The dusty streets of Puente Antiguo were deserted, the residents hiding behind locked doors as the ground began to rhythmically shudder.
Out of a swirling vortex of Einstein-Rosen energy, a towering suit of silver, enchanted armor materialized.
The Destroyer. It stood over ten feet tall, its face a slatted furnace of orange celestial fire.
As it raised its arm to incinerate the local diner, a black SUV skidded into the intersection, kicking up a wall of grit.
Lucifer stepped out first, followed by a transformed Thor. The God of Thunder no longer looked like the disheveled drunk from the hospital; he stood with the terrifyingly calm posture of a martial master, his breathing deep and regulated.
"Thor! You're alive!"
A voice cried out.
From the shadows of a nearby storefront, four warriors emerged: Sif and the Warriors Three. They had defied Loki to find their prince, but as they rushed forward, they skidded to a halt.
They didn't recognize the man standing before them.
"My Prince?"
Fandral stammered, looking at Thor's lack of armor and hammer.
"What has happened to you? You look... smaller, yet more dangerous."
"Stand back, my friends,"
Thor said, his voice a low, resonant boom that carried the weight of the Ryōzanpaku training.
"This battle is not for the old ways of Asgard. It is for the new strength I have found in the Void."
The Destroyer's visor glowed white-hot, a beam of pure disintegration energy lancing toward them.
"Everyone, get behind me!"
Lucifer commanded.
He raised his hand, and the air crystallized into a shimmering, translucent wall. Tier 8 Force Field.
The beam slammed into the barrier, the orange fire splashing harmlessly against the "neutronium-plating" sturdiness of the shield.
The impact rattled the windows of the town, but Lucifer didn't move an inch, his expression bored as the Adaptive Upgrade perk began logging the energy data to increase its future sturdiness.
"Now!"
Lucifer shouted, dropping the field as the beam sputtered.
Lucifer and Thor moved as one, a synchronized blur of motion. Lucifer didn't use the Void-Seeker yet; he wanted to test the Hakai No Ken against enchanted Uru.
He closed the gap in a heartbeat, making him like a phantom.
He slid beneath the Destroyer's massive reach, delivering a Void-Layered Strike to the back of the automaton's knee.
The strike didn't hit the metal; it bypassed the armor, the "Void" creating a vacuum that buckled the internal joint from the inside out.
CRACK.
The Destroyer stumbled. Simultaneously, Thor arrived. He didn't swing a sword or a hammer.
He dropped into a perfect horse stance and delivered a Ki-infused straight punch to the Destroyer's chest plate.
BOOM.
The impact sounded like a church bell being struck by a meteor. The Destroyer was launched backward twenty feet, sliding through the asphalt.
"By the beard of Odin!"
Volstagg shouted, his jaw dropping.
"Thor just struck that beast with his bare hands! And the boy... he stops the fire of the gods with a thought and moves like a shadow that bites!"
Sif watched with wide eyes.
"They are fighting in perfect harmony. No weapons, no lightning... just pure, focused intent."
The Destroyer roared—a sound of grinding metal—and unleashed a 360-degree heat blast. Lucifer tapped into his Fundamental Insight, seeing the energy build-up in the slats of the armor.
"Up!"
Lucifer barked.
He grabbed Thor's arm and used a Void-Wave not to attack, but to propel them both vertically.
They soared above the flames. In mid-air, Lucifer unsheathed the Void-Seeker.
"Thor, the neck! I'll take the visor!"
Lucifer plummeted, the charcoal blade glowing with a dark, spatial light.
He used Void-Blade Mastery, slicing through the air. The blade met the slat-armor of the Destroyer's face. Thanks to True Cutting, the legendary Uru metal offered only momentary resistance before the blade sheared through the optical sensors, "deleting" the metal in its path.
The Destroyer flailed, blinded. Thor landed behind it, his knuckles glowing with a faint, golden ki. He remembered Lucifer's words: Destroy it from the inside.
Thor delivered a flurry of Hakai No Ken strikes—punches and palm thrusts—to the main chassis.
Each hit sent a shockwave through the armor, disrupting the magical link Loki used to control it.
Loki's voice echoed through the suit, distorted and panicked.
"What is this?! You are a mere mortal! You have no power!"
"I have the power of a martial art, brother!"
Thor roared, delivering a final, two-handed palm strike that caved in the center of the Destroyer's chest.
The Destroyer fell still, its fires dimming to a dull orange glow. The town was silent, save for the crackling of the scorched pavement.
The Warriors Three and Sif approached slowly, looking at Lucifer with a mix of awe and terror.
They had seen gods fight, but they had never seen a human dismantle an Asgardian weapon of war with such clinical precision while standing behind an unbreakable shield.
"You..."
Sif said, looking at Lucifer.
"You have changed our Prince. You have taught him a strength that Asgard forgot long ago."
Lucifer sheathed the Void-Seeker, his Healing Factor steaming as it cooled his overworked muscles.
"He had the strength. He just needed to stop looking for it in the sky."
Suddenly, a low hum vibrated through the earth. From the S.H.I.E.L.D. crater miles away, a streak of silver light tore across the desert. Mjolnir.
The hammer flew into the town, spinning with such velocity it shattered the sound barrier. It didn't go to the "God of Thunder." It slowed down and hovered precisely between Lucifer and Thor.
Thor looked at the hammer, then at Lucifer. He smiled—a calm, humble smile.
"Go on, Master Lucifer. The hammer recognizes the Stillness. It recognizes the Shield that protects the weak."
Lucifer looked at the legendary weapon. His Gamer's Mind registered the Tier 8 enchantment.
He reached out, his hand closing around the leather grip.
The hammer felt... light. Not because he was "Worthy" in the Asgardian sense, but because his Martial Art Master's Presence and Void energy matched the "Empty" requirement of the enchantment. He lifted it easily, the weight of the multiverse resting in his palm.
[System Notification: Hidden Achievement Unlocked - The Worthy Outsider]
[Reward: $1,000,000 Bonus]
Lucifer tossed the hammer back to Thor, who caught it with a thunderous crack.
Lightning finally returned to the desert, but it was different—cleaner, focused, controlled.
"Keep it,"
Lucifer said.
"You're going to need it for the next part of the training."
Harley skipped over, poking the deactivated Destroyer.
"Can we keep this? It'd make a great coat rack for our new base!"
[System Fund Update: +$1,000,000]
[Current Funds: $10,725,000]
[Void-Blade Mastery: 90%]
[Force Field Status: Adaptive Upgrade Logged - Efficiency Increased]