“This level of ice sealing, even if I were trapped inside, it wouldn’t be pleasant. But Heimdall, that guy, can still connect with the Abyss’ power to dismantle it…”
Tao Yu perceived Heimdall’s state within.
And he could feel that, although Heimdall was frozen, his consciousness was faintly active, as if he was trying to look toward him.
Back when Tao Yu first obtained the Thunder God’s Hammer, he had felt Heimdall’s gaze.
But this time was distinctly different from the last. Just being glanced at by him gave the sensation of something trying to infect him.
It seemed his eyes had already connected to the Abyss!
“Goodness, his eyes have become the Abyss’ reflection?”
Being glanced at for merely a moment, Tao Yu had already gauged about eighty percent of Heimdall’s condition.
Exhaling lightly, he began slowly tracing circles with his hands, attempting to drag the surroundings into Mirror Space.
The spatial solidity of Asgard was clearly very high, making it even more difficult to utilize Mirror Space. Adding to that the freezing from the Ice Box, even for Tao Yu, it was considerably strenuous; he was barely able to pull in a small subordinate area attached to the control panel in front of him.
However, after succeeding, with the help of the Abyss Aura emanating from Heimdall, Tao Yu once again felt that unrestricted lightness.
“Why does it feel like going home? Tsk~”
Tao Yu pursed his lips, feeling that his ties to the Abyss were becoming too close.
Yet, leaving aside its impact on his image, its practicality was undeniably strong.
“Besides, out here, I’m the noble and righteous Guardian of the Nine Realms, acknowledged by the Thunder God’s Hammer…”
Tao Yu raised his hand, and before him, the ice layers seemed to fold like the Mirror Space itself, rapidly peeling away layer by layer, much like shelling an egg.
In reality, the platform’s external appearance remained completely intact, still exactly as it was before.
Yet within Mirror Space, under Tao Yu’s control, it was as if from another dimension, he removed all the outer ice unscathed, ultimately freeing Heimdall at the core!
With the final piece of ice displaced, Heimdall slowly stood up in the center, embodying the posture of a thinker. Then he spoke:
“You have arrived, Heavenly Destiny Person.”
As Heimdall turned his head, the infinite reflections in his eyes transformed into a pure black hue, like an unfathomable Abyss.
His eye sockets visibly protruded outward, etched with cracks running along the sides.
The result was grotesque and surreal.
Yet, for all that, the glance he cast toward Tao Yu somehow evoked a sense of ‘calm.’
Not at all as insane as Loki had described.
“Oh, stand still and don’t move—I’ll try plucking your eyes out.”
Tao Yu raised his hand slightly, mimicking a grasp, instantly binding Heimdall through an AT Field.
Though Heimdall himself was extraordinarily powerful, and even stronger now in his corrupted state,
the fact that he relied on the Abyss’ power placed him right within Tao Yu’s area of expertise.
With this pseudo-grip from a distance, Heimdall was rendered completely immobilized.
Yet Heimdall himself made no effort to resist.
His composed demeanor caught Tao Yu somewhat off guard.
As Tao Yu pondered whether to use a Sealing Skill to assist in gouging out Heimdall’s eyes or employ some other method, he casually asked:
“I heard from Loki you plan to destroy the Nine Realms. You don’t seem like it, though—using the Rainbow Bridge?”
“I don’t want to destroy the Nine Realms. I want to save them, Heavenly Destiny Person. I have witnessed so much—I have seen the Universe’s End and the Return to Ruins, so I know what must be done to set things right.”
Heimdall wore an expression of profound sorrow, one that didn’t seem feigned.
“The roots of the Tree of the World have already extended into the universe’s end; they have been affected. What I must do is use the Rainbow Bridge to spread this power across the Nine Realms. Heavenly Destiny Person, you are capable of understanding me. Only by letting the Nine Realms also embrace the power of the Return to Ruins can they achieve eternity…”
Heimdall’s words sounded entirely ‘reasonable,’ as though he genuinely believed them.
But to Tao Yu, they were just ridiculous.
At first glance, they seemed logical—like creating a firebreak in a wildfire by burning a circle of land ahead, leaving nothing else to burn once it reached that point.
But Heimdall’s method wasn’t about creating a firebreak; he was proposing to burn the entire forest!
Burn everything down to ashes!
Setting aside the process—
what would happen after the forest was burned? Would it still be able to catch fire
The problem was that Heimdall presented it all as if it were perfectly natural.
“Heavenly Destiny Person, I believe you ought to understand and support me in this—you’ve always been this way…”
Tao Yu cursed. Who was always like that? Clearly insane—how dare he smear my reputation?
“I’m the Nine Realms’ Guardian chosen by the Thunder God’s Hammer. If I hadn’t promised Thor and the Queen of Gods, I’d put a stop to this madness today.”
While cursing, Tao Yu had already devised a suitable surgical plan.
At that moment, within the Mirror Space, several thin black tendrils extended out, stabbing fiercely into Heimdall’s temple and connecting to his eyes.
Simultaneously, streams of sealing runes flowed along those black tendrils, pouring into Heimdall’s eyes.
Gradually, his eye sockets began to dim…
From an external perspective, the Rainbow Bridge platform in front appeared unchanged, still just as it was before.
But upon closer inspection, it emanated a faint, hazy ripple, like a mirage.