While the battle raged on Earth, on the other side of the cosmos, another war was already starting.
Asgard.
The barrier shook from the first hit, and before the echo even died, alarms were already tearing through the golden city. Soldiers poured out of barracks, grabbing spears and shields, officers shouting over each other trying to get some kind of order going.
"The barrier is under attack — move! Spaceship sighted beyond the outer rim — generals to the front, everyone else form up!"
The courtyard filled with the thunder of boots and clanging armor.
Inside the throne room, though, the scene was something else.
Elric was sitting on the golden throne, and the current queen of Asgard was sitting in his lap. Hela dragged her nails slowly along his cheek, watching him.
"You really slept with that girl," she said. "The one called Wanda."
Her fingers drifted toward his neck.
"Yeah," Elric answered straight. He'd thought about hiding it, but if she was going to find out, she was going to find out.
"I liked her, so I slept with her. Problem?"
"You bastard." Her voice didn't rise, which was somehow worse. "Storm was one thing, but where did you even find this new girl?"
The thing about Hela was that acting submissive in front of her didn't work. The more you gave in, the more dominant she got. But equally, the more you didn't give in, the more she came around. Acting like an equal was the only thing that actually worked on her.
Elric caught her hand before her nails found his throat.
"She's not new. I knew her before I knew you."
Hela's eyes narrowed. "So you love her more than me."
"Does it matter?" His mouth found the curve of her neck. "I love you. Isn't that enough?"
"You— you—"
The alarm cut through the throne room walls before she could finish. Then Heimdall's voice rolled across all of Asgard.
"Asgard is under attack. The enemy has been identified as Thanos of Titan. All soldiers are ordered to defensive formation. Hold the line."
Hela exhaled. "Seems you were right."
"That stupid brother really came all the way here," Elric said. "What do you think his plan is?"
"I don't know — maybe he'll show up at the end, beat Thanos, and let everyone call him the hero of Asgard."
"Anyway," Hela said, "what do we do? Go out there and kill them all? I haven't had a good fight in a long time."
"Don't underestimate Thanos." The lightness left his voice. "He has the Mind Stone right now. An Infinity Stone."
Hela considered that. "Can I win against him? As I am now?"
"Probably. Depends on how well he's learned to use the stone. But the thing is, he came all the way to Asgard because something already went wrong for him. The plot he thought he was following doesn't exist anymore."
Elric had already messed up the entire sequence of events before Thanos could even get started, so he wasn't entirely sure this was still the movie universe he remembered. But that didn't matter too much.
Not after absorbing the Phoenix Force.
His power had already been propelled to a whole different level. And the key word was absorbed — not hosted. There was a difference. Hosts could lose it. He had directly absorbed and digested the Phoenix Force, which came with its own set of pros and cons.
The cons: large scale matter manipulation, gone. Manipulating universal rules, gone. Most of the flashy Phoenix Force abilities, gone.
The pros were better.
Because he had digested it rather than hosted it, there was no risk of it suddenly leaving one day. And more importantly, his energy had improved both qualitatively and quantitatively. Things that had been flat out impossible before — like shrinking an Infinity Stone with his dojutsu — he could do that now. He could shrink conceptual attacks. And the time stop ability he had never been able to use before, he could now stop time for the entire universe.
So Thanos wasn't something that worried him.
What he was actually thinking about was the shape of things to come.
Conquering Earth in its purest form was still the obsession — leading Sokovia to rule the world. The plan had changed shape countless times along the way, but it was still on track.
And feeling the weight on his lap, he thought that Asgard was also pretty much already in the bag. Which meant the Nine Realms came with it.
While he was at it, should he just conquer the whole universe? The multiverse even?
He turned it over and set it down. Too much work, no real reason to. Besides, he had already carried some very useful people up to universe power scale. Now it was their turn to be useful — especially Kevin from the Ben 10 universe, who had access to Alien X.
"Alright Hela, let's go greet your guests."
"Before you go," Elric said with a strange smile, "let me give you some buffs first."
What followed was not quick. He poured enhancement after enhancement into her, methodically, watching them stack and settle.
Divine Tyrant's Body. Heaven-Splitting Aura. Absolute War Dominion. Eclipse Dragon Skin. Throne of the Immortal King. Celestial Battle Invocation. Black Sun Enhancement. Sacred Fortress Physique. Infinite Mana Overflow. Godslayer's Blessing. Crimson Emperor's Pulse. Voidwalker Acceleration. Eternal Valkyrie Blessing. Abyssal Overdrive. Monarch-Class Reinforcement. Astral Titan Manifestation. Soul Fortress Armor. Chaos Crown Awakening. Supreme Magic Amplification. Deathless Hero Enhancement. Heavenly Demon Ascension. Arcane Catastrophe Drive. Phantom King's Protection. Infernal Legion Empowerment. Absolute Status Ascension.
Defense: Adamantine Sanctuary. Dimensional Barrier Field. Divine Steel Body. Anti-Reality Protection.
Attack: Greater Weapon Authority. Supreme Physical Boost. Ruin God Enhancement. Apocalypse Strengthening.
Speed: Lightning Phantom Step. Temporal Reflex Acceleration. Divine Wind Movement. Hyperion Speed Blessing.
Magic: Ultimate Arcane Boost. World-Class Mana Expansion. Astral Mind Enhancement. Infinite Spell Capacity.
And finally: Undead Sovereign's Grace. Aura of the Silent Grave. Necro Emperor's Blessing. Eclipse of Death Aura.
He felt the drain on his energy pool and wanted to keep going, but stopped himself. Almost unlimited mana was no joke, and when Hela's necromancer class synced with something on the level of Momonga himself, there really wasn't much left to say.
He looked at her. Hela standing there, fully buffed, looking like a elden ring boss.
Thanos was the final villain of this universe. That deserved some respect at least.