Garus asked, "Can't they hold out until we arrive?"
Heimdall shook his head with a wry smile. Alfheim had already shrunk to less than a fifth of its original size, with countless fragments of land drifting around it. He could hear the anguished cries of its inhabitants.
They couldn't allow those creatures to consume the realm—it would spell disaster.
Garus fell into thought. From what he had observed, these creatures possessed an ability to evolve through devouring. If left unchecked, their development could lead to unpredictable consequences.
However, he had never been to Alfheim and had no means to open a portal there.
Pietro, who happened to be passing by, overheard the conversation. "Garus, during the last battle in New York, I grabbed that device from the top of Stark Tower and stored it in the warehouse. You still have the Space Stone, right? Could we use the device to open a direct portal?"
The device built by Dr. Selvig was designed to activate the Space Stone and stabilize a spatial gateway. However, it required a connection between both ends of the portal.
"Wait a moment." Heimdall's eyes glowed with an orange radiance. "Thor is reaching out to me."
After a brief exchange, Heimdall spoke again. "I can link my mind with Thor's and use the Space Stone to open a passage to Alfheim."
There was no better option. At their current pace, the combined forces of the three races might not last until they arrived.
Garus clapped Pietro on the shoulder. "Let's go, Pietro. Take us to the warehouse."
The warehouse was tucked away in a dimly lit corner, cluttered with discarded objects, most of which appeared to be remnants of unknown creatures. The eerie atmosphere was unsettling.
Carefully stepping over a severed limb on the floor, Pietro grumbled, "Connor keeps dumping all kinds of junk in here."
After rummaging for a while, they finally found the device buried under a pile of debris. A layer of dust had settled over it, but it should still be functional.
Summoning an undead servant to carry the device, they ascended to the top platform.
At Garus' signal, the floating city and five Legion warships came to a halt. They had only covered half the distance to their destination.
He retrieved his weapon—Frostmourne—where the Space Stone was embedded. However, it couldn't be removed.
"Heimdall, the stone cannot be detached."
Frostmourne, radiating an aura of death, was not a weapon just anyone could wield. The moment Heimdall touched it, he felt his very soul freezing.
Garus drove Frostmourne into the device, activating the Space Stone. A brilliant blue beam shot skyward, gradually widening into a portal.
On the battlefield, a corresponding blue rift appeared above, drawing the attention of both allies and enemies.
"Our reinforcements have arrived!" Thor, though visibly exhausted, smiled with relief as he descended from the sky.
Loki, constantly teleporting, drove a dagger into an advancing insectoid beast. Green blood splattered over him. "Brother, are you sure your friends can handle these creatures? They're far deadlier than the Chitauri. This whole ordeal has been a nightmare."
"They're here!"
The Elven King's voice rang across the battlefield, amplified by magic. "Warriors, our reinforcements have arrived! Hold your ground a little longer, and we will drive these abominations from our homeland! For Yggdrasil!"
"For Yggdrasil!" The Elves roared in unison, their spirits rekindled. They had been on the verge of despair.
The Elven King still perceived humans as they had been thousands of years ago, believing only a select few magi possessed true power.
Many of the elven soldiers assumed the reinforcements would be dwarves or gnomes.
Their enemies, however, were not so easily deceived. Annihilus, the leader of the insectoid swarm, raised his gaze skyward.
After a long pause, he saw nothing emerge from the rift—only that it was continuing to expand.
This delay was unavoidable. Naxxramas was simply too massive to pass through the portal in an instant.
"Take a swarm and enter that rift. Nothing stops the Brood." Annihilus clutched his Cosmic Control Rod, nearly finished regenerating his injuries. He was growing impatient after being stalled for so long.
A Brood general nodded and led a large force of winged creatures toward the portal.
The moment the portal opened, the assembled heroes took notice. They gathered on the city's upper platform, but all they saw was the endless void of space. They had not yet reached their destination.
"Why have we stopped?" Tony Stark asked, puzzled. "We haven't arrived yet, have we? Are we really going to jump through a space tunnel mid-flight?"
Garus pointed upward. "Yes. The portal is open, but it's not large enough yet. We need to wait a bit longer."
"In that case, I'll scout ahead." Tony was growing restless. There were no luxuries, no lab equipment to tinker with.
Well, there were Wanda and a few other mutants, but he was smart enough not to provoke them.
Liquid red metal seeped from his skin, forming his sleek Iron Man armor—Mark 46, the Bleeding Edge suit.
"That armor is amazing!" Peter Parker exclaimed. "I wish I had one like it. But, Mr. Stark, doesn't it feel weird having the suit inside your body?"
"Not at all." Although Tony no longer suffered from the paranoia that plagued him after the Battle of New York, the completion of the Bleeding Edge armor gave him peace of mind. "Once this is over, I'll make you a Spider Suit. Piece of cake."
"Really? That'd be awesome!"
"Of course. No problem." Tony had a soft spot for the young Peter.
As the thrusters on his suit ignited, preparing to propel him through the rift, Garus suddenly called out, "Wait, Tony—"
Before he could finish, Tony halted on his own.
"Is this what you meant by a swarm?" Tony muttered in astonishment. "They really can survive in the vacuum of space."
Low temperature, near-zero pressure, cosmic radiation—most life forms couldn't endure such conditions.
Yet the sky above them teemed with countless insectoid creatures pouring through the portal.
They hadn't even crossed over yet—the swarm had reached them first.
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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— PATREON.COM / PRIMALDEMON