With the quiet exit of the two top combatants...
This great war, which had nearly turned half of New York City into a wasteland, finally reached its substantive conclusion.
High in the sky, the deep blue spatial portal that had torn through the firmament collapsed with a roar after a violent surge of energy.
On the top floor of Stark Tower.
Natasha and Barton successfully used the Mind Stone Scepter given to them by Reze to pierce the Tesseract's energy shield.
As for the straggling aliens stranded on Earth, Tony and Reze teamed up to easily wipe them out.
On the smoke-filled streets, the shrill sound of sirens approached from afar.
The heavily armed U.S. military arrived late, flooding into the scene like a black tide alongside S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents. They pulled up long yellow police tape, cordoning off the scarred war zone.
Not far from the city center, at the bottom of a massive crater comparable to a meteorite impact site.
"Hiss..."
Banner let out a pained groan and slowly sat up amidst a pile of scorched rubble.
Bare-chested, he rubbed his head, which felt as if it were splitting open, and looked around with a dazed expression.
Broken walls and ruins were everywhere, and the wreckage of burning cars emitted pungent black smoke.
He had no memory of what had happened; there was a severe gap in his recollections.
The sound of rustling footsteps approached as Agent Coulson led a team of Agents down the slope, holding a large pair of sweatpants in his hands.
"Dr. Banner," Coulson called out softly.
"Wha... what happened?"
Banner's voice was frighteningly hoarse.
He saw Coulson's hesitant expression and the undisguisable fear in the eyes of the surrounding Agents.
An ominous premonition surged in his heart.
Coulson sighed and did not hide the truth.
He succinctly explained the fact that Banner had been controlled by Loki and had rampaged through the streets of New York as the Hulk.
Banner felt as if he had been struck by lightning. All color drained from his exhausted face as he painfully clutched his head with both hands, his fingers digging deep into his hair.
"How... how many people did I kill?" Banner's voice trembled uncontrollably.
Coulson fell silent.
Even the surrounding wind seemed to stagnate at this moment.
He silently stepped forward and placed the pants beside Banner.
Then, he led the Agents out of the crater, leaving the unfortunate doctor some space to be alone.
Banner huddled at the bottom of the ruins like a child who had done something wrong.
He could not calm down for a long time.
...However, Banner had clearly overestimated the casualty count he had caused.
Because as soon as he appeared, he was locked in combat with Annie and the other Villainesses, and later he was pinned down by Galio's "Justice" punches.
He really hadn't found much free time to harm civilians; at most... he had just slightly consumed a bit of New York City's infrastructure budget.
Meanwhile, in front of the ruins of a building a few blocks away.
Rumble—
Several heavy bulldozers and loaders were clearing the mountain-like piles of building debris.
As a load-bearing wall was moved away by a crane, a patch of dazzling sunlight poured into the depths of the ruins.
A robust man wearing tattered armor was sprawled out amidst the rubble.
The piercing light caused Thor's eyelids to twitch violently.
He let out a muffled groan of pain and struggled to open his eyes.
"Ugh... my head..."
Thor shook his buzzing head and looked around blankly, his mind still somewhat clouded.
"Where is this? Where is my mjolnir? And... hiss, it hurts..."
Before his voice could fade, the familiar square war hammer suddenly appeared before him with a "whoosh."
Thor's eyes lit up, and he was about to reach out with a silly grin to catch it, but in the next second, he froze completely.
Because he suddenly realized: why was this mjolnir... aimed at him with the Hammerhead?!
This wasn't right!
Looking up along the handle, Thor's blue eyes instantly widened like copper bells, and his jaw nearly hit the ground.
There stood a little girl with brilliant blonde hair, wearing white and gold skirt armor with a blue cape and an ancient red book hanging at her waist. She was holding his mjolnir in one hand and looking at him with a beaming smile.
Wait, what?!
Thor was completely dumbfounded, his mouth hanging wide open, and even the intense pain in his body was tossed to the back of his mind—
In the long history of Asgard, aside from his father Odin, no one had ever been able to lift mjolnir, let alone a seemingly delicate Midgardian girl!
Thor even did a tactical lean back, wanting to lie back in the pit, as if doubting that he had woken up the right way.
Because this was simply impossible!
The enchantment Odin had placed on mjolnir was—
"Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."
This incantation had two meanings. On one hand, only someone worthy could lift mjolnir; someone unworthy, even if they were as strong as the Hulk, could not move it an inch.
That was the saying, but Thor understood that in the entire Nine Realms, the only one who actually possessed this worthiness was himself.
He was deeply convinced of this.
But... now...
Huh???
On the other hand, anyone who could lift mjolnir—regardless of whether they were man, woman, old, or young, or what race they belonged to—would obtain the power of Thor.
In other words... was this innocent and romantic girl before Thor's eyes now a genuine God of Thunder?
And instead, he had temporarily become a fake God of Thunder?
Thor's already not-so-bright mind crashed directly, and his worldview nearly collapsed...
Lux didn't bother to care about Thor's fragile worldview. With her other free hand, she naturally pulled Thor up from the ruins like pulling a radish, and then, as if handing over a brick, she stuffed mjolnir back into Thor's arms without a hint of attachment.
"Here, your hammer."
Feeling the familiar weight from the handle, Thor felt a bit more at ease, but he was even more bewildered.
This was the supreme divine artifact of Asgard! A treasure that countless warriors coveted!
Yet in this girl's eyes, this thing seemed truly beneath mention, and she just casually gave it back to him?
"This... respected little sister, thank you..."
Thor swallowed hard and hugged mjolnir tightly for a long time before finally finding a trace of security. He asked stutteringly, "So what exactly happened? I remember I was pursuing my brother Lo... wait..."
"Where is Loki?!"
Lux blinked and slowly recounted how Thor had been controlled by Loki and how she had stepped in to "physically awaken" him.
"Ha?" Upon hearing this, Thor felt as if he had heard some grand joke.
He looked at the girl before him with a condescending gaze and flipped his blonde hair quite cockily: "Little sister, although you can lift mjolnir, which shows you are a very powerful person even in the Nine Realms."
"After all, I have never seen a second person besides myself who could lift it."
"But this is no reason for you to boast so boldly to the great God of Thunder of Asgard."
Lux:?
What is this big Golden Retriever babbling about?
Tactical lean back, Lux had exactly this expression.
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