Chapter 159: The Opening of Ragnarök
Thanos said casually, "Not bad! Boy, I appreciate you."
Star-Lord set down his gun and gritted his teeth. "Thanos, you will not succeed! Someone will definitely stop you!"
Thanos sneered. "If you're referring to that Asgardian, you might be disappointed. He's probably in danger by now."
A blue light circle appeared as the Tesseract activated, and Thor and Hela appeared outside the shield instantly. Despite this, Thor's expression remained grim.
The earth continued to quake, and there was no word from the soldiers sent to the treasury. They were likely already...
Thor picked up the Tesseract and prepared to head to the treasury himself.
"Boom..."
With a deafening crash, the Golden Hall that had stood for countless years suddenly collapsed. A giant engulfed in flames rose from the wreckage, rapidly expanding in size. "Tremble before me, Asgard, and be destroyed!"
Surtur, towering hundreds of meters high, swung his artifact—the Twilight Sword—and reduced countless buildings to ruins in an instant.
Fortunately, most Asgardians were near the arena at this time; otherwise, this blow would have resulted in countless casualties.
"Ragnarök? How is that possible?"
Thor murmured. Since arriving in this world, his familiarity with the plot had allowed him to control everything. Even the ultimate villain, Thanos, seemed like nothing more than a mere nuisance.
For the first time, things were beyond his control.
"Thor—"
A panicked figure rushed toward him.
Loki, the god of mischief known for his dramatic flair, was now in a state of panic. "The treasury has been attacked by Thanos' forces! They stole the Infinity Gauntlet..."
"No need to say more. I already know. We'll settle this account later. Right now, we need to deal with this monster."
Thor's face darkened. He realized he had been too complacent, relying too heavily on his knowledge of the plot.
For years, he had made preparations, and Thanos had also been preparing, enduring all this time for this moment.
Surtur continued his rampage, and Thanos' location was unknown. Thor was somewhat relieved he hadn't stored the Infinity Gems in the supposedly safest treasury like in the original storyline.
But he couldn't understand how Thanos had breached the defenses of the Golden Hall and the treasury to reach the deepest part. And according to Loki, it wasn't just Thanos but a whole army that had infiltrated.
Distractions were not an option now. Surtur, wielding the Eternal Flame, was a force nearly as formidable as Odin at his peak!
Thor decisively ordered, "Evacuate the city immediately! Hela, you hold him off with me, and the rest of you assist from the sidelines!"
He indicated stronger Avengers like Wanda, Jean Grey, and Jane Foster.
A battle of this magnitude was more perilous than fighting Thanos, and it was futile to intervene recklessly if one was not strong enough.
Everyone nodded, including Hela.
They understood that this was not the time for hesitation.
"Boom..."
Asgard wasn't really a planet; its size was relatively small compared to other planets in the Nine Realms.
However, Asgard's crust was the strongest and protected by various enchantments.
Now, Surtur could cause earthquakes with a single stomp and trigger volcanic eruptions with a wave of his hand.
Flames erupted, and the breath of destruction swept across the land.
"Whoosh whoosh..."
Hela's attachment to Asgard was as strong as anyone else's, and she could not endure it any longer. With a wave of her hand, massive dark green spikes flew towards Surtur.
"Roar…"
With a pained roar, a gigantic spike pierced Surtur's chest.
"Whizzing…"
A throne of infinite death rose from the ground. Hela stepped onto it and launched countless spikes with a sweep of her hands.
Thor knew that even if another opponent, like Thanos, would not dare resist Hela's attack.
Thor soared high into the sky. Suddenly, the sky and earth changed color as a brilliant lightning bolt struck his battle axe, illuminating everything.
Facing Surtur's head, Thor swung his axe...
"Aww..."
An earth-shattering scream rang out as the battle axe avoided the crown, cleaving through the tough head and carving a depth of nearly ten meters.
Had this been the previous Surtur, this blow would have been fatal.
But now, Surtur's head alone was tens of meters high. Thor's full-strength blow only managed to crack the skull.
Nevertheless, Thor's strike still provoked Surtur's fury.
Surtur reached out and grabbed Thor, hurling him forcefully to the ground.
A gentle force lifted Thor up; it was Wanda.
Jean Grey used her telekinesis to summon a water dragon from the lake, directing it toward Surtur's severed head.