"Huh? What happened? How did he do that?"
The goddess of strength, Srud, shook her head, dislodging the frost that had gathered on her helt. She stretched her stiff body, her face full of confusion.
"Wait... is this the power of the Casket of Ancient Winters from the Jotunheim giants?"
Tyr, the God of War, had sharp eyesight. He looked up and saw the triangular, azure gemstone necklace hanging around Leon's neck, wisps of freezing air emanating from it.
"I think I heard that Wanda reforged the Casket of Ancient Winters into a necklace and gave it to Leon... but for him to have completely mastered it in such a short ti? That's unbelievable."
Thor shivered slightly, still feeling the lingering chill, and couldn't help but be surprised.
The other gods flew around the massive icicle and confird that Surtur was truly frozen. Seeing that he wouldn't be escaping anyti soon, they finally breathed a sigh of relief and descended to the ground.
"I, too, happened to overhear Thor and Tyr's conversation, and I was just as shocked."
The Casket of Ancient Winters had once been a trophy from Odin's conquest of Jotunheim, sealed away in his treasure vault for centuries. This artifact was imnsely powerful, but since it was an heirloom of the Frost Giants, the Asgardians had never been able to wield it—lacking the necessary bloodline.
Perhaps it was Asgardian pride that kept it locked away. After all, a trophy should remain in the treasure vault, gathering dust for eternity.
But no one could have expected that, in this dire mont, an artifact belonging to an enemy race would be reforged and wielded by a guardian from Midgard.
Even though the Casket of Ancient Winters wasn't originally his, no one could deny Leon's strength.
Up in the sky, Leon looked down at the frozen Surtur. He could still sense the fire giant's overwhelming vitality beneath the ice. He knew that freezing Surtur with the Casket of Ancient Winters's energy was not the difficult part—after all, fire and ice were natural opposites.
If he wanted to, he could use the frost necklace's power to keep Surtur trapped for centuries, maybe even millennia.
But doing so required a continuous energy feed from Sky Blade—a resource he wasn't willing to waste on Surtur.
Fortunately, before this battle, Sky Blade Seven had already analyzed Muspelheim, scanning Surtur while he was still in a dormant state. The AI had formulated a precise combat strategy based on his weaknesses—all without Surtur even realizing it.
That was the terrifying power of super-god technology.
When two combatants were of similar strength, the one with a calculated, data-backed battle plan would always hold the advantage.
That's exactly what had happened here.
Leon wasn't necessarily stronger than Surtur, even with Sky Blade Seven's assistance. But because his plan specifically targeted Surtur's vulnerabilities, the battle had beco completely one-sided.
Suddenly—
Whoosh!
Thor led the gods as they soared toward Leon. Every single one of them placed a hand over their chest in Asgard's highest gesture of respect.
"Thank you for your help, Leon!!"
Thor looked at him with gratitude in his eyes.
Leon glanced at the gathered gods before turning to Thor and shaking his head.
"I don't think those words are necessary. As a friend, this is only natural. Besides, Natasha and Wanda seem to be having a great ti in Asgard."
As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Natasha and Wanda, who were flying toward him.
"Leon~~"
"Boss Leon~~"
The two flanked him, with Natasha on one side and Wanda on the other. Natasha glanced down at the colossal icicle beneath them and frowned.
"He's not dead yet."
"In this world, killing Surtur isn't that easy."
Leon nodded, and the others, including Thor, all understood this well.
"Still, you should be careful," Natasha warned, concern evident in her voice.
Wanda and Pietro exchanged glances before departing with Sergei and the others.
Now, only Leon remained floating in the air.
He watched as Natasha, Wanda, and the others disappeared into the distance. Once they were far enough away, his body slowly descended.
From his perspective, the frozen Surtur was an enormous figure, an ice-covered colossus gripping the Twilight Sword at his waist, his head still tilted back in a fearso pose. His expression, once full of fury, was now locked in an eternal snarl.
Unfortunately, he was nothing more than an oversized ice sculpture now.
"Sorry, man," Leon said with mock sympathy. "Looks like you'll be in a weakened state for a while."
Without waiting for a response—if Surtur could even give one—Leon placed his hand against the icy prison and ntally commanded:
"Keisha, begin energy extraction."
"Target locked: Surtur. Beginning extraction," Keisha's voice responded in his mind.
At that mont, golden threads of energy suddenly erged from Leon's palm, piercing deep into Surtur's frozen body.
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