Chapter: 180

Frigga steadily picked up the sealing container and approached the completely separated Aether from Jane's body. Before it could react, she directly placed it into the container, completing the sealing process.

"Phew..." Seeing everything settled, Frigga let out a long breath. After gently placing down the container, she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Looking at Jane, who was still lying on the bed and hadn't woken up yet, her complexion had regained a hint of rosy color. It was estimated that within a few days, her own restorative abilities would completely eliminate the negative effects caused by the Aether.

However, just as Frigga relaxed and before she could catch her breath and restore her own magical power, the doors of the chamber were forcefully blasted open.

Bang! The enormous doors shattered, and in front of Frigga appeared a masked warrior even taller and more robust than Thor. Beside him was a lean and pale-faced man.

"Stand back, monsters! I Will not spare your lives——"

Frigga's reaction was swift. Upon sensing the hostility of the intruders, she immediately placed the container with the sealed Aether into her pocket.

Since her magical power had been depleted while separating the Aether from Jane, she could only draw the short sword from her waist, hoping to intimidate the two individuals before her.

"I have been very lucky, woman—" But Frigga's threats had no effect on Malekith. As the leader of the Dark Elves, who once dominated the battlefields and forced the other Nine Realms to unite against him, how could he fear the threat of a seemingly weak woman?

"Who are you? Why have you invaded my chamber?"

Seeing that the enemies not only showed no signs of retreating but also arrogantly closed the distance between them, Frigga remained composed.

She firmly grasped the sword with her arm, her feet moved, protecting Jane behind her while ensuring that the enemies remained in front, avoiding being vulnerable from any direction.

At the same time, Frigga attempted to gather more information about the enemies through conversation. She had no prior knowledge of the opponents she faced.

The appearances of these two individuals were different from any race in the Nine Realms, and their appearances were vastly dissimilar as well.

However, Frigga managed to gather some useful information. Based on their pointed ears, she determined that both individuals belonged to a branch of the Elven race.

"I am Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves. I have come to reclaim something that belongs to me. Now, you had better return what you just put away to me, witch!"

Frigga's hidden intentions couldn't escape Malekith, who had experienced countless years. But he didn't mind revealing his identity since the return of the Dark Elves to the world would be announced sooner or later. So even if he told Frigga his name now, it didn't matter.

"You can forget about that!" Frigga was well aware of the danger of the Aether. She couldn't possibly hand over such a dangerous weapon to someone who could threaten the safety of the Nine Realms.

Knowing that there was no room for reconciliation, Frigga gave her final answer and decided to strike first. Raising her sword high, she charged directly at Malekith.

Swish!

The sharp sword light illuminated Malekith's face, and the powerful gust caused by the sword's blade tearing through the air stung the cheeks. This sudden and swift strike narrowly missed Malekith's chest.

But relying on years of experience gained from the battlefield and a keen sense of danger, Malekith narrowly avoided that nearly fatal strike.

After evading Frigga's attack, Malekith quickly stepped back, his gaze filled with fear rather than the initial contempt for the woman who posed no threat to his life.

Although Malekith retreated, Frigga couldn't allow him a moment to catch his breath. She now faced two formidable enemies, and if they found an opportunity to attack her together, she would have almost no chance of turning the tables.

Frigga took several big steps forward, continuously executing sword techniques of hacking and thrusting, forcing Malekith to barely defend himself. Nonetheless, he still sustained some injuries, deep sword marks on his arms and body, demonstrating Frigga's formidable strength.

One could truly say that she was a woman befitting a queen. She excelled not only in domestic affairs and raising children but also in horseback riding and warfare. To become the goddess and queen whom all of Asgard respected and admired, it took more than just personal charisma; she had to possess genuine skills and abilities.

However, after her attack failed to yield results, Frigga ceased her offensive. While she had cornered Malekith, their continuous retreat had allowed the two enemies to converge. If she continued pursuing them, she would face the danger of being surrounded on both sides, risking not only her own life but also the possibility of the Aether being taken by the enemy, leading to even greater crises.

Seeing that Frigga had stopped her assault, Malekith would not easily let her go. Now that he had the upper hand, he needed to swiftly resolve the battle and seize the Aether. Otherwise, if Odin or other Asgardian soldiers arrived, his plan might be thwarted, and he would lose the opportunity to reclaim the Aether.

Through the recent confrontation, Malekith had also observed that Frigga had intentionally positioned herself between him, the other man, and the woman on the bed. It was clear that she had reservations about protecting the other woman's safety.

Since that was the case, he had to exploit this weakness. Malekith exchanged a glance with the cursed warrior beside him, indicating the direction towards Jane. The cursed warrior immediately understood his intention, nodded, and bypassed Frigga, heading straight for Jane's location.

Meanwhile, Malekith continued to engage Frigga, keeping her too occupied to focus on anything else.

"Stop!" As expected, after Malekith and his companion made their move, Frigga's expression immediately turned chaotic as she tried to prevent the cursed warrior from approaching Jane.

But Malekith would not allow her to succeed.

Seeing the cursed warrior drawing near Jane, Frigga grew increasingly anxious but had no means to stop him. However, at that moment, as if by a twist of fate, a vulnerability suddenly appeared in Malekith's attack.

Frigga, who was desperately eager, wouldn't miss such an opportunity. With a horizontal sweep of her sword, she created distance between herself and Malekith, swiftly lunging behind the cursed warrior, intending to prevent him from harming Jane.

However, in the instant she arrived beside the cursed warrior, his hand that had been reaching for Jane suddenly clenched into a fist and changed its trajectory, striking Frigga's abdomen.

Bang! Frigga, completely unable to defend herself, was sent flying by the force of the punch, crashing into the wall of the chamber before coming to a stop.

Puh... As a result of the blow, Frigga couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. Her right hand, which had tightly gripped the sword hilt, now trembled, and she appeared utterly weakened.

As it turned out, the opening Malekith revealed earlier was nothing more than a deliberately set trap, designed to lure Frigga into it. The cursed warrior's target from the beginning had been Frigga herself, not Jane Foster.

After Frigga completely fell into their scheme, the cursed warrior immediately redirected his attack, resulting in the heavy punch just now.

Seeing Frigga, who could only support herself against the wall, Malekith's face revealed a cold smile. "Now it's my turn to speak. Surrender the Aether you have on you, and I may spare your life. Otherwise, I'll have to take what I want from your lifeless body!"

"I'll say it again—you can forget about that!" Frigga knew that even if she staked her own life, she could not hand over the Aether to him for the sake of the safety of the Nine Realms.

Just as Frigga made up her mind to use the Tesseract to transfer the Aether and sacrifice herself along with the two opponents, a figure suddenly rushed into the chamber at an extremely high speed.

Frigga only had time to catch a glimpse of a blur before a loud explosion sounded in her ears. She saw that the spot where Malekith and the cursed warrior had been standing was now empty.

Then, she heard a familiar voice beside her. "Apologies for being late, Your Highness."

The person was none other than Mark, who had rushed here as quickly as possible. He had spotted Malekith preparing to harm Frigga from a distance and, while accelerating towards them, controlled the nanobots within his body to form two floating cannon bodies, launching an attack against Malekith and the cursed warrior.

Although Frigga had been seriously injured, Mark arrived just in time, preventing the tragedy from unfolding.

"Your Highness, stay by Jane's side and wait for me. Once I subdue those two, I'll help you recover from your injuries."

After saying that, Mark walked towards Malekith and the cursed warrior, who had been blasted into the wall by his earlier attack.

As he took a few steps forward, before Mark could approach the two, a massive chunk of stone suddenly flew out from the wall, aiming directly at his head.

Mark quickly reacted and raised his hand to block the incoming stone. Bang! The enormous stone collided with Mark's arm but shattered into pieces without causing any harm.

The dust generated from the shattered stone obstructed Mark's vision. He immediately activated the holographic interface of his nanobots to enhance his visual perception.

In Mark's holographic sight, the two individuals who had emerged from the wall did not seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on him. Instead, they approached the activation device of the Tesseract. Before Mark could fully comprehend their intentions, Malekith and the cursed warrior, together with the Tesseract, leaped from the terrace of the chamber and escaped.

"If you want to retrieve your Tesseract, bring the Aether to the Dark World and find me there!"

Watching Malekith and the cursed warrior board their ship and fly away from Asgard, Mark felt that things were unfolding in a direction he couldn't predict.

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