Chapter 734

The Dark World, home of the Dark Elves.

With a series of metallic clunks, an Asgardian-style spacecraft suddenly appeared out of thin air.

The journey through space and time had left its flight systems somewhat unstable. The vessel bounced twice against the ground before finally settling into a steady glide.

Loki, naturally, celebrated the occasion with an exuberant flourish.

Unlike Evenson’s earlier mishap, Thor and his companions had managed to navigate the secret passage without incident. Evenson had been alone aboard his vessel. Thor’s ship, on the other hand, had carried two members of Asgard’s royal family.

Apparently, the universe was willing to cut royalty a little more slack.

Not long afterward, perhaps deciding that the ship made too conspicuous a target, or perhaps because its power reserves had been exhausted, Thor’s party abandoned it and continued on foot.

Elsewhere in the Dark World, the Dark Elves’ flagship emerged from folded space. The vessel resembled an enormous, upright starfish, and it settled onto the barren landscape with an ominous hum.

Malekith stepped out alongside Aggram, his Kursed warrior, and several guards.

The Dark Elf king had changed his appearance since their last encounter.

His armor was still the same traditional Dark Elf design, but he’d applied a fresh coat of paint. The breastplate was divided sharply down the middle. The left half was black, while the right was white. A black outline on the white side formed half a smiling face; a white outline on the black side depicted half a crying face.

Malekith had a philosophical explanation for the design, naturally.

The contrasting colors represented good and evil, joy and sorrow. Their collision embodied the contradictions of existence, all woven into a magnificent tragicomedy for the entertainment of a higher power.

Aggram had stopped asking questions about his king’s artistic choices.

Malekith raised his right hand and fingered the pendant hanging from his chest. The ornament was a flat metal design depicting a monstrous figure with enormous batlike wings.

He pressed it to his lips and kissed it.

Then he pointed toward a distant hill and raised his arm triumphantly.

"The great Hunter in Darkness has revealed our destiny! The greatest treasure of our people lies just beyond that hill!"

Aggram and the other Kursed warriors turned toward the rise almost reflexively.

Sure enough, three figures appeared along its crest the instant Malekith finished speaking.

The warriors stared.

Then they slowly turned back toward their king.

What kind of god is this man worshiping? Aggram wondered. The thing actually answers him!

He paused.

Wait.

Something wasn’t right.

Malekith had always possessed a strong connection to the Aether. At this distance, he could undoubtedly sense its presence and track its movements.

He didn’t need divine guidance to know where it was.

Your Majesty, if you can sense the thing yourself, just say so. You don’t have to convince yourself a god whispered it in your ear.

The three figures on the hill were, of course, Thor and his companions. Standing on the ridge gave them an excellent view of the surrounding terrain, which meant they’d spotted the Dark Elves as soon as Malekith noticed them.

Loki chose that moment to raise his shackled hands toward Thor.

"Well? The battle is about to begin. Are you seriously going to keep me in chains?"

Thor glanced at the restraints around his brother’s wrists. He hesitated.

"Can I trust you?"

Loki smiled, making a deliberate effort to look sincere.

"Of course."

Thor surveyed the Dark Elves gathered below. Their numbers were considerable, and the situation was dire enough that even he seemed reluctant to make the decision.

At last, he relented and unlocked Loki’s restraints.

Loki rubbed his wrists and turned his back to Thor, casually stretching his hands.

His expression changed instantly.

From inside his coat, he produced a small dagger. With the practiced ease of someone who had performed the maneuver far too many times, he drove it into Thor’s kidney.

Then he shoved his brother down the hillside.

The entire sequence was so smooth that it might as well have been rehearsed.

Thor had barely enough time to yelp before he was tumbling down the slope, clutching his lower back and cursing his brother.

"NO!"

Jane stared in horror and scrambled after him.

Below, Malekith watched the unfolding scene with growing confusion.

According to his understanding of the situation, Asgard had deliberately surrendered its overwhelming advantage by bringing the Aether into the Dark World. The obvious explanation was that Odin intended to lure him into the open for a final confrontation.

And if this was to be the decisive battle, then the king should face the king.

Malekith had imagined the scene countless times. He would confront Odin in a desperate struggle, defeat the tyrant who had poisoned the universe with the light of his rule, and return existence to the embrace of darkness.

It would be a fitting finale.

But Odin wasn’t here.

Instead, the one who had appeared was the prince who had burned half his face with lightning.

Had the time for the final confrontation not yet arrived?

Or perhaps the gods believed Malekith was not yet strong enough. Maybe they wanted him to obtain the Aether first, allowing him to reach his full potential before facing Odin in an evenly matched duel.

That interpretation made sense.

And then Malekith watched the Asgardians begin fighting among themselves.

His eyes brightened.

Of course!

They were delivering the treasure and the experience needed to prepare the protagonist for his ultimate battle.

Satisfied with this explanation, Malekith strode toward the fallen Thor with his retinue behind him.

Loki, meanwhile, was already catching his breath beside his brother.

Thor tried to summon Mjolnir.

Loki immediately slashed through his brother’s wrist with the dagger, severing the hand before Thor could complete the gesture. Then he drove a vicious kick into Thor’s ribs.

Malekith arrived just in time to witness the apparent betrayal.

Loki stepped forward confidently.

"I am Loki, King of Jotunheim, and I’ve brought you a magnificent gift."

With that, he grabbed Jane and shoved her toward Malekith.

"All I ask in return is the chance to watch Asgard burn!"

Aggram studied Loki’s face.

He recognized him now.

During the Dark Elves’ escape from their previous imprisonment, this oily-looking young man had been locked up alongside them. Aggram had dismissed him as too frail to be of any use and had left him behind.

Apparently, that had been a mistake.

He leaned toward Malekith.

"He’s an enemy of Asgard."

Under normal circumstances, Malekith might have acknowledged the information with a nod and moved on.

These were not normal circumstances.

"Hahahaha!"

The king burst into laughter.

With a theatrical sweep, he gathered his cloak against his chest and took three deliberate steps forward. Every movement was carefully paced, every word delivered with a dramatic rise and fall.

"Such a clean, decisive betrayal!"

So this was what the gods intended!

Malekith’s earlier interpretation had been incomplete. The great drama required more than heroic battles and a clash of armies. It also needed betrayal, political intrigue, and the sort of treachery that could bring a royal dynasty to its knees.

Naturally.

How could he have overlooked something so obvious?

If the gods expected a magnificent performance, then he would give them one worthy of their attention.

Malekith flicked his cloak twice and fixed Loki with an intense stare.

"Loki of Jotunheim..."

He paused for effect.

"How can I trust you?"

Loki blinked.

He hadn’t anticipated this.

He had crippled Thor, delivered Jane, and handed Malekith the Aether on a silver platter. Surely that was more than enough evidence of his loyalty?

Behind the king, Aggram nodded approvingly.

He’d been thinking too simply. Thor had brought Loki here during a crucial mission, which meant the two must have shared a considerable degree of trust. Yet Loki had betrayed his brother without the slightest hesitation.

A man that skilled at betrayal was hardly someone to trust.

Malekith’s reasoning was impeccable.

Perhaps the king really had become wiser since embracing his new faith.

"Here’s what we’ll do," Malekith announced.

He reached into his robes and produced a coin. Holding it between his fingers, he smiled at Loki.

"I’ll flip this coin. If it lands heads, I’ll trust you. You’ll join my forces, and I’ll grant your request."

"Your Majesty, reconsider!" Aggram immediately protested. "A decision of this magnitude cannot be left to something so frivolous!"

Malekith’s smile vanished.

His expression darkened, and his voice sharpened.

"But if it lands tails, I’ll have you chopped into pieces and fed to the dogs!"

Aggram immediately relaxed.

"Your Majesty, there’s no need to reconsider."

Loki stared at them both.

Was this actually happening?

His mother had died at the hands of this lunatic’s people. The thought of her sacrifice being honored by a coin toss made him want to scream.

Even Thor, lying on the ground with his mouth hanging open, seemed too stunned to react. He only remembered to clutch his injured wrist and roll around in pain when he noticed someone looking at him.

"Malekith!"

As the Dark Elf king positioned the coin on his thumb, Loki abruptly reached out and pinned it in place.

"Perhaps we should focus on something more urgent than deciding whether I’m trustworthy."

He nodded toward Jane.

"Like absorbing the Aether. You know, the thing you came here to retrieve?"

"Heh."

Malekith chuckled.

"Now that the Aether is in my hands, what’s the rush? I can absorb it whenever I please."

He tilted his head.

"And why are you so determined to stop me from flipping this coin? Are you nervous?"

"Hmph!"

Loki withdrew his hand and stood upright, folding his arms behind his back.

"Why would I be nervous? Go ahead."

Malekith didn’t hesitate.

He flicked the coin high into the air, caught it, and opened his hand.

"Heads."

His smile returned.

"Then you are worthy of my trust."

Odin really is the villain of this story.

Malekith’s mind raced as he interpreted the events before him.

Thor had brought the Aether to the Dark World, as the gods intended. But his role was clearly that of a reckless, overconfident ally who had squandered Asgard’s greatest advantage.

And Loki’s betrayal only reinforced the pattern. Odin had lost the loyalty of his own family, leaving him isolated and without allies.

Everything fit.

There could be no doubt now.

Odin was the villain, and Malekith was the chosen protagonist destined to defeat him.

With that settled, Malekith extended both hands toward Jane.

Jane shuddered as a tremor passed through her very soul. Her will dissolved beneath the pressure, and she began to float helplessly into the air.

The Aether streamed out of her body in crimson tendrils, flowing toward Malekith and gradually merging with him.

At that precise moment, Thor, who had been lying motionless on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes.

"NOW!"

Loki sprang backward and swept both hands toward his brother.

Green light flashed.

Thor’s injuries vanished. His severed wrist reattached itself, leaving his hand whole and firmly wrapped around the handle of Mjolnir.

The assembled Dark Elves stared in shock.

Thor wasted no time.

He raised his hammer and summoned the storm. A devastating bolt of lightning tore through the air and struck the Aether, engulfing Malekith in a violent explosion.

The red substance shattered.

So did the Dark Elf king.

For one brief moment, the battlefield fell silent.

Then the scattered crimson fragments began to move.

They drifted together, converging upon one another until Malekith’s body reformed before their eyes.

He stood unharmed.

During the attack, Malekith had been unable to move while absorbing the Aether. But the moment the fusion began, he regained access to a portion of the power he had once commanded as its original master.

That power had allowed him to survive the lightning strike and prevent the Aether’s destruction.

Now the fusion was complete.

Malekith examined himself with a calmness that seemed almost unnatural.

"Betrayal... deception..."

He raised one hand and studied the coin he’d tossed moments earlier.

"So it was I who had been betrayed and deceived all along."

He flipped the coin between his fingers, examining both sides.

No matter how he turned it, it always showed heads.

Then he noticed a faint green glimmer fading from its surface.

"An illusion."

His eyes shifted to Loki.

"You must have cast it when you touched the coin."

Malekith turned toward Thor, whose injuries had also been restored.

"I see. From the very beginning, I was already caught in your illusion. You had me dancing in the palm of your hand."

He stared at Loki for a long moment.

"Excellent. Truly excellent!"

Then he began to laugh.

Not the bitter, furious laughter of a man who had narrowly escaped death, but genuine delight.

"What a wonderfully convoluted sequence of events! What an unexpected reversal!"

His laughter grew louder.

"Only a drama this magnificent could hope to earn the attention of that great being. Your plan was truly marvelous!"

In reality, everything had been part of a plan devised by Thor and Loki, with Loki responsible for most of the details.

Thor’s original idea had been simple: bring Jane directly into the Dark World, draw Malekith out, and destroy him alongside the Aether while he was absorbing it.

Unfortunately, the plan had one rather obvious flaw.

Malekith knew perfectly well that absorbing the Aether left him vulnerable. Why would he begin the process in front of Thor, knowing the Asgardian prince could strike him down before the fusion was complete?

Having Jane walk ahead while Thor followed at a distance wasn’t a good alternative. If he stayed too close, Malekith would detect him. If he stayed too far away, he couldn’t guarantee Jane’s safety.

So they had settled on a more elaborate deception.

Loki would appear to betray Thor, crippling him in front of Malekith and making it seem as though the prince had lost his ability to fight.

With Thor apparently neutralized, Malekith would have no reason to fear an attack during the absorption process.

It had been a desperate gamble, but it had worked.

Mostly.

Thor and Loki exchanged a glance as Malekith continued celebrating their supposed theatrical genius.

Loki edged closer to his brother and lowered his voice.

"Was he always like this?"

He sounded genuinely offended.

He had spent years scheming for the throne, yet somehow a man this deranged had managed to hold onto his crown for so long.

Thor watched Malekith with a weary expression.

"Not when I last saw him. He wasn’t nearly this far gone."

He shook his head.

How had a perfectly functional enemy king managed to become such a lunatic?

Thor glanced at Loki, then at the still-celebrating Malekith.

Perhaps it was time to spend a little less time around Evenson.

Just in case.