Chapter 705

"What an incredible amount of energy."

Evenson slowly lowered the arm he’d instinctively thrown up to shield his face.

He’d been prepared for something to happen, but the sheer burst of energy released by the Aether still exceeded his expectations.

A sharp crack drew his eyes upward.

The explosion had hurled him more than three meters backward. Worse, the Void Barrier he’d prepared in advance was now covered in fractures. Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface before the entire barrier began breaking apart like shattered glass.

"Just as I thought..."

Evenson glanced around.

The surrounding area hadn’t suffered any serious damage. Aside from sand and loose gravel being blown across the ground, everything remained intact. Judging purely by its physical force, the explosion hadn’t been particularly powerful. At most, it had enough force to knock an adult man off his feet.

But Evenson knew better.

His Void Barrier hadn’t been thrown up at the last second. He’d prepared it beforehand. When Killian’s men had attacked Tony, he’d casually blocked the small missiles fired from their helicopter. Those explosions had possessed far greater physical force than this one, yet his barrier had handled them without difficulty.

This time, however, a relatively weak blast had nearly destroyed it.

Evenson crouched and examined the fractured edge.

There.

It wasn’t obvious, but a thread of dark-red energy was flowing through the cracks.

So that’s it.

He immediately understood.

The blast itself wasn’t especially powerful, but it contained some kind of special property. And since he himself had triggered the reaction, the Aether had likely adapted its response to the characteristics of his own power.

The Aether truly deserved its reputation as the Reality Stone.

Reality was unpredictable. Ever-changing.

Naturally, its form and properties wouldn’t have to remain fixed, either. The Aether could simply adapt as circumstances demanded.

"What the hell just happened?!"

Thor, unlike Evenson, had no interest in calmly analyzing the strange energy.

The moment he recovered his senses and saw Jane lying on the ground, panic took over. He immediately rushed over, helped her upright, then turned toward Evenson with Mjolnir in hand.

"What did you do to my Jane?"

It was hard to blame him for the misunderstanding.

From Thor’s perspective, the sequence of events was simple. Evenson had touched Jane with one finger, a bizarre burst of energy had erupted from her body, and then she’d collapsed.

Jane Foster was an ordinary human. Of everyone present, only Thor and Evenson possessed extraordinary abilities.

If Thor hadn’t caused the explosion, then Evenson obviously had.

Even if he’d done it accidentally, he was still responsible.

"Surely you noticed that the energy came from your girlfriend," Evenson said. "Like I told you, she just traveled through another dimension. She probably brought something back with her."

"Please tell me it wasn’t some cursed ghost thing," Darcy said.

She’d just arrived in time to witness the inexplicable explosion, and Evenson’s explanation immediately sent her imagination toward every horror movie and urban legend she’d ever seen.

She looked at Jane and shuddered.

For a moment, it was easy to imagine some blood-soaked, fanged apparition standing directly behind her.

"Not exactly," Evenson said. "But what she brought back is considerably more troublesome."

Darcy’s comment did, however, give him an idea.

If he ever had the time, perhaps he should travel the world specifically in search of haunted castles and supposedly cursed mansions. If even half the stories were true, he could probably collect a respectable number of high-quality Soul Shards.

The only problem was that most haunted-house stories were probably nonsense.

And there was always the possibility that he’d walk into some ancient castle and discover an actual demon waiting inside.

That could make the vacation awkward.

"Thor..."

Jane had finally staggered back to her feet. Still dazed, she looked down at herself and examined her arms and torso, apparently unable to understand what had happened.

"What just happened?"

"It’s all right. I’m here."

Thor pulled her into his arms and began reassuring her.

Evenson’s expression suddenly turned serious.

"You should take her back to Asgard as soon as possible."

Thor looked over.

"Why?"

"It may not be visible from the outside, but I can clearly sense something drawing on her life force to sustain itself. Whatever is inside her needs to be removed as soon as possible. Otherwise..."

Evenson stopped.

Some things simply sounded too cruel coming from his mouth.

"Otherwise what?"

Jane’s face tightened with anxiety.

"What will happen to me?"

Evenson sighed, putting on an appropriately grave expression.

"I fear..."

He paused.

"You don’t have much time left."

Jane’s face went even paler.

Thor immediately tightened his embrace around her.

"Do not worry. I will take you to Asgard. It is the realm of the gods. Surely there will be someone there who can save you."

"Hold on tight."

Thor shifted his stance, preparing to summon the Bifrost.

"Wait!"

Evenson stopped him.

Thor froze.

"What?"

"I’ll go with you."

"What?"

Thor stared at him in surprise and immediately stopped preparing the Bifrost.

Evenson raised his right hand and slowly pulled down the sleeve, revealing the bandages wrapped tightly around his arm.

"During the Battle of New York, I sacrificed this hand. At the time, Lady Sif and you both gave me your word that once the Bifrost was repaired, you’d take me to Asgard and have it healed."

The Eredar twins had certainly been thorough.

To free Evenson from Uthalesh’s control back then, they’d used magic to destroy his right hand at a conceptual level.

Since then, he’d exhausted every method he could think of to restore it. He’d managed to reconstruct enough of the hand’s underlying concept to regain most of its function, but it was still far from stable.

And once the bandages came off, the hand’s conceptual structure would gradually begin collapsing again.

Underneath the wrappings, his right hand was invisible.

He couldn’t feel it, either.

Evenson had consumed so many healing stones trying to fix the damn thing that he’d reached the point where merely seeing a toilet made him feel sick.

Yet his right hand still refused to return to normal.

"It’s been almost two years now," Evenson continued. "I don’t know what two years means by Asgardian standards, but by mine, that’s a very long time. Don’t you think it’s about time you kept your promise?"

"Hmm..."

Thor hesitated.

He genuinely considered it for a moment.

Right.

He had made that promise.

If he kept putting it off, he’d eventually have to admit he’d gone back on his word.

"And..." Evenson lowered his hand. "I also have something important to report to your father."

As he said it, he deliberately glanced toward Jane.

Thor caught the implication surprisingly quickly.

"If that’s the case..."

He frowned.

"Couldn’t you tell me first?"

"I need to speak with your father before I can decide whether I’m permitted to tell you."

Evenson said it with complete seriousness.

So he really had to see Father.

Thor sighed.

"Fine. You can come with us."

Part of it was because he’d made that promise. The rest was because this concerned Jane.

There wasn’t really a way to refuse.

"Good."

Evenson took a step forward, then hesitated.

"Do I need to hold on to you, too?"

"No!"

Thor reacted instantly.

He waved both hands at Evenson.

"You don’t need to be that close! Just stand over there!"

Evenson obediently moved into position.

A moment later, an intricate circular pattern appeared beneath their feet.

Brilliant rainbow-colored light descended from above.

Evenson barely had time to study the runes before an immense force seized him and yanked him upward.

Interesting.

The Bifrost didn’t seem to be a teleportation spell.

It was more like some kind of high-speed transit system.

Evenson was certain of it. He’d had enough experience with teleportation to know it didn’t normally feel like this.

"WAAAAAAAAH!"

Apparently, either nobody had explained how to use the Bifrost properly or Evenson had somehow managed to adopt the wrong posture.

He shot out of the end of the Bifrost like a cannonball.

He spun helplessly through the air toward a tall, dark-skinned man clad in golden armor and carrying a massive sword.

Fortunately, the man was experienced enough not to immediately swing his weapon at the strange black object flying toward him.

He merely shifted slightly to the side.

Evenson sailed past him and crashed onto the floor.

"We need to do that again!"

Thor and Jane, meanwhile, stepped calmly out of the Bifrost.

Jane actually looked excited.

After all, interstellar travel wasn’t exactly something an ordinary astrophysicist got to experience every day.

"I..."

Evenson slowly pushed himself upright, one hand clutching his lower back.

"I really think once was enough."

He’d been tossed around so violently that he could barely tell which way was up. His stomach was threatening to revolt.

He was fairly certain he’d performed at least thirty-six thousand degrees of uncontrolled rotation on the way down.

After this, he was absolutely going to ask Odin to let him establish a permanent magic circle in Asgard.

From now on, he’d come here using his own method.

Another trip through the Bifrost like that might cost him half his lifespan.

"Welcome to Asgard."

The tall man gave them a slight nod.

"Guardian Heimdall," Thor introduced him.

Evenson slowly raised his head.

So this was Heimdall, the guardian said to possess the ability to observe the Nine Realms and even the wider universe.

He studied the man closely.

He didn’t ask whether Heimdall could throw his sword onto the ground and make it spin in circles. He didn’t ask how many dragon riders Heimdall could summon to help him.

Instead, he simply stared.

"He really does look like him..."

Heimdall frowned.

"Like whom, Black Scythe Lord?"

Heimdall knew who Evenson was. He’d even watched him before.

There was some kind of strange concealment magic surrounding the man. Whenever Heimdall’s attention slipped for even a moment, Evenson seemed to vanish from his sight, forcing him to search for him again.

Even stranger, Evenson sometimes entered a peculiar place where Heimdall couldn’t see him at all.

"Someone I knew," Evenson said, still staring at Heimdall’s face. "His name was Moru, I think. You two look almost exactly alike."

Evenson remembered Moru.

Back when he’d been trying to save Coulson’s soul, he’d been forced to accept Mephisto’s deal and travel to Eastern Europe to hunt down one of the demon’s incarnations, Locke.

That was where he’d met a French priest named Moru.

The man had looked almost identical to Heimdall.

Aside from Moru’s slightly graying beard, they could have been twins carved from the same mold.

Heimdall merely nodded.

It wasn’t particularly remarkable to him.

"The universe is vast. The Nine Realms contain countless beings. It is only natural that a few should resemble one another."

"We should go."

Thor gestured toward the city.

"We need to reach the Golden City as quickly as possible and have a healer examine Jane."

Evenson nodded.

The Golden City wasn’t located near the Bifrost’s arrival point. It stood at the heart of Asgard, surrounded by ocean.

A long, narrow bridge stretched from the Bifrost to the city.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to walk.

A flying vessel was already waiting nearby.

Calling it a spaceship was technically accurate, though it looked rather like someone had taken an ordinary ship and bolted a pair of wings onto it.

"It’s been a long time, Lady Sif."

Sif had come to meet them herself.

Unfortunately, she’d arrived full of anticipation only to discover that the man she’d been hoping to impress had shown up with his girlfriend wrapped in his arms.

So much for that.

After they disembarked, Sif remained noticeably downcast.

Perhaps to avoid making the situation any more awkward, she kept her distance and followed behind Thor and Jane.

Evenson fell back to walk beside her.

"What happened?" he asked. "You’re looking miserable. That’s not like the fearless Asgardian warrior I know."

"Don’t call me that!"

Sif immediately raised a hand, nearly smacking him across the mouth.

She glanced nervously around them.

"You can call me that on Earth if you want, but never here."

"Why?"

Evenson looked genuinely puzzled.

As far as he remembered, Sif had always been rather proud of the title.

"The Valkyries are a legendary and highly honored order in Asgard," Sif explained. "Long ago, they all died fighting evil. They sacrificed everything in battle, and their achievements became so revered that no one who came after them was considered worthy of bearing the same title."

"Oh..."

Evenson nodded slowly.

That explained it.

Sif’s expression softened with something approaching longing.

"They truly were a legendary order. Even Thor, when he was young, dreamed of becoming a Valkyrie one day..."

"What?"

Evenson stared at Thor in disbelief.

Apparently, the kid had been interested in women’s clothing from an early age.

Then Evenson pictured Thor, beard and all, dressed as a Valkyrie.

His stomach immediately turned again.

He really needed to stop thinking about the Bifrost.

...