"First rule, let there be light."
"Second rule, not only distinguish between superior and inferior, but also decide life and death."
"Third rule, each person chooses the battlefield once."
Lucas repeated the three rules, then smiled and said, "Actually, apart from the third rule where each person chooses the battlefield once, there are no additional rules for this battle."
"This is an unrestricted fight, not a contest of strength within a framework. Otherwise, Loki wouldn't have needed to issue a challenge."
"Why did Loki challenge Thor? Aren't they brothers?" Gwen asked, puzzled.
Tony, Bruce, Pietro, Wanda, and G'iah perked up their ears to listen in.
They had come to join the fun after hearing that Loki was going to challenge Thor. But they didn't know why Loki had challenged Thor.
Lucas thought seriously for a moment, then casually fabricated, "Perhaps it's to usurp the throne. Thor is Odin's eldest son, the Crown Prince of Asgard, and the future King of Asgard."
"Loki is the second son. To contend for the succession, he must prove he is more excellent than Thor, or take the opportunity to assassinate Thor."
The real reason, of course, was not for power or usurpation. Instead, Loki wanted to receive the same treatment as Thor, to prove he was as excellent as Thor, and not just live in Thor's shadow.
Lucas knew, but he didn't plan to say it.
After all, this was Odin, Thor, and Loki's family matter.
"A power struggle among royal family members? How terrifying." G'iah, the Skrull princess, sighed, expressing her empathy.
"It definitely isn't that reason. I think if Loki wanted to usurp the throne, he could just use some schemes and tricks to make Thor spin in circles. There's no need to challenge Thor at all." Tony shook his head, disagreeing with Lucas's explanation.
While the group chatted, the battle in the Ice Maze changed.
Inside the Ice Maze, Loki used Images of Ikonn to create clones. While Thor was scurrying around in the Ice Maze, he silently replaced the sky of the Ice Maze with an illusion. The purpose was to conceal the meteorites that were about to fall from the sky.
"Loki, come out! Stop playing hide-and-seek, come out and fight me!"
Thor swung his sword, the blade cutting through the ice wall, sending ice shards flying towards the Loki in front of him. The ice shards passed through Loki's body and hit the wall behind him. Clearly, this Loki was an illusion.
Inside the Ice Maze, Thor was starting to get annoyed with this game.
He had originally thought that Loki would hide among mirrors and illusions, waiting for an opportunity to ambush him.
And he would need to discern which were fake Lokis, and which was his true body.
That way, the game would be exciting and fun.
Unexpectedly, all that appeared were Loki's illusions and the mirror images of the illusions reflected on the ice walls, while Loki's true body never appeared once.
The game is only fun with a mix of real and fake. If it's all fake, the game isn't fun anymore.
"Loki, come out!"
Thor swung his sword again, the blade cutting through the ice wall, sending ice shards flying towards the Loki in front of him.
Bang!
This time, the ice shards hit Loki.
This Loki was corporeal.
"You finally came out, Loki."
Finding Loki at last, Thor was overjoyed.
With a sudden thunderous boom, Thor stomped his feet, his body slightly lowered. From a standstill, he achieved full acceleration, rushing towards Loki like a flash of lightning.
The longsword in his hand slashed diagonally downwards, aiming at Loki's vital neck.
The sword's edge stirred up gusts of wind, and the surging air currents tore at the surrounding ice walls and ground, leaving crisscrossing cut marks.
After confirming that time magic could restore injuries, and even revive him, Thor no longer held back, fighting with all his might.
Facing Thor, who no longer held back and whose speed and strength had reached a new level, a hint of panic flashed in Loki's eyes.
Thor's strength exceeded his expectations, and he wasn't sure if this Images of Ikonn clone could stall for enough time.
In a hurry, Loki raised his hands with a shield, lowered his shoulders, and exerted force to parry Thor's downward diagonal slash.
Clang!
A crisp sound echoed, its reverberations lingering.
Loki flew straight backward, like a rubber ball, tumbling several times on the ground and falling dozens of meters. Then he crashed heavily against an ice wall.
Shattered ice splattered, like tiny mirrors, reflecting Loki's dishevelled appearance at that moment.
But the dishevelled Loki, at this moment, wore a smile.
He blocked it!
He didn't reveal himself!
"Cough! Thor, I didn't expect you to have been hiding your strength before."
Loki shook his head, climbed up from the ground, and lightly coughed, intending to use words to stall for time.
Thor let out a long breath, exhaling the frustration in his heart.
After a fierce strike on Loki's shield, which sent Loki retreating dozens of meters, he forgave Loki's previous hide-and-seek behavior.
"Brother, you are not my match, give up."
"Give up? No, Thor, you can hide your strength, why can't I?" Loki smiled at Thor and said:
"Look up at the sky, Thor."
Thor looked up at the sky, his pupils suddenly contracting.
...
"The moment of decision has arrived. If even this move cannot defeat Thor, then Loki won't be able to defeat Thor for a while."
In the stands, Lucas looked at the opened portal in the sky and made his judgment.
"Hmm?" The six were puzzled.
In their eyes, there was no change in the sky. Or rather, any changes in the sky were concealed by Loki's illusions.
They couldn't see it.
Until a meteorite shot out from the portal.
The meteorite, hurtling at dozens of times the speed of sound, tore through the illusion created by Loki.
At this moment, everyone finally saw the true face of the battlefield.
"How can there be meteorites?!"
Before their words had even finished, the meteorite had already struck Thor.
Looking up, Thor saw the meteorite hurtling towards him, and his heart leaped.
This meteorite was only a few hundred meters away from him. In a fraction of a second, it would hit him.
Without time for any superfluous reaction, Thor raised his shield, curling up as much as possible behind it. At the same time, he tried his best to protect his head.
Boom!!!
A meteorite, dozens of times the speed of sound and over ten meters in diameter, slammed into Thor's shield, erupting in an earth-shattering roar.
Fortunately, the shield Thor carried, although merely a standard issue, was made to Asgard's highest industrial standards, guaranteeing its durability.
Facing the precise impact of the meteorite, although it was covered in cracks, it fortunately did not shatter on the spot, remaining intact and protecting Thor behind it.
But…
It wasn't one, it wasn't two, it wasn't three.
Nor was it four, five, or six.
It was seven.
Seven meteorites successively passed through the portal, smashing towards Thor's location.
Enormous amounts of kinetic energy poured down on Thor and his shield.
(End of Chapter)
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