Ragnaros’s Wrath

"Destroyer was destroyed?"

Loki had finally reached Heimdall’s Temple, but he was in no mood to celebrate. He let out a heavy snort.

What was the destruction of one Destroyer worth?

What I want to destroy is all of Jotunheim!

Over a thousand years, how many enemies had Thor killed in total?

A thousand?

Two thousand?

Ten thousand?

Yet with a single move, I can wipe out millions of Frost Giants!

Father, Mother, Asgardians.

Witness this glorious moment!

The age of Loki, God of Mischief, is about to begin!

Loki entered the temple and walked to its very center.

He took a deep breath, raised Gungnir with both hands, and aimed its tip at the deep hole in the center of the pedestal.

Then he drove it in viciously.

Feeling Sif’s skin growing colder and colder, Old Wang could not help sighing.

The Casket of Ancient Winters was never supposed to appear in the script. After Laufey was killed, it had fulfilled its purpose and been completely forgotten by the writers.

Yet it had still appeared. The reason was actually quite simple:

Loki was a fickle god.

He and Thor had loved and fought each other for a thousand years, and there were deep feelings between them.

Sometimes, he wanted Thor dead more than anything. Yet other times, he could not bear to do it.

In all of Marvel World, Loki was probably one of the most complicated people.

Loki’s moods were like June weather—changing at the drop of a hat, impossible to predict.

That was why he had sent the Destroyer to Earth to hunt Thor down. But after Thor returned, he had been unwilling to use the Casket of Ancient Winters, because he knew all too well how powerful it was. One careless mistake, and Thor could be killed.

At that time, he no longer wanted Thor dead.

But now…

The person before him was not Thor, but himself.

An enemy.

What was there to hold back for?

From the Thor trilogy to the Avengers Initiative, then Infinity War, Loki’s strength had steadily declined. The Loki of this moment was the strongest Loki.

He had Gungnir with all its permissions unlocked;

He had the Casket of Ancient Winters, usable only through the power of his bloodline;

And he had Asgard’s inexhaustible supply of divine power.

If things dragged on too long, he could even mobilize Asgard’s army in the name of "repelling foreign invaders."

This was Loki’s home ground.

So…

"This is the most difficult battle after all!"

Sif’s temperature continued to drop, soon reaching freezing point.

Her consciousness began to crumble. Even the full set of divine artifacts personally enchanted by Odin could not withstand a single strike from the Casket of Ancient Winters.

Even Old Wang’s own body temperature was slowly dropping.

Even Shou-Lao’s power could not resist a higher-tier force. Though the two were roughly at the same level, there was still a gap between them.

The gap between a high-tier demigod and an ordinary demigod.

It was a difference in quality, and also a difference in quantity.

The frost divine power released by a single attack from the Casket of Ancient Winters exceeded even the combined power of ten thousand Frost Giants.

It was equivalent to ten thousand Frost Giants casting at once, using frost magic to imprison him.

A body that had barely reached Grandmaster level was not stronger than an Ancient Red Dragon, while the Casket of Ancient Winters was clearly even more powerful than Frostmourne, the Death Knight’s divine artifact.

This situation reminded Old Wang of his battle atop the Frozen Throne with the dutiful son of Lordaeron, "Lich King Arthas."

Frostmourne had gathered the extreme cold of Northrend, seeking to imprison him forever.

Yet he had forced his way through with his Grandmaster body and True Qi.

Then, with the windwalking artifact Fist of the Heavens, he summoned the elemental fury of primordial Azeroth. With the brewmaster artifact Fu Zan, the Wanderer’s Companion, he summoned the brewmaster’s wrath. Together with the countless souls devoured by Frostmourne, he shattered it.

And sent Arthas on his way.

His current predicament was no more dangerous than that one, at least not for him.

As for Sif…

"Don’t be afraid. I’m here."

That gentle voice entered Sif’s ears, awakening her soul from its near-eternal slumber.

Green True Qi flowed into her body, driving away the endless cold. Sif felt warmth.

From the bitter cold of midwinter to the warmth of spring, she slowly woke amid an increasingly comfortable sensation.

From body to soul, she was enveloped by Old Wang. The always-strong Sif understood for the first time what happiness was, what it meant to be sheltered and protected.

Ever since that day, when Loki’s prank had turned her head of golden hair into a cascade of black, she had sworn to become strong—strong enough that no one could ignore her presence or disregard her thoughts.

Countless times, she had thrown herself into the most dangerous battlefields, yet she had never considered relying on anyone for rescue, not even Thor.

A thousand years of fighting had made her take the long-vanished Valkyries as her goal.

Though the Halls of Valor had long since ceased to exist, in the eyes of everyone in Asgard, she was the foremost female general closest to the Valkyries, perhaps even their equal.

She had earned Odin’s recognition.

She had earned Frigga’s admiration.

But now…

A thousand years of strength had been shattered by the Casket of Ancient Winters. A strong woman needed an even stronger man to hold her tight. So being saved, being protected, felt this wonderful.

Sometimes, women should be a little vulnerable.

Only then could they receive a woman’s happiness.

But…

How are we supposed to get out?

"Don’t worry."

Old Wang spoke softly. "I have experience with being frozen."

The gentle voice sounded directly in her soul. Sif wanted to blink.

Strange, why would you have experience with being frozen…

Even if you do, that’s the Casket of Ancient Winters!

By your own account, Loki carries the bloodline of Laufey, King of the Frost Giants. In his hands, the Casket of Ancient Winters is ten times more powerful than Gungnir.

Although you’ve been using your life and soul to protect me, even you can’t resist the Casket of Ancient Winters’ erosion. I can sense your temperature constantly dropping.

Perhaps we’ll die here together in the next moment.

What could you possibly do?

Old Wang smiled faintly.

My body and True Qi are both inferior to what they were during the battle on the Frozen Throne in my previous life. But this is neither Northrend nor Jotunheim, land of the Frost Giants. Even the Casket of Ancient Winters has been taken away by Loki.

Asgard’s divine power is constantly invading from outside, consuming the frost divine power that cannot be replenished. This seemingly solid ice is actually far inferior to Arthas’s skills.

So…

What is there to worry about?

"Ice’s natural enemy is fire."

Old Wang said softly, "To melt ice, of course you use fire!"

Fire?

Where would fire come from?

Sif did not understand.

Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly felt warmth.

The next moment, she heard a voice. A deep, blazing voice that seemed to come from the magma layers of ancient times, carrying the scent of earthfire.

"Let the flames purify everything!"

Who was that? Whose voice was that?

Why did merely hearing it make her soul tremble, as though she stood face-to-face with a being as powerful as the Allfather?

Sif did not know.

She had no idea what was happening.

But someone did.

Odin’s slumbering soul stirred.

"A channel connected to another universe has appeared again?"

"What is that? A being roughly as powerful as Surtur?"

"He holds a hammer, one almost as powerful as Mjolnir?"

"The flames burning on that warhammer… could they be Eternal Fire…"

"No, they aren’t!"

"That is a wilder, more primordial flame—the Primal Fire from the beginning of the world!"

Odin’s heart, long worn calm by thousands of years of storms and trials, suddenly rippled.

This generation’s Immortal Iron Fist could actually summon power no weaker than mine?

Ancient One was not his patron at all.

Why would a man like him need a patron?

Old Wang and Sif embraced each other, frozen by Loki.

Above the thick ice coffin, an enormous warhammer suddenly appeared.

It was "Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros," from World of Warcraft—the weapon of Ragnaros, the Fire Elemental Lord.

The warhammer flew out from the other end of Time-Space Channel and smashed fiercely into the ice coffin.

Tiny cracks appeared.

At first there was only one, then a second, then a third.

In less than three seconds, hundreds of cracks covered the ice coffin.

Then…

The ice coffin shattered!

The Demonfire Hammer vanished, followed by the Time-Space Channel.

Old Wang was finally free.

"Mmm…"

Sif collapsed in Old Wang’s arms, twitching uncontrollably.

The cold still lingered. Even with her powerful constitution, she could barely endure it, and her soul was incomparably weak.

Besides…

Didn’t you say you were going to melt the ice with fire? How did it turn into a hammer?

The ice coffin had been smashed apart. There was no way she could emerge from being frozen without a scratch. Though Old Wang’s True Qi had protected her, she had still suffered severe injuries.

"Don’t worry. I’m here."

Old Wang smiled as green Mist of Soothing enveloped Sif’s entire body.

Sif felt so warm, so very warm. Her injured skin and internal organs felt as though ten thousand ants were biting them. It itched terribly.

But the itching lasted only a few seconds before vanishing completely. Then a crystal bottle was held out before Sif.

"Drink it," Old Wang said.

Sif hesitated for a second.

Director Wang, you just drank from that. There’s still some unidentified liquid on the mouth of the bottle. That wouldn’t be appropriate…

Just as she was about to say something, Sif’s expression suddenly changed.

Old Wang had sensed the energy fluctuations in the distance even earlier, but his expression remained unchanged.

Sure enough…

What was meant to happen had happened.

They turned their heads at the same time, looking toward Heimdall’s Temple at the end of the Bifrost.

The golden sphere atop the temple spun continuously under the Bifrost’s power, its upper tip pointing in a certain direction.

A seven-colored light shot from the tip, becoming an increasingly thicker beam.

Then, in an unbelievable spatial leap, it struck another planet an unknown number of light-years away in less than ten seconds.

An eternally cold, lifeless planet.

The planet’s projection appeared in the sky, and the structures upon it could even be seen clearly.

The beam struck the planet’s surface.

All its buildings were destroyed, and even the planet itself began to tremble.

"That is… Jotunheim!" Sif cried out.

Old Wang remained silent.

The Bifrost’s power poured toward Jotunheim, while Jotunheim’s power arrived in Asgard by flowing in reverse.

Even more massive frost divine power than before spread as ice through Heimdall’s Temple, quickly freezing the entire temple.

"So much power…"

Old Wang muttered, his eyes gleaming.

The power to destroy a planet was far stronger than the Destroyer. Even in World of Warcraft, artifacts like this were rare.

He wondered how it compared to the Focusing Iris.

"There was a reason Odin was unwilling to use the Bifrost to attack Heimdall or other worlds…"

His benevolence in old age was one reason.

Although Jotunheim did not have the protection of the Three Sanctums like Earth and could not withstand the Bifrost’s long-range attacks, its own power could not be underestimated.

The Bifrost could certainly destroy Jotunheim.

But Jotunheim’s counterattack would definitely deal a devastating blow to Asgard.

It was a double-edged sword.

"Stay here."

The moment Old Wang finished speaking, he vanished.