Support me and be 30 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/Draco_
For every 5 Patreon memberships I receive, I'll release 15 chapters all at once. Your support means a lot to me.
*****
Watching the Blue-Eyes White Dragon revert into a card, Fyne would be lying if he said he didn't feel a sting of disappointment.
However, he hadn't lost hope. If a three-star dragon couldn't do it, he would wait for four stars; if four didn't work, there was always five. He firmly believed that eventually, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon would be strong enough to withstand the raw power of an Infinity Stone.
Glancing at the fourth star beginning to manifest on the card's surface, Fyne sighed and deactivated the skill. His next concern was how to keep providing "rations" for the dragon's growth once he returned to Earth.
Fyne had imagined his return to Earth countless times during his moments of boredom, but when it finally happened, it was far more abrupt than he had ever anticipated.
Three days after the dragon's evolution, he was sitting with the Red Skull, sharing a Fried Chicken Roll and chatting, when the voice of the Soul Stone suddenly resonated in his mind.
"It is time for you to leave!"
Immediately, a swirl of cerulean energy began to slowly envelop him.
Fyne's first instinct was to equip Incursio. Given the volatile nature of space travel, he wasn't about to risk his physical body ending up as warped as the Red Skull's.
The transformation had barely completed before Fyne vanished from Vormir, leaving no time for a proper farewell.
"Has he truly gone?"
The Red Skull stared blankly at the spot where Fyne had stood. His heart was a chaotic mess of emotions: joy, reluctance, relief, and a sudden, sharp sense of loss.
Ultimately, these feelings converged into the one lingering hope he held for Fyne's future: "Hail Hydra!"
Although he had experienced teleportation once before, Fyne still found the sensation jarring. The first time had been so sudden he hadn't been able to process it; this time, with a moment's preparation, he felt the true, terrifying scale of spatial power.
The violent, tearing forces surrounding him made his heart race, but they also triggered a sudden, profound realization regarding the nature of portals.
The transit lasted only dozens of seconds, yet it deepened Fyne's understanding of space by several orders of magnitude. He felt as though he could now tear open a portal with a simple flick of his wrist.
Because he was so immersed in this sudden epiphany, he didn't immediately notice that he wasn't the only one being spat out by the Tesseract.
"It's the Divine Punishment Knight! He's alive!"
"He's back!"
"Did he activate the Cube?"
"Who's the other guy with the spear?"
Fyne was lost in thought, but the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel were not. They stared at Fyne and Loki with intense curiosity. Perhaps because he had appeared alongside Fyne, nobody immediately treated Loki as a hostile—including Nick Fury.
"You're finally back," Fury called out, squinting at the pair. "Is this a friend of yours?"
Loki was momentarily stunned as he took in his surroundings. Are Midgardians always this welcoming?
However, he was quick to realize that the hospitality was likely directed at the figure in the silver armor beside him. With a wicked smile, he leveled the Scepter at Fyne and fired a bolt of energy.
The sudden spike of danger snapped Fyne out of his trance. Seeing the energy bolt closing in, he flicked his wrist. A small, precise portal opened instantly, swallowing the projectile whole.
In the past, he might have been able to pull that off, but it would have taken at least five seconds longer.
Loki's attack made his intentions crystal clear. The surrounding guards immediately raised their rifles, aiming at Loki as they waited for orders. Nick Fury drew his own weapon, shouting, "Drop the weapon!"
"Like he'd ever listen to you," Fyne retorted dryly from the side. He followed up with an instantaneous Explosion Magic blast toward Loki. When dealing with Asgardians, experience had taught him that it was best to finish the fight before trying to have a civil conversation.
Loki's eyes flared with surprise as a pillar of fire erupted toward him. He swung the Scepter, meeting the blast with another energy bolt to neutralize it.
BOOM!
The collision of energies sent a shockwave through the room.
As if on signal, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents opened fire. Given his Frost Giant physiology, the agents' metal bullets couldn't pierce Loki's skin, but they still stung. Annoyed, Loki ignored Fyne for a moment, intending to clear out the "pests"—specifically Hawkeye, whose specialized arrows were aimed uncomfortably close to his face.
But before he could move, Fyne lunged at him. Since they were inside a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, Fyne couldn't unleash his high-output Explosion Magic. Instead, he decided to test the combat techniques he had spent months honing against the Red Skull.
However, Loki was no amateur. He was a mage with maxed-out proficiency in daggers. Even though he was currently wielding a weapon that was part-staff and part-spear, he remained a formidable melee combatant. Coupled with the fact that he grew up sparring with a much more "brutish" brother, Fyne found that he couldn't easily overwhelm him.
Afraid of hitting Fyne, the agents temporarily ceased fire. Only Hawkeye continued, using his superb marksmanship to aim for Loki's knees in an attempt to provide an opening.
Nick Fury, realizing the agents were no match for Loki, began organizing a tactical retreat. Even before the duo appeared, the base had been evacuating due to the Tesseract's instability.
Beyond the personnel, the most critical objective was securing the assets—and nothing was more important than the Tesseract itself.
While the fight raged, Fury moved toward the Tesseract, planning to bag it and get out. If Fyne won, great; if he lost, they would only be losing a base, not the Stone.
What Fury didn't realize was that while Loki and Fyne were locked in combat, both were watching the Tesseract with eagle eyes.
Fyne wanted it for revenge—the damn thing had left him stranded on a foreign planet for half a year. Loki wanted it because it was his ticket to an army, the throne of Earth, and his ultimate vengeance against Asgard.
Consequently, the moment Fury touched the Tesseract, both combatants paused simultaneously.
Loki was the more desperate of the two. Since Fyne was technically on the same side as Fury, any dispute over the stone would be an internal matter. Loki, however, abandoned his duel with Fyne and charged at Fury.
Fyne moved to intercept, instinctively reaching for Golden Ars Magna, only for the realization to hit him that it didn't work—he wasn't on Vormir anymore.
That split-second hesitation was all Loki needed. Leaping through the air, he fired an energy blast from the Scepter.
The shot was hurried and missed Fury, but the resulting shockwave sent the Director flying. The Tesseract slipped from his grasp and went skittering across the floor.
By sheer coincidence, it rolled directly toward Fyne's feet.
(End of Chapter)