"Welcome back, Master. I must say, your method of travel was... quite the spectacle."
Kagura blinked.
'Since when did Cortana get so good at sarcasm? Was she picking that up from J.A.R.V.I.S.?'
"Nice to see you again too, Cortana. You might not believe this, but I'm really not a fan of this kind of transportation."
She exhaled, then smiled faintly.
"But I'm glad to be back on Earth. Especially since... well, we've got a big problem right in front of us, and I don't think I can handle it alone."
"Master, another target appeared with you in Central Park. It seems extremely hostile toward you."
"Should I designate it as a hostile entity and eliminate it?"
"That's exactly what I was going to suggest," Kagura replied, a confident smile curling her lips as she locked eyes with the enemy charging her way.
"Alright, you big dumb bull, this is my home turf now. So you better brace yourself!"
"ROAAARR!!"
But the curse warrior who resembled a raging minotaur, now with one horn sliced clean off, didn't care about whose turf he was on.
All he knew was: the girl in front of him held the Aether.
All he needed to do was kill her, take the Aether, and present it to his master, Malekith. Then, the era of the Dark Elves would begin once more!
"Well, this ain't Asgard," Kagura muttered, stepping back coolly.
Her tone sharpened. "Cortana—open fire."
'WHOOSH—BOOM!'
A blazing light beam shot down from the sky, slamming into the charging warrior like a divine hammer.
"RUAAAH!!"
The ground erupted with fire and dirt.
The lush green lawn tore apart as black soil mixed with blazing flames scattered, forming a deep crater over a meter wide in Central Park's once-pristine landscape.
"Hah! That sniper algorithm's really paying off! I was kinda worried you'd hit me too, you know. Ehehe~!"
Over the past few months, while rebuilding and upgrading the Halo orbital station, Kagura had been refining the targeting algorithm for the electromagnetic railgun.
Now, the Hammer of Heaven railgun could accurately hit a target the size of a dinner plate when stationary—or a human-sized one moving under 60 km/h.
"I appreciate the praise, Master. The algorithm upgrades have proven effective. Battle data has been recorded accordingly."
"Good, but we're not done yet," Kagura said, brushing dirt off her uniform with a casual smirk.
"Activate the Troy drone units for the New York combat zone, and wake up any nearby Rhode Island Industries combat drones."
"I have a feeling this guy's not down for the count yet."
"Command confirmed. Your intuition was correct, the target has survived."
Sure enough, like an unstoppable nightmare, the curse warrior once again rose from the smoldering crater.
"Aether...! AETHER!! GIVE ME THE AETHER!! FOR THE DARK ELVES! FOR MALEKITH!!"
"Oh my god, do you ever say anything else?" Kagura groaned. "Even a paramecium has more vocabulary than you."
She narrowed her eyes.
"The Aether was never meant to be in your hands. And the universe doesn't belong to the Dark Elves. Why must you conquer it instead of coexisting with others?"
"ROAR!!"
Nope. Clearly not the kind of guy you could reason with. The beast thundered forward again with those relentless, tireless steps.
"Tch... just another brainless brute who knows nothing but war. Pathetic."
A brilliant blue glow coursed through the circuits on Kagura's suit—the signal that her White Moon combat suit was charging up.
She gripped her silver vibranium blade tightly, activating one of her signature combat abilities.
[Charged 3D Maneuvering: Activated]
'BOOM!'
The sudden sonic boom tore a spiraling black pattern into the grassy field.
Like a dancer in the wind, Kagura's elegant figure soared through the air.
She dodged the warrior's wild swings mid-air, flipped with impossible grace, and landed right behind him.
In a flash, her blade slashed deep into the back of his neck.
"RAAAHHH!!"
The warrior howled in pain, a real one this time. He finally felt it.
The blade shimmered.
Kagura didn't let up.
She morphed the vibranium blade into a thin, deadly silver needle, aiming straight for the fresh wound on his neck.
If brute force didn't work, then hit the weak spot. Over and over again.
Even a monster like him wouldn't survive decapitation.
[Charged 3D Maneuvering: Activated]
She burst forward again, moving faster than the eye could follow.
Circling the warrior in a dizzying pattern, she then struck ahead, appearing right in front of him, her blade flashing like lightning as she thrust toward the vulnerable point on his throat.
'ZNNNG—!!'
At that exact moment, the massive Troy drone platform floating above them unleashed a deafening wave of sonic interference, paralyzing everything below.
This specialized sonic wave was an evolution of the EE1D drone tech, engineered to disrupt neural transmissions with pinpoint frequency precision.
It interfered with the brain's ability to control the body, it was practically a generation ahead of its predecessor.
The paralyzing soundwaves unleashed by the "Troy" drone weren't just enough to incapacitate highly trained human soldiers, they could even affect beings as powerful as the Hulk.
"Raaaagh—!"
The cursed warrior's movements faltered as the paralyzing signal took hold, slowing him down noticeably.
Human tech might not yet be capable of fully subduing ancient super-soldiers born of dark elf science, but slowing them down? That much was now possible.
And in battles where lives hang by a thread, even a split-second delay can decide the victor.
The sonic disruption only worked on beings that relied on neural control of their bodies.
Automatons or entities driven by core energy? Totally unaffected.
Kagura moved like lightning—fast, fluid, and impossibly precise.
'CRACK!'
A flash of silver, and the world itself seemed to tear open.
Her vibranium blade pierced straight through the cursed warrior's throat, punching a gaping hole through the beast that looked like it had been forged from obsidian nightmares.
[Directional High-Energy Electromagnetic Pulse: Activated]
But Kagura wasn't done yet.
Without hesitation, she followed up with her most devastating attack.
An electric arc coated the blade, sizzling as it burned into the cursed warrior's wound.
The smell of scorched flesh filled the air.
The monster wasn't giving up without a fight.
Roaring in agony, he swung his claws wildly, desperate to land a final blow before going down.
Each swipe was fueled by rage, a last-ditch effort to fulfill his mission.
"Goodbye, you tragic war machine."
In that moment, Kagura slashed.
'CRACK!'
Then—silence.
Time froze.
A girl.
A beast.
Steel.
Lightning.
All locked in a single, perfect frame.
'SPLASH!'
Black blood sprayed into the air. The cursed warrior's burning red eyes finally dimmed.
'THUD.'
His headless body crumpled to the ground, drenching the already torn-up grass in an inky pool of death.
Kagura sheathed her blade with a soft click.
She stood still, her silver hair fluttering in the breeze. Her expression was calm, but her brows furrowed ever so slightly.
"…Was it worth it?"
"For your king's hollow ambition? For a personal vendetta that trampled over billions of lives across the galaxy?"
"You were your kind's greatest warrior… and you threw yourself into this madness without hesitation."
She stared down at the lifeless body.
"True loyalty should be about guiding your king back to the right path… not following him blindly into the abyss."
"Hatred… can never be destroyed. It can only be unraveled."
She paused, her voice turning firm.
"Under Malekith's rule, the Dark Elves will walk a road to certain extinction. Because survival doesn't lie in conquest. It lies in coexistence."
Kagura didn't understand why Malekith was so obsessed with plunging the universe into eternal darkness.
Even within the Dark Elves, there were those like Chise capable of living peacefully with other races.
Which meant the reason could only be one thing:
Malekith's pursuit of the Aether, his attack on Asgard, it was never truly about survival.
It was revenge. Plain and simple.
Pathetic. And laughably small-minded.
She looked up at the sky.
'You and your empty fantasies… I'll be the one to shatter them.'
"Cortana, prep the Rhodes Island Industrial Research Lab."
"I've brought something back that needs deep analysis. This could affect not just this planet… but the entire universe."
"Command received, Master."