Malekith: ...
He didn't recognize a single soul in the room, but the sheer number of people waiting for him told him everything he needed to know: he had walked straight into a trap.
"A clever move."
Malekith's smile thinned. He began to drift slowly through the chamber, making no effort to close the distance.
Instead, he paced just out of reach, eyes fixed on the Aether clutched in Herta's hand, clapping his hands in a slow, rhythmic beat.
"I hadn't realized Asgard had mastered such technology."
"Save the nostalgic greetings, Malekith." Odin stepped to the forefront to meet his gaze. Gungnir lay leveled across his side; no one in the room doubted his ability to strike the killing blow the moment things went south.
"Nostalgic? Oh..."
Malekith studied Odin's weathered features and laughed. "You're that little brat from back then. Clinging to your father's side, so young, yet already so precise in taking lives."
Facing the current King who had once been a mere shadow to his greatest rival, Malekith felt not a shred of fear. Asgardians grew more powerful as they aged, true, but he had his own trump cards.
"You waited for me here... do you truly think you have me cornered?"
Looking around the room at the collection of women—some young, some grown—Malekith's face twisted into a sneer of pure disdain.
"What era did this relic crawl out of? Do they not have news broadcasts where he was buried?" Herta asked, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
"Woman, what did you say?" Malekith's translucent pupils darted toward her, his eyes narrowing with a dangerous glint.
To treat Herta with such blatant disrespect was practically unheard of in the modern universe, but Malekith lacked both the fear and the context to know better.
He had been sealed away for thousands of years; to him, the current state of the cosmos was a blank slate.
The older and more high-born they were, the more they tended to thumb their noses at the rapid march of progress. It was a common affliction among ancient beings, especially those who had once sat upon a throne at the very top of the food chain.
Herta couldn't be bothered to waste words on a fool. She glanced directly at Odin. Now that the rabbit had hopped into the snare, she was ready to step in if he didn't start moving.
Even with his back turned, Odin could feel her gaze burning into him.
"The times have changed, Malekith. You'll have plenty of leisure in an Asgardian cell to learn about an era that no longer belongs to you." Odin walked toward him, his voice and expression devoid of any tension.
Whether it was Herta, Odin, or anyone else present, none of them harbored the slightest doubt about Malekith's fate.
This absolute dismissal stoked the fires of rage in Malekith, who had envisioned this as his grand return to reclaim his birthright.
"Kurse!"
He spat the name like a curse. The moment the word left his lips, a massive figure in heavy armor burst through the bunker wall with a violent crash. A hand reached out, lunging straight for Herta.
For Malekith, the Aether was the only priority.
However, the others couldn't help but wince at the Dark Elf's choice of target.
Two purple-rimmed portals snapped open—one directly in front of the Kursed warrior and the other right behind Malekith.
The sudden shift was too fast for Kurse to compensate; he barreled through the gateway without a pause, slamming Malekith directly into Odin.
Odin's spear, already leveled forward, was positioned perfectly. As Malekith stumbled forward, the tip of Gungnir drove straight through his abdomen.
Odin: ...
The agony hit Malekith's brain instantly. He dropped to his knees, staring down at the gaping hole in his gut with a look of pure, shattered disbelief.
The onlookers: ...Well then...
The sheer absurdity of the scene unfolding before them left everyone with a lingering sense of the ridiculous.
Herta actually hadn't intended for that to happen. She had opened the portals, sure, but she hadn't bothered to calculate the physics of the collision. It had been a casual, flick-of-the-wrist gesture.
Kurse was the first to snap out of it. Since he couldn't reach the Aether immediately, his priority shifted: kill the King of Asgard! And if he couldn't kill him, he at least had to get Malekith out of there.
He moved faster than Thor—significantly faster. Relying on raw physical power alone, he surpassed even the Hulk. As a warrior infused with Aether fragments, he possessed a strength that defied imagination.
That was why he was Malekith's ultimate weapon—the blade meant to pierce the heart of Asgard.
Even Thor would have struggled to withstand Kurse's onslaught, but... he was facing Odin.
Odin was no frail old man waiting for the end. Asgardians grew stronger with age, right up until the point their physical vessels could no longer contain their own burgeoning power.
And the power contained within Odin's body far exceeded Malekith's wildest estimations.
Facing the Kursed warrior's charge, Odin simply raised a foot and kicked him clear across the room. Then, with a casual flick of his spear, he sent the impaled Malekith sliding off the blade like a common stray dog, slamming him against the wall.
Before the Dark Elf could recover, Frigga was there, her magical sword glowing with blue energy as she pressed the edge against his throat.
The Kursed warrior was formidable, but against Odin, that strength seemed utterly pathetic.
As they watched the warrior being pinned to the floor by Gungnir and Runic magic, howling in futility, no one—save for Jane and Malekith—showed the slightest bit of surprise.
"The trouble has been dealt with, Madam Herta."
Having crushed Asgard's greatest crisis right then and there—and seeing that Frigga had truly avoided the death foretold in the prophecies—Odin found his emotions in a state of flux.
Was it all because of this woman, Herta?
Was this why the Sorcerer Supreme had chosen her?
"Once again, my thanks to the people of The Blue for their aid to Asgard."
"Don't worry about the thanks. I only came because I was worried about Asta's safety," Herta said dismissively. "I won't be staying. As for the others who came with me, just have them head back with Thor when the time comes."
Having secured the Reality Stone, she made no effort to hide her fascination with it. Odin knew well the obsessive streak researchers had for new toys, so he didn't take offense at her bluntness.
If anything, he was surprised that someone of Herta's talent and standing was as easy to deal with as she had been.
But when he saw Herta wave her hand again, casually tearing open a portal back to her laboratory right in the middle of the palace, he was momentarily speechless.
She isn't even trying to hide it anymore, is she?
"Madam Herta," Asta spoke up. "Arlan hasn't returned yet. I'm going to stay here and wait for her."
Besides, once the invasion was officially over, Asta would need to provide Asgard with a reasonable explanation for Herta's... unconventional methods.
Rather than tossing things back and forth later, it was better to settle everything in one go.
"Fine by me," Herta nodded, indifferent to the logistics.
Meanwhile, in a distant corner of the cosmos, two of the universe's most formidable powers were holding a secret meeting.
Their objective was simple: make Herta vanish from this universe forever.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.