The plaza was filled with laughter and cheerful chatter as tourists held up their phones and cameras, searching for the perfect angle to capture the beauty of the bustling city.
Couples leaned sweetly against each other to take selfies, while children ran around excitedly.
"Toy Rabbit Fun! Toy Rabbit Fun! Toy Rabbit Fun!"
New immigrant vendors selling little trinkets, along with black-market sellers offering luxury goods at cabbage-cheap prices, formed another lively scene in the square.
Just then—
"Boom!" A deafening explosion shattered the joyful atmosphere!
People jumped in shock, nearly dropping the cameras and phones in their hands.
Instinctively, everyone turned their heads toward the source of the sound.
In the distance, thick smoke billowed from the direction of the Stark Group's skyscraper. Flames shot into the sky, especially from the rooftop, where the explosion's fire and shockwaves were still spreading outward.
Screams of terror echoed across the plaza as people fled in every direction. The once orderly square instantly dissolved into chaos.
On the rooftop, Thor's mind buzzed from the sudden explosion.
Never in a thousand years would Thor have imagined that the Destroyer—crafted from Uru metal, the same material as Mjolnir, the weapon Odin used to conquer the Nine Realms—would be deployed here to hunt him down.
"Don't just stand there! Run!"
Marvel Yujin grabbed the half-buried Thor from the rubble and dragged him upward, ready to take off.
The very next second—Yujin's instincts kicked in. He flung Thor aside and rapidly formed the hand seal for a substitution jutsu!
Whoosh—
A beam of scorching energy blasted past where they had just been standing! The half-meter-wide ray pierced straight through the rooftop floor, exposing the swimming pool of the lounge beneath.
Yujin pushed himself up with difficulty. "Loki really wants you dead, man! But he's making such a huge scene… anyone who didn't know better would think he was cosplaying Deng-ge."
Thor looked utterly confused. "W-wait, what? Loki?"
"Who else could it be? Your father may be disappointed in you, but he doesn't hate you that much. In Asgard, besides Loki, who else can control that thing?"
Thor didn't dare think deeper. Right now, he was nothing more than a powerless mortal.
The Destroyer—an ultimate weapon capable of slaughtering across the Nine Realms—could kill him effortlessly.
It could even kill the Frost Giant King lounging in his palace without breaking a sweat.
If Loki truly wanted him dead…
Then he was basically already a dead man.
Thor, who understood the terrifying power of the Destroyer better than anyone, no longer had the thought of running.
The Destroyer's laser was already charging straight toward him.
At the critical moment, a water dragon surged forward and crashed into the Destroyer, knocking it off balance.
The laser brushed past Thor's shoulder and sliced off a large portion of the rooftop, sending rubble plummeting toward the ground.
"Don't just stand there!"
Perched on Yujin's shoulder, the Water Release: Earth Grudge Fear seized the moment while the Destroyer staggered and fired another powerful water cannon at it.
But the intense heat radiating from the Destroyer evaporated the water instantly.
The blast—strong enough to kill Black Widow—only made the Destroyer's body sway faintly.
"Thor! Snap out of it! What about my Asgardian magic? Do you want to see Loki destroy Asgard!? He'll tear down Odin's statue and build a palace of his own!"
Loki… honestly, that sounded exactly like something he would do.
The more Thor listened, the angrier he grew.
At last, he shook off his despair and charged toward the Destroyer.
"Loki! I know you can hear me! If you really want to kill me—then come!"
Yujin didn't hesitate any longer.
Kagune burst into full flight power, swooped down, grabbed Thor, and launched them both off the collapsing rooftop.
"Let go! Let go of me! Loki would never kill me!"
Thor struggled violently, still clinging to his thousand-year belief that Loki, his brother, couldn't possibly intend to kill him for real.
But the truth was cruel.
In the original timeline, it was Odin—breaking free from the Odinsleep—who restored Thor's divine power.
Only then did Thor survive the Destroyer's killing blow.
Yujin wasn't about to gamble on whether Odin would wake up this time.
If Thor died here, Yujin would lose his chance at Asgardian magic.
And the future—New York, Thanos, the universe's greatest threats—would lose one of their most crucial warriors.
When half the universe vanished, Yujin had no confidence that he'd be among the surviving half.
Since regaining his memories, the worlds of One Piece, the Main God Space, and Naruto had each contributed their powers to him.
If he died now, the Asgardian Mage bloodline he earned from the Lord God Space would be half-wasted.
Dying without contributing—while dragging everyone else down?
Absolutely not.
Thankfully, this Destroyer was the weakened version from the movie.
If it were the one capable of punching a star apart…
The thought alone made Yujin shiver.
He freed one hand, pulled out his phone, and shoved it into Thor's palms.
"Call the number saved as 'Durant Foot-Wash Water'!"
Thor was confused, but with someone risking their life for him, he no longer acted like a thousand-year-old child.
He quickly dialed.
The call connected almost instantly.
Black Widow's anxious voice burst through the speaker.
"Yujin! What's chasing you!?"
Yujin spun midair, launched a massive Fireball Jutsu at the Destroyer behind them, and yelled:
"Odin's enforcer! The war machine that conquered the Nine Realms!"
"Odin? Nine Realms? Are you talking about Odin—the All-Father from Norse mythology?"
Black Widow and Nick Fury, standing beside her, were stunned.
How were mythological gods appearing in real life?
Black Egg Nick Fury didn't play dead this time, not after Yujin's prison break incident.
He snatched the phone urgently and asked, "What does Odin mean?! And why is that thing chasing you?"
"I don't have time to explain! If you don't intervene, it could tear New York apart!" Yujin shouted, just as a massive fan-shaped blaze appeared in the sky.
"Flame Wind Chaos Wave!"
Yujin's roar echoed through the phone.
Nick Fury and Black Widow stared at the "magic" Yujin had unleashed in the sky, their hearts sinking.
So that kid had actually been holding back before?
If he had attacked with that fiery "magic" back in New Mexico, how many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents would have survived?
Black Widow shuddered, realizing that the person she had once shared a hotel room with possessed such terrifying power.
"Stop staring, Nick Fury! Throw your ace! Now!!!"
Black Egg's eyes widened in confusion. How did Yujin know he had an "ace" here?
At that moment, Nick Fury wasn't reaching for the Cosmic BB Device.
He was trying to uncover the S.H.I.E.L.D. traitor.
Who had leaked this information?
****
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