Fury sat in the conference room of the Air Force Base, waiting for the Commander to arrive.
This was the place, besides Storybrooke Town, where the Aether Particle had been stored the longest.
And this place also had a very well-known name, both domestically and internationally…
Area 51.
But that was just the outermost disguise.
And Fury happened to be one of the few who knew the truth.
Studying UFOs? Studying aliens?
The Commander of this Base had spun up a massive conspiracy theory to cover their true identity.
Very clever. So clever it was unsettling.
"Ding."
With a soft chime, the automatic sliding door of the conference room opened.
A middle-aged Black woman walked in.
"Oh, isn't this the famous Fury? What brings you to my little Air Force Base?"
"Enough with the nonsense, Amanda. I'm here at your territory because of an emergency."
That's right, this was the infamous Amanda Waller.
Compared to her, Fury could almost be considered a conscientious leader.
"When does your high-and-mighty Federal Bureau of Investigation ever cooperate with A.R.G.U.S., except when you run into something you can't handle?"
"Get the story straight, Amanda." Fury stood and walked toward her. "If you hadn't been researching the Aether Particle in this Base for so long, how could you later come begging the Bureau for help, which eventually caused the Storybrooke Town incident!?"
Fury knew Amanda Waller, his old colleague, all too well.
Back when he still worked for the U.S. Government, Amanda Waller was already showing terrifying potential.
She was born a cold-blooded spymaster.
He even suspected that A.R.G.U.S.'s "failure" to study the Aether Particle, followed by asking him for help, was just her way of dumping the mess onto him.
After all, the Aether Particle was the Reality Stone, and during research there had to have been countless phenomena they couldn't explain.
And now, with Dark Elves attacking, he was still the one cleaning up her mess.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Just as he finished speaking, the sliding door opened again. Two men in combat suits, not wearing A.R.G.U.S. uniforms, walked in.
"Commander Waller, all external defenses of A.R.G.U.S. have been taken over by the Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel."
The speaker was in an orange-and-black combat suit, full mask covering his face.
The other didn't speak, but his eyes locked on Fury, like he wanted to burn a hole through his skull.
Fury glared right back with his single eye.
"What are you staring at? Think I'll get scared just because you wear a shirt with a skull on it?"
Spending too much time with Dante, Fury didn't realize he was starting to sound like him.
Amanda Waller shot a sharp look at the two men, then turned back to Fury with a pleasant smile.
"Let me introduce you. These two are senior agents of A.R.G.U.S., Slade Wilson and Frank Castle."
Fury raised a brow, pretending to be surprised.
"Oh, 'Deathstroke' Slade Wilson, I know you. Your cousin's doing fine with us in the Bureau. As for Frank Castle… who the hell are you?"
Rolling his one eye, Fury brushed Amanda aside, bumped Frank's shoulder, and walked toward the door.
"My Bureau is taking over this extraterrestrial invasion incident. After it's over, we'll issue you a written report. Next time, don't overestimate yourselves by touching unknown power. Do you really think you're us?"
…
"Eek~!"
Dante suddenly shivered.
The movement was so obvious Hela gave him a sideways look.
"What's wrong with you? Feeling sick from seeing so many Dark Elf and Frost Giant corpses?"
"No, just a vague sense that someone stole my credit."
Hela only raised an eyebrow. Dante said too many strange things. She wasn't about to try and understand them all.
As long as there were no physical or psychological issues, it was fine.
As Asgard's Commander, she understood the horrors of the battlefield too well. Even Asgardian warriors could suffer abnormalities after leaving the battlefield.
She had even learned a Midgard term for it: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The great enemy of warriors.
Before she could say more, a silver blur zipped in. Quicksilver, who had been scouting ahead, ran back.
"Captain! There's… a small problem ahead."
"A small problem? What kind of small problem makes you run back to report?"
Dante frowned.
Asgard's population wasn't large, but the territory was vast. He had sent Pietro ahead to scout, only for him to return this quickly.
"It really is a small problem. Because I only found one corpse."
"Asgard is a battlefield. Corpses are nothing new." Hela said coldly. "The only solution is to strike the root of the war."
"The problem isn't the corpse. The problem is, I've never seen this kind before. Not Asgardian, not Dark Elf, not Frost Giant. It looks like… an Angel from legends."
"Angel?"
Everyone was stunned.
Most of them came from Western countries. Even if they weren't Christians, they at least knew the stories.
The shock level was about the same as telling someone in the East, "I saw the Monkey King's corpse."
Only Hela's expression grew thoughtful.
"Let's go, Pietro. Lead the way. We'll take a look."
So they followed Pietro about two hundred meters ahead.
The site looked like a chaotic melee had taken place.
Besides Dark Elf and Frost Giant corpses scattered on the ground, there were also two female bodies they had never seen before.
Humanoid. Intact limbs. No beastly features. And massive wings sprouting from their backs.
The pure white feathers had not dulled, even in death.
Dante stepped closer, carefully inspecting the so-called Angels.
"Looks like we miscalculated. It's not just Dark Elves and Frost Giants. We've also got these winged bastards."
Hela's eyes narrowed. She recognized these Angels.
Her first and only encounter with them had been thousands of years ago.
At that time, her relationship with Odin was already fractured, so the memory stuck.
"What is it?" Dante asked, catching her expression. "Acquaintances of yours?"
"Back then, when I was still Crown Princess of Asgard, I once saw an Angel," Hela explained to the group. "This universe did not just have Nine Realms. There was once a tenth, the Angel Kingdom."
That immediately got the attention of the Legends. They sat by a pile of bones, listening intently.
"The tenth realm?" Ada asked. "But I've read Asgardian history texts over the last half-day, and none mention this."
"Because the Angel Kingdom was once Asgard's greatest ally. Not only did the Asgardian army have many Angel warriors, but they also provided winged Pegasi, exclusive mounts of the Valkyries."
When Hela mentioned the Valkyries, Dante caught a flicker in her expression. She looked calm, but there was regret hidden underneath.
After all, it was she who had nearly wiped the Valkyries out.
"But the Queen of the Angel Kingdom, Haven, was greedy. Though Asgard and the Angels had a fair exchange, she kept demanding more, even eyeing Odin's treasury."
"Odin was lenient for a long time. But one day…" Hela spread her hands. "He severed the link between Asgard and the Angel Kingdom, stripped them from the World Tree, and exiled them completely. I never knew the exact reason, because soon after, Odin sealed me in Midgard."
Hela had never thought much of the Angels. She had no personal ties to them, and never fought them directly.
But if they were appearing now, then things were wrong.
Were they taking advantage of the Nine Realms' fusion to return through Asgard?
"…Wait. Hela, look here." Dante pointed at one Angel corpse. "Don't these wounds look like they were left by Mjolnir?"
"Yes. That is Mjolnir's mark."
As the hammer's former owner, Hela knew perfectly well the damage uru alloy could inflict.
Which meant…
The Angels had already clashed with Thor and Loki.
And more likely, the Angel Kingdom was in league with the Dark Elves and Frost Giants.
Thor and Loki had gotten much stronger under Hela's training, but now they were up against three realms plus Asgard's prison scum.
They were probably in serious danger.
Dante knew it too.
This time, the fault was in his command.
He had thought Thor and Loki were practically unkillable.
But under siege from four forces, they would be lucky to survive.
…
"Boom!"
Thor swung Mjolnir, summoning divine lightning that blasted down a Frost Giant in his path.
Then he turned, face filled with worry.
"Loki! How are you?!"
"Cough, cough… not good. But alive… for now."
Loki leaned against a flower bed, coughing blood.
His handsome face was pale.
Looking down, his abdomen was soaked in blood. He had sealed the wound with Black Magic, so there was no major bleeding, but the pain clouded his thoughts.
Being skewered through the gut was hard to bear, even for a Frost Giant's son.
Especially when the weapon was no ordinary blade, but one engraved with Angelic runes.
The sword had even disabled his healing.
The hunters soon appeared.
First, a Dark Elf in red-gold armor with a horned helmet.
Agrim, strongest Dark Elf melee fighter, strength equal to Thor's. He led the Dark Elf invasion.
Then two sisters.
The elder, Enchantress, one of Asgard's most powerful witches, dressed head to toe in green, cape flowing. She could control minds with her beauty.
The younger, Lorelei, wore a blue dress and wielded a horned warhammer. Her voice alone could make men worship her. She herself was also a brutal fighter.
And then came the final figure.
Wearing revealing golden armor that looked deceptively durable, holding a Heavenly Sword, with golden runes circling her body.
The Angel Kingdom's deadliest warrior…
Angela.
"Stop struggling, Thor and Loki of Asgard."
Angela approached, sword in hand.
This invasion was a joint effort with the Dark Elves and Frost Giants. They hadn't expected to catch Thor and Loki so easily.
But the idiots had run right into their trap, chasing after Enchantress and Lorelei.
By sacrificing a Frost Giant royal, they had driven Thor and Loki into this corner.
"Loki, you may have sealed your wound with Black Magic. But you can feel the wrath of Runic Angels burning your soul."
"Hmph. Angel? If you've got the guts, stab me again!"
Though Loki often acted spoiled around Dante and Hela, when faced with true life-and-death, he was hard as steel.
Lose the fight, not the mouth.
"A wingless fraud, claiming to be an Angel? You look more like a Vanir or an Aesir. Don't tell me, you actually look like Mother…"
Loki's barb landed on Angela's sorest spot.
Though she was the Angel Kingdom's deadliest warrior, she didn't even bear their form.
Her face hardened. She raised her sword, charging Thor and Loki again.
Thor, exhausted, still managed to block.
But he was too slow.
The blade was about to split Loki's skull when a portal opened.
A Nightsword shot out, knocking Angela's sword away.
"Loki, you really are a clever little devil."
"How did you know Miss Angela here is the daughter of your Odin family?"
Loki: ???
(To be continued.)
***
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