Marvel: Beginning with the Collection of Shinra Tensei

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: The King of Dwarves



"Are you forging something new? Can I watch and learn?"

Eitri, noticing Han Yu's actions, curiously moved closer to ask.

If Thor, who once challenged Han Yu, saw this scene, he would be speechless with shock. Among the Dwarves, even the weapons crafted by an ordinary blacksmith were renowned across the universe.

As for Eitri, a master among masters, his creations were reserved for Asgard's royal family. Ordinary weapons were far beneath his attention.

Yet here he was, asking to observe and learn. Such a scene would be unimaginable to the God of Thunder.

Eitri had initially met Han Yu when the latter sought his help to craft an item. At first, like many others, Eitri dismissed Han Yu as an ordinary Earthling barely in his twenties, unworthy of attention.

But Eitri had been wrong. He still remembered the day they first met, when Han Yu came to forge a pure white, ancient-looking longsword, saying he wanted to enhance it.

When Han Yu appeared unannounced on Nidavellir, the home of the Dwarves, most of them treated him with disdain, considering his claims nothing more than youthful arrogance.

Only Eitri had made an exception, allowing Han Yu to use their neutron star forge—a privilege rarely granted. From that moment, everything changed.

Han Yu placed the pristine white longsword into the heart of the forge, subjecting it to intense heat. Yet the ancient blade didn't melt. Instead, it emitted visible wisps of cold energy.

Throughout the process, Han Yu occasionally added mysterious, frost-laden materials the Dwarves had never seen before. These substances melted in the forge and fused with the longsword.

The entire procedure lasted less than five minutes. Despite the sword being exposed to the furnace's neutron star-powered heat—reaching millions of degrees—Han Yu casually gripped the hilt barehanded in front of the stunned Dwarves.

When the sword was removed from the forge, the surrounding temperature plummeted instantly. The cold aura from the blade alone was enough to threaten the thousand-year-old star forge itself, almost freezing its mechanisms.

Since that day, Han Yu had periodically visited Nidavellir, both to craft his own weapons and to teach the Dwarves new forging techniques.

However, Eitri was the only one privileged enough to visit Han Yu's general store.

"Give me ten tons of vibranium," Han Yu commanded internally to the store's system.

A heavy box suddenly materialized in front of the two men, landing on the ground with a thud. Han Yu stepped forward and opened it, revealing its contents—various ores.

The ores consisted of black and blue components. The black portions were natural coal and stone, while the blue elements were the vibranium itself.

"Ten tons of vibranium retrieved. Upgrade points deducted: 2."

Hearing the system's notification in his mind, Han Yu sighed. Despite being his so-called "golden finger" system, he still had to pay for items from it.

"It seems I'll only gain unrestricted access to everything here once I officially become the store manager," Han Yu thought.

For now, Han Yu's status as a mere "employee" limited him to items obtained via "Item Extraction Cards." Becoming the manager would grant him full access to the store's inventory, allowing him to take anything without worrying about upgrade point costs.

Han Yu threw the box, along with the vibranium, into the planetary furnace. The extreme heat instantly disintegrated the box and burned away the impurities in the vibranium. The remaining vibranium transformed from its original blue color into a bright silver, becoming a molten liquid.

With both hands extended toward the pillar of flame, Han Yu carefully controlled the fire with his mental energy. The vibranium needed to be purified first.

Ordinarily, vibranium would be melted and immediately used to craft objects. But Han Yu, with his unparalleled forging skills, could push the material's potential to its absolute limit.

He meticulously adjusted the flame's intensity. Within the roaring pillar of fire, fine threads of flame could be seen weaving into the molten vibranium, further refining it. The vibranium's color grew increasingly pure, shedding most of its remaining impurities.

Watching this process, Eitri couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. To him, observing Han Yu at work was like witnessing the most exquisite and moving symphony ever composed.

When people think of forging, the image that usually comes to mind is of a burly man hammering away with a bare chest. But with Han Yu, it felt more like an elegant symphony. The flames and vibranium were like musical notes, transforming with each movement of his fingers.

"Perfect!"

Even the proud Eitri couldn't help but offer genuine praise.

As Han Yu continued refining the vibranium, his hands suddenly stopped, and his gaze shifted toward Eitri, as if a new thought had struck him.

"What's wrong?"

Eitri felt an inexplicable unease as Han Yu paused to look at him.

Narrowing his eyes, Han Yu smiled slyly. "Eitri, how about making a deal with me?"

"A deal? What kind of deal?"

Seeing the fox-like grin on Han Yu's face, Eitri instinctively took a few steps back.

Raising his palm, Han Yu unleashed energy from the Green Lantern ring. As he had done earlier with T'Chaka in Wakanda, a beam of green light entered Eitri's mind.

What Eitri saw was a vision of the future—of the fate that awaited Nidavellir.

A towering man with purple skin, known as Thanos, appeared, subduing the Dwarves with overwhelming force. Thanos commanded Eitri to forge a gauntlet—a device capable of controlling the universe's most enigmatic forces: the Infinity Stones.

Once the gauntlet was complete, Eitri assumed Thanos would spare him. But that wasn't the case. Thanos slaughtered all 300 Dwarves on Nidavellir, leaving Eitri as the sole survivor. Even Eitri himself wasn't entirely unscathed—his hands were rendered useless.

"Your life is your own, but your hands will craft weapons only for me," Thanos declared.

The vision ended with this chilling statement. Eitri, trembling, opened his eyes to find Han Yu's calm, faintly smiling face before him.

"What just happened? What did you do?"

Eitri touched his forehead and realized it was drenched in sweat. The scene he had just witnessed was so vivid it felt as though he had lived through it.

"That's what Nidavellir will face in about three years," Han Yu stated nonchalantly. "The Dwarves will be wiped out, leaving only you."

Han Yu's words, so casually spoken, described something nearly impossible to believe. Nidavellir, the legendary forge world that supplied Asgard's royal family, annihilated? The idea seemed absurd.

"That can't be true. We're under Asgard's protection," Eitri protested.

But his words were met with a response from Han Yu that struck him like a thunderbolt.

"Unless something unexpected happens—and it will—Asgard itself won't last much longer. A catastrophic event is coming."

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