"Damn it!"
If the two Thors still couldn't tell what the guy charging at them had in mind, they might as well throw away their Mjolnirs on the spot.
"Take him down!"
One of the Thors swung his Mjolnir and charged directly at Bruce—or rather, at the Merciless Iron Fist.
The other Thor hesitated, bewildered. Apart from the Hulk, he had almost never seen anyone who would dare directly challenge the Thor Legion.
But his companion gave him no time to think. The moment the Merciless Iron Fist made contact, that guy was sent flying by a single slash.
If it weren't for the Mjolnir blocking the blow, he was sure his teammate would have been sliced clean in half.
But how could that be possible?
Even Hulk couldn't manage something like that.
"What are you thinking?" The Thor who had been struck back hovered in mid-air, staring at the Merciless Iron Fist who was also floating in the sky.
"Sorry," he said to his comrade, but his gaze was drawn to the surface of his companion's Mjolnir.
"Your hammer…"
"That's impossible."
On the head of the supposedly indestructible Mjolnir was now a deep, glaring gash.
Clearly, it was left by the Merciless Iron Fist's earlier slash.
The Merciless Iron Fist simply stared at them calmly. In his hand, the golden longsword gleamed with a savage light.
In the next moment, he moved. The blade in his hand aimed directly for the head of the Thor still stunned by the damage to his hammer.
"Watch out!"
The other Thor reacted quickly, using his own Mjolnir to try to block the attack. But just before hammer and blade collided, the Merciless Iron Fist shifted.
The downward strike turned into a sweeping slash mid-motion, arcing directly toward the neck of the assisting Thor.
Yet the very next moment, his body shifted slightly backward, causing the blade to narrowly miss its mark.
"How is this possible?"
The Thor couldn't believe what just happened. He was certain he had just kicked the Merciless Iron Fist square in the abdomen—but it didn't move him at all.
Not even a significant pushback.
Something was definitely wrong.
According to everything they'd been taught, the Thors were the most powerful force in the world.
But now, he couldn't even knock this guy back.
Something was very wrong.
The Merciless Iron Fist hadn't even seemed to register the blow. Only after his attack missed did he turn his gaze to the other Thor.
Beneath the helmet, his eyes were filled with coldness and killing intent.
He clenched his fist and punched toward the Thor who had caused his attack to fail.
CLANG!!!
The clash of metal rang through the skies, disturbing the surrounding clouds and clearing the area with its shockwave.
The first Thor was blasted backward by the force of the Iron Fist's punch.
He finally came to a stop thanks to the help of the second Thor.
Now, the first Thor could feel his hand trembling as he held Mjolnir. He had never experienced anything like this since becoming a Thor.
He had fought Hulk before, but when had his hand ever shaken like this?
What…?
He looked up at the Merciless Iron Fist.
When they arrived, neither of them could have imagined that two Thors together wouldn't be able to defeat this guy in strange armor.
In fact, it now seemed like their lives were at risk at any moment.
That guy's every strike aimed for their vital points.
"Are you okay?" The second Thor looked at the Merciless Iron Fist, confused about when such a person had appeared in the War Zone.
Though they didn't pay much attention to the War Zone regularly, they still checked in periodically.
And never once had they seen this guy before.
"Inform the Thor Legion. Call for reinforcements!" The first Thor gripped his Mjolnir tightly again, his gaze firmly fixed on the Merciless Iron Fist.
He knew that just the two of them weren't enough to capture this guy.
They probably couldn't even hurt him.
There was only one option now—have the second Thor return and bring more of the Thor Legion.
Maybe then, they could contain him.
Otherwise, this was just suicide.
The second Thor didn't hesitate. He nodded and prepared to leave.
Even though he knew that once he left, his partner would likely meet a grim fate.
But it had to be done.
The first Thor charged toward the Merciless Iron Fist—just like the Iron Fist had previously charged them.
Only now, the roles were reversed.
The Merciless Iron Fist barely acknowledged the charging Thor. His eyes were locked on the second Thor instead.
Just as that guy's body began to glow with rainbow-colored light, the first Thor reached the Iron Fist. But in the next instant, the Merciless Iron Fist vanished right in front of him.
Turning around, the first Thor saw the Merciless Iron Fist's sword already piercing through the second Thor's chest.
The nearly completed Bifrost vanished completely at that moment.
In his partner's eyes was a look of complete disbelief—clearly, even in death, the second Thor hadn't understood how the Merciless Iron Fist had reached him.
The Merciless Iron Fist stared silently at the second Thor, simply trying to pull his blade from the body.
But the second Thor grabbed his wrist tightly, refusing to let go.
Above the Iron Fist's head, thunderclouds began to gather.
Lightning could strike at any moment.
The first Thor saw the clouds and understood his partner's plan.
Raising his Mjolnir high, lightning began to arc across his entire body. The storm above intensified, swallowing all light.
The battlefield below was suddenly plunged into night.
Only the flashes of lightning illuminated the surroundings.
Steve, having just crushed a Skrull underfoot, looked up at the sky.
Lightning flashed across his face.
His face was already stained with Skrull blood.
The thunderclouds overhead made Steve sigh.
The Thor Legion truly was the army of Lord Doom—this kind of power was terrifying.
But in the next moment, he withdrew his gaze. The battle in the sky was not his concern. His focus remained on the ground.
Beneath the thunderclouds, the Merciless Iron Fist showed no reaction to their presence.
He looked down at the second Thor, who was still staring wide-eyed at him.
The Iron Fist clenched his left hand and delivered a crushing punch to the Thor's head.
That single blow made the second Thor feel like his skull would explode. He could feel blood leaking from all seven orifices.
Yet he still held on to the Iron Fist's wrist with all his might.
Letting the Iron Fist's fists rain down on him.
"AHHH!!!"
The first Thor, seeing his comrade's suffering, roared as he summoned the most powerful lightning he could muster.
The furious bolt lit up half the sky.
Everything was illuminated by the blinding flash.
A tear rolled from the first Thor's eye. He knew his comrade wouldn't survive.
The lightning drew the attention of countless beings.
Even far away in the Desolation Zone, the Thor Legion had noticed it.
They knew yet another Thor was in deep trouble.
But they too were now in their own dire situation—some unknown force had emerged in another region, waging war against them.
Even the Thunder Legion had begun to fall behind.
And now, a new battlefield had emerged.
This gave them quite a headache.
But they couldn't simply abandon their Thunder God. All they could do was dispatch the Thunder God who had originally only been assigned to investigate, sending him toward the area where the thunder had exploded.
Within the War Zone, everyone had now ceased fighting, staring blankly at the thunder crackling across the sky.
Such a natural disaster-like force was indeed terrifying.
But what was even more terrifying was the figure that remained suspended in the air, completely unharmed after the thunder dissipated.
Iron Arm of Remorselessness hadn't taken the slightest bit of damage from that previous attack.
There wasn't even a dent on his armor.
He turned his head to look at Thunder God One.
At this moment, Thunder God One was in disbelief. Despite the heavy price they had paid, they hadn't managed to injure him at all.
And then, he saw something that made his disbelief even worse.
His fellow Thunder God's hammer was now in Iron Arm's hand.
Iron Arm of Remorselessness was, of course, aware of the other's gaze.
As for the Thunder God's Hammer—he had only been testing it.
The thing simply did not recognize him. Even though it was a replica, it still refused to acknowledge him as worthy to lift it.
And yet, Iron Arm was able to hold it simply by brute force.
He had forcibly gripped it and locked it in his hand.
"Put it down!"
Thunder God One, upon seeing Iron Arm holding the hammer, charged forward without a second thought about the gap between them.
Lightning crackled on the hammer in his hand as he hurled it straight toward Iron Arm's face.
Iron Arm dodged effortlessly with just a slight shift of his body.
Thunder God One used this moment to get close, his fists hammering wildly against Iron Arm's armor. He no longer cared if he could hurt him—he only wanted to reclaim the Thunder God's Hammer from his grip.
That was not something Iron Arm had the right to hold.
At the same time, he recalled his own hammer, directing it to strike toward Iron Arm's head from behind.
But Iron Arm simply rotated his golden longsword slightly in his hand.
"Slash!"
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
In an instant, Thunder God One's body was sliced clean in half, his torso and legs falling separately. His hammer, which had been flying through the air, also dropped straight down.
Without a master, it had no future but to fall.
Thunder God One stared helplessly at Iron Arm.
He couldn't understand—why had such a being appeared?
And from beginning to end, apart from that initial battle cry, the man hadn't said a single word.
It was as if he didn't care who he had killed.
As if they were nothing more than ants accidentally crushed underfoot.
What grudge could there ever be between a boot and an ant?
Thunder God One's body fell to the ground. In his final moments, all he could see was Iron Arm of Remorselessness.
And the discarded Thunder God's Hammer of his fallen comrade.
At the very end, he seemed to hear the voices of other Thunder Gods.
But now, he could no longer utter a single word.
He had not misheard—other Thunder Gods had indeed arrived.
Even though the distance between the Desolation Zone and the War Zone wasn't far, they had still failed to save their comrade in time.
Likewise, he hadn't imagined the sight of Iron Arm throwing away the Thunder God's Hammer.
What he didn't know was that Iron Arm had treated Thunder God Two's hammer as a powerful throwing weapon.
And he had used it to smash directly into an oncoming Thunder God, knocking him down instantly.
"You! Damn you!!" A Thunder God with a horse-like mask roared and charged at Iron Arm with his own hammer.
But he hadn't gone far before being restrained by the others.
It was clear now that this situation was no longer something they could handle.
As one of the investigative Thunder Gods, he could clearly tell that Iron Arm had not sustained a single wound. Even the blood on him likely came from the two-piece corpse they had seen upon arrival.
"Retreat, now!"
As painful as that command was to obey, it had to be followed.
If they stayed and continued to engage, the entire Thunder Legion's remaining force would be drawn into the conflict and wiped out.
Horse-Mask Thunder God looked at the comrade who had stopped him, then glanced again at Iron Arm in the distance. In the end, he could only obey the command.
Iron Arm simply stood there quietly, watching them leave.
He wasn't unwilling to continue his slaughter—but Iron Arm wasn't the only one in control of the body anymore. Bruce was suppressing any further action with sheer will.
Of course, that was only under the condition that those people didn't try to fight again.
"We should've killed them. They'll report this to Doom."
"The moment that thunder lit up the sky, we were already exposed."
Bruce knew very well that the instant that lightning exploded in the sky, their concealment was over.
Continuing to slaughter the Thunder Gods now was meaningless.
No matter how you looked at it, that was the truth.
Worse, it might draw another being to this place.
Hearing Bruce's words, Iron Arm said nothing—he simply dissolved the golden longsword in his hand.
And watched silently as the Thunder Gods vanished from the War Zone.
Meanwhile, below, the war was nearing its end.
The Skrulls had relied on their unique disguises to stay hidden for so long, but now those disguises were worthless.
Especially with both the Iron Nation and Blue Nation turning their weapons on them.
Their defeat was inevitable.
Even when the thunder exploded in the sky, and most creatures looked up, the mechanical soldiers of the Iron Nation were not distracted in the slightest.
They simply continued to raise and swing their blades against the Skrulls.
Again and again.
(End of Chapter)
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