Nidavellir, Eitri, and the dwarves stared in stunned silence as the sacred and beautiful magical barrier suddenly appeared before them. Then their eyes erupted with an unprecedented brilliance! Eitri's lips trembled, his gaze brimming with fanatic reverence, as he cried out,
"This is… this is… the MagicNet?"
This… this is what Prince Lucci promised would forever protect us…!
…
In the Hall of the All-Father, Asgard
Odin, Thor, and Heimdall—the three gods of Asgard—were all struck dumb the instant the gigantic barrier appeared. Thor stuffed his fist in his mouth, pointed at the image, and stammered,
"That… what is that? A shield? A shield that covers all of Nidavellir?"
Even Heimdall's golden eyes, which saw through all things, were now filled with shock and confusion. He could sense the profound depth and vastness of energy contained in that barrier! And Odin, the All-Father, was more shaken than anyone.
"This isn't just pure defensive magic… nor is it simply technology…"
He stared at the endless runic array, his voice tinged with a fear he hadn't even noticed in himself.
"This… this draws on power from a multidimensional world, contextualized by divine might itself. The power of law… it's the domain of materialization and normalization!"
Suddenly, his heart surged with waves as he gazed at the tranquil figure of Nidavellir, protected within the barrier in the image.
To create a domain that encompasses a world… What kind of script is this… Lucci, what exactly have you done? Where have you come from?
…
Beyond Nidavellir, the cosmos stretched endlessly across the starry sky.
"Fire!"
With Corvus Glaive's roar—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Dozens of blue-violet destruction beams launched, tearing through the planet's crust, condensed to the extreme like the spears of vengeful goddesses. With a sharp roar, they sliced through the icy void of space, bombarding the newly emerged magical barrier!
At this moment, time seemed to stretch to its very limits.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
The expected shockwaves, which could have torn apart a planet, never came.
Not the slightest sound could be heard.
This collision was enough to decide the fate of an entire race—isolated, silent, and yet, utterly shocking!
Dozens of annihilation beams, capable of vaporizing small satellites in an instant, struck the magical barrier and seemed to hit an invisible, endless wall of sighs. The beams' front tips touched the flowing runes on the barrier's surface and instantly dissolved—disintegrating into the purest, most chaotic energy particles, scattering and fleeing.
Yet the torrent of energy behind them kept surging, forming a bizarre spectacle—dozens of colossal blue-violet energy columns pressed against the golden barrier, but could not advance an inch!
That not-very-thick, almost illusory magical barrier, after enduring such a terrifying saturation attack—
It simply… did not move!
Not even a ripple.
As if that civilization-destroying attack was no more than a gentle breeze whispering over a hill.
In Nidavellir's command center, Eitri and all the dwarves stared at the main screen as if petrified by magic. A moment ago, they had been suffocating in despair over Lucci's safety and Nidavellir's fate. Now, the unimaginable destructive display before their eyes robbed them of even the most basic ability to think.
"It's blocked… It's actually blocked!"
An old Dwarven master stretched out a trembling finger, pointing feebly at the screen. "It's truly blocked?"
"This… this is the MagicNet Prince Lucci spoke of?"
Eitri's adam's apple bobbed violently as he stared at the barrier's limit, reflecting the light of magic in shock.
"What… what a magnificent power this is!"
He knew better than anyone how terrifying that barrage had been. Even if the entire backup power of Nidavellir was activated and the ring's own defense system pushed to its max, they would never have withstood it! The first shockwave alone would have shaken the star-ring violently, possibly melting large sections of its outer armor.
But this "MagicNet" laid down by Prince Lucci—
It simply did not move!
Utterly stunning!
The indescribable shock washed away the last traces of doubt and fear in their hearts, like the most violent lava torrent, replacing it with almost fanatical worship!
…
Asgard
Odin, Thor, and Heimdall, gods used to cosmic wonders, now wore the same expression—
Astonishment!
"This… this protective layer…"
"It's unexpectedly… so tough and unshakable?"
Thor's jaw dropped. Even his pride as the God of Thunder felt small before this vast golden barrier.
Heimdall's golden eyes, which saw through all, were now filled with awe. He gazed at the magical barrier and murmured,
"AA-Father, Thor, look: when the barrier was attacked, the speed of the runes flowing on the surface didn't increase at all.
That means… this attack hasn't pushed it to its limit!"
"That's not all!" Odin's voice was low, but could not hide the turbulent waves within. His single eye glimmered. "Look at how steady it is… It's still got miles—no, leagues to go before reaching its limit!"
A wild, yet undeniable thought rose simultaneously in the hearts of the three gods of Asgard:
Even if all the remaining Chitauri warships combined, they might never shake this holy barrier!
…
And Lucci, the creator of all this, hung quietly within the MagicNet's barrier, calmly watching the spectacular "fireworks" before him, and nodded slightly.
"Not bad."
The result was even better than expected.
The MagicNet, constructed with multidimensional energy guidance technology and driven by Path Flame as its core, had already surpassed the scope of conventional scientific weaponry.
"Based on this estimation, even if thousands of Chitauri warships attacked at once, they still wouldn't be able to break through the MagicNet's defense," Lucci judged.
…
On the Death Scythe's Flagship
General Corvus Glaive stood there, utterly dumbfounded. The cold sneer on his face had frozen, replaced by a dull, disbelieving expression.
"How… how is this possible?"
He roared in shock and anger.
This was a combined volley from the main cannons of dozens of warships!
A force terrifying enough to shatter a mining planet!
How could it not even penetrate the opponent's thin shield? Not even make it tremble?
He had thought this would be a simple "demolition" job he could enjoy at his leisure.
But now… things were not so simple!
"General… What should we… what should we do next?"
The adjutant beside him asked, shaking, also terrified by the bizarre sight.
General Corvus Glaive suddenly snapped back to his senses, recalling his earlier arrogant words, and humiliation surged in his chest. His ashen face flushed purple with anger, his eyes bursting with bloodthirsty light.
"What do we do? The word 'retreat' does not exist in my lord Thanos's dictionary!"
He suddenly brandished his Corvus Glaive, pointing at the golden barrier, and roared with all his might,
"Relay my orders! All ships! All units! Including the Death Scythe! Gather all energy into the main cannons! Attack together!"
"I want to use absolute force to blow that damned turtle shell and the arrogant Asgardians inside into the most primitive particles in the universe!"
"Fire!"
With his hysterical command, the entire Chitauri fleet instantly came alive!
Thousands of warships, including the flagship Death Scythe, equipped their most terrifying main cannons—every muzzle lighting up at once.
In the next moment, an unprecedented "torrent of death" formed from thousands of destruction beams!
A dense sea of energy beams painted the starry sky before Nidavellir an apocalyptic blue-violet! They converged into an unstoppable steel storm, carrying General Corvus Glaive's endless rage and murderous intent, and unleashed the fiercest, most frenzied…
All-out assault on the golden magical barrier!
At this Moment
Whether it was the countless nervous and expectant eyes of Nidavellir, or the gazes of the three gods in Asgard's Hall of the All-Father, everyone was focused on the starry sky about to suffer a destructive blow.
This was a saturation attack involving thousands of warships, including flagship-class destroyers! No longer just suppressive fire, but a sea of death, made of enough energy to annihilate all matter!
This power was enough to collapse a mid-sized planet in an instant, and would completely erase any interstellar civilization from the cosmic map without top-tier protection!
And now, this sea of death crashed against the MagicNet's barrier at light speed!
'...'
There was no sound in the vacuum,
But every being witnessing this scene seemed to hear a deafening roar deep in their souls!
Endless blue-violet energy surged violently against the massive magical barrier.
This time, the barrier finally moved.
As thousands of attacks struck in unison, the vast golden shield was covered, circle after circle, with…
Ripples.
Like a tranquil lake struck by countless stones.
The terrifying energy, enough to destroy the world, was instantly decomposed by the flowing runes upon contact with the barrier—guided, and spread out in an incredible manner. The strength of each attack was evenly distributed across the entire barrier.
Thus, the final effect was a grand yet eerie sight—a deathly sea roared, the sacred barrier rippled, but calmly endured.
Seeing this, a hint of satisfaction showed on Lucci's face.
"The MagicNet's defense has essentially been tested."
He felt the energy flowing rapidly as the barrier was attacked, and his heart stirred.
A bolder, more refined idea emerged in his mind.
"Simple solidity isn't perfection."
"True defense should be transformative."
He recalled his "Great Universe Devouring Method."
The core of this technique was "devour" and "transform."
To devour all energy, and transform it for one's own use—this was mastery.
"Since the MagicNet is based on Path Flame, it's only natural to imbue it with these heaven-defying properties."
Lucci's lips curved into a confident smile.
He made a move in his heart, instantly imprinting the core secrets of energy-devouring and transformation from the Great Universe Devouring Method, through Path Flame, into the entire MagicNet!
Buzz!
As if receiving a supreme command, at that moment, the entire MagicNet system underwent a world-shaking qualitative transformation!
The magical barrier, which had only passively dispersed attack energy before, suddenly flared with light!
On the barrier's surface, billions of flowing runes instantly came to life!
They no longer merely diffused energy, but began to actively, greedily…
Devour!
The blue-violet destructive energy assaulting the barrier was not released into the universe upon collapse, but directly sucked inside by tiny rune vortices!
And, after rapidly transforming at the core of the MagicNet, these originally destructive alien energies were stripped of their violent properties, decomposed into pure energy particles, and re-integrated into the structure of the barrier itself—strengthening it!
A perfect closed loop!
A cycle that would drive attackers to despair!
The MagicNet had now upgraded again!
No longer merely a "shield," but a "living barrier" with transformative capabilities—it would continue to evolve and strengthen!
As such, unless the enemy could destroy every single defensive node of the MagicNet at once, an unsolvable logic formed: subsequent attacks would not weaken it, but instead become "nutrition" for the barrier, making it ever stronger and harder to destroy!
The MagicNet's barrier had now become, to a certain extent, an unbreakable shield!
…
Nidavellir
The dwarves, realizing that all those attacks could only create ripples, were utterly lost in ecstasy!
"My gods! Hold tight! It really withstood it!"
"It's not broken! The MagicNet isn't broken! Our home—wait!"
Eitri's eyes widened, his whole body trembling with excitement. He grabbed the master craftsman beside him, shouting incoherently,
"Did you see? Did you see? Prince Lucci's MagicNet… It's actually… that powerful?!"
At this moment, there was no longer any fear or anxiety in the hearts of all the dwarves. They gazed at the calm figure on the screen, and in their eyes was only pure, almost fanatical reverence and respect!
A miracle!
This is a true miracle!
From now on, Nidavellir is under the true protection of a god!
…
Asgard
The torrent of death formed by thousands of beams could only raise ripples on the golden barrier. Odin, Thor, and Heimdall all gasped.
"How… how is this possible?"
Thor's voice trembled with shock, almost unable to hold his hammer.
"That was a full assault by the entire Chitauri fleet!"
"And yet… it can't break through?"
The ever-calm Heimdall, unchanged for millennia, was now filled with disbelief.
He murmured, "I saw… every attack was perfectly absorbed and endured by the barrier. Its structure… is simply the most perfect creation in the cosmos."
Yet, as the father of gods and the most learned, Odin saw even more—and it only made him more excited!
His single eye never left the golden barrier, missing nothing.
He sharply realized that the barrier had undergone a subtle yet fundamental change!
"It's… devouring!"
Odin's voice was low, with a tremor he himself did not notice.
"Devouring? What do you mean, Father?"
Thor and Heimdall both looked at him, their faces full of confusion.
….