Vergil kept his eyes on Heimdall for another moment, still holding Yamato partially drawn from its sheath. Qliphoth’s energy continued accumulating around the blade, creating dark greenish filaments that stretched through the air like roots searching for something to cling to. The runes of the platform reacted to the approach of that power with increasingly rapid pulses, trying to reinforce their connection to Asgard and the pathways of Yggdrasil. It was not a physical defense. The Bifröst was trying to make itself inseparable from the realm before Vergil could cut the bond. He looked at the Valkyries around him.
"Move away."
Brynhildr recognized the tone and immediately raised her spear.
"Everyone off the platform. Now."
Sigrun also understood that it was not an exaggerated precaution.
"Retreat to the outer walls. Take Heimdall and keep the formations together. Do not leave weapons, shields, or open wounds near the circle."
Freya did not move immediately. She looked at Yamato, at Qliphoth’s energy growing around the sword, and at the golden runes beginning to distort beneath Vergil’s feet.
"What exactly are you planning to do?"
"Cut the structure supporting the Bifröst and send it to the Demon Realm."
"I understood that part. I am asking how you intend to prevent the cut from taking us with it."
"I do not."
Freya went still for a second.
Vergil turned his face toward her.
"That is why I told you to move away. When space opens, anything nearby may be pulled in. Bodies, souls, weapons, parts of the platform. It does not matter. If the opening recognizes you as part of what was cut, you will be taken with it."
Brynhildr caught Freya by the arm and pulled her back before she could argue.
"You heard him."
"I did. I also heard that he is not certain who the portal will swallow."
"He is rarely certain about the safe part," Brynhildr replied. "Usually, he is only certain the strike will work."
Vergil did not deny it.
The Valkyries began leaving the platform in an organized movement. Two of them dragged Heimdall backward while he continued struggling against the chains, shouting orders no one obeyed anymore. Sigrun led the last warriors toward a side wall and ordered them to drive their shields into the ground. Defensive runes were activated in sequence, forming several layers of barriers around the formation. Freya remained beside Brynhildr, pale and irritated, but far enough away to avoid being struck directly.
Vergil waited until everyone was clear.
Then he returned Yamato to its sheath.
His left hand held the scabbard near his waist. His right rested on the hilt. His feet positioned themselves over the exact center of the platform, and his body leaned slightly forward in a quick-draw stance. There was no need for larger movements. The strike would not depend on muscular strength. The entire execution would exist in the interval between the blade leaving the sheath and returning to it.
Vergil’s demonic energy began to condense.
It did not spread uncontrollably through the surroundings. It compressed against his body, passing through his arms, shoulders, chest, and spine before converging into Yamato. Black lightning traveled along the sheath. White Fire appeared around his fingers but did not burn the material. The Authority of Death formed a silent layer over the hidden edge of the sword. The six Authorities of Sin remained deeper, contained, serving as additional pressure without fully manifesting.
Then Qliphoth responded.
The energy of the World Tree emerged from inside Vergil like a living current. Spectral roots appeared around his feet and penetrated the runes of the Bifröst. Translucent branches grew over his shoulders, disappearing as soon as they touched the air of Asgard. The connection between the tree and Yamato grew stronger with every second, merging the sword’s dimensional ability with something capable of grasping, displacing, and replanting entire structures.
Inside his mind, Vergil spoke to the entity without breaking concentration.
"Is this really going to work?"
Qliphoth nearly exploded with joy.
"OF COURSE IT WILL! DESTROY EVERYTHING WITH ONE DIMENSIONAL STRIKE! CUT THE ROOT, RIP OUT THE BRIDGE, AND I WILL TAKE CARE OF THE REST!"
"That explanation does not inspire confidence."
"YOU DO NOT NEED CONFIDENCE! YOU NEED TO DRAW THE SWORD!"
Crymsaria released a tired sigh somewhere in the inner world. Nivara remained silent, watching Qliphoth jump around like a child about to break something forbidden. Itharine merely kept her arms crossed, apparently having already accepted that stopping it was not an option.
Vergil stopped listening to the rest.
His attention fixed on the Bifröst.
He did not look at the stones or the visible runes. He searched for the structure beyond them. The bond with Asgard. The connection with the branches of Yggdrasil. The abstract space where the Rainbow Bridge existed before taking any physical form. Yamato did not need to cut only matter. It needed to reach Asgard’s claim over that passage and separate it without completely destroying the object Vergil intended to steal.
The platform began to tremble.
Heimdall realized what was happening before anyone else. His eyes, capable of observing the routes between the Nine Realms, saw the lines supporting the Bifröst being exposed by Qliphoth’s energy.
"STOP!" he shouted, pulling against the chains with enough force to make his wrists bleed. "YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE CUTTING! IF YOU BREAK THE BRIDGE, YOU MAY COLLAPSE THE ROUTES OF EVERY REALM!"
Vergil answered without looking at him.
"Then Odin should have protected it better."
The first draw happened too quickly for Freya to see the blade leave the sheath.
She only heard it.
A clean, low sound, like metal passing through an extremely thin layer of glass. A diagonal line appeared in the air above the platform, extending for hundreds of meters. It did not merely cut the sky. Space opened along it, revealing a deep darkness crossed by enormous roots moving on the other side.
Vergil completed the turn of his wrist and executed the second strike in the opposite direction.
The two lines crossed.
A massive X was carved over the Bifröst.
Reality gave way.
The dimensional opening did not explode outward. It collapsed inward, immediately pulling the entire central region of the platform toward it. The air was torn from the walls, carrying dust, stone fragments, golden sparks, and forgotten weapons into the cut. The Valkyries’ cloaks were pulled forward. Sigrun drove her sword into the ground and braced herself against her shield. Brynhildr wrapped one arm around Freya’s waist while driving the tip of her spear between the stones, preventing both of them from sliding.
Heimdall screamed as his body was dragged several meters. The Valkyries holding him secured the chains around the wall’s pillars and threw themselves over them, keeping him outside the opening’s direct reach.
The platform did not collapse.
It was devoured.
The golden runes detached from the ground like rivers of light, torn away one by one and pulled into the X. The support columns disappeared. The mechanisms buried beneath the stone were exposed for a fraction of a second before being taken as well. Above them, the Rainbow Bridge appeared in its complete form, crossing the sky of Asgard like a multicolored band wide enough to carry an army.
Then Qliphoth seized it.
Gigantic roots crossed the dimensional cut, wrapped around the bridge, and pulled violently. The connection to Yggdrasil resisted. Invisible branches tightened space, and the entire sky of Asgard trembled as though a storm had struck the realm itself. Vergil felt the resistance pass through Yamato, compressing his muscles and forcing his hand to tighten around the hilt.
"Now," he ordered.
Qliphoth answered with a hysterical laugh.
The roots pulled again.
The bond broke.
The Rainbow Bridge folded over itself and was dragged into the cut along with the rest of the platform. The multicolored glow vanished within seconds, swallowed by a darkness where the silhouette of the demonic World Tree seemed to grow without limit. The force of suction increased one final time. Part of the outer walls was torn away. Stones the size of houses flew toward the portal and disappeared without producing any impact.
Vergil remained at the center, protected by his connection to Yamato and Qliphoth.
When the final rune of the Bifröst was absorbed, he turned the sword and sheathed it.
The X closed.
The wind stopped immediately.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Where the platform had once stood, there was now a vast and perfectly smooth crater, as though an entire part of Asgard had been removed with a surgical blade. There were no runes, columns, mechanisms, or traces of the Rainbow Bridge. Even the residual energy had disappeared.
Heimdall stared into the emptiness.
His eyes widened so much that, for several seconds, he did not seem capable of breathing.
"The Bifröst..."
No one answered.
He tried to stand, but his legs failed.
"He destroyed the Bifröst."
His voice came out low.
Then it grew louder.
"HE DESTROYED THE BIFRÖST!"
Heimdall began to laugh, but there was no humor in the sound. It was a broken, almost desperate reaction as he stared at the crater and tried to find any line of the bridge with his senses.
He found nothing.
The entire structure had disappeared from Asgard.
"No," he muttered, pulling against the chains. "He did not destroy it. He stole it. He stole the Bifröst. He stole the entire Rainbow Bridge. That is impossible. That is not... Odin will... Yggdrasil... the pathways..."
Heimdall’s breathing became shallow.
He looked at Vergil as though seeing something completely incompatible with every known order of the Nine Realms.
Then his eyes rolled back.
The guardian of the Bifröst fainted.
The Valkyries holding him almost dropped him in surprise, but managed to catch him before his face struck the ground.
Sigrun continued staring at the crater with her mouth open.
Brynhildr still had her spear driven into the ground but did not seem to remember to pull it free. Freya was as motionless as the others, staring at the empty space where one of the greatest wonders of the Nine Realms had existed only seconds earlier.
"The Rainbow Bridge is gone," Freya said, as though she needed to hear her own voice to believe it.
Vergil walked out of the crater.
"Yes."
"You actually stole the Bifröst."
"That was the plan."
"You said it as though it were an improvised idea."
"It was."
Freya looked at him with an exhausted expression.
"That makes it worse."
Brynhildr finally pulled the spear from the ground.
"Where is it?"
Vergil looked toward the already closed cut. He felt the connection with Qliphoth and searched for the presence of the stolen structure. Something enormous was crossing the Demon Realm, being wrapped in the roots and energy of the World Tree. He still did not know the exact location.
"If everything went correctly, it is somewhere in the Demon Realm."
Sigrun blinked.
"Somewhere?"
"Qliphoth is taking care of it."
Freya brought a hand to her face.
"Who?"
"Do not worry. I will explain later."
"Right."
She had clearly decided that continuing to ask questions would only worsen her headache.
Vergil walked toward Heimdall. A current of demonic energy wrapped around the unconscious guardian and lifted him into the air. His cloak opened with the movement, revealing several compartments and concealment spells sewn into the fabric.
Vergil brought two fingers close to a small distortion near Heimdall’s waist.
The magic broke.
A tiny object fell from the clothing, small enough to fit between two fingers. It was a horn reduced through enchantment, covered in runes so compressed they resembled nearly invisible golden lines.
Sigrun recognized it immediately.
"Gjallarhorn."
"He reduced the artifact," Freya said.
"Carrying that thing at full size must be irritating," Vergil replied.
He dispelled the spell.
The horn rapidly grew to its true proportions, heavy, long, and ornate, requiring Vergil to hold it with a current of demonic energy to prevent it from striking the ground. Without showing any particular care, he threw Gjallarhorn toward Brynhildr.
She caught it with both hands.
"Keep it," Vergil said. "It belongs to the Valkyries now."
Brynhildr studied the artifact for a moment, understanding the symbolic weight of the gesture. Then she secured it across her back.
Vergil opened a vertical cut in space. On the other side appeared the dark landscape of the Demon Realm, already prepared to receive the units approaching the platforms.
"Let us leave."
Sigrun began ordering the retreat.
That was when thunder tore across the sky.
Vergil turned at once.
Mjolnir crossed the clouds like a blue projectile, surrounded by lightning thick enough to illuminate all of Asgard. The hammer was coming directly toward his head, too fast for any Valkyrie to intercept. The pressure wave arrived first, breaking stones and throwing warriors backward.
Vergil raised his right hand.
Mjolnir struck his palm.
The impact cracked the ground beneath his feet and opened a circular crater around him. Lightning exploded across his arm, passed through his coat, and traveled throughout his body. The wall behind him split apart. The dimensional portal fluctuated but did not close.
Vergil slid less than half a meter.
His fingers closed around the head of the hammer.
Mjolnir continued trying to advance, vibrating with enough force to make the air scream, but it did not leave his hand.
From high above the clouds, a figure descended surrounded by storm.
Thor landed upon the ruins of the platform, his eyes glowing blue and his expression consumed by a fury that required no explanation. Behind him, bridges and towers began receiving groups of Einherjar and other armed gods.
Odin’s son extended his hand, trying to call Mjolnir back.
The hammer pulled violently.
Vergil did not release it.
Thor looked at the crater where the Bifröst had once stood, then at Brynhildr carrying Gjallarhorn, at the Valkyries organizing their retreat, and finally at Vergil holding his weapon with one hand.
"Release my hammer."
Vergil examined Mjolnir for a moment, feeling the divine energy trying to pass through his skin and force his fingers open.
Then he raised his eyes toward Thor.
"Come and take it."
Chapter 866: He stole the Bifröst!!
12 min read