Darkest Hour

Just as Chen Xu touched the Aether with his magical chains, an ancient warship awakened in a dark, void-like space. The Dark Elves sensed the Aether's reappearance.

"After thousands of years, the Aether has finally appeared again. The time for the universe to return to darkness has come once more. We will make those people of Asgard pay."

The warship immediately flew toward Earth.

The Sorcerer Supreme, Ancient One, who was in her Sanctum, sensed something as well. She opened her eyes, then closed them again.

Odin, who was in Asgard, also sensed the Aether's aura and was instantly shocked.

Chen Xu had completed the mission, and the system's voice rang out.

"Congratulations, Host. You have completed the mission and received the system's reward: fifty percent of the Chaos Force and Phoenix Force."

In an instant, Chen Xu felt the energy within his body grow even stronger. With the system's help, the two powers completely merged into one.

A heaven-shaking transformation was taking place within Chen Xu's body. The two powers continuously spun, gradually drawing closer until they fused together, wrapping into a single whole and radiating a chaotic, dark-golden hue. Then they exploded, as if creating the world itself.

A dark-gold phoenix appeared, its interior constantly flashing with dark-red light born from compressed energy. Within it, a galaxy-like vortex slowly revolved.

At the very center of the vortex were brilliant red and magnificent gold. Chen Xu opened his eyes, and the entire universe seemed to unfold before him. Everything in existence appeared in his sight. He felt that with a mere gesture, he could destroy all things or twist the surrounding space to travel anywhere.

As the most ancient divine powers in the Marvel universe, both the Phoenix Force and Chaos Force possessed the ability to manipulate space and time. Chen Xu's understanding of time and space soared. He felt as though he existed in every place and every moment, holding everything in his grasp. He was immensely excited by the power he possessed.

After collecting his system reward, Chen Xu walked outside and saw Thor and Jane chatting happily. Sure enough, men and women in love had zero intelligence. Jane had forgotten that she was supposed to investigate the secrets inside the warehouse, while Thor had forgotten that he had come to explain the situation to Jane.

Chen Xu also sensed something approaching them from another dimension. Now that the power in his body had grown stronger once more, he had become unimaginably formidable. He could even sense planets beyond the Solar System from Earth. Naturally, that thing was the Dark Elves' warship.

"Hey, Thor. Danger is approaching us. You'd better get Jane out of here first."

"What? Danger? Who would dare attack the Prince of Asgard?"

"Have you heard of the Dark Elves?"

"The Dark Elves? I heard my father mention them. Weren't they wiped out long ago? They were born from the darkness before the universe existed and always wanted to return the universe to darkness. But my grandfather stopped them, and after that, their whereabouts became unknown."

As soon as Thor finished speaking, the surrounding space changed. A massive warship appeared directly above them. Chen Xu immediately opened a portal and sent Jane somewhere relatively safe.

The Dark Elves' warship fired several beams of energy, pulverizing the surrounding buildings and ground. Chen Xu immediately created an energy shield. The beams struck it, but had no effect at all.

Then several Dark Elves appeared, clad in dark-red armor.

"Asgardians, hand over our weapon. We have come for revenge."

Thor, that flashy peacock, naturally refused to accept this.

"Why crawl out of hiding? Because Asgard beat you senseless before? Why humiliate yourselves again?"

With that, Thor swung Mjolnir, gathering a powerful force of lightning and striking them directly. A Dark Elf in red armor caught the blow, and the battle began. The commotion drew the police, but they could only hide far away, too afraid to approach.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Director, this is bad! An alien spacecraft has appeared near Green University."

"What? So soon? Another alien civilization is invading?"

"But Thor is already fighting them, and that mage seems to be there too."

Nick Fury breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, they were there. Otherwise, S.H.I.E.L.D. would not know what to do. They simply did not have the ability to handle it themselves.

Once again, Nick Fury felt deep helplessness and powerlessness.

"Could they all have appeared because the Nine Realms are converging again?"

Thor was fighting the Dark Elves with great enthusiasm. Before long, the Dark Elves began to lose. In the original story, Thor had only been unable to defeat them because they had obtained the Aether. But now they had not obtained it. The Aether was in Chen Xu's hands, so how could they possibly be Thor's match?

A bolt of lightning struck, electrocuting those Dark Elves to death. One or two pale-skinned Dark Elves charged directly at Chen Xu.

"Hand over our property, and we'll spare your life."

"Spare my life?"

Chen Xu took out the magical box containing the Aether. The Dark Elf's eyes immediately lit up with wild joy.

"This is what you want, isn't it? If you have the ability, come and take it!"

The Dark Elf lunged at Chen Xu, only to be blasted away by his psychic energy.

"Clearly, you can't take it. Then I'll take it away."

The Dark Elf let out an enraged roar.

"Lowly creature, you're courting death."

A bomb was thrown directly at Chen Xu. He was startled—it was a Black Hole Bomb. A miniature black hole instantly appeared before him. Chen Xu immediately used the Phoenix Force to isolate that collapsing space, leaving himself completely unharmed. Anyone else would not have been so lucky.

The Dark Elf in dark-red armor, who had been fighting Thor for quite some time, suddenly attacked Chen Xu, driving a fist straight toward his heart.

Chen Xu countered with Phoenix Flame. Before the Dark Elf could even touch him, he was reduced to ashes. The other Dark Elves were utterly stunned, staring at Chen Xu in disbelief.

They had never imagined Chen Xu would be so powerful. Even their strongest warrior had been completely unable to fight back against him. Despair instantly filled them, and they all boarded the warship, intending to flee.

Seeing this, Thor swung Mjolnir and unleashed an incomparably powerful blast of lightning at the warship. The Dark Elves' warship exploded in the sky and turned to ashes.

The nearby police, having witnessed everything, still did not dare approach. Thor went to say goodbye to Jane and explained everything clearly. Then he returned to Asgard with Chen Xu.