"What's wrong? Won't we be able to get out?"
Clea looked at Alaric hesitantly.
"Ahem, what do you mean there's no way out? Of course I can get out."
Alaric coughed.
Luckily, there was still a way out, otherwise, if he were stuck in the World of Eternal Night, Clea could mock him forever.
Alaric opened a portal to the Polar Daylight World.
Previously, he could only use the Dark Dimension as a transit point to return to Earth, but ever since he created the Polar Daylight World based on the power of the Vishanti, Alaric no longer had to worry.
At least he wouldn't end up in the Dark Dimension again and get caught by Dormammu.
"Huh? This is… Such strong light!! ~"
Clea, who had arrived in the Polar Daylight World with Alaric, felt herself surrounded by a powerful white magic energy, everything felt unnatural.
Especially the intense golden light, it stung her eyes so much that she couldn't even open them.
Still, she wasn't Alaric; she couldn't handle two forces of opposing attributes at the same time.
"This is my other dimension, the Polar Daylight World. My god of white magic resides here."
Alaric said that and led Clea back to the temple.
"God of white magic… So, how strong are you really?"
Clea looked at Alaric in shock.
Is this still a human?
This isn't a normal power level for a sorcerer!
He possesses the power of both white and black magic, how did he even pull that off!?
Is he some kind of god or what!?
"How strong I am, I don't even know exactly myself, but, I am strong." Alaric nodded seriously.
"…" Clea moved her lips but ended up saying nothing.
I already know you're strong!
But how far does this "strong" go?
You say you can't beat Dormammu?
Now I'm starting to doubt that!!
"Alright, now that you have a source of magical power, I can teach you magic."
"Is it Kamar-Taj magic? Can I learn that too?" Clea asked excitedly.
"More or less. Basically, whether white or black magic, the spells themselves don't differ much, the only difference is in the power source. So don't worry."
Alaric was very knowledgeable about this.
Because at the beginning, he himself had two types of magical power at the same time.
And in addition, he understood the essence of energy and could convert the two types of magical energy as he pleased.
Not to mention that later, after understanding Odin's power, he created Supreme Power and integrated everything within himself; there's no longer any distinction between white and black magic.
"I understand!"
"First I'll show you around the temple, then you can pick a room for yourself."
Clea would, by all accounts, be staying here for a while.
Wait.
Alaric suddenly remembered a problem!
He already had a girlfriend!
Jane sometimes came to visit and he wanted to let Clea live here?
Would Jane be okay with that!?
Alaric got a little worried.
This smelled like a "household harem" situation!!
...
In London, Jane, who had continued studying astronomy and knowledge about the Nine Realms, suddenly sneezed.
"Did I catch a cold??" Jane rubbed her nose.
"I think someone's talking about you behind your back." Darcy joked from across the table.
"Of course, I have a boyfriend who remembers me, unlike you~"
"... You! Jane, I'm going to kill you! It's all your fault for stealing my boyfriend!!"
Darcy, whose ego was shattered, jumped at her.
Darcy still hadn't gotten over the fact that Jane and Alaric were together!
If only she had made the first move on Alaric when she met him, Jane wouldn't have stood a chance!!
...
In the secret base.
Loki stood aside, watching Erik assemble the device and thinking about his plan.
"Alaric…" Loki sighed helplessly.
Although he now had the Mind Scepter and a way to control Alaric, he was still worried: what if he never even got close enough to use it?
After all, everything he'd done so far, S.H.I.E.L.D. had surely already reported to Alaric.
And knowing Alaric's attitude toward him, he'd be lucky not to get beaten on the spot, let alone get close without raising suspicion.
So Loki wondered if there was another way.
"Alaric?"
Erik heard Loki say the name and reflexively responded.
"Hm? You know him too?" Loki raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, he's the boyfriend of one of my students."
"Your students? You mean Jane Foster?"
"You know Jane too? Yeah, that's who I mean." Erik nodded.
"Small world." Loki twisted his lips.
He hadn't expected that the professor he randomly kidnapped from S.H.I.E.L.D. would have ties to Alaric.
"Tell me, do you know any of Alaric's weaknesses?" Loki asked.
"Weaknesses? No, I've never met him personally." Erik shook his head.
"Rumor has it that Alaric likes beautiful women."
Hawkeye walked over and chimed in.
"Beauties? Do you have proof?"
"No. That's one of Fury's assessments, but it hasn't been confirmed."
Hawkeye shook his head.
"Also, lately he's gotten close to a new superheroine, Spider-Woman."
"Spider-Woman… beautiful woman…"
Loki stroked his chin, deep in thought.
If Alaric's weakness really was beauty, then Loki had an idea.
As he thought about it, Loki grinned wickedly.
Even though he didn't have solid confirmation yet, that woman might prove very useful to him.
"I'm heading out."
Loki took the Tesseract and vanished.
...
On Asgard, Thor stood at the edge of the destroyed Bifrost, gazing sadly at the starry sky below.
That was where Loki had fallen that day.
Though he clearly knew Loki might still be alive, he chose to let go.
And Thor had learned from Odin that Loki wasn't actually his biological brother, but that Odin had taken him from Jotunheim after defeating the Frost Giants.
But even so, Thor still considered Loki his brother, that hadn't changed.
Even if Loki had tried to kill him.
Thor was just… used to it.
"Thor."
"Father!"
Thor turned and greeted Odin, who was approaching.
"Still thinking about Loki? He's dead."
Odin now looked even older than before, his spirit visibly weakened.
He knew his end was near.
But luckily, Thor had matured after spending time on Earth, which reassured Odin.
Inwardly, he was grateful to Alaric, even though Alaric had almost led Thor down the wrong path!
"I know, Father."
"You're the one who must inherit the throne, don't let your emotions shake you. The most important thing is to repair the Bifrost as soon as possible and bring order to the Nine Realms."
Odin spoke seriously.
In the Nine Realms, after the destruction of the Bifrost, various groups began stirring up trouble; using the excuse that Asgard couldn't intervene, they launched rebellions and invasions of other worlds.
This worried both Odin and Thor.
"I understand, Father!"
"It's good that you understand… Hm? Is that… Loki?"
Odin suddenly stopped and looked toward the palace, sounding uncertain.
"Loki!? Where!?"
Thor's eyes lit up; whether it was true or not, he asked eagerly.
"He's in the prison."
"I'm going to see him!!"
Thor hurled Mjolnir and flew toward the dungeons.