Loki was utterly shocked inside.
From the very first exchange, he realized just how absurd Karl was.
His proud invisibility—right from the start—was already useless.
Were Earth's sorcerers all this monstrous?
Even so, Loki didn't lose confidence.
The fact that he'd dared to face Hulk head-on atop Stark Tower showed exactly what kind of person Loki was—someone with "courage."
And now was no exception.
Even with his invisibility broken, he showed not the slightest panic.
Against a sorcerer, he still had a chance.
His close-quarters combat was extremely strong.
After all, he'd grown up wrestling and brawling with Thor. When he was young, he loved getting drunk and racing boats—his physical conditioning was outstanding.
He could definitely win!
Loki stood up from the ground and looked at Karl.
"Very good!"
"Mortal, you've angered me."
"I've decided to grant you a miserable death."
Loki lifted his chin and spoke arrogantly.
"Is that so?"
"Then come on. Let me see what level Asgardians are really at."
Karl smiled.
The Eldritch Whip in his hand lashed out directly.
The scorching heat it gave off distorted the air around it.
A trace of alarm flashed across Loki's face.
So fast!
Such high heat!
Even from several meters away, he could feel the scorching temperature roasting his face.
Fortunately, Loki wasn't that simple.
As an Asgardian—on top of Frost Giant blood—his battle instincts were extremely sharp.
His body flickered.
The Eldritch Whip cut past him, grazing by, and left a charred black scar across the ground.
Loki wasn't a simple opponent either.
He reached back with one hand, and a blue Scepter appeared in his grip.
Buzz!
A blue energy beam shot straight from his hand, tearing through the air toward Karl.
Karl didn't move.
A shield floating at his side flashed into position in front of him and blocked the blast.
Loki had no intention of stopping. The Scepter fired another blue energy beam.
Karl blocked it with ease.
"Is this all you Asgardians can do?"
Karl spoke with a hint of disappointment.
He was genuinely curious about Loki's tricks.
Maybe if he saw them once, he could learn them.
But this was it?
Using the Scepter?
And the key point was—this guy wasn't even bringing out the Scepter's true power!
Seeing Karl's contempt, Loki was filled with fury.
"I am a god! And you, a mortal, dare look down on me like this?!"
"Accept the punishment of a god!"
Loki roared.
His body rippled, and four illusions appeared at once.
They rushed in simultaneously with weapons in hand.
The movements were identical—so convincing they were nearly impossible to distinguish as real or fake.
"Interesting."
"So they aren't purely illusions—there's a physical duplicate too?"
"Asgardian magic really does have its own strengths."
Karl's face showed an intrigued expression.
Odin might be a warrior, but he also wielded magic.
Asgard's strongest sorcerer wasn't Frigga—it was Odin.
In the final battle, even Heimdall had to borrow Odin's dark magic to teleport Hulk.
That alone showed how formidable it was.
And Frigga's magic, being from the same lineage, naturally had its own unique qualities.
Karl was very interested.
This time, he didn't attack.
Several Tao Mandalas kept moving in front of him, forming airtight defense.
"Die!"
Loki didn't care about any of that.
The four illusions attacked together.
Among them, two were purely projections. One was a duplicate with real substance.
That duplicate drew two daggers and stabbed straight at Karl.
At the same time, the true body in front also thrust the Scepter in.
In an instant, it became a two-on-one assault.
Karl didn't show the slightest panic.
The shields spun and danced.
Clink! Clink!
Two crisp sounds rang out.
Their weapons struck Karl's magical shield, producing only those sharp sounds—without even causing a ripple.
"What?"
Loki froze.
This magical shield was that hard?
Before, it blocking energy attacks hadn't seemed like much—but now, even his thrust could be stopped?
You had to understand—
His daggers could wound Thor.
Thor's body was terrifying: he could endure neutron-star energy irradiation and remain completely uninjured, with even his skin unchanged.
His defense was comparable to Hulk's monster-like toughness.
To put it bluntly, compared to many magical shields, Thor's body was only stronger, not weaker.
And yet—
Such a powerful piercing attack still couldn't break through?
What kind of twisted magic was this?
So hard?
Even Asgard's own energy fields probably didn't have such terrifying strength!
Was this guy some kind of freak?!
Other sorcerers' shields weren't anywhere near this strong!
From the corner of Loki's eye, he saw a sorcerer's energy shield get pierced by Chitauri fire.
That proved it—
Magical shields weren't inherently that strong.
The problem was…
The person casting it.
The one using the magic was simply too abnormal!
Loki clenched his teeth.
The Scepter fired another blue energy beam.
Using the moment the magical shield shifted—
Loki's duplicate struck again. The powerful dagger Odin had bestowed—capable of piercing Thor's body—stabbed toward Karl.
Karl merely took a calm step to the side, effortlessly slipping past the strike.
With one hand, he guided the motion—
and Loki's duplicate collided directly into Loki's true body.
That was with Karl not even fully focused on it.
"Interesting."
"The duplicate's strength is actually about eighty percent of the original?"
"That kind of duplicate is strong."
Karl couldn't help but marvel.
A duplicate with eighty percent of the original's combat power—what did that mean?
It meant your effective combat strength multiplied several times over.
A sharp gleam flashed in Karl's eyes.
The flow and structure of the duplicate's energy were reflected clearly in his gaze.
He'd been observing since the battle began.
Now, through direct contact, he finally saw the mechanism.
Ding!
Detected: Host is observing an astral duplicate. God-tier talent triggers a hundredfold critical strike!
You have mastered: Images of Ikonn!
The system prompt sounded.
A faint, inexplicable smile appeared at the corner of Karl's mouth.
Astral duplicates.
He'd mastered them!
It had been worth playing with Loki for this long.
Not bad.
"Loki, are you done?"
"How about I take a turn?"
Karl said with a smile.
As his words fell—
a completely identical figure, smiling, stepped out from behind Karl.
It was exactly the same as Loki's astral duplicate.
Loki's eyes split with fury.
"Impossible!"
"That's impossible!"
Loki's howl rang out.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
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