The battle in Svartalfheim raged on.
Erupting volcanoes, endless thunderstorms—Svartalfheim's very climate was warping under the clash of two overwhelming forces: Lothar and Malekith. What was once harsh yet survivable terrain had become almost uninhabitable.
"Are those two maniacs planning to destroy Svartalfheim itself?"
Hands on her hips, Hela gazed skyward at the two clashing figures, her expression a tangled web of emotions.
Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined this: not long ago, Lothar had only barely been stronger than she was. Yet now, he had far surpassed her, reaching heights she couldn't even approach.
While she had still been wallowing among her peers, Lothar had already evolved to a level where he could challenge the likes of Malekith. The words she once hurled at him—"Next time, I will defeat you!"—now sounded laughably naive under the weight of this brutal reality.
It stung. Deeply.
"If you want to defeat me, you'll need another twenty thousand years."
"Father once said, I evolve faster than light."
The boasts Lothar had once made were now undeniable truths. She had been left behind.
"You bastard!"
Roaring with incandescent fury, Malekith, the Dark Elf King, lost all pretense of composure.
"You're nothing but a lowly monkey!"
"How can this be?!"
"Aaaaargh!"
No matter what techniques he unleashed, he couldn't shake Lothar off. Malekith's psyche teetered on the brink of collapse.
He simply could not comprehend it—this creature's bodily structure, this monstrous, inexplicable power surging from such a fragile frame.
Even the briefest physical contact made it clear to Malekith: Lothar's physical body was absurdly frail. If it weren't for that invisible, terrifying energy sheathing him, Malekith could have pierced this "monkey's" chest with a single finger!
Structurally, Lothar's body was barely stronger than a typical Midgardian—slightly superior, but not by much. And yet, from this unremarkable vessel, a staggering power erupted, defying all reason.
It shattered everything Malekith thought he knew.
Strength of body dictated the limits of a warrior's power—this was accepted truth across the Nine Realms. Whether it was Odin of Asgard, Laufey of Jotunheim, or Malekith himself, all their fearsome might was rooted in their monstrous physiques.
But this Lothar?
Judging solely by physique, Malekith had no doubt: an outdated laser rifle could probably puncture this man's body—if it hit and if Lothar's invisible energy shield wasn't in place.
And yet... this fragile frame endured such cataclysmic energy surges without disintegrating.
Malekith's worldview was crumbling.
"Is that the best excuse you can come up with?"
Without pausing to indulge Malekith's confusion, Lothar, fueled by burning rage, slammed his fist through the warped reality itself, driving it straight into Malekith's chest!
A visible dent caved into Malekith's torso.
Boom!
The Dark Elf King was smashed deep into the fractured plains below.
A golden flash followed, offering no time for Malekith to recover. Lothar seized him by the throat with a single hand.
"Hand over the Aether."
Ptooey!
Blood—his own and Malekith's—splattered Lothar's face.
"A fool like you will never understand the true power of the Aether!"
"I don't need to understand it."
Unbothered by the blood trickling down his face, Lothar tightened his grip. Malekith writhed in agony, but the dark energy flooding from his arms wasn't nearly enough to force Lothar to let go.
The Reality Stone's twisted magic was utterly useless against him.
Or perhaps it was more accurate to say: in the hands of Malekith, the Reality Stone could do nothing against a Super Saiyan Lothar.
The warped illusions conjured by the Reality Stone simply couldn't contain the raging, boundless energy within him.
"I won't repeat myself a third time."
"Dream on!"
Gasping for breath, legs flailing, Malekith abruptly shifted the Aether's target—redirecting its power onto himself.
In a blur of solid and intangible, he phased through Lothar's grip, gasping down the bittersweet air of Svartalfheim.
"Is that all you can do? Curl up like a turtle and hide?"
Lothar's voice, electric with fury, followed him relentlessly. His lightning-wreathed arm slashed through empty air as Malekith's form once again blurred into intangibility.
"It's useless! As long as this world exists, you'll NEVER defeat me!"
Finally abandoning the idea of directly clashing with Lothar, Malekith bought himself a few precious seconds of respite.
Through the pseudo-reality manipulation of Svartalfheim, Malekith believed he could outlast Lothar's high-energy form. He would simply wait until Lothar's Super Saiyan power burned out—then he would strike the finishing blow.
Malekith refused to believe that anyone could sustain such a reckless, energy-devouring transformation indefinitely.
There had to be a limit—whether it was physical stamina, energy reserves, or time constraints. He knew it.
As long as he endured, victory was inevitable.
He was certain of it!
"This world... huh?"
Another failed strike left Lothar staring upward into the storm-wracked skies, eyes sharpening with realization.
The Reality Stone—dependent on reality itself.
And given how Malekith used it, if Lothar destroyed the world that served as Malekith's spell platform, it would all fall apart, wouldn't it?
The Stone's "creation from nothing" had its limits. Lothar seriously doubted that Malekith alone could use a single Reality Stone to recreate an entire world from scratch.
"Then I'll destroy this world!"
His thunderous declaration exploded in the ears of both Hela and Malekith.
Golden-haired, burning with incandescent power, Lothar abandoned the chase. He rose into the darkened skies, muscles bulging, energy boiling!
"This... this lunatic..."
Hela stared, frozen, disbelief washing over her face.
"HAAH!"
"AAAAAAHHH!!!!"
Wrists clasped together, knees bent, veins bulging on his forehead, Lothar roared. The golden inferno engulfing his body swelled to new heights, his terrifying aura weighing down on every living soul in Svartalfheim.
"Dark Elves, Svartalfheim—ALL OF IT!"
With a feral roar, an earth-shattering energy beam erupted from Lothar's palms, blasting straight down—aiming directly for the planet's very core!
"Everything... shall return to NOTHING!!!"
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