As his analysis deepened, flashes of insight kept sparking in Lucci's mind. He realized that although the power of the genuine Infinity Stone appeared "distorted," its deeper core lay in "cognition" and "definition"! If the wielder's perception was strong enough—so strong it could encompass the basic laws of a universe in a given region—then whatever he knew would become the "truth" in that area! This was… an utterly unreasonable, idealistic power! Lucci was shaken to his core by the revelation. All the knowledge, laws, and power he'd learned in Asgard fused into this new idea and sublimated! A new supreme method, operating only on the "conceptual" level, spontaneously formed and completed itself in his mind!
The Idealistic Creation Law! Its core was simple and raw: as long as your cognition was strong enough, you could warp reality, making what you think become truth!
"This water is extremely poisonous; if you drink it, even gods might be poisoned!
This sword is unbreakable; it can sever causality and cut through dimensions!
I believe you do not exist—then, in this reality covered by my cognition, you will be completely erased from the river of time, leaving not a trace behind!"
This was a horror technique that far surpassed an energy blast or a physical blow. It acted directly on "concepts" and "existence" themselves!
"Actually… this is the true power of reality itself…"
Lucci slowly opened his eyes, a flash of enlightenment running through them. He had gained complete control over the laws of reality, and atop that foundation, comprehended an even more terrifying, ultimate method! The harvest this time was enormous!
The moment Lucci fully understood the mystery of the true Infinity Stone—
…
Suddenly, the sky darkened! But it wasn't the darkness of "zero upon zero" that blots out the sun; rather, it was as if the sun had vanished in an instant, the source of light blocked by an invisible, gigantic hand that filled the world with pure despair and deathly silence—true darkness!
The temperature plummeted, a cold wind rose, whipping waste paper and dust off the ground, sounding like eerie sobs.
"F*** what's going on?"
Darcy and the others looked up in terror. Over central London, the usually drizzle-shrouded sky was now covered by a gigantic, indescribable black shadow!
It was a massive… cosmic battleship!
Its form was unlike any aircraft known to man—pitch black, drawn in cold, vertical lines, completely devoid of unnecessary ornamentation—like a colossal tombstone unearthed from an ancient graveyard, magnified billions of times!
It floated silently over the city, exuding an ancient, corrupted, terrifying aura suffused with death and destruction! The ship quietly tore open reality's space and landed abruptly in this bustling metropolis!
"W-What is that?"
"My god! Is this an alien invasion?"
"Is this… the apocalypse?"
In an instant, all of London fell into unprecedented panic and chaos! Countless citizens watched in trembling horror as the black creation in the sky, like a god of mythic doom, inspired cries of despair. Horns, shouts, and building sirens formed a chaotic symphony before the end of the world.
Lucci looked up calmly at the gigantic black battleship, his eyes showing no surprise. He knew—the master had arrived.
The next moment, a hatch opened at the bottom of the tombstone-like battleship. Like two black meteors, two figures leapt down from tens of thousands of meters above!
Boom! Boom!
With two thunderous crashes, they slammed violently into an open space near Lucci, smashing the hard concrete into two enormous, deep craters! As the dust cleared, their true faces were revealed.
The leader was tall, with corpse-like pale blue skin and long, pointed ears. He wore an ancient, delicate suit of black armor, his face shadowed by the valley of time, his eyes burning with eternal hatred and cruelty. He was the one who had slept for tens of thousands of years, awakened to plunge the universe back into darkness—the King of the Dark Elves, Malekith!
Beside him stood a bulkier, uglier figure—encased head to toe in heavy, black armor covered in bony spikes, with only a pair of hellish red eyes glowing through his helmet. In his hand was a massive black warhammer, and the aura radiating from his body was even fiercer and hungrier for blood than Malekith's! He was the mightiest warrior of the Dark Elves, utterly transformed by dark energy—the Cursed Warrior, Algrim!
"Aether…"
Malekith slowly stepped out of the pit, taking a deep breath and staring at the Reality Stone in Lucci's hand, his face showing a drunken rapture.
"I can feel it… Its form has changed, but the breath of the Aether is unmistakable…"
After five thousand years of slumber, he had finally sensed the ultimate weapon that might fulfill his crusade of vengeance! Soon, his gaze, full of greed and cruelty, locked onto Lucci.
"…Hand it over, human," Malekith intoned coldly.
"Such a humble creature as you isn't qualified to touch it!"
The greed and killing intent in his eyes could not be concealed, like a hungry wolf eyeing a lamb!
Malekith and Algrim's terror was palpable! Jane Foster, Darcy, and Dr. Selvig were already paralyzed with fright, their minds blank. The joy of survival was instantly overwhelmed by the more immediate and terrifying spectacle before them. Instinctively, they hid behind Lucci.
Lucci heard, but just smiled indifferently, showing no reaction at all. Malekith's expression grew even colder at this. With a wave of his hand, countless hatches opened on the gigantic tombstone battleship overhead, and dense ranks of Dark Elf soldiers poured out silently in scythe-like flying machines, forming tight formations in the sky—like locusts swarming from a nest. All wore pitch-black armor and carried rifles emitting red energy. A suffocating killing intent poured down from the sky, blanketing the area!
Malekith's voice suddenly rose, brimming with murderous intent!
"Human! I repeat: what you hold does not belong to you!
It is a sacred existence, nurtured by eternal darkness, to correct the errors of this universe!
Hand over the Aether at once!
In return, I may grant you a happy death!
Otherwise…"—he slowly looked up at his fleet, lips curling into a cruel smile—
"You and this pitiful planet crawling with reptiles will be reduced to the most primitive dust in the universe!"
As his words fell, the Cursed Warrior Algrim let out a bestial growl, slamming his black warhammer into the ground!
Boom—
A shockwave visible to the naked eye spread out! The concrete floor around him cracked like a spider web!
Above, tens of thousands of Dark Elf soldiers raised their weapons in unison, red energy gathering at their muzzles—ready to unleash a rain of death that could wipe all of London from the map!
This was a final ultimatum! The last judgment on a planet's fate by a king of an ancient race!
Yet, before this scene of horror—one that would strike fear into anyone—Lucci only frowned slightly, thinking their voices were truly unpleasant. He looked up at Malekith and the Dark Elf army in the sky. No explosive surge of power, no blinding light—just two light words:
"Shut up."
In the next instant, the supreme "Law" appeared—one that could not be explained by science or magic!
Malekith, who was about to continue his kingly threats, found his face frozen in an instant! Mouth open, throat twitching, chest heaving as he tried to speak… but no sound came! He felt as if thrown into a perfect vacuum, his vocal cords unable to resonate with the air at all. Worse, it was as if an invisible hand was strangling his throat—not his body, but the very concept of "speech" itself!
His "will to speak" and "the reality of being able to speak" were now completely isolated by an unbridgeable gulf!
At the same time, this power fell upon every Dark Elf present. None could utter a sound—their faces filled with shock and confusion. What was happening? Why had they lost the ability to speak?
Even the Cursed Warrior Algrim, his face hidden by his helmet, stared at Lucci with those hellish eyes, instinctively sensing mortal danger at the level of his very existence!
Malekith, too, felt waves of terror and dread rise in his heart. What is this power? How could the ancient, dignified king of the Dark Elves—an existence millions of years old—be robbed of speech by just two words from his opponent? How was such a thing possible?
He suddenly looked at the Reality Stone in Lucci's hand, a terrifying, absurd thought swelling in his mind!
"Is… this… the power of the Aether? The power to warp reality?"
"Impossible! Impossible!"
Malekith howled inwardly. He was the chosen master of the Aether particles! He had studied them for thousands of years, able only to crudely wield their destructive power as a weapon. The ability to subtly and precisely warp reality was utterly out of reach… This… this was the domain of gods!
How could this human before him master the Aether's power so completely in such a short time? This was unreasonable! This shattered everything Malekith had built his understanding on for millions of years!
At this moment, Malekith finally realized that the being he now faced might not be an ordinary human at all. Instead… it was an existence utterly incomprehensible, beyond all imagination—a true horror!
His eyes, once filled only with greed and cruelty, now showed the first signs of an emotion called "fear"—just as London was enveloped in darkness and death.
….
Asgard, atop the Rainbow Bridge.
Boom, boom—
Amidst heavy footsteps and the clash of metal, a mighty army arrived at the center of the Rainbow Bridge. At its head was Odin, Father of the Gods, wearing the robes and armor of a king, gripping the eternal spear Gungnir! Behind him stood Asgard's finest warriors, each a battle-hardened hero whose armor shone with divine brilliance.
"Heimdall!" Odin called with authority and concern, "Where is Lucci now? What of Midgard?"
Heimdall saluted immediately and reported in a low voice.
"Reporting to the Allfather! The situation is… complicated!
Prince Lucci has already extracted the Aether particles from the body of the Midgardian woman and restored them to their true gem form!"
Even the worried Odin couldn't help but show a flash of surprise and admiration in his eyes. Extract the Aether? Restore it to gem form? Not even his father, King Bor, had managed that—instead, he'd chosen to seal it. Lucci had actually… succeeded!
But Heimdall's next words overwhelmed Odin's newfound relief with a surge of worry.
"But, Allfather! Just now, King Malekith of the Dark Elves has already descended upon Midgard's sky with his dark fleet!
Right now, Prince Lucci is confronting Malekith… face-to-face!"
"What?!" Odin's face turned grim in an instant! His greatest fear had come to pass—Malekith's speed had exceeded all expectations!
"How many did Lucci bring with him?" Odin asked quickly, hoping Lucci at least had the mutants and magicians of Kamar-Taj at his side.
But a bitter smile appeared on Heimdall's face.
"Allfather… Prince Lucci is but a single man.
If you must count, there are… three defenseless Midgardians by his side."
Boom—
This answer struck Odin's heart like a thunderclap! "Absurd! How can he face the Dark Elf fleet, Malekith and his Cursed Warrior, alone?!"
Odin's heart tightened. He knew Lucci was powerful—unimaginably so—but this was Malekith! An ancient demon king who had waged galactic war since the time of Odin's father! His army, his Cursed Warriors, his fortress-like mothership, his devastating antimatter weapons—this was not a duel, it was war! However strong Lucci was, he was but one man! Malekith and his forces, who once suppressed even the gods, would not let this opportunity slip by—the consequences would be unimaginable! Not to mention, Lucci had three humans at his side—that was the most fatal weakness!
"No! We cannot leave him alone!" Odin decided swiftly, slamming the Eternal Spear into the Rainbow Bridge, the clash of gold and stone echoing sharply.
"Heimdall! Activate the Bifrost at once!
Bring the army—teleport us to Lucci's location!"
"Yes, Allfather!"
Heimdall, understanding the urgency, dared not delay. He strode to the observatory's center, inserting the giant sword that had guarded Asgard for ten thousand years into the console!
Whirrrrr—
The entire observatory began to shake! The majestic energy at Asgard's core was desperately drawn forth, condensing in preparation to pierce the Nine Realms! At the end of the Rainbow Bridge, a massive ring-shaped device spun at high speed, countless ancient runes lighting up in sequence—seven-colored energy beams converging at the center, forming a brilliant, intense vortex!
….