Chapter 119: Connection?

In the Nine Realms, only the humans of Midgard remained confined to their tiny Earth. The other eight worlds were renowned across the universe. To Thor, Earth was nothing more than a backward place.

Thor spun Mjolnir rapidly in his hand, generating an electric charge that crackled with the force of lightning.

"Asgardians fear no battle! For the glory of the Aesir!" Thor bellowed, launching himself like a cannonball, enveloped in blinding lightning, straight at Garus.

Was Thor just proving how stubborn he was? He always favored this headstrong move.

Frost magic coalesced in Garus's hands, forming a series of thick ice walls in front of him to block Thor's advance.

Crash! Thor smashed through the ice walls with Mjolnir in hand, colliding with Garus directly.

The massive impact numbed Garus's arms, nearly forcing him to drop Frostmourne. Thor's strength wasn't far behind Hulk's, and his lightning had a paralyzing effect to boot.

With a thunderous roar, Thor drove Garus toward a mountain behind the house.

Boom! The two crashed into the mountainside, triggering a landslide that buried them under piles of rubble.

Garus's body became encased in a frosty aura, insulating him from the lightning's effects while augmenting his strength. With a single punch, he sent Thor flying, forcing him out of the debris.

As they emerged from the rubble, Thor hesitated, sensing a familiar power. "A Frost Giant?" he asked, momentarily stunned. He'd been unconscious the last time Garus defeated the Destroyer and was unaware of Garus's capabilities.

"And what about this?" Garus asked, as Frostmourne glowed with a blood-red aura.

Death Coil! Death Strike!

Green energy wrapped around Thor, leaving a small wound that bled golden ichor. The glowing blood was drawn into Frostmourne, as if consumed by the weapon.

Thor stumbled back, sealing the wound with a spark of electricity to halt the siphoning. "What kind of strange power is this?" he muttered, feeling his blood heat unnaturally.

Realizing he needed to take Garus seriously, Thor raised Mjolnir high, its magical runes illuminating as he summoned lightning from the heavens.

A colossal bolt of lightning descended, bathing the area in blinding white light and engulfing Garus.

"Damn it. Is this some kind of heavenly tribulation?" Garus cursed, activating a green Anti-Magic Shield that absorbed the incoming energy.

Meanwhile, a S.H.I.E.L.D. transport plane returned, landing nearby as the Avengers disembarked to observe the battle.

"Whoa, is that really Thor?" Peter Parker asked, his jaw dropping. "He can actually summon lightning?" He started brainstorming how to deal with an opponent like that in the future.

Pepper Potts, who had a favorable impression of Garus, asked worriedly, "Will Garus be okay? He looks like he's on the defensive."

"I'm sure he'll manage. Not like we can help anyway, right?" Tony Stark replied, though his mind wandered to the threat posed by beings of such immense power—be it Garus, the Hulk, or the Asgardian Thor. What if one day they turned against humanity?

"J.A.R.V.I.S., can Thor's lightning be absorbed to power the Iron Man suit?"

"Analysis suggests it's similar to natural lightning. Conversion is possible," the AI confirmed.

Tony's mind raced with new ideas: anti-Hulk armor, anti-Thor armor, anti... well, anything that could deal with people like Garus.

Meanwhile, Garus noticed that his Anti-Magic Shield wasn't just absorbing magical attacks—it seemed to absorb all forms of energy.

"It's reaching its limit," he realized, as the shield's glow dimmed. The surrounding grass had already been scorched black from the lightning strikes.

Soul Shock!

Thor wavered mid-air, the psychic assault disorienting him and causing him to fall. His continuous lightning barrage ceased, though the attack had drained many of the souls stored within Frostmourne.

Seizing the moment, Garus charged at Thor, who had not yet recovered. Spotting Mjolnir lying nearby, Garus picked it up.

As Garus's energy coursed through the Asgardian weapon, he noted the intricate runes etched into its surface. The last time he had picked up Mjolnir, Thor had snatched it back before he could study it.

"These are summoning runes? Lightning runes?" Garus was astonished to find that the runes inside Mjolnir bore a striking resemblance to magical and enchanting runes he'd seen in Azeroth. Could the two worlds be connected?

He remembered how he could summon the frost wyrm Sindragosa in this world, a creature native to Azeroth.

Thor, now regaining his footing, was visibly shaken as Garus activated Mjolnir's lightning runes and struck him squarely on the head.

Amid the flashes of lightning, Thor collapsed once more into the rubble.

From the sidelines, Loki's jaw dropped. He struggled to comprehend what he was witnessing. The last time, he hadn't noticed Garus's ability to wield Mjolnir. Now, not only had this mortal lifted the hammer, but he was also unleashing its divine powers.

Back in the day, Loki himself had been pinned beneath Mjolnir on the Rainbow Bridge, utterly helpless. Just thinking about it made him cringe.

Garus put away Frostmourne and began hammering Thor's armor repeatedly with Mjolnir, sending arcs of lightning flying.

Tony Stark, who had been worried earlier, now watched in bemusement. "Poor Thor. What a tragic day for the Brothers Odinson."

Thor, battered and dazed, shoved Garus aside with a burst of strength. His armor hung in tatters as he staggered to his feet, breathing heavily. Extending his hand toward Mjolnir, he was shocked to find the hammer unresponsive.

"What the—?!" Thor's eyes widened. Was his hammer... cheating on him?

"I yield! I yield!" Thor exclaimed, deflated. Without Mjolnir, he felt like a tiger without teeth—utterly powerless.

From a distance, Loki smirked. "Thor, how disgraceful. Beaten by a mere mortal!"

Garus shot back, "And you were just beaten by a woman. Should I upload that embarrassing scene to the internet? The 'God of Mischief' sure looked pathetic."

"That wasn't a woman—it was a monster!" Loki shuddered at the thought of Betty, the muscular powerhouse who had sent him flying earlier. If he could go back in time, he'd never provoke her again.

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