After obtaining 20% access, Rimuru finally experienced the might of the high-end mystical realm. His abilities had grown much stronger in an instant. His frequently used Universal Sense and Black Flame Lightning, for example, might not have undergone a world of difference, but they were on another level altogether.
All at once, his armor seemed woefully inadequate.
Even though his Dragon Knight Armor combined Transformers body construction techniques and Galactron energy technology with Kamar-Taj spatial magic enchantments, and was already among the strongest conventional forces on Earth, capable of crushing Abomination, ordinary enemies, and conventional armed forces,
when it encountered a creation like the Destroyer, bound to Asgard's divine power and imbued with laws, its attacks were instantly trapped in a futile cycle.
He could blast apart the armor's surface and dismantle its components, but he could not break the ancient magic Odin had bestowed upon it, rooted in the essence of its materials. The Destroyer could not touch him while he had spatial teleportation, but its immortality allowed it to drag their struggle out indefinitely.
Had Thor not experienced an awakening and unlocked his divine power as the God of Thunder, smashing the Destroyer Armor to scrap with Mjolnir in hand, the fight might have dragged on for three days and nights.
No matter how advanced technology gets, it's ultimately limited to the material level. Against opponents whose foundations involve laws and divine power, it's helpless.
Transformers alloys, Galactron energy cannons, Stark Industries energy reactors, and Kamar-Taj magic: the armament built by piling them together could only deal with mundane, low-level enemies.
The gods of Asgard, beings like Odin and Loki who wielded divine artifacts, the multiversal dimension magic under the Ancient One's control, even Thanos lurking in the future and cosmic-level beings-all were tough opponents he could not