Alexei's Failed Showboating

"Shit, what the hell is this thing? Our bullets can't penetrate it at all!"

The armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and the police officers who had yet to leave all hid behind car doors, firing wildly into the sky.

There was nothing in the direction they fired, yet the bullets were strangely deflected away.

If not for the vague outlines revealed when the surrounding buildings were knocked down, they would not even have noticed anything unusual.

Yelena, Coulson, and the others who ran out of the warehouse also saw the scene before them. Their ominous premonition had become reality.

"What did I say before? I knew these abnormalities had something to do with aliens!"

Coulson wore an expression that said, Do you believe me now?

Seeing that Coulson still had the mood to show off his analytical skills, Yelena immediately roared.

"Fine, you were right. Stop talking and call for backup!"

Coulson shrank his neck after being yelled at, then quickly reached for the earpiece in his ear.

"Director, we need support. There's a suspected alien invasion incident here in London..."

Before Coulson could finish speaking, the previously empty sky revealed a cross-shaped black warship, which stopped on the street in front of the warehouse.

At the same time, six hatches on each side of the cross-shaped warship opened with a series of clicks, and flat, elongated small aircraft flew out one after another.

With no intention of communicating, the aircraft immediately opened fire on the buildings and crowd below.

"My God, this is an alien invasion!"

"Director, this is more dangerous than the one ten years ago. We've been directly hit by the firepower of alien aircraft. Send support immediately, send supp—"

Boom!

"Agent Phil, how are you? Are you all right? Respond if you can hear me!"

Hearing nothing but the roar of explosions from the other side of the earpiece, Nick Fury's face darkened as he looked at Hill, who stood by behind him.

He issued one order after another.

"Activate the Avengers. Send all Quinjets out to provide support."

"Also, dispatch agents to those three buildings. Make sure they establish contact with the people inside. It's fine if they need to be more aggressive!"

Although the Avengers Initiative was still being prepared, and Alexei had only temporarily joined the Avengers,

to let those people on the Security Council see the feasibility of the plan and give them more support, he had no choice but to send Alexei into action.

"Understood!"

Hill nodded slightly, but her face held a hesitant expression regarding Nick Fury's second order.

"Agents have tried infiltrating those buildings before, but without exception, they all appeared somewhere else."

"And the more attempts there were, the more dangerous the locations became. If we use aggressive methods again this time, we may very well anger them..."

"This is an alien invasion by beings whose technology far surpasses ours. We must gather every living force we can to fight them!"

Nick Fury interrupted Hill before she could continue, pulling an old, worn signal pager from a drawer and gripping it tightly in his hand.

"So hurry up and carry out the orders. Keep me updated on the situation at the scene."

"I understand." Hill immediately turned and left at a brisk pace.

Nick Fury also slipped the signal pager into the pocket of his leather jacket.

"I hope I won't need this."

Elsewhere.

Inside the enormous cross-shaped black warship, a group of Dark Elves stood before a massive floor-to-ceiling window, observing the situation below.

Behind them, Algrim, the only dark-skinned Dark Elf, hurried over.

"Leader, we have roughly identified the entrance where the Aether seal leaked. I have also ordered the escort aircraft to clear away those troublesome mortals."

Watching the defeated police, agents, and buildings reduced to ruins below, Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves, nodded in satisfaction.

"Well done. But there is no need to bother with mortals who cannot even break the warship's energy shield. They pose no threat."

"Only the Asgardians can threaten us. We must obtain the Aether Weapon before they arrive to interfere."

Boom!

Just as Malekith finished speaking, a formation of Quinjets sped in from the distant sky.

In the blink of an eye, the formation arrived in front of the black warship.

The next second.

Countless surface-to-air missiles and large-caliber rounds poured out, making the warship's shields ripple without causing any substantial damage.

Seeing that they could not break through the defense, the Quinjets quickly switched targets and attacked the escort aircraft that had flown out.

However, the maneuverability of the small aircraft far exceeded that of these first-generation Quinjets.

After a round of fighting, only one small aircraft had been shot down, while many Quinjets on their side had crashed.

Seeing this, Malekith revealed a disdainful smile.

"Hmph. Mortals are mortals. All they can do is make futile resistance."

But before Malekith could finish his arrogant words, his expression abruptly changed.

Alexei, dressed in a red bodysuit and carrying a shield, leaped down from a Quinjet in the sky.

He landed steadily atop an escort aircraft.

Then he raised the red shield in his hand and smashed it down. In only a few dozen seconds, he had battered open the aircraft's flat, elongated wing, then leaped again and grabbed onto another passing aircraft.

"I never expected such a warrior to emerge among the mortals!"

Alexei's physical abilities left Malekith somewhat alarmed.

Without using Aether fragments to transform into Cursed Warriors, none of them could truly compare to Alexei!

With that thought, Malekith pulled an Aether fragment resembling a pitch-black stone from his robes and turned to look at Algrim.

Algrim cooperatively stepped forward. "Leader, I am willing to offer my life, just like our fallen dark brethren, just like you!"

To become a Cursed Warrior, one had to embed an Aether fragment into their flesh. This would cause the Aether's energy to violently impact every cell in the body.

Although it granted strength a hundred times greater than before, the excessively violent energy also damaged cells throughout the body, leaving one unable to live for long.

With such severe side effects, the power gained was naturally incomparably great.

Compared to Thor, a Cursed Warrior possessed two to four times his strength. Of course, that referred to Thor without his hammer.

However, Thor without his hammer was like Tifa not being in the 3D zone—he could not truly be called the God of Thunder at all.

By that calculation, a Cursed Warrior transformed from a powerful Dark Elf like Algrim should reach the upper limit of four times.

That was roughly equivalent to one and a half Thors with hammers!

"Darkness will remember you."

Malekith drew a blade handed over by a nearby soldier, plunged it directly into Algrim's lower abdomen, and stuffed the pitch-black Aether fragment inside.

In an instant, ominous black vapor drifted from Algrim's lower abdomen, enveloping his entire body.

Violent black energy surged through Algrim's veins and spread throughout his body. His already dark skin turned as black as charred coal.

His body was torn apart and reassembled under the impact of the energy, until it finally doubled in height!

In an instant, a terrifying and dangerous aura spread outward.

"For the Dark Elves!"

A beast-like roar rang out.

Taking the mask handed to him and putting it on, Algrim leaped forward through the opened glass barrier before crashing heavily toward the ground below!

Inside the warehouse below, now reduced to ruins.

After destroying three escort aircraft, Alexei ultimately failed to leap onto the fourth and crashed heavily onto the ground.

Even after landing, he still did not feel satisfied. He pounded his chest and roared excitedly at the sky.

Seeing Alexei acting like a gorilla, Yelena poked her head out from behind cover with a dark expression and fired a shot into the ground beside him.

Hearing the gunshot, Alexei immediately raised his shield. But when he saw it was Yelena, a wild laugh spread across his face.

"Yelena, my daughter, did you see your father's strength?"

"Even if Captain America showed up now, I could teach him a lesson with one swing of my shield!"

Yelena rolled her eyes and was just about to duck back behind cover and ignore Alexei.

But the enormous shadow falling from the sky made her stop and shout.

"Idiot, look up! An enemy is dropping down!"

"Hmph, an enemy?" Alexei turned back and raised his shield, radiating the air of someone trying to show off.

"Just a meat shield waiting to be beaten!"

The next second!

Boom!

Before the smug look could fade from Alexei's face, Algrim descended from the sky and mercilessly slapped him in the face, hammering him straight into the ground.