Technomancer in MCU #112

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Chapter 112

Technomancer in MCU

Royal Palace, Asgard

–Alfred–

Well, that went well. He was actually quite glad that he was able to perfectly control all autonomous reactions that his body would give when he was feeling different types of emotions. He was actually quite nervous when he was presenting rough information about the bulk of their forces to Odin. 

It was nerve-wracking because, even now, he could feel the connection Odin had to his Odin Force and the terrifyingness of that Force was something that could not be ignored, even at Odin's advanced age. If he so wished, he could probably wipe out the entirety of Earth in one go, at the age he was at. It would seem that the Norse Mythology about Asgardians growing only stronger with the passage of time was true.

And since that was proven true, he would actually love to take Thor with him to train with Jane in the time dilation bubble that they were going to train in, with Strange of course. It would no doubt immensely accelerate the timeline at which Thor's body was becoming accustomed to the energy stored within his body and turn him into an absolute powerhouse that could help stop Thanos, this time, once and for all.

Judging from the reactions of Odin and Frigga, they were understandably cautious about the firepower they had access to but in the current circumstances, they had no choice but to swallow their objections and agree to putting all of their powers together to defeat the evil that was plaguing the universe, The Mad Titan, Thanos.

"By the way, how did you guys come to know of Thanos?" He asked them the question that had been brewing in his mind. The most obvious answer would have been through Loki once they had inspected the signs of mind magic on him but then, he remembered the pride and arrogance that Loki had about being the Master of Magic on Asgard so he crossed out that option because Loki would never willingly declare his weakness to others, even if they were his adopted parents.

"How does anybody else know of the Mad Titan? From one of the many refugee waves that found their way into the nine realms once their civilisations collapsed after half of their people died," Odin scoffed as he once again looked into the distance vacantly. Frigga nodded beside him.

"And….what about Loki?" He asked them hesitantly because he was not the only one who had noticed the increased respect that the Second Prince of Asgard, Loki, enjoyed at this point in time. From Ed's memories and even from Thor's testimonies, they were sure about the treatment that Loki received from the locals of Asgard. If it had to be described in a way, it felt as if the entire country of Asgard had seemingly forgotten their previous disdain for the ways of magic and had embraced Loki to be another warrior just as capable as Thor, who, in their objective opinion, was much stronger, at least at this point in time.

"What of him?" Odin's gaze snapped towards him, his earlier vacant gaze all but gone. Frigga's eyes had an uncomfortable intensity when she looked at him at the same time as Odin.

All his calculations told him that clearing this would be the best thing to do before the eventual battle but his senses were warning him that the people in front of him were very tightly wound about that topic and it would be better to avoid that topic since one of them was going to die during the ritual anyway and the other one would not be as big of a threat without the other. It should not be forgotten that the reason Frigga was so feared across the nine realms and beyond as The Witch of Asgard was not just because of her vast knowledge and skills in the mystic arts, it was also because she was capable of causing just as, if not more damage than Odin, using the Odin Force. Yes, He had read all about it in the personal diaries of the Ancient One that she had bestowed upon him. In the centuries that they had been together, Frigga and Odin had devised some sort of symbiotic spell series that allowed Frigga to borrow or use the Odin Force without relying on Odin's presence. With the Odin Force being a near-endless well of power, Frigga could cast her deadly spells practically innumerable times, turning her into a one-woman army, capable of crushing most civilisations all by herself. Add in her knowledge of esoteric knowledge that was said to have surpassed even the Ancient One's, his mind was clearly telling him that pissing off Frigga, who loves her sons the most, would be the worst thing he could do at the moment, especially since Odin seems to be on her side at the moment.

"...I suppose you know of what happened when Loki fell off the–" 

"Yes, we are more than aware of what that fiend did to our son," Odin said as Frigga's fists clenched, both of their presences pressing down on the room, making it creak in protest. Frigga then continued, "And he will pay for what he did and I will be there to see it happen. He will not get the salvation he so seeks, I will make sure of it," Frigga said and at that moment, the dark aura that was coming out of her made him realise that they were going to win. No matter what, they were going to win and Thanos was going to lose. With or without Ed, these people are not going to stop and with the dark look that Frigga had in her eyes, she would probably go to the edge of madness itself to safeguard her sons.

Oh, Thanos was done for. There was no way he was going to even get the stones for his…guant….let.

SHIT!

His eyes widened as a series of curses escaped his mouth. He immediately cast a series of spells, manifesting thousands of magic circles in the throne room, unheeding of the startled states of both Frigga and Odin.

"What is this?" Odin exclaimed as he stood up with Frigga, Gungnir in his hand.

He ignored his question as he continued to draw rune after rune in the air and then once his entire vision was filled with them, he closed his eyes and floated cross-legged in the air as the magic circles slowly started converging on his body, eventually branding them on his skin, making an odd metallic sizzling smell that made his entire body go taut in pain but he soldiered on, heedless of the pain. It was important that he be sure that his body and soul were not in any state of haze.

He hesitated for the slightest bit when the largest rune slowly came to brand itself on his brain, essentially on his brain but the risks made him go ahead with the procedure that he had essentially modified on the spot to meet his requirements. He had to check. 

So, he took the last step and branded his very soul with the rune. As soon as he was branded with the rune, his mouth opened as he let out a soundless scream of pain, the magical interference ripping apart the throne room until a series of barriers came alive around him. Even still, his magic ripped apart nearly all of them, only the last of the barrier was intact once the magical backlash his body was experiencing, subsided to normal levels.

–Frigga–

"What was that?" Her husband asked him in deathly quiet whispers once the magical rioting stopped as they looked at the remains of the strongest barrier spell that they could cast together. The power they could collectively bring to bear should have been enough to contain even someone like Hela yet the spell's barriers remained tattered as they looked at Alfred who was floating in the center of an indescribably complex runic spell, his face contorted in pain. He had been speaking to them about their son's brief imprisonment by Thanos, a sensitive topic for both of them when his eyes suddenly widened in realisation and before they knew it, Alfred was casting perhaps the most complex runic spell she had seen in all her years alive, casting the entire room in a white glow.

She could see runes from multiple power systems being cast in unison which was supposed to be impossible simply because a single being could manipulate energy from a single energy system at any single time, at best but Alfred's body was glowing with a rainbow of colours as he cycled through dozens of energy types to cast thousands of runes that then went on to fill the entirety of their vision. She stopped her husband from doing something because she had seen the way Alfred's face contorted in desperation and panic as he cast hundreds of runes a second to do something. 

They would not have been able to stop something even if they wished. Seeing it through was the only option they had. So, they watched with bated breaths as the runes Alfred had cast eventually branded themselves on his skin. It must have been very painful for him as she could see his skin actually burning due to the magical brands. Even if Alfred could turn off his sense of smell, the marks would not get away, that much she knew. As beings reached their levels, the power of their souls could influence their bodies to look a certain way and with the brands Alfred had cast on himself, even if he did build himself a new body, the brands would eventually return on his new body as well.

She had actually gasped once she realised what Alfred was doing. He was actually going to brand his own soul with the runes. For what reason, she did know yet there was nothing she could do but watch as Alfred, the Guardian of the Singularity, arguably one of the strongest and most important people in the universe, mutilated his own soul for something that he deemed worthy.

Then, he had opened his mouth as the pain must have been too much, causing them to cast their unison barrier spell. When they had first felt the magic building up in the center, both of them realised that there was nothing they could do individually to stop that magical explosion, at least not without invoking the Odin Force, something that her husband's body could not handle at the moment. So, they cast one of the unison barrier magics that they had developed together, casting Alfred in a crystalline pattern that mimicked the shape of the petals of a flower. Even then, it was not enough as the magical explosion destroyed their petals one by one until only a small tattered layer was left.

She had felt her husband was on the verge of using his Odin FOrce when the explosion died down, leaving Alfred who had collapsed into the center of the room.

She and Odin both looked at each other before she rushed to Alfred, casting every diagnostic spell she knew on him. None of the physical diagnostic spells returned anything except the scars and burns due to the runes branded on his skin and his mind was in shock from the pain of everything eventually overwhelming even his superior mind.

It was actually the diagnostics she got from his soul that gave her pause. It was branded by a rune that could only loosely translated as "cleanse, banish, and reset". It was a butchery of runes from Old Greek and Norse runes but the effect of it was unclear. She could see that Alfred's soul was untainted at the moment but why would he cast that rune on his soul?

Was his soul "tainted" somehow? If so, how did that happen, and most importantly, was someone else involved?

And why could Alfred not absolve his soul from any impurities by himself? He was one of the most accomplished sorcerers in the field of souls due to his obsessing with Ed's continued safety and yet Alfred felt the need to cast such a complex spell that combined the power of a dozen powers systems along with energy from multiple infinity stones to do something to his soul.

"No. No!" She looked up at Odin as he looked aghast at something.

"What happened?" She asked him only for him to bang Gungnir on the ground, casting a reverberating gong that must have been heard by everyone on Asgard. 

Her eyes widened as she recognised that specific reverberation. It was only done when there was an emergency mobilisation of troops by the King, usually done during surprise attacks on the Nine Realms.

She was about to ask him what had happened when the next words that came out of his mind chilled her blood, "It's Thanos. He was just seen leaving Nidavellir."

Nidavellir? Why would he attack them? Did he want some sort of weapon?

"What happen-"

"Only Eitri is left alive," Odin said in sadness as he slumped down on the steps of the throne room, looking utterly done with everything. Even though he looked resigned, she could feel the burning embers of rage that filled his very being.

Thanos was not going to survive this. He had made far too many powerful enemies and she for one, was not known for leaving her enemies alive.

Word Count - 2277

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