The quinjet roared through the thick clouds, arriving over London.
However, what met their eyes was not a bustling international metropolis, but a burning hellscape.
Massive blade-shaped warships hung in the sky like black mountain ranges, blotting out the heavens. They remained silent, incessantly firing red light beams at the ground. Each beam that passed by silently reduced old buildings to powder—there were no explosions, only an unsettling erasure at the level of reality's laws.
Smaller aircraft darted between buildings like blood-sucking locusts, killing indiscriminately. On the streets, double-decker buses were overturned, and beside burning wrecks, crowds of people ran in all directions, screaming.
Everyone's face was reflected in the quinjet's windows, their expressions grim to the extreme.
"Jarvis, switch the quinjet to stealth mode. We'll land at the Houses of Parliament west of the Thames River." Steve Rogers was the first to speak, having already stepped into his role as battlefield Commander. "Tony's signal is in Greenwich, the city center. We can't let the situation deteriorate any further."
The jet landed smoothly in a chaotic plaza. As the door opened, the choking smell of gunpowder and the distant sound of wailing immediately rushed in.
"Alright everyone, it's party time." Steve turned around, his blue eyes sweeping over everyone as he calmly issued orders. "We need to split up to maximize efficiency."
"Natasha, Clint," he looked at the two Agents beside him, "you two come with me to meet with the British government and Military. We need to unify the chain of command, or at the very least, make sure they don't get in our way."
Natasha and Clint Barton, who had appeared behind her at some unknown point, exchanged a look and nodded curtly. "Understood."
"Thor," Steve's gaze turned to the God of Thunder, "Tony should still be looking for Jane Foster; she's the Dark Elves' target. Find them and protect that girl."
Thor gripped his hammer tightly, lightning flickering incessantly across his body. He nodded vigorously. "Leave it to me."
"Wanda and Pietro." Captain America looked at the still-green twins, his tone gentle but firm. "Your task is to cause chaos, rescue people, and do your best to disrupt the enemy's formations. You have freedom of movement, but remember, protect yourselves."
Pietro glanced at his sister, his silver figure shifting slightly as if eager to test himself. Wanda said nothing but nodded, red energy flickering at her fingertips.
Finally, everyone's gaze fell upon Lin Huai.
"Loki will be with me," Lin Huai's voice was calm. He looked at a large mothership in the distant sky, his eyes deep. "I'm going to take a look at the center of the stage. The director of this play seems to have some very interesting ideas."
Loki stood behind him, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. He wanted more than anyone to see just what kind of strength this mysterious mentor possessed now.
"Move out!"
At Steve's command, everyone split up and dashed off like arrows.
The figures of Steve, Natasha, and Clint quickly vanished into the shadows of the streets, heading toward the Houses of Parliament. They had to establish the Avengers' authority before those terrified British politicians.
"Boom—!"
With a loud crash, Thor transformed into a bolt of lightning and shot into the sky. His hammer spun rapidly in his hand, carrying him swiftly toward Greenwich.
"Catch up to him, Jarvis!" Tony's voice rang out over the comms. "I'm not letting him hog all the glory!" A gold-and-red streak of light followed suit.
"Hey, muscle man, wait for me!" Tony didn't forget to joke. "That 'just a friend' of yours better be okay. Otherwise, if you get all worked up and start throwing lightning everywhere, your half-asleep old man might charge the entire Earth's electricity bill to my account!"
"Shut up, Tony!! This isn't a game!!" Thor's roar came through the wind.
On the ground, the battle had reached its fiercest point.
A squad of Royal Guard soldiers was cornered in Trafalgar Square by dozens of Dark Elf Warriors, the glow of energy weapons weaving a web of death before them.
Just as a Dark Elf raised a spear, preparing to impale an injured soldier's chest—
A silver shadow suddenly flashed past.
"Clang!"
Pietro appeared before the soldier, casually flicking the spear away with his finger. He even had time to make a face at the dumbfounded Dark Elf.
"Too slow."
Before he could finish, he had already hoisted the injured soldier onto his shoulder. Within a fraction of a second, he delivered him to a safe location a hundred meters away and returned to the center of the battlefield. The Dark Elves couldn't track his movements at all, only firing wildly into the empty air.
Simultaneously, walls of red energy rose on the other side, shielding trapped civilians from lethal projectiles. Wanda floated in mid-air, her hands moving like those of an elegant conductor. With every wave, a Dark Elf craft would lose control and collide with another.
On this chaotic battlefield, the twins were like a pair of life-reaping specters.
On the other side of the city, near a war-torn abandoned theater, was one of the areas with the heaviest civilian casualties. Over a hundred Dark Elf Warriors were gathering, seemingly preparing to strike an important communications base.
Loki stood atop a tall building, looking down at the dense throng of enemies. He turned to Lin Huai beside him with interest. "Mentor, it seems your plan is about to be thwarted. Without the communications of these Mortals, your group of... Avengers will soon become a disorganized mess."
"Is that so?"
Lin Huai merely gave a faint smile and took a step forward, his figure instantly vanishing from the spot.
Loki's pupils constricted instantly.
In the next second, Lin Huai's figure appeared like a ghost in the midst of the hundred-plus Dark Elf Warriors.
[Flame Leap]!
"A Mortal?" A Dark Elf Commander was the first to react, raising his weapon to aim at Lin Huai.
However, Lin Huai simply snapped his fingers.
A strange scene unfolded.
The Commander's body suddenly stiffened. His movements slowed, and his eyes instantly went blank. Then, he turned rigidly and aimed the Black Singularity Grenade in his hand at his own comrades, forcefully pressing the switch.
"Boom!"
Terrifying energy instantly swallowed several surrounding Dark Elves, tearing them into basic particles.
This seemed to be a signal.
Suddenly, dozens of Dark Elf Warriors in the crowd stopped moving simultaneously. Like Puppets controlled by invisible strings, they turned one after another, using the weapons in their hands to attack their closest comrades in the most vicious and maddened way possible.
Suicidal attacks, backstabs, and reckless mutual destruction... The once-orderly army collapsed completely within seconds due to this sudden internal strife. Screams, roars, and the sounds of energy explosions were everywhere.
Watching this from above, the smile on Loki's face had long since vanished, replaced by a fear that emanated from his very soul.
He saw very clearly that the rebelling Dark Elves each had nearly transparent, invisible strings connected to the tops of their heads. And the source of all those strings was the man standing calmly in the middle of the battlefield, not a speck of dust on the hem of his clothes.
Sequence 4: [Bizzaro Sorcerer]!
"What terrifying control... these Dark Elves became his Puppets in an instant!"
Just as Loki was reeling from the shock, he saw Lin Huai slowly raise his hand.
A black shadow rose silently from the shadow beneath Lin Huai's feet.
It was a "person" wearing an old-fashioned tailcoat, handsome but with blood-red eyes. The moment he appeared, the air temperature seemed to rise by several degrees, and the scent of sulfur and corruption wafted out.
Mephisto's Avatar Marionette!
The Marionette drifted like a plume of black smoke behind a Dark Elf who was fighting a comrade, reaching out with white fingers to lightly touch his shoulder.
There was no sound, no struggle.
The strong Dark Elf Warrior withered and shriveled at a visible speed. The moisture in his muscles and his life force seemed to be sucked dry instantly, leaving only a skeleton covered in black armor. Emitting a thick, scorched smell of sulfur, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
One.
Another.
Mephisto's Marionette moved through the chaotic battlefield like the most elegant dancer of death. Every appearance marked the end of a life, leaving behind only frightening sulfurous skeletons.
In just one minute.
The Dark Elf legion, which could have conquered a small city, was wiped out in such a ridiculous, eerie, and bone-chilling manner.
In front of the entire theater, only Lin Huai remained standing amidst the piles of skeletons, with that silent Demon Marionette standing behind him.