Daniel's grip on Mjolnir tightened as it continued to draw power from Thor's hammer. Thin, precise arcs of lightning shot down, striking every Chitauri soldier in sight with pinpoint accuracy. Each bolt severed the life force of its target instantly.
Meanwhile, Stark handled their rear flank. Anytime Chitauri soldiers appeared from behind, he swiftly took them down. The three were aboard a massive Chitauri starship, and enemies could strike from any direction. With Thor clearing a path forward, Daniel and Stark had to make sure no one slowed them down.
Every second counted. Delay now meant failure.
Despite the chaos, the speed at which the trio advanced was astounding. To any observer, they were little more than a massive surge of thunder ripping through the enemy lines. Anything standing in their way was obliterated.
Stark's armor strained to keep pace. He hadn't expected Daniel and Thor to be this powerful outside Earth. The magical energy in the cosmos enhanced their abilities drastically—far more than what he'd witnessed back on Earth. Though he'd heard them mention that Earth's magic was dormant, he never imagined the difference would be this great.
Magic—mysterious and unpredictable—was proving more potent than technology. Stark couldn't help but reconsider the design of his future Blood Edge armor.
Daniel wasn't concerned with that. He channeled all his magic into Mjolnir, merging his energy with Thor's. The two divine hammers, born from the same source, synchronized their power. Nothing could stop them. Not even the overwhelming number of Chitauri soldiers swarming the ship.
Of course, the Chitauri's military strength wasn't limited to grunts and biological behemoths. Their arsenal of war machines was vast and terrifying. But under the storm of lightning from Daniel and Thor, even the most advanced Chitauri units were vaporized.
Not even the thick, steel doors that dropped from the ceiling could stop them.
When the Chitauri commander finally realized the battle was lost and considered abandoning ship, the command room's doors exploded with a deafening blast.
The room was enormous, packed with countless devices and screens, pulsing with alien data. Surprisingly, the security was minimal—only the commander and a few lieutenants stood inside.
Daniel and Thor, however, weren't focused on the gnarled, skeletal commander. Their attention was drawn to the massive energy screen at the center of the room.
It displayed a shadowy, looming figure—the image flickering but still menacing. Despite being transmitted across galaxies, the presence it exuded was overwhelming.
"Thanos," Thor growled, his eyes narrowing.
He turned sharply toward the Chitauri commander, raising Mjolnir. A strike was coming.
But the commander, while grotesque, wasn't weak. He raised an arm and intercepted Thor's blow with a powerful counter.
Lightning exploded through the room. The force hurled the commander across the chamber, his body crackling with arcs of power.
Daniel didn't move. He trusted Thor to handle the fight. Even in the vast universe, there were few who could match a fully-empowered Thor. This Chitauri commander wasn't one of them.
Daniel's eyes were locked on the figure on the screen—Thanos. Though it was just a transmission, the Mad Titan seated on his throne radiated a suffocating, cosmic pressure.
Their timing couldn't have been worse. Just as they'd stormed the command room, Thanos had begun a remote communication with the commander—and now, he had seen them.
Daniel didn't attack. He didn't want to draw attention. He wasn't ready to confront Thanos—not yet.
Then, a thought flashed through his mind.
Silently, Daniel released Mjolnir. It skimmed low across the floor and smashed into the central console. Explosive arcs of lightning flooded its circuits. Moments later, the console detonated.
The energy screen sparked, distorted, and flickered out. Thanos' voice was lost in the interference. His image vanished.
At that moment, Thor drove his hammer into the commander's chest. Lightning surged through the alien's body, erasing every trace of life.
With a final jolt, the Chitauri commander's body shriveled into a dried husk, collapsing like a deflated skin.
Daniel's eyes narrowed. He briefly considered using the remains for magical purposes. With his knowledge, there were spells he could attempt.
But he quickly dismissed the idea.
For one, the Chitauri didn't hold high status across the galactic powers. Using their remnants wouldn't help—it would only invite trouble. And pretending to be one of them? A poor disguise would attract bigger predators.
More importantly, Daniel feared Thanos. From what he knew, Thanos had manipulated his own agents—Gamora and Nebula—to such an extent that he could track or even kill them remotely.
Possessing part of a Chitauri commander might make Daniel a target.
It wasn't worth the risk.
Thor turned to Daniel, clearly puzzled. "Why'd you shut down the communication?"
"There's no point," Daniel replied calmly. "The more he sees us, the more danger we're in."
Thor held his gaze for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
In truth, Thor had wanted to curse Thanos the moment he saw him on that screen. Everything—Loki's return to Earth, the stolen Tesseract, the portal, the Chitauri invasion—it all led back to Thanos. This was his scheme.
As Odin's son and the heir to Asgard, Thor had been told many secrets. Odin had shared plenty of history, including some of his own heroic tales—like the time he had stolen the Tesseract from Thanos himself.
Unlike his darker decisions—like killing Hela or sealing her away—Odin had proudly recounted his confrontation with Thanos more than once.
Back then, Odin wasn't the All-Father yet. In his youth, he traveled beyond the Nine Realms, exploring the outer cosmos. The Nine Realms weren't at the center of the universe; they sat on its fringe.
The true core belonged to three great galactic empires: the Shi'ar, Kree, and Skrulls. They ruled the universe's busiest regions, expanding ever outward. Conflicts, rivalries, and wars between them were endless.
Even these empires, vast as they were, occupied only a fraction of the total universe. Less than one-tenth. The rest was uncharted or sparsely inhabited.
Life-bearing star systems still occupied a tiny percentage of the universe. Most of the cosmos was uncharted, and the universe itself continued expanding.
Odin had ventured into those depths. It was there he encountered Thanos—who had just obtained the Tesseract. Odin took it from him.
No one knows how Thanos found the Tesseract originally. But he's been hunting it ever since.
So long as Odin lived, Thanos never dared enter the Nine Realms. Heimdall could locate him instantly, and Odin could use the Bifrost to intervene. Even weakened by the Odinsleep, Odin was too great a threat.
Still, Thanos worked from the shadows. His agents stirred unrest in Asgard's neighboring systems. And now, he was working through Loki.
Thanos wanted the Tesseract back. That much was clear.
Thor might've shouted defiance had Daniel not acted. But Daniel had no intention of letting Thanos fixate on him.
It was too dangerous.