I Feel Like My Body Has Grown!

"However strong mortals might be, they were still only mortals!"

Algrim, who had Alexei pinned beneath his foot, spoke in the Dark Elves' language with pride and disdain.

"Alexei!"

Yelena, who witnessed the scene from the other side, was beside herself with fury.

Though she was usually sharp-tongued toward Alexei, that did not mean she truly disliked him.

Besides, Alexei was her adoptive father and the family she had now!

"Yelena, calm down! That's not an enemy we can handle!"

Seeing that things were going badly, Coulson hurried forward, trying to pull Yelena back.

But Yelena was faster. She dashed out from cover, firing the pistol in her hand as she charged toward Algrim.

Rat-a-tat-tat!

A magazine was quickly emptied, and Yelena rushed up in front of Algrim.

She released the pistol and threw it aside. One hand drew the short blade strapped to her thigh, while the other pulled out the miniature stun device at her waist.

Then, without hesitation, she attacked Algrim's right foot, which was pinning Alexei down.

"Damn alien bastard, get your filthy foot off him!"

Clang!

The short blade struck his ankle with a crisp metallic sound, like steel colliding with steel, but failed to harm Algrim in the slightest.

The miniature stun device crackled with electrical sparks, yet it was as if it had struck an insulator. It could not even make Algrim twitch.

Watching Yelena charge at him so recklessly, Algrim's charcoal-black face twisted into a grin as grotesque as a ghost's.

Then he grabbed Yelena by the throat and lifted her into the air.

Below, Alexei finally caught his breath from that last blow and, in a furious rage, wrapped both arms around Algrim's right leg.

"You sneaky bastard, you didn't even hit my shield! Let go of my daughter!"

His arms and waist exerted force at once, unleashing terrifying strength that instantly pried Algrim's foot off his body.

Then Alexei sprang up with both legs, using the ground for leverage, and lashed out hard at Algrim, who was swaying from losing his balance.

Smack!

The spinning back kick staggered Algrim's massive body and made him release Yelena.

"Yelena, are you alright?"

Alexei rushed forward and helped Yelena up from the ground, while still not forgetting to argue his case.

"These aliens are too cunning! I had my shield raised, but he aimed for my stomach instead!"

Yelena nearly coughed up blood at Alexei's idiotic complaint about enemies needing to attack shields.

"Cough, cough... you idiot, look behind you. The fight isn't over yet!"

Behind them, Algrim regained his footing. All his earlier pride and disdain had vanished, replaced by rage.

With an angry roar, he strode forward, raised his enormous fist high, and smashed it down with a howling gust of wind.

Boom!

Warned by Yelena, Alexei steadily raised his shield and blocked the heavy blow.

Because the shield was made of Vibranium and could absorb external kinetic energy and other energy, Alexei blocked the attack with considerable ease this time.

Seeing that his full-force strike in anger had accomplished nothing, Algrim froze for a moment.

But he quickly recovered and realized there was something unusual about the shield in front of him.

Still, he did not stop. Instead, he rained down punches like a storm.

Then he repeated his old trick. While Alexei was blocking his fists, he suddenly whipped a kick from the side into Alexei's kidney.

He sent Alexei flying toward Yelena, who had just climbed to her feet nearby.

Finally, he pulled a Black Hole Grenade from his waist and threw it toward the two of them in the distance, a vicious grin appearing on his face.

"Farewell, mighty mortal. Until the end of my life, I will remember you."

The grenade detonated in the air above them. A large section of space rapidly collapsed, then shrank into a singularity and formed a black hole.

At the same time, immense gravitational force spread from the black hole, greedily capturing everything around it, including the father and daughter on the ground.

"Hold on to me, Yelena!"

Reacting quickly, Alexei drove the shield deep into the ground. Then, holding Yelena, he floated in midair as they struggled against the immense pull.

Just as the shield kept loosening and was about to give way—

Dark clouds suddenly gathered in the sky, followed by a brilliant pillar of rainbow light crashing down.

Then a red figure, led by a hammer, shot over with a whoosh and carried the two of them out of the miniature singularity's gravitational field.

With no more matter around it to consume and collapse, the black hole vanished from where it had been.

The one who rescued Yelena and Alexei was none other than the newly arrived Thor.

After flying them out of the gravitational field, Thor landed in an extremely showy pose, leaning forward on one knee, one hand gripping his hammer against the ground while the other swept back and lifted behind him.

Meanwhile, carried by their momentum, Yelena and Alexei crashed into distant rubble with bewildered expressions.

"People of Midgard, I am Thor of Asgard. You are now safe..."

Thor slightly raised his head and revealed what he believed was a handsome smile, only to see the two people he had sent flying into the ruins.

Only then did he realize he had forgotten to set the people he saved down safely, and his smile immediately turned awkward.

"Uh, right. That's how it should be. You need to hide properly!"

"Leave the next battle to us warriors of Asgard!"

As Thor's words fell, an even larger and thicker beam of light descended from the sky, and a huge crowd appeared out of thin air.

At the front stood Loki, holding a scepter and wearing a horned helmet. Behind him were Thor's four guards and Asgardian soldiers in golden armor.

The reason Thor had taken so long to arrive was because Loki had strongly insisted on bringing soldiers with them.

The reason was that he did not want to go serve himself up to the Dark Elves alongside a muscle-brained idiot!

"Thor!?"

"The new alien actually calls himself the thunder god from Norse mythology!"

Thor's voice was loud, instantly stirring shock and disbelief among the surviving people present.

That included the stunned Algrim and the Dark Elves.

"Asgardian bastards, since you dared come here, don't even think about leaving alive!"

When enemies met, their eyes burned with hatred. Algrim roared furiously.

His body became like a speeding locomotive, crashing toward Thor ahead of him with a shrieking gale.

The Dark Elves' main ship in the sky also stopped paying attention to the Quinjet. It deployed every escort ship it had and sent them all to attack the Asgardian army below.

For a time, lasers and energy blasts flew everywhere, while the already collapsed building fragments were blasted into fine gravel.

Facing Algrim charging at him like a ferocious beast, Thor did not yield in the slightest. He was utterly confident.

"Whether you can return alive isn't for you to decide, defeated enemy!"

Swinging his hammer, Thor stepped forward and brought it down hard toward Algrim's head.

Then—

Boom!

The more arrogant Thor had been, the faster he flew backward.

Algrim knocked aside the descending hammer with a single punch, then grabbed Thor, spun him around 720 degrees, and hurled him behind himself.

Thor crashed squarely into Loki, who had been lurking in the shadows and slacking off.

"Thor!" x4

Seeing this, the four guards immediately drove back the enemies before them and quickly gathered around Thor to help him up.

But Thor merely shook his head and pushed away their supporting hands.

"I'm fine. An attack of this level can't hurt me!"

"And my physical constitution seems to have improved again. Honestly, I don't feel any pain at all!"

The four guards: "..." x4

Loki: "..."

"So, you muscle-brained idiot, can you get your ass off my face?"