"They're here!"
A hoarse roar came from the Asgardian watchtower. Three streams of light, each a different color, like meteors streaking across the blood-red sky, crashed precisely into the most chaotic battlefield in front of the Golden Palace with an unstoppable momentum.
Boom!!
The first to land was Tony Stark.
But this time, he didn't make a cool hero landing. While still in mid-air, the War Machine suit, temporarily modified by Jarvis, turned into an out-of-control arsenal. Dozens of external modules on its back, shoulders, and legs all clicked open, revealing countless dense missile launchers.
"Jarvis, play 'Ride of the Valkyries' for me! And launch everything that can be launched!"
Tony roared excitedly, and a storm of steel and flames erupted from his body.
Hundreds of miniature missiles, trailing white smoke, rained down like iron, making even readers praise that this was far more intense than in the anime. The densest Cursed Warrior position below was subjected to a carpet bombing. The explosions merged into a large expanse of fire, forming an ever-expanding circle of death. Dozens of Cursed Warriors at the very front were instantly engulfed by the flames.
Following that, Steve Rogers also landed.
He closed his eyes, muttering ancient and difficult-to-understand incantations. Golden, mystical patterns, all formed by Vishanti Holy Light, glowed from the seams of his star-spangled battle suit.
He suddenly opened his eyes, and his vibranium shield wasn't just thrown; it carved a golden arc in the air. On the shield, a large magic circle formed by Holy Light appeared out of nowhere, shining like the Sun. Warm golden light spears shot out from the magic circle, accurately pinning down the Cursed Warriors who hadn't been killed by the explosion.
The Holy Light clashed with the power of the curse, emitting sizzling corrosive sounds. The Cursed Warriors roared silently, their bodies continuously melting in the golden light. He had become a true melee mage; every shield bash carried divine energy, and every block could unleash a force field that dispelled evil.
Lin Huai quietly landed at the highest point of the battlefield, next to Queen of the Gods Frigga.
He didn't rush to act, simply activating his Spirit Vision and calmly observing the entire battlefield.
"Tony! Stop the carpet bombing, it's a waste of ammo! Switch to armor-piercing rounds and high-thermal rays, target their knees and lumbar joints! Those are their energy flow weaknesses!"
"Steve! Don't purify directly with Holy Light, it consumes too much mana! Use your shield to create a deflection field and disrupt their charging formation! Make them collide with each other!"
Under Lin Huai's precise command, the Avengers' attack efficiency immediately improved by several levels.
Tony's attacks became surgically precise, each shot capable of destabilizing a Cursed Warrior. Steve's spells no longer aimed for large-scale damage but transformed into exquisite battlefield control. Golden chains, floating magic disks, and mirrors reflecting light beams completely scattered the Dark Elves' forces.
With their leadership, the Heavenly Palace Guard, who had been continuously losing, regained their footing and even began to counterattack.
A slaughter that was originally one-sided miraculously turned into a brutal tug-of-war due to the arrival of the three of them. The Dark Elves' offensive was repelled again and again outside the Golden Palace.
Their second charge was utterly destroyed by a round of Tony's bombs and Steve's shield.
Their third charge, under Lin Huai's command, was even lured into an energy trap pre-set by an Heavenly Palace mage, resulting in a tragic demise.
"Roar—!!"
However, just as the scales of victory seemed to tip towards Asgard, a muffled, colossal roar suddenly echoed from the sky, as if the entire firmament had been punched through.
An exceptionally large Dark Elf warship forcibly tore through Asgard's outer defensive magic array, and a huge black metal object, like an iron coffin, was directly dropped from ten thousand meters in the sky!
That thing plummeted at a terrifying speed, grinding the air into dark red flames, and finally slammed heavily onto the plaza in front of the Golden Palace, creating a bottomless pit in the hard golden floor!
The battlefield fell silent for a moment.
"Roar...ugh..."
A low growl, not sounding like any living creature, mixed with pain and hunger, emanated from inside the black coffin.
Then, a large claw, covered in black bone armor and twisted sinews, rested on the edge of the coffin.
A massive creature slowly crawled out.
It was a Monster resembling the legendary Cerberus, but it had only one head, and it was more terrifying than any Beast depicted in myths. Its size was comparable to a three-story building, its four limbs thick and powerful, and with every breath, it exhaled sulfur-smelling black smoke from its fanged maw. Its body burned with the same dark energy as the Cursed Warriors, but it was more violent and foul.
"Jarvis, analyze this thing's weakness!" Tony's voice was grim.
"Sir... scan results show no weaknesses. Its physical structure and energy field are completely integrated; no exploitable points can be found."
Lin Huai's face turned pale the moment he saw the Monster.
He couldn't control the previous Cursed Warriors, but he could still deal with them through command and tactics.
But this thing in front of him... when he activated Spirit Vision, he saw a pure, solidified mass of chaotic energy exuding the scent of the "Abyss."
Before long, a burning sensation came from his eyes; the spiritual pollution had already caused him harm.
"Damn it, calling the Monarch of Decay should solve this directly, but this is an Outer God. Even if its clone has gained humanity, its arrival will surely be known by the main body, and the consequences are too severe. Where's Adam, dammit, help out!"
Lin Huai muttered to himself while observing the battlefield.
"This big dog doesn't seem to have any sanity. How do the Dark Elves control it? Was it always mad, or did it go mad later, or is it not mad at all and has reached some agreement with the Dark Elves?"
The dog-like Monster stared deeply at Lin Huai, then let out an earth-shattering roar, and with a powerful push of its four limbs, its entire body turned into a black shadow, slamming directly into the densest defensive line of the Asgardian soldiers!
It wasn't a fight; it was an crushing (overwhelming crush).
Steve used all his strength to create a large golden shield wall of Vishanti Holy Light in front of him. However, the Monster contemptuously headbutted it, and the golden shield wall shattered like glass. Steve spat out a mouthful of blood and flew out like a broken kite, crashing heavily against the wall of the Golden Palace.
Tony fired all his missiles and lasers at the Monster, but couldn't even damage a single piece of its bone armor. Instead, he was struck by its tail, and his suit instantly deformed, sparking as it fell to the ground.
The Monster's target seemed not to be these soldiers from the beginning. It completely ignored the surrounding attacks and provocations, its red eyes fixed on the depths of the Golden Palace—the direction with the strongest energy fluctuations.
The medical bay!
Lin Huai watched all this with wide eyes. He tried using "Air Bullet" to hit the Monster's eyes and "Paper Clone Substitutes" to block its path, but all attacks were corrupted by the invisible "Abyss" surrounding the Monster as soon as they approached, then either vanished or turned into a muddy mess.
Boom—!!
The large door of the medical bay, made of star metal, was violently smashed into pieces!
The dog Monster's huge head poked inside, followed by the King of the Dark Elves—Malekith!
"No—!!"
Thor's desperate roar echoed from inside the medical room.
Mjolnir, imbued with powerful lightning, slammed fiercely towards Malekith.
But Malekith didn't engage him directly; he merely dodged to the side, and the hammer struck the Monster, having no effect whatsoever.
Malekith ignored everything around him, walking step by step towards the woman still floating in mid-air, her Aether Particle being slowly extracted by Asgardian energy instruments.
The progress bar on the instrument showed seventy-eight percent.
Just a little more, and the Reality Stone could be safely removed.
But Malekith couldn't wait, and didn't want to wait.
He stood before Jane Foster, not touching her, but raising his hands high, chanting an ancient and evil dark incantation.
Two black hole-like vortices appeared in his palms.
"Ah—!!"
With the incantation, Jane Foster's body arched sharply, letting out a heart-wrenching scream.
The Aether Particle within her was no longer gently guided out, but was violently ripped and stripped from every cell, every inch of her flesh and blood, by an incredibly brutal force!
Red energy, like a bursting dam, surged madly from her seven orifices, transforming into a crimson torrent that rushed towards Malekith's body.
Meanwhile, Jane Foster's body visibly shriveled and withered.
Her skin lost its luster, her flesh and blood melted, and her life force was being drained along with that red energy.
Finally, when the last trace of Aether Particle was completely extracted, Jane Foster's body was utterly shapeless.
Like a statue weathered for a thousand years, under Thor's bloodshot, near-collapsing eyes, she silently dissolved into a sky full of red energy and vanished, leaving only an empty hospital gown slowly drifting down from the air.
"No!!!!"
A wail mixed with boundless grief and fury resounded throughout Asgard.