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Nidavellir—the land of the Dwarves.
Built around a dazzling neutron star, the entire realm looked like a giant ring-shaped Dyson sphere, home to hundreds of dwarves.
They were known for having the greatest forging skills in all Nine Realms. The artifacts they crafted were famous across the universe.
Unfortunately, long ago, the dwarves were conquered by the mighty Odin. Nidavellir became one of the realms under his rule.
The dwarves were forced to serve Asgard.
But in return, they received Odin's protection, and by extension, Asgard's.
This arrangement allowed Nidavellir and its people to enjoy peace for a very long time.
Suddenly, a radiant beam of rainbow light shot down upon the peaceful star ring of Nidavellir.
The light quickly faded, revealing a tall, muscular figure.
He wore shining silver armor, though it was still stained with fresh blood. Behind him, a massive demonic skull was chained and slung over his back.
The skull had two long, devilish horns curving from its head.
"Eitri, my man! I'm back!"
Stepping out of the Bifrost was none other than Thor, son of Odin—his face lit up with excitement as he shouted to the dwarves.
"Thor... you actually defeated Surtur?!"
Soon, a dwarf—though nearly over three meters tall—hurried over to greet Thor.
He stared in disbelief at the demon skull strapped to Thor's back.
"Of course I did. I've awakened my godly powers. Nothing can stop me now."
Thor casually threw the massive skull to the ground with a loud thud.
"I still don't get how this guy was supposed to trigger Ragnarok. He was pitifully weak."
Even now, Thor found it hard to believe that the legendary Ragnarok prophecy had anything to do with such a pathetic creature.
"Oh right, here's your hammer back. Compared to Mjolnir, this thing's trash. Totally awkward to use."
Thor didn't care to dwell on Ragnarok any longer. He no longer believed in that "ridiculous" prophecy.
He handed over a silver hammer to Eitri, looking visibly annoyed with it.
Compared to all the other hammers, he still loved Mjolnir the most. But sadly...
"Well, yeah, that hammer was one of my finest creations at the time," Eitri said with a hint of regret.
"But don't worry, Thor. Since you actually brought me Surtur's skull, I'm gonna use my best skills to forge you a brand-new, super-powerful artifact."
"I'm talking something even stronger than the Eternal Spear your father Odin uses!"
As he reassured Thor, a fiery excitement burned in Eitri's eyes.
For a master blacksmith, crafting a stronger weapon meant everything—it was the ultimate source of pride.
But under Odin's protection, the dwarves hadn't had a chance to forge anything truly legendary in ages. That changed just days ago when Thor showed up—
—With Odin's blessing to forge a brand-new weapon.
No limitations. Not even on artifacts reserved only for Asgard's kings.
That alone had Eitri buzzing with excitement.
He immediately thought about crafting a long-planned design: the Storm Battle Axe, a true king's weapon.
But very soon, he scrapped the idea.
Sure, the Storm Axe was incredibly powerful—its might could even rival Odin's Eternal Spear.
But weapon crafting had no limits. And what Eitri truly longed for, was to break through those limits.
This time, he had the perfect chance.
"Surtur's skull… and the Eternal Flame…"
Picking up the giant demon skull, Eitri tried to suppress his excitement as he walked toward the colossal forge.
"The power of giants and flame… fused with thunder and storm…"
"This weapon, though not yet born, will hold the power to destroy worlds."
He stopped in front of the massive forge.
Without hesitation, he tossed Surtur's skull into the blazing furnace.
"Brothers, fire it up!"
The next moment, Eitri raised his arms and shouted to the other dwarves.
Instantly, a team of dwarves rushed in and activated the furnace's heating systems.
The ring surrounding the neutron star began to slowly rotate and gradually closed in together.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the neutron star at the center burst out with an unbelievably dazzling light, and a scorching beam of intense heat shot out from it.
Puff puff puff...
Through the core mechanism at the center of the ring device, the massive forge furnace encircling the neutron star was instantly ignited.
Even Thor, who was far from the forge, suddenly felt a fierce blast of scorching heat hit him.
"This is the forging craft of the Dwarves!" Thor said, completely captivated as he watched everything unfold. He grew even more excited about the weapon he was about to receive.
"Come on!"
As the neutron star's huge energy beam kept pouring into the forge furnace, the intense heat it generated was roasting the skull of Surtur inside the furnace.
But maybe because Surtur's skull itself was fire-based, even though the forge's temperature had reached a terrifying level, the skull showed no sign of melting.
"Quick, put in the Uru metal."
Following the command of King Eitri of the dwarves, several dwarves brought over some silver-colored raw Uru metal and without hesitation threw it into the forge.
Even though Uru metal is one of the toughest metals in the entire universe, it almost instantly melted under the furnace's extreme heat.
It turned into a pool of molten metal, glowing like lava.
"Now, throw in the witch's feather and the giant's arrowhead."
"They'll give the forged weapon the ability to recognize its owner, call back to them, and lock onto enemies!"
Eitri shouted as the waiting dwarves quickly pulled out a silver-white feather and a broken arrowhead and tossed them into the furnace.
These two items melted immediately too, but as they did, an odd shimmering wave visibly rippled and blended into the molten metal.
Before long, all the forging steps were done, but Surtur's skull still hadn't melted.
"Raise the temperature again."
Eitri called out anxiously.
"Chief, we can't raise the temperature anymore, or the forge might—"
One of the dwarves tried to warn him.
"Trust me. Turn the power to max, even if the forge gets destroyed..."
Eitri's face was set with fierce determination, almost like he was losing himself.
The next moment, an even hotter beam erupted from the neutron star, and the heat was so intense that the forge's outer walls began to glow a brilliant fiery red.
"Chief..."
"Yes! It's finally melting!"
Some dwarves tried to caution Eitri, but he was already fixated on the sight inside the forge, his expression full of excitement.
"....."