"Lothar... Your Highness..."
"He became... a Golden Great Ape?"
The Other, carried by the Flerken, was initially struggling, trying to escape the orange cat's small mouth. But upon seeing the Golden Great Ape roaring skyward under the dim canopy, he immediately stopped squirming.
Thud!
The Other tumbled to the ground. The small orange cat lost interest in carrying the Other and simply stared blankly at the rampaging Golden Great Ape, softly meowing, "Meow..."
"What in the world...?"
The Other wasn't unfamiliar with Lothar's Great Ape form, but the stark difference between brown and gold brought a level of shock entirely unprecedented. Especially with Lothar currently rampaging through Asgard, the impact was even greater.
"ROAR!!!"
Muscular arms unleashed the surging fury within, extreme rage mixed with an unstoppable force, trampling every inch of ground beneath its feet.
Bloody slaughter was now the sole emotion in Lothar's mind, his crimson eyes constantly searching for targets to destroy.
Towering structures and majestic mountains were reduced to rubble under Lothar's might.
Wailing lives faded away continuously; even Frigga, using her sorcery, couldn't save them all.
"Lothar!"
Under the Asgardian Queen's command, a magical sword rain wove into a massive net, attempting to annihilate Lothar, but the result was that it couldn't even pierce his golden fur.
The furious sword rain broke and scattered, failing to spark even a tiny flame, but it successfully shifted Lothar's attention from the tall buildings to Frigga.
The Great Ape snorted, opening its gaping maw towards Frigga as a light began to coalesce within.
"What?"
BOOM!!!!
Without any warning, a beam of energy, imbued with terrifying power, instantly reached Frigga!
"Danger!"
Mighty divine power transformed into a shield before Frigga. Odin, who had been swatted away by the newly transformed Lothar, descended from the sky, taking Lothar's lethal attack to shield his wife.
"Odin!"
"Get out of here, quickly!"
"Hurry!"
"Lothar's power has gone berserk! The Reality Stone has resonated with the other power that surged into his body earlier!"
"So get out of here, now!"
CRACK!
Amidst Odin's warnings, the shield he had conjured before him already showed cracks under Lothar's energy impact.
Odin genuinely felt the pressure now.
Lothar's power surging out of control completely defied his imagination. That illogical power amplification utterly subverted Odin's long-held worldview. Most terrifyingly, Lothar's power was still escalating.
Bang!
The divine shield instantly shattered!
Odin, eyes wide with fury, pushed Frigga, who was about to flee the battlefield, behind him, and braced himself in the Destroyer armor, taking Lothar's energy attack head-on.
RUMBLE!!!
The Golden Great Ape's leap shook the very ground. Odin, who had taken the full brunt of Lothar's attack, was seized by his leg by the massive arm. The next second, an attack method ingrained in his very being unfolded!
The move he used to swing Laufey back on Jotunheim returned. Odin, caught by the leg, became a living ragdoll, repeatedly slammed back and forth by Lothar!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Under the dumbfounded gazes of countless Asgardians, their King, the majestic ruler of the Nine Realms, Odin, was forcefully knocked out of his helmet.
"KILL!!!"
"KILL!! YOU!!!"
Though his mind was clouded, Lothar still hadn't forgotten his objective. Or rather, he had changed his objective. Kill Odin.
"I!"
"LIKE HELA!!!"
"KILL YOU!!!!"
Shedding his usual disguise, Lothar, his power berserk and mind clouded, stopped his repeated slamming. He hoisted Odin by his leg, holding him up before him.
Odin felt a wave of raw, bloody killing intent wash over him, instantly clearing his mind.
"Kill me?"
"Cough, cough, you wish." Odin's breathing was erratic. He raised his ten fingers, and Gungnir, which had lost its connection earlier, flew back into his hand.
"Right now, you're just a beast with immense power that doesn't know how to use it."
The divine power blazing on the Destroyer armor resonated with Gungnir in Odin's hand. The aggressive, piercing sound waves caused crimson blood to seep from Lothar's ears!
"ROAR!!!!"
The tearing pain intensified Lothar's berserker state. Odin seized the opportunity to break free, stomping his feet onto Lothar's arm, attempting to use it as a springboard, but was blasted away by the enraged Lothar's punch!
"Odin!"
Frigga, constantly monitoring the battle, quickly cast a healing spell, but Odin stopped her with his hand.
"It's no use, Frigga. Don't waste time. Quick, help me get the Space Stone from my chest."
The Destroyer armor, once shattered by a Celestial, was now heavily damaged again. Odin's arms were also broken from deflecting Lothar's berserk punch.
"Quick! Or there won't be time!" Odin struggled to steady his breathing.
"What are you going to do, Odin?" Frigga, holding the shimmering blue gem after quickly retrieving the Space Stone, asked.
"Place your hand on my shoulder. I'll transfer power to you, and then you must use the Space Stone to open a portal to the farthest multiverse from our universe."
"Once it's open, I'll ram the completely berserk Lothar into it."
"Remember, Frigga, close the portal immediately after you see him enter. Do you hear me?"
"But—"
"Do as I say! Now!"
Odin's power, accompanied by that furious roar, instantly surged into Frigga's body. The activated Space Stone, guided by Frigga's will, gradually opened a dark rift not far from Lothar.
"Your Highness Lothar!"
"Meow!"
The Other and the Flerken acted immediately, but they were pierced through the heart by divine energy blasts from Odin's eyes!
"Remember what I told you, Frigga!"
Seeing the rift stabilize, Odin stomped his feet on the ground, and as his shoulder collided with Lothar, the Golden Great Ape, a bone-cracking sound echoed!
"ROAR!!!!"
The Golden Great Ape, which was desperately resisting the rift's suction, instantly lost its balance from Odin's impact. Its massive body was swallowed whole in a matter of seconds!
"ODIN!!!!"
Frigga, closing the spatial rift just in time, instantly dropped the Space Stone and rushed to the fallen Odin.
"Cough, cough... I'm fine. It's just old wounds from fighting the Celestial that Lothar agitated." Odin coughed out a mist of blood, then shook his head with a smile.
"Hela is your responsibility now. I will fall into a healing slumber for a while."
"After you use the Space Stone to bring Hela and the Valkyrie corps back, Hela will surely try to escape again. Remember to have the Valkyries seal her away in the Endless Void*."
"What about Lothar?" Frigga worriedly checked her husband's injuries.
"If nothing unexpected happens, he won't be able to return to our universe, cough, cough..." Odin coughed, a flicker of regret in his eyes.
But it was quickly replaced by determination. His old injuries flaring up, he would be no match for the berserk Lothar. There was no other way but to send him away.
As for how many would suffer in that new universe... Odin couldn't concern himself with that. The lives lost because of him over the years were enough to pile into mountains of corpses and seas of blood; he was long accustomed to it.
Energy sources like the Infinity Stones in the multiverse are treasures. With Lothar's berserk mind, finding one wouldn't be easy. Furthermore, such energy sources are usually already claimed or guarded.
"Send the bodies of Lothar's subordinate and that Flerken to Agamotto's Sanctum. He will hand them over to Thanos for us."
"If Thanos is smart enough, he should know that as long as he has no way to transcend time itself, he will never be able to invade the Nine Realms."
"Cough, cough..."
Coughing, Odin gradually closed his eyes.
Thanos.
This round, I win.
...
Within the Nine Realms, it was an unknown iteration of the time loop.
When Thanos once again appeared before Agamotto with his fleet, the Sorcerer Supreme chose to end the loop.
"Your son has lost, Thanos."
Agamotto waved his hand, and two cold bodies appeared before the silent Thanos, who stood ramrod.
The Other, and the Flerken.
"...A time loop?" The sudden silence was finally broken by Thanos himself.
Agamotto nodded, the Time Stone on his chest gleaming. "This round, you lose, Thanos."
Thanos closed his eyes, releasing his grip on his blade's hilt. "You will regret this, Agamotto."
"I have no regrets, Thanos." Agamotto formed a hand seal.
"Tell Odin for me that he will regret this too."
"Asgard will face destruction because of his actions. The Asgardian people will welcome a somber twilight in the future."
"I mean what I say."
Opening his eyes, Thanos waved his hand, taking his adopted son's subordinate, The Other, and the Flerken, onto his warship.
"Ragnarok... then?"
Agamotto murmured the prophecy Thanos left behind, and his figure slowly vanished into the cosmos...
.......
"No! Clark, no!"
"Don't do it, don't!"
"No!"
In the ruins, littered with debris, a woman made a helpless, final plea, but it was in vain.
Beneath the vibrant red cape, a heroic figure, picking up the Kryptonite spear, endured his body's weakness and charged directly at the massive monster trapped by golden ropes.
He was Superman, and it was his duty to end all of this.
"Ah!!!!"
Diana, the demigoddess from Themyscira, gritted her teeth and pushed through.
Superman, speeding past her, had already plunged the Kryptonite spear into the monster's chest!
RUMBLE!!
The gloomy sky instantly crackled with lightning and thunder. A not-so-small spatial rift silently appeared, and a colossal ape, its golden fur stained with blood, swiftly slammed the monster, attempting to counter Superman, piercing it clean through.
Of course, Superman was also pierced clean through.
The Golden Great Ape, hastily joining the fray, changed its trajectory after colliding with these two "buffers," flashing past Bruce Wayne like a golden meteor.
"What was that, just now?"
Diana turned her questioning gaze towards Batman, who had lowered his Kryptonite spear.
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