"Damn it! This lunatic!"
"All units! Fall back! Now! Move!"
Hela's face darkened instantly. At her command, a dense mass of enchanted metal conjured into existence, forming a pitch-black shield above the Asgardian army's heads.
BOOM!!!
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!
Deafening explosions erupted in rapid succession. Even with the barrier in place, the residual shockwaves from the Star Annihilation Cannon tearing through the Dark Elves' defense walls sent the Asgardian forces sprawling.
"Princess Hela!"
"Fall back! Quickly!" Hela roared through gritted teeth, channeling her inner strength to maintain the massive barrier. Her face contorted from the strain. Kotian, just regaining his footing, gave a hurried nod and led the troops in retreat, withdrawing to the safe zone.
The Dark Elves' fortified encampment crumbled like paper under the sheer might of the planet-destroying weapon. Even their magically-enhanced soldiers stood no chance.
This was a force far beyond anything they could resist. Wherever the firepower passed, nothing survived.
"Prince Lothar," said The Other, visibly satisfied, as if a great burden had been lifted.
"Let's go. Time to claim our spoils." Lothar sneered, leaping down from the cruiser's open hatch as he gazed at the smoldering ruins of the fortress.
His silver battle boots crushed blood and bodies beneath as he walked step by step toward a lone survivor—left alive on purpose.
"Looks like luck's still on your side, huh?"
Data flickered across the visor over his right eye. The survivor's identity made Lothar smirk with approval—commander of the local garrison. The Other had done well.
"What are you saying? I don't understand."
Fighting through excruciating pain, Elrod struggled to rise from the rubble, dusting ash off his tattered armor.
The galactic common tongue coming from Lothar's mouth was utterly foreign to him. He had never even left the Nine Realms, let alone the borders of Svartalfheim.
If not for the resurrected Malekith elevating him to command, Elrod would still be a nameless border grunt.
"You don't understand?"
Lothar raised an eyebrow, rotating the ring on his wrist. A blue holo-screen appeared before Elrod, displaying a large, grinning icon of Woz in the lower-right corner.
Woz's Universal Translator Panel.
Thanks to the data from Kiel Marza, Woz had perfected the linguistic algorithms to translate between the Dark Elven tongue and Galactic Standard.
"Tell me—where is Malekith?"
"No comment."
Elrod read the subtitles on the screen, taking a deep breath to calm his thundering heart. He took a defensive stance.
As a loyal warrior, this was his final act of dignity.
"Your army is already in ruins. Do you really want to resist pointlessly?"
Footsteps approached from behind, but Lothar didn't turn. Instead, he smiled, intrigued by this man's resolve. "Tell me where Malekith is, and you'll live."
"My army… has not fallen yet." Elrod's hands trembled as he moved. His actions spoke louder than words.
"I am still here—Elrod, Commander of the Western Garrison!"
A surge of dark energy erupted behind him, condensing into a massive gate. The portal's suction made The Other stumble upon disembarking from the ship.
Had it not been for the Mind Stone embedded in his staff flaring to life, The Other would've shared the fate of the fallen Dark Elves, swallowed whole by the gateway.
"Faint… but undeniably an Infinity Stone's energy signature." Lothar clasped his hands behind his back, eyes locked on the massive portal that now stretched between sky and earth.
Eerie, twisted sigils adorned the violet-black gate. Beyond it: an abyssal darkness, chilling in its purity.
The scent of an Infinity Stone sang a dirge in Lothar's ears.
"Come. Let us go to hell together."
With his face consumed by darkness, Elrod roared as two monstrous hands reached out from the portal, clawing for Lothar standing motionless in the ruins.
SHNK! SHNK!
Two massive blades descended from the skies, cleaving the dark-energy arms in a single stroke!
"Hah!"
With a fierce shout, Hela summoned the golden greatsword Lothar had seen once before. Surging with magic, it came down hard on the black-violet gate!
CLANG!
The gateway shuddered—then, like a provoked beast, unleashed a torrent of darkness that instantly devoured the glowing sword.
"We'll discuss the Star Cannon later," Hela muttered, flipping through the air and landing with grace. She flicked her hand—an array of pitch-black blades floated behind her, poised and ready.
"You're in no position to negotiate." Lothar sneered, vanishing in an instant. One heartbeat later, he reappeared beside Elrod, moving so fast Hela could still see his afterimage.
"All this… from diluted Infinity Stone energy?"
"Woz."
Kicking the stunned Elrod skyward, Lothar's expression turned even colder.
"Understood, Prince Lothar!"
A beam of light fired from the massive ship, projecting a phantom full moon above the gateway. Under its glow, Lothar's body began to change.
"Perfect. Let's see just how far I've come."
His tone icy. His form—colossal.
A towering brown Great Ape, Lothar's unique transformation, emerged beneath the moonlight, dwarfing the Asgardians below.
"This guy…" Hela slowly lowered her weapon, overwhelmed by the pressure radiating from Lothar's new form.
"Oh? So this is the form that once overpowered Laufey in raw strength?"
Back in Svartalfheim, atop his obsidian throne, Malekith smiled as he watched the screen.
"In that case…" He raised a hand to his face. Inky-black patterns spread instantly across his skin.
"AAARGHH!!!"
At the borders, Elrod's body was force-fed a portion of the portal's power. The rapid swelling of his body caused him to scream in agony.
"So noisy."
In a blur, Lothar appeared beside Elrod once more and slammed him into the earth with a single open-handed strike.
ROAR!
With blood-red eyes, Lothar glared into the gate's abyss. Planting his feet, he gripped the edges of the swirling vortex and pulled.
The darkness writhed in defiance. Lothar opened his jaws—and unleashed a dense, nearly tangible energy beam straight into the portal!
BOOM!
Back in Svartalfheim, the screen before Malekith shattered. The portal was torn asunder, split in two.
The brown Great Ape stood tall atop its remains.
Behind him, the phantom full moon blazed—
—and for Hela, the moon would never mean the same again.
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