Thor charged forth, hurling Mjolnir at the advancing front. The hammer struck the first line of enemies, disintegrating them instantly upon impact and unleashing a massive area-of-effect electrical discharge as a secondary shockwave.
From the chaos of the enemy lines, Kurse charged, closing the distance into Thor's personal space with terrifying speed. He backhanded the God of Thunder, launching Thor like a bullet toward a nearby cliff.
SWISH!
However, the moment Thor's body reached the point of impact, he found himself standing safely beside Ethan—while it was Kurse who slammed into the jagged rock face.
Thor was naturally bewildered by the sudden spatial displacement; he looked toward Ethan, only to receive a knowing side-eye and a slight smile.
Ethan had activated his unique version of Boogie Woogie on Thor and Kurse.
On, Ethan thought, and his distinct Cursed Energy Trait flared to life, purple lightning dancing across his skin.
"Thor, I don't have time to explain my technique right now. Just trust me, okay?" Ethan said, noting Thor's shock. He reached out and touched Mjolnir, imbuing it with Piercing Ox.
The hammer's hue flickered briefly before reverting to its original state; the only lasting change was the handle, which had shifted from its usual leather brown to a deep, obsidian black.
"Throw your hammer to your left with all your strength—and don't call it back!" Ethan commanded.
Though confused, Thor obeyed. As the hammer left his hand, Agito opened up two Sling Ring portal directly in its path, interconnected with eachother.
In the film Thor: The Dark World, Mjolnir is seen traversing Earth's atmosphere in seconds.
It acts as a hyper-fast projectile, reaching estimated speeds of Mach 200–400. In the comics, it has even reached FTL (Faster Than Light) speeds during interstellar travel.
Now, Ethan had coupled that velocity with the linear, unstoppable momentum of the Piercing Ox.
Kurse emerged from the shattered cliffside, undeterred, and began his march toward them once more. However, his advance was short-lived as another Sling Ring portal tore open directly in his path. Mjolnir, now imbued with the unstoppable momentum of Piercing Ox, shrieked toward him.
The impact was instantaneous.
Kurse attempted to deflect the projectile with his bare hands, only to find himself a hand short for his trouble; the hammer sheared through his limb like a hot wire through butter.
Mjolnir whistled past him, but before it could fly off into the distance, another portal opened in its trajectory, diverting it to strike from Kurse's blind right side.
This second impact was catastrophic. The sheer, accumulated momentum of the hammer obliterated Kurse's upper torso, reducing the monstrous warrior once feared across the nine relams to a mess of crushed armor and dark matter.
Thor summoned Mjolnir back to his hand, glancing at the weapon with a strange, puzzled expression.
"You get used to it after a while," Ethan noted dryly. They scanned the battlefield together, surveying the ruin of the Dark Elf forces.
The tide had turned decisively. Lady Sif was calmly wiping the dark ichor from her blade, while the Warriors Three moved with grim efficiency to finish off the stragglers.
Even Loki, whose hands had been surreptitiously freed in the chaos, had accounted for an entire squad of Dark Elves himself.
Malekith remained positioned safely behind his front lines, shielded by a dwindling wall of elite soldiers. Sensing that the currents of battle had shifted against him, he hissed an order for a frantic retreat.
He commanded half the remaining battalion to hold the line as a sacrificial wall while he made a desperate dash for his ship.
However, his escape was short-lived. Agito manifested instantly from Malekith's own shadow, towering over him like a vengeful deity.
The Chimera lunged, struck the ancient warlord with a punch wreathed in high-voltage Electrical Cursed Energy, and in the same fluid motion, swept its Great Serpent tail across the surrounding battalion, shattering their formation and life alike.
Malekith was defeated.
However, something unusual happened.
Suddenly, a lone Dark Elf soldier—the sole survivor of the squad Loki had just dispatched—lunged forward from the dirt. Before anyone could react, he drove his blade deep through Loki's torso.
The battlefield fell into a deafening silence. It lasted only a heartbeat before Thor's roar of anguish tore through the air.
He launched Mjolnir with a violent snap of his wrist, crushing the soldier into the earth on impact.
But the damage was already done. Loki collapsed, gasping for breath as he lay dying on the cold ground. Thor scrambled toward him, crouching beside his brother with trembling hands.
"No... no, no, no! You fool, you didn't listen!" Thor choked out, his voice thick with grief.
"I know... I am a fool. I am a fool," Loki rasped, his eyes fluttering as his life force seemed to slip away.
The Warriors Three and Ethan approached the scene, their expressions grim. Thor looked up, his face a mask of desperation. "Stay with me! ETHAN! ETHAN, HELP HIM!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, his eyes pleading.
Loki's hand clutched Thor's arm weakly. "No, brother... my time has come. I am sorry... I am so sorry..."
As the final apology left his lips, the color drained from his face, turning a sickly, stone-cold grey. His eyes went glassy, and the God of Mischief was dead.
Ethan stepped forward, his pace steady and unhurried. He didn't look panicked; instead, he let out a long, audible sigh. The Asgardians looked at him incredulously—was he truly mocking Loki's death?
"I'm sorry, Thor," Ethan spoke as a lone rabbit manifested from his shadow. He plucked the creature up by its torso. "But I can't exactly revive someone who isn't actually dead."
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the rabbit towards a seemingly empty patch of air several feet away.
A second later, the shikigami collided with something physical. The impact shattered the illusion. The "dead" Loki vanished in a flare of green light, revealing the mangled corpse of a Dark Elf soldier in its place.
Meanwhile, the real Loki shimmered into view, wearing his classic, mischievous smirk as he raised his hands in a mock gesture of surrender.
"LOKI!" Thor bellowed, his grief instantly replaced by a vein-popping fury.
"It was worth a try," Loki mumbled, completely unapologetic.
With the threat neutralized, Agito opened a Sling Ring portal, the orange sparks contrasting against the dark skies of Svartalfheim.
They made their way back to Asgard with two prisoners in tow: Loki and Malekith. It would be Odin who passed final judgment on the ancient warlord. Given the All-Father's state of mind following the death of his Queen, Ethan assumed the chances of Malekith surviving the week—let alone the dungeons—were non-existent.
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A/N: So how was the chapter?
This will be the last chapter for a while.
I will be taking a break.
Exams are coming.
If you enjoy the story, please leave a Review and Power stones!
Join my [P].[A].[T].[R].[E].[O].[N] if you want to support me and for early updates.
Link is in the Author's note.
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