Back on Alfheim, Party Thor's control over light was steadily increasing, while Detective Loki learned to create a light barrier around himself, after fully utilizing the light from the atmosphere around them.
"Now we can move on to the offensive magic, right?" Thor asked.
"The kind that can destroy beings of darkness?" Loki added.
"You misunderstand: light energy by nature is not meant for offensive strikes or destruction; it is mainly used to light the way and give comfort to those afraid of or lost in the dark. In battle, it has only been used defensively against the Dark Elves, and even then there aren't many spells that physically damage their opponents."
"But there must be some kind of spell that can mortally wound Knull... even Thor's lightning can't sufficiently damage him, and light is his opposite, so if anything can..."
"But are you sure that anything can harm him?" Brilja asked Loki. "Have you seen light harm him?"
"Well... no, I haven't. I blinded him for a second, and I know he has a great aversion to light, so I can only... actually, come to think of it, I have seen some form of light harm him, at least enough to render him unconscious. Though it was only in a scene from his weapon's memory."
"So you don't know the type of attacks that knocked him out."
"...No, but at least I know it can be done."
"Loki's really smart, a master detective plus a master of magic; he knows what he's doing." Thor defended.
"Thank you, Brother. I do know the light and heat that the stars give off is very powerful, creating what the humans call nuclear fusion, and even those humans are capable of harnessing that process in their more primitive weaponry. I don't see why the light energy here can't be used in a similar fashion, albeit more powerful and precise!"
"Yes, that's a different term than we use, but I am aware of that process, and my students could harness that energy with practice. It's only that we are a peaceful nation, especially since we've been under Asgard's protection, so we've never had the need to learn offensive magic. I have heard that the King in Black has an opposite and perhaps even an equal, a god of light, who would sometimes choose a worthy host to its power in times of great need!"
"A host?" Loki repeated. "Similar to how Knull's Symbiotes take them?"
"That is all I have heard, and they're still only rumors."
"And a worthy host might be another god." Loki thought back to Knull's ultimate battle from All-Black's memory. "Like one in gold armor, the only fighter who was able to challenge them!"
"Or one in a snazzy detective suit, like youuu!"
Loki raised his eyebrows. "Perhaps."
"Hold on, let me check the library for any ancient spells that can help you." Brilja offered.
The brothers followed her to the library, where Brilja ascended a ladder to their highest bookshelf. However, something caught Party Thor's attention as their teacher searched for the right spell.
"Brother, look!"
"What is it?" Loki whispered back.
"Elf on the shelf!"
Loki sighed. "Focus, Brother, is today's theme."
"Sorry, I had to get that one out."
A moment later, Brilja climbed down with an old scroll.
"Here, these are the spells our queen's ancestors used to keep creatures of darkness at bay during the Battle of the Near Eclipse. It is in ancient Elvish, but I can decipher it for you. The first spell requires the most intense focus, concentrating all the light energy you've gathered into one point, usually one of your fingertips."
"Okay." Loki did as she said, focusing his magic onto his right pointer finger. "Then what?"
"Then you need to focus even harder. Look deep into the energy until you see small blips of light that stick out: those are photons."
"...I see them." Thor peeked over at the light, curious if he could see them too, but Brilja warned him against it as his head accidentally came too close, reminding him that his brother needed to concentrate.
"Good, now very carefully use your own magic to amplify them, until they're just powerful enough to reach their maximum capacity, but no more. You must be extremely precise! Then aim them at that target there."
Loki nodded, amplifying the photons little by little. He fired them, blowing the target into pieces!
"Whoa! That was awesome, Brother! I want to try the laser finger too!"
"You have a long way to go on learning to focus first, but you show promise as well." Brilja reminded Thor. "That was very good, Loki, especially for a first try."
"But it needs to be even stronger!" Loki interjected. "I can make it stronger; I need to keep at it until it reaches maximum power to have any chance of obliterating the god of Symbiotes!"
"That is trueee!"
Loki repeated the process, amplifying the photons of his blast more than the last time.
"Just be careful not to charge them too much, or they'll-"
Healer shielded Loki as the laser exploded from his fingertip!
"-blow up." His teacher finished.
"Ow!"
"Yes, thank you for the redundant warning. Healer, I appreciate that, but you shouldn't take the blasts for me, since this type of magic likely hurts you more than it hurts me."
"Duly noted; thanks for the redundant warninggg."
"Touché. Now, let's try this again, but with a little less power at the end..."
"That's the spirit, Brother!" Thor exclaimed. "Then I can continue to practice with you until we can take him on together!"
"Well said, Brother!"
Meanwhile, King Thor and his team fought off Knull and his horde of dragons, keeping them out of New Asgard for the time being. Despite the sky above them being shrouded by Knull's darkness, Thor and Jane continually generated lightning through their weapons, while Adam Warlock and Captain Marvel lit up the battlefield with their own cosmic energy, respectively electrocuting and plowing through rows of enemy Symbiotes!
The two teams fought valiantly, although the four of them couldn't stop both Knull and his army by themselves, and he slipped past them, riding his Grendel into the village. Sensing King Loki's codex, they flew straight towards his location, but they were intercepted by the Einherjar and Valkyries in training, the former surrounding him in their ships while the latter rode their winged horses!
Knull shrugged. "If they think a swarm of flying insects will slow me down, they're sorely mistaken." He sent numerous tendrils in their directions, wrapping around them all, crushing their spacecrafts and strangling their horses! The Asgardian warriors leapt from their rides and stabbed at the tendrils with their variety of weapons, but none of them could even scratch the surface, and Knull sent them all crashing to the ground! "You know who I seek; bring me your illegitimate king, he who carries my firstborn's DNA!"
"Be careful what you wish for, monster!" On cue, King Loki snuck up on them with multiple illusionary duplicates of himself, who all attempted to freeze Knull and his dragon midair, but they easily broke through his magic and continued towards the real one, undeterred. King Loki teleported around the area, switching places with his duplicates to confuse his foe, but Knull simply wrapped tendrils around the Jotun-born king, holding him in place for the moment.
"You gravely underestimate me, little giant. I lived in the void of space for more years than you can imagine; the cold cannot harm me any more than it can you!"
Suddenly, Knull was blindsided with a burst of bright orange light, knocking him off of his Grendel once more and freeing King Loki!
"So, does this make us even for last time?" Doctor Stephen Strange bantered as he, Wong, and a light blonde-haired sorceress in purple joined him on either side.
King Loki scoffed. "If you can last longer than the 30 minutes you dropped me for, I suppose!"
"You're welcome, Prince Gothica."
On Alfheim, Detective Loki focused another laser beam from his finger, but this one exploded before he could fire it!
"So that one was too powerful again?" Party Thor noticed.
"Just barely." Loki answered while his fingertip healed. "I've almost got the right amount of amplification down... just one more try." He focused his energy once more, amplifying the light particles with his magic, and as he felt them barely begin to collide, he fired the beam at one of the remaining targets, obliterating all of them besides everything in their direction!
"YEEES!"
"You've got it, Brother!" Thor cheered.
"Now that was impressive!" The Light Elf Brilja agreed. "You're a quick study!"
"Thank you. Still, it's doesn't feel quite powerful enough against the foe we're facing." Loki told them. "What were the other spells on that scroll?"
"There is one that could possibly wipe him out, but it's very risky, much moreso than the explosions from the laser beams!"
"Tell me more."
And she did, filling the two princes in on everything she knew about the technique. They raised their eyebrows in awe as she concluded. "So it stands to reason you cannot even practice such a dangerous technique here, or it will endanger the entire galaxy!"
Loki nodded. "At the very least, I'm sure."
"And if you do need to resort to it, it must be when your other spells prove completely unable to defeat him, and your focus and control must be absolute!"
"Yes, yes, I can figure that much out for myself, thank you; I know all I need to now."
"Actually, there is something else I've noticed that you should be aware of: yes, you can handily manipulate light from outside sources and amplify it to suit your needs, but something does seem to be hindering your own production of it... though not completely halting it. It doesn't seem like you have any problems focusing, but perhaps... it's anxiety?"
"Sure, I'm just about to face the original lord of darkness, who can crush me like an ant without trying if I'm unsuitably prepared in any way. I assure you, Madame Brilja, that I fully understand the risks of this mission." Loki took a deep breath. "Yet staying here and brooding will gain us nothing."
"Then let's go put this magic to action!" Party Thor cheered. "To Midgard!"
"Thor, I don't want to put you in danger."
"Danger? I eat danger for second breakfast! Besides, what have I been learning light magic for if not to save the multiverse and help my brother from another mother!?"
"Two light wielders are better than one, Lokiii." Healer persuaded. "Gives us a better chance of not dying, and he will hardly be the only Thor on the battlefield, even if he is your favorite!"
Loki sighed. "If you insist... Brother, are you prepared?"
"I am! Time to save the multiverse one more time!"
"Indeed!" Loki and Thor thanked their instructor and opened a Time Door back to Earth 199999, where Red Thor continued to fight his way through the enemy dragons to Knull!
"Ah, it took you long enough. I took care of the strongest ones; the others here can handle the rest." Red Thor motioned to his variant. "Is that the other me?" Then he motioned towards where King Thor and Jane were fighting. "Or it is one of them?"
"Both of them, not her, technically, but that Thor over there is the one I was referring to."
"Each a much more likable one than you, though that isn't saying much." Healer added.
"Is that a lady Thor?" Party Thor asked, spying Jane Foster in the distance, but not recognizing her in Valkyrie attire.
"Why, did you think you were the only one, beardless Thor?" Red Thor mocked.
"Rude! Anyway, beards are for boring old men, like my dad!" Party Thor rebutted. "Cool gloves and belt though!"
"These 'gloves' are called Járngreipr, and they are required for wielding my Mjolnir! Or, they were, when I had it. I see you wield your hammer without any aid; your hammer must be nowhere near as mighty as mine was."
"Chill, me, we're on the same side! He must have inherited Odin's grumpiness."
"You are a clown in warrior's clothing." Red Thor dismissed. "Mayhaps you are in actuality a Loki instead."
"Could you please not antagonize everyone who meets you?" Loki exasperatingly asked. "We haven't the time to fight amongst ourselves when there's a much bigger threat we need to face, so let us face it together!"
Detective Loki blasted the oncoming Symbiotes with fire while Party Thor decided to test his new light powers, sending all of the surrounding dragons scattering! Red Thor could only stare in astonishment at how unusually skilled in light magic the beardless Thor had become!
"How did you do that?" Red Thor wondered. "Those were no flashes of lightning, 'twas sorcery!"
"I know, I learned with my detective brother here! I can't quite shoot the super-powerful laser beams on my own yet, but Mjolnir can!" Party Thor demonstrated by shooting a concentrated laser blast via Mjolnir through an oncoming Symbiote!
"Yes, but how!? Thor does not fight with magic, he fights with pure strength and the force of his lightning!"
"Says who? Who dares to define the limits of Thor!?"
The red-bearded Thor paused, and then he grinned. "Yes, who indeed?"
Unfortunately, Party Thor's boasting was followed by a poisonous haze, while the humongous serpent Jörmungandr headed straight for his nemesis, Earth 688's Thor!
"Hey!" Party Thor exclaimed as he felt a sharp poke in his arm. "What was that!?"
"I know this vile shroud." Red Thor coughed. "'Tis the foul breath of my arch-nemesis, the world serpent Jörmungandr!" Red Thor turned to Detective Loki and glared at him. "And you, why did you stab me in the arm just now? You think such a small, skinny blade can harm me!?"
"I don't think that at all, I just thought you wouldn't mind having an antidote to that serpent's poisonous breath inside of you." Detective Loki stated, showing off the empty syringe. "You see, this Thor I brought with me? His girlfriend just happened to develop an antidote after he was poisoned by another universe's Jörmungandr, and since I knew a Loki would be at the center of this battle, I figured it wouldn't hurt to bring said antidote along."
"In other words, you're welcomeee!"
"Whoo, good thinking, Asgardian brother!" Party Thor sighed. Red Thor nodded.
Detective Loki then teleported up to his pet's variant and enchanted the beast before he could strike. "No more venom please, Jörmungandr, but if you could keep those other Symbiotes away from us while we go face their leader, we would be most appreciative!"
The world serpent obeyed, knocking the bad Symbiotes away with his tail and clearing a path for them.
"Thank you!" Party Thor addressed the snake.
Meanwhile, Knull put his bout with the sorcerers on pause as his children informed him of Healer's arrival. "Ah, the prodigal son returns! I'll be back for you, All-Black."
Knull flew his Grendel over to Healer's location, arriving before they knew it.
"Lokiii!" Healer warned his host.
"I see him, Healer."
"Good, he's made it easy for us!" Red Thor declared. "This won't be like the last time, Knull!"
"No, certainly not." Knull replied. "None of you will survive this time."
