"Marza! You betrayed me!"
"You betrayed me!"
"Betrayed me!"
"Me!"
"..."
The final cry of the assassin guild's leader—shouted in the moment he was struck down by the allied forces—echoed again and again within the Command Hall. Lothar sat nonchalantly in his seat, twirling a dagger between his fingers, his gaze resting with idle amusement on the man groveling at Hela's feet, desperately attempting to defend himself—Commander Kiel Marza.
"Princess Hela, I beg you—please believe me!"
"Everything I said is true—this is all a conspiracy by the Dark Elves!"
"I want to believe you," Hela replied calmly from atop her throne, her voice even, her eyes piercing. "But why were Dark Elf assassins able to infiltrate our fortress? Can you give me an answer?"
This fortress was supposed to be impenetrable—airtight, even. And yet, the very night Lothar and Hela arrived, it was compromised.
"..." Kiel's mouth opened as if to respond, but no words came out. He collapsed to his knees, defeated, the usual confidence in his neatly groomed mustache utterly gone.
"Then go think about it. Come back only when you have a reason worth telling me." Hela lifted her chin slightly.
"Kotian."
"Yes, Lady Hela."
Kotian stepped forward, expression solemn, and took the now-bound former commander, Kiel Marza, to the secure isolation chamber.
"You were reckless, Kiel." Kotian sighed, his youthful face full of regret.
"I've been framed, Kotian. Help me—help me find the proof to clear my name."
"Her Highness would never permit that."
"In times of war, we adapt to special circumstances—that's what you told me once, Kotian."
"..."
"Listen to me—trust me. You know my family was slaughtered by the Dark Elves. Of all the elders stationed here, anyone might betray us... except me. I never would."
"I'll do what I can." Kotian sighed again and left the isolation chamber under Marza's hopeful gaze.
Back in the Command Hall, Lothar looked up at Hela on her command throne, a playful smirk dancing on his lips as he toyed with his dagger.
"So, that's how you bring down one of Asgard's own generals?"
"That dagger is poisoned," Hela replied icily, glancing briefly at Lothar as her adjutant led Marza away.
"I know." Lothar remained unbothered, continuing to spin the blade through his fingers.
"Then why use it, Lothar?" Hela descended the stairs, her form encased in a sleek black battle-suit etched with arcane runes that shimmered under the lights.
Lothar chuckled, flinging the dagger to the floor at her feet.
"Prince Lothar!"
"Prince Lothar!"
The Other's voice rang from outside the hall. After rapid biometric verification, he burst in and stopped before Lothar, armor cracked and tattered, a picture of Chitauri desperation.
"Your Highness, your suspicions were correct!"
"Those magically-enhanced soldiers—we detected energy patterns within them that match the Mind Stone. Faint, but unmistakable."
Lothar's lips curled into a satisfied grin.
An Infinity Stone... the Reality Stone... I was right.
"Woz."
"My lord, I was unable to pinpoint Malekith's exact location. Svartalfheim's details aren't in my archives," reported Woz, the new-generation artificial intelligence of the Black Quadrant.
Ebony Maw still awaited Lothar's return from the Nine Realms with data to update their shared intelligence network.
"Hela. Begin the assault on Svartalfheim—now." Lothar's eyes gleamed.
"What did you say?"
"I said: attack Svartalfheim. Now."
Lothar raised his index finger. A silvery-white energy orb coalesced at its tip.
...
Svartalfheim Border — Dark Elf Military Outpost.
The battlefield was a wreck. Countless Dark Elf soldiers swept through the debris, haunted by the sheer terror of the five colossal biomechanical beasts that had recently rampaged through their lines.
If not for the last-minute deployment of magically enhanced troops, their entire defensive line would've collapsed.
When did Asgard begin producing such monstrous weapons of war?
"That must've been the Asgardian reinforcements mentioned in the King's intelligence report—troops under the command of that man, Lothar," the garrison commander reported to his superior, Algrim.
"And how did Lothar perform?" came Algrim's low, sharp voice through the communicator. He had anticipated the assassination's failure. What he wanted to know was how well Lothar fought.
"Extremely well. I suspect Laufey, King of the Frost Giants, lied to us."
Lothar had taken twin suicide blasts from elite Dark Elf soldiers head-on—without a scratch—and then annihilated an entire squad in a flash. That was no brute. That was something else entirely.
"We recorded the entire battle and uploaded it to our database, sir."
"Understood. Stay alert—"
BOOM!!!
Before Algrim could finish, an earth-shaking explosion thundered through the air, rupturing the eardrums of every Dark Elf nearby.
"What's happening?!"
"Commander! Asgardians have launched an assault!"
"Commander!"
Chaos erupted. Artillery roared. Screams rang out. Commander Elrod watched in dread as Asgardian cavalry surged forth, blades gleaming, supported by an armada of aerial warships.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
Missiles and energy blasts rained down upon the Dark Elves' defenses.
"Pitiful creatures of shadow!" came a voice from the main ship's broadcast system.
"Lay down your arms and kneel before the mighty son of Titan, Lord of Chitauri Prime—
Lothar!"
"Only then... will you survive."
Wielding a staff, still clad in torn armor, The Other stood tall by the comms panel, his speech somewhere between surrender terms and a provocation.
"Activate Tier-One Defensive Protocols!"
Elrod's shout rang out, and powerful arcane energies surged into the sky, forming an invisible shield to intercept the bombardment.
Aboard the warship, Lothar glanced briefly toward Hela, who led the Asgardian troops in a ground assault. She had once summoned a similar spell the first time they met. What was it called? Crystal Wall? Magic Crystal Wall?
"The Other," Lothar said, voice cold. "Activate the Star Annihilation Cannon."
"Be sure not to destroy the planet. I still haven't found the Reality Stone."
"Understood, Lord Lothar."
The Other's eyes gleamed with an unspeakable thrill. After so many missions, he was finally going to press the trigger of the Star Annihilation Cannon.
Mechanical warships... the pinnacle of cosmic romance!
"Star Annihilation Cannon, Level Two—ready!"
The massive, jet-black cannon swiveled into position, locking onto the Dark Elves' base. On the ground, even amid the slaughter, Hela's instincts screamed—danger.
Grave danger.
"Fire!"
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