Calvin is my nemesis.
One unpleasant thing after another happened.
The plot I conceive during my free time in the daytime becomes a blank page when I sit down at the computer.
When Lynn returned to New York, it was almost dawn.
The apartment was quiet. A small lamp was still on in the living room. Natasha was leaning against the sofa, covered with a thin blanket, holding a tablet with its screen lit up. She was asleep.
He stood in the doorway for a while. Just a few hours ago, he was fighting the Dark Elves in the palace of Asgard, and now he was standing in his own living room, the air filled with the familiar smell of laundry detergent and coffee.
This contrast gave him a surreal, disorienting feeling. He gently closed the door, walked to the sofa, squatted down, and took the tablet from her hand, placing it on the coffee table.
"You're back?" Natasha asked, her eyes still closed, her voice groggy from just waking up.
"I have something to tell you when I get back. It's not over there yet, and I have to leave again tomorrow." Lynn reached out and pulled her blanket up a little, her fingertips lightly brushing against her shoulder.
Natasha opened her eyes and looked at his face in the light of the desk lamp.
There was a trace of dried blood on his collar. She didn't ask him what he had been doing over there; she simply sat up, pulled his hand over and squeezed it, then dragged him to the sofa.
Lynn lay down and buried her face in the crook of her neck, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. The two of them stayed on the sofa like that until dawn.
When I woke up again, the sun had already risen.
Lynn got up, took a shower, and changed into clean clothes.
When he arrived in the living room, Natasha had already heated up breakfast and was sitting at the table. When she saw him come out, she pushed the plate towards him.
He sat down, ate a few bites, and began to tell Natasha about Asgard.
First, he mentioned the Aether within Jane's body. The Dark Elves ' target was a rather troublesome leader named Malekith, who needed to return and stay for a few more days.
It can also duplicate a gem.
"Back in Kamar-Taj, when I duplicated a new gem, the Ancient One would watch over it for me. Sigh, now I can only turn to Odin."
He took a sip of coffee, his gaze lowered. "But Thor's dad is quite easy to talk to."
Natasha looked at him for a while, but didn't ask any questions; she just listened quietly.
"Go ahead, I'll wait for you at home."
Lynn sat down next to her and leaned down to kiss her on the lips.
Then he raised his hand and drew a portal.
Orange sparks danced in the center of the living room; beyond the door lay the side corridor of the Asgard Golden Palace. He glanced back at Natasha, who stood by the sofa, already holding the old novel, and waved it at him. Lynn stepped inside.
Lynn didn't delay and went straight to the Queen's bedchamber. Frigga was already waiting there. She had changed into a more neat outfit, her long hair was tied back, and there was no sign of fatigue on her face; her eyes were gentle and calm.
Jane sat on the bed in the inner sanctum, her complexion still pale, but her spirits were slightly better than the night before. Aether surged restlessly within her body, and the red veins under her skin were more prominent than before, writhing slowly as if they were alive.
"Let's begin." Lynn walked up to Jane, looked down at her, and said, "It will hurt a little, so bear with it."
Jian nodded, gripping the corner of the blanket tightly with both hands.
Lynn knelt down on one knee in front of her, took a deep breath, and gently placed her palm above her chest.
He closed his eyes, and his power slowly awakened within him. Silver light patterns silently emerged from his fingertips, meandering into a net almost invisible to the naked eye in the air.
A five-colored halo slowly lit up.
He raised his other hand and slowly guided the Aether overflowing from Jane's body to converge towards him.
The red particles initially resisted, like countless frightened snakes trying to retreat back into their host's body.
Jane groaned in pain, her body tensing up suddenly, and sweat beading on her forehead.
Frigga knelt beside her, gently pressed her hand, and whispered, "Don't be afraid, it'll be over soon."
Lynn gritted his teeth and controlled the analysis range to the most active area of Aether, peeling away the underlying information of the Aether layer by layer, allowing it to detach from Jane's cells and tissues and return to a non-aggressive state.
This process was slow; outside the five-colored halo, the Aether extracted from Jane's body continuously collided and merged.
Finally, the last wisp of red light was drawn out of her body, and Jane slowly went limp in Frigga's arms, her clothes soaked with sweat.
But the wriggling red marks were no longer visible under her skin.
Lynn didn't stop. He drew the extracted Aether into his palm and used his power to gradually change their structure and information, reshaping the unstable, highly energetic Aether into a dark red gem.
Once everything was complete, he placed his other hand on top, analyzed, and copied.
Frigga watched him finish, saying nothing more, only instructing a maid to take Jane away to rest. When Lynn stood up, his vision blurred, and he swayed. Frigga helped him up, but he waved his hand, saying he was fine. After recovering for a while, he turned to find Odin.
Odin was in his private training ground. The place was vast, with an imposingly high ceiling, and the walls were covered in divine runes. The air still held the lingering heat of clashing divine power. When Lynn entered through a side door, Odin was standing in the center of the ground with his back to him, gazing into the distance with one eye. He didn't turn around, only uttering a curt, "You've arrived."
Lynn walked over and stood next to Odin, briefly explaining the situation.
He wanted to test the effect of the newly copied gem on his abilities, but he was afraid of something going wrong.
Previously, the Ancient One would stand by and watch over them, but now that she's gone, he hopes Odin can help keep an eye on things. If anything unexpected happens, he'll ask the god-king to intervene.
After listening, Odin turned his head and glanced at him.
"Alright. Go ahead and try. This field can handle it."
Lynn said nothing more. He walked to the center of the arena, closed his eyes, focused his mind, and began to activate his abilities.
Five-colored particles emanated from his body: gold, blue, green, yellow, and white.
Then, a new color appeared: red. It started as a tiny wisp, winding around the body and fingers, then grew more and more, gradually becoming on par with the other five colors.
Finally, a full six colors of shimmering light surged from his body, intertwining around him.
When everything subsided, Lynn's forehead was covered in sweat, but his eyes were unusually clear. He stopped using his powers and walked towards Odin, his footsteps very light.
"How is it?" Odin asked.
"This copy of the Reality Stone has improved my efficiency in reading and modifying information. I used to be able to stay fully conscious for about twenty minutes, now it's about two hours."
Lynn wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "And the accuracy of reading and modifying data has also improved considerably."
Odin nodded slightly.
Before they even left the training ground, they heard a heavy bugle call coming from outside.
Lynn looked up and saw layers upon layers of dark golden defensive arrays rising in the sky, like a giant net spreading out from above the Golden Palace, covering the entire Asgard.
Outside the magic circle, the sky resembled a punctured ink sac, with clumps of darkness surging towards them. It was a spaceship, its hull dark red, slowly pressing down from between the clouds.
The firelight reflected in Lynn's eyes. He said to Odin, " Malekith is gathering a large army. I must go back to guard the Queen and the Jewels."
Odin looked at him, and the corner of his mouth seemed to smirk slightly.
"Go."
Then he turned around, facing the high platform, and his fighting spirit began to rise, like a sword slowly drawn from its sheath.
Lynn didn't use a portal. He ran along the palace wall back to his bedchamber and found Frigga standing in front of the large window, her hands folded in front of her, quietly watching the battle outside.
A faint fragrance filled the room, mixed with the smell of gunpowder drifting in from outside the window.
Lynn, panting, walked over to her and looked outside with her. He could see the ship, and dark shadows falling from the sky, swooping down like bats toward the spire and walls of the Golden Palace. The Golden Palace's garrison was already engaged in battle with the Dark Elves on the walls.
"Aren't you going to help them?" Frigga didn't turn her head, her voice very soft.
"If I go, you'll be all alone. I promised Thor I'd protect you."
Frigga was silent for a moment, then looked further into the distance. " Thor is down there," she said.
Lynn followed her gaze.
Below the city gate, lightning shot into the sky. Mjolnir's lightning tore through the dense swarm of Dark Elves, each strike cleaving open a large patch of shadow.
But there were many more shadows, like hordes of corpses constantly emerging from the ground.
An energy cannon on the city wall was hit by Dark Elves's airship, causing a burst of flames and half of the stone building to collapse.
Lynn saw Asgard soldiers rushing out of the breach, only to be swallowed up by the oncoming dark energy and fall in droves.
His fingers gripped the window frame tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white.
The distant explosions grew closer, the light patterns of the defensive magic array began to tremble, and the sky was sliced into pieces.
Outside the gates of the Golden Palace, the battlefield had been split in two by lightning.
Thor stood where the enemy was most concentrated, Mjolnir spun in his hand so fast that only an arc of blue and white afterimages could be seen.
Thunderclouds gathered wildly overhead, as if the entire sky were pressing down on him.
He raised his hand and slammed the hammer into the ground, unleashing a ring of lightning that blasted outwards from the point of impact, sending the dozen or so Dark Elves at the forefront flying, swords and all.
Those grayish-white bodies crashed into broken pillars and stone steps, their shattered black armor fragments scattering like ice shards. The ground beneath their feet cracked into a spiderweb of charred ravines, each fissure still crackling with lingering electricity.
But there are too many Dark Elves.
The ones in front had just fallen when the ones behind them were already rushing forward, stepping over the remains of their fallen comrades.
Countless shadows surged in through the breach in the city wall. They didn't roar, but silently charged forward like a black flood.
Thor was surrounded, with Blade all around him.
His left arm was slashed open by an elf wielding a heavy sword, and blood splattered onto the stone floor.
He seemed oblivious, and with a backhand strike, slammed his hammer into the opponent's ribs, denting the entire suit of armor.
Thor looked like a god of war who had emerged from an ancient battlefield. His cloak and armor were soaked in blood and mud, and his golden hair was stuck to his forehead, but there was no sign of retreat in his eyes.
Above the city gate, a Dark Elves was using a blade to pry open the energy nodes of a magic circle.
Thor looked up, hurled his hammer, and Mjolnir, accompanied by a thunderous roar, passed through three or four enemies who rushed at him, striking the elf precisely in the back, smashing him through the city wall and embedding him in the half-collapsed tower.
Sif fought desperately against the wall on his right, with several female warriors back to back, holding the last section of stone steps.
Some fell to the ground, stabbed; others tumbled from the city wall, landing in the pile of corpses below, never to rise again.
Lightning bolts struck down one after another from the clouds, yet even so, the ancient spaceships in the sky continued to deploy new troops, like an anthill that never empties.
The outermost layer of the Golden Palace's defensive array had cracked in several places, and the sky was divided into a blood-red expanse where the light of the array and the shadows of the spaceships intertwined.
Thor single-handedly held off the troops at the city gates, unaware of how many troops remained to be deployed.
Lynn looked out the window and watched him stand up again, watched the lightning illuminate him and the enemy, and suddenly understood why the king of Asgard was Thor, and not someone smarter or calmer.
When Malekith arrived at the gate, surrounded by Dark Elves, Odin was already standing there.
He held the Gungnir in his hand.
Malekith remained silent. He had foreseen this scene long ago.
Odin made his move without any warning.
The Gungnir thrust forward with tremendous force, as if the entire space had been pierced through by its tip.
Dark Elves were sent flying in droves, their armor plates and weapons shattering into dust under the impact of Odin's divine power.
Malekith stepped out of the shadows, a spear materializing in his palm, and charged at Odin's spearhead.
The clash between darkness and divine power shattered the surrounding statues. Odin did not retreat an inch, but Malekith slid several meters across the ground. The former king of the dark elves was no match for the All-Father.
"After your last failure, you should have died along with that era."
Odin's spear fell like the heavens, piercing Malekith into the stone wall at the edge of the platform.
Malekith let out a low growl; without the Aether, his defeat was already inevitable.
As darkness slowly enveloped him, he seemed to try to escape, but Odin's second spear struck him dead.
There was no suspense. It simply reminded everyone once again why his throne had remained standing for a thousand years.
Odin did not look at Malekith again.
He drew the Gungnir, its tip pointing towards the ground, blood trickling down its shaft.
Behind them, the remaining Dark Elves were still fighting. Several rushed in from outside the city gates, charging towards the high platform like madmen, but were stopped by the Asgard guards who had regained their senses.
The sounds of clashing weapons, the thuds of fallen soldiers, and the roar of spaceship engines in the air still echoed in all directions.
Odin crossed the high platform and slowly walked back to the palace gate.
As I passed by Thor, Thor was kneeling and panting, clutching Mjolnir in his hand.
Odin didn't stop, only uttering the words: "The rest is your battlefield."
The battle continued, but from this moment on, everyone knew that the outcome was already decided.