Nidavellir was not a planet in the ordinary sense. It was a fiercely burning neutron star, encircled by several massive rings, and it was upon these rings that the Dwarves made their home.
The raging neutron star served as the Dwarves' energy source. With their advanced technology, the Dwarves could harness its power to melt all manner of metal ores and forge mighty weapons.
When Zod descended with his Guardian Angels via the Bifrost, the Dwarf King Eitri assumed it was the people of Asgard who had arrived. Upon discovering otherwise, the Dwarves immediately went on alert.
"Dwarf, I am the Emperor of the Kryptonian Empire. I have come to obtain the mold for the Stormbreaker hammer or the Stormbreaker axe," Zod said to King Eitri.
"Impossible. That belongs to Asgard."
King Eitri rejected the demand without a second thought. Asgard carried tremendous weight in the eyes of these Dwarves.
"Asgard's Bifrost has already been shattered by their own God of Thunder, Thor. Asgard has now lost the ability to maintain order across the Nine Realms. Are you certain you still wish to guard that mold on Asgard's behalf?"
Zod spoke with calm composure.
With that single devastating blow from the prodigal Thunder God, Asgard had forfeited its dominion and control over the Nine Realms. Compounding the disaster, the Tesseract—the Space Stone—had not been brought back to Asgard. Instead, it had fallen into Zod's hands, making it impossible to repair the Bifrost.
Now chaos reigned across the Nine Realms. Races that Asgard had once beaten into submission stirred in rebellion and renewed their old conflicts. Those who had long enjoyed Asgard's protection sent desperate pleas for aid—but Asgard could offer them none.
Only with the Bifrost restored could Asgard quell the unrest.
"Heimdall!"
King Eitri did not believe Zod's words and attempted to summon the Gatekeeper.
There was no response.
"Heimdall! Thor!"
King Eitri grew frantic, raising his voice to a shout.
Still, there was only silence.
"Unless they can travel here through the rift passages between the Nine Realms, Nidavellir has already lost Asgard's protection. As the most renowned forge of divine artifacts in the universe, I imagine quite a few marauders would take a keen interest in you."
Zod smiled.
King Eitri was torn. Odin had entrusted him with the mold for the Stormbreaker hammer—a king's weapon bearing the mark of Asgard. In return, Asgard had pledged to protect Nidavellir. The price was that the Dwarves would forge weapons for no one else. The Dwarves had agreed.
And so began a partnership between Asgard and Nidavellir that spanned thousands of years. The Dwarves of Nidavellir had long grown accustomed to this arrangement.
Yet now, it seemed the Kryptonian Emperor's words rang true. Asgard could no longer shield them.
Had it been otherwise, Heimdall—ever watchful over Nidavellir—would have reported this intrusion to Odin at once, and Odin would have dispatched someone to handle the matter.
"Well?"
Zod cut through his deliberations.
"If I hand over the mold to you, we will forever lose Asgard's protection..." King Eitri murmured.
"That doesn't matter. The Kryptonian Empire also possesses a Bifrost. I can leave a portal here for you. Should danger arise, simply send someone through it to notify us."
Zod had perceived the unspoken plea for protection hidden within Eitri's words and granted it.
I hope my choice is the right one...
King Eitri studied the man before him. He looked entirely ordinary, yet he was an emperor of an interstellar empire. Eitri had no way of knowing whether this man could stand against Odin, the Allfather.
But he also understood that he had no choice. With Asgard unresponsive and this man standing directly before him, their only option was to comply. Otherwise, the mold would likely be seized by force regardless.
Zod's reason for wanting the mold was simple: the Stormbreaker hammer—and its axe counterpart—bore the Runes of Odin engraved upon them. These were king-class divine artifacts capable of amplifying Thor's power to its absolute maximum.
For Thor, Mjolnir served as a controller, helping him channel the thunderous storms and other forces surging within his body.
Zod examined the newly acquired mold. Though the loss of his magical Kryptonian abilities had made the learning process more strenuous, he quickly mastered it.
So I can mass-produce divine artifacts now...
With keen interest, Zod manipulated quarks with his bare hands and forged a weapon: the Black Cleaver.
The runic script derived from the Stormbreaker mold and Mjolnir materialized upon it. Uru metal combined with Adamantium formed the axe blade, while Vibranium composed the haft. Together, they gave shape to this divine artifact.
King Eitri stared in stunned disbelief.
The forging power of a neutron star—temperatures in the hundreds of billions of degrees—had been perfectly replicated by Zod, who had already become a Black Hole Kryptonian.
The Black Cleaver was now an indisputable divine artifact, in no way inferior to Odin's own Gungnir, the Spear of Eternity.
"From this day forward, you will forge weapons for Krypton."
With a casual motion, Zod used the Space Stone to leave behind a portal. He then stabilized the gateway using the gravitational and spatial distortions of his Black Hole Kryptonian powers. Even if another being obtained the Space Stone, they would find it nearly impossible to shake the power of the black hole singularity he had anchored to the portal.
Zod returned to Krypton with the Black Cleaver. Then, he sculpted a new being: the Hand of Noxus—Darius.
The Black Cleaver was, of course, meant for Darius. And given Darius's temperament, he seemed perfectly suited to merge into the Marvel world. Perhaps there would even be some interesting surprises along the way.
Darius opened his eyes.
Before him stood the one he revered above all: his most honored Emperor. He dropped to one knee.
"Darius, from this day forward, you are the Commander of the Imperial Expeditionary Force. This divine artifact, the Black Cleaver, I bestow upon you. I trust you will not disappoint me."
Zod presented the Black Cleaver.
"By your command, Great Emperor."
Darius accepted the Black Cleaver from Zod's hands. In that instant, he felt a unique bond form between himself and the weapon.
Zod had also imprinted an enchantment upon the Black Cleaver, akin to the one Odin had placed upon Mjolnir. Those deemed unworthy would find it impossible to lift the weapon.
Since the enchantment originated from Zod himself, he had created a stable black hole singularity as the force sustaining the Black Cleaver's enchantment.
In other words, unless a being possessed strength sufficient to lift that very black hole singularity, they would never be able to budge the Black Cleaver.
Furthermore, in forging Darius, Zod had not only used Kryptonian military genetic material but had also incorporated the genes of a mutant—the "Son of Earth."
This meant that as long as Darius's feet touched the ground, he would continuously draw strength and stamina from the earth. Standing upon the ground rendered him virtually immortal, and his power would only grow stronger with time.
A perfect one-to-one recreation of Darius—even his armor matched that of his original skin, though now forged from a composite of Uru metal, Adamantium, and Vibranium.
The Noxian Hand, wreaker of carnage across all directions, had arrived.
/-\
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