Far away in Asgard, Loki stood alone within the golden palace, quietly observing Thor's every movement through enchanted vision.
The memory of being humiliated on Earth by Ethan Blake still burned in his mind. That defeat had already filled him with anger and resentment. Now, after learning the truth of his origin, those emotions had grown far darker.
He had discovered that he was not truly Odin's son. He was the child of Laufey, the ruler of the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, adopted by Odin after the ancient war. That truth shattered everything he had believed.
If Odin was not his real father, then Thor was not truly his brother either.
Resentment, grievance, bitterness, and jealousy churned violently inside Loki's chest. Each emotion fed the others until they formed a storm that threatened to consume him entirely.
Now he saw something even more unforgivable. The Warriors Three and Lady Sif had disobeyed his direct command and traveled to Earth.
Loki's fury exploded.
The last fragments of his reason vanished beneath overwhelming anger.
He had to become the king of Asgard. Only by ruling could he prove to Odin that he was no less worthy than Thor.
Even if that meant killing Thor.
"I hold Gungnir," Loki said through clenched teeth. "I am the rightful ruler of Asgard. I am its only heir."
His eyes burned with madness.
"I will not lose to that useless fool who was stripped of his power and exiled to Midgard."
His voice rose into a furious roar.
"And you dare disobey my orders!"
The rage twisting his face slowly hardened into something cold and ruthless.
"If that's the case," Loki muttered, "then stay in Midgard forever… along with my incompetent brother."
With a dark expression, Loki walked into Odin's vault and stopped before an enormous armored figure.
He summoned a set of silver armor.
The Destroyer.
This armor had been forged from an unknown metal and personally enchanted by Odin himself. It was stronger than Uru metal and nearly impossible to destroy.
In the distant past, Odin had worn this armor during his wars across the cosmos, spreading the might and reputation of Asgard throughout the universe.
After Odin retired from conquest and peace returned to the Nine Realms, the Destroyer had remained inside the vault as its silent guardian.
Standing before the towering armor that rose several meters taller than himself, Loki raised Gungnir and issued a command.
"As the Lord of Asgard, I order you to destroy the traitors of Asgard."
His eyes narrowed coldly.
"And ensure that Thor… never returns to Asgard again."
…
Back in Old Bridge Town, Thor smiled warmly when he saw his friends.
"My friends," he said happily, "I'm glad you came."
However, after hearing they had come to take him home, Thor slowly shook his head.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I can't return right now."
The Warriors Three were stunned.
Fandral stepped forward immediately, confusion written across his face.
"Why not? Thor, if you don't return, Loki will become the King of Asgard."
"I will go back," Thor replied calmly. "Just not yet."
His expression turned serious.
"As for the throne… if Loki is more suited to rule than I am, then I'm willing to give it to him."
"But—" Vorstagg began to protest.
Before he could continue, the sky suddenly darkened.
Heavy clouds gathered above the town, swirling unnaturally as a massive vortex formed high overhead. A beam of brilliant rainbow-colored light suddenly descended from the sky.
Thor immediately turned to the others.
"Did any of you come with someone else?"
"No," Hogun said while scratching his head.
Fandral frowned as he looked toward the sky. "Maybe Loki discovered we came here and sent someone after us."
Phil Coulson leaned closer to Ethan and asked quietly, "Ethan… what is that?"
"The Bifrost," Ethan replied immediately. "And something big is coming through it. Tell Fury to evacuate the civilians right now. Hurry."
Hearing the urgency in Ethan's voice, Coulson didn't hesitate. He immediately contacted Nick Fury.
Moments later, the rainbow light faded.
Standing in the center of the street was a towering suit of silver armor nearly four meters tall.
The area where its head should have been began glowing with a fierce orange-red light.
Then the Destroyer fired.
A beam of blazing crimson energy erupted from its face and swept across the town.
The destructive beam carved through buildings like paper. Houses collapsed instantly, cars exploded into fireballs, and the ground itself was ripped open as the blast plowed a trench several meters deep through the street.
Within seconds, nearly half of the peaceful little town had been reduced to burning ruins.
"My gods," Vorstagg said in disbelief. "Loki actually sent the Destroyer. Is he trying to kill all of us?"
Thor stood frozen, grief filling his face.
He had never imagined Loki would truly try to kill him.
Nearby, Dr. Erik Selvig, Jane Foster, and Darcy Lewis stared at the devastation with stunned expressions. The scene unfolding before them was so unbelievable that their minds struggled to process it.
Thor quickly turned to Jane and Erik.
"Jane, you need to leave," he said urgently.
Jane finally snapped out of her shock and looked at him with worry.
"What about you?"
"I'm staying here—"
Before Thor could finish, Vorstagg spoke firmly.
"Thor intends to fight with us."
Thor sighed bitterly and placed a hand on Vorstagg's shoulder.
"My friend, I no longer have my power," he said quietly. "If I fight beside you, I'll only get in your way. I might even put all of you at risk."
He glanced toward the terrified civilians around them.
"But I can help evacuate the people here and guide them to safety."
"If you stay, then I'll stay too," Jane said without hesitation.
Love clouded her judgment, making her ignore the obvious danger of remaining behind.
Ethan simply watched silently. Jane wasn't his girlfriend, so he had no reason to comment on her choices.
At that moment, Captain America strode over while holding his shield. His eyes quickly surveyed the battlefield before he turned toward Ethan.
"Is there something I can do?" Steve asked.
"Try to hold that big guy off," Ethan replied calmly. "At least stop it from destroying the rest of the town. Think you can manage that, Captain?"
Steve smiled faintly.
"No problem. I just didn't expect that after seventy years asleep, the first thing I'd face after waking up would be a monster like this."
With that, Captain America tightened his grip on his shield and charged directly toward the Destroyer.
Ethan wasn't worried about him at all. After all, Steve Rogers had once been described as "just a mortal man."
The Destroyer quickly noticed the approaching figure.
The orange-red light inside its head began glowing again, and the beam of destruction fired directly toward Steve.
Steve didn't dodge.
Instead, he raised his shield and ran straight into the blast. The vibranium shield absorbed the attack as he pushed forward step by step, forcing the beam back toward the Destroyer itself.
Finally, Steve leaped forward and smashed the shield directly into the Destroyer's head.
The sheer audacity of that move stunned the Warriors Three and Lady Sif.
Even Thor looked shocked.
They knew better than anyone how powerful the Destroyer was.
"I didn't expect Midgard to produce a warrior like this," Vorstagg said excitedly. "Come on, we can't lose to him!"
"Help me draw its attention," Lady Sif said.
After speaking, she dashed toward the side of the street, planning to circle behind the Destroyer.
The Warriors Three charged forward from the front, their weapons raised.
With Captain America fighting fiercely and the Asgardian warriors joining the battle, the Destroyer finally had multiple opponents keeping it occupied.
Watching the fight, Phil Coulson couldn't help feeling nervous.
He turned toward Ethan.
"Ethan… aren't you going to help?"
He had seen Ethan's strength earlier that day. Just a few hours ago, Ethan had beaten an actual god into submission.
"Sure," Ethan replied with a shrug.
Then he calmly drew his wand.
....
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