At the heart of the storm, Thor weathered another barrage of attacks from the Destroyer.
Enough was enough.
It was time to end this.
When the Destroyer unleashed another crimson beam, Thor hurled himself downward from the sky with Mjolnir raised overhead.
The hammer met the energy head-on.
Instead of being consumed, the beam was forced backward.
Thor drove it toward its source, intending to destroy the construct with its own attack.
It was the perfect finale.
A declaration to every witness that the God of Thunder had returned.
Victory was only moments away.
Then the Destroyer suddenly became translucent.
A pale green aura enveloped its body.
"Banish."
Standing below, Evenson lowered the hand he had been pointing at the construct.
The Destroyer was a magical construct.
That made it a valid target for the spell.
Earlier in the battle, Evenson hadn’t dared use it.
Even operating below full power, the Destroyer possessed overwhelming magical strength, reinforced by Odin’s divine enchantments.
Trying to banish it before it had been weakened would have been pointless.
But after enduring the military’s bombardment...
After battling the Hellfire...
And after serving as Thor’s personal punching bag...
Its resistance had finally dropped low enough.
The spell succeeded.
Thor, however, had no time to react.
He passed straight through the now-intangible Destroyer.
A split second later...
He slammed face-first into the desert.
A massive cloud of dust erupted into the air.
A banished target existed in a neighboring plane.
Unable to attack.
Unable to move.
Equally impossible to strike.
Watching Thor disappear into the ground after such a spectacular buildup, Coulson and Melinda slowly turned to look at Evenson.
Then, without saying a word...
Both of them quietly took a step farther away from him.
That man had somehow managed to sabotage the single most dramatic entrance imaginable.
The Destroyer drifted gently to the ground like a weightless ghost, frozen in place by the spell.
Several long seconds passed.
Thor still hadn’t climbed out of the crater.
Apparently, he was busy processing how the greatest comeback of his life had somehow ended with him eating dirt.
Eventually, the dust settled.
Thor exploded out of the crater.
Covered from head to toe in sand.
He marched directly toward Evenson, pointed Mjolnir at him, and roared,
"You ruined my grand entrance, you coward!"
Evenson almost laughed.
I’ve spent half the battle organizing an entire raid group, burned through priceless resources, personally tanked the boss, and when the loot finally drops, you want to steal the kill?
Fortunately...
He possessed enough self-control not to say that aloud.
Instead, he glanced toward the helplessly banished Destroyer.
He’d already gotten what he wanted.
He might as well earn a little goodwill too.
"You promised to use your power wisely."
Evenson smiled.
"I suspect you still have a much harder battle waiting for you."
"It would be unwise to waste your strength here."
Thor’s eye twitched.
Wise?
I was one swing away from finishing it!
You stole the kill and now you’re lecturing me about conserving stamina?
The worst part...
Evenson genuinely looked like he was giving thoughtful advice.
Thor found it surprisingly difficult to stay angry.
Reluctantly, he let the matter drop.
For now.
With the fighting apparently over, Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, and Darcy Lewis hurried over.
Jane couldn’t take her eyes off Thor.
The gleaming silver armor.
The crimson cape.
The aura of divine power.
Had he not still been covered in dust, it would have been an almost perfect image.
"So..."
She smiled nervously.
"This is what you normally look like?"
"More or less."
Thor smiled back with the same easy warmth he’d shown before.
The answer eased the distance Jane had begun to feel.
The Warriors Three soon arrived carrying the unconscious Lady Sif.
All of them looked exhausted.
They had spent the battle delaying the Destroyer, protecting Sif, and avoiding accidental fire from their human allies.
None of it had been easy.
Thor looked over his friends.
"We’re going to the Bifrost."
"It’s time my brother and I had a proper conversation."
He then turned to Coulson.
"Brother."
"We’ve fought for the same cause today."
"To protect this world."
"From this day forward..."
"Asgard stands as your ally."
Then he looked toward Jane.
"Provided, of course..."
"...that you return everything you took from her."
Jane blurted out before thinking,
"You mean everything you confiscated."
Coulson immediately looked uncomfortable.
After all...
He’d personally ordered that operation.
Selvig quickly coughed.
"Borrowed."
He emphasized the word.
Coulson recovered with admirable speed.
"Of course."
"We’ll return all of your equipment."
"You’re welcome to continue your research."
If this woman really became Asgard’s future queen someday...
Maintaining good relations suddenly seemed like excellent diplomacy.
Thor smiled at Jane.
"Would you like to see the bridge I told you about?"
She hesitated only briefly.
"...I’d love to."
Thor wrapped an arm around her waist and spun Mjolnir, preparing to take flight.
"Wait!"
A voice stopped him.
Thor sighed dramatically.
Didn’t people understand that interrupting someone while they were spinning a hammer was incredibly inconvenient?
"What is it now?"
Evenson walked over.
"You’re not seriously planning to bring an injured soldier into another battle?"
He glanced toward the unconscious Lady Sif.
"She’s still unconscious."
"That’s a terrible idea."
Thor frowned.
"We always fight together."
"If I leave her behind for a glorious battle..."
"...she’ll never forgive me."
Evenson stepped closer.
"Would you rather have her angry with you..."
"...or spend the rest of your life mourning her at a memorial?"
Thor fell silent.
Evenson continued.
"You have no idea what Loki has prepared in Asgard."
"The fighting up there will be even more dangerous."
"If you bring her, she could die."
"Or worse..."
"Loki could capture her and use her against you."
He held Thor’s gaze.
"That isn’t the decision a wise king would make."
Thor instinctively corrected him.
"I’m not king."
Then he sighed.
"...So what do you suggest?"
"Leave her here."
"Let her recover."
"Once you’ve settled everything in Asgard, come back for her."
Thor considered the advice carefully.
Finally...
He nodded.
"Very well."
"But promise me you’ll take good care of her."
"You have my word."
As Thor prepared to leave again, Evenson reached into his robes.
Under Melinda’s puzzled gaze, he produced an ancient-looking scroll and handed it over.
"This is for you."
Thor accepted it without much thought.
Assuming it was simply a letter or some kind of document, he tucked it into his armor.
Then, carrying Jane in his arms, he launched into the sky toward the Bifrost.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter