The Bifrost vanished almost as quickly as it had descended.
The commotion outside the town drifted toward them, and the moment that tremendous energy signature unique to the Destroyer reached him, Thor's entire body tensed. His footsteps gradually slowed.
"Fenris, something's wrong. I think I can sense the Destroyer."
Thor grabbed Fenris by the arm.
"The Destroyer is my father's armor. It is immensely powerful. I can't believe Loki sent it here…"
"The Destroyer?"
Fenris raised an eyebrow and extended his senses. Sure enough, he detected an incredibly intense source of heat several miles away.
Strangely, however, the Destroyer's energy appeared extremely unstable. It felt like a ticking time bomb, as though it might erupt at any moment.
"Thor, something seems wrong with your father's armor."
"What do you mean?"
Thor's senses were nowhere near as sharp, and he looked at Fenris in confusion.
"Never mind. Since Loki is behind this, we'll find out once we see it."
Fenris clamped a hand onto Thor's shoulder.
"Brace yourself."
"Huh?"
Thor shuddered as an ominous feeling swept over him. Before he could react, his surroundings instantly blurred.
His startled cry was left far behind in the blink of an eye.
It felt as though only an instant had passed, yet also as though the journey had lasted an eternity. When the rapidly receding streaks around him finally resolved into a motionless landscape, Thor looked around and realized with a start that they had already reached the outskirts of town.
In stark contrast to the frost-covered streets of Puente Antiguo, the air here remained scorching hot.
Dozens of vehicles bearing shield-shaped emblems were scattered throughout the area. Several dozen agents in neat suits stared in terror at a towering silver giant several hundred yards away.
"Ugh…"
In his current mortal condition, Thor had no hope of withstanding such tremendous acceleration.
Before he could even make sense of his surroundings, his stomach churned violently and his vision went dark. He hurried off to one side and began dry-heaving.
"Fenris?"
Coulson, who had been terrified only moments earlier, suddenly looked as though he had seen his salvation. His eyes practically shone.
"You're finally here!"
Fenris studied the divine artifact in the distance and instinctively frowned.
After arriving on Earth through the Bifrost, the Destroyer had not demonstrated any of its formidable destructive power. Instead, it had begun wandering stiffly around its landing site.
The Destroyer was the armor Odin had worn during his campaigns across the Nine Realms in his youth. Even without anyone inside it, its own power could not be underestimated.
Why, then, was it behaving so strangely?
Fenris watched as the Destroyer's faceplate occasionally opened. Brilliant red light flared within as though it were charging an attack, only to quickly fade again.
Its head repeatedly turned toward Puente Antiguo, then toward the vigilant S.H.I.E.L.D. agents nearby. Yet it refused to make any genuinely hostile move, creating an extremely unsettling sight.
"What's going on?"
After observing it for a moment and still failing to understand its behavior, Fenris patted Coulson on the shoulder.
"Coulson, has the Destroyer been acting like this ever since it arrived?"
"Yes."
Coulson nodded with certainty, then placed a computer in front of Fenris and pointed to the screen.
"You said this thing is called the Destroyer, correct?"
"When it first arrived on Earth, it displayed extremely obvious hostile intent. Its target was somewhere inside the town."
"Or, to be more precise, assuming they came from the same place, we're ninety percent certain its target was…"
Coulson pointed toward Thor, who was still doubled over and dry-heaving in the distance.
"Him. Thor, the God of Thunder you mentioned."
"Yes, that is correct. I am Thor."
Despite his discomfort, Thor's intermittent voice still reached them from across the way.
"Ugh… You Midgardian, I like you."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Coulson smiled faintly, then turned back to Fenris and continued his explanation.
"But shortly afterward, just as we were preparing to intercept it, it suddenly lost control. Then it began wandering around aimlessly like this."
"It's almost as if…"
"As if it were a robot that had stopped receiving commands," Fenris finished, withdrawing his gaze from the Destroyer.
"Exactly. That's precisely it, Fenris."
Coulson nodded repeatedly, sounding somewhat relieved.
"The energy readings coming from this thing are terrifyingly high. Fortunately, something caused it to end up in this state. Otherwise, there's no telling how many casualties it might have inflicted on us…"
Boom!
Before Coulson could finish, a tremendous noise erupted from the Destroyer, instantly drawing Fenris's attention back toward it.
After wandering in place for so long, it seemed to lose all of its power. The light behind its faceplate faded completely. Its massive frame flickered violently, then froze where it stood and fell utterly motionless.
"Fenris, we'll talk later. I need to examine it."
Coulson hurried away, clutching the computer in both hands and leaving Fenris standing there in bewilderment.
"Strange. Wasn't the Destroyer sent here to kill Thor? Why would it suddenly end up like this?"
"Could something have happened in Asgard?"
"Fenris, do you think something might have happened in Asgard?"
Thor had finally recovered from his high-speed journey. He approached Fenris and stared in confusion at the motionless Destroyer several hundred feet away.
For some reason, an ominous feeling suddenly rose from the depths of his heart. He instinctively clenched his fists.
"Come on. Let's take a closer look."
"All right."
Fenris nodded and grabbed Thor.
His figure blurred, and in the next instant, they appeared directly before the Destroyer.
"Fenris, could you warn me before doing that next time? Ugh…"
Thor's resentful voice sounded behind him, but Fenris ignored it. He slowly stepped forward and carefully circled the Destroyer, examining every detail.
It truly deserved to be called the pinnacle of Asgardian technology.
The Destroyer's design was exquisitely intricate. Faint runes flickered across its surface, while its nearly indestructible armor gleamed with a cold metallic light. Its majestic construction radiated overwhelming menace at a single glance.
Almost without realizing what he was doing, Fenris slowly reached out toward the Destroyer.
"Fenris, don't!"
"It's dangerous!"
Thor caught sight of the movement from the corner of his eye, and his expression changed drastically. Fighting through the dizziness still clouding his mind, he lunged forward to stop him.
Hummm—
He was half a step too late.
The moment Fenris touched the Destroyer, its previously motionless frame began trembling faintly.
In the next instant, a dim green light emerged from behind its slowly opening faceplate before suddenly bursting outward.
A deliberately subdued male voice followed.
"Thor, save me!"
(End of Chapter)
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