Facing everyone's relentless pressure, Loki released energy once again.
The shockwave pulverized every rock within a 100100-meter radius. Fandral and Hogun were instantly blown away. The massive Volstagg barely managed to keep his footing. Sif stabbed her sword into the ground with a backhanded motion, yet she was still pushed four or five meters before she finally stopped.
Bant slammed a fist into the earth. The arm buried in the soil spread out in an instant like a plant's root system, gripping the ground firmly.
Only Steve raised his shield. That alloy shield, capable of absorbing massive kinetic energy, blocked the impact for him.
But in the next moment, Loki sprang up and landed behind Captain America, then swung an arm backhanded toward his head.
Crack!
The instant the armored strike came down, countless crystals shattered.
It turned out Bant had formed a gigantic crystalline shield in midair. Like an enchanted tree, it surged up from the earth in an instant, wedging itself between Captain America and Loki.
"Captain!" Bant shouted.
Steve reacted at once. He twisted his waist, gathered force, and smashed Mjolnir into Loki's head at point-blank range!
Thud!
Driven by the power of thunder, the hammer Steve threw carried force far beyond an electromagnetic railgun shot. He thought this blow would heavily injure Loki, yet after Loki was struck, he only staggered, then regained his balance.
He attacked again, a metal fist slamming viciously at Steve.
Steve hurriedly raised his shield.
Clang!
Luckily, this adamantium alloy shield came with a built-in taunt effect, making Loki's every punch land right in the center. And because the shield itself contained vibranium, it absorbed the vast majority of the impact.
Even so, the small remainder still made Steve's hands go numb.
With a thought from Bant, massive amounts of crystal spread wildly under his will. Then he swung both arms, and a crystalline tower erupted rapidly from the ground like a spear, bracing against Loki's chest and forcing him back.
"This won't work. Our attacks aren't doing anything!" Bant shouted, putting on a show.
But it was also the truth. No one present had the power to break Loki's defense while he wore the Destroyer armor.
Bant tilted his head and glanced at Sif not far away. "Doesn't Asgard have anything with more firepower?"
Something with more firepower?
Sif froze, and a name instantly surfaced in her mind: the Bifrost.
The Bifrost was like Zero's Shield of Baraji. In essence, it was a planet-destroying, star-level weapon, yet most of the time it was used as transportation.
If they used the Bifrost on Loki, it might actually erase him.
In fact, if they misjudged the power even slightly, Earth would die along with Loki.
But now, aside from the Bifrost, there was no other option.
If they kept fighting like this, even if Loki died first from exhausting his life force, they would still pay a horrific price.
"I'll contact Heimdall!" Sif made her decision and spoke immediately.
In truth, there was no need to contact him. From the beginning to the end, Heimdall had been watching Earth.
Because of Bant's interference, Loki had not, up to this point, allowed the Frost Giants into Asgard. Now Heimdall held the key to activating the Bifrost, weighing whether he should make this choice.
No matter what, Loki was still Odin's son, and the one currently controlling Asgard in reality.
Even though Loki intended to rebel and Odin had fallen into the Odin Sleep, Heimdall knew very well that the entire situation remained within Odin's grasp.
As a subject, Heimdall absolutely could not kill Loki. At most, he could borrow the Bifrost's power to exile him.
He made his decision quickly and contacted Sif.
"I will use the Bifrost to exile Loki, but you must restrain his movements."
Sif immediately passed the message to everyone.
Steve was about to volunteer, but Bant stopped him at once. "Let me do it, Captain! My body can regenerate, and I happen to know a place where he can suffer a bit."
Bant's goal was to use the Bifrost to go to Sakaar. Otherwise, he would never have taken the form of the regenerating Diamond War God.
He reached out and rested a hand on Sif's shoulder, instructing her, "I'll hold Loki down. Tell Asgard's gatekeeper to send us to Sakaar."
Heimdall's face darkened. He had the strong feeling he was being used.
But right now, aside from doing what Bant said, he couldn't think of a better method.
So his gaze crossed the Nine Realms and locked onto the place called Sakaar.
A garbage planet where war never ceased truly was the perfect exile destination.
Seeing that, he didn't hesitate anymore. He drove the golden sword in, waiting only for Bant to bind Loki. The moment that happened, Heimdall would twist the key and open the Bifrost.
On Earth, after reaching an understanding with Heimdall, Bant stopped holding back.
Among the first ten alien heroes, the Diamond War God's raw attack and defense might not match the Flame Man's, but in overall combat strength, he was unquestionably the strongest.
He could fight, he could control, and he could recover instantly after taking damage. Calling him an all-rounder was no exaggeration.
At this moment, Bant couldn't defeat Destroyer Loki head-on, but controlling him with crystals was effortless.
In the distance, Loki charged in again.
This time, Bant directly met him, colliding with Loki head-on.
"You're courting death!" Loki snarled, gripping Bant tightly with one hand as the Destroyer armor gathered terrifying energy again.
"This time I'll blast you until not even scraps are left!"
"Just you?" Bant let out a cold laugh.
In the next instant, his body began to spread rapidly. Clusters of crystal grew out of thin air under his feet, one after another, blooming like massive petals and wrapping both him and Loki inside!
Only then did Loki finally realize something was wrong.
"Let go of me, you filthy insect!" He panicked and tried to escape.
But Bant locked him down brutally. The molecular structure of Bant's body shifted again. Those crystals looked no different from before, yet inside, their structure aligned neatly like a honeycomb, unbreakable!
Boom!!!
In an instant.
A gigantic mountain range rose up, stabbing straight into the clouds!
Farther away, Nick Fury and the others, still searching for Thor, also saw the magnificent spectacle.
Every one of them stopped and stared in shock.
Fury's expression was heavy.
"Looks like the threat rating of the Tiangong Association needs to go up again! At least Level Nine. No, Level Ten!"
Bant didn't know Fury had already marked the Tiangong Association as a top-level threat. Even if he did, he wouldn't care.
Right now, he was holding Loki firmly, waiting for the Bifrost to descend.
"Hurry up, Heimdall! I can't hold him for long!" he shouted.
In the next moment, a mythic radiance fell from the sky!
The Bifrost arrived.
Brilliant, colorful light carrying destructive power instantly engulfed Bant and Loki.
In the blink of an eye, that enormous crystal mountain was blasted into powder by the Bifrost's force!
Fine crystal dust glittered under the sun.
For that instant, it felt as if all of New Mexico had fallen silent.
A few seconds later, the rainbow light vanished, and everything returned to nothingness.
Steve lowered Mjolnir and took one step toward where the rainbow had disappeared. In the empty desert, there was no sign of Bant left.
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