"How does your armor feel?"
"Is it perhaps more fragile than you imagined?"
Tony's heart skipped a beat.
He knew the real owner had come knocking.
He maneuvered his damaged armor, slowly rising from the pit.
"Crack! Crack!"
The armor's components groaned under the strain.
The light from the arc reactor on his chest flickered erratically.
He took a deep breath, looked at the golden figure in mid-air, and inhaled deeply.
"It's alright. Just a bit power-hungry."
He knew that any sign of weakness in front of this guy, Leon, was pointless.
The only thing he could do was maintain his last shred of dignity.
"Power-hungry?"
Leon sounded as if he had heard something amusing.
He slowly descended from mid-air, his shoes lightly touching the sandy ground.
He smiled faintly, walking step by step towards Tony.
His pace was slow, as if he were strolling in his own backyard.
But each step he took resonated with Tony's heartstrings, making him feel immense pressure.
Damn it, is this guy filming a movie? Why walk so slowly?!
Leon walked up to Tony, raised his head, and looked at the armor, which was about the same height as him, a playful look on his face.
"Tony, I actually think your battery is too small."
He extended a finger and gently tapped the arc reactor on Tony's chest.
"Buzz!"
A gentle golden energy surged from his finger into the arc reactor!
"Sir! Unknown energy detected! Energy is being rapidly repaired and refilled! Fifty percent, seventy percent, one hundred percent!"
"Warning! Energy exceeds limit! One hundred fifty percent, two hundred percent, three hundred percent, four hundred percent!"
"Energy has been replenished to one thousand percent!"
Jarvis's astonished voice rang out in the helmet!
Tony felt like a balloon about to burst!
He could clearly feel a terrifying energy surging within the arc reactor!
This energy was purer and more powerful than Thor's lightning.
He had no doubt that if this energy went out of control, he would instantly be blown to smithereens.
"You…"
Tony suppressed his confusion and asked in a low voice.
Leon retracted his finger, looking at Tony's ghost-like expression, and nodded with satisfaction.
"Very good."
A devilish curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Now your power is full."
"Then…"
He took a step back, made a gesture of invitation, and spoke to Thor, who was dumbfounded nearby.
"You may continue."
"Don't be shy."
"Just consider it entertainment for my boring holiday."
Leon smiled faintly, but no one knew what he was up to.
Thor, oh Thor, this is my brotherly good intention.
You must not disappoint me!
These few words were light and airy, but they didn't sound that way to Tony and Thor.
Damn it, I won't be blown up, will I?!
This was Tony's most immediate feeling at the moment.
He looked down at the dazzling arc reactor on his chest.
One thousand percent energy reserve!
Damn it!
What kind of concept is this?
This meant he was currently carrying a small nuclear bomb inside him that could explode him at any moment.
No, it was more terrifying than a small nuclear bomb.
Jarvis frantically analyzed the composition of this energy, but the data stream it produced was a jumbled mess.
Unable to parse!
Unable to comprehend!
Unable to replicate!
Tony was shocked again.
What kind of being was Leon? Was he really just a Prince of Asgard?
He had previously said that the Bifrost Bridge was his home's door, and Tony had only taken it as a joke.
When he saw Thor summon lightning, he was only surprised.
But now, with a single finger, Leon had effortlessly accomplished something he had spent countless efforts and wisdom trying to achieve.
Tony finally felt the insurmountable chasm between mortals and Gods.
A sense of humiliation emerged.
He, Tony Stark, a prodigy, the pinnacle of human intellect, had become a toy for others' amusement?
Entertainment?
What great entertainment!
It turned out that from the very beginning, this man had not taken him and Thor seriously.
Their battle, in his eyes, was perhaps nothing more than a show during a boring holiday.
First, he gave him hope for solving palladium poisoning, allowing him to see the dawn of high-tech fields.
Then, at his most vulnerable moment, he bestowed upon him power beyond his limits, as if it were charity.
What did he want to do?
What did he want to see?
Did he want to see what kind of sparks a catalyzed mortal and a God could produce?
Tony's fists clenched inside the armor, making a cracking sound.
Rage burned in his chest.
But he couldn't act on it.
Because reason warned him that Leon was someone he absolutely could not provoke.
He was conceited and proud, but not foolish.
He could only redirect his unvented anger towards another target.
That was Thor.
That's right, it was all because of him!
If it weren't for this country bumpkin who fell from the sky, how could he have ended up in such a predicament?
Tony's gaze was fixed on Thor nearby.
His eyes beneath the mask had turned crimson… On the other side, Thor's heart was also in turmoil.
He was even more shocked and bewildered than Tony.
What in the world was Leon doing?!
He actually helped a mortal?
And in this way?
Thor was all too familiar with the golden energy from earlier.
That was Leon's unique divine power, the power of the Sun.
It was the supreme power of the Asgardian Gods, besides his father, Odin!
From childhood, he had only occasionally felt a tiny fraction of that power from afar when Leon displayed his divine might.
Each time, it made him tremble with awe and reverence.
But now, Leon had actually injected power into a mortal's tin can?
Why?!
Just because he had fought a mortal?
Just because he had lost his temper again and almost accidentally killed him?
Was this how he was to be punished?
To have a mortal use power belonging to Odinson to teach him a lesson?
Thor's heart sank.
He looked into Leon's eyes and understood their meaning.
There was no anger or disappointment.
It was indifference!
Yes!
It was indifference!
As if he, Thor Odinson, Prince of Asgard, the future Thor.
These identities made no difference in his eyes compared to a mortal.
They were all just pawns he casually toyed with when bored.
This fact made Thor feel worse than any severe punishment.
He would rather Leon banish him again, like his father Odin, than see him in this state now.
It made him feel that his pride and glory had become a joke.
He gripped Mjolnir, his breathing becoming ragged.
The grievance and unwillingness in his heart began to take over.
He looked up, meeting Tony's angry gaze.
Very good.
You want to fight, do you?
You want to use my brother's power to humiliate me, do you?
Then come on!
I, Thor Odinson, will never bow down before a mortal, even if it means death.
....
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