When Loki led the group through a secret passage that led out of Asgard, Dio was confused with Lokis honest behavior.

Here, we are! I think its about time you release this thing from my neck! Loki said as he tried to push Dios scythe away from his neck.

Thor! This guy is useless now, do we have to keep him alive? Dio asked Thor with a casual but threatening tone on his voice. Loki was visibly stiffened by Dios word. He knew that Dio could chop him up once he got permission from Thor!

But Thor was a kind-hearted man that he was always was, and so he spared Loki once more. No, we can use his trick later while we are fighting against the Dark Elves! Thor said while smirking victoriously. He never thought that day he could successfully control Lokis behavior would come!

Thats a shame! Dio said as he retracted his scythe back from Lokis neck. Loki was furious with Dios behavior, but he couldnt do anything as he knew that Dio would easily beat him in a fight!

. . . . . . . . .

At the same time on the dark world, Malekith sensed the Aether was coming towards Svartalfheim in speed. He killed a man by his side out of joy that the Aether whom he was waiting for so long finally came back to his world!

With the Aethers power, he would become the greatest being again! After all, he knew that Odin had passed his prime, and Odins son wasnt as powerful as their father yet! However, Malekith knew that the incoming Aether was a trap or something akin to it! There was just no way Odin would let the Aether fell back to Svartalfheims hand once again!

Malekith rubbed his face as a reminder that Asgard was truly despicable people! He was burned by Thors thunder earlier, and now he was disfigured!

After a while, Jane was floating in the air while moving toward Malekiths palace. The Aether was slowly leaving her body in a red liquid form that was also floating in the air! After the Aether completely left her body, she fell to the ground. Thor quickly grabbed her before she could touch the ground, and he immediately fired a thunder strike toward the Aether that was trying to gather in one place.

Thor was hiding using Lokis trick. He was hidden inside a hole on the ground that was perfectly camouflaged! Dio had told Thor that he had to strike Malekith immediately with the element of surprise, but Thor wasnt listening! He attacked the Aether like it would be fragile enough to be destroyed by a mere thunderstrike!

Dio felt helpless as Thor had ruined his plan! But the next scene was also quite surprising to Dio as Loki loyally dragged Jane back to the illusion to save her from the incoming danger. The thunder that Thor had released was indeed strong; Malekith himself wasnt fast enough to react to it, and he had to let the thunder cease first before making a move towards the Aether.

Only

Dio was right once again! After the thunder dissipated, the Aether was still floating on the air as if nothing happened! Malekith moved towards the Aether and immediately bonded back with it! At the same time, Thor hasnt given up yet and fired a thunderstrike towards Malekith this time!

Dio sighed as he knew that Thors attack wouldnt do anything to Malekith, now that he has bonded back with the Aether, or rather the Reality Gem! He had [The World] ready in case things went south. So, Dio immediately activated [The World]s time stop ability and leaped towards Malekith with [Reapers Gaze] ready to strike!

With one fluid motion, Dio decapitated Malekiths head with ease! No one witnessed this triumphant attack as everyone froze in time! Loki was still looking at the scene with an expectant look on his face, while Jane, Dio, and Crystal were having their own moment. Dio also noticed that Malekiths underlings were rushing from a hidden spot with their guns ready.

Dio sighed and resumed the time flow once again. Thor was instantly surprised as he saw Dio suddenly appeared out of thin air, whereas Malekith was already decapitated near Dios feet! Thor was confused as he didnt expect Malekith to die just like that! Thor was visibly shaken by Dios power as he never saw anything like this within the nine realms before!

Thor couldnt fathom the logic behind Dios power, so he made up his mind to never made an enemy out of Dio as he would never find the way to counter Dios power! As far as Thor knew, Dio was safely hidden inside Lokis illusion before, and there is no way he could suddenly appear out of thin air like that!

With an ability that absurd, Thor knew that he wouldnt stand a single second if he somehow ended up fighting Dio! The Dark Elves that came to fight were also staggered after seeing that their leader was decapitated like that! They clearly didnt want to continue fighting as they know that there was no point in prolonging this anymore!

With this kind of mentality, Dio knew that Malekith has been forcing the Dark Elves to fight for him!