"Thor?"
High in the air, Fenris finally snapped out of his excitement. A pained roar rang out, and his ears twitched as he followed the sound beyond the edge of the crater.
A burly man with long blond hair was kneeling on the ground in despair, looking as if his soul had been torn out of him. His eyes were vacant, and he looked utterly wretched.
Thor kept his head lowered. Only after a long while did he finally come back to himself and slowly raise his head toward the tall figure in the sky.
Fenris held Mjolnir in his hand and stood suspended in midair. Bright sunlight poured down over him, making him look like a true god.
"Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."
Odin's enchantment still seemed to echo faintly in Thor's ears. The hope filling his heart finally shattered completely when he saw this scene. Thor staggered to his feet and closed his eyes in pain.
"No—"
In the sky, every faint stirring of wind and grass around him was exceptionally clear to Fenris's senses. His powerful five senses let him take in Thor's reaction without missing a thing.
Fenris casually tossed Mjolnir in his hand a few times, then curved his lips. The hammer spun at high speed in his grip, pulling him rapidly toward Thor.
Boom!
Fenris crashed down in front of Thor, wrapped in a howling gale. With no attempt to hold back, he immediately kicked up a vast cloud of dust.
When the smoke and dust dispersed, a familiar smiling face appeared quietly before Thor.
"Not sure what trouble this friend of mine has run into," Fenris said with a faint smile, revealing a neat row of teeth. "But say it out loud. Fenris, God of Thunder, can help you solve it."
"…"
"Fenris, you…?"
Thor stared helplessly at Mjolnir, which was practically spinning tricks in Fenris's hand.
No, how is he this familiar with it?
I treated you as a friend, and behind my back you practiced an entire combo set with my hammer?
Looking at that smiling face, and the smugness all but written across it, Thor's expression darkened. He simply turned his head away, refusing to look anymore.
Fenris knew when to stop. Chuckling, he stepped forward, flipped the hammer around, and offered it to Thor.
"All right, all right. Here. Your hammer."
"Really?"
Ever since Odin had banished him to Earth, Thor had suffered quite a bit without his power or his hammer. So when he saw Mjolnir within reach, his eyes immediately lit up.
Seeing Fenris smile and nod, Thor rubbed his hands together excitedly and hurriedly reached for the handle.
Buzz.
Yet Mjolnir, which had been resting quietly in Fenris's hand, suddenly began to tremble slightly, almost as if it were reluctant to leave.
Several tiny arcs of electricity emerged and lightly shocked Thor's fingertips.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Thor's expression froze, and the grin that had just spread across his face instantly vanished. "It's only been a few days, and you're already looking down on me?"
Only then did Mjolnir quiet down again.
Thor nodded in satisfaction and reached out to grasp the handle. The familiar feeling of it in his hand brought him such a sense of security that he instinctively let out a soft laugh.
And yet…
There was no lightning.
No thunder.
No strange phenomenon at all. Everything remained exactly the same as usual. The instant Fenris let go of the hammer, Thor's smile froze on his face.
A tremendous weight came from the hammerhead. Mjolnir dropped heavily toward the ground. Caught off guard, Thor was dragged forward and nearly stumbled.
"…How is that possible?"
Thor stared at his open palm in disbelief.
Mjolnir lay quietly at his feet. Refusing to believe it, he bent down again and reached out, trying to pull it up. But the hammer seemed rooted to the ground. No matter how hard he strained, he could no longer make it move even a fraction.
Thud.
There was no weeping. No broken howl of despair.
After several failed attempts in a row, how could Thor still fail to understand what had happened?
All light had vanished from his eyes. His face was numb, his expression blank, as he knelt before Mjolnir and gently stroked the hammerhead.
This once-familiar comrade now felt so terribly alien.
Thor closed his eyes weakly. After a long while, he finally braced himself against Fenris and staggered upright.
"Thor…"
Fenris frowned slightly. Looking at Thor's expressionless face, he raised a hand and pulled him up.
"Fenris… tell me. Am I truly unworthy… to lift the hammer again?"
"I only wanted to win lasting peace for Asgard. Was I… was I really wrong? Am I truly unworthy of becoming a proper crown prince?"
Meeting Thor's ashen gaze, Fenris thought for a moment.
"Thor, I can sense the powerful divine force contained within Mjolnir."
"It isn't that you're unworthy. It may just be that you need to properly think about what's truly in your heart."
"After all…"
Fenris looked at Thor's somewhat pale face and patted him on the shoulder. "No matter how powerful the hammer is, it's still only a weapon. You are the true God of Thunder."
"I… understand…"
After several violent emotional swings, and with his body already pushed to the verge of collapse from crossing the wilderness on foot, Thor opened his mouth. Under the weight of guilt, he was just about to say something when his vision abruptly went black.
He felt everything around him rapidly receding. As his taut nerves suddenly relaxed, the double blow to his mind and body finally overwhelmed him. Thor's eyes rolled back, and in the next second, his entire body collapsed straight to the ground as he passed out completely.
Fenris sighed.
He reached out with his left hand and gently caught Thor. With his right hand open, Mjolnir automatically flew up from the ground and slammed into his palm.
The exquisite little hammer carried Fenris soaring into the sky. Then, under Coulson's astonished gaze, he came crashing down at the entrance of the base.
"Teacher Fenris!"
Wanda quickly stepped forward to meet him. Looking at the blond, muscular man in Fenris's arms, she could not help letting out a soft sound of surprise. "Isn't this the one from last night…"
"It's him."
Fenris nodded, then turned and gestured to Coulson, who was standing not far away.
The world-ending divine spectacle from moments ago was still vivid in Coulson's mind. Faced with Fenris's summons, he did not dare delay at all and quickly jogged over.
"Fenris?"
"Tell Nick Fury that the God of Thunder's hammer will be in my custody for the time being. I'll return it to its rightful owner soon."
Fenris swept his gaze over the temporary base around them, which had already been wrecked almost beyond recognition by the lightning.
"This base is completely useless now. You should evacuate as soon as possible."
"Fenris, this… isn't really appropriate, is it?"
Hearing that Fenris actually intended to take the hammer away, Coulson's gaze flicked discreetly over Mjolnir. Frowning, he said with some difficulty, "The hammer was discovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. first…"
He had just witnessed the terrifying power of the God of Thunder's hammer with his own eyes. As long as its holder could lift it, they would immediately obtain the power of a god. Who could resist such temptation?
"Hmm?"
Fenris, who had originally turned to leave, raised an eyebrow.
"Coulson, are you planning to keep me here by force?"
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]