For a moment, Hela just stared down at her father, who lied on the ground in a puddle of his own blood and who was still unconscious, then she made a movement with her hand, summoned a sword out of thin air and slowly bent down. Her face hard and cold as stone, she raised the sword, obviously she was going for the killing blow. "Wait!" She stiffened and turned her face towards Devil. "What?" she asked with raised eyebrows and looked suspicious into his eyes. Devil shrugged. "Well, it's of course your decision, but probably it would be better if you would let him live," he answered.

Hela stared at him with an icy expression. "What did you just say? I waited an eternity for this moment and no force in the entire universe will prevent me from getting my revenge on my father!" The primeval goddess slowly rose up into a threatening pose, her sword was now pointing towards Devil. Devil raised his hands conciliatorily. "I don't intend to prevent you from getting your revenge. I just thought, considering that your two brothers are most likely all over organizing a resistance against your upcoming claim to power in Asgard right at this moment, a living Odin would be more beneficial for your plans than a dead one. You could use him as leverage against your two brothers and I assume that the opposition of Asgard's army would in any case be greater if they consider you to be the murderer of their former ruler." Hela didn't answer but lowered her sword. "And in case that I observed correctly earlier, just before your arrival, Odin has already transferred all his powers and with those all his right to reign over Asgard to his son Thor, so he himself can't challenge your rule any longer," Devil added. Hela looked down on Odin with an unreadable face, but her hand clenched the hilt of her sword with such force that the knuckles became white. "Also, without his powers, what threat could he probably pose now," Devil concluded. Hela's mouth twisted. "Oh, even if he really has transferred all his powers to his son, the old man still poses a big threat, believe me," she hissed. Finally, her body relaxed. She turned away from Odin and looked towards Devil. "But I see your point. Very well, he may live for the moment. I will decide his fate after I have taken over Asgard."

Odin's firstborn dematerialized her sword with a twist of her wrist, rested her hands on her hips and glanced towards the sky with a thoughtful look. "Now, how do we get to Asgard..." "Well, I could fly us there...," her companion remarked casually. Hela sized him up and then again stared into the sky above. "Even if you had the power to fly us up into the void, Asgard may be located near Midgard, but it conceals itself from intruders, and I am afraid that this includes me at the moment. It can only be accessed over Bifrost, the mystical Rainbow Bridge, the pillar of light that you saw earlier and which transported the two sons of the All-Father away..." Hela stopped and then glanced back at Devil. "...and yet, you seemingly managed to steal Surtur's crown from Odin's treasure vault in Asgard's Royal Palace of Valaskjalf." Her mysterious counterpart smiled confidently. "As I said earlier, I can get us to Asgard. Just trust me." With a skeptical look on her face, Hela folded her arms in front of her chest. "All right then, let's go. I'm waiting to be impressed."

Devil's face lit up, then he seemed to remember something. "Just a question: Do you need air to breathe?" Hela frowned: "Excuse me?" Her fellow gesticulated: "I mean: There are winds on the surface on Midgard and Asgard. There are no winds in the space we need to cross to travel from Midgard to Asgard. Do you need the winds to breathe and speak? If so, then we might have a problem that we have to solve first." The asgardian princess stared down her counterpart: "Mortal whelp, in ancient times before you were even born, I already battled the enemies of Asgard in all the Nine Realms and the settings never mattered. The embers of Muspelheim do not burn me, the frosts of Niflheim do not freeze me, the floods of Aegir do not drown me, the yawning void of Ginnungagap does not extinguish me. So don't worry, there won't be any problems for me on our journey through the emptiness." Devil blinked, then raised his arms. "All right, great!"

"So, what about him..." Devil looked down to Odin, thought for a moment, then seemed to have an idea. Hela watched silently with crossed arms and with a bemused expression on her face as Devil first opened his belt, bent down to Odin and then lifted up her father's senseless body. A minute later, with interlacing belts, Odin's limp frame was now strapped back to back to Devil. It was unclear if somewhat of and if so, how much of Odin's power was actually left inside of him after the energy transfer to his son, but Devil hoped that it was enough that the old man wouldn't have to suffocate in space.

Devil smiled, opened his arms and looked expectantly at Hela. Hela raised her eyebrows: "Now what?" Devil's smile widened. "Please come on board, mylady." Hela rolled her eyes and breathed in deeply, but then resigned to her inevitable fate. She stepped wordlessly to her companion, hesitated for a moment, finally put her arm around Devil's neck and let him lift her up from the floor and into his arms. Considering that the only other man who ever lifted her up and held her in his arms was her father, a millennia ago when she was still a child, Hela couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. She glanced into Devil's face which now was blushing scarlet. He avoided eye contact, gazed straight upwards into the sky and his arms slightly shivered. Hela snorted. This curious lad behaved as if he was still a virgin. Well, in that case they would have something in common. As the asgardian princess, she had been forbidden to approach men and no man ever dared to approach her. She didn't know if the asgardian males had been afraid of her, if they had not been interested in her because in their eyes she possibly behaved "too manly" or was "too dominant"...or had it been the fact that she was simply too strong to possibly be subjugated by any other man besides her father? Or, could it be that Odin behind her back all the time had made sure that no man would ever dare to try to get to know her and try to get into a relationship with her, let alone make a proposal of marriage to her? If she would have had a husband and if she would have become pregnant, possibly with a male heir, it likely would have thwarted Odin's plan to ultimately abandon her after having used her as his instrument to gain power and riches and to get rid of his enemies.

Hela dispelled these thoughts. Devil's feet left the ground and silently and slowly, and then faster and faster, they began to rise up towards the sky. Hela was fascinated. Devil had indeed told the truth, he really could fly. Or could he? For some weird reason, it didn't feel like they were flying. Hela thought back. As a teenager, she had been flying on the back of Odin's winged and eight-legged stallion Sleipnir, so she knew exactly how it felt to fly through the air. But this felt different. When she had been flying on her father's horse, she had heard and felt the wind blowing violently around her, through her hair and against her face and body, she had felt the forces of acceleration when Sleipnir had changed speed or direction, but now, there was no movement of the air or any force of acceleration to be felt at all. It didn't feel like they were moving through the air, but it rather felt as if they were standing still and as if Devil was moving the world around them. How was this possible?

They ascended higher and higher, floating through a layer of soft clouds, which felt cool and moist on her skin, and finally reaching the void and limitless space beyond earth's atmosphere, where everything was just cold, quiet, empty and yet flooded with an insubstantial luminosity streaming from the far-away sun. It was a soothing experience for Hela, like being dissociated or even liberated from everything. She looked down at Midgard which appeared like a big glimmering bluish pearl. Her enigmatic ally was seemingly much more laid-back right now, his arms were not shaking anymore, and she felt him stealing glances at her face. Surprisingly, Hela realized that she began to feel very comfortable and relaxed with Devil being so near to her and holding her in his arms. It was as if time stood still, not only Midgard but all the things that usually occupied her mind were far away from her now, and she just enjoyed the moment and being intimately close to her mysterious companion. His arms and torso pressed against her felt like cool marble wrapped in cotton. She could feel his heart beating steadily against her ribs. Finally, Hela looked around and as expected, there was no hint of Asgard being nearby anywhere. Hela turned to Devil to gaze into his eyes and with a voice more mellow than she intended it to be she whispered: "I told you so, there is no trace of Asgard to be found up here." Devil looked back into her eyes, his calm self-confidence seemingly completely restored, and he said with a small smile: "Just wait. Now, please hold on tight, I need my right arm." Hela embraced his neck a bit tighter, Devil let his right arm go off her, and extended it into space with an opened hand as if he wanted to grab something. Hela turned her head and looked with curiosity at Devil's hand. Suddenly, the dark space with the bright small white stars, which was passing by behind the extended fingers of her companion, seemed to warp and cause ripples. Hela focused even more on what she saw, trying to understand what exactly was happening there. The black and star-spangled space under Devil's hand looked to her now rather like a moving water surface in which the night sky was brilliantly reflected and just after finishing that thought, Devil's hand appeared to touch it and small water droplets seemed to spray upwards from it. "Welcome back to your homeland, Queen of Asgard!" Devil pronounced with a wide smile. Hela jerked a little bit at that sudden interruption and looked up. What a sight to behold! The shores of Asgard were now arising in front of her, and she realized that they were flying right over the waters surrounding and encircling Asgard before falling straight down into the abyss and that they were moving swiftly towards the golden Bifrost dome, the building which was the source and anchor of the Rainbow Bridge on Asgard. Hela's breath was taken away. The rays of the sun softly flattered the silhouette of the monumental building and the cliffs it was erected on, finally dipping into the surface of the waters. Foaming waves were crashing against the rocks that formed the foundation of the imposing structure. Devil's flight path now described a curve, darting upwards near the wall of rock and approaching the spring of the asgardian bridge of light. Crying seagulls were flapping around them and all of a sudden, something changed and Hela could finally feel the fresh winds blowing against her frame and stirring up her hair. The asgardian goddess experienced a huge relief and an exciting ecstasy welled up inside her. She now indeed felt as if she was riding again on Sleipnir's back, leaving all her worries and sorrows behind. They had ascended above the dome and Devil gave her a questioning glance. Hela pointed to the brilliant and gigantic palaces which could be seen in the distance. "Let's head right to Asgard's market place," she spoke under her breath. Devil nodded and advanced towards the center of the towering golden city.

Far away, the snow-capped mountain range surrounding Asgard city sparkled in the bright sunlight. Below, the bridge from Asgard's beach to the Bifrost dome, built out of shimmering crystal and glinting gold, passed by. The two companions fell into a comfortable silence, Hela was looking straight towards the glistening metropolis. Devil took the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful moment and glanced at the marvelous woman in his arms who seemed to dwell on her own thoughts. She smiled steadily with an absent look on her face. She had a faint yet cool and fresh scent to herself, like a small bubbling creek rushing down from a mountain in spring. The more they approached the city the more Hela's presence and radiance increased, she seemed to open up like a flower in the morning when met with the first rays of the sun, the tenuous dewy aroma emanating from her appeared to intensify a little. Was she already absorbing Asgard's life force although she had not made contact with its land mass yet? Or was it just her being happy to finally being home again after an eternity in exile? Devil did not know, but he had the impression to get a small glimpse of her as she was supposed to be and as she probably was as a child before Odin began to forge her into his war machine, a blooming, cheerful and delighted person, at peace with herself and with the world. Devil's mouth turned into a determined smile. And he surely would do everything he could to turn this fleeting vision and possibility into actual and complete realization.

Devil looked over his shoulder towards Odin whose limp frame was still dangling at his belt on his back and who laid across his horizontally floating body, seemingly still unconscious but appearing to be breathing flatly and having survived their traversing of the void. Below, Asgard's magnificent splendor unfolded into a staggering sight. They traversed over fantastic palaces and buildings, all built out of bright yellow gold, milky white marble and shining translucent rock crystal, with areas of sunlit woods, parks and gardens with flowing streams and many bridges extending between them. They now were approaching Asgard's center, and Devil suddenly could feel Hela tensing up in his arms. He turned his head and saw that Hela was staring down and that her face had taken on an intense expression. He looked past her and to the uncanny scene taking place on the ground. Asgard's market place was filled to the brim with iron-clad soldiers, armed to the teeth with swords, lances, axes and shields. A fleet of mighty battle ships made out of wood and steel and with fluttering sails was magically floating in the air above and around the location. Hela's brothers Thor and Loki had seemingly been very busy while she and her mystifying fellow had journeyed from Midgard to the realm of the norse gods. Devil could see Odin's sons standing on elevated positions, and they and the warriors all were waiting and staring up to the two intruders, obviously ready for war. "Well, this could certainly be fun," Devil thought while slowly beginning to descend.