After Asgard was attacked by the Dark Elves, the losses were catastrophic.
Not only did they lose the Mother of the Gods, but Asgard's defense system was also severely damaged.
That meant the divine realm had lost its protection. If the Dark Elves launched another invasion, Asgard would be plunged into slaughter and ruin.
Thor took the initiative to approach Odin, hoping the Allfather would agree to let him bring Jane as bait and, together with the other gods, attack the Dark Elves' planet.
The plan was to eliminate Malekith in one decisive strike while he was absorbing the Aether particles from Jane's body.
But Odin opposed it. He would not allow the Aether to fall into the hands of the Dark Elves.
Not only did he oppose the plan, he also ordered the Bifrost to be shut down.
That cut off Thor's way out.
Now, if he wanted to escape Asgard, the only option was to leave through a secret path, and the only person who knew that path was Loki.
So Thor went to find Loki in prison.
To avenge their mother, the two brothers reached an agreement for the first time.
Once free again, Loki looked refreshed and in high spirits, and started playing role-playing games with Thor.
One moment he turned into a heroic Einherjar warrior, the next he transformed Thor into a Valkyrie. He even turned himself into Captain America, Steve Rogers.
But his frivolous behavior was completely different from the real Captain America, full of an odd sense of mismatch.
Thor was fed up with it. With a backhand move, he gave his brother a pair of limited-edition bracelets.
Under the cover of their friends, the two brothers finally escaped Asgard with Jane and arrived in the territory of the Dark Elves.
The two of them put on a painful act in front of Malekith, successfully tricking him into beginning to absorb the Aether particles from Jane's body.
When the Aether completely left Jane's body, Loki removed the illusion. Thor's arm, which had supposedly been cut off, reappeared. He summoned Mjolnir and released lightning toward the Aether.
But they had underestimated the power of an Infinity Stone.
After a loud explosion, the Aether particles that had scattered re-formed into their original state and were completely absorbed into Malekith's body.
At that moment, Malekith's mind was filled with the plan to bring about the Dark World, and he turned to leave.
Thor swung his hammer and chased after him, only to be slapped flying by the Kurse warrior.
"This thing is that strong?"
Refusing to believe it, Thor got up and continued fighting, only to be beaten by the Kurse warrior until he started questioning life itself.
Even the hammer he summoned back was casually knocked aside.
At that moment, while the enemy wasn't paying attention, Loki stabbed his sword straight through the Kurse warrior's body.
But the Kurse warrior completely ignored the blade sticking out halfway from the front of his chest.
Calmly turning around, he grabbed Loki's arms and pulled him into a bear hug.
"Ahhhhh!"
With two holes pierced through him by the sword, Loki cried out in pain.
"Nooooo!"
Seeing his brother stabbed, Thor let out a helpless roar.
But Loki hadn't taken that sword for nothing. Taking advantage of the moment, he activated the void grenade behind the Kurse warrior.
A burst of light flashed. Even someone as powerful as the Kurse warrior was defeated by the weapon from his own faction, leaving not even ashes behind.
Watching the brother he had grown up with since childhood turn into a decaying corpse just like that, Thor was overwhelmed with grief, yet he had to hold back the tears that were about to fall. He still had something more important to do.
Quickly gathering himself, he took Jane and searched all over the Dark Planet for an exit.
Then inside a cave, Jane's phone suddenly rang, which meant Earth was connected to this place.
They even found the soda can that had been thrown down earlier, along with Darcy's car keys.
Walking deeper into the cave, they actually arrived on Earth…
At that moment, Jane's phone rang again, ["Jane? Oh! God!nYou finally answered the phone…"]
Darcy managed to contact them at the last moment before the phone powered off.
Before the call even ended, a portal sparkling with fiery sparks slowly opened in front of the two of them.
Thor looked up. On the other side of the spatial gate were Erik, Darcy, an unfamiliar young man, and, 'Destiny?'
This made Thor, who had just gone through the shock of losing his brother and whose mind was still somewhat muddled, suddenly jolt back to alertness, then freeze.
'Why is he here?'
At this moment Thor had just gone through a fierce battle and looked extremely battered. His face was covered in bloody wounds.
Seeing this, Corin waved warmly from the other side of the portal.
"Hey~ Prince! Get over here."
———
[Few Minutes Ago]
Not long after Corin brought Erik and the other two back to Jane's laboratory through the portal, he received a notification from Alyssa:
Jane's phone signal had recovered.
He immediately told Darcy to make the call.
At the same time, he activated his psychic senses to locate Thor's current position and opened the portal.
———
[Present]
Looking at the dejected Thor and the dirt-covered Jane, Corin knew he had arrived at exactly the right moment.
"Bro…"
Holding Jane's hand, Thor stepped through the portal and came in front of Corin. Seeing Corin in full battle gear, he felt an unexpected sense of familiarity.
The bond forged through fighting enemies together several times had already made him trust Corin deeply. Seeing a familiar face suddenly appear before him, Thor's nose stung slightly.
He didn't say much.
Seeing Thor holding back his grief, Corin really wanted to tell him that his brother was actually fine. But realizing that Goddess Frigga seemed to have already received her "boxed meal," the words reaching his lips changed into, "If you ran into trouble, why didn't you tell your brother?"
Straightforward loyalty.
'Why is Silver Duke here? He isn't even familiar with Jane and the others.'
It was obvious. Bro had come to help! This brotherhood wasn't for nothing. When something happened, he just came over himself.
Thinking this, Thor felt warmth well up in his heart. He was so moved that he almost couldn't hold back his tears. Sniffling slightly, he said with a hint of grievance, "The phone… I still don't know how to use it…"
Corin patted Thor on the shoulder and gave him a reassuring look, speaking boldly, "Relax. Now that I'm here, no matter who's bullying you, just watch and see whether I beat them up or not!"
Thinking about Corin's freakish strength, Thor found that completely reasonable and felt a bit more confidence in his heart.
Facing the upcoming battle against Malekith, who possessed the Aether particles, he regained some faith and nodded honestly.
"Mm!"
It wasn't strange that Thor almost broke down when he saw Corin.
The pain of losing both his mother and his brother was already tormenting him inside. He had relied on enormous willpower just to suppress that grief and keep it from bursting out.
Not to mention that he had been beaten so badly by the Kurse warrior that he couldn't even fight back, which made Thor start doubting himself.
After all, even his ever-reliable hammer of the thunder god had done absolutely nothing to the Kurse warrior.
If Loki hadn't been clever and risked his life at the critical moment to activate the enemy's ultimate weapon, Thor truly had no confidence he could have defeated the Kurse warrior.
"Oh! My brother…"
Thinking of Loki again, Thor felt another wave of sorrow.
And besides, for someone as ruthless as the Kurse warrior, who knew how many more like him existed in the Dark Elf camp.
Thor truly had no confidence at all.
As for the faint feeling in Corin's words just now that he regarded Thor as a little brother, Thor actually didn't dislike it.
He had been the older brother for more than a thousand years. Especially with a slippery younger brother like Loki, only he knew how many losses he had suffered along the way.
Especially when he was banished to Earth to comprehend the essence of kingship, Thor endured far too much.
Even his old friend Mjolnir refused to acknowledge him, all to make Thor grow up faster and become a king who carried responsibility for the whole world.
Thor understood all of that later. He figured it out, and he accepted it.
But the truth was, no one had ever asked Thor whether he himself was willing.
Just because he was the older brother, the first in line to inherit the throne, he had no other choice.
If heaven gave him another chance, he would rather be the younger brother.
Thor liked the feeling of living happily together with family.
Although Corin was a few hundred years younger than him in age, the guy was steady in conduct, experienced in handling things, and ruthless when it came to methods.
If it weren't for the age difference, Thor would have long wanted to call Corin big brother.
Thinking back to his own brother Loki, Thor really wanted to say, ["You've never been the older brother, you have no idea how wronged an older brother can feel… but now…"]
Corin appeared right when Thor needed comfort the most, making Thor feel even closer to this bro he already regarded as a comrade-in-arms.
"Jane! Oh my God~ You went to Asgard?"
Erik, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, gave Jane a warm hug.
"Where are your pants?"
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