Another day passed without incident. In London, England, the spatial distortions were growing increasingly severe. It seemed that the Convergence was now truly imminent.
A sudden flash!
Suddenly, a pillar of light appeared beside the Odyssey. It was the Bifrost's light beam. We went outside to see who had come from Asgard. An Asgardian soldier emerged from the Bifrost.
"Prince Thor, Odin summons you urgently. The Nine Realms are being attacked one after another by the Dark Elves."
The Dark Elves seemed to be ransacking the Nine Realms in search of the Aether. Thor quickly asked the soldier.
"Surely not! Asgard hasn't been attacked, has it?"
"No, it's still safe."
"That's a relief. Steve, I need to return to Asgard. I'm counting on you to look after Jane."
Upon hearing Thor's request, Captain nodded and agreed. Then, I stepped forward to go as well. Since Earth had heroes, it seemed sufficient.
"I'll come with you. Earth can defend itself well enough without me."
"Me too!"
Deadpool also wanted to go, but I stopped him.
"You might get killed by Odin, not the Dark Elves. Just defend Earth. You don't fit in with royalty and all that."
If I took Deadpool to Asgard, it was obvious that he'd cause trouble and waste time dealing with it before even fighting the Dark Elves. No, it was a certainty. Anyway, Deadpool seemed to know it and acquiesced readily.
"Yeah, I don't really fit in with that stuff. I wanted to see the golden palace once, but oh well."
After saying goodbye to Natasha, I moved to Asgard with Thor and met Odin.
"I've heard the story, but it seems the Dark Elves are launching sudden attacks on the Nine Realms. My judgment is that Asgard won't be an exception."
"I just saw the Dark Elves attacking Midgard."
"I see. But you must be busy with Midgard affairs; what brings you here?"
Odin asked why I was here. He probably thought I had a lot to do since Midgard was under attack.
"Asgard is strong, so there's no major concern, but Midgard is somewhat under control, so I came to lend a hand, however small. Because I have precious people and friends here as well."
"Thank you. You are someone I can trust."
I spoke while praising Asgard to Odin. Gods have strong pride. That was precisely why I didn't bring Deadpool. Deadpool doesn't give a damn about such things.
I waited at the quarters for now, while Odin and Thor went around checking the defense systems. Suddenly, a commotion was heard outside the quarters, and when I went out, soldiers reported that prisoners had escaped from the dungeon and were causing trouble. It seemed the Dark Elves had already infiltrated the dungeon, just like in the original story.
'This is flowing just like the original.'
But it seemed unlikely that Frigga would die as in the original. Frigga sacrificed herself to protect Jane, but now Jane and the Aether aren't here.
I went outside and waited for the Dark Elves. As expected, the Dark Elves' mothership appeared at Asgard's border. Small ships emerged from the mothership and began attacking Asgard in earnest.
Boom! Boom!
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Asgard didn't just stand still. The numerous turrets around the palace fired to shoot down the ships, and Asgard's small ships also sortied to fight. But the Dark Elves' ships were agile and used their blade-like front parts to shoot down the turrets and Asgard's ships.
I took out the Levitation Cloak from my inventory, put it on, rose into the air, and threw metal balls made into energy bombs to block them. But there were too many of their ships, making it hard to stop them all. In the air, mobility wasn't great, so there were limits to the response.
"This is... I need to learn flight techniques or make a fighter jet soon."
With the Levitation Cloak and telekinesis, I was relatively fast in the air, but not as fast as the ships. Using fruit abilities or teleportation to fight seemed a bit off.
As the fight continued, Asgard's damage seemed to be increasing uncontrollably, so I had no choice but to deploy a large number of drones from my inventory to support Asgard's ships. At first, Asgardian soldiers were wary of the newly appeared drones, but upon seeing them attack the Dark Elves, they soon began to cooperate.
With the drones' support, the tide turned, and the Dark Elves' ships started to be shot down one by one. Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, the Dark Elves suddenly changed direction and retreated to the mothership. I commanded the drones not to pursue further and focused only on Asgard's defense.
After the Dark Elves' mothership retreated and the situation was sorted out, I retrieved the drones, but a significant number were damaged or reduced. Looking around, Asgard's damage was not small either. Half of the defensive turrets were destroyed, and many of Asgard's ships were lost. The only consolation was that civilian casualties seemed minimal.
The reason for the heavy damage this time was that the Dark Elves had infiltrated the dungeon and destroyed the magical device maintaining the palace's protective barrier. Of course, Loki must have informed them of this.
I returned to the palace to meet Odin. Going to where the throne was, I saw Odin and Thor in conversation. Thor had minor wounds here and there, so it seemed he had fought hard.
"Father, this is different from the Frost Giants. If we keep getting attacked like this, Asgard is in danger. For the sake of the Nine Realms, we should strike first."
At Thor's words, Odin pondered and said.
"Yes... The Dark Elves received a severe blow from King Bor long ago and haven't been touched since, but this time it seems difficult."
Hearing Odin's words, I was quite surprised. Odin, who always thought of peace, must not have made this decision easily, but it seemed he had resolved to attack this time. There could be various reasons, but it was likely due to Asgard being seriously attacked and the risk that the Aether might fall to the Dark Elves, plunging the world into darkness. Although since I have it, that shouldn't happen.
Anyway, Odin noticed me and welcomed me warmly.
"You've come. Thank you for your help."
"Not at all. It's what I should do. And I heard the story. You're planning to strike the Dark Elves..."
"That's right. My judgment is that we can no longer overlook this."
"Then, may Midgard's warriors also participate? They are quite angry, having been suddenly attacked and suffered many sacrifices."
"I see. Let it be so. Then, inform me when ready."
"Understood."
I immediately returned to England and informed the members of this fact. Upon hearing it, Captain summarized briefly.
"So, instead of waiting, we're going to strike first."
"That's right, but it could be quite dangerous. They are a strong race. There might be sacrifices. But we can certainly stop the threat of the Dark Elves."
"Then it's better to divide. Teams for defending Earth and for helping Asgard in the attack."
This was decided by volunteering, reflecting my opinion that there might be sacrifices.
The attack team consisted of Captain, me, Wanda, Quicksilver, Banner, and Jessie. Banner was thrilled at the chance to see another planet, but Tony still had some trauma aftereffects and gave up. Deadpool, again, I stopped due to concerns about friction with Asgard. Jessie didn't seem too eager to go but was strongly compelled to follow because of Banner.
I first explained the Dark Elves' weapons in detail to them. I didn't mind, but we had to be very careful with the small black hole grenades. And the Dark Elves could use the Cursed Stone to transform into Kursed, and depending on their potential, they could possess power surpassing Thor, so caution was needed. If I could get that stone on this opportunity, it would be good.
We finished preparations, bid farewell to the other members, and with Thor's help, traveled via Bifrost to Asgard. Everyone was busy admiring the majestic Asgardian palace.
"Wow! So this is Thor's hometown. It's beautiful, isn't it?"
When Banner opened the Hulk Striker's helmet and looked around in admiration, Thor seemed proud and with a bright expression, guided us to the Asgardian palace, boasting extensively about Asgard. It's understandable that he's happy his hometown is praised, but it was a bit much.
Before meeting King Odin, I informed them about the royal society and cautioned them. In short, not to do anything disrespectful.
"Got it. We'll be careful."
We arrived at the throne to meet Odin. King Odin seemed busy preparing for war, giving various orders. Thor introduced us.
"We greet King Odin. These friends are warriors from Midgard who fought alongside us."
After our introduction, everyone bowed in greeting.
"I see, welcome. Thank you for coming to fight with us. Thor, guide them to their quarters first, and once we're ready, we'll go together."
"Understood."
We moved to the quarters under Thor's guidance. But on the way, Queen Frigga approached and, looking at Wanda, tilted her head, then began examining Wanda here and there. When Wanda felt embarrassed, Thor stepped forward and introduced us to Queen Frigga.
"These are the warriors from Midgard who have come to fight with Asgard this time. And this is my mother, Queen Frigga."
After the introduction, we bowed respectfully to Queen Frigga.
"Nice to meet you. But if this war ends, I'd like to take this child as my apprentice. Is that possible?"
I couldn't tell why Queen Frigga was doing this, but guessing, since the magic Frigga uses also originates from the Darkhold, it seemed she sensed something in Wanda. But Wanda, the person in question, looked bewildered and glanced at me. As if asking, 'What should I do?'
"Wanda, being able to learn magic from Queen Frigga is a very good thing. It's not something you can easily learn anywhere."
"Oh, really? Then, I look forward to working with you in the future."
At those words, Frigga looked at Wanda happily and said.
"I'm lucky. To get such a beautiful and excellent apprentice."
"It's embarrassing to be called beautiful."
After finishing the greeting with Queen Frigga, we went to the quarters to rest a bit. Banner's Hulk Striker was parked outside due to its size. Of course, we couldn't bring spare parts. The spare parts are ejected from the Odyssey, so it was impossible to bring them here.
We rested like that for a day, and in the evening, Thor and the Warriors Three came for a simple drink. Fandral, the dashing member of the Warriors Three, hit on Jessie and Wanda, but ended the day by getting slapped by Jessie.
The next day, as Asgard's preparations seemed complete, many ships and soldiers lined up to move via Bifrost. A soldier came to inform us, so we prepared and joined the ranks with the Warriors Three to move.