"How can we stop this 'Loki' from controlling the armor in front of us?" Kent asked anxiously as he watched the light inside the Destroyer armor glow once more, signaling its reactivation.
"Loki cannot fully control the Destroyer; it is likely just a sliver of his consciousness attached to the armor. As long as we can strike that sliver of consciousness, we should be able to stop the Destroyer," Sif said urgently as she dodged the Destroyer's beam.
Fandral looked slightly troubled. "But none of us are skilled in that area."
Kent felt the heat lingering on the ground and buildings melted by the Destroyer's attacks, and heard the wails of the surrounding civilians.
"I will stop you, even if I have to risk everything!" Kent's voice was slightly low and hoarse.
The insect-compound-eye-style crystal armor glowed, and the fan-like device in the driver at his waist began to spin rapidly.
A whirlwind, carrying the residual energy dissipated from the Destroyer's beam, surged into the driver.
Driven by Kent's intense will, the driver operated beyond its limits, erupting with dazzling brilliance. Patterns of light spread across Kent's entire body.
Dense cracks appeared on his armor.
"This is my will. Take this!"
"Rider Kick!"
With Kent's flying right leg as the apex, the whirlwind enveloped his entire body, forming a tornado drill that propelled him toward the Destroyer.
The Rider Kick, infused with the absorbed Destroyer energy, poured Kent's will into the armor, successfully erasing the sliver of consciousness Loki had attached to it.
In Asgard, Loki felt a slight stinging pain in his head and lost control of the Destroyer.
"Damn Midgardian! To dare harm the King of Asgard... I will burn you to ash!"
He slammed Gungnir fiercely onto the ground.
"Is it over?" Kent knelt on one knee, his body covered in cracks, white steam rising from his overloaded form.
The Destroyer armor went silent, and the internal lights extinguished.
"Midgardian, you are truly a brave warrior. You actually stopped the Destroyer armor. If I get the chance, I must treat you to a hearty drink." Volstagg laughed heartily as he stepped forward to help Kent up.
Kent's heroic actions and unyielding will naturally won the approval of the honor-bound Asgardian warriors.
"This strange armor has been dealt with; can we recover it for research? It definitely contains advanced technology we haven't mastered yet. If we can understand it thoroughly, it would be a huge help to S.H.I.E.L.D.," Sitwell said, looking at the Destroyer armor with a flash of greed in his eyes as he arrived at the scene.
Coulson's eyes shifted slightly, and he decided to ask Nick Fury for instructions.
"Find out the background of these people in strange costumes. Try your best to bring that armor back for research." Nick issued the command to Coulson.
"Gentlemen and ladies." S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stepped forward to surround the Warriors Three, Sif, and Kent.
"This big guy that suddenly popped up caused massive destruction and casualties in the town. Could you explain exactly what happened here?" Coulson asked with his standard gentle smile.
"Are you the administrators of Midgard?" Volstagg frowned and asked.
"Midgard?" Coulson was slightly puzzled.
"The name for Earth in Norse mythology," a professional reminded him quickly through his earpiece.
Norse mythology? Coulson was puzzled internally but kept a poker face.
"We are indeed the administrators here. Given the great destruction caused by your battle, we need to clarify the situation."
"What are you rude Midgardians trying to do?!" Fandral shouted angrily when he saw S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attempting to move the Destroyer armor.
"This unknown armor possesses high danger levels; we must perform necessary containment," Coulson explained.
"The Destroyer armor belongs to King Odin; it is a treasure of Asgard. We will absolutely not hand it over to you." Sif drew her weapon, her tone firm.
"Odin? Asgard? You can't be talking about the God King from Norse mythology, right?"
The corner of Coulson's mouth twitched.
"Since you know the prestige of the Asgardian King, you still dare to covet an Asgardian treasure?" Volstagg said with dissatisfaction.
Coulson was unsure for a moment. Do the gods from myths and legends actually exist?
Sitwell signaled with his eyes, and the agents near the Destroyer armor continued their actions.
"Midgardians, you are too presumptuous." Hogun charged forward, easily knocking the nearby S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to the ground in mere moments.
Seeing Hogun attack, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents immediately raised their guns at the group.
"Midgardians, are you trying to provoke Asgard?" Sif asked with a stern expression.
The atmosphere instantly became heavy.
"The battle isn't over yet. It's a bit too early to start fighting over the spoils," Dan reminded them, appearing suddenly from the void.
He glanced with satisfaction at Kent, who was currently unsteady on his feet, and addressed the group with their varying expressions: "Ichigo's attack just now was merely equivalent to temporarily shutting down the Destroyer. The manipulator behind the scenes can completely restart it."
He pointed to the flowing light inside the Destroyer armor.
Hearing Dan call him "Ichigo," Kent's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Dan with a complex gaze.
"That's right. Loki holds Gungnir; he can send his consciousness down to activate the Destroyer again at any time." Thor trotted over at this moment.
"The urgent priority now is to evacuate the town's residents immediately before the Destroyer armor restarts."
Hearing this, Coulson looked at the Destroyer, which seemed ready to move again. After a brief thought, he ordered the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents: "Evacuate the town residents immediately."
Then he turned to ask Dan, "And what is your background, sir?"
Thor clearly knew the Asgardian quartet, but this suddenly appearing Dan..
Dan smiled. "I'm just a passing-through Kamen Rider. You can call me Eternal."
Then he spoke with hidden meaning, "To thoroughly stop the Destroyer's actions, Mjolnir must be used."
"Right! If Thor picks up Mjolnir and regains the power of the Thunder God, he can definitely stop the Destroyer." Fandral spoke up excitedly.
However, Thor's expression darkened, and he shook his head. "I've already tried. The current me cannot lift Mjolnir."
"Perhaps we can let someone else try." Dan pointed at Kent.
Hearing this, Thor's expression changed. Finally, he gritted his teeth, turned to Kent, and said, "You are a brave and fearless warrior. You indeed have a chance to gain Mjolnir's acknowledgment and defeat the Destroyer. Go try it quickly."
"Thor?!" The four Asgardians looked at Thor in disbelief.
Thor shook his head with resignation. "We can't worry about that now. We must defeat the Destroyer to avoid civilian casualties."
Dan's brow twitched. Since Thor was willing to let go of his dependence and obsession with Mjolnir to protect lives, he had naturally regained the qualification to lift it; the hammer had already reacted.
However, he needed to wait a bit and let Kent try to obtain the power of thunder.
So, Dan used the Rider Chronicle to temporarily suppress Mjolnir.
Far away in Asgard, sleeping Odin sensed something. He opened his single eye, his gaze crossing infinite distance to Earth, seeing the hammer suppressed by a strange rule.
Seeing the Sorcerer Supreme nearby, he confirmed Thor wasn't in mortal danger and relaxed slightly.
Upon learning of Thor's choice—being able to initially break free from his dependence on the hammer—he was pleased to see it happen.
So, he decided to watch how things unfolded for now. A mere bit of thunder power was insignificant compared to the growth Thor could achieve.
"There isn't much time. You need to rush over there immediately, lift Mjolnir, and come back to defeat the Destroyer," Thor said to Kent with a slightly complex expression.
"No need for all that trouble," Dan said with a smile, waving his hand gently.
Mjolnir appeared instantly.
"You can summon Mjolnir?" Sif looked at Dan in disbelief.
Volstagg shook his head. "It should be direct spatial teleportation, moving Mjolnir here."
"Give it a try," Dan said to Kent, pointing at Mjolnir.
[I love how MC's favourite rider is Eternal]
(End of Chapter)