Inside the dimensional fragment, there was endless darkness, silent and profound. At the heart of the darkness, a planet floated solitarily.
Without the light and heat from a burning star, this planet was stripped of the colors and warmth of life, leaving only coldness and silence.
A sudden flash of white light broke the darkness.
A moment later, the light dissipated, and nine figures emerged from it.
It was Lucas and his group.
Using the white light that had just appeared, Thor and Loki surveyed their surroundings.
This was a desolate, cold, and dangerous place. The land was covered in glaciers, with jagged rocks and towering, rugged mountains.
With just a glance, Thor and Loki made their judgment.
They had been to a similar place—Jotunheim, the home of the Frost Giants. That place was also perpetually covered in ice and snow.
However, compared to Jotunheim, it was even darker here. Especially when the white light receded, it became pitch black.
Thor grumbled, "Lucas, is this Jotunheim, or Svartalfheim? It's so cold and dark. I think this place is perfect for the Dark Elves. Next time the Dark Elves cause trouble, we should banish them here."
Svartalfheim, the realm of the Dark Elves, had already been destroyed by the Bifrost Bridge.
Five thousand years ago, during the reign of Bor, Thor's grandfather, the war between the Dark Elves and the Asgardians had already begun.
Even though the Dark Elves were defeated and the Aether Particle (Reality Stone) was sealed by the former Asgardian King Bor, the Dark Elves never surrendered.
The two nations fought for many years, with countless battles of varying sizes, resulting in innumerable casualties among Asgardian warriors.
As Thor grew older, he also participated in these conflicts. Naturally, he held no good feelings towards the Dark Elves.
His suggestion to banish the Dark Elves here was just an offhand remark.
The environment suitable for Dark Elves to survive, besides darkness, also required other material conditions.
And within this dimensional fragment, there was almost nothing but darkness and cold.
"This place isn't suitable for life, it's too cold." Bruce couldn't help but shiver, trembling as he leaned closer to Lucas.
Among the nine people here, he had the weakest physique. If it weren't for Lucas's built-in constant temperature field, he would have been forced into his Hulk form by the surrounding cold environment.
Not just Bruce, Tony, Pietro, Wanda, and G'iah also found it hard to withstand the surrounding cold, and had no choice but to use magic to block out the cold air.
Gwen, Thor, and Loki, possessing superhuman physiques, were able to avoid the effects of the low temperature.
Seeing this, Lucas expanded his constant temperature field, enveloping everyone.
"Jarvis, remind me to add a thermal module to my suit when we get back. Damn it, how can there be such a cold place in this world?"
"Yes, sir."
Jarvis responded to Tony.
Since there was no need for combat, Tony was not in his suit at the moment, but had entrusted it to Jarvis.
"Thor, Loki, are you going to fight in a place like this? It's so dark here. Do you want Jarvis to light you up? Like a big star stepping onto a stage, otherwise, we won't be able to see your fight clearly."
After instructing Jarvis, Tony teased Thor and Loki.
Jarvis manipulated the suit to fly into the air, extending its hands and shooting out two beams of strong light, shining them on Thor and Loki's heads.
"Oh, sh*t. Tony, stop."
Thor and Loki were caught off guard, their eyes flashed by the strong light, feeling a sharp pain in their eyes, and couldn't help but shield their foreheads with their hands.
"If you do this, we can't fight."
"Haha, alright. Jarvis, dim the lights. Our Point Break male lead and Bambi can't handle such intensity."
Tony chuckled, celebrating the success of his prank.
"Tony, this kind of bad taste is unacceptable." Lucas said with distaste, moving a little further away from Tony.
"I didn't expect you to be like this, Tony." Gwen and G'iah murmured with emotion.
In the past few days, G'iah had become familiar with the others and knew that Tony was someone who could take a joke.
"Tony's bad taste isn't just this, he also deliberately made the tutor assign us more homework." Wanda and Pietro took the opportunity to denounce Tony.
"Hey, Wanda, Pietro, that's not bad taste. That's to help you catch up on your studies as quickly as possible, it's my supplement to you." Tony argued defensively.
"And Lucas, you have no right to criticize me. Have you forgotten what you did?"
"Last time in California, I just gave you a very valuable suggestion, and you suddenly 'had an idea' and ambushed Steve and me."
Bruce asked, "Then Tony, how do you explain sometimes secretly shocking me with an electric pen?"
Tony continued to be stubborn. "I just wanted to help you get used to some small stimuli, Bruce. Besides, don't you think it's cool when you turn into the Hulk?"
While the group was bickering, Thor and Loki had already flown into the distance.
"Stop arguing for a moment, let me tell Thor and Loki the rules." Lucas interrupted them.
"The first rule: Let there be light. Otherwise, the audience won't see anything."
Snap!
With a snap of his fingers, several bright lights appeared from the dark space in the distance, illuminating the planet beneath their feet from all directions in the next moment.
Under the illumination of light from all angles, there were no shadows even beneath their feet.
And the light beams from the flashlight on the suit controlled by Jarvis also merged into the light beams shining from all directions, as if they had disappeared.
"The second rule: Not only determine superiority, but also decide life and death."
Lucas formed a hand seal, and two green runes appeared, then transformed into streaks of light that wrapped around Thor and Loki's wrists respectively, forming a magical ring.
"This is a Time Magic that allows you to return to your current state after death, or when you actively activate it. So, there's no need to hold back or worry about killing the other person, just fight with all your might."
"The third rule: Home and away, divided into two battles. Each person can choose the terrain once."
"Any other questions can be raised now."
"Can this mark really bring someone back to life?" Thor raised his wrist, looking at the constantly rotating green ring on it, confirming.
Lucas gestured to Loki, asking him to demonstrate to alleviate Thor's concerns.
Thor was unfamiliar with Time Magic, so it was inevitable that he had doubts. He didn't want to accidentally kill his brother.
Although adopted, they had a brotherhood of over a thousand years.
Loki pretended not to see Lucas's gesture. He wanted to use Thor's concerns to create an advantage for himself and win the first round. Then, using his understanding of the terrain, he would win the second round.
"Thor, stop dawdling. For the first round, you can choose the terrain first. If you're worried about accidentally being killed by me, then you can surrender in time. Don't worry, I'll definitely stop in time."