Chapter 185: The Thunderstorm Spell's Might
"Quick! Mobilize all craftsmen to construct temporary floating platforms!"
Loki, observing the battle from the rear, quickly noticed something amiss.
The Bifröst was only wide enough for six Asgardian soldiers to attack at once, while the defenders also had six fighters holding the line—effectively making it six versus six each time.
The key issue was that whenever six Asgardian soldiers were defeated, the defenders didn't push them off the Bifröst into the starry abyss below. Instead, they merely knocked them down onto the bridge.
The advancing Asgardian soldiers couldn't just shove their fallen comrades aside, so they had to pause, drag the injured to the rear for treatment, and then resume the assault.
This delay gave the six defenders time to catch their breath.
Defeating six soldiers, then resting briefly before the next wave, made the fight effortless and far from exhausting.
If this continued, the already unenthusiastic Asgardian soldiers might eventually lose their will to fight altogether.
Asgard had a population of fifty thousand, but its standing army numbered less than ten thousand.
Loki couldn't let this drag on. By ordering the construction of floating platforms, he could swarm the defenders with dozens of soldiers attacking simultaneously from all directions—overwhelming their defenses.
Soon, Asgard's craftsmen arrived with strange golden devices, deploying them around the Bifröst.
Activating the devices, they created radiant energy platforms that connected to the Bifröst, forming a massive floating battlefield centered on the control room.
Now, soldiers no longer had to worry about falling into the void or crowding onto the narrow bridge.
---
"This is bad!"
Steve and the others paled as Asgardian soldiers surged toward them from all sides.
With the floating platforms in place, the enemy's offensive intensity increased tenfold. The defenders' formation began to crumble under the pressure.
Steve could no longer afford to hold back. He started summoning lightning with Mjolnir to bolster their defenses.
But without Thor's Odinson bloodline, his lightning attacks—reliant solely on the hammer—were far weaker in ranged combat.
"Banner, it's your turn!"
Seeing the Warriors Three and Sif sustain injuries, and Wolverine bristling with embedded weapons, Steve knew they couldn't hold out any longer.
Banner, who'd once leaped from a plane to save lives, didn't hesitate. Roaring, he charged straight into the fray.
As an Asgardian soldier instinctively stabbed at him—the Hulk emerged.
"HULK SMASH!"
With a single swing of his massive arms, the green behemoth sent a dozen soldiers flying.
"Hulk, help them!"
Betty's shout made the Hulk glance her way before nodding and joining the battle.
His arrival stabilized their crumbling defenses.
---
Loki, watching from afar, nearly gnashed his teeth to dust.
"Damn these mortals! Fine—perish together!"
Raising Gungnir, he summoned the Destroyer—Odin's enchanted armor—from the royal vault.
The colossal Uru-metal construct landed before him with a ground-shaking thud.
"Eliminate them."
The Destroyer leaped at the Hulk, its faceplate opening to unleash a searing energy beam that sent the green giant hurtling backward.
Enraged, the Hulk retaliated with a thunderous punch, and the two titans clashed in a battle of brute strength versus indestructible magic.
But without the Hulk holding the line, the tide of battle shifted back in the Asgardians' favor.
Steve alone couldn't withstand the onslaught.
"Now, let's see how you handle this!"
Loki laughed triumphantly. Victory seemed assured.
---
Then, without warning, ominous black clouds gathered above the Bifröst control room, crackling with lightning.
"What's this?"
Loki looked around, realizing the phenomenon wasn't Steve's doing.
"Finally finished."
George, having completed his incantation, stepped out of the control room, his right index finger crackling with energy.
"Time to show what real power looks like."
Pointing skyward, he bellowed:
"Ancient Magic—Thunderstorm Descent!"
A deluge of lightning bolts rained down, striking the Asgardian soldiers.
Though their robust physiology prevented fatal injuries, the shocks left them paralyzed—barely able to stand even while leaning on their weapons.
George's mastery of this ancient spell paled compared to the one-eyed dark wizard's. However, his alloy ring amplified magic more effectively than a wand from the Harry Potter world, making this thunderstorm even deadlier than the one witnessed in Paris.
For ordinary humans, a single bolt would've reduced them to charred corpses. That the Asgardians only suffered temporary paralysis spoke volumes about their endurance.
But it was enough.
With the soldiers incapacitated, Steve and the others mopped up the battlefield with ease.
Those outside the storm's range hesitated, unwilling to charge into the electrified zone.
"Steve, help Hulk! Shatter that armor with Mjolnir!"
George's telepathic order sent Steve sprinting toward the Destroyer.
Lightning magic wouldn't work on the enchanted construct—only the hammer's divine power could break it.
Once the Destroyer fell, the Hulk's return—combined with George's storm—would render the Asgardian army irrelevant.
The thunderstorm spell harnessed natural energy; George's magic merely maintained the connection. As long as his body held out, the storm could persist until Odin awoke the next day.
---
"Charge! His magic can't last forever!"
Loki, seeing cracks form on the Destroyer under the combined assault of Hulk and Steve, panicked and roared at his troops.
[Author's Note: Can't hold out—taking a break with two chapters today.]
(End of Chapter)