"I am Loki, of Asgard!"
The gigantic figure, connecting heaven and Earth, suddenly spoke, his voice echoing through the air, overriding even the immense rumbling that filled the World.
The massive clouds of dust kicked up by the collapse of the Dark Elves' spaceship seemed like nothing more than insignificant mist, merely decorating his divine form.
At this moment, Loki's gaze swept over the ground below.
It was as if a true god was looking down upon the mortal World.
And now, all the New York citizens looking up at the sky were merely insignificant footnotes beneath this god's feet.
"No… What is this guy up to now?"
Due to their proximity to the fallen spaceship, Luca and the others had just recovered from the shock when they looked up and saw Loki making his declaration.
At this point, Thor, who had safely landed Gwen back on the ground, also quickly followed the hammer's guidance and arrived at the foot of the [Boxer] Mech, stating with a serious expression:
"This is the power of the Aether Particle! Otherwise, Loki's own divine power alone would never be able to achieve this!"
"Aether Particle? Didn't you say that was a divine artifact used by the Dark Elves to destroy the World?"
Tony, climbing out of the Mech's cockpit, asked with a puzzled expression.
Thor had explained this to him on their way back from Brooklyn, and he hadn't expected a new development so soon.
However, upon hearing Tony's question, Thor merely shook his head and explained:
"In fact, the Aether Particle is just a manifestation. Its essence, like the Tesseract, is one of the six Infinity Stones that have existed since the beginning of the Universe. The Reality Stone, represented by the Aether Particle, has the power to turn illusions into reality. As for those Dark Elves, they are merely…"
Luca, of course, already knew what Thor was talking about, so he didn't listen as attentively as Tony and Gwen.
He just looked at Loki's incredibly huge figure in the sky with a strange expression.
'He used the Reality Stone, and all he created was this translucent phantom. Is this Loki a bit… weak?'
Of course, Luca had actually underestimated Loki somewhat.
To be able to twist the trajectories of celestial bodies, fake the Convergence, and accelerate the Nine Realms' alignment, simply by using the Space and Reality Infinity Stones.
He could even control the order and location of the portals opening during the Nine Realms' alignment to a limited extent.
Loki, capable of this, was absolutely worthy of his title as the God of Mischief and Deception, the Nine Realms' foremost sorcerer.
However, he was clearly expending all his energy just to maintain the portals, yet he still had to create such a grand scene to make his declaration.
One could only say that it was a 'foolish act' only the 'God of Mischief' could pull off.
Of course, no matter what Luca thought, Loki's speech continued.
"I bear a glorious purpose!"
"Freedom? A seemingly bright temptation that deprives life of its true joy!"
"But now, I am here!"
"Your King! Will bring you true rule!"
Luca: "..."
"Thor, aren't you going to do something? Your brother is having another episode…"
"Uh, he's adopted."
Thor naturally wanted to stop Loki from continuing to embarrass Asgard, but the figure in the sky was clearly just a phantom; even a hammer to his face would be useless.
Loki continued.
"From now on, every 30 minutes, a portal to another World will open!"
"Hand over the scepter you stole, submit to my feet, and accept my rule!"
"Otherwise, the entire Midgard will become an endless battlefield!!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions became solemn.
It turned out that the previous two portals were just an appetizer; Loki was merely proving the consequences of defying him.
If it was truly as he said, and countless more portals would open, it was unknown how long Earth could hold out, but at least all of New York would be reduced to ruins!
Meanwhile, Nick Fury, who had been stationed on the Helicarrier, not only looked solemn but also increasingly puzzled.
He turned to his deputy, Maria Hill, and asked rapidly:
"Didn't Loki's scepter already get taken by him?"
Deputy Director Hill, who was also thinking about this, immediately replied:
"According to the report, that's correct!"
"The surveillance at Stark Tower was severely damaged on the day of the Battle of New York. Combining existing information with Captain's account, someone disguised as him tricked Loki into giving up the scepter and then briefly clashed with Captain."
"According to the intelligence analysis department's speculation, that should have been Loki disguised using an illusion!"
Upon hearing this, Nick Fury decisively looked at another person—the head of the intelligence analysis department, as mentioned by Hill.
Seeing Nick Fury's scrutinizing gaze, this person's forehead had already begun to seep with cold sweat. He could only stammer an explanation:
"Based on... based on known intelligence, this is... the most likely deduction."
'The scepter is indeed gone, and it was indeed taken that day. None of this has anything to do with me.'
This HYDRA agent could only repeatedly hypnotize himself in this manner.
Nick Fury took another deep look at the man but didn't press him further. He simply turned back and said calmly:
"So, now that scepter is neither in our hands nor in Loki's hands?"
Nick Fury saying this naturally wasn't an attempt to give the scepter to Loki in exchange for peace, but clearly, with his personality, he wouldn't allow such a weapon to escape his control for nothing.
Even if it wasn't in his hands, he had to know where the scepter had ended up.
On the other side, after stating his purpose, Loki did not immediately dispel the phantom connecting heaven and Earth.
Instead, he continued to look down at New York with a scrutinizing, yet playful, gaze.
It was as if he were observing these mortals who were about to be ruled by him.
"The countdown starts now. I…"
As he was speaking, a loud 'clang' was heard from the sky.
No, perhaps not the sky.
But a sound coming from near Loki through the projection.
The next moment, a figure even taller than Loki's phantom seemed to cross some boundary, rapidly appearing and instantly rushing in front of Loki's phantom.
As soon as this black and white mechanical figure appeared, it mercilessly swung its fists directly at Loki's face.
The Loki phantom, which had just appeared like a god, immensely majestic, was now directly knocked to the ground by this suddenly intruding figure, its face continuously taking heavy blows.
As the black and white figure rapidly swung its fists, a simple, unadorned mechanical voice endlessly repeated:
"Target found! Target found!"
"Commencing elimination! Commencing elimination!"