After Pyro's body hit the ground, Ryuuto's gaze shifted toward Loki—
Or rather, the ten Lokis that now stood before him.
The trickster had split into a dozen shimmering phantoms, each grinning that same infuriating grin.
Clearly, Loki thought numbers would save him.
Cute idea.
Wrong opponent.
Ryuuto exhaled slowly, his eyes sharpening. You think I'm chasing you, huh?
No.
He was about to erase him.
He formed a single seal, chakra surging through his arms. Light and Heavy Rock Technique.
His body floated upward as the massive chunk of earth beneath them—the same one he'd reshaped earlier—began to crumble and plummet.
High on the cliffs nearby, Thor finally stopped rolling. The god of thunder rose, bruised but unbroken, his eyes locking on Ryuuto suspended in mid-air.
He didn't understand what Ryuuto was doing…
but one thing was clear—he couldn't let Loki die.
For all his flaws, Loki was still his brother. The same boy he'd grown up with in Asgard, shared battles and banquets with. Even if Loki had betrayed the world, Thor couldn't watch him be killed.
But Ryuuto wasn't planning to negotiate.
He pressed his hands together—then snapped them apart.
Between his palms, a transparent white cube materialized, glowing faintly at the center with swirling light.
That cube pulsed with deadly power—
the Dust Release: Primordial Realm Disintegration technique.
Loki's illusions scattered in every direction, but Ryuuto didn't bother to chase.
He simply aimed at the one in the middle. "You can't hide from truth, trickster."
[Ding! Technique Activated — Dust Release: Primordial Realm Disintegration]
The cube shot forward, expanding mid-flight until it engulfed Loki and his duplicates in a blinding glow.
For an instant, the inside filled with thick white mist—then imploded in silence.
When it faded, Loki was gone.
No body, no ashes.
Just a perfect, glass-smooth crater in the earth, the soil stripped down to molecules.
Ryuuto floated down, scanning for chakra. Nothing.
Completely erased.
Thor's roar shook the sky. "What have you done to my brother?!"
"Dust to dust. Soil to soil." Ryuuto's voice was quiet, calm—too calm.
"You killed him?!" Thor's voice cracked with fury.
Ryuuto met his glare. "So what if I did?"
"Then I'll kill you!!!"
Mjolnir thundered to life as Thor flew forward, madness in his eyes.
Before Ryuuto could even lift the scepter from the crater, the sky itself split open.
Hundreds of lightning bolts poured down like divine wrath, all converging on him.
Each one stronger than before.
Thor wasn't holding back anymore.
"Alright then…" Ryuuto muttered. "Let's see who burns out first."
Earth Style: Rock Golem — Glenn!
A massive stone giant erupted from the ground, wrapping Ryuuto in its colossal arms as thunder hammered down from the heavens.
BOOM.
The explosion shook the entire valley. Smoke swallowed everything. The air turned white-hot from raw energy.
Ororo and Natasha could only watch from a distance, their hearts pounding.
Had Ryuuto… died?
Thor hovered in the air, chest heaving, his reason nearly gone. He wanted to feel triumph, but all that remained was hollow rage.
Then the smoke cleared—
and his eyes widened in disbelief.
The Rock Golem Glenn loomed from the pit, crouched like a guardian beast shielding its master. Every bolt of lightning had been absorbed, dissipating harmlessly across its massive frame.
From behind the creature's shoulder, Ryuuto stepped out, unscathed.
"Thor," he said flatly, "you were lying on the ground a few minutes ago. That makes you the loser. The scepter's mine."
"I don't care about the damn scepter!" Thor shouted, veins bulging. "You killed my brother!"
Ryuuto tilted his head. "And what? He attacked my people from the shadows. His death's just karma catching up."
"You bastard!"
Ryuuto's lips curved faintly. "I've already killed two today. Don't tempt me to make it three."
Thor's knuckles whitened. For a moment, he looked ready to strike again—but then his gaze flicked toward the colossal golem beside Ryuuto, and hesitation crept in.
That technique—the cube that erased matter, the earth-shaping ninjutsu, the summoning of Ten Thousand Snakes earlier—
this man's power wasn't something Thor could measure.
Grinding his teeth, Thor took a step back. "This isn't over, Red Mirage."
He lifted Mjolnir skyward, summoning a storm of lightning.
A spiral of runes burned into the ground beneath him as he opened a shimmering portal.
Then—with a flash—he was gone.
Only the faint, spiral-shaped scorch mark on the earth remained, a sign that he'd returned to Asgard.
Ryuuto let out a slow breath and descended toward Ororo and Natasha.
"You two alright?"
"We're fine," Ororo said, brushing dust off her shoulder. "But this… might get ugly."
Natasha nodded grimly. "You don't understand the weight of what just happened, Ryuuto. Loki may have been half-Jotun, but Odin raised him as a son. You erased him. That means Odin himself might come for you."
Ryuuto shrugged, smirking. "You're trembling, Romanoff. Didn't know you could look scared."
"I'm not scared for me," she shot back. "I'm scared of what happens when the All-Father decides to judge you."
Ryuuto chuckled, spinning the scepter idly in his hand. "Then I'll just have to remind him—gods bleed too."