The power of the silver armor surprised Solomon. It wasn't until he trained with the Sorcerer Supreme that he fully learned how to wield the armor's capabilities—such as the boosters mounted on its shoulders, aptly named Dragon Wings by the Sorcerer Supreme. These boosters consumed the wearer's magical energy, making them impractical for anyone other than spellcasters like Solomon and the Sorcerer Supreme, who naturally possessed immense reserves of magic.
Solomon couldn't imagine what kind of foes the Sorcerer Supreme had faced while donning this armor, but he was certain they were far stronger than the pale, slender aliens beneath him.
The Dark Elves were not mere cartoon villains; their civilization was prolific and terrifyingly brutal. In the real universe, enemies like them were horrifying and bloodthirsty.
According to Asgardian historical records, the Dark Elves were fanatical zealots who worshiped chaos and distortion. They longed for primordial darkness, feasting on the blood of countless beings while reveling in the screams of their slaves. This terrifying existence was finally ended when the previous All-Father, Bor, led the ironclad warriors of Asgard to personally exterminate their race.
The Dragon Wings lived up to their name, propelling Solomon in gliding movements and brief hovers through the air. He carried in his arms an android who, despite appearing delicate, weighed nearly two hundred pounds. The assistant's massive greatsword had already been tossed from the aircraft, now embedded upright in the lawn like a metallic gray tombstone.
With a deafening roar, a hammer slammed into the Dark Elf flagship. The vertical warship tilted with a bone-rattling screech, uprooting chunks of soil and paving stones from the courtyard as if an underground explosion had occurred. Yet, despite the chaos, the flagship's materials were so resilient that the ship remained intact.
Solomon landed gracefully on the lawn with the android as the boosters powered down and folded back into the armor. The android walked over, picked up her greatsword, and accepted a high-caliber explosive rifle from Solomon. She was prepared to attack anything threatening her master.
A blue sedan wobbled into the courtyard, with Thor standing proudly on its roof. Following behind were a throng of Asgardian warriors and S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives.
"Apologies for the delay," Thor said, leaping off the car. Extending his hand, Mjolnir flew from the nearby river and landed firmly in his grasp. By this time, the constructs blocking the elevator were nearly all destroyed. Though they had slowed down the Dark Elf soldiers, more soldiers began breaking through, only to be cut down by the remaining constructs. The blood-soaked soil near the elevator bore evidence of the relentless battle.
"You're not too late," Solomon remarked, nodding to his android. Following an unyielding command, several specialized constructs suddenly emitted a burst of bright, searing electricity. The acrid smell of ozone filled the air, and the bodies of the surviving Dark Elves were left severely burned, rendering them incapable of fighting.
Dr. Erik Selvig, originally intent on finding a proper parking spot, was eventually convinced by Darcy and Jane Foster to leave the car in a safer location away from the battle.
With the constructs fully destroyed, the S.H.I.E.L.D. strike team quickly dispersed. They sought cover in the Greenwich University library, an area with makeshift barricades. Agent Coulson had clearly briefed them on the capabilities of Dark Elf weapons; having cover was essential for surviving their devastating projectiles.
Led by Fandral, Volstagg, and Sif, one hundred Asgardian Einherjar warriors charged toward the flagship, engaging in fierce combat with the scattered Dark Elf soldiers. However, not all of the enemy forces were contained.
The Dark Elf King, Malekith, slowly descended from the ship's elevator. He ignored the mounting casualties among his soldiers, who showed no hesitation even in the face of death. Surrounding Malekith was a sinister, crimson substance.
It was the Aether, a relic Solomon had previously concealed in his dimensional pouch. Now, in Malekith's hands, the Aether churned with a dark red hue reminiscent of decaying blood. Malekith's mastery of the Aether was unparalleled in the universe, making it a formidable weapon under his command.
Fate had given Malekith this opportunity. For the Eternal One, such mortal conflicts were dull and insignificant. Whether the universe was bathed in light or shrouded in darkness did not affect Eternity's essence. Solomon suspected this turn of events was the Eternal One's whim, a cosmic jest. Otherwise, Malekith would never have had access to the Aether.
Malekith's pallid face twisted into a smile as he gazed at Solomon and Thor. The crimson Aether surged and expanded like a storm, forming countless sharp projectiles within its waves. These projectiles shot toward Solomon and Thor at speeds almost impossible to follow with the naked eye.
The android caught Solomon, who had been blown backward, while Thor crashed into a library column. With his heightened senses, the arcanist heard the complaints of S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives as they struggled to aim amidst the obstacles in the library.
The Aether seemed insatiably hungry for life. In the brief moment Solomon and Thor were sent flying, crimson tendrils snatched an Einherjar warrior. Seconds later, the Aether spat out a desiccated corpse still clad in armor. As Solomon regained his footing, the Aether invaded the library. He doubted the S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives could withstand such an attack.
Malekith was using others to pay the cost of wielding the Aether. Solomon quickly realized the Dark Elves' strategy.
In the past, when the Dark Elves had an abundance of slaves, the Aether elevated them to dominance by feeding on life. Now, with fewer resources, Malekith used the Aether sparingly, careful to conserve its power until his objective was achieved.
Solomon's current magic was insufficient to repel the Aether. Fortunately, Phoenix appeared beside him, clutching a shield gifted by Athena in its golden-red talons. The arcanist handed the shield to his android, who now took on the role of shielding him from frontal attacks.
Thor wasn't as fortunate. Furious, he hurled Mjolnir at Malekith, but the storm of Aether around the Dark Elf King deflected the hammer.
Malekith raised his arms, unleashing a storm of crimson Aether that swirled into the sky. The gale grew stronger, hurling debris and stones against anything in its path.
"Do you have a plan… to let me see Malekith?" Thor shouted, choking on dirt mid-sentence. After spitting out the grime, he yelled again, "I need to see him!"
Solomon nodded and amplified his voice with magic so Thor could hear.
"Yes," he replied. Solomon drew his sacred sword, with the android protecting him from the tempest. A golden beam of light pierced through the crimson storm, breaking through the clouds. For a brief moment, the darkened sky turned bright.
The golden beam slashed downward like a knife cutting through paper, slicing the towering Dark Elf flagship in half.
A deafening explosion followed. The flagship's reactor melted under the incomplete release of the sword's power. For a moment, Solomon thought he had gone deaf, only to be overwhelmed by ringing and the blast's shockwave. The pressure wave sucked in debris and smoke toward the explosion's center. Structures and beings alike crumbled in the face of its destruction.
If not for Phoenix catching Solomon and the android mid-air, they might have been hurled into the Greenwich Observatory.
As for Thor, no one knew where he had been blown to. With the celestial convergence beginning, stepping in the wrong place could send anyone to another planet.
Dr. Selvig's blue sedan was not as lucky, crushed beneath the falling dome of a building constructed in 1890. The wreckage was joined by shattered books and the bodies of S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives.
When the crimson storm finally dissipated, black smoke billowing into the sky marked Solomon's victory. The location of the Dark Elf flagship was now a circular crater on the Thames' riverbank, where frothy water rushed in. Across the river, London's financial district was left with no intact windows.
At the explosion's center, Malekith floated, shielded by a crimson barrier. Aside from the thinned Aether around him, he remained unharmed.
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