The moment Malekith finished speaking, he slowly raised his dark-armored arm, palm facing the colossal tree that spanned the Nine Realms.
Dark energy drawn from the Abyss coiled around his fingertips. It writhed and hissed across his skin like a living thing, carrying Knull's unmistakable aura of all-devouring darkness.
He closed his eyes and extended his will along that dark energy like a probing tendril, cautiously reaching for the World Tree's thick, rune-lit branches.
One second passed, then two, then three. Nothing happened.
The instant the dark energy touched the World Tree's surface, it vanished with a soundless hiss, like a drop of water striking red-hot iron. It was repelled without causing so much as a ripple.
The World Tree did not stir. Golden runes continued to flow slowly through the grooves in its bark, as though Malekith was not worth an extra flicker.
Malekith's brows drew tight, carving deep furrows into the pale skin of his forehead.
Confusion flashed through his eyes, altered by dark magic, before he forced it down.
He pushed harder, pouring more Abyssal Power into the probing tendril until it grew thicker, fiercer, and more corrosive. It slammed into the World Tree's surface like a maddened venomous snake.
But the result was exactly the same. Nothing happened.
The World Tree stood silent in the void. Divine power flowed through its branches like an ancient, unchanging river, indifferent to everything Malekith did.
That indifference was more infuriating than any counterattack. The tree did not even bother to reject him, as though he lay entirely beyond its awareness.
"By rights..." Malekith frowned. His voice was low, strained with restraint at the insult.
"We Dark Elves are part of the Nine Realms too. The World Tree's roots cover us just as they cover every other life.
If those