Odin Intervenes Again

At this moment, Loki no longer looked the same as before.

He wore pale golden scale armor and a dark green cloak draped behind him. Beneath his horned helmet was a gaunt face that looked sharp and mean at a glance.

Loki – God of Mischief Form!

As the saying went, clothes made the man and saddle made the horse. Once he put on a full set of equipment, he naturally became different from before.

As the Son of Odin and Asgard’s second prince, every piece of Loki’s equipment was a divine artifact, forged by master craftsmen of Asgard and the Dwarves. It had Odin’s magic upon it, along with Loki’s own premium personalized modifications later on. It was not inferior to Thor’s set in the slightest.

The moment he equipped the set, his attributes rose considerably.

Version 2.0 Loki had improved tremendously in strength, speed, reflexes, mental power, and Asgardian divine power. At minimum, all of them had doubled. He had gone directly from a final boss of the sixties to a gatekeeper of the seventies.

His overall strength had increased by far more than threefold.

"Midgardian, you have angered me!"

Loki got serious.

He planned to seriously run away!

Never underestimate the speed at which a mage could flee, especially Loki, whose proficiency had skyrocketed throughout his thousand-plus years of getting beaten up.

Old Wang folded his arms, not worried in the slightest.

Empowered by Azeroth Essence, the Crimson Magic Belt was more than twice as fast as before. It was not merely supersonic; it was even approaching sub-light speed. Forget Loki—even ordinary Quicksilver would still get caught every time.

In the blink of an eye, Loki was caught and tightly bound.

However…

"Loki" vanished once again.

It was still an illusion?

Old Wang was slightly stunned.

This brat had actually fooled even me?

Interesting…

Old Wang became serious and released all his mental power, pushing it to the limit this body could withstand.

The older Asgardians got, the more formidable they became.

Having lived for over a thousand years, and being both a mage and single, Loki’s mental power alone was not much weaker than Ancient One’s. He was far stronger than Thor, who was part shaman and part warrior.

Among every opponent Old Wang had faced in this world so far, Loki’s mental power was unquestionably number one. It was even stronger than Lei Gong’s and the Jade Emperor’s. He was difficult to deal with, about on par with those women in Suramar who had been sucking for tens of thousands of years.

Their figures were about the same, too.

Mental power was undoubtedly one of a mage’s most important attributes…

Loki’s mental power was close to the limit this body of Old Wang’s could bear, so his control over magic had naturally reached a masterful level. Though it was only ordinary Invisibility, even Old Wang had been deceived.

But it was not without traces.

Old Wang spread out his mental power and quickly discovered thirteen Lokis.

Every Loki looked exactly the same.

Although Loki’s illusions had little offensive power, their realism had indeed reached the level of a legendary mage. Ordinary people could not spot anything at all. Even if those Mystic Masters from Kamar-Taj came personally, they probably would not find any clues.

No spell was absolutely perfect. Old Wang quickly came up with the perfect solution—

Damn it, no matter how fast your casting speed was, it still took time!

You were not Doctor of Kidney Deficiency, nor could you use Images of Ikonn. The number of illusions you could create within a given time was limited. Just destroy them all. What was there to fear about not finding the real one?

"Little Red, get him!"

Whoosh!

The Crimson Magic Belt shot through the air again, swiftly piercing every illusion before finally binding Loki.

"Tsk, tsk. Go on, run again. Weren’t you good at running?"

Old Wang strolled leisurely up to Loki, humming under his breath.

In nineteen years since coming to this world, he had never encountered anyone this difficult to deal with.

An Archmage was an Archmage!

The Hulk was impressive, right? The angrier he got, the stronger he became. He could withstand missiles head-on without issue, yet a simple Teleportation spell could still toy with him endlessly.

Archmages were different. They could tank, deal DPS, and talk trash. If all else failed, they could run.

If the Three Sanctums did not impose a certain degree of teleportation restriction on Earth, allowing only Kamar-Taj’s mages to teleport without restraint, Loki would have escaped in minutes. They would not even have been able to catch up.

These days, it was all about overall strength.

Strength, speed, endurance, intelligence, energy, combat skill.

Other than the last one, Captain America’s first few attributes were not particularly high.

His physique was only around the level of an ordinary Asgardian, but if they really fought, killing dozens of Asgardians would not be a problem for him.

Why?

Wasn’t it simply because his overall strength was absurdly high?

The Hulk’s individual attributes were off the charts, yet his total attributes were actually inferior to Loki’s.

If not for plot armor, could he really beat Loki?

Old Wang had to admit it.

Without the Crimson Magic Belt, he was confident he could beat Loki senseless, but actually catching him would not have been easy.

That was how awesome melee mages were!

Loki was incredibly frustrated.

Wang, if you have the guts, stop using that belt. How about we compete in spellcasting and knife work?

Strange.

What kind of crappy belt is this? It’s tied so tightly that even my fifty tons of brute strength can’t break free. Borrowing Asgardian divine power doesn’t work either.

More importantly, this crappy belt can even suppress spells. I can’t even cast now. How is this possible?

Loki swung his arm backward.

No matter what quality belt it is, it can’t stop my dagger!

Yet the Crimson Magic Belt seemed to have eyes. It bound both his hands together and pulled them behind his back, conveniently tying up the dagger as well.

Man and belt began a tug-of-war.

"My dagger… give it back!"

Loki was quite strong, but the Crimson Magic Belt was even stronger and sturdy enough to easily seize the dagger. It casually tossed it toward Old Wang, then lifted one corner and waved it at him, seeking praise from its master.

"I’ll give you credit for that."

The Heart of Azeroth around his neck flashed, and a strand of Azeroth Essence entered the Crimson Magic Belt.

The thing reacted as though it had taken a hot bath, feeling so good it nearly let Loki break free by accident.

"Stop fooling around. Tie him properly!"

After casually scolding it, Old Wang examined the dagger in his hand.

Asgardian-made products were always top-quality.

By World of Warcraft standards, this dagger was clearly of legendary quality, though it was on the weaker side. It was nowhere near Thunderfury or the Warglaives of Azzinoth. Its main merit was its hardness, nearly comparable to Deathwing’s teeth.

He had no idea whether it was made from stellar remnants or Asgard’s legendary metal, Uru—

It was said that the latter could only be refined using a stellar core and Asgard’s unique magic.

Though Vibranium was known as "the hardest metal in the universe," it was not unique. Whether Uru or Adamantium, both were enough to rival Vibranium. Thanos’s greatsword could even shatter Captain America’s Vibranium Shield, proving that its hardness was in no way inferior to Vibranium.

Unlike Vibranium.

As a famed magical metal, Uru possessed an extremely strong affinity for magic and could carry all sorts of enchantments, including Odin’s own magic.

Legendary quality, top-tier demigod enchantment.

If it were not lacking sufficient spirit, this dagger might have been able to rival Thor’s Hammer.

"What a pity…"

Old Wang shook his head and casually tossed it into the Heart of Azeroth.

This dagger came from Asgard, and only Asgardians could truly use it. In anyone else’s hands, it would instantly lose its connection to Asgard and be unable to draw upon Asgardian energy, reducing its value by half.

Besides, Old Wang was neither a rogue nor a mage. There was no point keeping this thing. It would be better to trade it for something good, such as that staff he had not seen in a long time.

Of course, Loki’s dagger was definitely inferior to a Monk’s divine artifact by quite a bit. He could deal with that later.

"Midgardian, you forced my hand!"

Loki gritted his teeth as a golden spear suddenly appeared in his grasp.

Old Wang’s eyes narrowed sharply.

Loki himself did not use a spear.

There was no need to ask. This had to be the legendary Gungnir, the Eternal Spear—a high-level divine artifact said to strike its target with one hundred percent accuracy once thrown. It was a tier above Thor’s Hammer and came with the ability to open the Bifrost.

It was Odin’s personal weapon and currently Asgard’s most powerful divine artifact.

The spear was certainly formidable, but it recognized its master.

If Odin were dead, Loki might perhaps be able to barely wield it by virtue of being Asgard’s second prince.

If it were to save Odin or Thor, Gungnir would certainly be willing to unleash its full power. If it truly struck, even someone as formidable as Laufey, King of the Frost Giants, who was no weaker than Thor, would turn into ice fragments in seconds.

Odin was still alive now, so what did Old Wang have to fear?

Just as he was thinking this, golden light flashed before his eyes.

The Loki before him suddenly seemed taller, giving off the illusion of the Allfather.

His aura rose steadily, quickly climbing to a higher level. It crossed some invisible limit and reached the realm of a true demigod.

It was as if a divine-power channel as broad as a river had been opened. Asgard’s power poured into Gungnir like the Milky Way spilling from the heavens, while also empowering Loki, its wielder.

A terrifying divine might instantly locked onto Old Wang, and a familiar divine voice resounded in his mind.

"Human, you have gone too far!"