Lucas was not the only one looking forward to the Convergence, the event where the Nine Realms align.
Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves and the ruler of Svartalfheim in the Dark Dimension, also anticipated this event.
But unlike Lucas, who stayed home and waited quietly, the ruler of the Dark Dimension was busy traveling around, trying to win over allies.
At this moment, he arrived at his first stop—Heven, the Tenth world on the world Tree, the kingdom of the Angels.
The Nine Realms of the World Tree also had an extra realm.
However, Heven was banished by Odin thousands of years ago.
Inside the magnificent palace, the Queen of Angels spread her wings and leaned lazily on the tall throne.
She looked down at Malekith, the Dark Elf King, below, her eyelids lowered as she said, "Malekith, why aren't you rotting in your Svartalfheim? What are you doing here?"
Her voice carried a hint of disdain and contempt.
Although they were both losers in the war against Asgard, at least she hadn't lost her racial artifact and then slept for thousands of years, accomplishing nothing.
Of course, it was also possible that the Angel race had no artifacts. Or perhaps Odin didn't care for their artifacts.
A flicker of anger crossed Malekith's face. He didn't expect the Angel Queen to despise him so much.
This was not only a contempt for him but also a disrespect for the Dark Elf race.
Malekith remained outwardly calm, but secretly decided to make the Angel race pay.
"Queen of Angels, I've heard that for years you've wanted to destroy Asgard to avenge Odin severing Heven's connection to the World Tree and banishing Heven."
"Is this true? I can help you."
With a sudden movement, the Angel Queen sat up straight, her gaze shifting from lazy to murderous, and her tone from contemptuous to excited.
"Malekith, you are truly a good person. If we join forces, with the Dark Elf army and my War Angel Legion, we can surely break through Asgard and defeat Odin."
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Malekith's lips, proving his preliminary preparations were not in vain.
One sentence, and he had the Angel Queen exactly where he wanted her.
But soon, that smile turned into a sneer. "However, I have two conditions."
"Speak, what are your conditions?"
Malekith feigned seriousness. "The first condition is, the Dark Elves help the Angels attack Asgard, and the Angels must contribute to the Dark Elves' reclamation of the Aether Particle. That's fair, isn't it?"
"Very fair." The Angel Queen nodded, signaling Malekith to continue.
"The second condition is, I have never slaughtered an Angel before, and I want to know what it feels like. Can the Angel Queen help me with this?"
"Alright."
The Angel Queen was so grateful to Malekith for helping her attack Asgard that she accepted his conditions without careful consideration.
After a brief thought, the Angel Queen pointed at the guards in the hall, still counting, and began drawing lots on the spot.
Inside the palace, silence instantly fell.
"You are chosen, Annamunni."
Finally, the Angel Queen pointed at a female Angel, stopping her count.
Then, Malekith conjured a dagger with his magic and walked towards the female Angel who had drawn the short straw, cruelly slitting her throat, letting her blood splash all over him.
He watched the female Angel coldly until she collapsed to the ground, completely losing her life.
"The alliance is made. May we achieve victory, Angel Queen."
Malekith put away his cold expression and extended his hand to the Angel Queen with a smile. His palm was covered in the female Angel's blood.
The Angel Queen grasped Malekith's outstretched right hand, completely unbothered by the female Angel's blood on his palm.
"Hahahahaha!"
Inside the magnificent palace, only the laughter of Malekith and the Angel Queen echoed.
The Angel attendants remained silent, not daring to make a sound.
Afterward, Malekith briefly explained the battle plan and requested the Angel Queen and the War Angel Legion to prepare for war.
When the celestial convergence occurs, the Nine Realms align, and space overlaps, they will jointly march on Asgard.
"No. Malekith, Heven has already been severed from the World Tree by Odin. Now, getting from Heven to Asgard is very troublesome."
Facing the Angel Queen's objection, Malekith smiled confidently. "I have my ways, Angel Queen. All you need to do during this time is gather your army and be ready to depart at any moment."
Immediately after, Malekith rushed without stopping to Jotunheim, the kingdom of the Frost Giants, and Muspelheim, the kingdom of the Fire Demons.
He invited King Laufey of the Frost Giants, Surtur the Fire Demon, and his daughter, Sindr, to join.
They agreed to launch a joint attack on Asgard when the celestial convergence occurred.
Laufey and Surtur readily agreed.
Not to mention the ancient feud between the two realms of Jotunheim and Muspelheim with Asgard, simply to reclaim the artifacts stolen from their two races by Odin, they could not refuse Malekith's proposal.
The casket of ancient winters and the Eternal Flame were, to some extent, the very foundation of the Frost Giants' and Fire Demons' existence.
When signing the alliance with Malekith, Laufey thought, 'If I had the casket of ancient winters then, I would not have been so easily defeated by that sorcerer, nor would I have been forced to sign a peace treaty with him.'
Surtur, on the other hand, thought, 'Eternal Flame, soon, we'll meet again.'
On some level, the Dark Elves, Frost Giants, and Fire Demons were natural allies.
They all had similar experiences.
Fighting Asgard, having their racial artifacts taken, and being defeated.
Now, self-interest drove them together.
...
In New York, Earth, inside a bookstore lounge.
Lucas was currently using Stark Industries equipment to analyze Erin's daily physical test data growth curve over this period.
"On the first day of merging with the spider totem, all values showed the greatest increase. In the following days, the value increase showed a rapid downward curve. Now, it has stabilized."
"This stable increase should be due to the glowing white energy in the self-made spider totem, not the influence of the spider totem itself."
Suddenly, Lucas, who was analyzing and calculating, raised an eyebrow.
He felt a slight disturbance in the spacetime around Earth and this disturbance was constantly growing.
Excluding human interference, the greatest possibility was: The Convergence, the Nine Realms aligning.
"Is the Reality Stone about to emerge?"
Muttering to himself, Lucas stopped what he was doing and focused his mind on sensing the energy fluctuations across Earth, especially in London.
In the plot of Thor 2, the Reality Stone had appeared in London.