Stealing a Technique

Faced with Loki's Asgardian royal guards and two Destroyers, Mercer did not retreat. Instead, he advanced step by step.

His sheer audacity stunned everyone present. Loki snorted and said coldly, "Enjoy acting tough while you can. Once I capture you, I'll make you wish you were dead!"

"Attack!"

Shing!

At his command, the royal guards nearby drew the longswords at their waists. Their battle cries pierced the sky as they charged straight at Mercer.

A faint golden light coated their blades, as though they could cut through anything in their path.

As they ran, the two Destroyers stood on either side of the royal guards. The steel plates covering their faces lowered layer by layer, then searing beams shot out from within.

The searing beams arrived first. Mercer raised his right hand, and lightning gathered around his wrist in a ring. The next second, a powerful blast of lightning erupted from the ring and slammed toward the two beams.

"Divine Judgment!"

Boom!

The three powerful streams of energy collided. Mercer's fierce lightning easily dispersed the two searing beams, then formed pillars of lightning that blasted onward.

Several Asgardian Warriors at the front were scorched black by the lightning pillars. Even their Asgardian armor suffered damage.

Since his opponents were Asgardian Warriors, their physiques had to be extraordinary.

So from the very start of this opening attack, Mercer had raised the lightning's voltage to ten million volts.

Even Asgardian Warriors dared not take lightning of that intensity head-on.

The Asgardian Warriors running at the front had never imagined that Mercer's attack would retain such devastating power after breaking through the Destroyers' searing beams.

They took the lightning pillars without even trying to dodge, and the powerful electric shock knocked them unconscious on the spot.

Lightning flashed beneath Mercer's feet. In almost the blink of an eye, he appeared beside the fallen Asgardian Warriors.

"Since you came prepared to die, I won't turn down the nourishment you've delivered to my doorstep!"

The lightning on his hands faded, replaced by an unknown black, liquid-like substance.

With a flick, the black substance instantly enveloped the Asgardian Warriors knocked unconscious by his lightning.

In the blink of an eye, they were submerged in the black substance, shrinking along with it.

Five burly men, each over six feet tall, simply vanished.

The bizarre sight left Thor and the women speechless with shock. Mercer, on the other hand, wore a look of pure enjoyment.

"Ah, such powerful bioenergy. Ordinary people really can't compare."

Mercer looked almost intoxicated. If the bioenergy of ordinary people and Asgardian Warriors were measured in numbers-

Then ordinary people would only range from one to five, while Asgardian Warriors started at a hundred at the very least. The effects were completely different.

"Hidden achievement completed! [Delicious 'Broilers']!"

"Battle-Damaged Card acquired: Kotoamatsukami!"

After the system's voice rang out, information flowed into Mercer's mind, explaining the function of the Battle-Damaged Card he had just acquired.

A card I can only use once? That's a first... no, rather than saying it's single-use, the energy inside it is only enough for one use.

Unlike the Blacklight Virus and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, this Battle-Damaged Card did not grant Mercer a lasting ability.

He could only use Kotoamatsukami when he had enough energy.

And he now knew exactly what energy it required: chakra.

There was no such thing as chakra in the Marvel Universe, and he could not create it out of nothing. The chakra contained in the Battle-Damaged Card was only enough for Mercer to use it once.

I need a training method from Naruto. On my own, there's no way I could figure out how to cultivate chakra. Looks like I'll have to move up my trip to the Naruto world.

While Mercer digested the information about his newly acquired Battle-Damaged Card, Loki's face had already turned ashen nearby.

The royal guards he had personally selected and trained had lost five men in their very first exchange. It was an enormous loss!

"Form up! First formation, Hexagonal Force Matrix!"

"Yes!"

The sword-wielding Asgardian Warriors rushed around Mercer and surrounded him completely. Some remained where they were, exchanging their longswords for magic scepters and chanting obscure, incomprehensible Asgardian words.

After a brief magical chant, golden magic streamed from the tops of their scepters and wrapped around the sword-wielding Asgardian Warriors ahead.

The warriors divided into six groups and stood in a hexagon, their magic linking them together.

In that instant, the sword-wielding warriors' auras grew considerably stronger.

They had sealed off all of Mercer's escape routes and could attack him at any moment.

When one corner attacked, the other five transferred their magic to it, sending that corner's combat strength soaring.

If Mercer switched targets, they could immediately transfer their magic to another corner. It was indeed an excellent killing technique for fighting a powerful individual.

"The Hexagonal Force Matrix? That's the terrifying formation that let him easily slay a Lava Dragon with the strength of five men. Loki really is getting serious," Thor muttered.

The enhancement provided by the Hexagonal Force Matrix raised both physical strength and defense to an unbelievable level.

Lava Dragons were creatures dozens of meters tall, savage and powerful. Their dragon breath could annihilate a major kingdom in Middle-earth.

Once, a Middle-earth had been invaded by the Flame Realm, one of the Nine Realms, with large numbers of Human Torches and several Lava Dragons among the invaders.

Asgard had dispatched the brothers Thor and Loki to suppress the invasion. While Thor struggled to kill a single Lava Dragon, Loki used the Hexagonal Force Matrix he had created to surround and kill one with just ten ordinary Asgardian Warriors, astonishing everyone.

It was one of his proudest spells, so Thor was genuinely surprised to see Loki use the Hexagonal Force Matrix so soon.

Seeing Mercer standing motionless, Loki's face took on a triumphant look.

"Heh, now you know how powerful I am. If I get serious, how could a mere human from some barbaric land possibly defeat... me?"

Loki's arrogant declaration cut off before he could finish.

He stared at Mercer nearby, his eyes filled with shock.

Mercer's lips moved slightly. He was too far away for Loki to hear what he was chanting, but the changes in his body were plainly visible.

Just as it had with the Asgardian Warriors after their incantation, golden magical light rose around Mercer and enveloped him.

Compared to the Asgardian Warriors' Hexagonal Force Matrix, the magical glow around Mercer was far, far weaker.

But there was no denying it: the magical glow around him was also the Hexagonal Force Matrix!

"You stole my Hexagonal Force Matrix?!"

"Impossible!"