Malekith neck was firmly grasped by Superman, and seeing Superman indifferent gaze, he felt that he would die at any moment.
Thus, his body stiffened, enveloped by an unprecedented formidable aura, trapped in a dilemma of wanting to struggle yet not daring to.
Seeing this scene, the spirits of the Asgardians were uplifted, while their enemies, the Dark Elves, naturally felt their morale waning.
"Attack!"
"Break through these bastards!"
Heimdall shouted angrily, his sword held high above his head, his face flushed as he commanded the soldiers around him to board their flying craft and ascend into Asgard skies.
The skirmish between Superman and Malekith, along with the invasion by the Dark Elves, seemed to have lasted quite some time, yet in reality, it had been only about ten minutes.
Thor and Superman intervention, along with Odin using all his divine power to protect the palace, created the best conditions for the palace and Asgard soldiers.
Now, with the soldiers rallying, Asgard finally launched its counterattack.
Swish, swish, swish!
The soldiers raised their weapons high, clashing with the battleships in mid-air.
Leading them was none other than Heimdall, wielding his divine sword and riding a Pegasus.
As the gatekeeper of Asgard, Heimdall held a very special position, not only as Odin loyal follower but also as one of the bravest warriors under Odin.
The Pegasus was entirely white with wings on its back. Legend had it that only those with pure hearts were worthy of riding it.
Heimdall heart was steadfast and loyal, and just barely pure enough, so when he rode the Pegasus and wielded his divine sword to battle the Dark Elves, most Asgardians cheered him on.
Meanwhile.
Odin lowered the scepter he had held above his head and retracted his seemingly endless divine power, calmly watching the scene in the sky.
His gaze swept over the enormous ship,Thor swinging Mjolnir in attack, and Superman, who seemed to freeze mid-air, clutching Malekith neck.
Victory was in sight, and he had no intention of intervening further.
Boom, boom, boom!
In Asgard skies, the morale of the Dark Elves plummeted as their leader was defeated and captured by Superman.
The soldiers manning the warships seemed to lose their strength during the attack.
The counterattack from Asgard made their situation even more dire.
Victory was out of reach.
Some of the Dark Elves even started thinking about fleeing.
Some put this thought into action, maneuvering their warships to turn around and leave Asgard.
The soldiers of Asgard naturally did not let these deserters get away easily. Anyone daring to invade Asgard had to pay a heavy price.
Moments later.
The losses were not insignificant on the side of Asgard soldiers, but the Dark Elves fared much worse. Their fleet was left in disarray, with only a few remnants quivering in fear.
Of course, in this battle, one could only see the fighting Thor, as Superman was no longer visible.
After capturing Malekith, Superman did not rush back to the palace but took Malekith and Jane Foster to a forest outside the Asgard palace.
The three landed.
"What going to happen now?"
Jane Foster looked at Superman, bewildered, feeling an unprecedented sense of security and happiness with her feet on the ground.
The few minutes she spent in the air, held by Superman, were a real rollercoaster of emotions.
"The Aether particles in your body are a sacred object to their Dark Elf race."
Anton stated calmly, "If there is one person in this world who knows how to extract the Aether particles from your body, it him, the leader of the Dark Elf race."
Upon hearing this, Malekith burst into laughter.
"So, that it."
He suddenly understood why the man before him hadn't killed him: "Go ahead and kill me, I won't let my enemies have their way."
"I will definitely kill you."
What shocked Malekith was that he heard a response from Superman that was completely different from what he had imagined.
"But not now. Only after you tell me how to extract the Aether particles."
"I told you, I won't tell you."
"That not up to you."
After a brief exchange, Jane Foster saw a golden lasso appear in Superman hand.
"This is…"
As an Earthling, Jane naturally knew about the Justice League.
At this moment, the rope in Superman hands looked just like the equipment used by the only female hero in the Justice League she knew of from the movies.
The Lasso of Truth.
In the Wonder Woman movies, the effects of the Lasso of Truth were explained quite clearly.
Jane Foster was overjoyed.
She was going to be saved!
Malekith, as if he were a bumpkin just back to his hometown, looked bewildered at Superman, who had bound him with the golden rope, yet his demeanor remained defiant.
"Stop wasting your effort!"
Malekith scoffed, "Go ahead and kill me, but I will never tell you that the energy absorption device on my arm can extract Aether particles from this woman..."
As he spoke, his expression suddenly stiffened, followed by an extreme look of disbelief.
"Ptsh!"
Jane Foster relaxed completely, seeing Malekith ridiculous expression, and couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh mercilessly.
"How is this possible?"
Malekith looked up blankly, "This can't be happening. I didn't mean to say that..."
"It magic!"
His eyes nearly popping, he stared at Superman and then at the golden lasso binding him, realizing, "You've cast a spell on me."
Superman removed the energy absorber from Malekith shoulder and placed his hand on his head.
"Yes, it is indeed magic."
Superman tone was calm, but his gaze chilled Malekith to the bone, "So, you are now useless."
"I—"
Just as Malekith was about to speak, he saw a fierce heat beam in Superman eyes.
Heat vision!
Malekith body was melted into ash by the heat vision, leaving only his gray, incredulous head in Superman hand.
"Why keep the head after killing him?"
Jane Foster looked somewhat disgusted at the only remaining proof of Malekith existence in this world.
"This is a gift for Odin."
Anton, as Superman, spoke, "It my first visit to Asgard and it wouldn't be polite to come empty-handed. Luckily, I had this opportunity to bring something. Believe me, Odin will appreciate this gift."
He paused, looked at Jane Foster, and activated the energy absorber.
"Ah—"
Jane Foster felt as if the blood in her body was boiling.
Streams of thick red liquid, like blood, poured out of every pore of Jane skin.
This force even caused Jane to levitate, her limbs hanging limp.
It was unbearably hot!
Jane uttered a pained murmur, her consciousness beginning to blur.
"Hang in there."
Anton used Superman x-ray vision and noticed that the Aether particles, the essence of the Reality Stone, were indeed being extracted by the energy absorber.
Finally, after half a minute, the Aether particles gathered into a clump of blood in mid-air.
The blood clump gradually solidified into a crystal-clear red gem.
Superman held the Reality Stone, now transformed from the Aether particles, in his hand, feeling no malice from the Infinity Stone, and chuckled lightly.
Looking at Jane Foster, who was sweating profusely and filled with terror, he shrugged.
"Let go, you're fine now!"
He scooped up Jane Foster and suddenly dashed towards the Asgardian palace.
"Ah—"
Just as Jane had recovered from the physical pain, she was struck again mentally.
"Damn Superman!"
Outside the grand hall of the palace, on the balcony.
Anton as Superman, holding Jane Foster, descended from the sky back to Odin.
He threw Malekith head in front of Odin.
The gray head, with a face filled with terror and eyes wide open, rolled several times on the ground before stopping at Odin feet.
"I think, I don't owe you anymore."
Anton looked at Odin and said, "Malekith is dead, and the remaining Dark Elves have lost the will to fight.
Your enemies now pose no threat to Asgard. Congratulations, Odin, Asgard has proven itself once again."
"No, I should thank you, Superman."
Odin, with his white hair and deeply lined face that bore the dignity of a king, conveyed deep gratitude in his words.
"You've changed the future."
Anton face was expressionless, but waves stirred inside him as numerous thoughts flashed through his mind.
In any case, he was certain of one thing.
Odin seemed to possess abilities similar to those of the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One.
Could he see the future?
That shouldn't be the case.
Anton was sure that Odin didn't have the ability to see the future, but how then to explain Odin behavior now?
Something was very off.
Odin was very powerful.
This had been sufficiently demonstrated in the movies.
Firstly, Odin, in his youth, defeated Laufey, the king of the Frost Giants. Secondly, he used a spell to strip Thor of his powers.
Thirdly, in a movie scene where Thor and Loki were about to fall into the abyss of the World Tree, a void akin to a black hole, Odin effortlessly pulled them back up.
Additionally, various other facts indirectly highlight Odin capabilities.
Perhaps most notably, in the first Avengers movie during the Battle of New York, despite the destruction of the Bifrost , Odin gathered and manipulated enough dark energy capable of dimensional travel to send Thor to Earth on his own.
This feat was equivalent to using the Bifrost .
In other words, Odin own power is comparable to the Bifrost ability to traverse the nine realms, even equating to the power of the itself as a star-destroying weapon.
Officially, the Bifrost is the second most powerful weapon after the Infinity Stones.
When fully activated, it can easily destroy entire dimensions. This was demonstrated in the first Thor movie when Loki activated the Bifrost with the intention of destroying Jotunheim, the homeland of the Frost Giants.
Combining these points, purely in terms of strength, Odin is undeniably the foremost among them.
Such prowess exceeds even that of Thanos before he acquired the Infinity Stones.
However, this does not mean that Odin possesses the ability to see into the future.
Moreover, at this time, Odin is approaching the end of his long life. While his power may not be less than in his prime, his vitality has significantly declined. In a few years, Odin will even succumb to old age dementia.
This is the end of the road for a hero.
Additionally, the Ancient One ability to see the past and future was due to the Eye of Agamoto, which is the Time Stone from the Infinity Stones.
Without the Time Stone, even with his vast divine power, it would be impossible for Odin to foresee the future.
Unless...
A thought suddenly popped into Anton mind.
He stared at Odin in front of him.
"You know the Sacred Timeline!"
After this thought occurred to Anton, he became certain that Odin must be aware of the timeline, or rather, the existence of the Time Variance Authority.
From a proper timeline perspective, analyzing from another angle, a version of Loki fell into the timeline and learned about the existence of the Time Variance Authority.
During his continuous travels through time, Loki might have at some point returned to the past and met the Odin of this timeline...
This is the most logical explanation.
Odin face remained calm, and he did not directly respond.
"Time has boundless destructive power, and also boundless creative power..."
"It is because of it that countless multiverses have been able to develop..."
"I once thought that the future was created by each of us, by every living being in the universe. I never imagined that our futures are preordained."
"Superman, have you ever considered that when you changed the future, you offended those great beings who have determined our fates?"
"The moment you created a timeline branch, the moment you made a misstep, even if it was just one wrong step, those beings had already locked onto you!"
Odin words resonated in the ears of Anton and Jane Foster.
Jane Foster couldn't understand at all.
But Anton knew that Odin was warning him.
"I believe the future is created, not planned."
"At least, my future can only be controlled by myself."
His answer did not surprise Odin.
At that moment.
The battle outside the palace was drawing to a close.
Under the leadership of Thor and Heimdall, the Asgardian soldiers had gained the upper hand in the war and secured victory.
After Malekith death, the Dark Elves had no chance of resisting.
"Regardless, I must thank you for appearing in Asgard."
Odin raised his scepter, his voice echoing throughout Asgard,
"From today onwards, you will be an honored guest in Asgard. There will be no secrets from you here, and every place will be open to you.
Your status will be second only to me, equivalent to my son Thor. Even the Asgardian army may be commanded by you.
This is the power I grant you, and my greatest thanks to you!"