Divine Descent

Sif was torn over Thor's condition.

If she returned now, she could probably save his life.

But if the flagship suddenly vanished from the battlefield, they would lose its support, making this war even harder to fight.

The flagship's disappearance alone would send morale into chaos.

On one side was the life of the man she loved. On the other was a war they might lose.

She didn't know which to choose.

Just then, the flagship lurched.

A series of rumbling explosions followed, and the lights turned red.

"Attention, all units. The warship is under attack. Take protective measures."

Hearing that, Sif finally found her resolve.

As things stood, they were unlikely to win this war.

Rather than sit here waiting to die, she would save Thor first.

She ran for the control room.

After some persuasion,

Lucy looked at the flagship's dwindling energy reserves. She closed her eyes and agreed to retreat.

Before the flagship left, however, she chose to disembark and share the soldiers' fate.

Just as Sif had feared, the flagship's departure dealt a devastating blow to morale.

Some Asgardian soldiers even thought Odin had fallen. They abandoned the enemies before them and fled.

But in the vacuum of space, the nearest planet was millions of kilometers away. Where could they go?

In the end, they could only flee back to the warships.

The resulting chaos aboard the ships made an effective attack impossible.

It set off a chain reaction, and Asgard's losses grew.

Unless something unexpected happened, Asgard's defeat was inevitable.

Within the Star System,

Odin and Thanos fought as they flew, soon reaching the vicinity of another planet.

Odin had not wanted to come here, but Thanos kept driving him back.

The moment he saw the planet, he knew what Thanos intended.

Thanos wanted to drag him into another fight on a planet and drain what little energy he had left.

The thought made Odin anxious.

He still knew nothing of Thor's injuries or how the battle was going.

He could accept neither his son's death nor defeat on the battlefield.

After another clash drove him to the edge of the planet's atmosphere, resolve flashed in his eye.

"Thanos, you forced me to do this! Aah!"

With that shout, golden light burst from Odin's body.

His muscles swelled with power, and his hair turned gold.

In the blink of an eye, the aged Odin became a burly man who looked to be in his thirties.

A mighty aura surged outward, tearing a vast hole in the atmosphere below him.

Powerful currents of air battered his body.

As if sensing mortal danger, the planet's clouds slowly darkened, and dazzling bolts of lightning shot outward.

Shot outward—that was exactly what they did.

With the atmosphere torn open, air escaped into space and the pressure plummeted.

That set off a chain reaction: water vaporized more easily, and vast quantities turned to steam, darkening the clouds.

The evaporation also separated enormous quantities of positive and negative charges, producing lightning.

Lightning followed the direction of the rain. With the water rising, the bolts shot outward.

But at Odin's level, lightning was little more than a tickle. He ignored it completely.

Sensing Odin's powerful aura, Thanos's expression turned grave.

Even now, the old man still had a trump card. He'd kept it hidden well.

Purple light churned violently around Thanos.

The energy of destruction within him had reached its peak.

At last, Odin's aura stopped growing.

Feeling the immense divine power within him, he gave a savage grin.

"You're only the second person to force me to use this move. You can consider it an honor, even in death."

"Spear, come!"

At his roar, Gungnir seemed to transform. It grew from 2.2 meters to 3.2 meters in an instant, its appearance changing drastically.

It became a vicious-looking weapon, terrifying to behold.

"Die!"

An instant later, Odin crossed the kilometer between them and appeared before Thanos.

This transformation was called Divine Descent. Odin would never use it unless he had no other choice.

Divine Descent came with consequences.

It consumed his lifespan, would force him into an early slumber, and would leave him weak for a time.

Clang!

The collision of the two divine weapons sent out a shockwave that scattered even the lightning shooting from the planet.

For the first time, Thanos felt immense pressure.

The next instant, the golden light around Odin formed spearheads and stabbed toward him.

They pierced the purple light surrounding Thanos and struck his body.

A rapid series of metallic clangs rang out.

The Tyrant Armor stopped most of them, but some struck Thanos's bare arms and face.

His formidable body shrugged off the blows.

Odin stared in disbelief.

The spearheads formed from his aura were not as hard as Gungnir, but they were at least half as hard as Vibranium.

Yet they could not even break Thanos's exposed skin. Just how thick-skinned was he?

Thanos answered Odin's shock with a faint smile.

He was a Warrior with high attack, high defense, and high health—the complete package.

If an attack like that could hurt him, what good was he?

He gripped the Tyrant's Blade in one hand, clenched the other into a fist, and punched.

Bang!

His fist struck Odin's armor but did little damage.

Odin's armor seemed even tougher than his Tyrant Armor.

That was awkward.

Odin saw this and immediately punched back.

Bang!

Now Odin was embarrassed too.

His punch had failed to break through Thanos's defenses as well.