From B-level to A-level, though it may seem like a small step on paper, in truth, it is a colossal watershed. The power difference is not linear but exponential. As soon as the cursed warriors ascended past that invisible threshold, the atmosphere itself trembled.
Their once-contained strength now surged outward in uncontrolled waves.
Soren had fought monsters before, beings that could shatter the world before.. Even he found himself taking them seriously now.
The cursed warriors, enhanced once more by dark rites, were now formidable in every sense. And they weren't alone.
"The convergence of the Nine Realms has begun!" Malekith's voice rang out.
He stood at the heart of the battlefield, surrounded by curling tendrils of dark red Aether. The energy pulsed, liquid fire around him, fracturing the space with its eldritch power.
Yet, despite the cosmic energy coiling through him, Malekith looked haggard, his cheeks sunken, skin pale, eyes haunted.
He had consumed the flesh and essence of countless beings to maintain control over the Aether, and it was taking a toll.
The once-regal leader of the Dark Elves now resembled something closer to a wraith. Combined with the blood-hued glow of the Aether particles, gave him a demonic visage.
Malekith couldn't afford delay. He looked to his cursed champions. "Hold them back! Do it!"
At his command, the hulking monstrosities of sinew, armor, and rune-branded flesh charged forward.
Zilant, summoned down forked bolts of azure lightning, but the enhanced warriors shrugged it off. Their new A-graded defenses rendered them nearly immune to such scattered strikes.
They pressed on, blades burning.
"Malekith... you think this will stop me?"
Soren raised a hand, and in that instant, space itself seemed to warp.
Psychokinetic Barrier.
The cursed warriors, mid-charge, suddenly slowed. Their movements dragged into a molasses-like crawl.
To an outside observer, it looked like a broken recording.
Soren raised his other hand.
All around him, shards of fallen weapons, fragments of armor, even microscopic dust rose from the earth, drawn together.
They twisted and fused in the air, condensing into a dense, ominous warhead. Electricity danced over his fingertips.
The sky darkened as crackling arcs of blue lightning licked across the battlefield. A vortex of electromagnetic energy roared into existence, making the very air tremble.
"Super-Electromagnetic Railgun!"
Soren's voice thundered, and the warhead fired.
A shrieking sonic boom tore the air apart as the projectile launched at a velocity beyond comprehension.
It passed through the cursed warriors a blade obliterating them instantly, and continued its deadly path toward Malekith.
The dark elf had barely enough time to throw up a wall of Aether, the crimson energy swirling into a dome.
BOOM
A flash of light engulfed the world.
The roar of detonation, so violent it shook the landscape, erupted across the battlefield.
Trees disintegrated, and the very ground heaved from the force.
Warriors, ally and enemy alike, shielded their eyes from the blinding light.
Above the shattered battlefield, the sky was swallowed by a sea of dark red particles, the Aether. The sun's light was blotted out.
Beyond the borders of the Aether's domain, the land lay in devastation, bombarded by chaotic energies. Where once had stood cursed warriors, only scorched craters remained, their bodies vaporized.
Even after that devastating blow, the true target, Malekith, remained intact.
"Hahaha!" Malekith's laughter echoed, manic and triumphant.
The red gleam of Aether particles danced around him, sinister fireflies.
In his eyes, as long as he possessed the Aether, he was invincible. Soren could not stop him, no one could.
Soren had known the Aether was powerful, but the resilience was abnormal even for it. His railgun blast, capable of tearing apart warships, had barely made a scratch.
Malekith was beginning the final stage.
Aether seeped from every pore of his body, spiraling into the convergence point of the Realms. The dimensional walls grew thin. If Malekith succeeded in fully releasing the Aether's power, the light of the universe would be snuffed out.
On the battlefield, the Avengers and the Ancient One fought desperately to break free and intervene, but the remaining elf warriors, fueled by the impending triumph, attacked suicidally.
Earth's heroes could only defend, their pathetic attempts at counterattack was swallowed by the elves.
The situation was dire. Soon, it would be irreversible.
Soren knew what he had to do.
With a deep breath, he extended his hands outward, beginning to draw on a forbidden source, the dark energies of Dormammu's realm.
The ground trembled violently as complex, ancient runes appeared before Soren.
Each rune carried the scent of catastrophe, the taste of annihilation.
Forbidden art so dangerous and that even the Ancient One had sealed them from memory, were being woven into a single, titanic spell.
The sky wept energy.
Ancient One's heart collapsed.
This magic... It can only be compared to Agamotto, the First Sorcerer.
She watched in fear as Soren combined multiple taboo spells into one.
"Scorching Sun and Storm."
"Thunder Ruling."
"Breath of the Wind."
"Dimensional hazard."
Soren was not simply casting them, he was fusing them, bending conflicting elemental forces into a singular catastrophe.
The magic circle before him turned brilliant gold, radiating a light so pure and terrible it burned the soul to look upon it. From its center, a golden bolt, condensed into an ultimate spear of destruction, burst forth.
It looked so small.
Every fiber of reality around it protested as it tore through the air.
"…NOOO!"
The golden lightning struck Malekith.
BOOOOOM!!!
Apocalyptic.
Waves of golden light washed across the land, blinding all who dared look. The shockwave ripped through the battlefield, tossing warriors, Avengers and cursed elves alike like dolls.
The foundations of the world seemed to shudder under the unleashed force.
Soren, standing at the epicenter, was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling. Channeling the stolen energies of the Dark Dimension had drained him.
As the light faded and the echoes of the blast died away, the battlefield was revealed.
Malekith still stood.
Once-pristine form was now mangled and torn.
His skin was riddled with wounds so deep that bone gleamed beneath the flesh—yet no blood flowed.
Only the slow, pulsing seep of Aether leaked from him, a bleeding star waiting...
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
New Story releases tomorrow.
PhantomDream