"Destroyer…"
Thor lay on the ground, staring up at the massive figure looming over him. Even his strongest strike hadn't been enough to bring down the towering juggernaut before him.
"Thor!"
Both Sif and Jane Foster cried out his name in unison, rushing toward him, desperate to reach his side and face the creature together.
"You need to get out of here!" Thor shouted hoarsely, panic in his voice. He didn't want either of them to get hurt. The last attack had drained almost all his strength. He had nothing left—no tricks, no power, no way to protect anyone.
And Loki… Loki clearly had no intention of stopping. No regret. No mercy.
The Destroyer's heavy footsteps thundered closer.
The Warriors Three and Hawkeye stepped forward, drawing weapons, ready to intercept the monster.
But they never stood a chance.
Within moments, all of them were sent flying—crashed into the ground, their weapons shattered, bodies broken. Some fell unconscious on impact; others groaned in pain, unable to move.
The Destroyer reached Thor and looked down at him with empty, burning eyes. The Son of Odin. The heir of Asgard's future and hope.
But the Destroyer was no living being—it had no thoughts, no pity, no hesitation. It was only a weapon, forged to obey.
The massive arm rose. Its fingers clenched into a fist.
Then, with a mechanical shriek of metal, the Destroyer bent low, driving that fist straight toward Thor's head.
Thor reacted on instinct, hurling Mjolnir upward—but the blow struck too hard, too fast. The hammer was flung aside like a pebble.
Jane and Sif threw themselves over Thor, shielding him with their own bodies.
BOOM!
The impact split the air like a thunderclap. The ground cracked apart, shockwaves rolling outward. The force threw Erik Selvig backward before he even reached them.
Dust filled the air.
But strangely, neither Jane nor Sif felt any pain.
For a long, tense heartbeat, both women hesitated, then slowly opened their eyes.
They looked at each other, coughing, covered in dirt—but alive.
And beneath them, Thor was alive too—his chest heaving in relief.
Hawkeye, Coulson, and Erik all froze, staring in disbelief at the scene before them.
Because someone was standing between Thor and the Destroyer.
Senju Haruto.
At some point—no one had seen when—he had stepped forward. His hand was raised, fingers spread wide, catching the Destroyer's enormous wrist mid-strike.
And he had stopped it.
Every single person present was struck speechless.
Sif, closest of all, could only stare in utter shock. In her life, she had never seen anyone—god or mortal—take the Destroyer's blow head-on and stop it.
And this man wasn't even an Asgardian.
He was a human. A man from Midgard.
"This… this can't be real," Sif whispered. She blinked rapidly, half-convinced this was some illusion of Loki's making.
Thor, however, couldn't help but smile—a genuine, weary smile of relief.
"So… you finally decided to step in, Haruto," he said, exhaling deeply. Supported by Jane, he pushed himself to his feet and held out his hammer.
He offered Mjolnir to Haruto—a silent gesture of trust.
Far away, seated on Asgard's throne, Loki rose sharply to his feet. His eyes widened in disbelief.
He knew who Senju Haruto was.
He knew his power.
The man's magic was so deep and unfathomable that even Loki, the God of Mischief himself, had once envied it.
But even then—this was too much.
The Destroyer wasn't just some weapon. It was the ultimate weapon of Asgard—crafted by Odin himself. No sorcerer, no matter how powerful, should have been able to meet it so effortlessly.
Even the Sorcerer Supreme—even he shouldn't be capable of such a feat!
No matter how strong a mortal's magic might be, they were still mortal. They could never surpass the gods.
Yet…
Just what kind of power did this man possess?
Loki swallowed hard. A cold unease crawled up his spine. Something deep within him whispered that this battle would not go the way he wanted.
Back on Earth, Sif turned to Thor, her brow furrowed. "What in the Nine Realms is happening, Thor? You… you knew about this?"
Thor smiled faintly, still holding Mjolnir toward Haruto. "You've heard the stories, haven't you?"
"Stories?" Sif frowned.
"The tales about a guardian of Midgard," Thor explained, his tone calm but proud. "A sorcerer who commands endless magical power—granted to him by the Ancient Ones themselves."
"A man who protects Earth from the dark forces that crawl between dimensions…"
Thor paused, and his voice deepened with reverence.
"He is known as…"
"The Sorcerer Supreme."
The words echoed like thunder.
Everyone froze.
Sif and the two surviving Asgardian warriors stared in disbelief. The legends were true?
Midgard truly had a Sorcerer Supreme—and he still lived?
Coulson's eyes widened too—but for a different reason.
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. The gods knew Haruto's name? They spoke of him with awe?
It wasn't Haruto who was surprised that gods existed—it was the gods who were astonished that he did.
What kind of world was this?
Could it be that the Sorcerer Supreme's power was even greater than the gods themselves?
Surely not… right?
But from what they were seeing now, that might not be so far-fetched.
Even Erik and Jane, who had thought Haruto was just a quiet, observant bystander, could only stare, dumbfounded.
Thor—strong, godlike Thor—had been utterly overpowered. Yet this man, standing calmly with one hand outstretched, had stopped the same attack without even flinching.
What kind of monster was he?
"No need," Haruto said evenly, refusing Thor's hammer. His voice was calm, almost casual, as though everything unfolding before them were nothing more than an inconvenience.
Mjolnir held no appeal to him. It couldn't offer him any more power than he already wielded.
Haruto's gaze locked with the Destroyer's.
The metal giant tried to pull its arm free—but it couldn't move.
The moment it struggled, it realized something terrifying: the man gripping its wrist had strength that rivaled Odin's own.
No matter how it strained, the Destroyer couldn't break free.
Yes, its armor was forged from Uru metal, the hardest substance in existence—but it didn't possess infinite strength.
When the struggle failed, the Destroyer's faceplate split open, glowing with a gathering red light.
"Oh, no…" Thor muttered, his expression darkening. "Everyone, fall back!"
The Destroyer's internal furnace began to hum, the light swelling brighter—seconds away from unleashing its devastating beam.
And Thor, panic tightening his chest, shouted toward Haruto—
"Get out of there!"