In the blink of an eye, Thor was sent flying, his mind still reeling — caught in the grip of the impossible thought that Odin might be dead.
"Well hit!"
On the other side, having handed Laufey off to Thor, Loki watched the scene with undisguised satisfaction.
If he hadn't needed to show up in person, he absolutely would have given Laufey a round of applause.
Who dares to freeze up mid-fight against Laufey? Of course Thor was going to get pummeled. This was the king of Jotunheim — the same one who'd managed to blind Odin's eye. And now with the blessing of death god power on top of that?
Loki glanced over briefly, then turned his attention back to the remaining Frost Giants. Thor was tough enough — getting punched a few times wouldn't kill him. Loki had endured far worse blows himself.
Laufey rolled his neck, paid no mind to Loki or the other Asgard warriors, and strode toward where Thor had been blasted away.
A violent thunderclap shook heaven and earth as blue-purple lightning swept across the entire battlefield!
Shaken awake by Laufey's punch, Thor abandoned all thoughts of Odin. Channeling his divine power to its fullest, he threw himself into the fight against Laufey with everything he had.
Loki raised Gungnir high, rallying the Asgard warriors to launch a counterattack against the Frost Giants!
The battle, which had begun tilting toward defeat, quietly reversed in that instant.
Though enhanced by the death god's power and capable of overwhelming Asgard's warriors one-on-one, that edge existed only when Loki was locked in stalemate with Laufey. Now that Thor had arrived, Loki had room to maneuver.
With a king joining the fight, the outcome was naturally going to shift.
In truth, only Loki could turn the tide of this war!
Because of the Death Goddess Hela's power blessing, the Jotunheim Frost Giants were even stronger than they'd been under the Casket of Ancient Winters. Even when killed, they rose again as corpses to rejoin the fight!
And only the Eternal Spear — Gungnir — could shatter Hela's power and grant them true death.
Brilliant thunderbolts blazed across heaven and earth. Scorching golden light filled the air with destructive fury.
Working in tandem with Thor, Loki's Gungnir cut down Frost Giant warriors at a staggering rate. The scales of war tipped steadily in Asgard's favor.
It was a good situation. Anyone with eyes could see that, barring some catastrophe, Asgard would win this war.
Jane Foster thought so too. Relaxing as she breathed out for Thor, she turned to look at Sif and the others — only to find their faces drawn and grave, growing more so by the moment.
"Why do you all look like that?"
Jane asked, puzzled.
"Thor and the others have the upper hand now, don't they?"
"Because this isn't the power Jotunheim should have," Sif replied.
"Both Laufey and those Frost Giants — they're showing far too much strength. The Jotunheim of the past never had anything like this."
Volstagg nodded and continued on her point.
"Jotunheim was an enemy we crossed paths with regularly in the old days. Thor had faced Laufey in combat before and come out ahead."
"Though Laufey hadn't gone all-out at the time, there's no question their strengths were roughly on par. Even if Thor was slightly outmatched, he was never beaten this badly."
"More than that — we've never seen the form Laufey's displaying now, nor anything like those Frost Giant warriors getting back up after death to keep fighting."
"That kind of power is absolutely not something the Frost Giant race should possess. It's most likely coming from Helheim."
At that, Volstagg trailed off.
But Jane and the others could read between the lines.
"So this war might not just be between Jotunheim and Asgard — Helheim could be involved too?"
"It's more than that."
If they were being cynical about it, they might even suspect Loki had orchestrated the whole thing.
Though the likelihood was slim.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, Loki couldn't have talked both Jotunheim and Helheim into joining in, let alone gotten Jotunheim to sacrifice this many of its own people.
BOOM!
In the midst of thunderous roaring, Thor — his face twisted with defiance — was slammed hard into the ground by Laufey once again.
The ice shattered, then froze solid again in an instant.
CRASH!
Thor called down lightning to blast through the icy layer and rose from the seawater, his expression heavy, his eyes burning with fury and confusion.
That big a body should have been easy to hit, even with his eyes closed. So why couldn't he land a single blow?
And whenever they closed distance, no matter how hard he struggled, Laufey would grab him and unleash a vicious barrage of throws!
This kind of agility at that size — are you kidding me? Thor wanted to scream. The Laufey of the past was never this fast!
What on earth had happened while he was gone?!
Just as Thor's frustration reached its peak, Loki's voice rang in his ear.
"Hold him still!"
"Leave the rest to me!"
Thor's expression hardened instantly. He didn't question Loki for a second.
Brilliant violet light poured from his body. Mjolnir's hammerhead was encased in crackling thunder — and with a thunderous crack, Thor unleashed every ounce of his divine power without hesitation.
CRASH—!!!
"Die, Laufey!"
Loki gazed at Laufey bound by the雷电束缚 — Thor's lightning prison — and poured his own divine power into Gungnir without restraint.
Whether it was his imagination or not, a familiar silhouette flickered into view behind him: a figure wearing a single eye patch, gazing at Loki with what seemed like pride.
But it lasted only a moment before dissolving into motes of light, streaming toward the spear's tip.
BOOM!!!
A golden beam of searing,极限的热度 erupted with light so intense it made the sun itself look dim. Dark clouds scattered. The very stars seemed to reel.
In that instant, Loki's body vanished.
The next moment, Gungnir's spear tip had pierced clean through Laufey's chest.
Then, in a terrifying burst of light, both Loki and Laufey vanished from sight — and a massive mushroom cloud rose into the sky above.
"Reclaim."
In the light explosion visible to no one else, Loki retrieved Laufey's body for the chat group.
After all, reclaiming Laufey had been one of his objectives. Though Laufey and Loki shared blood, compared to the vast bounty of points, Loki placed no stock in such ties.
Apart from his mother and Thor, there was nothing Loki couldn't discard.
The light faded. Loki's figure reappeared before them all.
His clothes were torn and ragged. His body bore countless wounds. But the Loki standing there now? He blazed like a star.
Every single Asgard warrior felt it.
Laufey was dead. The rest of the war would be simple from here.
Soon, the remaining Frost Giants fell to Loki and Thor as well.
———
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