Asgard Prison
Loki stood in his cell, quietly observing everything happening around him with the calm demeanor of someone who had orchestrated the chaos.
The prisoner who had just been captured had proven to be quite resourceful, and now inmates throughout the various cells were being released due to his ingenious methods.
"Interesting," Loki murmured to himself. "This guy actually used that method to break through the prison walls."
Loki had seen everything clearly. The warrior had extracted a stone with a cursed aura from his own abdomen, and the moment the stone was removed, it had been absorbed by the man, transforming his body so that it appeared to have lava flowing beneath his skin.
The prisoners in the cells were being released one by one, and the warrior's goal was obvious—he was creating maximum chaos and confusion.
For Loki, there was nothing easier than this to take revenge on both Odin and Thor.
"Hey," Loki called out softly as the transformed warrior passed his cell. "If I were you, I would go in a different direction..."
The warrior paused for a moment, then followed Loki's subtle guidance and left the prison area, heading toward a more strategic target.
After witnessing this, Loki's face was filled with satisfied smiles.
"Odin! Thor! This is just a small punishment for what you've done to me!" he said with obvious pleasure.
After speaking, Loki returned to his rocking chair and picked up a book to read, as if nothing extraordinary was happening around him.
That warrior was one of the Dark Elves from the story Odin had told earlier, and he now resembled the cursed warrior from those ancient tales—someone who could compete with the entire Asgardian army.
Following the orders of the Dark Elf leader, he was now prepared to destroy Asgard from within.
Asgard Palace Grounds
Whoosh!
As the cursed warrior made his way toward Asgard's defense center, two energy beams suddenly struck him from above. However, these beams were like gentle tickles against his transformed skin—they couldn't even break the surface.
The cursed warrior looked up and saw a golden-red mechanical armor flying through the air. The two beams had been fired from the armor's repulsors.
BOOM!
The cursed warrior suddenly exerted tremendous force with his legs, and the ground beneath his feet instantly shattered. He shot toward Tony like a guided missile.
"What the hell is this thing?" Tony exclaimed, immediately gaining altitude when he saw his opponent rushing toward him.
The two attacks he'd just launched hadn't worked at all, which was completely beyond his expectations.
In Tony's assessment, even if he couldn't defeat his opponent, he should at least be able to engage him in meaningful combat.
Now he understood that his attacks were essentially meaningless against this enemy. The opponent's lava-like skin completely ignored the energy beams he was firing.
CRASH!
With a deafening sound, a yellow figure rushed toward the cursed warrior in a direct collision course.
It was Marcus, who had transformed into his Rhino form and launched a devastating rhino charge toward the cursed warrior who was attacking Tony.
The two figures collided fiercely in mid-air, but the cursed warrior was clearly no match for Marcus's enhanced assault. Under this attack, he was directly knocked backward and crashed hard into the ground.
"Ha! So this is the mastermind behind the prison riot?" Marcus said with satisfaction as he landed. Looking up at Tony, he added, "Leave this guy to me. You go deal with the other escapees."
"It seems I need to study how to deal with these barbarians more effectively," Tony said grimly, flying off toward other areas where escaped prisoners were causing havoc.
In Marcus's hand, a red empowerment crystal appeared—this was the crimson power he had obtained from the Juggernaut during their previous encounter.
Looking at the cursed warrior who was just getting back to his feet, Marcus channeled energy through his hand, integrating the crimson power into his Rhino form.
The next moment, the blue energy light surrounding Rhino instantly turned brick red, and the ground under Marcus's feet was crushed by the immense power.
"Speaking of which, this is the first time I've used this crimson power," Marcus observed with interest.
As he spoke, Marcus launched another Rhino Charge, his entire form transforming into a red locomotive rushing toward the cursed warrior.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Every time Marcus took a step, the ground shook beneath his feet, and he could feel the absolutely unstoppable power flowing through him.
"Is this how it felt when the Juggernaut was rushing toward me?" Marcus wondered, experiencing the sensation from the other perspective.
The feeling was simply incredible—he felt like he could smash through anything in front of him.
With this unparalleled power, Marcus slammed into the cursed warrior with tremendous force. The cursed warrior, who had just managed to assume a defensive position, instantly felt the terrifying impact burst through his guard.
Under Marcus's attack, the cursed warrior felt as though his body was about to be completely shattered. His enhanced defenses were meaningless against such overwhelming power.
But Marcus, who had delivered the attack, didn't stop there. The moment his opponent was knocked away, Marcus launched his next charge.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
At this point, the cursed warrior felt like he was being continuously struck by a battleship. His physique, which had been strengthened by the curse, wasn't providing him with enough power to resist.
After experiencing Marcus's repeated rhino charges, the cursed warrior's body—which had been stronger than most Asgardians—was completely destroyed.
There wasn't a single undamaged part of his form left, and he lay limp on the ground like a piece of meat without bones.
Asgard's Defense
WOOOOO!
A horn sounded throughout Asgard. This was the horn of the Rainbow Bridge, which would only sound in the event of an invasion.
Now that the horn was sounding, it meant that someone had launched an assault on Asgard itself.
A large number of soldiers quickly assembled and took positions in front of the palace.
Before them, a spacecraft that looked like a razor suddenly appeared and began continuously firing at the defensive barrier surrounding the Asgard Palace.
"Return fire!" commanded the Asgardian captain.
Although the opponent's attacks couldn't destroy the defensive barrier, as Asgard's soldiers, they would naturally not allow the enemy to attack without response.
Asgard's divine army began to fight back, and the defense turrets positioned on high ground continuously fired at the razor spacecraft flying through the air.
Soon, a much larger razor battleship appeared, and numerous smaller razor ships flew out of it, firing frantically at the defensive barrier.
"What's happening inside? Why hasn't the barrier been destroyed yet?" asked an elf with a pale face and elongated ears, his voice filled with frustration.
He had sent out his most trusted subordinate and transformed him into a cursed warrior specifically so that he could infiltrate Asgard's palace and disable the barrier from within.
But now, what was wrong with that warrior? Why was the barrier still intact?
He didn't know that the cursed warrior he had placed such high hopes in had been systematically destroyed by Marcus and could now only lie motionless on the ground.
"Continue the attack," he commanded grimly. "If the spacecraft are destroyed, you can crash them directly into the barrier."
There were only two ways to destroy this barrier.
The first was to destroy the defense center from the inside and remove the defensive barrier entirely. The second was to cause enough severe damage to the barrier in an instant, creating a hole that could be exploited for a short time.
Now that the simpler method was no longer feasible, they could only choose violent destruction.
The artillery from the spacecraft and the warship poured down on the defensive barrier, and the massive number of attacks caused ripples to spread across its surface.
Fortunately, this barrier was incredibly strong, and its energy came from the entire realm of Asgard itself. So although the barrier was constantly fluctuating under the assault, it showed no signs of breaking.
The Dark Elves had underestimated both the strength of Asgard's defenses and the power of those who would defend it. Their carefully planned assault was turning into a prolonged siege, and they were discovering that Asgard would not fall as easily as they had hoped.