"Are you referring to that aspect?"
Hearing Fini's words, Heimdall asked. The Nine Realms were vast, and all sorts of things happened at every moment. There were many things he saw but could not understand, but as long as it wasn't a war or a threat to Asgard, he generally ignored them.
"It's nothing, just asking out of curiosity."
Fini thought about it and decided not to go into too much detail.
Then he summoned the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, whom he hadn't taken proper care of for a while. Using the excuse of fulfilling his previous promise, he stayed at the Bifrost to wait for the Dark Elves.
Time passed slowly, and until the next morning, Fini still hadn't seen any sign of the Dark Elves.
He even began to doubt whether the Aether had actually awakened the Dark Elves. But using the excuse of getting breakfast, he found a secluded spot to communicate with the Aether again, but it still didn't give him any reply.
Fini, who didn't get an answer, could only return to the Bifrost to continue his vigil. This behavior caused Heimdall to notice something unusual.
Looking at Fini, who seemed to intend to stay at the Bifrost to keep him company, Heimdall suddenly spoke up, "Are you hiding something from me?"
"No!"
Fini's heart tightened, but he put on a nonchalant act and asked with a look of confusion, "Why do you say that?"
Although Fini had accompanied Thor to guard the Bifrost before, it had never been for this long. Furthermore, with his powerful observation skills, Heimdall faintly felt that Fini seemed to be waiting for something.
So, Heimdall just gave Fini a deep look and asked directly:
"What are you waiting for?!"
Fini couldn't help but freeze. Looking at Heimdall in front of him, he didn't quite know how to explain.
Heimdall could be considered one of his best friends in Asgard, and his relationship with Heimdall was even slightly better than his relationship with Thor.
"I feel a sense of danger in my heart. The Aether might have summoned something, but I'm not sure. So I'm staying here just as a precaution."
In the end, Fini decided to be somewhat honest. Although he didn't explicitly state it was the Dark Elves, he explained that something might be coming.
Hearing Fini's reply, Heimdall was somewhat surprised. He then looked out at the starry sky, shook his head, and said, "Nothing can escape my eyes. You can rest assured and go take a break!"
Fini rolled his eyes, utterly speechless. Even Heimdall couldn't escape the customary arrogance of Asgardians.
"It's fine."
Fini also looked at the starry sky, activating his Breathing Technique to spread his perception. Although his perception had dropped significantly without Incursio, having an extra pair of eyes was always an added layer of security.
Heimdall knew that Fini was the type of person whose decisions were hard to change once made. Moreover, Fini was just simply staying here and wasn't causing any hindrance, so he didn't try to persuade him further.
Afterward, Fini continued to stay with Heimdall at the Bifrost.
Thor, accompanied by Jane, seemed to have forgotten his existence. Frigga, however, did notify him to go to the healing room for another test during this period, but they were still unable to extract the Aether.
When afternoon came, just as Fini was letting his guard down slightly and wondering if the Dark Elves were still asleep, he suddenly saw Heimdall walk over to the Bifrost's activation device and say:
"Those two guys are back!"
"Who?!"
Fini was stunned for a moment. Before he could ask for clarification, Heimdall had already activated the teleportation. Soon, two figures and a squad of soldiers walked out from the entrance of the Bifrost.
One of them was grumbling, "Guarding these scoundrels is truly beneath our status!"
The other person was about to reply, but when he saw Fini ahead, he stopped in his tracks immediately, looking completely surprised. "Fini?!"
"Long time no see, Fandral, Volstagg!"
Fini smiled and greeted the two.
"When did you arrive, my brother!"
Volstagg immediately walked over excitedly and gave Fini a bear hug. His massive build made Fini look rather petite in his embrace.
"Just arrived yesterday!"
Fini replied, then shared a hug with Fandral before looking at the soldiers behind them and asking, "What's going on here?"
"Just some dangerous criminals. Leaving them in the other realms isn't quite safe, so His Majesty the All-Father sent us to bring them to the dungeons for permanent imprisonment," Fandral explained.
"Oh!"
Fini nodded, looking at the prisoners held by the soldiers with curiosity. The first thing that popped into his mind was how much experience points they were worth.
However, since the experience points required for the tenth draw were simply too massive, he wasn't in a hurry to farm them. Thus, he only glanced at them a couple of times without thinking too much about it.
But just then, he suddenly spotted a tall figure wearing a horned mask who seemed to have been staring at him. Something clicked in his mind, and his expression instantly changed.
He immediately said to Fandral and Volstagg, "Could you do me a favor?"
"Of course! But we have to deliver these guys to the dungeons first!"
Without even asking what it was, Volstagg readily agreed in his hearty manner, and then prepared to order the soldiers to head toward the dungeons.
Fini stopped Volstagg and immediately pointed at the figure who was staring at him, saying, "I want this guy to take off his mask!"
Hearing Fini's words, everyone, including Heimdall, looked completely puzzled.
But Fandral didn't rush to question him and immediately ordered the soldiers, "Take off his mask!"
A soldier stepped forward as ordered, but after struggling for quite a while, he couldn't remove it. He said shamefully, "Sir, his mask seems to be specially made. It can't be taken off!"
"Huh?!"
Fandral was a bit surprised. They had looked down on these people to begin with and didn't care what they looked like, so they had only made sure they weren't carrying weapons.
Seeing Fandral about to step forward and check personally, Fini stopped him with a grave expression. If this guy really was the Dark Elf from the original plot, he was afraid that besides himself, the two of them plus Heimdall wouldn't be able to defeat him.
"Be careful, you two. I feel like something is wrong with this guy!"
Fini warned in a deep voice, leaving Fandral and Volstagg a bit dazed.
Looking at the serious Fini, Fandral said with a look of confusion, "Fini, he's just wearing a slightly unusual mask. Volstagg could deal with him in a few moves!"
Fini didn't reply. He merely activated his Breathing Technique, maintaining the utmost vigilance as he slowly approached the figure in the horned mask.
Judging from this guy's reaction from just now until now, he was seventy percent certain in his heart that this person was the Dark Elf sent as an inside agent in the original plot.
And when Fini was only a few paces away from him, the figure finally spoke: "So it's you!"
Then, with a casual tug of his hands, the specially made handcuffs binding him snapped directly.
Seeing this scene, the expressions of Fandral and Volstagg behind Fini instantly shifted. These were restraints made of special materials; even if the two of them were bound by them, it would be impossible to break free so effortlessly.