He turned abruptly, turning his back on Loki and the control core. Raising mjolnir high with both hands, he poured all his divine power into it, without reservation and with a near-tragic will!
Then, under Loki's astonished gaze and the incredulous stares of everyone who had just arrived outside the control room, including Artoria and Minerva, Thor let out a roar that shook the heavens and earth, slamming mjolnir hard down at his feet—the fundamental energy transmission hub where the Bifrost connected to the continent!
"Break—for me!!!"
"Boom—!!!"
An explosion beyond description occurred! It was a hundred, a thousand times more intense than the collision between Laufey and Thor, or the fall of the Destroyer! It was like the Big Bang at the beginning of the Universe! A tidal wave of colorful, incandescent, and golden energy completely swallowed Thor's figure, engulfed the control room, and swept toward the entire Bifrost and even the continent of Asgard!
Thor did not attack Loki, nor did he attack the control core. He chose the most direct and effective, yet most dangerous method for himself—destroying the Bifrost itself! To forcibly interrupt the transmission channel of that destructive energy!
This was the only method he could think of in this desperate situation to stop Loki's insane plan. He remembered what Artoria had said about "letting go," and he remembered the innocent lives that needed protection. At this moment, he let go of his own life and death, let go of his grievances with Loki, all to stop that World-ending tragedy.
"No—!" Loki let out a desperate and frantic scream. He felt the energy connection beneath his feet and in his hands instantly severed. The power that was enough to propel him to the pinnacle retreated like a tide, replaced by the impending, all-consuming explosion that would occur once the destructive energy lost control! He tried to escape, but the violent turbulent energy had already engulfed him.
Outside the control room, Artoria and Minerva were also violently blasted away by the shockwave of energy. Minerva held onto Artoria tightly, using her body to block most of the impact, and the two rolled and landed on the violently shaking bridge surface in the distance. Others were also sent flying or knocked over.
The entire Asgard trembled violently at this moment, as if it were about to crack apart! From the direction of the Golden Palace came Frigga's urgent call and the glow of an eruption of silver moon magic, seemingly trying to stabilize the continent.
It is unknown how much time passed; perhaps it was only a few seconds, or perhaps it felt as long as a century. That tidal wave of destructive energy finally began to slowly calm down and dissipate.
When everyone could barely see again, the scene before them left them all stunned, their hearts aching as if pierced by knives.
The magnificent Bifrost, which connected the Nine Realms, had been completely blown apart from the middle section near the Asgard continent! The break was jagged, the remaining colorful crystals dull and lusterless, and fragments of energy drifted continuously from the fractured edge. The control room had completely disappeared, leaving only a huge, deep pit with molten edges in its place.
And at the edge of that break, Thor knelt on one knee, barely supporting his body with mjolnir. His golden armor was shattered and in tatters, his cloak torn, his face covered in blood and grime, and his aura was extremely weak, clearly having suffered a severe backlash. But he was still alive, and he had successfully prevented the firing of the destructive beam.
Not far ahead of him in the void, Loki's figure floated. He seemed to have been pushed out of the break by the shock of the explosion and was not directly caught in the core blast. But he was equally disheveled, his ornate clothes torn, his face marked with soot and blood. He looked down at the bottomless void beneath his feet, where the remnants of destructive energy surged, and then looked up at the broken Bifrost in the distance, and at Thor, who was struggling to support himself on the bridge. His ice-green eyes were filled with confusion, disbelief, and a despair as if the entire World had collapsed.
"You... you destroyed it..." Loki's voice was hoarse and trembling, "You destroyed the Bifrost... destroyed Asgard's path to the Nine Realms... just for... just for those ants?"
Thor lifted his head with difficulty and looked at Loki. There was no anger in his eyes, only deep exhaustion and sorrow: "I destroyed the bridge to... stop you from committing an irreparable mistake. Loki... stop now. Come back with me, Mother... Father... we..."
"Go back?" Loki seemed to have heard the most ridiculous thing. He laughed neurotically, his laughter growing louder and more shrill, "Go back where? Back to that home that will never acknowledge me? Back to the side of that father who always treats you as the heir? Back to that... crazy brother who can destroy the Bifrost without hesitation?"
He stopped laughing, his eyes becoming hollow and cold, as if all hope, all obsession, and all madness had completely dissipated the moment the Bifrost broke, along with that destructive energy.
"No, Thor." Loki shook his head gently, his voice terrifyingly calm. His hollow gaze passed over Thor, looking toward the more distant, seemingly unreachable void, "There is no place for me anywhere. Not in Asgard, not in Frost Giants Realm... these Nine Realms, this starry sky, all of this... it's all gone."
He took one last look at Thor, his ice-green eyes reflecting his brother's face, which was full of pain and pleading. Then, he closed his eyes, a trace of near-liberated, extremely weary indifference appearing on his face, and he fell backward like a kite with a broken string, plummeting straight down into the bottomless void abyss filled with the remnants of destructive energy!
"No! Loki!!!" Thor let out a heart-wrenching roar. At the very moment Loki fell backward, the severely injured Thor erupted with a strength and determination even he couldn't have imagined! He lunged forward from the broken edge, his whole body rushing out past the bridge surface, and his outstretched right hand, in the nick of time, tightly, firmly grabbed Loki's wrist as he flailed upward during his fall!
"Grab me! Loki! Hold on!" Thor's body was half-suspended in the void, relying only on his left hand to dig desperately into a sharp, protruding remnant of a colorful crystal at the break. The immense downward force nearly tore his already severely injured arm apart, but he gritted his teeth, his veins bulging, refusing to let go no matter what! mjolnir slipped from his hand, spinning as it fell into the abyss below.
Loki's body hovered in the void. He looked up at Thor's face above, twisted from effort and covered in blood, yet still resolute. He looked at the unmistakable light in his eyes—the desire to hold onto him and save him, even after being so betrayed and hurt. Loki's pupils contracted slightly, and a crack appeared in the indifferent expression on his face, but it was immediately covered by a deeper gloom, mixed with mockery, sorrow, and some kind of extreme emotion.
"Let go of me, Thor." Loki's voice was very soft, yet it clearly reached Thor's ears, "This is... unsightly. You cannot save someone who is determined to die, nor can you change everything that has already happened."
"No! I will never let go! You are my brother! Loki!" Thor roared, blood gushing from his left hand, which was clutching the crystal, and from the wound on his right shoulder being pulled by Loki's downward force, but he still held on desperately, "Father has awakened! Mother is waiting for us! Come back with me! Everything can still..."
"Everything can what? Pretend nothing happened?" Loki interrupted him, the corners of his mouth curling into a mocking arc, but there was no laughter in his eyes, "Continue to be that unwanted shadow, waiting to be abandoned, exiled, and... sacrificed next time? No, Thor. I'm tired. I can't act in this play anymore."
He raised his still-mobile left hand and covered the hand of Thor that was tightly gripping his wrist—the hand that was covered in bulging veins, trembling, yet unyielding.
"Farewell, brother."
The last glimmer of light in Loki's ice-green eyes extinguished. His left hand, covering Thor's, did not grip back, but instead... forcefully, one finger at a time, began to pry open Thor's tightly clenched fingers!
"No! Loki! Stop! Don't!" Thor's eyes widened in terror. He could feel the cold and resolute force coming from Loki's fingers. That force was not enough to counter his grip, but it carried a chilling, unquestionable will of "detachment." He shook his head frantically, tears blurring his vision, trying even harder to grip tighter, but his severely injured body and suspended state made it difficult to exert force.
"Let go, Thor." Loki's voice was almost a whisper, yet it was like the sharpest ice pick, piercing Thor's heart, "Let me... be free."
Finally, amidst Thor's desperate, blood-curdling roar, Loki pried open Thor's last two fingers.
The supporting force on his wrist suddenly disappeared.
Loki's figure, like a ghost that had finally broken free from all restraints, accelerated into the endless darkness and turbulent energy below. He didn't even look at Thor one last time; he simply closed his eyes, a strange, almost serene expression remaining on his face, and was quickly swallowed by the surging remnants of void energy, disappearing into the bottomless darkness.
"Loki!!!"
Thor let out a wail that resounded through the Universe, filled with endless pain, regret, and despair. He hung at the broken edge, watching helplessly as his brother's figure was swallowed by the darkness, feeling as if his own soul had split and fallen along with him. He wanted to let go, wanted to jump down with him, but his severely injured body and residual instincts made it impossible.
Just as Thor, due to extreme grief and exhaustion, was about to slip from the crystal remnant with his left hand and fall into the void—
An old, wrinkled, yet steady and powerful hand, as if capable of holding up the stars, reached out from above and firmly, irresistibly, grasped Thor's blood-soaked left wrist.
At the same time, a vast, ancient, all-encompassing, and supreme divine power, like a stabilizing anchor, instantly enveloped this chaotic void. The surging remnants of energy were silently smoothed out, the tremors of the broken Bifrost ceased completely, and even the wind and time seemed to slow down under this majesty.
Thor was steadily lifted by that large hand and pulled back onto the broken bridge surface. He collapsed to the ground, lost and soul-less, his gaze still fixed intently on the dark void where Loki had disappeared, seemingly unaware of the changes around him.
A towering figure clad in dark golden armor, one-eyed, with white hair, and holding the Eternal Spear Gungnir, floated quietly above the broken Bifrost. His solitary eye, deep as the starry sky, first looked complexly in the direction where Loki had disappeared, the gaze containing unspeakable sorrow, regret, and a hint of deeply hidden exhaustion. Then, his gaze fell on Thor, who was collapsed on the ground like a lost soul, swept over the broken Bifrost and the scarred Asgard, and finally, landed on Artoria and Minerva, who were supported by Minerva nearby having witnessed it all, pausing slightly.
The All-Father, Odin, at this moment, awakened from his long slumber, and in the nick of time, saved his eldest son, but ultimately... failed to save his second son who had fallen into the abyss.
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