Thor?

Even though the man before him was an enemy, Loki could not help voicing his admiration.

Compared to Thor, Mercer had a far greater variety of lightning attacks.

In the past, Loki only had to watch out for whatever attacks Thor made with his hammer. Thor rarely attacked anyone without it.

But Mercer was completely different. Every technique he was using now was made entirely of lightning.

Every move carried terrifying force and numbing electricity. Even Loki's Asgardian constitution could barely withstand it.

Coulson and his people were suffering too.

The clash of the two men's weapons rang in everyone's ears, like a vicious blow straight to the heart.

An ordinary person like Coulson heard a ringing in his ears, then tasted blood in his throat. Thin trickles of blood seeped from the corners of his mouth.

The reverberations of the battle alone had shaken these ordinary people badly enough to make them cough up blood!

"This really is a fight between gods." Coulson clutched his aching ears and muttered to himself. After a moment's thought, he immediately spoke into his headset. "Everyone, pull back one kilometer from the camp right now!"

This battle was completely out of their league. Staying would only get in the way.

A single shock wave from the clash of weapons had made them cough up blood. If an attack actually hit them, they would probably be reduced to a bloody mist in an instant.

"Ha! Now this is a fight!"

Laughter rang out from the figure of lightning. That last attack had injured Mercer somewhat too, but the Blacklight Virus would soon heal him.

He had finally found someone to test his abilities against, and Mercer was delighted. He had no intention of stopping here.

He clenched both fists, and dazzling lightning erupted from his body. Within a few breaths, it had coalesced into a gigantic beast of lightning before him.

"Thunder Beast!"

He pointed at Loki from afar. The enormous beast roared and charged toward Loki, leaving a scorched black footprint with every step.

"Heimdall!"

At the sight of the roaring, ferocious beast, Loki's mouth twitched. Realizing things were going badly, he hurriedly shouted toward the sky.

In an instant, a multicolored pillar of light shot down from the heavens and enveloped Loki.

The Thunder Beast slammed straight into the pillar. The powerful column of multicolored light trembled under the impact for quite some time, but still rose upward.

The pillar vanished, and Loki disappeared with it.

Looking at the enormous sigil the Bifrost's beam had left on the ground, Mercer murmured to himself.

"So that's the Bifrost's power. You actually ran away already. Looks like you gave yourself that title of First Wizard of the Nine Realms."

The Loki of this world could indeed use magic, but it probably still was not all that powerful.

If he truly devoted himself to studying magic, he would certainly become someone no weaker than Thor. From the looks of things, though, he still had a long way to go.

Once Loki disappeared, a hint of disappointment appeared on Mercer's face.

He had not even used half the abilities granted by the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Rather than blindly practicing alone, Mercer wanted real combat.

Only by actually throwing himself into battle could he learn when a move could be used, and when it would work best.

But Loki had run away now, and Mercer could hardly chase him all the way to Asgard. He could only shake his head helplessly.

The lightning around him slowly gathered, and Mercer returned to his human form. He found the clothes he had been wearing, put them on, and called Coulson to tell him and his people to return.

On the other end of the call, Coulson was surprised that Mercer had contacted him so soon and asked whether he had finished his opponent off.

"No, he ran away. Asgardians aren't that easy to kill," Mercer said, shaking his head.

"Asgard? You mean Asgard, the legendary realm of the gods?" Coulson asked in astonishment.

Mercer nodded.

Even Coulson found this hard to accept. Asgard was a Sacred Realm from Earth's myths and legends. Did it actually exist?

"Then that man just now was...?"

"Loki, Odin's second son."

"Odin's second son? Then his older brother wouldn't happen to be the owner of this hammer, would he?"

Coulson thought quickly. The only reason Loki would show up in a godforsaken place like this was for that hammer.

And since he had not taken it, he most likely was not its owner, which meant he could not take the hammer away.

"That's right. The hammer's true owner is Thor. He'll be a great asset to Earth."

As he spoke, Mercer's tone suddenly grew a little hesitant.

If Loki really has become a master of magic, will Thor still be that same brute? Could he have changed too?

The original Thor had been a complete brute who knew only fighting and killing. But now the timeline had changed, and Mercer really had no idea what Thor was like.

At least he could be sure that Loki and Thor still had a poor relationship. Otherwise, Loki would not have sneaked here alone to try lifting Mjolnir.

"Sigh. No point thinking so much about it. I'll just take things as they come..."

Mercer did not have the Time Stone. He could see neither the past nor the future. All he could do now was take things one step at a time.

"By the way, all of you should pull out. There's no telling what Loki might do next. I'll guard this place myself. You can all leave," Mercer said.

Coulson hesitated for a moment. Then, remembering the godlike battle between Mercer and Loki, he suddenly felt that Mercer had a point.

In a battle of that level, ordinary people would be cannon fodder no matter how many came.

He immediately called Nick Fury and explained what had happened. Upon hearing that Mercer was on-site, Fury agreed without another word. His decision was so swift that Coulson began to question everything.

In the end, all the equipment was removed, leaving only a simple tent and fifteen days' worth of food. The town was not far away anyway, so supplies could be replenished there at any time.

Night fell.

Mercer sat cross-legged inside the tent, his eyes half-closed. Every so often, his body dissolved into lightning, then gathered together again.

Bolts of lightning as thick as the mouth of a bowl rose from his body and coiled around him like slithering snakes. If an enemy approached, these lightning snakes could swiftly entangle them and discharge several million volts of electricity.

Strands of lightning gathered around Mercer, forming six small pillars of light, each as long as an index finger and half a finger wide.

"Go."

At his soft command, the six pillars of lightning flew out of the tent. After traveling a kilometer, they formed an invisible hexagonal perimeter around Mercer.

He would sense anyone who stepped inside that perimeter.

Suddenly, Mercer sensed a car speeding toward him from outside.

He did not use the pillars of lightning to stop it. Its occupants were clearly ordinary people, so there was no need to stop them that way.

"More tourists here for the hammer? I'll tell them to leave once they get here," Mercer murmured.

A few minutes later, footsteps sounded outside, drawing steadily closer to the tent.

The footsteps sounded light, not because anyone was deliberately muffling them, but because the people making them did not weigh much, so they made little noise as they walked.

"Thor, are you sure it's this way?"

"I'm sure. When my father cast me down here, Mjolnir was thrown somewhere nearby too."

"What... Mew-mew? Can't you just buy another hammer?"

"That's different! It was forged from the core of a dying star and wood from the World Tree. It's the weapon that brings out my power best. I've been using it for over a thousand years!"

"Over a thousand years?! Just how old are you?"

"What's so surprising about that? We Asgardians live for around two thousand years on average."

The voices drew closer. The speakers paused noticeably when they saw Mercer's tent. Half a minute later, someone lifted the tent flap, and an excited voice rang out.

"My hammer!"

Hearing that, Mercer frowned with his eyes still closed. Why does that voice sound like... a woman's?

He opened his eyes. Standing before him were three women!

The delighted woman at the front had blond hair and wore the sort of clothing described in Norse mythology.

"You're... Thor?!"