Looking at Thor, and considering that he would inherit the throne of Asgard in the future, Odin explained, "That is a weapon forged from a substance that existed before the formation of the universe!"
"A weapon!?"
Thor glanced at Fini, and Mjolnir immediately came to his mind.
"The Nine Realms have not always existed. It once welcomed the dawn after darkness, and it will surely experience the twilight after glory!"
Speaking of this, Odin unconsciously glanced at Fini. This was the prophecy of the Nine Realms, and also the prophecy of Asgard. If there was anyone who could break this prophecy, the only person he could think of was Fini.
However, he did not mention much about this aspect at the moment, but continued, "But before the dawn, the dark forces, or rather the Dark Elves, held absolute dominance over the universe."
"The Dark Elves, born in the endless darkness, would steal the light of the universe!"
Hearing this sentence, Thor seemed to recall something, and a smile couldn't help but appear on his face as he said, "When I was a child, Mother used to tell us these stories."
Odin continued, "Their leader, Malekith, used darkness to create a weapon known as the Aether. It can turn any object into dark matter, looks for a host, and absorbs the host's life force."
"Malekith once wanted to use the energy of the Aether to make darkness rule the universe again, but my father, your grandfather Bor, finally achieved victory after a long and bloody battle, which brought thousands of years of peace to the Nine Realms."
With Odin's explanation, Thor also vaguely remembered some things about the Dark Elves, and couldn't help but ask, "But didn't rumors say that the Dark Elves and everything related to them had been destroyed?"
Odin paused. The fate of the Dark Elves reminded him of when he and Hela fought across the Nine Realms; he was just as brutal and ruthless back then.
So he just gave a forced reply, "The Dark Elves are dead!"
When Fini heard this, he didn't say much, only curling his lips in secret, and then said, "So you have no way to remove it from my body either, right?"
Hearing Fini's words, Thor realized that the Aether was already inside Fini's body at this moment. Thinking about the weapon absorbing life mentioned in the introduction just now, he immediately showed a worried look and comforted:
"Fini, don't worry, we will definitely find a way to save you!"
Fini was actually not very worried. In case something went wrong, he just needed to use a Fourth Bullet to restore himself. This was time reversal, so even the life force absorbed by the Aether would be restored.
Of course, the time value consumed by the bullet was actually considered his life force.
However, he knew that Thor genuinely cared, so he just smiled and nodded at him, and then politely declined, "Thank you, but I want to try to find a way to solve this matter myself first."
Odin frowned immediately, looked at Fini and said, "The Aether possesses great energy. Once it goes out of control, the consequences will be unpredictable. I think it's best for you to stay in Asgard for now!"
Although what Odin said sounded like a suggestion, that unquestionable tone seemed to be commanding Fini.
Fini narrowed his eyes immediately and looked at Odin.
Things had developed to this point, completely deviating from his customized plan. If there were no Dark Elves, he would absolutely be too lazy to pay attention to Odin's words, but now that the Dark Elves might be looking for him, the situation was a bit different.
He could completely pretend to be ignorant and let Asgard take the blow for him.
Previously, he didn't seek help from Asgard mainly because there was no reason, but now Odin proactively offered to let him stay, so there was absolutely no need for him to look for an excuse.
Compared to the missiles manufactured by Tony, Asgard's defenses were clearly much stronger. Moreover, the Dark Elves were determined to get the Aether, and they would never give up snatching it just because it was in Asgard.
However, Fini still had some concerns in his heart. He was worried that if he stayed in Asgard, it would lead to Frigga's death just like in the original plot.
For this woman who single-handedly raised his overall favorability toward Asgard, Fini already intended to change her destiny, so he didn't want to see this scene happen.
But before Fini could make a decision, Odin spoke again, "Thor, take Mage Haersaiz to be with your Midgardian friend. Perhaps she has also been affected by the Aether."
Odin felt that this matter was definitely not as simple as it appeared on the surface, so he decided not to rush Jane to leave either. He would stabilize the two of them first to see what Fini really wanted to do.
"What?"
Hearing Odin's words, Thor suddenly became nervous, much more serious than his expression of worrying about Fini just now, and said anxiously, "But didn't the examination just now say she was fine?"
"The Aether is the ultimate treasure of the Dark Elves. It is difficult for our means to fully understand it!"
Odin's answer wasn't complete nonsense. His understanding of the Aether was indeed limited; he only knew it couldn't be destroyed, which was why they ultimately chose to seal it away.
Seeing this, Fini didn't hesitate anymore and decided to stay in Asgard. Even if the Dark Elves came because of him, he could completely shrug it off as being unaware, saying that Odin had made him stay.
It was just a bit of a pity that he wouldn't be able to see the scene of those missiles Tony built exploding.
But he didn't care too much. In any case, the quality of things Tony made was highly guaranteed. If nothing went wrong, an enemy would make him use those missiles sooner or later.
Afterward, Odin went back to the palace first. He wanted to look up information about the Aether and consider how to solve Fini's problem.
On the Rainbow Bridge, Fini thought of Odin's words just now and couldn't help but look at Thor and ask, "Is Jane in Asgard too?"
"Yeah!"
Thor nodded, and then recounted how Jane went to the sealed land again, was discovered by Heimdall, and how he followed her inside.
Only then did Fini know why Asgard was able to discover him so quickly. In his heart, he admired Jane's boldness while also reminding himself to act carefully next time.
Afterward, Fini prepared to go to the palace with Thor. Before leaving, he couldn't help but glance at Heimdall.
Heimdall's eyes could see many things, but not everything. At the very least, he couldn't detect the cloaked Dark Elf spaceship. Perhaps if it got closer, he could hear some movement.
Fini didn't know if the Dark Elves would launch an attack from both inside and out like in the original plot if he stayed in Asgard, so he didn't warn Heimdall. Besides, if he did warn him, it wouldn't be easy to explain the reason.
Just as Fini followed Thor to the palace to find Jane, the Dark Elves in the universe who were rushing toward their homeland also noticed Fini's movement immediately.
"The location of the Aether has changed!"
Hearing his subordinate's reminder, Malekith immediately came to the screen and looked at the location on it. Algrim, who had not yet been converted, also walked over from the side. Seeing the position, he frowned and said:
"It's in Asgard?"
"It seems the people of Asgard found it first!"
Malekith's face also looked a bit ugly. The Aether was taken from his hands by Asgard in the past, and now they actually wanted to do it a second time.