Destroying a Planet

A thunderous boom rang out.

Another enormous asteroid was destroyed by the energy spilling from their clash.

It had happened many times already. These asteroids were too small, the largest only a thousand kilometers across. They could not even withstand the aftershocks of the battle.

But neither of them seemed satisfied. As they fought, they flew toward the nearest planet.

The planet was roughly a hundred thousand kilometers in diameter. It lay so far from its star that little sunlight reached it, leaving it dim and its surface covered in frost.

Today, disaster came to that quiet, peaceful planet.

Thanos blocked Odin's attack, but the tremendous force drove him into the planet's atmosphere.

Its atmospheric pressure was at least twenty times that of an ordinary planet, and its gravity was thirty times as strong.

Neither had much effect on him, but fighting here was still different from fighting in a vacuum.

Before he could fly back into space, Gungnir blazed in Odin's hands, and a blast of energy shot toward him.

Odin had seen that the planet was slowing Thanos down and had no intention of letting him escape its atmosphere.

Yet while gravity and atmospheric pressure hindered him, the atmosphere also gave him more to push against.

He thrust his free hand forward.

A powerful gust burst from his palm and propelled him backward, letting him narrowly evade Odin's attack.

The next instant, Odin's strike blasted a crater dozens of kilometers wide into the planet's surface.

Odin moved to attack again, but Thanos seized the opening to burst out of the atmosphere and slash at him.

Odin made a sudden, uncanny turn to the right, deftly avoiding the blow.

The destructive energy along Thanos's blade swept past him and fell toward the planet below.

An instant later, a slash twenty kilometers long—and of unknown depth—scarred its surface.

Thanos swung the Tyrant's Blade back around and slashed at Odin again.

This time, Odin could not dodge. He raised his spear to block.

Bang!

The immense force hurled Odin into the planet's atmosphere.

Thanos smiled faintly and immediately followed him.

The two continued their battle within the atmosphere.

Thanos had trained in the Gravity Room for years, so the planet's thirtyfold gravity felt familiar to him.

Odin, on the other hand, struggled to move freely and could barely block Thanos's attacks.

As their battle went on, they tore streak after streak through the atmosphere, allowing the gases to escape.

In just half an hour, its pressure fell from twenty atmospheres to one.

The planet's surface was shattered, as though it might break apart at any moment.

One slash in particular had nearly cut the entire planet in two.

But its core had already cooled, so no magma flowed out.

Then came a sharp clang!

Odin blocked Thanos's attack with his spear.

"Huff... huff..."

After a few breaths, Odin saw Thanos attack again. Divine power surged through him, and he fired another blast of energy.

Thanos saw it and smiled faintly.

He had finally found Odin's weakness.

Perhaps Odin had gone too long without a fight. His reactions were a little slow, and the gravity slowed his movements further.

To make up for it, Odin had to expend more energy.

Once that energy ran out, he was as good as dead.

Thanos dodged the blast and slashed with the Tyrant's Blade.

Odin blocked this attack with Gungnir as well.

But just as Thanos prepared to strike again, he sensed something wrong behind him.

He flew backward. Once he was sure Odin was not attacking, he glanced over his shoulder.

Odin's blast had struck the fissure Thanos had cut, reaching the planet's core.

Now the core was exploding.

Deep rumbles rolled on without pause, but soon grew faint and vanished.

The explosion had not ended. The atmosphere was gone.

Without air to carry it, sound could no longer travel.

Moments later, the planet split apart completely, its fragments flying in every direction.

Thanos understood at once. Odin had discovered his weakness and destroyed the planet.

But even without the planet holding him back, could Odin really stop him?

Thanos landed on a massive chunk of rock and pushed off toward Odin.

This would be a long battle. Every bit of strength he saved now could tip the scales later.

Outside the star, the battle had turned into a rout.

The Warriors Three were dead, Thor could no longer fight, and Odin was occupied. The Black Order was far beyond the ability of ordinary Asgardian Warriors to stop.

Each time they struck, scores of enemies fell.

Sanctuary II was no less formidable.

A massive blast of energy shot from Sanctuary II and struck a large enemy warship seconds later.

The warship exploded.

With that attack complete, Sanctuary II began charging for the next one.

On Asgard's side, only the medium and large warships still had energy. The smaller ships were little more than moving coffins.

Yet the medium and large warships could not penetrate the Escort Ships' shields.

As the battle continued, Asgard's casualties mounted, and the encirclement formed by Thanos's forces tightened.

Aboard the Asgardian flagship, Sif laid Thor on a medical bed. Beside him lay Mjolnir, nearly broken in two.

Thor was deathly pale and unconscious.

The sight made Sif's heart ache.

A series of light beams swept over him, and sets of readings soon appeared.

When she saw them, she panicked, at a loss for what to do.

The readings showed that Thor was in terrible condition.

Twenty-five bones were broken. More than half the muscles in his body were bruised, and thirty percent of his skin was damaged.

Worse, destructive energy remained inside him, steadily eating away at his body.

Unless it was removed at once, he could die at any moment.

But Sif was powerless against it.

Her divine power was too weak and not pure enough.

Only God King Odin, Heimdall, or the queen could save Thor.