After dealing with the zombies and desire monsters, Luke prepared to embark on his trip to London.
However, one event interrupted his plans.
The Tesseract was stolen!
The Tesseract is the Space Stone.
He glanced at the date. It was only the summer of 2010.
According to the timeline, Loki wouldn't come to Earth to steal the Space Stone until 2012.
He didn't expect Loki to arrive two years early!
Where is the Time Variance Authority?
Get to work!
What? This isn't the Sacred Timeline? Oh, never mind then.
He wondered which corner Kang the Eternal was drawing circles in.
Whether the Kang Dynasty even exists is also questionable.
In this chaotic World, one butterfly straying off course could cause a storm.
Hundreds or thousands of butterflies together, destroying the World wouldn't be a problem.
Tony called to tell him about this matter.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was launching a major investigation into the Tesseract.
After Luke learned the details, he discovered that the person who stole the Stone was not Loki!
Instead, it was a giant over two meters tall, wearing special armor and covered in many spikes on his upper body.
This powerful monster possessed infinite strength and could withstand hits from automatic rifles, sniper rifles, shotguns, and even alien weaponry.
He could casually flip a heavy tank.
Even cannon fire hitting him had no effect.
It couldn't even force him back a single step.
When Luke saw the picture Tony sent over, he was stunned.
"Isn't this a Cursed Warrior?"
Luke pulled up a comparison image from his memory. This thing was the Cursed Warrior from the Dark Elves race, who had rampaged against Thor and stormed the Heavenly Palace!
In his memory, the Dark Elves only awakened from the void one year after the Battle of New York.
Yet these guys woke up three years early.
Is this reasonable?
Who woke them up?
Luke smelled a conspiracy.
He had briefly learned about Asgard's history from Sif.
Nearly five thousand years ago, the Heavenly Palace army, led by Odin's father Bor, defeated the Dark Elves led by Malekith.
In that war, the Dark Elves were annihilated.
Except for The Collector in the Land of Nihility, no one had seen a second Dark Elf since.
Clearly, Malekith was also in slumber.
But the arrival of the Cursed Warrior made everything confusing.
Luke thought for a moment and temporarily halted his trip to Britain.
He called Sif and summoned Thor.
When the two saw the picture of the Cursed Warrior, they were first confused, then felt a sense of familiarity.
"What is this thing?" Thor looked up, bewildered.
Sif pondered. "It looks somewhat familiar, but those horns... they're a bit short."
Asgard valued horn culture.
Horns symbolized power; Odin, Loki, Hela, and the Guardian God Heimdall all had horns on their helmets.
Although Thor currently didn't have them, in the comics, after officially becoming the Asgardian King, he would wear a crown of goat horns symbolizing power.
Influenced by Asgard, races throughout the Nine Realms, including Vikings and other Norse peoples, used horns to symbolize power and strength to varying degrees.
Loki's were the longest because he craved power.
The Cursed Warrior had similar horns on its helmet, neck, and shoulders.
Judging solely by the number of horns, this was undoubtedly a formidable foe!
In Thor 2, the Cursed Warrior possessed four times the strength of Thor, and was only defeated with difficulty using a black hole grenade.
In terms of raw strength, he could even fight a base Thanos.
Luke reminded them: "Dark Elves, Cursed Warrior."
Thor slapped his forehead. "So it's them! I always thought the Dark Elves had been wiped out. I didn't realize they were still alive!"
Thor's most admired idol was Zeus, and the war he was most obsessed with was the Dark Elf War.
In that war, the Asgardian army charged directly into the Dark Elves' base and annihilated them.
Thor had always wanted to replicate that war, but ideals were plentiful while reality was harsh.
He was severely disciplined by the Frost Giants in Jotunheim and nearly became an unworthy Thor.
When he heard that the Cursed Warrior had taken the Space Stone,
Thor's expression became solemn.
"I need to ask Heimdall and my Father about this. They might know something."
Although Thor had read about that history in books, he only knew the cause and the outcome, not the details.
Similar great battles are often embellished by many people after being recounted for thousands of years, making it impossible to scrutinize the key elements.
Only Odin, who participated in the war back then, knew the minor details.
Soon, Thor contacted Heimdall and Odin.
After learning of these events, Odin used Heimdall's All-Seeing Eye to briefly synchronize with Thor's body and transmit information through him.
"Luke, we already know the specifics. I have a premonition that the awakening of the Dark Elves this time is not accidental, but is being pushed by another force behind the scenes."
"The true target of the Dark Elves should be the Aether Particle, which is the Reality Stone. It is an extremely powerful ancient force in the Universe, possessing the might to create the universe."
"The Aether Particle is a Dark Elves holy relic. When we defeated them, given the danger of the Aether Particle, my father Bor placed it in an unknown, absolutely safe location."
"The Dark Elves plan to use the Aether Particle during the next Convergence, which is three years from now, to plunge the Nine Realms into eternal darkness."
"I still firmly believe their ultimate goal hasn't changed, but they might be cooperating with the force that woke them up. Perhaps they intend to invade Earth, or maybe seek revenge on Asgard..."
Luke shook his head. "No, there's another possibility!"
"Unifying the Nine Realms!"
Odin was stunned upon hearing this, falling into deep thought. After a long while, he finally looked up and said, "Without the Aether Particle, they cannot do it!"
The Nine Realms are full of powerful races.
Don't be fooled that the Frost Giants and Fire Giants are confined to one location and don't even have spaceships.
In reality, they were fighting across stars thousands of years ago.
Even without spaceships, their strength far surpasses most civilizations in the Universe.
Although today, all realms, including Asgard, have entered a period of decline, they are definitely not something the few remaining Dark Elves can defeat.
"They cannot achieve it relying on their own strength, but what if they rely on other helpers?"
Luke recalled the War of the Realms and said faintly, "What if... they cooperated with the Frost Giants and Fire Giants?"
"There is an old saying on Earth: The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
"How many enemies does Asgard have?"
Odin remained expressionless, but his trembling beard indicated that his heart was not as calm as he appeared.
How many enemies does Asgard have?
Odin thought about it, and the answer was truly too many!
... Surtur, the Fire Giant King, is still lurking on his throne; Laufey, the Frost Giant King, is currently at war with Asgard; the Dark Elves harbor a clan-destroying hatred for them; and the Vanir have been suppressed for thousands of years.
Nornheim still has resistance forces, including Stone Giants, Storm Giants, and Rock Trolls, all eyeing Asgard covetously.
Even within Asgard, things are not absolutely stable.
Hela is still counting thousands of years of hatred in the God-Forsaken Land!
And outside... Asgard has beaten too many civilizations over the years to count.
Also... Odin thought of a certain exiled realm.
Sss~, if these forces truly unite, Asgard will be finished!
I shouldn't become the ruler who loses his kingdom, should I?
Should I just hand the throne over to Thor now?
"Of course, I am describing the worst-case scenario. Normally, the Dark Elves are not that clever, otherwise they wouldn't have been nearly wiped out by you."
Luke was also worried about this situation.
He only brought up this possibility because he felt the matter was too bizarre.
Thor and Sif, standing nearby, were sweating profusely.
Thor, having been repeatedly educated during his time on Earth, had profoundly realized his shortcomings, shedding his previous arrogance.
The power of an individual is too insignificant—Luke being the exception.
Thor felt that he could resist one race at most, Odin could resist one, and Asgard itself could resist one... Could they win?
After careful consideration, Odin sighed.
"No, you are quite right. The Dark Elves don't have the brains for this, but the person behind them has this idea."
"Otherwise, they wouldn't try to steal the Space Stone..."
Odin then looked at Luke. "We need an alliance! Asgard and Earth must advance and retreat together!"
"The Nine Realms are about to descend into chaos!"
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