Looking at Volstagg lying on the ground, and then at the mjolnir in Peter's hand...
Sif and the other two's mouths unconsciously hung open in an 'O' shape.
What had they just seen?
A Midgardian had lifted mjolnir right in front of Thor and sent Volstagg flying?
If they weren't gods themselves, they would have started screaming 'OMG' right now!
"Thor, what on earth is going on?" Sif asked in disbelief.
Thor's face, however, was filled with bitterness:
"Just as you see, that Midgardian is worthy to lift mjolnir..."
"Thor!" Fandral shouted:
"Pull yourself together, man! You can't just watch your divine weapon be taken away by a Midgardian!"
"But I'm no match for him," Thor replied dejectedly.
"Please!" Sif, who still didn't know how terrifying Peter was, facepalmed helplessly:
"Stop showing that weak side! Now, we'll help you take the hammer back, and then we'll head straight back to Asgard, OK?"
Sif and the others' choice to risk everything to save him, along with their spirited demeanor, finally reminded Thor of how glorious he once was.
He finally mustered some of his aura as the God of Thunder and roared:
"OK, once you help me get the hammer back, we'll go back to Asgard and kick Loki's ass!"
Sif and the others were waiting for exactly this statement from Thor!
Therefore, the moment he finished speaking, Sif and the three others brandished their respective weapons:
"Sorry, Midgardian. You may not have done anything wrong, but your attempt to block the path of the gods means you're destined for a long sleep, just like Volstagg!"
As they spoke, the three of them roared and charged toward Peter.
Facing their shouting, Peter couldn't help but roll his eyes:
"If you so-called gods still don't realize that times have changed, then I'll have to teach you what etiquette is in my own way."
As he spoke, Peter grabbed mjolnir, and his body was instantly clad in Lightning Release Armor.
Fandral's longsword was the first to thrust toward Peter's chest, but before his attack could land, he found that his sword... could not strike down.
"What kind of Power is this?!" Fandral was shocked.
"Just a bit of insignificant electromagnetic force development~"
Peter said nonchalantly, while casually swinging mjolnir for a light tap.
*Clang!*
Accompanied by a crisp sound of metal clashing, the blade of Fandral's longsword was easily snapped by mjolnir!
At the same time, he was affected by the terrifying force and sent flying backward, just like Volstagg.
This is impossible!
Fandral couldn't help but exclaim in his heart.
His longsword, though not a divine weapon of mjolnir's caliber, was still a high-grade item with over sixty percent uru metal content.
Under normal circumstances, mjolnir's divine Power alone would never be enough to break it.
Unless... this Midgardian himself possessed strength no less than Thor's!
If Fandral was only guessing, Hogun was seeing Peter's true strength for real!
At the same time Fandral was knocked away, he swung his mace and smashed it down.
His angle was extremely tricky, timing it perfectly for the opening when Peter hadn't yet recovered from hitting Fandral with mjolnir.
In his view, even if this strike didn't make the Midgardian's brains splatter on the spot, it would certainly knock him out completely.
But facing his mace, Peter remained incredibly calm.
He didn't clumsily try to roll away or force mjolnir back for defense.
He simply raised his empty left fist!
The moment that thunder-wrapped fist was raised, it visibly took on a pitch-black metallic luster.
*Clang!*
The fist and the mace collided, producing a bone-jarring sound of metal hitting metal.
Even more absurdly, after taking a hit from the mace with his bare fist, there wasn't a hint of pain on the Midgardian's face.
Instead, Hogun himself felt a sharp pain in the web of his thumb.
He looked down in disbelief and saw blood flowing from his hand.
The counter-shock force had actually torn the web of his thumb!
This momentary lapse in focus immediately decided the outcome of the battle.
Peter took the opportunity to land a flying kick, easily sending Hogun flying.
*Pfft~*
After taking the kick, Hogun felt like his internal organs were displaced; after hitting the ground, he couldn't help but vomit bile.
"It's over, Midgardian!"
Sif shouted as she appeared behind Peter, her rapier accurately thrusting at the junction of mjolnir's head and handle.
Despite being a slender girl, her strength far exceeded that of Hogun and Fandral.
Sif's parents were both renowned warriors of Asgard, and since birth, she had been designated by Odin as Thor's future wife due to her outstanding talent.
Thus, Sif's strike caught Peter by surprise, causing mjolnir to slip from his hand and fall to the ground...
Uh, okay, the truth was actually that Peter was worried he would crush this seemingly frail girl to death with one hammer blow, so he intentionally dropped the hammer.
"Aha~" Sif let out an excited cry, then swung her rapier to stab at Peter repeatedly.
She thought Peter was nothing without mjolnir's protection.
But reality slapped her hard in the face.
After losing mjolnir, Peter's offensive didn't slow down; instead, it became even more fluid.
He wasn't good with weapons like hammers anyway; unarmed combat was his specialty.
Peter first dodged several times, easily evading Sif's lethal thrusts.
Then, finding an opening, he moved like lightning to grab Sif's wrist.
With just a bit of force, Sif dropped her sword from the pain.
Then, Peter pulled her hand and twisted her wrist back, pinning Sif in place with a simple grappling move.
"Damned Midgardian, I order you to let me go immediately!"
The captured Sif struggled restlessly, but the more she moved, the stronger the pain in her arm became, making her grimace repeatedly.
This 'tsundere wild filly' look piqued Peter's mischievous streak:
"It looks like someone still hasn't learned how to talk to a Midgardian properly!"
As he spoke, he twisted Sif's arm a bit further in the opposite direction, making the goddess nearly kneel from the pain.
Just as the furious Sif was about to continue her verbal abuse, Peter's expression suddenly changed.
A scalp-tingling sensation came over him, making him fire a Flying Finger Pistol at Thor without a second thought, then he dove to the ground, taking Sif with him.
"You... you audacious Midgardian, how dare you insult a godde—"
Before the pinned Sif could finish her sentence, she saw a searing laser beam fly past her hair.
She even smelled the scent of her own hair burning.
The moment she saw the laser, the girl became completely quiet, silently letting Peter pin her down without a word...