The battle was raging over the wilderness of New Mexico, or rather, the situation had deteriorated beyond control shortly after Strange had left.
Sif wielded her great sword, her right shoulder bleeding continuously from a graze caused by a hot ray that blasted a piece of rock earlier.
Normally, Asgardians would have a layer of divine power as armor during a battle, but Sif's divine power was nearly exhausted. She could only protect key parts of her body, so she suffered significant fragmentation injuries from the explosion.
"This can't be right!" Volstagg roared: "The Destroyer has been parked in the Heavenly Palace Warehouse for hundreds of years, it shouldn't have this much divine power source!"
"The one driving it is Loki, who just ascended to the rank of true gods, have you forgotten?!"
Dark clouds also shrouded the sky over New Mexico. When the rain fell, the chilly wind on the wilderness continually howled.
"Damn it..." Thor's arms trembled slightly. He tried countless times to communicate with Mjölnir and the power of lightning as he used to do, but nothing responded to him.
"Thor..." Sif's voice still sounded deep and steady, but Thor heard her voice trembling. She said, we will fight for you to the end, for Asgard..."
"We will never let such a despicable villain ascend to the throne of Asgard!" Volstagg roared: "Loki! You will never be the king in the hearts of Asgardians!"
"Even if you kill Thor, kill us, you will never become the Father of All Gods!" With that, Volstagg once again raised his hammer and attacked The Destroyer, with Hogun and Fandral following him.
Drained of divine power, Sif could barely stand. She leaned on her great sword to support her body and prayed softly: "Father of All Gods, if I die, please grant me the opportunity to enter the hall. I will continue to fight for the land I deeply love..."
Thor's eyes were red. He looked at the huge mecha, which looked particularly ferocious in the storm, and the rain made his long hair stick tightly to his forehead.
Watching a destruction beam sweeping over, Volstagg was thrown heavily to the ground, spitting out blood from his mouth. Thor had never felt so helpless, and his anger was burning so intensely that even the cold rain could not extinguish this fighting spirit.
In the end, Sif also fell to the ground. She was caught by The Destroyer and thrown to the ground like a sandbag. Fandral, who had lost an arm, was still crawling on the ground, trying to continue attacking The Destroyer, but was kicked away by the huge beast. Thor could see that the divine power of his comrades started to dissipate, and even their godhood started to fade.
The World Tree's light sparkled around them. If no one could save them, they would soon return to the World Tree.
Thor knew that this was just a beautiful illusion of the Asgardians. Valhalla and the World Tree were just another way of talking about death. He was well aware that even if Sif entered Valhalla as she wished, she would no longer be herself.
Just then, a noise of something slicing through the air sounded, and a shining mecha sped over from the horizon. Iron Man floated in mid-air, firing a beam of light from his palm at The Destroyer, but the attack that divine power could not break through, human technology's weapon couldn't break through, either.
Loki, who was controlling this massive weapon, was not a brute like the Asgardians who only charged forward. Seeing Stark rise again, The Destroyer's eyes flashed. Stark knew he was going to release the beam, so he controlled the mecha to dodge to the right.
But The Destroyer suddenly extended an arm to grab Stark's mecha. Stark failed to dodge in time and was grabbed by the leg and then thrown away.
"No!!!!!!!" Thor shouted.
If it were to say that the battle and even death were the destiny and honor of the Asgardians, the Earthlings were completely innocent victims. Thor absolutely couldn't accept any of Earth's superheroes dying in this battle.
Iron Man slowed down in mid-air as he was thrown away and finally landed smoothly. He controlled the mecha to approach The Destroyer again. At this time, a huge lizard monster also jumped over, followed by Spider Man.
In the past, the lizard monster that Dr. Connors transformed into was already vast. But compared to this five to six-hundred meters tall behemoth, it still seemed very thin. And Iron Man and Spider Man looked even more insignificant, like the rain that was falling at this moment.
The three of them entangled with The Destroyer. Actually, it couldn't really be called an entanglement; it was just The Destroyer continuously attacking them while the three narrowly evaded.
Thor's heart was colder than the icy rain at this moment. Right now, he was filled with despair. He didn't know why his brother had betrayed him, his comrades had fallen, the superheroes of Earth were in danger, and there was nothing he could do.
Just then, Loki's voice came from inside The Destroyer: "Thor Odinson, are you just going to watch like this?"
"Look at them... Your so-called good comrades!" The Destroyer then kicked Hogun on the ground and said, "After I deal with these annoying flies, I will kill them. But now..."
Loki's cold laughter came from The Destroyer. He controlled The Destroyer to step on Hogun. The crunching sound made one's teeth cringe. Hogun screamed a suffocating scream. By the time Loki lifted The Destroyer's foot, Hogun had completely lost consciousness.
Volstagg and Fandral yelled, and Sif couldn't utter a word. Thor was shaking all over.
The difficult years on Earth had begun to rub away the pride brought about by past glories. This despair and sorrow, watching his comrades walking towards death, watching innocent victims suffering from disaster, was driving Thor mad.
"Thor, do you feel distraught? Do you feel you've let your companions down?"
"But I must tell you, they came to find you not because they are worried about you, but because they are worried about themselves, worried about their own family."
"He and his family want you to be king of Asgard, thus always overlooking me. After the Father of All Gods fell into slumber, they couldn't wait anymore, Thor… they want you to promise them, to vow that you will continue to lead them into battle, satisfying their ridiculous and hollow sense of honor…"
"To achieve this, they will do anything..."
"How can you say such things!" Thor roared at The Destroyer: "It was you who hurt them! You betrayed…"
"If you dare to go on, I'll kill her right now." The Destroyer grabbed Sif lying on the ground. Between her hazy consciousness, she looked through The Destroyer's armor to see Loki's cold demeanor.
"Thor, why don't you understand? They're only pressuring you to make a commitment, using those honor-related rhetoric to turn you into a war machine, which will eventually lead Asgard to destruction…"
"They revolve around you, worship you, hail you as king, only so you could lead them into battles, to satisfy their inherent violence and lust for conquest, it has always been this way."
The Destroyer's grip grew tighter, Sif moaned in pain, "Look, just like her… their family sent them to you at an early age to become your lovers, your guards.
"Then when you ascend the throne, they can become the great generals of Asgard, the leaders of the Royal Guards, and the Queen of Gods above all…"
"To achieve this, they will flatter you and defame me, there's nothing they wouldn't do for that..."
Rain slapped on The Destroyer's arm, blood seeping from the crevices of his fingers.
"Stop! Loki... please, let Sif go, she's innocent..."
Thor said with a trembling voice: "It's not what you think, Loki, Loki... I know a lot of people have been slandering you, I know there are many vile rumors in Asgard..."
"I know Volstagg and the others can sometimes be too blunt, but you're truly my brother, we are brothers..."
Just then, the Mecha controlled by Iron Man suddenly soared, Doctor Lizard and Spider Man quickly retreated. Then, a portal lit up mid-air, and a bomb glowing with cold light was thrown down.
Iron Man pressed a few buttons on his arm, several drones flew out from his Mecha's back and hit the bomb. Iron Man also retreated rapidly; the drones brought the bomb towards the towering Destroyer.
The moment the bomb touched The Destroyer, first, a small snowflake blossomed from the point of contact, then the corners of the snowflake bloomed countless dazzling ice crystals. In total silence, the ice crystals spread at an incredibly fast pace unreachable by the naked eye over The Destroyer's armor.
Within a mere breath, The Destroyer's chest was completely covered in blue ice crystals, followed by his arms and legs. Lastly, before the cockpit with the most concentrated divine power was frozen, Loki flew out from inside.
The divine power of Fire God radiated around him, a more violent power descended, countless flames rose from mid-air, and then several fire dragons spiraled down towards Sif and the Warriors Three on the ground.
In an instant, Loki disappeared, then appeared in front of Thor. Countless flames evaporated the falling rain into steam. Loki raised a hand, a large arm made of fire formed and grabbed Thor, taking him mid-air.
In the dark rainy night sky, only firelight flickered, countless fires held them up, Loki looked at Thor, saying: "If you still can't see who's been weaving lies to deceive you, and who's trying to unveil the lies to save you, then you can just die along with these hypocritical and selfish people."
With that, he clenched his fingers, the fiery arm tightened fiercely around Thor's neck. Thor's face turned purple, and a few seconds before he lost consciousness, he saw the stars behind Loki growing brighter, a familiar light coming from afar. Thor widened his eyes and shouted with all his might: "That's... the Rainbow Bridge! Loki!! Dodge it!!!!"
But it was too late, a fantastical-colored light as captivating as a rainbow lit up from the starry sky. A beam of light carrying an unparalleled violent force instantly hit Loki's back.
Thor, who was facing Loki, saw Loki reveal a highly pained expression that he had never seen before. Then in an instant, shattered into pieces.
Time stood still, the stars shone, Loki fragmented into specks of light amidst the rainbow and colorful aura.
The divine light burst outwards, almost turning into another sun. Thor saw before Loki's body dissipated, he was looking at him. After the fleeting expression of extreme pain was a look of helplessness and despair facing death.
Thor witnessed the light of the World Tree suddenly brighten. The status of Fire God was completely extracted. The divine power along with the status paused on the spot for a moment, then surged into Thor's body.
"No!! Loki!!!!!"
After Thor's despairing yell, a portal as dark as a black hole opened above him. A huge suction pulled Thor inside. Then everything returned to calm, leaving only the endless lines of rain and the once again dimmed sky.