As a Dark Elf, Malekith shared a racial weakness with the rest of his kin: a vulnerability to iron.
A Dark Elf's fear of iron was much like a Symbiote's fear of fire or high-frequency sonic waves—a weakness etched into their very DNA. Of course, the degree of this fear varied between individuals. Malekith, being a standout among the Dark Elves, naturally wasn't like a common grunt who could be taken down by a single piece of iron.
However, prolonged contact with iron still caused him to feel a searing burning sensation and intense pain; in severe cases, it could even interfere with his spellcasting. Since he happened to be the enemy leader of this War of the Realms, he ended up taking the full brunt of a double-team from Captain America and Tony.
One of them carried a shield made of Proto-Adamantium—the hardest alloy on Earth—and kept aiming it directly at Malekith's face. The other was quite literally encased in a suit of iron armor. It was much like two people using seafood to beat up a man with a shellfish allergy; whether they could win was one thing, but it was guaranteed to be disgusting.
Meanwhile, Surtur the Fire Giant was left to Thor, the Avengers' current strongest combatant. Whether this version of Thor could actually defeat Surtur was debatable, but no one was better suited to handle the fire giant than him.
After all, you couldn't exactly hand Surtur over to Pym just because they were closer in size, could you? Could Pym even win that fight?
"I will not allow you to take a single step closer to Asgard, Surtur!" Carrying a rage fueled by his inability to avenge his brother, Thor slammed his hammer directly into Surtur's head. Following the strike, endless bolts of lightning cascaded down from the dark clouds above.
These lightning bolts didn't just strike Surtur; they also tore through the vast number of Wild Hunt riders Malekith had just summoned. Before these poor riders could even launch an attack, they were charred to cinders by Thor's lightning.
Immediately after, Thor lunged forward, hitting his opponent with one hammer blow after another, taking every opportunity to batter Surtur's body.
"Wow, that guy is really fuming... By the way, if giants can control their own size, then why are they still called giants?"
Peter swung through the battlefield. Taking advantage of the moment Pym slapped the Executioner down, he managed to snag the man's axe and passed it to Strange, who had been chasing Amora with his spells. The Sorcerer Supreme weighed the axe in his hand and nodded with satisfaction.
"They are called giants because they are a distinct species. In Norse mythology, giants are a race far older than the gods—an independent race. Back then, giants were generally much larger, so the name stuck, Spider-Man."
Strange answered Peter's question while frantically enchanting the axe. Peter gave a helpless shrug. "I know that, Doctor. I just... I just think... if they're usually about the same size as a human, maybe two or three meters tall at most, 'giant' seems a bit inappropriate."
"Exactly! If everyone were only as big as me, anyone could be a giant!"
The Wasp was likely trying to lighten the mood... regardless, no one was counting on her for raw combat power. While Strange was enchanting the axe, she took charge of harassing Amora from behind with constant bursts of bio-electricity. It took the Enchantress quite a while of being chased to realize what was actually pursuing her, her expression darkening as she began to cast her spells.
Suddenly, several shurikens landed around Amora, followed by violent explosions.
Black Panther dropped down in the wake of the blasts.
"To be honest, I think Iceman isn't enough to handle that sort of thing. We probably need Ororo's help."
Black Panther threw a few more shurikens at Amora and then looked up at the massive storm clouds in the sky. "To ensure our operation goes smoothly, we must first guarantee Iceman's safety. But that won't stop the spread of Fimbulwinter; we have to find another way."
"I'll handle that. The thing is hanging right at Malekith's waist; getting it shouldn't be too hard," Peter said, watching Strange brandish the axe and charge at Amora. The Enchantress's face paled again as she began scurrying about; the Sorcerer Supreme truly inspired fear.
Suddenly, a dull thud echoed across the field. The group turned to see Hulk roaring as he hoisted Ulik the Troll into the air, slamming him down onto the head of Surtur, who was currently roughly the same size as Pym. Surtur was then struck by another hammer blow from Thor, before Hulk leaped up and pounced directly onto Surtur's head.
What was Pym doing? He was busy lecturing the Executioner, urging him to abandon his evil ways and turn to the path of good. Whenever the Executioner tried to resist, Pym would deliver another slap and resume his lecture on redemption.
"So... what do we do now?"
The Wasp asked, realizing she didn't seem to have a place to help. Black Panther, however, noticed that Spider-Man had already disappeared.
Oh, and then there was Iceman; he actually didn't need to do anything at all.
Peter and Iceman had moved to Malekith's side. While Malekith was being pummeled by Captain America and Tony, Peter used a web strand to snag the Casket of Ancient Winters. With a sudden, forceful yank, the Casket—which was venting the Fimbulwinter—was about to hit the ground. Realizing this, Malekith frowned and spun around with a sword strike, only to cleave through a large sheet of ice.
"Oh, don't mind us, keep going. I'm just here to dispose of some hazardous materials."
Iceman smiled playfully as he shut the Casket of Ancient Winters and stepped through a Sling Ring portal Peter had opened. Malekith's mind went blank for a moment, only to be blasted into the ground by one of Tony's repulsors. Captain America followed with a pounce, slamming his shield firmly into Malekith's face.
Malekith could only let out a roar of helpless fury.
"No!"
But at that exact moment, Loki appeared on the other side of the Sling Ring portal. His hand pressed down on the Casket of Ancient Winters, and the Casket in Iceman's hand vanished. The God of Mischief looked at the group of mortals with a chuckle. "You all are truly too..."
"Careless? Forgot about you?"
Peter's hand rested on Loki's shoulder. He looked at Loki with a questioning gaze. "Do you know how Mangog was just banished? Want me to give you a demonstration? Or maybe a demo of how his hand got broken?"
Loki's smile froze. He looked at the completely defeated Council of Worlds and sighed inwardly with resignation.
With this bunch, could they really overthrow Asgard? Could they even fight their way into Midgard?
He raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Can't we just talk this out, friend?"
Loki suddenly let go, dropping the Casket of Ancient Winters to the ground. Peter caught it with a quick reflex, only to find that Loki had vanished. He had used a massive illusion to replace everyone currently engaged with the Avengers. Then, Malekith glared at the Avengers with a look of pure hatred before opening a Wild Hunt portal to make his escape.
"You will pay the price, mortals!"
Peter sighed on behalf of everyone present. "Don't they have any new lines?"
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