After noticing the subtle changes within his body, Karl couldn't help but smile.
Behind him, Black Phoenix watched quietly.
Through the instincts of the Phoenix Force, she could sense that something about Karl had changed.
However, she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.
The difference was extremely subtle.
It wasn't something she could clearly perceive—only a faint feeling deep within her instincts.
"That thing just now was the Celestial Evolution Stone Tablet."
Karl pulled Black Phoenix into his arms and gently whispered into her ear.
"It's an artifact that evolves my life level and soul."
"And when my strength eventually reaches the Single-Universe Level, my life essence and soul will evolve to that level as well."
"Mmm…"
Black Phoenix leaned comfortably against him.
"As long as it benefits you, that's all that matters."
She turned slightly and kissed Karl on the cheek before wrapping her arms around him again.
Knock knock knock.
A sudden knock sounded at the door.
Karl and Black Phoenix exchanged puzzled looks.
Karl casually opened the door using telekinesis.
Standing outside were Thor and Loki.
Jane was also with them.
The moment Karl saw their expressions, he immediately understood what they had come for.
"Karl."
Thor stepped forward with a serious expression.
"I'm planning to find Malekith and force him to remove the Aether from Jane's body."
"What do you think?"
Karl glanced at the group.
Thor.
Loki.
And Jane, whose face was still pale.
"Your father doesn't know about this, does he?"
Karl said calmly.
Then he shrugged.
"Fine. I'll go with you."
"We'll wait until Malekith extracts the Aether first… and then deal with him afterward."
"It'll save us trouble later."
Thor's eyes immediately lit up.
"That's great!"
"Karl, if you're coming with us, then everything will be foolproof!"
"Let's go!"
Soon, the group headed outside.
This time, Karl didn't bring Juggernaut with him.
Instead, he used telepathy to inform Juggernaut that he would be leaving Asgard for a short while.
At the moment, Juggernaut was busy drinking and sparring with Asgardian warriors.
He was having far too much fun to worry about Karl's whereabouts.
When Karl and the others arrived at the Rainbow Bridge platform, Thor and Loki followed the same plan as in the timeline.
They secretly stole an Asgardian ship and flew toward the spatial rift Loki had mentioned.
Karl and Black Phoenix didn't board the ship.
Instead, they simply turned invisible and followed behind it.
With their power, keeping up with the ship was effortless.
Whoosh!
After passing through the spatial rift, they soon arrived at the Dark Elves' world—
Svartalfheim.
The entire planet was shrouded in darkness.
The moment Thor's ship appeared, it was immediately detected by the Dark Elves.
Thor and Loki began their performance.
The brothers pretended to be fighting and arguing, successfully deceiving Malekith.
Malekith never imagined that the Aether would practically deliver itself to him.
Soon, Malekith began extracting the Aether from Jane's body.
A swirling mass of black-red liquid energy slowly flowed out of her chest.
The Aether.
One of the Infinity Stones.
The Reality Stone in its liquid form.
Jane's complexion gradually returned to normal, though she remained weak.
But before Malekith could celebrate—
BOOM!
A golden arrow suddenly tore through the air.
It struck Malekith's right arm—the arm holding the Aether.
The impact instantly shattered his arm.
The Aether dropped to the ground.
Karl appeared.
Clad in the Sagittarius Gold Cloth.
Beside him stood Black Phoenix.
They slowly materialized before Loki and Jane.
Thor had also returned to his true appearance and stepped forward.
Only then did Malekith realize—
He had been completely tricked.
"Kill them!"
He immediately summoned the remaining Dark Elves.
Nearby warships opened fire.
But every attack was effortlessly disintegrated by Black Phoenix's power.
No matter how many attacks were launched—
None could even reach Karl.
Karl raised his hand.
A surge of telekinetic power erupted.
The Aether particles floated toward him.
Malekith tried to stop it—
But an ice sword suddenly pinned him to the ground.
Malekith was only Sub-Skyfather level.
Karl, wearing the Gold Cloth, was already operating at Skyfather level.
With multiple divine artifacts and Infinity Stones assisting him—
The difference between them was overwhelming.
If the Dark Elves hadn't previously destroyed Asgard's shield and forced Odin to defend the realm personally…
Malekith might never have even reached this point.
Odin alone could easily have crushed him.
Karl looked down at the swirling Aether in his palm.
With the Mind Stone amplifying his mental power, he began to stabilize it.
The liquid energy condensed—
And gradually transformed into a brilliant red gemstone.
Its true form.
The Reality Stone.
Karl casually placed it into his system space.
Then he raised his hand again.
BOOM!!
Karl unleashed a full-power attack.
A massive wave of energy shot across the battlefield.
Several Dark Elf warships were instantly pierced through.
They exploded one after another as they crashed toward the ground.
Within moments—
Every warship Malekith had summoned was destroyed.
Karl glanced down at Malekith.
With complete indifference, he tossed a small sphere of blue energy.
The energy struck Malekith.
His body froze instantly.
Within seconds—
He shattered into countless ice fragments.
Malekith had been arrogant.
He had dared to attack Asgard simply for the Aether.
If Odin had still been in his prime—
He might have wiped out Svartalfheim entirely.
After all, Malekith had dared to kill the Queen of Asgard.
Exterminating the entire race would have been considered mercy.
Even in the original timeline, Malekith had died in an embarrassing way—
Crushed by his own crashing warship.
A humiliating end for the ruler of Svartalfheim.
Karl didn't bother exterminating the remaining Dark Elves.
Instead, he stored one of their warships in his system space.
He also collected several space-annihilation grenades.
Taking advantage of the Nine Realms alignment, when space was unstable—
Karl and the others returned directly to Earth instead of going back to Asgard.
After arriving back on Earth, Karl asked Thor to have Heimdall send Juggernaut down.
Moments later—
A rainbow beam descended onto the Asgardian arena.
Juggernaut disappeared within the light.
Seconds later—
He appeared right in front of Karl and the others.
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