The Fire Giant Surtur raised his head and locked eyes with the group above. Flames churned within his head, as if it were made entirely of magma.
"Is this what the Fire Giant looks like? It really exists!" Wanda looked down at the towering figure, her face filled with awe. She couldn't even imagine what Surtur would become when he unleashed his true power, considering this was him in his un-revived state.
She had heard of Surtur, but to her, he had always existed only in myths. She was completely shocked to see him in person, even after Thor had told her about him.
This was said to be the most powerful demon in the Nine Realms, and now this terrifying demon was right in front of them.
"So that's what Surtur looks like," Loki said, rubbing his chin as he sized up the Fire Giant with interest. He had heard of Surtur before, but this was his first time seeing him.
He had thought that Odin had already killed him and had only found out recently that Surtur hadn't died. But it made sense. This thing's divine essence was just too terrifying; it was practically immortal.
'It'd be great if this thing could be used as an infinite energy source,' Cassius thought to himself, a strange idea popping into his head as he looked at Surtur, who was constantly spouting fire. After all, this thing was scorching hot. If he could trap it somewhere and put it on a spaceship, it would be an endless supply of energy.
"It seems you're much weaker than you were at your peak," Hela said calmly, looking down at Surtur. She, of course, recognized the Fire Giant Surtur.
"Hela!" A thunderous voice came from the Fire Giant's mouth. He was very surprised to see Hela. "Weren't you sealed away?" He hadn't expected Hela to be here.
"Looks like you're pretty famous, even Surtur, who's been locked up in this cursed place, has heard of you," Cassius said, turning to look at Hela with a hint of teasing in his tone. After all, no one ever came to this place, so it was impressive that Surtur knew about her. What's more, this guy had been locked up even before Hela, so it was even more surprising that he knew.
"Of course I am!" Hela was not ashamed at all. Instead, she puffed out her chest, looking proud. She didn't think this was shameful. The only thing was that the days she had spent inside weren't very pleasant. There was a time when no one hadn't heard of her name!
"Did you come here to become my fuel?" Surtur knew that the group was not here to be friendly, and his voice was laced with anger. His current strength was much weaker than before, so his temper had become more volatile.
"Hey!" Thor said, punching a nearby Lava Monster away. "Let me test your strength, big guy!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he took a running start and leaped from the high platform toward Surtur. He gathered all his strength, delivering a Superman-style punch in midair.
The punch made Surtur stumble back a few steps, and the flames on his face flickered.
"Woah, you're really hot!" Thor complained, patting his slightly charred fist.
"You damned fool, you will feel the burning of the inferno!" Surtur raised his Twilight Sword and swung it forward. As he swung it, countless flashes of fire burst forth from the blade.
Thor's eyes widened. He quickly rolled on the ground and narrowly dodged the attack. The next second, a giant foot kicked him and sent him flying.
"Thor!" Loki appeared from the void and quickly helped Thor up. He really hadn't expected Thor to be unable to withstand a single blow. He had originally planned to distract Surtur while Thor was fighting him so he could deliver a sneak attack, but that was clearly no longer possible!
"Damn it, that guy's foot is huge!" Thor said, covering his abdomen and gritting his teeth in anger. After losing Mjolnir, he couldn't focus his divine power without any help.
"Asgardians, you will pay a heavy price for your recklessness!" Surtur raised his Twilight Sword with a booming voice. The light of destruction constantly burst forth from the blade.
"How annoying. You're talking like a loudspeaker!" A look of impatience flashed across Cassius's face. He raised his right foot and stomped it down. Countless streams of ice quickly spread across the ground. Even the hot lava was instantly frozen by the ice. When the ice reached the Lava Monsters' feet, sharp ice cones shot up, instantly piercing and shattering the monsters.
The next second, Cassius's gaze shifted to Surtur. A golden light shot out and instantly pierced through Surtur's body. The terrifying light tore through the darkness of the lava cave. The cave finally saw real light for the first time in a very long time.
Whoosh!
With a loud bang, the Fire Giant fell to the ground. His body turned into flames and was all sucked into his helmet. All that was left on the ground was a horned headpiece.
"The Fire Giant doesn't seem to be as powerful as they said he was..." Wanda was stunned. She hadn't expected him to be defeated in a single blow. She had originally thought that they would fight for a few hundred rounds, and then Surtur would slowly fall after a fiery battle. But just now, Surtur was gone in a single attack.
"Your power is insane!" Thor got up and walked over, picking up the headpiece. He looked at the headpiece in his hand, his expression a little strange. Although Surtur was weak now, the fact that he was pierced with a single look was just too much.
Roar!
Before Thor could continue to complain, he heard a roar from behind him. He turned around and saw a huge mouth biting at him. But the next second, Loki sent the giant dragon flying with a punch.
"You're so careless, my foolish brother!" Loki said proudly, twirling his dagger with a slight smirk.
"Cassius, is our mission complete?" Wanda asked, a confused look in her eyes. It was much easier to solve Asgard's crisis than she had imagined.
"It seems that Ragnarok won't happen either." Hela lightly leaped and took the headpiece from Thor's hand. She looked at the headpiece in her hand, her eyes still filled with a bit of apprehension.
Surtur wasn't strong just now, but he was terrifyingly powerful at his peak. Even Odin had to go through a lot of trouble just to deal with him.
"No, as long as this guy isn't dead, Ragnarok won't be prevented." Cassius shook his head, a helpless look in his eyes.
As long as this guy wasn't dead, he would always break free one day. After all, there were just too many possible accidents that could happen in this world. No one could be sure when Surtur would awaken again.
So the only way to get rid of Surtur was to completely destroy him.
"Then what should we do?" Thor frowned, a serious look on his face. This Surtur was just too terrifying. He knew very well that this guy was hard to kill. In fact, there was practically no way to kill this thing. And from the serious look on Cassius's face, he could tell that this was no joke. He really might see Surtur appear again.
"It's simple." Cassius had Hela hand him the headpiece. He held the headpiece in both hands, and a dark red energy surged around his body.
A terrifying aura burst forth from Cassius. The terrifying aura mixed with a dark red light slowly began to corrode the headpiece. As the aura spread, the Lava Monsters that were rushing toward them seemed to have seen something terrifying. They froze for a moment, then turned around and fled like crazy.
"What is this power?" This was the first time Loki had ever felt such a terrifying power. An indescribable fear seeped out of his pores. He even instinctively wanted to use his invisibility to hide himself.
When the Phoenix Force completely enveloped the headpiece, a crack! was heard. Countless cracks spread across the headpiece. It was as if it was made of fragile glass. It instantly turned into countless flying ashes that floated in the cave.
"That's it?" Thor's throat bobbed up and down. His eyes were wide as he stared at Cassius. It had only been a few seconds, and Surtur had just disappeared?! This was a being that even his father couldn't deal with, and now he had been so easily eliminated?
"This power is just too terrifying! How did he do it?" Loki asked, trembling in fear. He had felt two completely different powers just now. One was the extreme of life, and the other was the extreme of nothingness. But these two opposite powers had appeared at the same time.
"The power of the Phoenix Force is not something you can understand," Hela said. Although she was a little surprised, she wasn't surprised by the result. The Phoenix Force could destroy everything. But it was indeed much faster than she had expected.
Cassius clapped his hands to remove the remaining dust, his expression calm. With his current power, destroying a headpiece that contained a divine essence was nothing.
The Fire Giant Surtur? He could even beat Odin. Surtur was nothing. When he had fought Odin, he had deliberately held back some of his power. He also had a one-time-use skill.
"Serious Punch."
That thing could instantly show Odin what true power was.
"It seems we no longer have to worry." Thor's anxiety was gone. If they had really faced Ragnarok, they would have lost their home. They would have even lost their divine power, which was something he absolutely could not accept.
"We should announce this to everyone in Asgard!" Loki's eyes darted around as he proposed his idea.
Right now, all of Asgard was in mourning because of Odin's death. And what's more, there was fear and panic. Odin had always been the strongest person in Asgard. Now that the strongest person had left, they didn't know if they could still maintain the peace they had.
If they announced this news, many people would feel relieved. After all, this was Surtur, a being that even Odin couldn't defeat. But now, he had been completely eliminated. This meant that they had gotten rid of a hidden danger. At the same time, it would also allow the people of Asgard to regain their confidence.
"For once, you're actually smart," Hela said, smirking at Loki. He had always been clever in a mischievous way, but now he had finally come up with a good suggestion. She didn't want the people of Asgard to constantly be thinking about Odin.
"..."
Just then, a whoosh! was heard. In an empty area to the side, a semi-transparent square frame appeared. A group of men and women in black armor walked out. Their shoulders had a yellow TVA logo on them.
"Who are you?!" Thor and Loki instantly became alert. They instinctively took a defensive stance.
"This power..." Hela frowned. Although these people didn't look like much, they gave her an indescribable sense of oppression. Even her sixth sense was constantly ringing with alarm.
Wanda clenched her fists. These people showing up here at this time couldn't mean anything good.
"The Time Variance Authority?" Cassius recognized them at a glance. After all, the scene of the Infinity Stones being used as paperweights was too memorable.
This was the Time Variance Authority. An organization that managed the multiverse, monitored reality, and ensured the timeline was minimally interfered with. But he hadn't expected them to come here. And from their expressions, it was clear that they were here for him.
"You're Cassius?" The leader, a stout black woman, walked up to Cassius with a small notebook and sized him up.
"I am." Cassius nodded nonchalantly.
"You've violated the temporal order. I'm arresting you for infringing on the Sacred Timeline. Put your hands up!" The stout black woman took a step back, and the other Time Variance Authority agents slowly came up. They were holding what looked like stun batons.
"Cassius, who are these people?" Thor asked in a low, serious voice. Hela's expression was incredibly serious. Her Nightswords were trembling! This meant that this group of people was not simple!
"Please come with us," the black woman said, raising the stun baton-like thing in her hand.
"Don't worry, I'll go with you." Cassius didn't refuse the TVA's request. These guys had a device that could reset the timeline. He didn't want to anger them and have them reset the entire timeline. So, Cassius planned to solve the problem at a different place.
And besides, he had a question. He had been here for so many years and had messed up the plot countless times. So why was it that only this time the Time Variance Authority had found him?
Wait... Cassius realized. No matter how much he had changed the plot's direction in the past, the result had never changed. For example, the Civil War still happened. Even though the team didn't split up, the Avengers just reunited earlier. But this time, he had directly put an end to Ragnarok!
"Cassius?!" Wanda's face was filled with worry and nervousness. The identity of this group of people was just too mysterious.
"It's okay. You guys go back first. I'll be back in a little while." Cassius stroked Wanda's head to comfort her.
"Okay, be careful." Wanda looked at Cassius's calm expression and could only nod slowly. From the way Cassius was acting, nothing serious should happen.
"This guy..." The stout black woman was surprised. They had never encountered a time criminal who was so compliant. And Cassius was incredibly calm.
"Let's go," the black woman said, looking at Wanda and the others. She placed a small cylinder on the ground. Cassius recognized it. It was the "Temporal Loom," used to reset the timeline.
"Reset the timeline," the stout black woman said before pushing Cassius into the portal. But she didn't notice the dark red light flashing in Cassius's eyes. The Temporal Loom did not activate, and the timeline was not reset. She also didn't know that she had just brought a disaster back to the Time Variance Authority.
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