Malekith’s Death

As all of the Aether was drawn out, it turned into a mass of red storm clouds, reflecting a scorching crimson glow.

Both Tony and Banner sensed that something was wrong.

When Jane fell, Banner caught her directly in his palm.

"Her life energy and breathing are both fine."

Banner held a hand near Jane’s nose, felt her faint breath, and looked at Tony as he spoke.

"Mm. As long as she’s alright."

Tony nodded slightly.

But in the brief instant they spoke, the Aether seemed to be drawn by something and began surging into Malekith’s body.

Seeing this, purple light burst from Tony’s hand and poured toward Malekith.

It pierced straight through Malekith’s body, yet the Aether continued flowing into him.

Under normal circumstances, a chest wound like that would have killed Malekith beyond any doubt.

"Ha ha ha ha! What a foolish man. You know nothing of the Aether’s power."

Yet before Tony and Banner’s eyes, Malekith laughed wildly. His body bent at an eerie angle as he rose to his feet, and all the horrifying wounds across his body healed in an instant.

"It can do that too?"

Tony was not particularly afraid. Instead, he studied Malekith’s healed wounds and the powerful life force that had immediately returned, deep in thought.

The Aether might have been powerful, but Malekith himself was too weak. That made it impossible for Tony to truly fear him.

To Tony, Malekith resembled his former self. The Iron Man armor had allowed him to fight ordinary superpowered beings, but the weakness of his fragile body had been impossible to erase.

"Wasn’t it only supposed to ignore all physical phenomena?"

Banner was curious as well.

They were both scientists and wanted to study the Aether.

"How could two foolish weaklings like you possibly understand the divine might of the Aether?"

Seeing that neither of them took it seriously, Malekith was so furious that his nose nearly twisted out of shape.

As soon as he finished speaking, Malekith raised a hand toward Tony and unleashed dozens of bolts of Aether crackling with lightning, forming a net that sought to take Tony Stark’s life.

But in an instant, the Iron Man armor before Malekith vanished.

That speed, too fast for the naked eye to follow, immediately gave Malekith a bad feeling. Just as he tried to defend himself—

Tony Stark had already appeared before him. Dozens of whip-like kicks rained down on Malekith’s body.

Before he could even feel the pain, every bone in Malekith’s body had been shattered.

Then a kick sent him flying more than ten meters away. He crashed into the hall and rolled across the ground several times.

Malekith collapsed like a lump of mud, and only several seconds later did the piercing agony finally reach him.

"Argh—!"

Even an old monster like Malekith, who had lived for countless years and fought countless battles, could not endure it and let out a wail.

"Tony, why didn’t you just kill him?"

"With your abilities, it should be impossible for you not to be able to blast him into scraps."

Banner walked into the hall and found that Malekith was still breathing, which puzzled him.

He had fought Tony before and knew exactly how terrifying Tony’s attacks were. If someone’s body was not strong enough—

Tony could kill them dozens of times in a single exchange.

Malekith’s body was not particularly weak, but it clearly could not withstand Tony’s attacks.

"We don’t know much about the Aether. We can’t exactly risk letting it enter our bodies for experiments."

"So I wanted to see how long it would take him to recover from injuries this close to death."

Wearing the Iron Man armor, Tony slowly flew in with his arms crossed and looked at Malekith, who lay there like garbage.

"I see."

Banner immediately understood.

Tony and Banner’s conversation sounded like the whispers of demons, and Malekith looked at them as though he had seen ghosts.

These two were treating him like an experimental lab rat?

What the hell were these two?

Why did Asgard’s intelligence have absolutely no information on either of them?

Malekith knew he had to escape. So even though he did not want to reveal the Aether’s miraculous ability to turn decay into wonder, he had no choice but to use it.

He altered reality once again, and his injuries immediately healed.

"What exactly is the principle behind that?"

"With injuries at this level, even I would need at least several hours to recover."

"He recovered instantly?"

"Does the Aether really just ignore physical laws?"

Seeing Malekith truly recover, Banner’s eyes widened as he muttered in bewilderment.

"It seems to possess more than just the ability to ignore physical laws. I have a theory."

"But I’m not sure yet. Let’s keep watching."

Tony also knew that for anyone with such injuries, unless they had an Undying Body, recovery would never be easy.

Hearing Tony’s words, Banner understood. He charged forward and slammed both fists into Malekith’s body.

Malekith had only just recovered and had not even had time to stand before Banner’s heavy blow struck him.

The hall trembled, and a massive crater opened in the ground.

"Puhah—!"

Malekith’s pupils contracted as he spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs.

At that moment, Malekith had become an experimental lab rat in Tony and Banner’s eyes.

And scientists felt no pity for experimental lab rats. What they had was a greater desire for results and answers.

Realizing he had encountered two madmen, and that these madmen were extraordinarily powerful—

Malekith’s heart sank to the very bottom.

But all the Aether could do was alter reality to a certain extent.

He could alter the armor worn by the man in the Iron Man armor and turn it directly into bubbles.

But this Hulk possessed a genuine physical body. Malekith’s control over the Aether was not enough to directly erase someone’s superpowers.

Yet even in such desperate circumstances, Malekith still had to use the Aether to alter the reality of his injuries.

Because he still had a sliver of hope. These two wanted to study the Aether through him, so they would not kill him.

As long as he did not die, he only needed to hold on until the Cursed Warrior killed Bor’s grandson, Thor, and came to find him.

Though those two were madmen, once the Cursed Warrior arrived, they would surely be able to escape with the Aether in search of a chance, then make further plans.

But the moment that thought arose in Malekith’s mind, after he healed himself once more and decided to endure even torture for as long as necessary—

Tony Stark’s right hand transformed into a blade and mercilessly cut off Malekith’s head.

Malekith’s eyes filled with disbelief. Weren’t they going to study the Aether?

"That confirms it."

"The Aether should possess a limited ability to make thoughts into reality."

"Though that ability doesn’t seem all-powerful, healing its user’s injuries is effortless for it."

After slicing off Malekith’s head with a hand chop, Tony saw that Malekith’s life force had finally ceased and spoke.

"A limited ability to make thoughts into reality?"

"The Aether is that powerful?"

Banner was somewhat amazed by Tony’s discovery.

Such an ability was simply inconceivable, beyond Banner’s understanding.

"This ability does not activate on its own. It needs the user’s thoughts to trigger it."

"The Aether may possess even more extraordinary abilities."

"But its user was too pathetic to bring out its effects."

"If we want to study it carefully, we’ll need quite a few tests. This isn’t the right time."

"Banner, go see what’s happening with Thor."

"It’s been so long, yet Thor still hasn’t come over. He must be tied up by some trouble."

Tony glanced at Malekith’s head rolling across the floor and spoke to Banner.

After speaking, Tony deactivated Void Mode. The Iron Man armor could only support him in Void Mode for five minutes.

So he had no intention of wasting too much time on Malekith. He understood that delays could bring unexpected changes.

Using Malekith for a few experiments and gaining some theories was enough. There would be plenty of chances to study it later.

"Alright."

Banner nodded, then sprinted out of the hall toward the Divine Palace.

This time, Banner did not bring Jane Foster with him. He no longer had to worry that running and jumping at full strength would injure Jane Foster.

As a result, the power Banner unleashed was even more terrifying. With a leap of a thousand meters, he streaked through the sky like a green meteor toward the Divine Palace.

Meanwhile, Thor had indeed run into serious trouble.

The Cursed Warrior sent Thor flying with a single punch, and Thor had been injured as well.

After wrenching himself free from the wall and landing on the ground, Thor tightly gripped Mjolnir in his right hand to keep himself conscious.

His injuries were not light, and Thor’s head was spinning.

At the same time, Thor was inwardly miserable.

It was one thing for Tony and Banner not to come. With them protecting Jane, Thor was not too worried.

But his Father still showed no sign of coming to support him after all this time.

If no one came to help soon, he feared this Cursed Warrior would beat him to death.

This Cursed Warrior was an absolute monster. He feared neither lightning nor Mjolnir, and his body was far stronger than Thor’s.

As a result, Thor had been completely suppressed in every aspect of their battle.

Thor wanted to retreat and seek help, but given his status, he could not retreat. Since he could do nothing against the Cursed Warrior—

There were only a few people in all of Asgard who could resist this Cursed Warrior.

If Thor retreated and allowed the Cursed Warrior to run wild and disappear somewhere, Asgard would suffer enormous casualties.

Thor slapped his face hard with his left hand to stay awake.

"You are a god of Asgard, yet you hide and scurry around like a rat. You disgust me."

The Cursed Warrior stared at Thor, who was already swaying but still standing, and spoke furiously.

Malekith had ordered him to kill Thor, and every attack he had made had been intended to kill.

But throughout all this, an inexplicably terrifying gaze had been watching him.

Because he did not know the other party’s true nature, the Cursed Warrior had been unable to focus entirely on dealing with Thor.

Thor had no room to fight back against him, yet he refused to face him head-on and had endured again and again.

And several minutes had passed. Malekith had gone to seize the Aether, but no signal of success had arrived.

They were on enemy territory, caught between threats from both sides, and their information was unclear.

That made the Cursed Warrior anxious as well.

"I have plenty of time. Fighting you for days and nights would be no problem."

"But unfortunately, it seems you don’t have that much time."

Though his physical condition was far from good, Thor did not show weakness. A smile appeared on his face.

Fighting on enemy territory had both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage was that the enemy would have reservations and would not dare unleash their full strength. The disadvantage was that if they went too deep into enemy territory—

If they failed to achieve their objective quickly, then once the enemy reacted and sent reinforcements, the situation would grow increasingly unfavorable. In the end, they might make the enemy pay a price, but their own side would have to pay with death as well.

"Shut up! As long as I kill you now, we can still achieve our goal."

Seeing Thor clearly unable to defeat him yet acting as though he held the advantage, the Cursed Warrior roared in fury.

Then the Cursed Warrior charged directly toward Thor, who stood a hundred meters away.

After the earlier battle between the Cursed Warrior and Thor, every part of the Divine Palace had been reduced to ruins, filled with broken walls and shattered pillars.

Yet wherever the Cursed Warrior charged, whether walls or stone pillars, everything was smashed to pieces.

The force he stirred up was like a mountain crashing forward, terrifying to behold.

Thor used the same trick again, hurling Mjolnir toward the Cursed Warrior with lightning trailing behind it.

The Cursed Warrior casually swung a palm and knocked Mjolnir away.

Dragging his exhausted body, Thor immediately dodged to the side.

At that moment, the Divine Palace was filled with large holes and piles of broken debris, which became the foundation of Thor’s delaying tactics.

This Cursed Warrior’s body was powerful, but he was too cumbersome. As long as Thor did not want to clash with him head-on, delaying him was relatively easy.

Seeing Thor repeat the same tactic and hide in a blind spot beyond his sight, the Cursed Warrior’s rage seemed ready to erupt. His eyes turned bloodshot as he charged forward by instinct.

The moment the Cursed Warrior smashed through the obstacle and saw Thor, Thor had already assumed a defensive stance.

But against Thor’s defensive posture, the Cursed Warrior changed his fist into a palm and reached directly for Thor’s head. He no longer intended to kill him with one punch.

Instead, he wanted to lock Thor down and then slaughter him.

That sudden change made Thor’s face shift. He leaned backward, but it was already too late to retreat.

Just as the Cursed Warrior’s huge hand drew ever closer to Thor’s head and Thor had nowhere left to retreat—

Boom! The ceiling suddenly seemed to be smashed open by something heavy, and the Cursed Warrior’s body lurched forward before crashing face-first onto the ground.