Facing the massive amount of lightning Thor hurled over, Alex smiled and didn't even lift his hand from the throne's armrest.
He simply spread his biological force field across the entire throne and took Thor's thunder head-on.
At this stage, Thor was not yet the true "God of Thunder."
All the lightning he unleashed came from the "Hammer of Thor" in his hand.
So to be exact, the current Thor was the "God of Hammers."
Thunder at this level could not break through Alex's biological force field at all.
Forget two layers, it couldn't even tear through one.
So under the cover of lightning, thunder roared and sparks flashed, but neither Alex nor the throne moved an inch.
At that moment, Thor landed on the throne and smashed his hammer at Alex.
Alex raised a hand and pressed it against Mjolnir. Then his eyes lit up, releasing golden flames.
The violent kinetic force instantly blasted Thor off the throne and slammed him toward the ground.
Thor landed on the ground and raised his war hammer high.
The sky suddenly rumbled as dark clouds rapidly gathered overhead, spreading across the heavens.
Inside the clouds, enormous bolts of lightning raced around, releasing an aura of destruction.
Then, when Thor swung down his hammer, countless bolts poured down like dancing golden snakes, striking toward Alex.
This wave of lightning was far stronger than before.
And Thor's control over lightning was much better than it had been a year ago.
Under his control, the lightning condensed together into a pillar of thunder that tore through the air.
Alex slightly narrowed his eyes. The smile at the corner of his mouth remained as he continued sitting still, letting the thunder pillar crash down onto him and the throne.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Terrifying thunder echoed across the land as lightning exploded in dazzling flashes.
The Dark Elves and Asgardian warriors all raised their hands to shield their eyes, not daring to look directly.
While Thor attacked Alex, Odin suddenly turned around. A powerful aura burst from the old man's body.
Even during the Dark Elves' invasion of Asgard, no one had seen Odin erupt with such power.
But now, the aura released from Odin was this overwhelming.
This was the aura of a god.
The aura of a higher deity changed heaven and earth.
The sky shifted violently.
Wild winds howled as clouds churned.
The ground shook and mountains trembled.
The earth quaked, and the peaks swayed.
Thor did not turn around, but disbelief appeared on his face.
'An aura like this. Such terrifying divine pressure. I have never seen it before.'
Among everyone present, probably only Frigga had experienced it before.
And the last time had been thousands of years ago. Back then, Odin was still young.
When he fought across the Nine Realms, this was the terrifying aura he released on the battlefield.
Divine might like a prison.
Under this immense aura, Odin seemed to regain his youth.
His pale hair regained its shine and gradually turned golden.
His tired and dim eyes became sharp again. Brilliant golden light shone from his pupils, as if a blazing sun rested inside them.
Strength filled his muscles again. One after another, they swelled, making Odin stand tall and straight.
Even the Gungnir seemed to resonate with its master. The spear shone with golden light and became radiant.
At this moment, Odin had returned to the appearance he had when conquering the Nine Realms a thousand years ago. Holding the Gungnir, divine power surged from him as golden light blazed around his body.
The Asgardian warriors even felt the urge to kneel in worship.
The Dark Elves, meanwhile, had the ancient fear carved into their genes awakened and retreated one after another.
At this moment, Odin gripped the Gungnir and suddenly thrust it toward a distant Asgardian warrior.
A stream of dazzling golden light burst from the spear tip and roared toward the warrior.
At that moment, green light flashed across the warrior's body. After the glow faded, Jane Foster appeared there.
There were suddenly two Jane Fosters on the battlefield.
The Dark Elf Claire could not help turning to look at the woman beside her. But at that moment, that woman had turned into an Asgardian warrior.
'What is going on?'
Claire was confused.
It turned out, when the Dark Elves arrived, Odin had quietly spoken a sentence.
That sentence was: ("Switch Jane Foster.")
He had said it to Loki.
Only Loki, the "great magician," could silently swap Jane Foster out right under Thor and the Conqueror's noses.
Now, once Odin saw that Frigga was safe and the Conqueror was temporarily distracted, he seized the chance and used the divine power from his prime, intending to destroy Jane Foster together with the "Aether Particles" inside her.
Jane Foster closed her eyes and accepted the fate about to arrive.
At that moment, the scene from that afternoon when Odin came to see her flashed through her mind.
At the time, Odin's arrival had surprised her very much.
After closing the door, Odin gave a rare smile.
("Sorry for restricting your freedom.")
Jane Foster shook her head. Saying she didn't mind would be a lie, but she knew Odin had separated her from Thor.
It was to stop Thor from doing something foolish.
Odin sighed and said, ("The Aether Particles awakening at this time is not without reason.")
("It awakened now because the Nine Realms will soon align into a single line.")
("At that time, if the Conqueror uses the Aether Particles to attack the Nine Realms, then the entire universe, including your Earth, will perish.")
("So, Miss Jane Foster, before that happens, I will do my best to find a way to extract the Aether Particles from your body.")
("But if there's no time left, whether you're willing or not, when that moment comes, I will destroy both you and the Aether Particles inside you together.")
Jane Foster's face instantly turned pale.
She had always been strong.
But no matter how strong someone was, it was hard to stay calm after hearing they did not have long to live.
Odin looked at her and said, ("You may wonder why we can't let the Conqueror extract the Aether Particles first and then destroy them.")
("But that's impossible.")
("When the Aether Particles are not inside a living host, they cannot be destroyed.")
("And even when they are inside a living being, destroying them is still extremely difficult.")
("At the very least, I would need to return to my prime to have a chance.")
("Both conditions are necessary.")
("So in ancient times, my father may have had a chance to destroy the Aether Particles, but back then, Malekith had not merged with them.")
("In that situation, my father could only take them away and seal them.")
("But right now, we do not have time.")
("For the sake of the Nine Realms, I can only use extreme methods against you.")
("I am very sorry, child.")
("And my compensation is the safety of the Nine Realms.")
("And the little lifespan I have left.")
("Yes. Even beings like us are limited by lifespan.")
("I do not have much time left. Returning to the divine power of my prime will greatly shorten my life.")
("So after resolving this matter, I will probably disappear soon after.")
("I hope you can keep this from Thor.")
These things, these words, all flashed through Jane Foster's mind.
At this moment, she accepted her fate.
Even a supreme god like Odin could give up his own life, as a mortal, she also wanted to do something for Earth.
The golden light was already close.
Jane Foster felt as if she were throwing herself into the sun.
She felt like her body was about to burn up.
Her consciousness was already becoming blurry.
Just before she completely fell into darkness, she saw a figure arrive beside her and hold her.
Then she could no longer feel the burning heat.
'Is that you, Thor?'
She forced herself to raise her head and saw a pair of blue eyes.
'It really seems to be Thor.'
Jane Foster smiled faintly, then lost consciousness.
But, the one holding her was not Thor.
It was Alex.
When the winds and clouds shifted across the battlefield, when Odin redirected his attack toward Jane Foster, Alex instantly understood everything.
In fact, from the very beginning, he already knew the Jane Foster Loki brought over was fake.
An Asgardian warrior's appearance could be changed, but their mental coordinates could not.
Alex did not expose it. He just wanted to see what these people from Asgard were planning.
When he saw Odin attack Jane Foster, he was shocked, and he understood Odin and Jane Foster's resolve.
He actually admired the two of them.
But that did not stop him from immediately using "Mind Transfer," escaping Thor's thunder pillar, appearing beside Jane Foster, and covering her with his biological force field.
Then golden flames burst from his eyes, barely blocking Odin's attack for a moment.
Alex immediately carried Jane Foster and rushed toward the cave Thor and the others had emerged from.
According to the movie's plot, when the Nine Realms began aligning, the pathways between worlds would also open.
Through that cave, he could return to Earth. Even if he couldn't reach Earth, going to another world was fine. As long as he got away from the Asgardians, Alex would have time to extract the "Aether Particles" from Jane Foster and try awakening the power of the Reality Stone to see if he could gain anything from it.
On the other side, when Odin saw Alex flying away with Jane Foster, fury and alarm hit him together.
He had shortened his lifespan to temporarily regain the divine power of his prime. If he failed to destroy the "Aether Particles," then his sacrifice would have been for nothing.
He immediately roared, "STOP HIM!"
Odin himself was about to give chase.
Suddenly, a freezing wind that seemed capable of chilling even marrow blew from behind them.
At some point, Claire now held an object in her hands.
The Casket of Ancient Winters!
After Alex retrieved this treasure, he had handed it to Claire.
Now was the time to use it.
Immediately, frost spread across many people's bodies.
Odin was no exception.
Thor and Loki, however, were facing the Dark Elves. The former immediately flew away on Mjolnir to avoid the freezing wind head-on; the latter relied on his Frost Giant bloodline to ignore the cold and stood in front of Frigga to protect his mother from harm.
In the sky, Thor roared and hurled Mjolnir toward Claire.
Claire could only dodge. As a result, the freezing wind stopped blowing.
But at that moment, a roar sounded from among the Dark Elves.
A Kurse Warrior charged out, picked up a giant boulder from the ground, and hurled it at Thor like a cannonball.
It struck Thor directly and sent him flying away from the battlefield.
At that moment, the frost covering Odin suddenly exploded apart.
The Allfather whistled, and a Pegasus flew over.
Odin leaped onto its back and chased after Alex.
The other Asgardian warriors, including Thor and Loki, were busy fighting the Dark Elves and escorting the queen away.
———
With the help of first cosmic velocity, Alex effortlessly rushed into the cave carrying Jane Foster.
Suddenly, everything brightened before his eyes.
When he came back to himself, he was already standing in an open area.
Red and blue shipping containers were placed around the place. A police car was parked in the distance, and uniformed officers were looking over.
As expected, he had returned to Earth.
Alex was delighted and quickly took out something that looked like an oversized syringe.
This was a device created by the Dark Elves specifically for extracting the "Aether Particles."
Alex immediately stuffed the extractor into Jane Foster's mouth and activated it. Red light instantly lit up across Jane Foster's body.
Then the red light continuously poured into the extractor, rapidly filling the space inside it. The Aether Particles.
A smile appeared on Alex's face.
In only a few seconds, the "Aether Particles" inside Jane Foster's body had been completely extracted.
At that moment, a police officer walked over and pointed at Alex.
"Hey, who are you people?"
Alex had no time to deal with some small-town cop. He tossed Jane Foster toward him.
The officer hurriedly reached out to catch her.
Right then, his vision blurred.
He saw a snow-white horse with wings suddenly appear out of nowhere.
On the legendary Pegasus sat a blond man wearing golden armor and holding a golden spear.
His entire body seemed coated in golden light, shining with sacred brilliance like a god descending upon the world.
It was Odin.
After breaking free from the frost control of the "Casket of Ancient Winters," Odin had rushed into the cave and arrived on Earth just like Alex.
He glanced up at the sky. The Nine Realms were gradually aligning into a single line.
Then he looked at Alex and drew in a breath.
'He has already extracted the "Aether Particles".'
That meant, the "Aether Particles" could no longer be destroyed.
Since that was the case, Odin narrowed his eyes slightly and made a decision instantly.
He would take the "Aether Particles" back from the Conqueror and seal the weapon once more, just as his father had done.
"No need for that," Alex did not need to think to know what the Allfather opposite him was planning.
He smiled and said, "Trust me. I have no interest in destroying the Nine Realms."
"That's the Dark Elves' wish, but to me, it's a boring goal."
"I'm not going to help those elves fulfill a wish that gives me no benefit."
"I just want to study this thing."
"One day."
"No, three hours."
"I'll return it after three hours."
He could feel Odin's overwhelming aura. He was completely different from how he had been during the battle in Asgard.
Alex was not afraid of him, but fighting him would still be troublesome.
So he actively tried to reason with the Allfather.
Unfortunately, Odin did not believe a word.
After all, today alone, the Conqueror had invaded Asgard, destroyed the treasury, stolen divine artifacts, and taken his queen Frigga away.
Now he was talking about borrowing it for three hours.
If Odin believed that, he would not be the Allfather.
He shouted, "Heimdall, send us somewhere deserted."
Immediately, dazzling seven-colored light descended from the sky.
The Bifrost descending from the heavens did not only cover Odin, it also covered Alex.
———
Before he could even process the feeling, darkness suddenly fell before his eyes. The Bifrost had already withdrawn.
And at that moment, he found himself in a frozen land of ice and snow.
[Jotunheim, The Kingdom of Ice and Snow]
This was Loki's homeland, a world sealed in ice.
The Bifrost had teleported them directly here.
Alex silently felt sorry for the Frost Giants, but he wasted no time. He directly pulled out the Darkhold and flipped to the page for "Dark Prison."
Then he pressed his hand onto it.
Large amounts of black smoke immediately rose around Odin. The smoke rapidly climbed upward and vaguely formed humanoid shapes, like ancient demon gods.
They connected together and transformed into a black heavenly prison, a black world that trapped Odin inside.
Seeing that Odin had already been restrained by the "Dark Prison," Alex immediately flew away while expanding his psychic field, instantly locating the mental coordinate he was searching for.
It was an extremely lonely and cold mind.
The Frost Giant King Laufey!
Alex knew that with Odin's current power, the "Dark Prison" probably could not hold him for long, so he needed help.
Who was the best helper? Naturally, the enemy of his enemy. That is, the Frost Giant King Laufey.
———
[Svartalfheim]
Loki pulled Frigga along as they dodged red death rays flying past them and hid behind a massive boulder.
"Loki, why are you here?", Frigga looked at this child who was not born from her, yet still received countless years of her love and care.
Loki smiled, "Because I figured my muscle-brained brother Thor probably couldn't bring you back safely by himself."
"But don't misunderstand, Queen Frigga. I'm doing this for myself."
"So I can get out of that damned prison."
"Not for you."
Frigga smiled slightly, then looked toward the distant mountain peak, "I'm worried about your father."
"You mean the great Allfather?"
"I think we both know he's not my father," Loki said stubbornly.
This time, Frigga did not argue with him, "Now isn't the time to sulk, Loki."
"Your father… probably can't hold on much longer."
Loki said dismissively, "How is that possible? Look at the aura he had just now. It nearly scared me to death."
Frigga shook her head sadly, "Ever since he fell unconscious last time, I knew he was nearing the end of his lifespan."
"Yes, he's going to die, Loki."
"Returning to that level of aura, that level of power…"
"It can't come without a cost."
"It's possible that once this matter ends, he'll die immediately."
"In that state, every minute that passes takes away a large amount of time."
"He can't last long."
Loki froze for a moment, then cursed, "Damn it!"
"No wonder he suddenly told us about Hela."
"So he already planned to die in battle here."
"That's what I hate most about him!"
Loki looked into the distance, toward Thor.
Then shouted, "Thor, get over here!"
"The old man needs help!"