195 Chapter: 195
Snap!
Instinctively, the Curse Warrior raised his hand and caught the "gift" that Thor suspiciously handed to him. As expected, the modified Aether, despite only changing one thing, acted on their natural instinct.
When not activated and controlled, they would actively seek a host to parasitize and absorb the life energy within the host's body.
Sure enough, in the moment the Curse Warrior caught it, the Aether, like a shark smelling blood, surged out from the opened seal and directly parasitized the Curse Warrior's body.
Faced with this sudden change, the Curse Warrior first froze, but then intense pain spread throughout his body. He began to tremble uncontrollably, rolling and thrashing on the ground like a fish just caught from the sea.
"What have you done to my subordinate!? This thing can't be Aether. Aether only makes us Dark Elves stronger. Besides, I don't sense any dark aura from this thing!" Malekith exclaimed while questioning Mark and Thor, feeling a wave of fear in his heart. If it had been him just now, he would have undoubtedly reached out and caught that thing without hesitation, resulting in a fate similar to the Curse Warrior's current state.
If he were to die here, the Dark Elves would be leaderless, and their only outcome would be destruction by Asgard.
"Tsk tsk!" Mark wagged his right index finger back and forth. "You're wrong. The thing that parasitized him just now is indeed Aether, no doubt about it. As for why you didn't sense a hint of darkness—well, that's because we modified it!
Now the function of the Aether has completely reversed. For you, it's no longer the supreme source of power or an invincible world-ending weapon. It's now the deadliest poison, the ultimate nemesis.
Do you see what's happening to your subordinate now? The Aether that entered his body is converting the remaining fragments of Aether. Once the conversion is complete, all the body tissues composed of dark matter will be transformed into ordinary matter by the Ether particles.
First, his immune system instinctively rejects these newly appearing abnormal tissues, and his body will start to deteriorate from the mutated areas.
As the conversion spreads wider and faster, the immune system will eventually fail completely, and the body's organs will collapse. In the end, he will appear normal on the surface, and because the nervous system will also fail, he won't feel the pain of death, nor will he even know that he has entered the realm of the dead."
And before Malekith's eyes, the events unfolded exactly as Mark described, step by step.
The Aether that had originally entered the Curse Warrior's body through the Aether Stone gradually assimilated. He began to revert back to his original appearance, but due to the excessive consumption of life energy earlier, he now appeared even more aged.
Then, his body started to experience tissue breakdown. Intense pain caused him to curl up on the ground, gasping for breath. The constant flow of blood from his body added to the irregular rhythm of his breathing.
Finally, the severe internal bleeding seemed to have stopped, but the Curse Warrior's breath grew weaker and weaker, a symptom of organ failure.
However, despite the impending suffocation, his expression became increasingly relaxed and calm, indicating a loss of sensory perception.
In the end, everything fell into tranquility, and Malekith's most trusted comrade and loyal subordinate died such a tragic death.
Malekith felt grief and despair in his heart. His brother, who had been with him for thousands of years, had died, and the Aether had become a poison that the Dark Elves could not touch. Their only hope for a comeback was shattered.
All the psychological support that had sustained Malekith's hidden existence for thousands of years collapsed in an instant, and he felt an unprecedented sense of darkness that he had never experienced even in the Dark World.
But as a cunning strategist, after a brief struggle, Malekith adjusted his mindset. As long as he was still alive, there would always be a glimmer of hope.
The sensing of the Aether stopped when the other party entered Nidavellir. In other words, they completed the modification of the Aether with the help of the Dwarf King. So if he had the chance to find the Dwarf King and threaten him to restore the Aether to their original state, then there would still be hope for the Dark Elves.
Malekith was well aware that under these circumstances, Asgard would definitely dispatch heavy forces to protect Nidavellir, so going there now would be futile.
Moreover, having lost the Curse Warrior, his side no longer possessed the Curse Stone, and both their top-tier and low-tier combat power were inferior to Asgard. Going there now would only add to their losses and walk into a trap.
His thoughts quickly turned, and in an instant, Malekith made all his considerations. The first thing to do now was to safely leave this place.
Without the Curse Warrior, even though his side had more people, they would not be able to handle the Son of Odin and the powerful Midgardian. He had to quickly escape from here, ensure his own safety, and prepare for the next step of his plan. Therefore, Malekith had already decided on his destination after leaving Svartalfheim—the Nine Realms' center, Midgard!
Since they couldn't match the mighty Asgard, they could only target the softest spot.
Midgard, being the latest civilization among the Nine Realms and with the lowest technological level, would be a piece of cake for the Dark Elves to occupy.
Once they controlled Midgard, they would have a hold on Mark's lifeline. At that time, they could threaten Mark to deliver information about Asgard and gain advantages for their own actions.
Considering Odin's level of trust in Mark, after gaining control over him, it might even be possible to use Mark's hand to eliminate Odin. When Asgard is in chaos, there would be an opportunity for him to enter Nidavellir and restore the power of the Aether.
With this in mind, Malekith had made up his mind. He ordered the two people beside him to carry the Curse Warrior's body and ran towards the direction of the warship. The remaining soldiers stayed behind to delay Malekith's escape.
Mark hadn't expected that Malekith, as the leader of a clan, would be so shameless as to turn and run when things didn't go well. But this also showed a lack of analysis on Mark's part. Based on Malekith's behavior thousands of years ago, when he was defeated by King Bor, it should have been apparent that Malekith was a cunning strategist.
But at this point, it was too late to say anything. Although the Aether had been modified, the enemy had obviously figured out that the Dwarf King, Eitri, was the key to it all. They clearly had plans for taking him away.
Furthermore, with the power of the developed Cosmic Cube, Mark and Thor were powerless to stop the enemy who was determined to escape.
"Now we're in trouble!" Thor furrowed his brow. "In this dark world of Svartalfheim, not even Heimdall's gaze can easily penetrate. We're trapped here without any spacecraft tools. We're as good as dead!"
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