Chapter 49: Encountering Thor, Half of the Aether ParticleInfiltrate His Body
Marcus had just landed with Gwen beneath an abandoned building when he saw police cars everywhere on the street, their red and blue lights flashing silently under the gloomy sky.
His gaze crossed the police blockade, and he happened to see Thor being slapped hard by a woman.
The slap was crisp and loud, echoing throughout the entire street. Thor's face was knocked to one side, but instead of showing the slightest annoyance, he grinned.
The woman had long brown hair, and her brow was filled with anxiety and anger that had been suppressed for a long time; she was none other than the astrophysicist Jane Foster.
Gwen got down from Marcus's arms and stood steady. Following his gaze, she also happened to see this scene.
She blinked, her tone filled with obvious surprise: "That looks like Thor, doesn't it? He actually got slapped by someone. That woman is amazing."
Marcus explained in a flat tone: "That person is Thor's lover, which is why Thor didn't get angry."
Upon hearing this, Gwen didn't reply immediately. She just tilted her head to look at Marcus, her lips moved slightly, and she repeated in a low voice: "A lover, huh."
Just then, Thor turned around, and his gaze happened to meet Marcus's. Jane also happened to let go of her hand and walked towards the police, seemingly to negotiate something.
Thor laughed heartily, strode forward, opened his arms, and gave Marcus a solid hug, his voice loud and cheerful: "Marcus, it's been a long time."
Marcus didn't dodge and let Thor hug him. After Thor let go, he spoke: "It really has been a long time. Do you have business on Earth?"
Thor put away his smile, sighed, and tilted his chin in Jane's direction: "A friend of mine discovered that my girlfriend had disappeared, so I came to check on her."
He looked at Jane's back as she was talking to the police, his voice filled with a bit of relief: "It's a good thing she's alright."
At that moment, Jane was talking to a few police officers. One of the officers reached out and touched her arm, a light gesture, just trying to lead her outside the cordon as a matter of routine.
The next instant, a dark red shockwave erupted from within Jane.
The police officers were thrown directly away, their backs hitting the police car hoods and walls, and the police car windows shattered in response. Jane herself also fell to the ground, her long brown hair spread messily on the concrete floor, with remnants of dark red energy sparks still slowly dissipating in the air around her.
The moment the dark red shockwave spread, Marcusstepped forward to block it in front of Gwen. The dark red energy hit the Bio-field and dissolved silently.
Thor rushed out the moment the shockwave ended. He practically pounced to Jane's side, knelt on one knee, supported the back of her neck with one hand, covered her forehead with the other, and called her name in a low, urgent voice.
Marcus stood in place and looked back at Gwen behind him: "Are you okay?"
Gwen shook her head, her tone calm: "I'm fine. Let's go over and take a look."
Marcus agreed, and the two crossed the cordon and walked towards Thor. Jane had just been awakened by Thor and was leaning weakly in his arms, her long brown hair draped messily over her shoulders.
Just then, some of the dark red Aether Particle within Jane suddenly separated, floating out of her body like flowing filaments, and flew straight towards Marcus.
Marcus frowned slightly, and his Bio-field instantly spread out to cover his entire body. But those dark red Aether Particle completely ignored the barrier of the field, passed through the invisible wall without any obstruction, sank into his chest, and disappeared.
Marcus immediately sensed an extremely powerful energy within him, like a piece of red-hot charcoal embedded deep within his internal organs.
But he also simultaneously felt that this energy was slowly draining his life force. Memories from his past life surged up—the Reality Stone, the Aether Particle, would absorb the host's life force until the host was sucked into an empty shell.
Gwen saw Marcus frown and her heart tightened sharply. She subconsciously stepped forward half a step, the nervousness in her voice almost impossible to hide: "How is it? Are you okay? Is your body uncomfortable?"
Marcus composed his expression and comforted her in a flat tone: "I'm fine."
At this time, Jane looked down at her hands, where those dark red Aether Particle were slowly floating out of her body and then retracting. She looked up at Thor, her voice hoarse and confused: "What is this thing?"
Thor held her hand, his tone steady: "I have never seen this thing either. However, I can take you to Asgard to have my mother check it; she might know what it is."
As he spoke, he turned to Marcus and extended an invitation without hesitation: "Marcus, why don't you come along too?"
Marcus thought for a moment. The Reality Stone was indeed a good thing, possessing the power to distort reality, but it would continuously absorb the host's life force. Moreover, he remembered that this thing would also attract a pale-skinned Dark Elf named Malekith. Although he wasn't afraid, it would eventually bring some trouble.
So he nodded and said to Thor: "Alright. But you have to wait a moment; I need to take Gwen back."
Thor grinned and waved a large hand: "Good, I'll wait for you nearby. Remember to be quick."
After speaking, he wrapped his arm tightly around Jane's waist, swung Mjolnir, and the two shot into the sky, disappearing in an instant into the overcast horizon.
Marcus turned his head to look at Gwen, reached out his hands, and his tone was as calm as always: "Let's go, I'll take you back."
Gwen didn't walk into his arms as she usually did. She stood in place, her hands hanging by her sides, her eyes behind her goggles staring straight at him, her voice filled with a trace of unwillingness: "Why do you have to send me back? That's Asgard, I want to go see it too."
Marcus looked at her, his tone unhurried but every word landing on the reality of the situation: "I might be in Asgardfor several days this time. If you go with me, your parents will think you've gone missing, and they will be worried. Therefore, you cannot come with me."
Gwen opened her mouth, wanting to retort something, but swallowed the words back. He was right. The first thing her father did when he came home from work every day was push open her bedroom door to check on her, and her mother would definitely come to say goodnight before bed. If she suddenly disappeared for several days, her phone couldn't be reached, and her room was empty, she didn't dare imagine what kind of expression would appear on her father's weathered face.
Her shoulders slumped slightly, her ponytail swayed gently with the movement of her lowering her head, and her voice lowered as well: "Alright."
Marcus glanced at the few police officers walking this way, then looked at the dejected Gwen in front of him, his tone softening a bit: "Come here quickly. I promise you, when there's an opportunity in the future, I will take you to Asgard."
Gwen looked up at him, and a glimmer of light returned to her eyes under her goggles. She gave a soft "Mm," stepped forward, and walked into his arms.
Marcus wrapped one arm around her waist, exerted force with his feet, and the two soared into the air. Shouts from the police came from behind, seemingly telling them to stop, but he didn't even turn his head, his figure tracing a straight trajectory under the overcast sky as he flew towards Queens.
Not long after, he landed in a quiet alley near Gwen's house. Letting go, Gwen backed out of his arms and stood steady. She took off her gloves, used her fingertips to gather the hair that had been blown messy by the wind, then looked up at him, her lips moved, and she only said two words: "Be careful."
Marcus nodded, replied with a "Sure," and then his figure soared into the air again. He didn't look back, like a silent black bullet, flying rapidly towards London.
Chapter 50: Stepping into Asgard, the Little Spider on Earth Awaits a Return
When Marcus arrived above the clouds in London, he saw Thor and Jane Foster from afar.
The two were suspended in mid-air; Jane Foster's arms were wrapped around Thor's neck, while Thor's large hand gently supported her lower back, both immersed in a reunion kiss.
Marcus stopped not far away, hovering at the edge of the clouds, waiting for them to separate.
After a moment, Thor let go of Jane, grinning as if still wanting more. Jane's cheeks flushed slightly, and catching a glimpse of Marcus in the distance, she lowered her eyes in embarrassment.
Thor, however, didn't feel embarrassed at all. He waved at Marcus and shouted in a booming voice, "You're here! Let's go then."
Marcus flew to his side. Thor looked up and shouted to the sky, "Heimdall!"
A blazing, seven-colored beam of light crashed down from the depths of the sky, instantly engulfing the three of them. The surrounding clouds were torn to shreds by the shockwave, and the energy of the Bifrost swept them through layers of starlight and void, traveling rapidly along the veins of the universe.
The next moment, their feet touched solid ground. The energy of the Bifrost dissipated like a receding tide, revealing the magnificent scene before them: a shimmering crystal bridge extending into the distance, with churning galaxies and an endless abyss beneath it, and a golden domed observatory standing at the end of the bridge.
On the high platform, a tall figure in golden armor stood leaning on a giant sword with both hands, his golden eyes calmly watching the newcomers. Heimdall nodded slightly, his voice deep and solemn: "Welcome to Asgard."
Jane Foster bowed slightly, her gaze filled with the reserve and curiosity of someone stepping into the Realm of the Gods for the first time, and said softly to the golden-armored guardian, "Hello."
Heimdall did not speak, only nodding slightly before turning his golden eyes back toward the end of the bridge.
Just as Thor was about to say something, a soft female voice came from the entrance of the observatory: "Thor."
"Your Majesty." Heimdall bowed slightly, his tone respectful.
Everyone turned around. The newcomer was draped in a pale gold robe, her dark brown hair tied into an elegant bun at the back of her head. Her features carried the same brightness as Thor's, but with added gentleness and composure refined by time.
It was Frigga, Queen of the Gods. Seeing his mother, the expression on Thor's face instantly softened. He walked forward quickly, his voice tinged with surprise and joy: "Mother, why are you here?"
Frigga shifted her gaze from Thor and landed on Marcusand Jane Foster. Her tone was gentle, but her words carried an undeniable gravity: "I just sensed an extremely powerful energy entering Asgard, so I came from the palace specifically to see."
She turned her head slightly, looking at the empty bridge behind her, "Not just me, your father is also on his way."
Before she could finish speaking, the sound of hooves shattering starlight came from the end of the Bifrost.
An eight-legged steed leaped out from the void, its front hooves landing heavily on the crystal bridge. The rider on its back was clad in golden armor, his single eye burning like a torch—it was Odin, the All-Father.
He dismounted, each step his golden boots took on the bridge carrying an inviolable majesty.
Odin's gaze swept over Marcus and Jane in turn, finally landing on Thor's face. His voice was deep and cold, like a boulder rolling across ice: "Last time Loki brought Frost Giants; this time you have brought two ancient powers."
His hand gripping Gungnir tightened slightly, "You two really know how to cause me trouble."
Thor quickly stepped forward, explaining before Odin could speak again: "Father, Jane is the person I love most, and Marcus is a comrade-in-arms who fought alongside me. They are being eroded by some ancient power, which is why I brought them to Mother for an examination."
Odin's single eye swept over Jane and then paused on Marcus's face. Marcus's expression remained unchanged; he met the God King's gaze with neither humility nor arrogance, his aura as steady as a deep pool, without the slightest hint of evasion.
Odin's lips parted, about to say something.
Frigga had already quietly walked to his side, slightly rising on her tiptoes, and whispered in a volume only the two of them could hear: "You are the All-Father; you should be more magnanimous in front of mortals."
The corners of Odin's mouth twitched imperceptibly, the words on the tip of his tongue forced back, turning into a low, cold snort. He raised his hand to shake his cloak, mounted his horse, and threw down a sentence in a cold, hard tone: "They must leave after the examination is finished."
As soon as he finished speaking, the eight-legged steed galloped away across the crystal bridge, disappearing at the end of the long bridge in the blink of an eye.
Thor watched his father's retreating figure disappear into the horizon, then turned around with a bright smile blooming on his face, his voice unable to hide his joy: "Great, Father agreed."
Jane stood beside him, her fingers, which had been clutching the corner of her clothes, finally slowly loosening. The breath she had been holding for so long turned into a silent sigh, and her whole body visibly relaxed.
Jane looked in the direction where Odin had disappeared, subconsciously leaning half a step closer to Thor, and lowered her voice to say, "Your father is truly terrifying."
Her fingertips were still trembling slightly; when Odin's single eye had swept over her earlier, she almost felt as if she had been cut open and seen through completely.
Thor scratched the back of his head, a rare look of helplessness on his face. His tone carried a complaint about his father but also hidden with a trace of understanding: "Father is always like this. Sometimes I also think he is unapproachable."
"You mustn't let your father hear that." A gentle voice, tinged with faint reproach, came from behind.
Thor turned around abruptly, his expression looking exactly like a young Thor caught stealing divine mead, his voice rising a pitch involuntarily: "Mother, you haven't left yet?"
Frigga smiled gently, her eyes filled with a mother's unique tenderness and patience. She walked slowly to Thor, raised her hand to straighten the creases in the cloak on his shoulders that had been ruffled by the wind, and said in a soft tone, "I still need to examine your girlfriend and your friend, so of course I haven't left."
After the two finished speaking, Marcus glanced at the direction where Odin had disappeared, withdrew his gaze, and asked, "Where do we go next?"
Frigga withdrew her hand, turned slightly to look toward the direction where the long bridge led to the royal city, the hem of her pale gold robe sweeping gently across the bridge surface, her voice gentle yet solemn: "Follow me."
She turned and walked toward the other end of the long bridge, her pace neither hurried nor slow, her posture graceful yet not at all distant. Thor took Jane's hand and followed behind his mother, while Marcus walked at the very back, unhurriedly.
The crystal bridge beneath their feet rippled with faint golden waves with each step they took, and the galaxy overhead slowly revolved, enveloping the entire Bifrost in flowing starlight.
Meanwhile, on Earth, in Queens.
In the villa's kitchen, the refrigerator door was wide open, cold air gushing out from the refrigerated compartment and trailing a mist of white in the quiet room.
A pale gold Little Spider was lying on the dining table, its eight thin legs clutching a piece of cold meat almost as big as its own body, burying its head and gnawing intently.
The nebula patterns on its back flickered on and off with the rhythm of its chewing, like a little star left on the dining table. Accompanied by a faint rustling sound, the edges of the cold meat were gradually shrinking at a visible rate.
Swallowing the last bite, it raised its front legs to wipe the corners of its mouth, looked up at the darkening sky outside the window, and its immature voice was filled with an irrepressible loneliness: "Where did Master go? Why hasn't he returned yet?"
Chapter 51: Odin Takes Action, Suppressing Aether Particle Erosion
Marcus and his group crossed the Rainbow Bridge, walked along the golden corridor into the depths of the royal palace, and finally arrived at Asgard's royal healing ward.
In the center of the room was a stone diagnostic bed carved with rune symbols, with pale golden energy flowing slowly between the engravings.
Marcus glanced at the rune bed, then turned to Frigga and Eir, his tone indifferent but direct: "You should examine Jane Foster first. After all, she is an ordinary person, and her body won't hold out for long."
Hearing this, Thor raised his hand and patted Marcusheavily on the shoulder, his voice unusually low and solemn: "Thank you, brother."
After saying this, he walked to Jane's side, gathered her cold hands into his warm palms, and softened his voice, "Jane, you go up first."
Jane nodded. With Thor's support, she lay flat on the stone diagnostic bed. The stone surface sensed a living being, and the rune light brightened slightly.
Thor straightened up and turned to the goddess by the bed, his tone urgent: "Goddess Eir, I will have to trouble you with Jane."
Eir was draped in a pale green robe, her blonde hair tied into a neat high bun, her face cold and focused. She bowed slightly to Thor, her tone steady: "Your Highness, I will do my best."
She walked to the rune console at the side, her fingertips nimbly tapping and sliding on the floating rune symbols.
The arched energy ring above the bed was activated in response. Golden light shone brightly on the silver-grey arc, and the ring slowly rotated, emitting a low hum. A pale golden energy field descended like thin gauze, and countless fine light filaments seeped into Jane's body, scanning her layer by layer.
Jane lay on her back, watching the light filaments moving in and out of her body. Her fingers subconsciously gripped the edge of the bed, her voice carrying an irrepressible tension: "What is this?"
Eir did not look up, her fingertips continuing to slide across the rune panel, her tone concise: "This is the Soul Smelting Furnace. It can detect the degree of erosion that the energy in your body is causing."
As soon as she finished speaking, the rune energy ring above suddenly stopped rotating.
A holographic image projected above Jane's body formed instantly. In the center of her chest, a mass of dark red particles was slowly spreading outward. Every pulse was like a charcoal fire burned to the critical point, and the light of the surrounding cells was dimming one by one.
Eir frowned slightly, her fingertips sliding quickly across the console to call up deeper analytical data.
She stared at the dark red values jumping constantly, her movements suddenly stopping, her voice lowering a few degrees: "This energy is eroding her cells. With her constitution, she won't last three days before this energy drains her life force completely."
Thor's expression changed instantly. He strode in front of Frigga, his voice so urgent it almost cracked: "Mother, is there any way to save Jane?"
Frigga did not answer immediately. She had been standing by the bed, closing her eyes and concentrating, her fingertips exuding fine threads of divine power that probed into Jane's body, lightly touching the dark red energy. A moment later, she withdrew her divine power and slowly opened her eyes, a touch of solemnity appearing between her brows.
She turned to Thor, her tone filled with helplessness: "This energy is very ancient, so ancient that my perception magic can only confirm its existence but cannot trace its source."
Marcus stood to the side, listening to Frigga's words clearly. He suddenly remembered that in the memories of his past life, the Dark Elf leader Malekith had once stripped the Reality Stone from Jane's body from a distance. Since the Dark Elves could do it, there was no reason Asgardcouldn't.
He turned to Frigga, his tone calm but hitting the nail on the head: "Doesn't Asgard have any magic or instruments capable of extracting this kind of energy?"
Hearing this, Thor raised his head abruptly and hurriedly looked at his mother, his eyes full of urgency: "Mother?"
Frigga was silent for a moment, her gaze falling on Jane's pale face, where those dark red veins were slowly spreading along her blood vessels.
She finally spoke slowly: "Yes. Asgard's energy extraction array can indeed forcibly draw out the energy in her body. But that energy has completely penetrated her cells and is intertwined with her life force. Forcibly stripping it would be no different from trying to squeeze water out of a sponge while trying to preserve the sponge itself. Constructing a precise array capable of stripping it without harming the host's life would take at least five days."
She looked at Thor, her tone adding a layer of heaviness: "But her body cannot wait that long."
Hearing this, Thor turned around in a hurry and was about to rush out: "I'll go to the treasury right now to find a treasure that can strengthen Jane's life force!"
After saying this, regardless of everyone's reaction, he strode toward the door.
He had just taken two steps when a low and majestic voice came from the door: "So panicked, not at all like the future master of Asgard."
Odin was already standing at the door of the healing ward, not knowing when he had arrived. He was not wearing that formidable golden armor, but only a simple dark grey robe, and he was not holding Gungnir in his hand.
But even after stripping away all his armor, when that single eye swept across the room, everyone's movements paused involuntarily for a moment.
Marcus nodded slightly, his expression unchanged, meeting the God King's gaze neither humbly nor arrogantly.
Thor stopped in his tracks, his voice mixed with anxiety and awe: "Father."
He only had time to say these two words.
Odin raised his hand to interrupt him. The All-Father walked straight to the stone diagnostic bed, looked down at Jane Foster lying on the rune stone surface, and was silent for a moment.
Odin reached out his right hand and covered Jane's forehead. He closed his single eye, and the divine power accumulated over thousands of years in his body surged from his palm, slowly injecting into Jane's body like a warm golden tide.
Those golden divine powers spread along her blood vessels. As soon as they touched the mass of dark red Aether Particle entrenched deep in her chest, the Aether struggled violently as if it were a poisonous snake whose tail had been stepped on.
Dark red energy surged out of Jane's body, and twisted patterns appeared on the surface of her skin. The entire rune bed was shaken slightly.
But the Aether, which was not being controlled, plus the fact that the host was just a weak mortal, meant that this resistance lasted only a few moments before it was firmly suppressed by Odin's powerful divine power.
The dark red veins dimmed one after another, Jane's tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed, and her breathing gradually turned from rapid panting to steady.
Odin withdrew his hand and turned to look at Thor. His voice was still that cold and hard tone, but the content of his words finally allowed Thor's hanging heart to settle: "The Aether Particle in her body have been suppressed by me, and the erosion speed will slow down significantly."
Odin turned to Marcus, his single eye resting on him for a moment, having already seen through the state of the Aether in his body and the strength of his physical body, his tone indifferent: "I can feel that without my help, you could also easily last five days."
Marcus met the God King's gaze, his expression unchanged: "That's right."
Odin nodded slightly, his tone unquestionable: "In that case, after five days, when the extraction array is completed and the particles are removed, you must leave Asgard immediately."
"Fine." Marcus replied concisely.
Thor opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Odin didn't even look at his son, directly raising his hand to summon the guards at the door: "Take him to his room."
The guard walked to Marcus, his armor clanking with a soft sound: "Please follow me."
Marcus followed the guard through the corridor where golden light flowed and entered the guest room. The door closed behind him, blocking the rune light in the corridor.
He walked to the bed and sat down, closed his eyes, and sank his consciousness into his body, perceiving that mass of dark red particles lurking deep in his chest. It was quietly entrenched, like a dark heart whose pulse had been forcibly held down.
Chapter 52: The Power of Aether Creates Gold Cloths, Prison Riot Sweeps Through Asgard
Marcus closed his eyes and focused, concentrating his will on the mass of Aether Particle within his body; he wanted to manipulate it. At first, it remained motionless, paying no heed to his will.
He persisted for a moment, and the Aether finally began to loosen, first trembling reluctantly, and then a thread of dark red fluid slowly seeped from his chest, condensing into a churning little ball above his palm.
He remembered from the movies in his past life that Aether Particle possessed the ability to transmute matter. So his gaze swept across the room and landed on the metal wine goblet resting on the table.
With a thought, the Aether Particle silently swept over the cup like a living thing, and the copper-yellow metal surface instantly turned into transparent glass.
He closed his fingers, and the Aether retracted into his palm. He reached out and tapped the goblet lightly with his fingertip; the crisp sound of glass was exceptionally clear in the silent room. It was no illusion; it was a complete reconstruction at the molecular level.
Marcus continued his experiment. He moved his mind again, and the Aether he could command surged from his palm, condensing in the air into the outline of a longsword—the dark red blade, hilt, and guard, every detail was perfectly rendered.
But when he reached out to grasp it, his fingers passed straight through the hilt, catching only a handful of air. He frowned and began to repeatedly outline in his consciousness the texture the sword should have—the cold hardness of steel, the sharpness of the edge, and the solid weight of it in his hand.
He could clearly feel his physical strength being drained by the Aether. After about 1% of his stamina was drained, the Aether surged violently, and the longsword, which had originally been just a phantom, suddenly condensed into a solid object, landing in his hand with a clatter.
The blade was heavy, and the dark red luster had faded, presenting the cold grey of ordinary steel. He held both sides of the blade with his hands and snapped it lightly; the blade broke into two pieces, the fracture jagged and uneven.
Marcus placed the broken sword on the table, lost in thought. What he had created with 1% of his stamina was just a very ordinary steel sword. The Aether could indeed turn the virtual into reality, but the efficiency of the conversion and the strength of the product were far lower than he had expected. He did not stop and continued to invest in the next round of experiments.
Meanwhile, in a crack in the void somewhere in the Nine Realms.
A giant, cross-shaped warship, black as a coffin, floated silently in the eternal darkness. The surface of the hull was covered in fine cracks, like a fossil that had been sleeping for thousands of years.
In a secret chamber deep within the warship, the Dark Elf leader Malekith suddenly raised his head from his throne. His pale face, under the dim light, looked like a corpse just unearthed from a tomb.
He sensed it: the Aether had been divided into two, and one part was being probed and manipulated by some will, like an invisible hand repeatedly turning over the sacred relic he had sought for five thousand years.
"I can feel it; the Aether has been divided into two, and someone is attempting to control one of them." His voice was hoarse and slow, each word sounding as if it were being scraped from the depths of his throat.
He stood up, drew a pitch-black dagger from beside the throne, and walked over to the burly Dark Elf warrior. This was the last elite under his command.
"Our time is running out. You will be the last Cursed Warrior." Malekith raised the dagger, the blade glinting with a cold, piercing light in the gloom.
The warrior did not flinch in the slightest, merely looking calmly at his leader: "I am willing to sacrifice myself, just like our kin."
Malekith did not answer. He thrust his wrist forward violently, and the dagger plunged deep into the warrior's abdomen.
Immediately after, he took the last dark red Cursed Stone handed to him by a subordinate and, without hesitation, stuffed it into the still-bleeding wound.
Malekith took a step back, his voice low and solemn: "My kin and I will remember your sacrifice."
The warrior gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead. In the midst of excruciating pain, he squeezed out his reply word by word: "I will infiltrate Asgard, destroy their defenses, and bring you and our kin the opportunity to return the universe to darkness."
The next morning, sunlight from Asgard shone through the crystal dome into the guest room. Marcus opened his eyes and sat up in bed. He had experimented all night, and the properties of the Aether Particle now had a clear outline in his mind.
He pushed open the door and walked along the corridor toward the healing room, organizing the conclusions of last night's experiment in his mind. The Aether could turn the virtual into reality, condensing from illusions into real objects, but the stamina consumed was directly proportional to the strength of the creation. Creating that ordinary steel sword had only consumed less than 1% of his stamina.
But when he tried to create something truly powerful from his memory, the cost skyrocketed. One time, he created a Gold Cloth; when that suit of armor, made of Orichalcum, formed over his entire body, all his stamina was instantly drained, and he was so exhausted he could barely stand.
After testing it, the Cloth only increased his strength by a few dozen tons at most; it could neither ignite a Cosmo nor did it have any special abilities. But he could vaguely feel that this was not the upper limit of the Aether, but rather that his investment was insufficient.
If he were willing to continue investing stamina, or even life force, the capabilities of this Cloth would become closer and closer to what he imagined, radiating true light and power.
It was just that, by his current estimation, even if he burned through all his life force, the Cloth might not necessarily evolve into the version from his memory.
Just then, Thor's booming laughter came from the end of the corridor ahead. Marcus looked up and saw Thor walking toward him, holding Jane Foster's hand. Jane looked much better than she had yesterday.
"Marcus, you've woken up just in time!" Thor patted his shoulder firmly. "I was just about to call you to attend a banquet."
"So early?" Marcus raised an eyebrow slightly. "What kind of banquet are you holding?"
Thor grinned, his tone full of pride: "Just a moment ago, the warriors of Asgard took care of a group of interstellar criminals who were plundering supply lines at the border. So, following the old custom, we are holding a banquet to reward the soldiers."
He paused and added, "Anyway, in Asgard, if we find a reason, we hold a banquet."
Hearing Thor's words, Marcus did not decline and followed the two of them toward the banquet hall.
Deep within the dungeons of Asgard. Loki lay on his bed in his cell, tossing a gold goblet into the air, catching it, and tossing it again, bored out of his mind.
The cup traced monotonous arcs under the cold light of the rune barrier, making a crisp sound as it landed back in his palm.
In another cell not far away, a burly prisoner wearing a crude mask suddenly stood up straight.
He took a dark red Cursed Stone from within his body and clenched his five fingers tightly. The moment the stone shattered, a violent surge of dark energy erupted from the fragments, wrapping around his body like a living thing.
His form expanded rapidly within the energy storm, his skin turning a magma-like dark red inch by inch, his muscles bulging like steel being forged.
The Cursed Warrior threw his head back and let out a deafening roar, then punched the energy door of the cell; the entire rune barrier shattered in response, fragments scattering like meteors.
After the Cursed Warrior walked out of the cell, his massive dark red fists smashed into the rune barriers on both sides of the corridor one after another. Energy doors exploded, light fragments splattered, and the imprisoned inmates screamed as they rushed out of their cells, surging toward the staircase like a broken levee, clashing with the Asgardian soldiers who had rushed over.
The Cursed Warrior walked with heavy footsteps to the front of Loki's cell and stopped.
Loki had long since sat up from his bed, with that habitual, composed smile on his lips. He even straightened his collar, waiting for the door to be smashed open.
The Cursed Warrior looked at him through the rune barrier; there was no extra emotion in those eye sockets, which had been burned by dark energy until only two dark red coals remained. Then, he withdrew his gaze and turned to walk toward the stairs.
The smile on Loki's lips faded. He stood up and walked to the edge of the barrier, speaking in a low voice to the receding dark red back: "Take the stairs on the left."
The Cursed Warrior's footsteps paused for a moment, he turned his head to look at him, then turned to the left and disappeared into the shadows of the stairwell.
Chapter 53: The Aether Warrior is Unstoppable, the Top Mage Cannot Escape Capture!
Inside the banquet hall, long tables were laden with roasted meat and mead in golden platters. The warriors of Asgard were laughing and clinking their cups, their booming laughter almost lifting the dome.
Marcus sat at the same table as Thor and Jane Foster. He held a golden cup in his hand but did not drink from it, merely tilting his head slightly as if listening to something.
Just a moment ago, he had vaguely caught some discordant sounds, not the clamor of the banquet.
So, he no longer deliberately suppressed his hearing and extended his range of perception outward. Those sounds instantly became clear.
He put down his cup and turned to Thor, his tone flat yet certain: "It seems there is a disturbance in your prison."
Thor was stuffing a large piece of roasted meat into his mouth and paused upon hearing this. He put down the leg bone in his hand, closed his eyes, and focused his Divine Power to listen for a moment. The roars of prisoners and the sound of chaotic footsteps from the direction of the dungeons immediately rushed into his ears, blending together.
He opened his eyes abruptly, a flicker of imperceptible tension flashing in his eyes.
"I'll go see what's happening." He said hurriedly to Marcusand Jane Foster, raising his hand to summon mjolnir, which was standing by the table. The hammer of Thor hummed as it flew into his palm.
Jane Foster subconsciously gripped his wrist and lowered her voice to say: "Be careful."
Thor grinned, squeezing her hand as if to comfort or show off: "They are all defeated foes; nothing major will happen."
After saying this, he swung mjolnir, his figure trailing a silver-gray wake as he rushed out of the banquet hall and flew rapidly toward the dungeons.
Moments after Thor's figure disappeared, a low explosion suddenly came from high above, and the floor of the entire banquet hall shook. The warriors put down their wine cups and placed their hands on their sword hilts, all traces of drunkenness vanishing in an instant.
Immediately following, a piercing alarm resounded throughout the Realm of Gods.
Marcus looked up and, through the crystal dome of the banquet hall, saw a giant, cross-shaped warship as black as a coffin slowly descending from the clouds.
Around the warship, countless blade-like small fighter craft poured out like locusts, trailing dark red exhaust flames as they dove toward Asgard.
Asgard's defensive turrets opened fire simultaneously, weaving a dense web of fire in the sky with golden energy projectiles. Flying warships carrying fully armed Asgardian warriors rose to meet the enemy, engaging in a chaotic battle with the Dark Elf fighter craft.
At the end of the Bifrost Bridge, Heimdall suddenly plunged his guardian sword into the crystal core on the bridge surface. A layer of golden energy shield slowly rose around Asgard, enveloping the entire palace.
Just then, Marcus's gaze locked onto a fighter craft emitting black smoke. It was tilting and crashing toward the civilian area outside Asgard, and on the plaza below, more than a dozen Asgardian children were looking up at the approaching shadow.
Marcus did not hesitate, and his figure instantly vanished from the banquet hall.
He passed through the gap in the shield that had not yet fully closed and appeared directly beneath the falling fighter craft in the next instant. He thrust his arms upward, steadily catching the scorching metal hull of the fighter.
Then, the muscles in Marcus's arms suddenly tightened, and he hurled the fighter craft fiercely to the side. The fuselage spun and collided with another diving blade fighter, and two fireballs exploded over the plaza, with metal fragments raining down.
He looked down at the children who were still stunned in place and said: "Go find your parents quickly."
The children finally snapped out of their daze, turned, and ran wildly toward the other side of the plaza.
Marcus did not stop, soaring into the sky once more.
Suddenly, in the distance, the golden energy shield enveloping Asgard was flickering violently, as if all its energy had been drained, and finally, with a low hum, it dissipated completely into the air.
His gaze narrowed slightly, knowing that the internal defense line of Asgard had been breached, but he did not turn back, instead continuing to swoop toward another blade fighter that was chasing the fleeing group of civilians.
Meanwhile, deep within Asgard, Frigga was walking quickly through a secret passage with Jane Foster, the sounds of explosions behind them growing closer.
She had originally intended to escort Jane Foster to hide in the secret chamber of Odin's bedchamber, but she stopped abruptly when turning past a corridor pillar.
At the end of the corridor, a giant shadow, entirely dark red and wreathed in dark energy, was walking slowly toward them.
The Cursed Warrior's gaze passed over Frigga and locked onto Jane Foster. He could sense that within Jane Foster's body was the exact same aura as the Stone of Curse within his own body.
As the top mage of Asgard, Frigga did not hesitate in the slightest, raising both hands simultaneously as her fingertips traced two runic trajectories in the air.
Divine Power poured out from her palms like a rushing tide. A slowing spell landed on the Cursed Warrior first, followed closely by a gravity spell, pressing the air around him until it warped and deformed, followed immediately by a weakening spell and several sharp blades condensed from Divine Power.
The Cursed Warrior's pace only faltered for an instant.
This body had been thoroughly reshaped by the Stone of Curse formed from fragments of the Aether, granting it an extremely high Innate resistance to all conventional energy attacks.
Those spells, capable of crushing giants, merely sparked a few tiny flickers on the surface of his dark red skin before dissipating silently into nothingness.
Frigga's pupils constricted slightly, and she brought her hands together sharply. In the next instant, dozens of figures of her and Jane Foster appeared in the corridor simultaneously; each Frigga raised both hands to condense Divine Power anew, and each Jane Foster fled in a different direction. Dozens of rays of Divine Power lit up simultaneously, illuminating the entire dark corridor as if it were daytime.
The Cursed Warrior instinctively raised his arms to shield his eyes, his dark red eyelids tightly shut, and a low roar escaped his throat.
The light lasted for several breaths before slowly dissipating. He lowered his arms and opened his eyes, still burning in dark red sockets; before him remained only an empty corridor, the dozens of illusions having vanished completely, leaving only rubble and broken pillars at the end.
He tilted his head, his nostrils catching the lingering aura of the Aether in the air. It was a faint afterwave left by the particles within Jane Foster during her flight, like a dark red thread flickering in the turbid air. He turned and followed that aura, pursuing deeper into the palace.
Meanwhile, in a side hall deep within the palace that had not yet been touched by the flames of war, Frigga had just flashed into the room with Jane Foster. Before she could activate the runic barrier on the wall, the door was violently pushed open from the outside, the heavy door panel striking the stone wall with a dull boom.
Malekith had accurately tracked the Aether aura to this place, his pale face gleaming with cold light in the dim room. His gaze passed over Frigga and landed directly on Jane Foster, the corners of his mouth slowly curling into a withered smile.
Frigga stood in front of Jane Foster, her right hand already quietly resting on the sword hilt at her waist, her voice cold as a blade: "Monster, back down, and I may yet spare your life."
Malekith did not stop, his tone carrying a kind of anticipation that had been suppressed for five thousand years and was finally about to overflow: "I am quite hard to kill, woman."
Frigga stepped forward to meet him, her fingertips already touching the rune at the end of the sword hilt: "Who are you?"
Malekith finally shifted his gaze away from Jane Foster and onto Frigga's face: "I am Malekith, and I have come to take back what belongs to me."
Before the words had even faded, Frigga drew her sword. A cold light traced a silver arc in the air, aiming straight for Malekith's throat.
Malekith's pupils constricted slightly, and he also drew his blade to meet her, the two sharp blades clashing in the dimness with a piercing metallic ring.
Frigga flipped her left hand, her fingertips tracing two runic seals in the air, and both a speed-enhancing spell and a strength-enhancing spell were cast upon herself simultaneously.
Her speed soared suddenly, and her sword strikes poured down upon Malekith like a storm.
Malekith was forced to retreat repeatedly by this sudden increase in the tempo of the assault, every step cracking the stone floor. His blade barely parried Frigga's strikes each time, but he was falling further and further behind her rhythm.
Frigga seized a brief opening in her opponent, slashing horizontally with her blade, aiming straight for the side of Malekith's neck. This strike was so fast that even the air was sliced open, and the light in front of the blade seemed to be folded into two segments.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side. A dark red hand, with fingers as thick as stone pillars, its skin covered in magma-like cracks.
That hand accurately gripped Frigga's wrist, its five fingers closing, holding her sword-wielding arm firmly in mid-air.
The tip of the sword was less than an inch away from Malekith's neck, yet it could not advance a single fraction further.
Immediately following, an irresistible brute force came from her wrist bone. Frigga let out a muffled grunt, the longsword in her hand was forcibly disarmed, and it fell onto the stone floor with a clatter.
The Cursed Warrior took a step to circle behind her, his other hand spreading its five fingers to tightly grip her neck, slowly lifting her entire body off the ground.
Chapter 54: Odin repels Malekith with one strike of gungnir, Marcus saves Frigga with the power of Aether Particle!
Malekith withdrew his gaze and casually handed the pitch-black blade in his hand to his side. The Cursed Warriorextended that dark red giant palm, took the hilt, and slowly clenched his five fingers.
Malekith turned his head to look at Jane Foster, then raised his eyes to look at Frigga, who was being held in mid-air by her neck by the Cursed Warrior. His tone was calm, as if stating a regrettable fact: "Woman, I must admit, your illusion magic is very powerful."
He paused, and a dry smile pulled at the corners of his mouth: "However, my connection to the Aether Particlecannot be deceived by illusions."
Before the words had even faded, he raised his right hand, his five fingers splayed, aiming at a seemingly empty stone pillar in the corner of the room.
Jane Foster's body was dragged out from behind the stone pillar by an invisible force. Her feet left the ground, and she hung in mid-air, a short exclamation squeezed from her throat.
Malekith grabbed the air with his five fingers.
A dark red light suddenly shone from Jane Foster's chest. Those Aether Particle, which had originally been forcibly suppressed deep within her cells by Odin's Divine Power, seemed to hear an irresistible summons. They surged crazily from beneath her skin, turning into a liquid metal-like fluid, tracing a twisted red line in the air, and poured directly into Malekith's open palm, sinking into his body.
Seeing this scene, Frigga struggled to raise her hands, enduring the sensation of suffocation, wanting to channel her Divine Power, but the golden runes on her fingertips had only just lit up.
The Cursed Warrior viciously stabbed his blade through her body from behind. The tip of the blade protruded from her chest, bringing out a spray of scalding blood mist.
Her hand stiffened in the air for a moment, and the golden runes on her fingertips extinguished silently. The Cursed Warrior pulled out the blade and released his hand from her neck. Frigga's body, like a feather broken by the wind, fell gently to the ground, and fresh blood spread rapidly across her pale golden robe.
Malekith absorbed the last wisp of Aether Particle, slowly clenching his five fingers, feeling that power which had slept for five thousand years surging and rushing within him once again. He lowered his arm, and Jane Foster's body fell from mid-air, crashing onto the stone floor, motionless.
Just then, a silver-gray figure smashed through the ceiling of the bedchamber, and rubble poured down like rain. Thor hovered in mid-air, mjolnir emitting a low rumble of thunder in his palm. His gaze swept across the floor, landing on the two fallen figures; his mother was soaked in a pool of scalding blood, while Jane Foster lay motionless to the side, her life or death uncertain.
His mother. His beloved.
"No!"
Thor's roar shook the entire bedchamber. He swung mjolnir in the air, and thick thunderclouds instantly gathered above the dome. A bolt of lightning, dozens of meters wide, struck down from the clouds, carrying the momentum of world-ending destruction, crashing down upon Malekith's head.
Malekith raised his head, a cold arc pulling at the corners of his mouth. He raised his hand, and the Aether Particlesurged before him into a dark red storm barrier. The lightning crashed into the barrier, lightning and dark red energy tearing at each other crazily, and the stone walls of the entire bedchamber cracked inch by inch under the shockwave.
Just as the lightning and the Aether Particle storm were deadlocked, a golden meteor sped over from the distant horizon.
The person who arrived was none other than Odin. He had originally been stationed at the front line commanding the defense, but upon sensing the Aether Particle energy erupting from the direction of the bedchamber, he immediately rode his eight-legged steed, Sleipnir, trampling through the clouds to arrive.
He angrily raised the spear gungnir high. At the tip of the spear, the golden light, which had accumulated all the Divine Power of the All-Father, was like a second scorching sun, illuminating the entire shattered bedchamber as bright as day.
He threw it forward violently, and gungnir dragged out a straight golden trail, tearing through the air, piercing straight toward Malekith.
Malekith's expression changed abruptly, and he hurriedly raised his other hand to release the Aether Particle. The dark red storm collided with gungnir, and the two energies tore at each other crazily at the point of contact. All the crystal windows in the bedchamber shattered simultaneously at this instant, and fragments poured down like a rainstorm.
The stalemate lasted less than a second. gungnir's golden Divine Power pierced through the Aether Particle storm, and the shockwave sent Malekith flying. His back smashed through the stone railing of the balcony, and he tumbled down toward the abyss below Asgard.
The Cursed Warrior leaped without hesitation, his dark red figure following closely behind Malekith and disappearing over the edge of the balcony. A moment later, a Blade Fighter swept past from below, steadily catching the two falling figures, and then dragged a trail of dark red exhaust as it fled into the distance.
On the other side, Marcus had just destroyed that pitch-black, coffin-like cross-shaped giant warship. The bridge exploded into an expanding fireball the moment he pierced through it, and countless fragments traced dense meteor trajectories across the sky of Asgard.
He was just preparing to pursue the next fighter when he suddenly frowned, his gaze turning toward that half-collapsed bedchamber deep within the palace.
The next second, his figure vanished from the air.
When he appeared again, he was already standing on the cold floor of the bedchamber. Frigga lay in a pool of blood, her pale golden robe soaked through with blood, her breathing as weak as a candle in the wind.
Marcus ignored the gazes of Odin and Thor, kneeling on one knee beside Frigga. He raised his right hand, palm open, and dark red Aether Particle seeped from his fingertips, slowly covering the piercing wound on Frigga's chest like liquid flowing light.
He focused all his will, repeatedly outlining the same thought in his mind: heal, repair, let that gruesome wound close up again.
The Aether Particle responded to his will. The dark red flowing light seeped deep into the wound, beginning to slowly weave together the torn flesh and broken bones.
At the same time, a terrifying sensation of being drained exploded from within his body, and his stamina poured out crazily like a floodgate opening: twenty percent, thirty percent, fifty percent, eighty percent.
When the piercing wound on Frigga's chest finally closed completely, Marcus's face had already turned pale.
But her breathing had stabilized. Odin walked quickly to Frigga's side, knelt on one knee, and gently gathered his wife into his arms.
He looked at Frigga's slightly rising and falling chest, was silent for a moment, then raised his head, that one eye looking toward Marcus, his voice deep and solemn: "Thank you for saving Frigga. From this day forward, you are a friend of Asgard forever."
Thor carried Jane Foster to Marcus's side. At this moment, his eyes were rimmed with red, and his voice was hoarse: "Thank you, brother."
Marcus slowly stood up, cold sweat from the exhaustion of his stamina still remaining on his forehead. He looked at Odin and Thor, his tone direct: "If you really want to thank me, after I deal with Malekith and retrieve the other half of the Aether Particle, I hope you can give me some treasures to replenish my vitality and stamina."
Odin did not hesitate and nodded: "I promise you."
Marcus said no more, tapped his foot, and his figure shot into the sky, chasing after the invisible Blade Fighter.
Thor gently placed Jane Foster from his arms beside his father and reached out to summon mjolnir. The moment the hammer of the Thunder God fell into his palm, electric arcs burst out from between his fingers. He looked at Odin: "Father, I leave Jane Foster to you. I am going to pursue Malekith to seek justice for Mother, and also to settle the score for Jane Foster."
Odin looked up, his gaze passing over Frigga in his arms to look at his son. He did not stop him, only spitting out two words: "Go."
Thor swung mjolnir, his figure dragging a trail of thunder as he chased closely after Marcus's figure.
Chapter 55: Not the God of Hammers, But the God of Thunder!
When Marcus broke through the clouds, that blade fighter jet had completely vanished into the sky, impossible to capture with the naked eye. But he did not slow down; stealth might fool the eyes, but it could not fool the ears.
The sound of the fighter jet breaking the air was as clear as thunder under his powerful auditory tracking. He followed the source of the sound and crashed straight into it, arms in front, his figure like a silent black cannonball piercing through the core of the fighter jet.
Fire blossomed in the air, the stealth coating peeled off in the explosion, and the entire fighter jet split into several burning wrecks, plummeting toward the forest below wrapped in black smoke.
Malekith and the Cursed Warrior were thrown out from the center of the explosion, the two tumbling for hundreds of meters in mid-air, crashing through a dozen thick branches before slamming heavily onto the soft tundra of the Asgard forest.
Marcus did not give them a chance to catch their breath. He dove down, the muscles in his right arm tensed to the limit, his fist tearing through the air as he smashed directly toward the face of Malekith, who had just climbed up from the mud.
Malekith's pupils constricted, and he hastily pushed his palms forward. Aether Particle surged out from within his body, condensing into an Aether Particle shield in front of him, while another portion of Aether Particle covered his entire body, rapidly solidifying into Aether Particle armor.
Marcus's fist slammed into the Aether Particle shield, and a visible shockwave exploded at the point of contact, snapping trees within hundreds of meters in half with the blast.
The shield held for less than half a breath before shattering with a boom. The force of the punch did not stop, slamming into the newly formed helmet visor of Malekith; the visor buckled with the impact, and fragments flew everywhere.
Malekith plowed a deep trench into the ground, tumbling and rolling for dozens of kilometers, smashing through countless trees and boulders along the way, tearing a straight gap through the forest.
Before he had even steadied himself, Marcus had already caught up from above, kicking him hard in the chest and stomping him deep into the mud.
Immediately after, Marcus lifted his foot and stomped violently, his sole pounding like a pile driver crazily onto Malekith's chest, abdomen, and head. Every kick made the entire forest floor tremble violently, with mud and gravel splashing and scattering.
At this moment, a figure wreathed in lightning landed with a boom beside Marcus. Thor's eyes were bloodshot, mjolnir held high above his head, smashing down on Malekith hammer blow after hammer blow.
The two took turns attacking fiercely, fists and kicks alternating with the thunder hammer. Malekith was pounded deep into the mud, the Aether Particle armor on his body shattering and regenerating, regenerating and shattering again, repeating in a cycle within the dark red glow, yet their attacks could never completely pierce the Aether Particle armor.
Suddenly, Malekith let out a deafening roar: "Enough!"
A dark red Aether Particle storm erupted with him at the center, and Marcus and Thor were simultaneously blown away by the violent energy.
Marcus forcibly steadied his figure in mid-air. Before he could adjust his posture, a dark red figure had already rushed out from the center of the storm. Malekith grabbed him by the throat with both hands, pushing him toward a towering rocky mountain in the distance.
With a deafening boom, the mountain was smashed through; the two burst out from the other side of the mountain, and gravel poured down from the air like rain.
On the other side, Thor climbed up from the mud, shook the grass clippings from his head, and was just about to swing mjolnir and fly toward that collapsed mountain.
A massive dark red shadow leaped high from the distance. The Cursed Warrior fell from mid-air like a meteorite, hands clasped together like a hammer, slamming heavily onto Thor's back.
Thor was slammed into the ground, creating a deep pit several dozen meters in diameter, and mjolnir slipped from his hand and landed in the distance.
The Cursed Warrior landed on him, legs stepping on Thor's arms, two giant dark red fists falling alternately, smashing onto Thor's head one punch after another.
The God of Thunder's head was smashed to one side, then to the other, the mud and gravel cracking inch by inch beneath his cheeks.
For a moment, Thor was beaten into a state where he had no power to fight back.
At this moment, Thor's consciousness gradually dissipated under the heavy blows, and the surrounding forest and fire faded into a blurry gray-white. In a trance, he found himself standing in the palace hall of Asgard, golden light still spilling down from the dome, but it was unnaturally silent.
Odin was standing right in front of him, clad in golden armor, his single eye looking at him calmly.
Thor opened his mouth, his voice hoarse and exhausted: "Father, I'm sorry. Without mjolnir, I can't beat that guy."
Odin watched him for a moment, then spoke slowly, his voice deep: "I do not recall my child being the God of Hammers. I gave you that hammer to help you control your power. You must remember, it was never the source of your power."
The instant the words fell, the bone-chilling pain and the fierce wind slammed back into his perception.
The Cursed Warrior clasped his fists together and raised them high. The moment he smashed down with full force, Thor's left hand shot up, steadily catching those two giant dark red fists.
The shockwave of the two forces colliding exploded from the bottom of the pit, sending gravel from the surroundings flying several meters high from the blast, but Thor's arm did not move an inch.
His eyes snapped open, and the sockets were no longer the original azure blue, but filled with violent blue lightning.
Before the Cursed Warrior could react in any way, Thor's right fist, already wrapped in dazzling lightning, slammed heavily into his chest.
The air where the fist landed was ionized into blinding blue-white arcs, followed immediately by a deafening sound like muffled thunder exploding over the forest.
The Cursed Warrior's dark red body, which even the attack magic released by Frigga could not harm in the slightest, was now sent flying backward like a batted baseball, crashing through dozens of giant trees behind him.
Meanwhile, high in the sky, Malekith was gripping Marcus's throat tightly with both hands. Dark red Aether Particle surged from between his ten fingers, drilling into Marcus's skin like countless tiny tentacles, frantically pulling at the other half of the Aether Particle within his body.
Marcus could clearly feel the Aether Particle inside him being pulled out bit by bit, as if someone were trying to extract the bone marrow from his bones. His already overdrawn stamina became increasingly empty. He gritted his teeth, his hands turning into hand-blades, stabbing directly at Malekith's head and throat.
Malekith shifted his intent, and Aether Particle gushed out from his shoulders, condensing into two dark red energy arms, steadily blocking Marcus's hand-blades.
Just at this moment, a heaven-shaking thunderous sound exploded from the forest below. Malekith subconsciously turned his head to look in Thor's direction.
Just at the moment of his Divided Soul, Marcus violently slammed his head forward, his forehead carrying all his strength and smashing into Malekith's visor. The impact exploded a shockwave between the two, Malekith's visor shattered again, and his hands involuntarily loosened.
Marcus took the opportunity to retreat rapidly. The same instant he opened the distance, Thor swung his hands down violently. The thick thunderclouds in the sky were torn apart by an invisible force, and a lightning bolt hundreds of meters wide struck down from the depths of the firmament.
Malekith had just steadied himself when the lightning bolt struck him head-on. Violent electric arcs swallowed him whole, the air within a thousand meters was ionized into a blinding blue-white, trees were uprooted by the shockwave, and mud and gravel surged outward like a tsunami.
Chapter 56: Aether Black Spot, Completely Annihilating Malekith!
Marcus took this opportunity to hover in mid-air, his chest heaving violently.
From previously consuming eighty percent of his stamina to heal Frigga, to chasing the fighter craft and launching continuous fierce attacks on Malekith, the successive high-intensity consumption had pushed his stamina to its limit.
He clenched his fists, feeling the remaining stamina within his body slowly recovering.
The dust and smoke slowly dissipated.
Malekith knelt on one knee in the center of the charred crater. The aether armor on his body was shattered by the bombardment of thunder, with dark red fragments embedded in his charred skin, suppressed by the lingering Divine Power of thunder, unable to regenerate.
He gasped for breath, and for the first time, a look of genuine fatigue appeared on his pale face.
Marcus did not let this opportunity pass. His figure flickered, and he charged straight toward Malekith like an arrow.
At the same time, Thor raised his right hand high, and mjolnir hummed as it flew back into his palm from the muddy ground in the distance. Having poured all his awakened Divine Power of thunder into the hammer, he moved, forming a pincer attack with Marcus from the left and right, charging toward Malekith together.
Malekith looked up, watching the two rapidly approaching figures. He no longer repaired his armor but forced out all the aether within his body. Layer upon layer of dark red energy barriers unfolded out of thin air around him, wrapping him completely.
Inside the barrier, he slowly raised his hands, his voice hoarse and resolute: "Since I cannot wait for the Convergence, then let Asgard fall into darkness first."
He began to chant an incantation. The voice was low and ancient, every syllable carrying a kind of dark weight originating from the birth of the Universe, and the air twisted violently under the vibration of the spell.
Marcus's pupils constricted slightly. With a thought, he mobilized all the aether within his body, the dark red fluid coiling around his right fist like a living creature.
Beside him, Thor roared, pouring all his awakened Divine Power of thunder into mjolnir. The patterns on the surface of the hammer burst forth with blinding, sun-like radiance under the dual enhancement of Divine Power and thunder.
Marcus's right fist and Thor's hammer struck the barrier simultaneously. The two forces of aether and thunder superimposed and erupted at the point of contact. The multi-layered protective shield began to collapse layer by layer from the outermost layer, with fragments scattering like dark red glass.
The barrier shattered. The tips of Marcus's fist and Thor's hammer were less than an arm's length away from Malekith. But at that very instant, Malekith's incantation was completed.
The dark energy and Aether Particle within his body were released simultaneously, and a dark red particle storm exploded outward with him at the center.
Marcus and Thor were both blown away by this irresistible force, their figures tumbling for thousands of meters in the air before they could barely stabilize themselves.
The dark red particle storm continued to expand wildly outward, devouring everything in its path like a flood breaking through a dam. Trees, rocks, and soil were instantly disintegrated into powder upon being swept into it.
In just a short moment, the entire Asgard forest was completely enveloped by the dark red particle storm, and the sky was dyed a strange dark red.
Thor looked at the forest enveloped by the dark red storm; the dark energy pierced his skin like countless fine needles. He immediately mobilized the awakened Divine Power of thunder within his body, forcing all that dark energy back. Then he flew to Marcus's side and said in a deep voice: "We must deal with him quickly, otherwise the longer we drag this out, the more it will favor him."
Marcus looked down at the Aether Particle coiling around his body; that layer of dark red protective shield was keeping the dark energy at bay. He suddenly spoke: "I've thought of a way to deal with him."
"What way?" Thor asked hurriedly.
Marcus did not answer. He raised his hands, palms facing each other, and the Aether Particle surged and gathered between his palms, the dark red fluid spinning faster and faster. The next instant, a tiny black spot condensed between his palms.
Thor stared wide-eyed at the black spot, completely unable to understand what Marcus was doing.
"Thor, quickly inject your Divine Power into my body." Marcus's voice carried a rare hint of urgency.
Although Thor did not know what he was going to do, he did not hesitate at all. His large hand pressed onto Marcus's shoulder, and the awakened Divine Power of thunder within him surged into Marcus's body like a torrent breaking through a dam.
Violent lightning surged through Marcus's body, and his eyes glowed with blazing blue-white electric light. He poured Thor's Divine Power along with his own remaining stamina between his palms, and the little black spot suddenly expanded.
When the black spot expanded to the size of a basketball, the surrounding space began to twist violently. Suction surged out from within the black spot; at first, it only stirred up gravel and broken branches on the ground, but in an instant, it escalated into a violent gravitational vortex.
Trees within a thousand-meter radius were uprooted, and giant boulders tumbled through the air as they were sucked into the continuously expanding black sphere. Even the dark red particle storm twisted and deformed under the gravitational pull, like sand caught in an invisible giant hand.
Marcus gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his arms, relying entirely on overdrawing his remaining stamina to forcibly stabilize the black sphere that was still expanding.
Just then, a giant dark red shadow shot out from the ruins in the distance. The Cursed Warrior was charred all over, with most of the armor on his chest shattered, yet he still rushed toward the two at an astonishing speed. He did not know what Marcus and Thor were doing, but he knew he could not let them finish.
Thor's peripheral vision caught the rapidly approaching figure, and just as he was about to release his hand from Marcus's shoulder, a golden spear pierced down from the firmament.
gungnir, trailing a straight streak of light, accurately pierced through the Cursed Warrior's chest, pinning him along with the spear into the ground. The massive dark red body crashed to the ground, sending up a sky full of gravel.
Thor and Marcus turned their heads simultaneously. Odinrode out from the clouds on the eight-legged steed Sleipnir, his single eye like a torch, his voice low and unquestionable: "Do not stop, I will buy you time."
In the distance, Malekith, who was maintaining the spell and could not move, also saw this scene. He did not know what these two were doing, but he knew he must not let them finish.
So he pushed his palms forward violently, and the dark energy and Aether Particle, like two parallel torrents, swept toward the three of them, covering the sky and earth.
Odin spurred his horse to stand in front of the two. He gripped his right hand in the air, and gungnir, which was pinned in the Cursed Warrior's chest, hummed and pulled itself out of the ground, spinning back into his palm.
The All-Father held the spear horizontally in front of him, his internal Divine Power erupting like a golden volcano, colliding head-on with the oncoming dark energy and Aether Particle.
Golden light and dark red tore at each other in the air, and the shockwave leveled the surrounding rocks layer by layer.
Before long, Marcus raised his palms above his head; the black hole in his hands had already expanded to several meters wide.
The devouring force surged exponentially; even the ground under Odin's feet began to crack, and gravel flowed upward, being sucked into that sphere as pitch-black as an abyss.
"Clear a path for me!" Marcus roared.
Odin suddenly raised gungnir high, and the All-Father's entire Divine Power was poured into the spear shaft without reservation. The Rune symbols on gungnir's surface lit up layer by layer, spreading from the tail of the spear to the tip, and the entire spear transformed into a brilliant golden beam of light.
He threw it forward with all his might—gungnir, trailing a straight golden wake, like a sun flying in reverse, pierced through all the dark energy and Aether Particle along its path.
Divine Power and dark energy violently consumed each other at the point of contact, and the edges of the torn path burst with blinding arcs of interwoven gold and dark red.
A golden path extended straight through the center of the storm, leading directly to Malekith.
Marcus poured all his overdrawn strength into his arms and hurled the several-meter-wide black hole fiercely toward Malekith.
In the distance, Malekith's pupils contracted suddenly, wanting to retract his power to defend, but it was already too late.
The black sphere smashed into his chest in an instant. There was no explosion, no flash of fire, only a silent beginning of inward collapse.
Malekith's body was crushed from the inside as if by an invisible hand, and the other half of the Aether Particlewithin his body were pressed into that continuously shrinking black spot along with him.
The storm stopped abruptly. The dark energy lost its source and dissipated silently in the firmament. That black spot that had swallowed everything flickered twice after compressing to its limit, then quietly extinguished as if it had never existed.