"It's not difficult to go to Asgard. Although the Bifrost hasn't been repaired, bringing one more person back using the Cosmic Cube won't be a problem."
Thor had no objections to Ethan wanting to go to Asgard. In his view, it was perfectly normal for his friend to visit his home. He was even happy to entertain Ethan in Asgard.
"But I can't promise you'll be able to see my father."
Odin wasn't so easy to meet. Even Thor's own friends couldn't be guaranteed an audience, as Odin was the ruler of Asgard, after all.
"I believe His Majesty the All-Father will definitely be willing to see me."
Thor didn't understand why Ethan was so confident, and he didn't bother to ask. Instead, he started chatting with Ethan about some interesting things in Asgard, enthusiastically promising to host him properly. He even extended the invitation to the others.
Tony Stark was very interested in visiting a highly advanced civilization, and if nothing unexpected happened, he might also tag along for the experience.
Although Captain America and Banner were curious, they didn't say anything. Since they weren't very familiar with Thor, they just sat and listened to his conversation with Ethan.
Fury, who hadn't been gone long, returned shortly. From the look on his face, it was clear the news he brought wasn't good.
"The World Security Council does not approve of engaging in war with the Chitauri."
The council didn't support a 'rash' war with an alien civilization. Without the council's approval, such a large-scale military operation couldn't be launched. Relying solely on S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to go head-to-head with an alien army? Fury wasn't crazy. Even with the superhuman individuals standing before him, it would be a suicidal move.
Ethan was momentarily stunned. Why would they make such a decision? Couldn't they see the core issue? But then he realized—it wasn't that they didn't see it. It was that they realized the war wouldn't bring them any benefit.
What good would a war do? The details of such a conflict couldn't be made public. If it were, they'd have to explain the existence of aliens, why the information was kept secret, and much more. This would never become a war they could use for propaganda. To them, that meant it might as well not exist.
War, regardless of victory or defeat, required a massive amount of resources. Consider the issue of post-war pensions—more trouble with no benefit. Naturally, the politicians were unwilling.
What if the Chitauri invaded Earth later? They didn't care. Who knew who'd be sitting in that seat by then? Let the next person handle it.
After figuring this out, Ethan gave up the idea of trying to convince them. It wasn't his problem. He had done his part. If they didn't want to accept his "goodwill," he wasn't going to push it. There was no need to offer warmth only to be met with coldness. He might even be mocked or have his motives questioned.
Ethan didn't think himself that cheap. So he decided not to bother anymore.
"In that case, there's nothing more for me to do here."
Originally, he had wanted to persuade Thor to stay on Earth for a while. If a war with the Chitauri broke out, the Cosmic Cube would be a crucial tool.
But there was no need now. Ethan wasn't going to waste more time on Earth. He wanted to go negotiate with Odin as soon as possible, preferably staying in Asgard to study some of their knowledge.
Compared to Earth, Asgard was a more advanced civilization—especially in how they blended technology and magic, which would be very useful for him to study.
"Ethan... the World Security Council wants you to keep the Cosmic Cube on Earth."
Ethan had been thinking about all the good things in Asgard when he suddenly heard Fury speak with a grim expression.
He could tell that Fury was just relaying the council's original words, though there might be a bit of his own opinion mixed in. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said this in front of so many people.
He didn't believe the World Security Council was unaware of the situation. Even though S.H.I.E.L.D. had a high degree of autonomy, anything involving the Cosmic Cube had to be reported.
To those on the council, they didn't care about the Chitauri. After all, the aliens couldn't reach Earth now. They also didn't care about cosmic-level threats. What they cared about was that the Cube, which had once been in their possession and represented nearly infinite energy, absolutely couldn't be taken away by a mage from another world.
Ethan didn't believe they didn't know the Cube was being taken away by Thor, the God of Thunder. But instead of confronting Thor, they directed their demand at him.
"Do those idiots think I'm easy to push around?"
Ethan believed in mutual respect. If you gave him respect, he would give you respect. But if you thought he was a pushover, then don't blame him for slapping back.
Fury hadn't expected Ethan to be so blunt, directly calling the World Security Council a bunch of idiots right in front of him. While Fury actually agreed, he would never say it out loud. Even if he was frustrated, he wouldn't voice it in front of everyone.
As for "The World Security Council just thinks you're easy to deal with," of course Fury knew that was the case. But he also knew that if he said it out loud, things would blow up immediately.
He didn't know Ethan's full capabilities. But just the fact that Ethan could wield the Mind Stone freely meant he could probably take over the entire Helicarrier and do whatever he wanted without too much effort.
"After all, the Cosmic Cube is very important. The World Security Council won't just let it be taken away..."
Ethan understood that these people were likely trying to negotiate with him. But he had no interest in playing games. He waved his hand, signaling Fury not to waste time with these useless words.
"Tell those idiots: I'm taking it. If they don't like it, they can try throwing a nuke at me."
Everyone present was left speechless. They felt like using a nuclear bomb was a bit much. But none of them doubted that those people might really try something that extreme.
"I may not be a powerful mage, but I have plenty of ways to destroy a world. For example, leaving a set of coordinates behind."
"Coordinates? What kind of coordinates?" Fury's eyelids started twitching. He had a bad feeling about this.
Ethan glanced at the suddenly nervous Fury and slowly told a story.
"A titan once fought to resist an evil force from the void, preventing it from invading the material world and destroying everything... In his long struggle against the void demons, he discovered their true goal... He tried to share his discovery with his fellow titans, but they didn't believe him. They even blamed him..."
"This titan finally made a decision: to destroy all matter in the universe. To do so, he formed a legion whose sole purpose is to annihilate everything."
Ethan looked around. Everyone was holding their breath as they listened.
"Wherever this legion goes, everything is destroyed. Not a single atom remains. Their existence serves only one purpose: destruction. The legion roams the void between universes, constantly searching for the next world to wipe out."
Ethan had deliberately made vague references to the universe and the void to give the impression that "this legion could arrive in this universe at any time."
He didn't need to say anything more. No one present was stupid. They all understood Ethan's unspoken message: Don't think I'm easy to mess with. I could leave the coordinates and summon this army of destruction at any moment.
As he had said before, if he really wanted to destroy a world, he wouldn't even need to do it himself. This terrifying army would be more than enough. No one believed that S.H.I.E.L.D. or Earth's current defenses could withstand such an attack.
Even if Ethan didn't resort to such extreme measures, considering no one on Earth had the ability to cross into other worlds, Ethan was effectively untouchable. There was no way to deal with him.
Fury now completely agreed with Ethan's previous judgment—those council members really were a bunch of idiots.
Of course, he didn't count himself among them. In fact, he felt it was the right move to throw the council under the bus. At the very least, he now knew a bit more about the trump cards Ethan held—and they weren't the kind you could afford to test.
Ethan also knew his words would likely offend some people, especially Iron Man Tony Stark and Captain America.
So he added a few more remarks intentionally.
"This world is far more dangerous than they think. If they provoke the wrong kind of being, those people won't give warnings. They'll just destroy the planet outright."
Tony's frown relaxed. Compared to the others, as a former arms dealer, he accepted the idea of "nuclear deterrence" more readily.
Ethan had simply stated that he had such means. He hadn't actually used them. The real reason he said all this was because the World Security Council had tried to threaten him, so it was only natural he show some teeth in return.
Steve Rogers could understand it, but he didn't like it. Of course, he was also unhappy with the council's actions, so he wasn't sure how to respond.
Bruce Banner, as usual, stayed quiet and tried to blend into the background. He somewhat envied Ethan's boldness in standing up to the so-called "powerful."
Only Thor asked curiously what the name of the legion was.
"Burning Legion."
(To be continued.)
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