The Destroyer's forward momentum was abruptly halted by this sudden and powerful interception. The red light on its face turned toward Minerva, seemingly harboring a trace of 'doubt' that this 'little bug' could interfere with it.
Without the slightest pause, Minerva utilized the recoil to backflip in mid-air, launching herself again the moment she landed. The energy blade in her hand transformed into a continuous net of deep blue blades, covering the Destroyer's joints, energy nodes, and other theoretically weak points. Her speed was extreme, her movements as precise as a scalpel, and every strike carried the terrifying kinetic energy to split mountains and crack rocks.
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!..."
The dense sound of collisions, like rain hitting banana leaves, merged into one. Sparks flew from the Destroyer's massive body. Minerva's blade still could not break its defense, but the storm-like, uninterrupted, extreme-speed attacks, combined with the continuous interference caused by striking the energy flow nodes with precision, actually managed to temporarily hold back the Destroyer's steps! It had to divert a portion of its 'attention' and computing resources to deal with this silver-haired enemy, whose speed, strength, and technique were bizarre to the extreme, causing a noticeable delay in its pursuit of the armored vehicle.
On the high slope, Artoria quietly watched the fierce battle below. The scene of Minerva fighting the steel behemoth was reflected in her emerald eyes, calm and waveless. She did not intervene, but the aura around her had become heavy and condensed. She could feel that Minerva was using her life to buy precious escape time for the town's residents and Thor. The Destroyer's power level was too high; every attack and every dodge Minerva made was dancing on the edge of a blade—the slightest carelessness would mean total destruction.
"little ai, calculate Minerva's limit for combat time, and evaluate the Destroyer's energy consumption and attack patterns." She ordered calmly in her consciousness.
"Calculating... Minerva's physical load has reached 67%, estimated high-intensity limit combat duration is no more than 180 seconds. The Destroyer's energy reaction is stable, attack patterns are primarily physical impacts and high-energy beams; no more complex energy usage detected. Its defense mechanism has a certain 'delay,' which may be related to the information transmission delay of remote control." little ai analyzed quickly.
180 seconds... three minutes. Artoria's gaze turned to the distance. The evacuated crowd was moving away, but not fast enough. The armored vehicle carrying Thor was fleeing desperately, but once the Destroyer shook off Minerva, catching them was only a matter of time.
She had to buy more time for Thor, and she had to make the Destroyer completely move away from the town.
Her thoughts raced, and a plan quickly formed. But first, she needed to confirm Thor's status.
"Agent Coulson," she reconnected the communication, "How is Thor? He must 'wake up' as soon as possible. The Destroyer's goal is to eliminate him; only he can end all of this."
Inside the command vehicle, Coulson looked at Thor, who was being held firmly in his seat by Agents, still with empty eyes, showing no reaction to the earth-shattering battle outside. The veins on his forehead throbbed. "He... has no reaction! Like a wooden block!"
"Hit him." Artoria's voice was cold. "Tell him what happened in the most direct way. Let him see what the 'ants' he spoke of are experiencing, and what they are sacrificing for him, because of his 'exile.' If he still remembers that he is a prince of Asgard, and still remembers even a shred of responsibility."
Coulson froze for a moment, then a flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes. He strode to Thor, and under Natasha's slightly surprised gaze, swung his arm and slapped Thor hard in the face!
"Slap!"
The crisp sound was exceptionally clear in the noisy carriage. Thor's head was knocked to the side, and a clear palm print instantly appeared on his face. He raised his head blankly and looked at Coulson, finally having a trace of focus in his eyes, but it was mostly confusion.
Coulson grabbed his collar, slammed his face against the narrow observation window of the armored vehicle, and pointed at the silver figure fighting the Destroyer with cascades of sword light, as well as the panicked crowd in the distance, roaring into his ear: "Look! Look clearly! Thor! Look at what is happening here because of your arrogance, because of your father's 'trial'! Look at those you want to protect! Look at that woman who is risking her life to hold back that monster just to buy you a few seconds to escape! How much longer do you intend to wallow? Are you going to act like a real coward, waiting for others to pay the price of your mistakes with their lives?!"
Thor's gaze finally pierced through the fog of his self-imprisonment from the past few days and saw the scene outside the window. He saw that silver figure like a moth to a flame, attacking the invincible steel behemoth crazily, being shaken back time and time again, yet rushing up again and again without fear of death. He saw the smoke rising from the direction of the town in the distance and heard the faint cries in the wind. He saw the expressions of fear and determination mixed on the faces of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents...
An unspeakable emotion, mixed with shame, anger, sadness, and something deeper, erupted violently in his chest like a long-dormant volcano. He remembered his father's disappointed eyes, he remembered Loki's lies, he remembered Artoria's words during the day, and even more, he remembered... his own oath, once holding mjolnir high, to protect the Nine Realms.
Protect... what had he done? He had only brought war, exile, and the hell before his eyes at this moment.
No... it shouldn't be like this...
Just as Thor was struggling internally, and something was about to break through, the battle below suddenly changed.
The continuous high-frequency attacks seemed to make the Destroyer 'impatient.' It took a heavy slash from Minerva head-on, a large burst of sparks exploded from its chest armor, but its movements did not stop at all. Its right fist slammed out with a speed that surpassed any previous attack, the air in front of its fist compressed extremely, forming a visible white shockwave!
Minerva's pupils shrank, she dodged to the limit, but the range and speed of this punch exceeded her estimations. She only had time to hold the energy blade in front of her—
"Bang—Crack!!"
A terrifying force came, and the energy blade instantly shattered into light particles filling the sky! Minerva was hit as if by a high-speed train, spitting out a mouthful of pale golden energy fluid. Her delicate body flew backward at an even faster speed, slamming heavily into the rock wall a hundred meters away. Gravel fell, burying most of her, and she fell silent for a time.
"Minerva!" On the high slope, Artoria's heart gave a sharp tug, and cold light instantly overflowed from her calm eyes.
The Destroyer had dealt with the annoying 'bug,' and the red light on its face locked onto the armored vehicle that had escaped some distance but was still within range. It raised its arms, and the energy aggregation ports on its chest and arms lit up with blinding light, clearly preparing for a saturation energy bombardment with power far exceeding previous ones, enough to completely erase the entire vehicle and everything around it!
At the critical moment!
Just as the Destroyer was about to fire, a weak but incredibly stubborn will, mixed with a painful cry, suddenly erupted from the armored vehicle! Immediately after, the door was violently kicked open from the inside, and Thor's figure tumbled onto the sand.
He struggled to stand up, no longer looking at the approaching death light behind him, nor at Minerva, who was life-or-death unknown on the high slope while trying to buy him time, and he didn't even look at the Agents protecting him. His gaze pierced through the barriers of space, as if crossing endless galaxies, staring desperately, yet with a final, unextinguished flame, at the direction where mjolnir was.
"Father..." he spoke hoarsely, his voice not loud, but as if using up all his strength. Tears rolled down, mixed with the sand on his face, "I... was wrong. I was truly wrong. I am unworthy... unworthy to lift mjolnir, unworthy to be called a prince of Asgard, unworthy... to possess power."
He slowly knelt down in the direction of the hammer. This action drained the last of his pride and resistance.
"But... I beg you..." He raised his head, and in his tear-blurred blue eyes, the destructive light from the Destroyer's chest and the outline of the town in the distance were reflected. His voice suddenly rose, carrying a weeping, tragic, and resolute tone, "If this power... can still be used to protect, and not to destroy! If my life, my qualifications, my everything... can still be used to protect these innocent people, to protect this World that accepted me! Father! I beg you! Give me one more chance! One last chance!!"
"I am willing to lay down my pride, my hammer, my everything! I am willing to fight for protection until the last drop of blood is shed! I am willing to bear the responsibility I should bear!!"
"So... I beg you!!!"
This cry was not directed at the sky, but at the earth, at the void, at the supreme father in his heart, and also at... the war hammer that stood quietly in the darkness, issuing the most thorough, most humble, and most pious confession and prayer from the depths of his soul.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
The light on the Destroyer's chest had reached its peak, and the destructive breath was about to erupt.
On the high slope, Artoria's clenched fists saw her nails almost piercing her palms.
Then—
"Boom—!!!"
A golden lightning bolt, more brilliant and pure than the Destroyer's energy light, containing endless majesty and vitality, struck down from the distant sky without warning! It did not strike the Destroyer, nor did it strike Thor, but with extreme precision, it struck Mjolnir, which had been standing quietly tens of kilometers away!
Mjolnir, under the infusion of this golden lightning that seemed to come from Asgard, from Odin's approval, erupted with unimaginable dazzling light throughout its body! The ancient runes entwined on it seemed to come alive, shining one by one! That heavy, mountain-like wall of rules dissipated silently.
"Whoosh—!!!"
The sound of breaking through the air was sharp enough to tear the eardrum! mjolnir turned into a golden stream of light, as if teleporting, crossing the limitations of space, and appearing in front of the kneeling Thor in the hundredth of a second before the Destroyer's energy beam erupted!
Thor subconsciously, almost instinctively, reached out his hand.
"Slap."
His hand gripped the hammer handle.
The familiar coldness, the familiar weight, the familiar... feeling of blood connection and soul resonance, surged through his whole body like a tide! No, not just familiar, the feeling was more magnificent, deeper, and more... full of a heavy and powerful realization than ever before!
"Boom—!!!"
Golden lightning, brighter than the sun, exploded with Thor as the center! A thick pillar of lightning shot straight into the sky, instantly dispersing the lead-gray vortex of destruction! The vast Asgardian divine power, like an ancient beast that had unlocked its shackles, cheered and galloped, refilling every cell of his body! The phantom of the broken battle armor condensed and reorganized in the thunder, turning into a brand-new armor with golden patterns, and the scarlet cloak danced wildly behind him!
Thor, at this desperate moment, in the vow of sacrifice and protection, returned to the throne of God!
He stood up slowly, holding mjolnir, golden lightning surging in his eyes. He looked at the Destroyer not far away, which had just erupted a destructive beam but was forced to deflect toward the sky by the thunder field that erupted when he was reborn. There was no more confusion or cowardice on his face, only cold anger and firm fighting spirit.
"Your opponent," Thor's voice sounded like rolling thunder, resounding through the desert, "is me."
The next second, the golden Thor and the dark Destroyer, like two meteors, slammed into each other fiercely! In an instant, the World collapsed, and the energy storm of thunder and destruction erupted completely in the center of the desert!
On the high slope, Artoria let out a long, slow sigh of relief. The cold light in her emerald eyes faded, returning to calmness. She took one last look at the divine battle storm that swept through the World, turned her gaze to the direction of the rock wall where Minerva was buried, and without hesitation, her figure turned into a wisp of breeze and swept toward that side.
The real storm had finally been accepted by its destined opponent. And she was going to confirm the safety of the person most important to her.
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