out silently from the rear of the Death Legion, with no footsteps, no battle cries, only those vague silhouettes resembling black cutouts moving rapidly in the night, like a massive shadow rising from the ground to shroud the entire battlefield.
The Frost Giants at the very front were the first of the Nine Realms forces to come into contact with the Void Rangers.
“What the hell are these things?” A Frost Giant lowered his head to look at the black figure that only reached his knees, frowning in puzzlement.
His ice barrier seemed to have no effect on the Void Rangers—those pitch-black figures passed straight through the barrier, as if passing through a layer of air.
The Void Ranger raised its head, two glimmers flickering within its vague head contour, and then it extended its arm, placing its palm against the Frost Giant’s lower leg.
Annihilation.
The Frost Giant’s lower leg completely vanished from below the knee, the cross-section as smooth as if sliced by the sharpest blade, with no blood flowing out and no residue left behind; that spot was left cleanly empty just like that, as if a piece had been gouged out of a giant puzzle.
“Ahhhhh—!” The Frost Giant let out a shrill scream, his massive body crashing heavily to the ground, his unbalanced body slamming into the earth and stirring up a cloud of dust.
More Void Rangers swarmed forward, each contact taking away a chunk of flesh, and in less than three breaths, that Frost Giant completely vanished, leaving behind only an even depression on the ground.
“Fall back!
Fall back!
Do not go near those black things!” The Commander of the Frost Giants let out a frantic roar, but it was already too late.
More than twenty Frost Giants in the front row had already been completely annihilated in the first charge of the Void Rangers, those pitch-black figures like the cold light on the God of Death’s sickle, cutting wildly through the Frost Giant array, every contact signifying the complete disappearance of a life.
The Fire Giants met the same fate on the flank.
The physical structure of the Fire Giants differed from the Frost Giants; their core was the internal magma energy, and the annihilation effect of the Void Rangers triggered a more violent reaction when coming into contact with their bodies.
The imbalance of matter and antimatter caused the magma energy within the Fire Giants to rapidly spiral out of control, and when they were touched by the Void Rangers, their bodies began to disintegrate outward from the point of contact, crimson magma splashing in all directions during the disintegration, dragging surrounding Fire Giant comrades into the chain reaction.
“No—!
Do not touch me!
Go away!
Go away!” A Fire Giant frantically waved his fists of flame, attempting to drive away the approaching Void Rangers.
Soon after, more Void Rangers pounced forward, and his massive body disintegrated in an instant, turning into countless scattered fragments of magma.
The elite infantry of the Vanir witnessed all this from afar, their Commander’s pupils contracting violently.
“What on earth are those things?!
magic attacks!
Use ranged magic attacks!
Do not get close!”
The mages of the Vanir quickly raised their staves, dense rune light condensing at the tips of the staves to transform into streams of blue-green energy arrows shooting toward the array of Void Rangers.
The energy arrows did indeed cause a certain effect after hitting the Void Rangers—those pitch-black figures would fluctuate violently when struck, their outlines becoming even vaguer, and they would even briefly disperse into a chaotic black mist.
But moments later they would re-condense once again.
“Mages fall back!
Infantry step up—use a shield wall to block them!” The Commander of the Vanir attempted to reorganize the battle line, but the Void Rangers were too fast, flooding into the Vanir battle line like a black tide and beginning to disintegrate this well-trained elite force from within.
The Dwarf Warriors were the only ones among the Nine Realms Allied Forces who could stalemate with the Void Rangers for a period of time in close combat.
The Dwarf Warriors wore heavy armor, pieces that were the crystallization of Nidavellir’s finest forging craftsmanship, their surfaces covered in defensive runes.
The moment the palms of the Void Rangers touched the armor, the runes would erupt with intense light, countering the annihilation effect.
Although the runes would eventually be eroded by annihilation, before the runes were exhausted, the Dwarf Warriors had a buffer time of three to five breaths.
“Smash them apart with your hammers!
Do not stop!
Keep smashing until they completely vanish!” The Dwarf Commander swung his warhammer and charged at the very front, his warhammer causing a Void Ranger to blast apart into a patch of black mist with every descent.
The Dwarf Warriors behind him followed the same tactic, raising warhammers and axes to deliver continuous strikes against the Void Rangers.
This tactic was indeed effective; a Void Ranger would completely dissipate after being heavily struck a dozen or so times consecutively, but that required consuming an immense amount of stamina and time, while the number of Void Rangers far exceeded the limit that the Dwarf Warriors could handle.
“Too many!
Too many—ah!” The armor runes of a Dwarf Warrior finally became exhausted, the palm of a Void Ranger piercing through the armor to press directly onto his shoulder; his right arm along with his shoulder vanished instantly, fresh blood gushing out from the smooth cross-section, and he collapsed to the ground in agony, quickly being completely swallowed up by the subsequent surging Void Rangers.
The Nine Realms Allied Forces suffered devastating blows before the Void Rangers.
Over half of the Frost Giants were lost, and the remaining half had to retreat to the rear, barely maintaining the battle line with ranged ice arrows.
The losses of the Fire Giants were even more severe, their massive size becoming a fatal flaw before the Void Rangers—the targets were too large and difficult to evade, with nearly seventy percent of the Fire Giants having fallen on the battlefield, turning into cooled magma remnants on the ground.
The elite infantry of the Vanir were torn apart from the inside by the Void Rangers, their battle lines completely collapsed, and the surviving soldiers could only mingle with the remnant forces of Asgard, relying on the walls of the Golden Palace to make a final defense.
Only the Dwarf Warriors were still holding on, but their numbers were also plummeting.
Out of the three thousand Dwarf Warriors, nearly two thousand had already been lost, and the remaining ones, covered in wounds, formed a small circle, warhammers and axes trembling in their hands, their eyes filled with fatigue and resolve.
Hela overlooked this scene from above the battlefield, the corners of her mouth curling into a cold arc, but her gaze did not linger too long on these routed Nine Realms Allied Forces, her attention always locked onto that golden figure ahead.
Odin was still standing on the steps before the gates of the Golden Palace, his cloak stained with dust and blood, the golden light on the Eternal Spear slightly dimmed, but his body remained as upright as a pine, the light within that single eye still as sharp as ever.