I had beaten and pounded the Destroyer so much that it ended up looking like a crumpled ball.
"Phew~ I feel better now."
Thinking it might be useful later, I stored the Destroyer's remains in my inventory for now. Then I headed to the town where Thor and his friends were. When I arrived, Thor's group cheered and welcomed me warmly, but there were things I needed to get off my chest first.
"Wow~! You fought well, friend!"
"No! Why did you guys just watch and not help?"
Thor scratched his head at my question and said.
"Well, I'm currently sealed and powerless, and you—Jin, was it? Anyway, you were fighting so well. And look over there."
Thor pointed to where I had been fighting. The battlefield between me and the Destroyer was littered with countless craters, large and small, from all the explosions.
"It was kinda hard to jump into a fight where everything's blowing up like that."
He had a point, so I couldn't say anything back. If you think about it, there really wasn't a need to jump into a fight someone was handling just fine. His friends were safe, and the town wasn't damaged.
'So the lack of crisis is what made this happen. Sigh... I should've just left it alone. I got involved for no reason and made things this messy.'
At that moment, Sif urgently grabbed Thor's arm and said.
"There's no time for this! We have to stop Loki."
"Right, let's head to Asgard."
"I'll come too."
Since I had Mjolnir, I decided to tag along. Thor, his friends, and I started to leave town to reach the Bifrost, and Jane and her team followed behind us.
"I wanted to show you the bridge we talked about, but it's dangerous right now. Once things settle down, I swear I'll come back to you."
Hearing that, Jane grabbed Thor's face and pulled him into a deep kiss.
'These two... I did all the hard work, and they're just here making me sick with their lovey-dovey act.'
Suddenly, Darcy walked up and took my hand.
"Chairman Jin, please be careful and come back safe."
"Nothing's going to happen to me."
When Darcy let go of my hand, I noticed something in my palm. It was a note with a phone number. Darcy made a 'call me' gesture and winked. It was ridiculous, but she was pretty and seemed genuinely worried? So I let it slide.
Thor and I stood on the circular pattern on the ground.
"Heimdall!"
Thor called for Heimdall, but there was no response from the sky, so he called a few more times.
"Heimdall! I need your help right now!"
"Heimdall!"
Just like when the Destroyer was summoned, clouds slowly began to rotate in the sky. A rainbow beam of light shot down to the ground and pulled us up. After rising for a while, we arrived at the Bifrost's connection point. At the connection point, we saw the bodies of two Frost Giants and Heimdall collapsed on the ground.
"Take Heimdall to the healing room! I'll deal with my brother."
Thor's friends supported Heimdall and took him away, while Thor rushed toward the palace. I followed behind him. I don't know where Thor gets the confidence to run in like that. He hasn't even been deemed worthy by Mjolnir yet, so how does he plan to deal with Loki?
'Is he acting like that because I'm here?'
Either way, it looked like we'd be late at this rate, so I scooped Thor up in a princess carry and started running fast.
"Ugh... What a humiliating position..."
I ignored Thor's words and headed for the largest, most ornate castle. The fact that Thor wasn't saying anything meant I was going the right way. As we neared the royal palace, Thor said.
"I think you can put me down now."
"Got it."
Thor got out of my arms, cleared his throat, and spoke to me quietly.
"Ahem... Let's keep this between us."
"Understood."
I wanted to laugh, but I agreed for now. We hurried to the chamber where Odin was resting. There were guards, but they recognized Thor and let us pass. When we reached Odin's chamber, a loud noise erupted from inside.
Boom!
Hearing the loud sound from the room, Thor rushed inside. I followed him in and saw Loki, Thor, and their mother, Frigga.
"Loki!"
"Thor!"
"Tell Mother the truth. You sent the 'Destroyer' to Earth to kill them all."
Hearing that, Frigga asked Loki.
"Is that true?"
Then Loki quickly said to Thor.
"I was following Father's orders."
"You're a born liar. You always have been."
When his lies didn't work, Loki openly revealed his plan.
"Excuse me. I need to destroy Jotunheim."
Loki was planning to destroy Jotunheim, home of the Frost Giants, with his own hands and use that achievement to claim the throne. With those words, Loki raised Odin's spear, Gungnir, and tried to fire an energy beam at Thor. With his power sealed, Thor would die one hundred percent if that hit him, so I quickly deflected it with Mjolnir.
Clang!
"You're the berserker who destroyed the Destroyer. Serve under me. I'll give you wealth and glory."
Loki was spouting lines a third-rate villain boss would say. And he saw my furious hammering as berserker rage, apparently.
"I don't know about power, but I already have more wealth than I need."
"Refusing? That's unfortunate."
Loki raised Gungnir again to fire another energy beam, but I used [Flash Step] to close in fast, knocked the spear aside, spun around, and punched him in the abdomen.
Thwack!
"Guhk"
In pain, Loki dropped Gungnir and clutched his stomach. I picked up the fallen Gungnir and tossed it to Thor.
"Use this for now."
"Got it."
Not missing the chance, Loki used illusion magic to create a duplicate of himself where he stood, then quietly tried to slip away while clutching his stomach. I could see all of it with [Observation Haki].
'Did I go too easy on him? No, maybe this is actually better? I'll just leave him be.'
It's fine if he goes to Thanos now, or if he heads off to overload the Bifrost like in the original story. Unaware, Thor pointed Gungnir at Loki and said.
"It's over, Loki!"
"Hehehe, this is just the beginning, Thor."
With those words, Loki's illusion dissipated and he vanished.
"What the... where did he go!?"
Thor looked around frantically for Loki. Frigga watched and spoke, almost proud of Loki.
"Loki's magic skills have improved again."
Frigga stayed to tend to Odin, so only Thor and I left the room to search for Loki. While we were looking around, Volstagg, one of the Warriors Three and Thor's friend, approached us and said.
"You said you had business in Midgard. Why haven't you gone yet?"
Thor replied, flustered.
"I never said that."
Thor thought for a moment, pieced the situation together, and said.
"Loki, that guy!"
Volstagg said, dumbfounded.
"So that was Loki in disguise?"
"Yes! That wasn't me, it was Loki. Do you know where he went?"
"I gave him Heimdall's sword when he asked for it, so maybe he went to the Bifrost connection point?"
It seemed Loki had taken Heimdall's sword and gone to the connection point to overload the Bifrost, just like in the original story.
"Damn it. You guys guard this place. Loki might come back."
"Got it."
Thor rode a horse and galloped toward the Bifrost connection point. Sadly, I don't know how to ride a horse, so I just ran.
'I should learn horseback riding when I get home.'
We arrived at the connection point like that. We could see Loki had left the Bifrost overloaded and wide open so no one could stop it. Because of the Bifrost's overload, Jotunheim would be getting wrecked right now.
"Loki! Why are you doing this?"
"I'm going to destroy 'Jotunheim'. When Father wakes, I'll be the prince who saved his life. Then I'll be the true heir."
"You can't kill them all!"
"Why show mercy to monsters all of a sudden?"
"I've changed."
"So have I."
Suddenly, Loki swung Heimdall's sword at Thor. I quickly grabbed Thor and pulled him back.
"Berserker! Stay out of this. This is a family matter."
"What nonsense. A whole world is about to be destroyed."
He's talking nonsense right now, I thought. When his tricks didn't work on me, Loki said to Thor.
"Thor! Duel me. Let's see who the true king is."
"Loki, I don't want to fight you."
"I'm not your brother! What happened on Earth to make you so soft? Is it because of that woman? Then I'll personally meet her after this is over!"
Loki kept taunting Thor. Hearing the NTR declaration about his girlfriend, Thor gripped Gungnir tightly with both hands and tried to go after Loki, so I grabbed his shoulder.
"Thor, don't listen to him. He knows you've been weakened. This is a trap."
"I know. But this isn't about anger. It's to save my brother."
No matter how I looked at it, Thor's forehead was bulging with veins, his face was red, and he was breathing heavily. He looked plenty angry about the girlfriend comment, but since he was using his brother as an excuse, I just let go of his shoulder.
'Sigh... I don't know. He'll figure it out.'
Thwack! Wham!
"Guh"
Figure it out, my ass. Thor was barely dodging Loki's sword and getting beaten like a dog. After watching them fight for a while, the Bifrost reached its limit and began to shake violently. I couldn't just watch anymore, so I shouted.
"Thor! It's at the limit. I think we need to destroy the Bifrost. You decide."
Hearing my words, Loki said.
"If you destroy that, you'll never see that woman again! And you, berserker! You won't get home!"
What Loki doesn't know is that I can go home anytime with teleportation. Thor, bleeding from both nostrils with his eyes swollen shut and his face a mess, said.
"Ugh... Dammit! Jane, I'm sorry. Destroy it!!"
I swung Mjolnir down hard on the Rainbow Bridge, and cracks spread through it.
Crash!
Crack!
"No!!"
Loki rushed at me as I was striking Mjolnir down. I put more strength into it and struck the bridge again.
Kaboom!
The bridge exploded into fragments, and the Bifrost stopped overloading and began to collapse. The explosion's shockwave sent Loki and me flying into the air, and we started to fall back down, but there was nowhere to land because the bridge was destroyed. I quickly reduced my weight with the [Kilo-Kilo Fruit], pulled an umbrella from my inventory, opened it to glide, and used wind magic to slowly maneuver back to the bridge and land. Loki had somehow gotten there too, and Odin was extending Gungnir to him, barely holding on. Hanging from Gungnir, Loki looked at Odin and said.
"I could have done it, Father! For all of us!"
"No, Loki."
Shocked by those words, Loki let go of the spear and fell into space. Thor shouted as he watched Loki fall.
"No, Loki! No!!"
Thor was stunned by Loki's fall and just stood there staring into space. Odin sighed, walked over to Thor, patted his shoulder as if to comfort him, and returned to the palace.
Thanks to Frigga's consideration, I was assigned a room and spent the day there. The next day, Odin summoned Thor and me.
"I had hoped you would wield Mjolnir. But I see you've learned much from what happened. You will be a wise king."
"No king is wiser than you, Father. I still have much to learn, Father."
"To the one deemed worthy by Mjolnir, we owe a debt. Is there anything you desire?"
"Nothing. And I'll return Mjolnir. I mainly use swords, so I have no need for it."
If I keep it, it'll just delay Thor's awakening.
"I see now why Mjolnir chose you. For now, the Bifrost is destroyed and you cannot return to Midgard, so we will ensure you can rest comfortably during your stay."
"I can go to Midgard. I'm a mage, so I can open a portal."
"Are you connected to the Stones?"
Odin seemed to know about the existence of the mages on Earth who guard the Time Stone.
"That's right."
"I see. Understood. Then, by my name, I grant you the title of Friend of Asgard. You may visit Asgard at any time, receive lodging and meals, and call for aid in emergencies."
"Thank you."
'Well, aside from Thor still not awakening, things worked out fairly well? If I leave Mjolnir here, Thor's awakening should sort itself out.'
At that moment, Thor grabbed me and shook me excitedly.
"Is that true? That you can open a portal."
"Yeah."
"Father, may I invite one Midgardian to Asgard? Someone who helped me while I was in Midgard."
"I see. But unlike this worthy one here, we owe no debt. You were the one who received help. And we cannot bring Midgardians here carelessly."
This is just my speculation, but Odin might be saying that to prevent long-lived Asgardians from falling in love with short-lived Midgardians. And there's no way Odin doesn't know about Jane.
Odin can perceive most events happening around him even while he sleeps. I don't know the exact range or how much he can see, but in the original story, Odin shed a tear when Thor took a fatal blow and collapsed. That means he knows nearly everything about Thor's time on Earth.
"Just one day, Father. Please let me repay my debt."
"One day... Very well! I'll grant you exactly one day."
"Thank you, Father."
Thor was overjoyed at getting Odin's permission. He must really want to bring Jane here. We went outside, and I opened a portal to the town where Jane was. Thor ran to her research lab.
"Jane!"
"Thor!"
Thor hugged Jane and didn't let go for a long time until I cleared my throat loudly.
"Ahem!"
"Oh, my apologies."
Only then did the two of them pull apart, embarrassed.
"Should I send you to Asgard now?"
"Yes."
I opened the portal again and sent them both to Asgard.