The faint golden light instantly transformed into a bolt of lightning, slamming directly into Loki.
Caught completely off guard, he was blasted away.
"Loki!"
Thor gripped Mjolnir tightly. Lightning surged around his body, and the overwhelming pressure caused the electrons in the surrounding air to grow wildly active.
To be honest, this was the first time Loki had ever seen his brother this enraged.
Even when Odin had postponed his coronation, the furious Thor back then had merely been venting impotent rage.
But now—Thor was truly burning with wrath.
Thor's eyes had turned a blazing white as he fully became the God of Thunder. He stepped forward toward Loki, one step at a time.
Each footfall on the Rainbow Bridge sent thin arcs of lightning spreading outward, leaving behind distinct footprints of thunder.
For the first time, fear crept into Loki's heart toward his brother.
Crackle—
Massive amounts of lightning gathered around Mjolnir, rapidly compressing it into a dense sphere of charge. The energy density and temperature rose without pause.
Mjolnir itself had been forged from a dying star.
As the heat continued to climb, it seemed to shine once more like a newborn sun.
"I am Asgard's strongest prince!"
(Lucas, watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but snort with laughter.)
Overwhelmed by extreme emotion, Loki erupted in fury. He raised Gungnir and unleashed its most powerful annihilation beam straight at Thor.
Thor did not hesitate. He hurled Mjolnir—now transformed into a blazing sphere of light—directly forward.
But in the very next instant, Lucas suddenly appeared between the two attacks.
He raised both hands and, to the astonishment of all three, caught both assaults with his bare palms.
First came Gungnir's destructive beam. When it struck Lucas's left hand, an even stronger burst of energy erupted.
As the energies clashed and annihilated each other, Lucas forcibly absorbed the beam head-on.
On the other side, the blazing white sphere rushed toward him. Lucas spread his fingers and grabbed it as if catching a basketball.
Under temperatures exceeding ten thousand degrees and immense energy pressure, Lucas endured a violent impact.
At the same time, there was resistance—coming from Mjolnir itself.
Lucas had already angered it earlier by forcibly lifting it.
Now, facing him again, Mjolnir poured its resentment into the attack.
Lucas naturally sensed this. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
"I beat you once," he said calmly, "so I can beat you a second time."
In the next instant, vast and overwhelming Ki surged out of his body, crashing against Mjolnir like relentless tidal waves.
In less than two seconds, the blazing sphere lost its radiance and reverted to a hammer-shaped shadow, flying back into Thor's hand.
"Sorry," Lucas said, withdrawing his palms, faint white steam rising from them.
"I'm worried you two might destroy the Rainbow Bridge if this continues."
He then turned his gaze toward Loki.
"So, Thor—let me finish this fight."
It wasn't that Lucas wanted to interrupt the spectacle, but the clash between the two brothers had already begun affecting the Rainbow Bridge.
When their attacks collided earlier, the energy within the bridge had fluctuated violently, putting him on high alert.
"Midgardian, who do you think you are?!"
Loki's eye twitched violently as he snarled, "Just because you blocked Gungnir doesn't mean you can defeat me!"
As he spoke, Loki produced a small box from nowhere and poured his energy into it.
"The Casket of Ancient Winters?" Lucas narrowed his eyes.
Loki's skin rapidly turned pale blue. The box instantly fired a torrent of frost energy toward Lucas.
"Watch out!" Thor shouted.
But Lucas had seen the movie—there was no chance he would fall for this like Heimdall had.
With a thought, his Ki formed a barrier two meters in front of him.
The frost slammed into the barrier, instantly spreading layers of ice across its surface.
"So it can even freeze energy?" Lucas murmured, intrigued as he sensed his Ki being frozen.
This freezing power had likely reached a rule-based level—it was nothing like ordinary ice.
The Casket truly deserved its reputation as a Frost Giant divine artifact. Though inferior to Gungnir, it was still an extraordinary treasure.
Of course… even the greatest artifact depended on who was using it.
Lucas suddenly stepped back twice, his entire body melting into space itself.
In the next instant, a large hand tore through space behind Loki and clamped around his throat.
"You could've wrapped yourself in frost energy to prevent a sneak attack," Lucas said calmly,
"but instead, you concentrated everything into offense."
Loki's face instantly turned ugly. The Casket slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, its energy gone.
"Why… why?" Loki asked in disbelief.
Lucas slowly emerged from the distorted space, smiling.
"You're wondering why your magic escape didn't work, aren't you?"
"That's because I sealed you with energy. You can't access any external power unless you break my seal."
"In both combat and schemes, you're far too weak, Loki."
At that moment, Thor rushed over.
Seeing Loki restrained, he finally let out a breath of relief.
"Lucas… could you hand him over to Asgard for judgment?"
Before Lucas could answer, Loki spat and shouted, "Get lost! I don't need your help or your pity!"
"Kill me, Midgardian! Give me the honorable death of a defeated warrior!"
In truth, Loki had wanted to say something like:
'If you don't kill me, I'll make you regret it.'
Or:
'Spare me, and I'll take revenge on everyone you care about.'
But he changed his mind at the last moment.
Because deep down, he didn't want to die at all—this was nothing more than bluster.
He knew that the tougher he acted, the more desperately Thor and Odin would try to save him.
That was the Odinson family's greatest weakness.
"Enough."
A deep, authoritative voice echoed across the Rainbow Bridge.
"Father!" Thor and Loki exclaimed together.
Hum—
Gungnir, lying on the ground, suddenly rose into the air. The fallen Casket of Ancient Winters followed, both flying into the newcomer's hand.
White hair with a slight curl, an eyepatch covering one eye—yet the other still shone with wisdom and age.
Though he stood alone, each step he took carried the presence of thousands of troops.
The ruler of Asgard.
The Allfather of the Aesir.
Odin Borson, holding Gungnir, walked forward calmly.
"Pleased to meet you for the first time," Odin said.
"Mr. Lucas Reed."
___
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