After the night fell deep, a thin fog wove its way through the stars, sometimes spreading a veil that stretched to the distant horizon, sometimes coalescing into thought-provoking illusions, as if strange creatures were peeping out from the cosmos.
The pre-dawn mist always carried some frightening chill and weirdness, as if hiding the unimaginable darkness in the universe. By then, lightning had become like the messenger of light breaking through the darkness, its tearing sound echoing and exploding at the edge of the sky, with a rolling rumble, as if the earth was splitting apart.
A point of white light appeared on the horizon, unfolding into a humming sword pointing downwards.
Huge lightning fell from the end of the sky, its intense light illuminating the entire night sky, leaving no darkness anywhere to hide. After this lightning fell, what followed was a downpour of rain.
The violent sound of the lightning woke Thor from his sickbed. He struggled in the darkness, reached out a hand to touch the wound on his shoulder, sat up in bed, walked to the window, watching the frantic rain beat against the glass.
For someone who fell asleep deep in thought without having found an answer, the sound of the rain was the perfect medicine. The combination of silence and chaos calmed Thor's restless thoughts, cued by the unsteady rhythm of the rain. He finally had ample time to think through.
But this tranquility did not last long. A sudden ring startled Thor, who turned his head to look at the cell phone given to him by S.H.I.E.L.D. The glow from the screen seemed highly conspicuous in the dark room. After he walked over, he found that the incoming caller's name was Agent Hill from S.H.I.E.L.D.
Thor answered the call, then he heard Hill's confused voice on the other end of the phone, "Did you Asgardians specify New Mexico as the drop site? What did you guys throw down this time?"
"New Mexico?" Thor also sounded confused, "Throw something down? What is it?"
"Oh, hold on... it's getting up... Damn, what is that? How does it...?"
"Hello? Hill? What's the matter? What thing?"
As Thor was still questioning over the phone, a portal appeared in the middle of the room. Strange stepped out of the portal and uttered, "Asgard has hurled a super weapon towards Earth. You need to solve this. Come with me."
Before Thor could ask for more details, Strange pulled him into the portal.
By the time they teleported to New Mexico, Thor was clutching his stomach, saying, "Is your Kamar-Taj transportation always so... ugh..."
Then he straightened up, looked up at the massive robot behind a hill to the south of the landing point. At that moment, a car engine roared, and Hill and Steve got out of the car. Hill also looked up at the enormous figure.
It was a mechanical monster that stood five to six hundred meters tall. Bearing some similarities to the valiant spirits in Viking legends, the whole machine was shrouded in black, surrounded by divine power, flashing with a metallic gleam, and its eyes emanated with red light, performing agile movements that were entirely uncharacteristic of a mechanical creature.
Next to Thor, a flash of light zipped past, and the Warriors Three and Sif appeared. Seeing Strange dragging Thor along, they exclaimed angrily, "Thor! Why are you here? Get out of here now! Loki might be targeting you, you need to..."
"Hold on, Loki is controlling the Destroyer!" Hogun yelled loudly, "He's inside the Destroyer …"
"How dare he!" Volstagg said angrily, "That's the chariot of the Father of All Gods!"
Just as he finished speaking, a sweep of a red light carrying a breath of destruction shot over, and the agile Warriors Three dodged it. Strange yanked Thor along for an emergency teleportation. When they landed, Thor felt dizzy and nauseous. After barely regaining his senses, he saw Loki's figure indeed in the cockpit of the Destroyer.
"Loki?? What are you doing?! Stop it now!!" Thor shouted at the Destroyer, but the gigantic robot paid him no mind, continually attacking the group with blistering beams emitted from its eyes.
The powerful Fairy Palace arsenal was indeed well-deserved its reputation. The destructive beams released from its eyes carried a tremendous force. Every sweep across the ground left a deep charred trench.
As it approached with heavy steps, its gigantic figure was extremely oppressive. Each step caused an earthquake-like shaking. Sif and the Warriors Three each pulled out their weapons, the divine light in their hands lit up, assuming a posture ready for battle.
As for Thor, he was now of no use, just an ordinary person. Other than dodging, he could do nothing at all.
The Destroyer's steps stirred up numerous clouds of dust. Its scorching beam sliced through the earth. The Destroyer, under Loki's control, was not only powerful but also accurate. The Warriors Three wanted to counter-attack, and Fandral raised his sword first and said, "Aim at its right leg!"
The powerful enchanted sword swung, casting a crescent-shaped sword glow that directly cleaved on the Destroyer's right leg, but it instantly melted away in the leg armor's protective shield without leaving a trace.
"Ahh!!!" Fandral, the master swordsman, let out a agonized scream. The Destroyer seized the moment when he was pulling back from his attack and fired a destructive beam at him. His right arm was hit by the intense heat and instantly melted, causing Thor to stare in horror.
Sif was also choked by the shockwave and coughed a couple of times. She pulled Thor's arm, telling him to retreat and said, "This won't work, we can't beat him by ourselves. Thor, go and retrieve your weapon..."
On the other side, Hill looked at her watch and said, "What's taking those people so long?"
Strange, however, opened a portal and said, "I'll go and see what's happening on their end."
The portal disappeared and Strange found himself in the conference room of Stark Building. He left the room, took the elevator upstairs to the lab in Stark Building, where he caught Shiller and Stark in the midst of an argument.
"High power, high power, is that all you think about? Can't you go fix your light bulb?"
It seemed they had been arguing for quite some time, Shiller leaned on the lab table and said, "Fine, if this way doesn't convince you, I'll try another approach—"
"Are your technical skills really enough to make the kind of freeze bomb I need?"
Peter instinctively stepped aside when Stark, who was standing next to him, was about to raise his fist. It was at this moment Strange walked in and said, "A giant armored weapon from Asgard landed in New Mexico. They call it 'The Destroyer', and the few Asgardians currently on Earth can't handle it..."
Stark, Peter, and Connors from afar all looked at Shiller, who asked, "Why are you all looking at me?"
"Every time something unexpected happens on Earth, we all know who's behind it…" Stark turned to walk towards the lab table, looking at the documents while speaking, "The freeze bomb you asked me to make, wasn't it designed to deal with this thing?"
Before waiting for Shiller's answer, Stark continued, "Even then, it's still not a good idea. If your target was to defeat it from the start, why didn't you inform me up front? I could've developed a counter-Destroyer suit..."
"Perhaps to you, Asgard appears more like a magical civilization, but in fact, their technological level is also very high, even far surpassing humans." Shiller glanced at Strange, who added, "Indeed, Asgard's architecture and clothing may seem reminiscent of Vikings, but in reality, they possess advanced technology. Most things in the Fairy Palace are automated, it's just that their source of energy is divine power."
"Especially the Rainbow Bridge." Strange emphasized, "Even though I haven't felt it up close, it is very much possible that this thing is the planet-destroying weapon often referred to in human science fiction novels."
"A planet-destroying weapon? Where do they get their energy?"
"Divine power is a very unique force." Strange frowned and said, "I don't know exactly where this power comes from, but I heard it might be related to the World Tree."
"Okay, let's get back to the point," Shiller interrupted their conversation and said, "I do need the freeze bomb to deal with the Destroyer."
"Even though this thing may not have been used in a long time, without a doubt, it once represented Asgard's most advanced technology."
Shiller had full confidence in the power of the Destroyer because in a certain comic, Odin had once piloted the Destroyer to confront the Celestials, not just one Celestial, but a group of members from the Celestials.
Although it wasn't explicitly stated that the Destroyer had defeated the Celestials, the fact that Odin opted to face such powerful enemies with it showed that Odin was extremely confident about this weapon's powerful abilities.
He turned around to face Stark and said, "I believe, perhaps you could develop a superweapon that defeats the Destroyer, but if his body contains Asgard's advanced technology, what if something gets damaged..."
"Enough", Stark cut him off and turned to Connors, "Let's see how to make the freezing bomb, make sure we keep it preserved. The best outcome would be not damaging a single part, completely...freezing it."
Connors came over to ask Shiller, "You gave me a high-powered low-temperature generator before, saying it could instantly freeze a large area and asked me if I could turn this function into a powerful single-target attack. Did you have it in for the Destroyer from the beginning?"
Stark also looked at Shiller and asked, "Another question, if we freeze it and remove it, will the Asgardians mind?"
"Stop the nonsense, this thing fell from the sky, what does it have to do with Asgard? This is a gift from nature."
"Makes sense."