Feelings Are a Weakness

Thor heard him and wanted to give chase, but the Cursed Warrior was already striding straight at him.

There were no flashy attacks. Just a single punch forced Thor to retreat.

But Thor was no pushover. Since physical attacks and brute strength could not harm the Cursed Warrior, he would use the power of thunder.

Thor recalled Mjolnir and raised it overhead. In an instant, a terrifying pillar of lightning descended from the sky, illuminating all of Asgard.

He refused to believe he could not defeat this Cursed Warrior.

As for Malekith going after Jane, Thor was not too worried, because he knew Banner was protecting her.

The Hulk’s strength was undeniably immense; his only weakness in the past had been his inability to control it freely.

But Banner had now overcome that weakness. With the Hulk’s power combined with Banner’s genius mind…

Thor knew Banner was more than capable of defeating Malekith, not to mention Tony, who was installing Jarvis.

So all he had to do now was smash this Cursed Warrior to pieces.

"Once I obtain the Aether, everything will return to darkness."

Malekith felt somewhat wary upon seeing that terrifying lightning, but he still maintained an outward appearance of fearlessness.

Then Malekith immediately boarded a ship and flew in the direction he sensed.

Faced with Thor going all out, the Cursed Warrior did not retreat either.

He knew that even if he ran, he could not outrun lightning. There was only forward—retreat was not an option.

Thor unleashed terrifying lightning directly onto the Cursed Warrior.

But even after releasing so much Godly Power, he merely blasted the Cursed Warrior back and failed to seriously injure him.

"Damn it, what kind of defense is this?"

Seeing that his charged lightning had only left the Cursed Warrior smoking, while barely affecting his movements, Thor could not help cursing.

Of course, Thor also knew that since this warrior was Malekith’s trump card, he definitely would not fear lightning.

Otherwise, forget Father Odin stepping in—even Thor himself could have killed the Cursed Warrior instantly.

Mjolnir was useless, and Thor’s body could not compare to the Cursed Warrior’s either.

Helpless, Thor could only endure a beating and wait for Father Odin or Tony and the others to rescue him.

Just as the Cursed Warrior was preparing to viciously crush Thor and find a chance to kill him…

He suddenly felt a terrifying gaze fixed upon him.

This caused the Cursed Warrior’s movements to pause for a moment as he warily looked around.

Thor did not know why the Cursed Warrior had suddenly stopped, but he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and took the chance to catch his breath.

At the same time, Malekith, Heimdall, and God King Odin all sensed that gaze.

God King Odin was with Frigga. He knew Thor would definitely come looking for him, so he was not particularly anxious.

When God King Odin first sensed this gaze years ago, he had no idea who its owner was.

But now that Odin felt the gaze again, wariness filled his eyes.

He knew that gaze came from God of the Void Kassadin.

"My dear, what is it?"

Frigga saw her husband’s expression suddenly turn solemn, his gaze extremely cautious.

"Kassadin is watching Asgard right now," Odin said.

"God of the Void Kassadin?"

"Why is he watching Asgard?"

"Weren’t the two friends Thor brought back acting only on their own behalf, with no involvement from the Void Cult?"

Frigga was stunned when she heard the name and quickly asked.

"I don’t know. I only hope he does not exploit this opportunity."

Odin knew God of the Void Kassadin was far more troublesome than Malekith.

So he did his best to suppress the unstable power within him and waited for the right moment.

If Kassadin attacked Asgard, he would at least still be able to respond.

But if he went all out against Malekith’s invasion and could no longer stabilize the power within him…

Then all of Asgard would become fish on the chopping block.

Heimdall was fighting dozens of Dark Elves near the Bifrost.

When he suddenly sensed that gaze, his movements paused slightly as well.

The Dark Elves, who could not sense anything unusual, seized the chance to strike him with an energy blast, but his body did not budge in the slightest.

For a powerhouse like Heimdall, unless he encountered an opponent of the same level or attacks from certain powerful divine artifacts…

Ordinary attacks simply could not break his defenses. But Heimdall had no time to worry about what that gaze was.

Because he was fine, but the people of Asgard were being slaughtered by these Dark Elves. Heimdall gripped his greatsword and charged into the fray.

"Who is that?"

Malekith, who was on his way to find Jane Foster, underwent a drastic change in expression.

He knew Odin, Bor’s son, far too well. At Odin’s age, his strength would be extraordinarily formidable.

But at the same time, excessive power meant Odin could not act freely.

Especially in Asgard, Odin would not act unless absolutely necessary.

Because even if Odin killed him, Odin’s actions would still cause enormous casualties and destruction across Asgard.

That was why Malekith had been certain of victory in this invasion.

But he had not expected a strange gaze, one absent from all intelligence reports, to suddenly appear.

"Forget it. Once I obtain the Aether, no one will matter."

After his expression shifted, Malekith immediately made his decision.

They were already extremely close. Even if he had to retreat, he had to take the Aether with him first.

Then, as Malekith piloted the ship straight into a temple…

A green giant abruptly blocked their path and slammed a fist into the ship with a Boom!

Banner’s punch caved in the hull and sent the ship streaking toward the lower side like a meteor.

Just as it was about to crash into the ground, a figure in Iron Man armor, wreathed in purple flames, erupted with visible jets of fire from the thrusters.

With a dive, he shot upward from below and rammed straight through the ship.

Before Malekith could figure out what had happened, he felt an arm like shackles seize him by the throat.

His body was dragged flying out, and the sharp, broken metal he struck at high speed carved a horrifying wound across him.

Then Tony grabbed Malekith with one hand and aimed the other at the ship, firing purple beams like lasers.

With another Boom!, the ship exploded before it could even hit the ground.

Banner was incredibly strong, but the attacks he threw out casually could easily cause unnecessary damage.

If the ship had crashed into the ground just now, Malekith would certainly have been injured, but the buildings below, along with Asgardian soldiers and civilians, would inevitably have suffered casualties as well.

They had come to help, not cause destruction, so Tony naturally cleaned up Banner’s mess while he was at it.

"Your strength is far weaker than I expected."

"With this level of power, you call yourself the ruler of the Dark Dimension?"

"Looks like your world is pathetically weak too."

Tony looked at the ugly-faced Malekith in his grasp, who had no room to resist at all, and spoke.

Hearing those words of boundless contempt, Malekith tried to slap Tony’s chest with both hands and force him back.

But Malekith’s movements were agonizingly slow before Tony. Tony simply whipped his leg into Malekith’s side.

A kick from Tony’s Iron Man armor could only cause intense pain to Hulk and could not truly injure him.

But when used against someone with a flesh-and-blood body like Malekith, one kick damaged his internal organs and made him cough up blood.

Yet before the blood Malekith spat out could touch Tony, Void Power burned it into white smoke.

Tony casually flung him away, sending Malekith flying like a meteor toward Banner.

Banner reached out with a huge hand and caught Malekith by the head.

"I only ran earlier because I had someone to protect. I was planning to come find you, but I didn’t expect you to deliver yourself right to me."

Banner gripped Malekith’s small head, revealing two rows of white teeth.

Although Asgard was not Banner’s homeland, he felt no sympathy or mercy whatsoever for Malekith, the culprit who had led the Dark Elves in attacking Asgard.

Jane Foster was dumbfounded by the strength Tony Stark and Bruce Banner had displayed.

Were these two really humans like her? If they were, why had their power so completely surpassed her understanding?

"If you kill me, that woman will be buried with me."

Blood kept spilling from the corner of Malekith’s mouth. Enduring the agonizing pain from his damaged organs, he looked at Jane Foster and spoke weakly.

His abdomen had already been wounded when sharp fragments of metal cut him as he was pulled from the ship.

Now Tony Stark had added another kick, leaving Malekith on the verge of death at any moment.

Malekith was a sorcerer. His body and hand-to-hand combat were not his strengths.

If he could regain the Aether, these two would be no match for him at all. But he had not recovered the Aether, leaving him with less than one-tenth of his strength.

However, after seeing Jane Foster, Malekith knew he still had a chance to struggle for survival.

"That woman?"

"Miss Jane?"

Banner was initially confused by Malekith’s words, but after noticing the direction of Malekith’s gaze, he turned back and asked uncertainly.

"Miss Jane, does the Aether inside your body make you feel unwell?"

Tony had heard Malekith as well. His eyes flickered as he looked at Jane and asked.

"I feel more tired and sleepy, and no one can attack me directly."

"Otherwise, apart from the Aether erupting to protect me, there aren’t any major problems."

Jane honestly explained the changes that had occurred to her after hearing Tony Stark’s question.

"The Aether cannot be borne by the body of a mortal like her."

"The Aether has only just entered her body. It will slowly drain her life force."

"If it isn’t removed, she will definitely die."

Malekith knew the Aether far too well. Of course, he did not care whether Jane Foster lived or died.

What he cared about was whether he could seize a sliver of hope for survival. As long as he could draw the Aether from Jane Foster’s body…

Then his injuries would be insignificant. He could recover in a second.

"What do we do now?"

Banner was half-convinced and half-suspicious after hearing Malekith. He exchanged a look with Tony and asked for Tony’s opinion.

"Put him down first. Don’t kill him."

"Miss Jane, have you tried any other methods to extract the Aether?"

"Or has God King Odin helped you?"

Tony’s gaze flickered. He first warned Banner not to kill Malekith immediately, then looked at Jane.

"I have tried, but Thor’s father does not know that much about the Aether either."

"He cannot extract the Aether from my body."

Jane understood Tony’s intent upon hearing his question. Though she wanted to say there was no problem, she still answered honestly.

"To control the Aether, Dark Magic must be used."

"Odin, Bor’s son, may be a god, but all he controls is Godly Power. He cannot control the Aether."

"If you do not want her to die…"

"We can make a deal."

"I will help you extract the Aether from her body, and then she definitely will not die."

"In exchange, you need to spare me."

"You don’t have much time."

Banner gently placed Malekith on the ground. Malekith lay there clutching the wound on his abdomen and spoke weakly.

"Could this be a trick?"

Banner exchanged another look with Tony after hearing this and asked.

"His strength is so weak that even if he has some scheme, he won’t have time to resist if we decide to kill him."

"Miss Jane’s life is more important, so let him try."

Tony thought for a moment and spoke.

If Jane could not control the Aether, it indeed might bring danger.

Jane was also Thor’s lover, so he could not take that risk.

"Don’t let me see any unusual movements from you, or I’ll crush you to death with one foot."

Banner looked at Malekith, who was as weak as a chicken, and warned him.

"As long as you spare me, that’s enough."

Malekith nodded slightly at the threat, but inwardly he sneered.

Feelings truly were the weakness of countless people. For this one woman’s life, they were willing to take the enormous risk of letting him absorb the Aether.

After speaking, Malekith extended one hand toward Jane Foster.

Jane Foster’s body immediately began to rise into the air, and her eyes turned completely black.

Visible red liquid began to flow from Jane Foster’s mouth, nose, and every part of her body.

Tony observed Jane’s life force with utmost focus throughout the process.

If anything went wrong with Jane’s life force, he would kill Malekith immediately.

The third update, four thousand words delivered. Ten thousand words complete. Please vote and subscribe.