In an instant, a green wind blade shot out from Karl's side and slammed into the empty air ahead. The blade exploded on impact, and a jet-black aircraft with a crimson engine at its center gradually revealed itself.
It was indeed a Dark Elf vessel. The only mystery was how the Dark Elves had managed to slip into Asgard without anyone noticing.
Karl's gaze sharpened. He casually flicked his hand, releasing a bolt of lightning. The purple lightning, crackling with violent energy, struck the Razor Ship dead center. A gaping hole was blown through its engine, and the vessel detonated, its wreckage plunging into the sea below.
But then, the Dark Elves' mothership slowly emerged.
The colossal, sword-shaped black vessel blotted out the sky, eclipsing the Observatory and the Rainbow Bridge behind it. Under the blazing sun, it looked like a massive black blade hanging upside down over Asgard.
Moments later, dozens of Razor Ships detached from the mothership and streaked toward the royal palace.
Karl, Tony, and Heimdall all looked up at the invading fleet. Heimdall immediately relayed the situation to Odin. In response, Odin's divine awareness spread across all of Asgard, instantly confirming Heimdall's report.
"Alert everyone. Enter full combat readiness immediately," Odin commanded.
"Activate the anti-air batteries. Launch all ships and intercept the enemy!"
At the same time, he summoned his two ravens and sent them skyward to survey the entire realm.
At the Observatory, Karl and Tony exchanged a glance. Heimdall stood firm at the head of the Rainbow Bridge, sword in hand—his sole duty was to protect it and ensure it remained intact.
"Let's go. We'll help," Karl said.
His cloak flared open as he rose straight into the air.
Tony tapped the arc reactor in his chest twice. Nano-armor flowed over his body in an instant, and he shot into the sky alongside Karl, heading for the golden palace.
The Razor Ships were fast—but Karl and Tony were faster.
Each of them intercepted a ship from above. Tony's floating cannons unfolded behind him, firing brilliant blue beams that sliced cleanly through a Razor Ship from top to bottom. The vessel split apart and exploded midair.
Karl, meanwhile, was wreathed in crackling purple lightning. He spread his hand, and thunder roared across the sky. A bolt as thick as a bowl smashed into a Razor Ship, then arced outward, chaining into three more nearby vessels.
Boom!
The ships detonated one after another. The lightning showed no sign of weakening—in fact, it grew even more violent, tearing through over a dozen Razor Ships in rapid succession.
Tony's blue beams flashed repeatedly through the air, each flash marking the destruction of another enemy craft. If Tony's attacks were like a razor-sharp sword, precisely cleaving through targets, then Karl's lightning was a colossal hammer, pulverizing everything it struck into fragments.
Together, the two of them held back the first wave of the assault, buying precious time for Asgard's defenses to react. Massive anti-air cannons lit up with golden light, firing dense barrages that tore into the second wave of incoming Razor Ships.
At the same time, Asgardian vessels lifted off to engage the enemy. Notably, Asgard's "ships" were exactly that—actual ships, soaring through the sky.
For a moment, Asgard's skies erupted into a spectacular and deadly aerial battle. Both sides fought without restraint, unleashing everything they had in a brutal struggle to annihilate one another.
Back at the Observatory, Heimdall returned to the high platform and slowly drove his sword into a hidden mechanism. With a powerful twist, he activated it.
The entire Observatory began to rotate. Rune after rune ignited in sequence. Deep beneath the palace, golden energy surged forth, spinning rapidly. A shimmering golden barrier rose up around the royal palace, enclosing it completely in a massive protective shield.
Inside the palace, the escaped monster reached the depths beneath the structure and stood before the swirling golden energy core. Along the path it had taken, more than a hundred Asgardian guards lay dead, their bodies strewn across the floor.
The creature raised both fists and smashed them down.
Boom!
The golden energy erupted violently, engulfing the monster in a blinding explosion.
Outside, the newly formed golden barrier shattered instantly, dissolving like melting ice cream. At the same time, a Razor Ship broke through the defenses and slammed directly into the palace platform, its blade-like hull carving straight into the palace interior.
Karl turned toward the palace. He knew Malekith was aboard that ship—and he knew Frigga was fated to die at Malekith's hands.
"Tony, with me! Get to the palace—this place won't hold!" Karl shouted.
He immediately sped toward the palace. Tony glanced back once, then followed. They both knew that the two of them alone couldn't clear all the enemy ships. Falling back to defend the palace was the only viable option.
Inside the palace, the guards formed up in tight ranks, swords raised and pointed at the Razor Ship's hatch.
The anticipated sudden charge didn't come.
Instead, the hatch slowly opened, and Dark Elves poured out, weapons raised, unleashing a storm of gunfire. The Asgardian soldiers were caught off guard—none of them expected such shameless reliance on firearms.
But Asgard's shields were no mere decoration. Recovering quickly, the soldiers raised their enchanted shields, easily blocking the Dark Elves' energy rounds.
Then a Dark Elf hurled a grenade.
It detonated in the middle of the formation, creating something like a miniature black hole. Three soldiers were instantly dragged in and swallowed, vanishing without a trace.
It was the Dark Elves' secret weapon—the singularity grenade. Each one generated a small black hole upon detonation, devouring everything nearby.
With sustained gunfire and the support of the singularity grenades, the Asgardians were gradually pushed back, casualties mounting by the second.
But the situation didn't last.
As reinforcements arrived, the Asgardians launched a countercharge. In close combat, the Dark Elves' firearms were far less effective, and once blades met blades, they were no match for Asgard's battle-hardened warriors.
The fight devolved into a brutal stalemate, neither side able to decisively overpower the other.
At that moment, Malekith stepped calmly out of the Razor Ship, flanked by several guards wielding long spears.
He casually plucked a singularity grenade from a fallen soldier's back and tossed it toward Odin's throne.
A black hole bloomed, swallowing the throne whole.
Without a second glance, Malekith turned and walked in another direction.
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