Seeing that Sif had safely exited the combat zone, Blake pulled his hand, deflecting the force to the side. The Destroyer's massive arm slid sideways, crashing heavily into the ground.
Taking advantage of its unsteady stance, Blake slid towards the Destroyer's ankle.
"Boom!"
The enormous figure of the Destroyer lost its balance and fell to the ground.
Blake wasn't about to let this golden opportunity slip away. Before the Destroyer could turn over, he raised his fist and punched the back of its head.
"Bang!"
A metallic clang echoed, but the Destroyer remained unaffected, while Blake's knuckles throbbed with pain from the impact.
Realizing that his bare hands couldn't dent the armored shell, Blake wiped his right hand across his waist. A Tang sword slowly emerged from the void.
To the onlookers, however, it appeared as if Blake was drawing a long sword from his waistband.
Fandral stared in shock at his own sword, then at his waistband. Asgard had many magical ways to summon weapons, but there had been no magical energy from Blake.
Fandral couldn't understand where this Earthling had pulled the sword from.
Blake, unaware of Fandral's thoughts, stuck to his principle of striking while the enemy was down. He stabbed the Destroyer repeatedly with his Tang sword.
The blade slipped into the gaps between the metal strips covering the Destroyer's body, but this physical damage had no effect on the Destroyer's hollow, empty form.
Gritting his teeth, Blake slashed at the metal strips directly. The sword scraped along the metal with a piercing sound, sending sparks flying. Despite the effort, the blade left no mark.
Glancing at his recently upgraded Tang sword, Blake felt a pang of regret. Although the blade hadn't been damaged, he decided not to use it any further.
He sheathed the sword and turned his attention back to the Destroyer, which was beginning to twist its neck and turn its head.
Before it could fully rotate, Blake slammed his fist into its half-turned face, knocking it back to the ground.
The flames that had started to flare up in the Destroyer's head were extinguished as its face hit the ground once more.
"Clack! Clack!"
Whether it was the Destroyer's own combat instinct or Loki's control, the fallen machine attempted to turn its head again, trying to fire another energy blast at Blake.
Despite the pain in his bones from the punches, Blake had no better strategy against this armored menace. Seeing the Destroyer try to turn again, he smashed his fist down once more.
"Get back down!"
"Clack clack!"
"Boom!"
"Clack clack!"
"Boom!"
The two seemed to be locked in a strange contest: the Destroyer desperately trying to turn its head, while Blake stubbornly refused to let it.
The Warriors Three and Sif were utterly dumbfounded by the sight.
"Is that really the Destroyer, the one guarding the treasure vault, empowered by Odin's magic?"
While Blake was fighting the Destroyer one-on-one, the others had managed to stand up and were now supporting each other as they made their way to Thor's side.
Fandral, still staring in disbelief as Blake repeatedly pounded the Destroyer into the ground, asked with a look of shock on his face.
The others were equally wide-eyed.
"Is this really the Destroyer we fought earlier? Thor, is this truly Midgard, the world we're supposed to protect?"
Hogun, dazed, looked at Blake and tugged on Thor's sleeve.
"Earth is not as weak as we thought. There are even some here as powerful as my father," Thor replied.
Thor recalled what Blake had told him about his father's old friend, the Sorcerer Supreme.
"As powerful as Odin? Alright, I take back my underestimation of them," Hogun said, swallowing hard.
While the others were beginning to acknowledge Blake's strength, Blake himself was feeling exasperated. This Destroyer was like an impenetrable turtle shell; no matter how much he hit it, it was useless.
If he kept punching, it wouldn't matter whether the Destroyer was hurt or not—his own fists might not survive.
No matter how fast his recovery was, constant punching was wearing him down.
Meanwhile, Blake was silently grumbling to himself about why Thor hadn't yet regained his connection to Mjolnir. Thor had already learned humility, hadn't he?
As Blake was lost in thought, the Destroyer seemed to grow tired of being hit repeatedly. Instead of forcing its head to turn again, it aimed its face at the ground and suddenly shot out a burst of flames.
This caused its upper body to shoot backward and rise up high.
Blake, who had been absent-mindedly throwing punches, was caught off guard when the Destroyer's head suddenly rocketed upward like a thruster, sending him flying through the air.
"Ptui!" Blake spat out a mouthful of sand.
He was about to charge back in, planning to use his agility to engage the Destroyer in another round of combat, but unexpectedly, the Destroyer turned away from him and headed straight for Thor and the others.
"It's just going to ignore me now?"
Blake rubbed his aching wrist. "Thor, do any of you have artifacts like Mjolnir, maybe something like Gungnir? If not, I can't handle this turtle shell!"
Thor's face fell. Gungnir? That was Odin's weapon, and asking for it was no joke.
"If you don't have anything like that, I'm out of options. You'd better regain your power soon and pick up that hammer, or we're in big trouble!"
Blake leaped a few times, catching up to the others before the Destroyer could, and warned them.
Thor looked at his companions and, gritting his teeth, ignored Sif's protests and ran directly in front of the Destroyer.
"Loki, I know you can hear me. Your target is me, right? Let them go!" Thor pleaded. "Brother, I know I was once proud and arrogant. If I ever did anything to hurt you, I'm sorry, but they are innocent!"
Thor's voice was full of sincerity. He wasn't just saying this to get out of the situation—he had genuinely reflected on his actions during this time.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have told them earlier that he wasn't ready to return to Asgard.
"Thor!" a voice called out urgently from behind.
It was Jane, who had seen the massive Destroyer outside the town and had driven out in a panic.
"I'm fine!" Thor raised his hand toward her, signaling for Jane to stay back.
Just as he was about to turn around and say more to Loki, the Destroyer spun and swung its arm, sending Thor flying with a heavy blow.
"Thor!" several voices cried out in unison.
According to the usual course of events, Thor should have been able to sense Mjolnir after saying those words and taking that hit. But this time, it didn't happen. Thor struggled to his feet, staggering.
The Destroyer's body flickered with flames as it strode toward Thor again.
Jane and the Asgardians rushed toward Thor in alarm. Blake also wanted to intervene, but suddenly, a shimmering golden portal appeared, and a thin arm extended from it, blocking his path.
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