Although these corpses, in varying states of decay, appeared outwardly similar to the [Frost Giants], a closer inspection revealed their ashen, rigid, deep-blue skin riddled with countless festering green and filthy brown pustules.
Furthermore, a repulsive pus constantly oozed from their hollow eye sockets, and many corpses bore a single horn sprouting from their foreheads.
These were the distinctive marks left by the [Soul Rot], personally developed by [Nurgle]!
The so-called [Soul Rot] is, in fact, a terrifying plague that, with the slightest contact, simultaneously inflicts dual torment upon the infected's body and soul.
And those unfortunate souls tormented to death by the [Soul Rot] would, within their damaged [Soul Essence], give birth to a new horde of loathsome, low-level demons.
The longer the infected endures the torment, the stronger the demon born from their [Soul Essence] becomes.
In other words, this plague not only possesses extreme contagiousness but also undergoes 'secondary reproduction,' making it impossible to completely eradicate the enemy!!
“Heh heh…”
Thor swung [Mjolnir], directly shattering dozens of [Nurgle Plague Walkers] that rushed before him.
Even though his armor and the dashing red cloak on his back were splattered with festering green blood teeming with billions of viruses, he remained unfazed, nonchalantly stating:
“Tch, is that all there is to it? This kind of thing has no effect on me whatsoever…”
This wasn't Thor boasting; possessing both the blood of the King of Gods and the [Power of the Thunder God], his constitution far surpassed that of other Asgardians.
He not only possessed an almost freakish resilience but was also completely immune to various negative attacks like viruses, radiation, and poisonous gas.
That's right, not high resistance, but direct immunity!
Therefore, he naturally didn't take these [Nurgle Plague Walkers] seriously.
No matter how many appeared, they were nothing more than useless living targets to him!
But this time, he was destined to pay a heavy price for his arrogance… because the one 'releasing the poison' was [Nurgle]!!
Although the [Soul Rot] was merely a useless scum floating on the uppermost layer of Father Nurgle's delicious soup pot, its effect was still extraordinary.
Because nearly all plagues created under [Nurgle]'s meticulous concoction possessed the dual effect of simultaneously attacking the flesh and the soul.
After all, no one understood the energy of life and the despair of the soul better than [Nurgle]!!
So, while Thor successfully immunized himself against the [Soul Rot]'s physical infection, he couldn't immunize himself against the [Soul Rot]'s torment of his soul.
It was just that, due to his soul energy being extremely powerful, the [Soul Rot]'s influence on his soul wouldn't manifest in the short term.
“Heh heh, you’re right.”
Malekith sneered maliciously, “These [Plague Bearers] indeed don’t have much of an effect on you, but have you forgotten that not all [Asgardians] possess such a powerful body as you…?”
“Hmm?”
Thor suddenly realized something, following Malekith's gaze to look behind him.
He saw that the attacking formation, originally composed of over three hundred Asgardian warriors, had dwindled to fewer than twenty who still maintained a standing defensive posture in such a short time.
They leaned on each other, forming a small circular formation with their shields and greatswords, desperately resisting the onslaught of the zombie horde like duckweed on water…
And in the center of the circle were a dozen or so warriors who had suddenly started bleeding from all seven orifices for some unknown reason, completely losing their ability to fight and teetering on the brink of death.
Anyone could see that neither the nearly twenty Asgardian warriors guarding the outer circle nor the dying wounded in the inner circle could hold on for much longer.
As for the others, they had either had their heads blown apart by the [Chaos Cursed Warriors] or been directly engulfed by the swarming zombie army, ultimately becoming objects of their ravenous consumption.
Thor even saw many Asgardian warriors in the zombie horde whose bodies had been mostly devoured but had been completely transformed into zombies.
Malekith was right; even if Thor was truly immune to all poisons and could resist the plague viruses carried by these zombies, the Asgardian warriors who had come with him couldn't.
Even if they possessed a physique three times stronger than humans, and had unwavering will and physical qualities, they were all equal before Father Nurgle's personally brewed virus…!!!
…
[Prestige +777, +777, +777… ]
[Detected collectable souls, Subspace soul count +1, +1, +1… ]
…
“Damn it!”
Seeing this, Thor was immediately enraged. He spun [Mjolnir] again, then directly invoked the [Power of the Thunder God] within his body, attempting to help the remaining Asgardian warriors out of their predicament.
However, before he could finish his pre-spell incantation, the [Nurgle Plague Walkers] that he had just shattered on the ground miraculously stood up one by one.
Their mangled limbs were also regenerating at an astonishing speed visible to the naked eye.
“This… could this be [Black Magic]?!”
Thor was truly shocked this time; this scene was even more unscientific than his [Power of the Thunder God].
They had clearly been shattered into that state just now, yet they could regenerate?
How could they fight this?
Malekith sneered and said, “Give up, Asgardian. [Life] and [Death] are merely toys in Father Nurgle's hands…”
“I really don’t believe it!”
Thor then spun [Mjolnir] again, using the [Power of the Thunder God] to summon bolts of lightning from the sky, directly blasting those [Nurgle Plague Walkers] who had just gotten up into exploding sludge.
During this process, Malekith on the opposite side showed no intention of intervening or attacking, instead adopting a spectator's stance, allowing Thor to frantically show off his skills.
“I don't believe they can revive this time?”
In just a few breaths, after Thor had eliminated all the [Nurgle Plague Walkers] in front of him, he raised [Mjolnir] and pointed it remotely at Malekith on the opposite side, saying:
“You wait for me, I'll deal with you later…”
Malekith didn't speak, only making a 'please' gesture towards Thor from afar.
However, when Thor turned to look behind him, he found that the position where the nearly twenty Asgardian warriors who had been forming a circle and desperately resisting the impact of the zombie horde had stood was now completely submerged by countless [Nurgle Plague Walkers].
Thor could only barely see a patch of runic armor stained with blood and black-green pus, faintly visible between the feet of the corpse horde on the ground.
Yes, none of the Asgardian warriors he had brought survived!
“Damn it, how… how could this happen?”
A hint of sorrow and indignation flashed in Thor's eyes, and the sounds of long-drawn-out funeral bells seemed to ring in his ears.
But Thor didn't feel decadent or frustrated because of this, because he knew that the souls of these brave Asgardian warriors who had died valiantly on the battlefield would be led into [Valhalla] to receive the worship of all Asgardians.
This was the greatest honor for every Asgardian!!
It was just that Thor's idea was destined to fail.
Because the souls of these Asgardian warriors had already been forcibly plundered from [Valhalla]'s hands and brought into the [Subspace], becoming new employees (oxen) and workers (horses) working for Karl!
“Ma, le, kith!!!!”
Thor let out a roar filled with sorrow and indignation, then threw [Mjolnir] in his hand with all his might, flying straight towards Malekith like an arrow released from a bowstring, “I must kill you today.”
Bang—
Accompanied by a huge muffled sound, the [Mjolnir] thrown by Thor was casually swatted away by Malekith.
And this time, the blood-red runes symbolizing [Khorne] lit up on Malekith's forehead!
A steady stream of power flowed from the [Khorne Runes] into his body, and this new body, remodeled by subspace energy, allowed Malekith to withstand far more power blessings than Spider-Gwen.
Now, his strength was far greater than the strongest [Cursed Warrior] Algrim.
Therefore, even if his personal guards were not by his side, he was still not afraid of Thor, who had awakened the [Power of the Thunder God].
“Heh heh…”
“Aah aah…”
The countless [Nurgle Plague Walkers] around them, like a pack of wolves waiting to devour their prey, swayed their decaying bodies and slowly surrounded Thor's location.
Their eyes, flashing with a ghostly green light, were filled with greed and desire for life and fresh flesh.
Boom—
However, just as Thor recalled [Mjolnir] and prepared to rush over to fight Malekith, a jet-black [Dark Energy] suddenly pierced through space and descended from the sky, directly enveloping Thor within it.
By the time he came to his senses, he found that he had already returned to [Asgard].
"Father, I haven't killed that damned guy yet. Why did you have to forcibly bring me back?"
Thor, unable to vent the anger in his heart, roared at Odin across from him, not noticing the blood that the latter had just wiped from the corner of his mouth, and his face that was so pale it was almost bloodless.
Thwack—
Queen Frigga raised her hand and gave Thor a resounding slap, then rebuked him in a cold voice, "Did you want me and your father to watch you die in Jotunheim as well?"
"But... Mother, I haven't avenged those fallen Asgardian warriors yet!" Thor argued, looking aggrieved.
"Enough."
At this moment, Odin roared weakly. His pale hands, strained from excessive force, clenched the Gungnir tightly, as if he would fall over if he let go.
Odin looked at Thor with a complicated expression, shaking his head slightly, and said, "Heimdall just reported the situation there to me. If Malekith has really been transformed into a demon, then... cough, cough, cough, then... with your current strength, you might not be his match, let alone the presence of a Kurse..."
Odin's breathing suddenly became a little rapid, and a rather unnatural flush appeared on his face. At the same time, he felt as if something was staring at the depths of his soul, causing a slight wavering.
After pausing for a good while, Odin continued:
"The most crucial thing now is not to fight Malekith, but to find a way to solve the invasion of chaos energy into the Nine Realms... Did you... did you find the answer in Jotunheim?"
"Yes." Thor nodded heavily, "Although I don't know how Malekith died, it's certain that he was resurrected in the subspace by those four Chaos Gods who bewitched Loki."
"Because during the battle, I saw runes belonging to different dimensional demon gods on his forehead. This is completely different from the eight-pointed star we saw on Mr. Karl Mordo's forehead in Greenwich. I think this alone is enough to prove that He didn't participate in it, right?"
"Alas..."
Odin really wanted to tell his naive, foolish son that the most easily discovered clues are often disguises deliberately left by the enemy, but the words stopped at his lips.
Because even he couldn't think of any way to help the Nine Realms resist the Eye of Fear and the large-scale invasion of chaos energy.
Therefore, even if Odin suspected in his heart that all of this was the work of Karl Mordo, he had no choice but to temporarily put aside his prejudices and agree to the other party's excessive demands, given the current critical situation.
There was no other choice!
When you are under other's eaves, you have to bow your head.
What's more... the time left for Odin and Asgard is really running out!!
So, after changing his mind, Odin directly changed the subject and said with a somewhat dejected expression:
"If that's the case, then go to Midgard again and tell that evil... cough, cough, cough, tell that dimensional demon that I can agree to all of His requests.
But there is one condition: He must make a promise in front of you that He will help Asgard and the Nine Realms get rid of the corruption of the Eye of Fear in the future!!"
"Don't worry, Father. I've got this."
Thor's expression finally softened a bit. After all, no matter how much he disliked thinking, he could understand that if the corruption of the Eye of Fear was not contained as soon as possible, more and more people would die every day!
So, the most important thing right now is obviously to obtain a method to resist the invasion of chaos energy from Karl.
A dozen minutes later, Thor took the Tesseract and the complete set of Bifrost design materials to the Observatory, and nodded to Heimdall, who stood as straight as a door god:
"Send me directly to Sólheim this time. I will personally bring back the method to save the Nine Realms!!"
"Prince Thor, I wish you success!!"
Heimdall then turned the Hofund in his hand, activated the Bifrost, and directly teleported Thor to the gate of the Aether Corporation.
Thor took a deep breath and cheered for himself in a low voice before walking into the building: "Father, Mother, just wait for my good news!!"
