Loki's Death
In the wilderness of New Mexico, the battle raged fiercely, or rather, the situation had already deteriorated to the point of being completely out of control not long after Strange left.
Sif carried the greatsword, her right shoulder bleeding from shards of rock that had been blasted by the Heat Vision.
Originally, Asgard would wear a layer of divine armor when fighting, but Sif's divine power was almost exhausted, and she could only protect the vital parts of her body, thus suffering considerable damage from the blast.
"This isn't right!!" Volstagg roared, "The Destroyer has been stored in the Asgard Palace warehouse for hundreds of years; it shouldn't have such abundant divine energy!"
"It's piloted by Loki, who has just been elevated to the rank of a true god, have you forgotten?!"
Dark clouds loomed over New Mexico, and as the rain fell, the cold wind howled across the wilderness.
"Damn it..." Thor's arms trembled slightly. He tried countless times to communicate with Mjolnir and the power of lightning as he always had, but nothing responded to him.
"Thor ..." Sif's voice remained deep and steady, but Thor heard a tremor in it. She said, "We will fight to the very end for you, for Asgard ..."
"We will never allow such a despicable man to ascend the throne of Asgard!" Volstagg roared. "Loki! You will never be the king in the hearts of the people of Asgard!"
"Even if you kill Thor, even if you kill us, you will never become the All-Father!" With that, Volstagg raised his hammer again and charged at the Destroyer, with Hogun and Fandral following behind him.
Exhausted of her divine power, Sif could barely stand. She used her greatsword to support herself and prayed softly, "All-Father, if I die, grant me the chance to enter the temple. I will continue to fight for the land I love..."
Thor's eyes were red as he looked at the enormous mech that looked particularly ferocious in the raging storm, the rain making his long hair stick tightly to his forehead.
As a beam of destructive light Burst Fire towards him, Volstagg was slammed to the ground, spitting blood from his mouth. Thor had never felt so helpless. Rage was burning within him, and even the cold rain could not extinguish his fighting spirit.
Finally, Sif also fell to the ground. She was grabbed by the Destroyer and thrown to the ground like a sandbag. Fandral, who had lost an arm, was still crawling on the ground, trying to continue attacking the Destroyer, but was kicked away by the huge monster. Thor could see that the divine power of his companions was beginning to dissipate, and even their divine powers were beginning to be withdrawn.
The World Tree's light shone around them, and if no one could save them, they would soon return to the World Tree.
Thor knew that this was just a beautiful fantasy of the Asgard. Valhalla and the World Tree were just another way of saying death. He knew very well that even if Sif entered Valhalla as she wished, she would no longer be her.
Just then, a whooshing sound rang out, and a dazzling mech flew in from the horizon. Iron Man floated in mid-air and used the beam from his palm to strike the Destroyer, but the defense, which was impenetrable by divine power, was also impenetrable by human technological weapons.
Loki was piloting this massive weapon. He wasn't the kind of reckless Asgard who would just charge forward. Seeing Stark pull up again, the Destroyer's eyes flashed. Stark already knew he was going to release a beam, so he maneuvered the mech to the right to dodge.
But the Destroyer suddenly stretched out One Hand and grabbed Stark's mech. Stark couldn't dodge in time, and it grabbed one of his legs and flung him away.
"No!!!" Thor shouted.
If fighting, even dying in battle, is the destiny of the Asgard and their source of honor, then the humans are completely innocent victims. Thor absolutely cannot accept that any Earth superheroes will die in this battle.
As Iron Man flew out, he gradually slowed down and landed smoothly. He then maneuvered his mech to approach the Destroyer again. At that moment, a giant lizard monster jumped over, followed by Spider-Man.
In the past, Dr. Connors' lizard monster was already quite large, but compared to this behemoth that is five or six hundred meters tall, it still looks very small. Iron Man and Spider-Man are even smaller, like raindrops falling at this moment.
The three were locked in combat with the Destroyer, though it wasn't really a fight; the Destroyer was constantly attacking them while the three were dodging.
Thor's heart was colder than the icy rain. At this moment, he was filled with despair. He didn't know why his brother had betrayed him, his comrades had fallen, and Earth's superheroes were in danger, and he could do nothing about it.
Just then, Loki's voice came from within the Destroyer: "Thor Odin's son, are you just going to watch?"
"Look at them... your good buddies!" the Destroyer said, kicking Hogun on the ground again. "Once I've dealt with these annoying flies, I'll kill them, and now..."
Loki's sinister laughter echoed from within the Destroyer. He manipulated the Destroyer to stomp on Hogun's body, producing a teeth-grinding crunch. Hogun let out a suffocating scream. By the time Loki removed the Destroyer's foot, Hogan had completely lost consciousness.
Volstagg and Fandral were shouting insults at each other, Sif was speechless, Thor was trembling all over.
The hardships of life on Earth began to erode the pride brought by past honors. The despair and heartache of watching his companions die and innocent people suffer disasters drove Thor to the brink of madness.
"Thor, do you feel heartbroken? Do you feel like you've let your companions down?"
"But I'm telling you, they're not coming to you because they're worried about you, but because they're worried about themselves and their families."
"He and his family want you to become the King of Asgard, so they have been ignoring me. Now that the All-Father has fallen asleep, they can't wait any longer, Thor... They want you to promise them that you will continue to lead them in battle, to satisfy their ridiculous and empty sense of honor..."
"They're capable of anything for this..."
"How could you say such a thing!" Thor roared at the Destroyer. "You hurt them! You betrayed them..."
"If you dare to continue, I'll kill her right now." The Destroyer grabbed Sif, who was lying on the ground. In her hazy consciousness, Sif saw Loki's cold expression through the Destroyer's armor.
"Thor, why don't you understand? They just want to force you to make a commitment, using those rhetoric of honor to turn you into a war machine, which will ultimately lead Asgard to destruction..."
"They surround you, venerate you, and call you king simply because it allows you to lead them into battle, satisfying their innate desire for violence and conquest—it has been this way from the very beginning."
The Destroyer's grip tightened, Sif let out a painful moan, "Look, just like her... Their families sent them to you so that they would be your lovers, your guardians."
"Then when you ascend the throne, they can become the Great General of Asgard, the Commander of the Royal Guard, and the Queen of the Gods of Gods, above all others..."
"For this, they will flatter you and slander me; for this, there is nothing they wouldn't do..."
Rain lashed against the Destroyer's arm, and blood seeped from between Destroyer fingers.
"No! Loki... please, let Sif go, she's innocent..."
Thor's voice trembled as he said, "It's not what you think, Loki, Loki... I know there are many people slandering you, I know there are many vile rumors circulating in Asgard..."
"I know that Volstagg and the other two are sometimes too direct, but you really are my brother, we are brothers..."
Just then, the mech controlled by Iron Man suddenly rose into the air, and Lizard Doctor and Spider-Man retreated rapidly. Then, a portal lit up in mid-air, and a bomb with a cold light was thrown down.
Iron Man pressed several buttons on his arm, and several drones flew out from behind his suit, crashing into the bomb. Iron Man also retreated rapidly, and the drones carrying the bomb flew towards the giant Destroyer.
The instant the bomb made contact with the Destroyer, a small snowflake first bloomed from the point of contact, and then countless dazzling ice crystals burst forth from the tips of the snowflake. Silently, the ice crystals spread across the Destroyer's armor at an extremely fast speed invisible to the naked eye.
In the blink of an eye, the Destroyer's chest was completely covered by blue ice crystals, followed by his arms and legs, and finally, before the cockpit, where the divine power was most concentrated, was frozen, Loki flew out of it.
The power of the god of Fire God shone around him, and an even more violent force descended. Countless flames rose from mid-air, and then several fire dragons spun and flew towards Sif and the Warriors Three on the ground.
In an instant, Loki vanished and reappeared before Thor. Countless flames turned the falling rain into steam. Loki raised One Hand, and a giant arm made of flames grabbed Thor and lifted him into the air.
In the pitch-black rainy night sky, only the flickering firelight held them aloft. Loki looked at Thor and said, "If you can't understand who is the one who weaves lies to deceive you, and who is the one who will expose the lies and save you, then you should die along with these hypocritical and selfish people."
As he spoke, he tightened his fingers, his fiery arm gripping Thor's neck tightly. Thor's face turned bluish-purple. In the last few seconds before he lost consciousness, he saw the starlight behind Loki grow brighter and brighter, and a familiar light approached from afar. Thor's eyes widened, and with his last strength, he shouted, "That's... the Bifrost! Loki!! Get out of the way!!!"
But it was too late. A mesmerizing rainbow of colors shone from the starry sky, and a beam of light carrying unparalleled, violent power struck Loki in the back in an instant.
Thor, facing Loki, saw Loki display an expression of extreme pain he had never seen before, and then, in an instant, he shattered.
Time stood still, the starry sky shone brightly, and Loki shattered into points of light amidst rainbows and iridescent colors.
The light of divine power burst forth, almost turning into another sun. Thor saw that Loki had been staring at him until his body dissipated. After a fleeting look of extreme pain, there was helplessness and despair in the face of death.
Thor witnessed the World Tree suddenly blaze with light, the divine authority of the Fire God being completely extracted, and the divine power along with the divine authority paused for a moment before surging into Thor's body.
"No!! Loki!!!!"
After Thor roared in despair, a portal like a black hole opened above his head, and a tremendous suction force pulled Thor in. Then everything returned to calm, leaving only endless rain and a starry sky that had darkened once more.