Hearing Harry's words, Tony looked utterly disgusted and couldn't help complaining:
"Oh no, Loki again? I remember not long ago he sent a robot to Earth and even tried to kill his brother."
Harry spread his hands, tone relaxed. "You know how it is—when the parents are too soft, you end up with some badly behaved kids. If we give him a proper lesson, maybe he'll turn over a new leaf."
Tony rapidly suited up and stepped through the portal onto the Helicarrier, laughing. "Harry, I like the way you put that."
Once Tony arrived, Harry clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention and said evenly, "Alright. Everyone's here. So—any ideas on finding Loki?"
When Nick Fury glanced at him, Coulson immediately got the hint and explained on his own:
"Every internet-connected camera, phone, laptop—if it's online, it's a target.
"As long as Loki leaves even the faintest trace on the web, we can find him."
At that moment, Dr. Banner—back in human form after exiting the Hulk state—tossed off his jacket, walked up to a computer, and addressed everyone:
"We should narrow the search. Get as many spectrometers as you can. Mount them on rooftops and calibrate them to gamma radiation.
"I'll design a tracking algorithm and identify the source. That'll let me filter out false targets."
Tony produced a handful of candy from who-knew-where, popped one into his mouth, and strolled over to Banner. He leaned in to look at the code Banner was typing, and even with all his pride, he had to admit it:
"That's a very solid algorithm. Maybe I'll have JARVIS help you speed things up."
Banner had long heard Tony's name. He smiled politely, warm and sincere. "Thank you, Mr. Stark."
That made Harry blink in surprise. He hadn't expected Tony to get along with someone else this smoothly.
In Harry's impression, Tony Stark was always arrogant and hard to deal with.
Harry and Tony were close not just because Harry had saved him once, but because Harry was an exceptionally powerful sorcerer.
Besides Harry and a select few—like Pepper—most people didn't even register in Tony's eyes. Even the first time Tony met Steve, it hadn't exactly been friendly.
Seems Banner really was a genius. Only a genius could click with another genius.
With two geniuses collaborating, an elegant, streamlined solution came together in no time.
They loaded the algorithm onto the Helicarrier's supercomputer, linked it to the global network, and used facial recognition to hunt for Loki.
While the algorithm ran, Harry didn't sit idle. He found an office desk and started working on the Repair Charm.
The Repair Charm could restore a damaged object to its original state, touching on time and causality. It didn't deal direct damage, but it was an extremely high-tier spell.
It had one massive flaw, though: it couldn't be used on living beings. If it could, it would be an absurdly powerful healing spell.
After some preparation, Harry had ideas. He could already make the Repair Charm affect the human body in a preliminary way—after some testing and a few tweaks, it would be usable.
Time flew.
A few hours later, an agent monitoring the screen spotted something and shouted:
"Got a hit—67% match—wait, it's climbing—79%!"
Coulson hurried over. "Where?"
"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Königstraße. He's not even trying to hide!" (MCU: Location Scout)
After sitting for so long, Harry stretched and asked, "Give me a photo. I think I can open a portal there."
Coulson suddenly smiled. "No need. I've been to Stuttgart—and I can open a portal now too."
"Well, that's genuinely impressive." Harry looked surprised. Coulson must've been working hard—he'd even mastered portals.
Harry's gaze slid toward Fury, and an unkind suspicion surfaced.
Did Fury refuse to let Coulson take vacation again and force him to grind magic nonstop?
Otherwise, with Coulson's talent, there was no way his progress should be this fast.
As Coulson opened the portal, it was obvious he wasn't fully comfortable yet. He traced the sigils in midair for several minutes before a flickering, unstable portal finally formed.
Once it opened, Harry drew his wand, gave a light wave, and stabilized it. Then he glanced at Coulson.
"Not bad. But you still need more practice."
With that, Harry stepped through first, arriving in Stuttgart.
Coulson shook his head with a helpless smile and followed.
…
The moment they reached the scene, they found Loki.
He stood in the middle of the crowd, basking in worship, a pleased smile on his face as if he were savoring every second of it.
He held a glowing staff and paced through the people, preaching from on high:
"Yes. Exactly like that. Aren't you born to be ruled?
"Freedom tempts you, steals the joy from your lives. You chase power, chase status—because deep down, your bones are full of obedience. Sooner or later, you will kneel to your ruler!"
Then an old man stood up from the crowd, eyes firm as he looked straight at Loki.
"Maybe. But never to someone like you."
Loki laughed in anger. "I am unique!"
The old man snapped back, his tone even more venomous than Tony's. "I've seen plenty of shameless people like you."
Loki's face twisted. He raised the staff toward the old man and shouted to the crowd, "Look at this relic—he's your example!"
Energy gathered at the staff's tip, then a violent beam erupted from it, screaming straight for the old man.
Where it passed, the air seemed to tear, buzzing with a piercing whine.
If that attack hit, the old man would be reduced to dust.
At that instant, a tall figure emerged from warped space, flashing in front of the old man. With a casual flick of a wand, the beam transformed into scattered, glowing butterflies that drifted away on the wind.
Harry stepped out from the swirl of butterflies and looked at Loki—who now wore an ugly expression—grinning broadly.
"Well, well. If it isn't our second princess. Spent a year drifting through space and finally remembered home is nice? What—coming back to Asgard to apologize to All-Father Odin?"
The moment they recognized Harry, the surrounding civilians burst into excited cries:
"Yes! It's the Sorcerer Supreme—we're saved!"
"The Sorcerer Supreme will save us!"
"We don't have to be afraid anymore—Sorcerer Supreme, take down this supervillain!"
A beat later, Steve arrived too, shield in hand, standing at Harry's side. His face was set with iron resolve as he said in a low voice:
"The last time I was in Germany, there was a guy who put himself above everyone else. He got taken down. Looks like you won't be any different."
Loki could tolerate Harry mocking him. Harry was stronger than him and was the Sorcerer Supreme's disciple—his future was limitless.
But what was this soldier in ridiculous clothing supposed to be?
Loki was proud. He was, after all, Asgard's second prince.
To someone like him, anyone he didn't acknowledge was nothing but insignificant insects.
Harry and Loki despised each other, but Loki did acknowledge Harry.
Steve was another matter entirely.
Loki locked onto Steve, teeth grinding.
"A soldier. An outdated antique. Who gave you the courage to speak to a god like that?
"Now—kneel."
Steve stared, baffled.
What was this—do gods also pick targets based on status?
But Steve was a steady soldier. He didn't waste time bantering in combat—he charged immediately, throwing the insult back:
"The god I believe in wouldn't be like you. Even if you really are a god, you're not worthy of the title!"
Bang!
Shield and staff collided with a thunderous boom. After a few exchanges, Steve was sent flying back even faster.
Harry sighed and had to catch him with telekinesis.
Loki's physique far surpassed Steve's. And with that strange staff in hand—plus the Casket of Ancient Winters, enough to freeze a world—Steve was at a serious disadvantage. (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
Even with lightning runes, Steve still wasn't Loki's match.
Not to mention he'd been careless and hadn't even used them at first.
Harry asked, "Steve, how do you feel?"
Steve hit the ground, rolled his shoulders, and answered with dead seriousness, "I can fight him all day."
Harry: "…"
Lie to your buddies if you want. Don't lie to yourself.
After a brief reset, Steve charged again—this time wrapped in roaring lightning, his power surging. Compared to Thor, he only lacked accumulated strength and Mjolnir.
Seeing Steve cloaked in lightning, Loki's eyes widened.
He felt a soul-deep familiarity from that power.
His prepared killing strike stalled—he couldn't help hesitating.
What was going on? This wasn't ordinary lightning magic. It was Thor's thunder rune power.
Was this "soldier" actually Thor in disguise?
Loki froze, completely thrown off.
But he quickly realized the power didn't belong to Steve himself—it was something Harry had loaned to him.
Harry's magic was unusual. Simulating thunder runes wasn't impossible.
That thought snapped Loki's restraint in half.
He stopped holding back. With a sudden motion, he produced an ice-blue casket and aimed it at Steve.
The temperature around them plummeted, instantly diving dozens of degrees below zero.
Under Loki's control, the casket spewed an enormous flood of blue frost mist that swallowed Steve whole.
There wasn't even a "freezing process."
In the blink of an eye, Steve became an ice statue—momentum and all—locked mid-charge and frozen solid.
Harry rubbed his forehead, opened a portal beneath Steve's feet, dropped him through, and sent him back to the Helicarrier.
Honestly impressive—Steve had barely escaped being frozen the last time, and now he was frozen again.
So much for "all day."
Whatever. Frozen is frozen. Steve had practice by now—he'd probably be fine.
Once Steve was dealt with, the rest of the Avengers had already gathered behind Harry.
Harry snapped his fingers. Space around him shattered like a spiderweb, spreading outward until the entire plaza was covered.
Then Harry looked at Loki and asked calmly, "Alright, my little princess. You still want to fight?"
Loki's face contorted with rage as he roared, "You again, Harry! You always ruin my plans at the critical moment—back in that desert town, on Asgard's Bifrost, and now again!
"I swear, Loki will kill you one day—give you agony and torment beyond measure!"
Harry couldn't be bothered. He took the chewing gum Tony tossed him, popped it into his mouth, and shrugged.
"Little princess—has anyone ever told you that when you curse, it sounds like you're pouting?"
Loki instantly snapped. "Damned Potter! This time is different. From this day on, I am Midgard's master—Loki, the great God of Mischief!"
Harry stared at him like he was looking at an idiot. He pointed in the direction of Kamar-Taj and said, "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Want me to take you back to Kamar-Taj so you can say that to my teacher's face?" (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
Loki's expression stiffened.
Even now—holding the scepter and the Casket—he still didn't dare face that "kind-faced" old woman.
Humiliated, he lashed out at once.
"Enough! Let me see what you lot—this circus troupe you just put together—can actually do!"
In an instant, Loki's skin shifted to the ice-blue hue of a Frost Giant. His speed surged again, and he crossed the distance in a flash, arriving right in front of Harry and the others.
Harry leveled his wand and fired an electromagnetic railgun shot.
But before it could strike Loki, the frigid aura around him froze even the energy itself—turning it into ice that dropped to the ground and shattered into frozen fragments.
Tch. As expected of a divine relic of the Frost Giant race—freezing even energy. That was already high-dimensional energy territory.
Based on Loki's current state, Harry judged that with the Casket and that mysterious scepter boosting him, Loki's power wasn't far off from when he wielded the Gungnir.
At the very least… stronger than Thor.
So unless something unexpected happened, this would be a hard fight.
Harry addressed everyone around him. "Don't fight Loki head-on. Just stall him for a few minutes. Don't let him interfere with me—I need time to prepare a spell with serious firepower."
Tony also realized Loki was far stronger than before. He dropped his usual unserious attitude and nodded firmly.
"Don't worry, Harry. With us here, Loki won't be able to disturb you."
With Tony leading, everyone charged Loki.
Seeing Tony so confident, Harry relaxed and began gathering magic, preparing to hit Loki with something big.
Sure, Harry could forcibly enter a near-out-of-control state and overload his magic to beat Loki quickly—but every overload carried the risk of losing control.
If he could avoid gambling on that, he would.
But just a few seconds into charging—
A figure wrapped in ice came hurtling at him at terrifying speed.
Harry twisted aside on instinct, dodging it—his movement so sharp it nearly caused the half-formed spell, packed with magic, to destabilize and explode.
He turned his head.
Wasn't that… Coulson, the so-called magic prodigy?
The next instant, another figure was launched toward him. Harry sighed and had to split his focus, catching it with telekinesis.
It was Tony.
Harry's face went flat with disbelief.
"What's going on, bro? You that… short-lived? You couldn't even last a few minutes?"
Tony was coated in frost too. His chest armor was smeared with black scorch marks, and even his suit—made from a lesser uru alloy—had partially melted.
Once Harry set him down, Tony couldn't bring himself to look Harry in the eye. He'd just talked big, only to get slapped by reality immediately—even he felt embarrassed.
Tony looked left and right, stubborn as ever. "With those two relics, Loki's way too strong. We're not his match.
"But my new suit is almost done. It'll massively amplify magical output. Next time, I'll definitely beat him!"
Harry didn't comment.
Even the next-gen suit probably wouldn't beat Loki.
The Casket was a divine relic. If Tony could manufacture divine relics, he'd be at least near Skyfather-tier.
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
Natasha dropped from above in a very unglamorous, flailing-doggy-paddle landing posture.
Harry couldn't stand seeing a beautiful woman get hurt. He kicked two elastic shock-absorbing straps into place.
The force was just right—Natasha tumbled through the air a few times, then landed safely.
Harry thought he'd done pretty well.
Natasha, however, clearly didn't agree. She shot him an aggrieved look and complained, "Next time you catch a lady, can you use a gentler method?"
Harry lowered his head to indicate the wand tip, where blinding lightning crackled. His tone was extremely sincere.
"Of course. If you want to slam into that."
Feeling the almost tangible, destructive magic gathered at his wand tip, Natasha immediately shook her head.
"Never mind. What you did just now was fine."
After smashing through the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Loki's confidence swelled to the limit. He walked toward Harry and the others without haste, raised the scepter at Harry, and spoke with arrogant certainty:
"Harry. This time, I'll defeat you the way I did when we first met."
Harry raised his wand as well. He'd finished charging—this would be his strongest strike in a normal state.
Facing Loki's smug expression, Harry said blandly, "Sure. Except unlike you, I'm going to beat you the way I did the second, third, fourth, fifth time…"
Loki's expression froze.
Confronted with reality, even the silver tongue of the God of Mischief couldn't refute it.
So he stopped talking and began gathering power.
A moment later, a dazzling beam erupted from the scepter and flew toward Harry.
At the same time, Harry instantly constructed a sword of lightning, converting the stored magic into an electromagnetic field—injecting the lightning sword with overwhelming kinetic force and energy.
It pierced space, split the air, and shot toward Loki.
The next instant, the electromagnetic railgun strike and the energy beam collided in midair. A blazing energy field blossomed between them, warping the surrounding space.
Boom!
With a deafening blast, a shockwave burst outward from the energy field, spreading and ripping at the hardened ground like it was paper.
Then, to Loki's disbelief, the twisted energy field surged toward him.
"How is this possible?!"
Loki hadn't expected that even with the Casket and the scepter, he still couldn't stop Harry's attack.
Back then, with Gungnir in hand, Loki could easily crush both Harry and Thor.
Now, facing Harry alone, he still couldn't win.
Even if the Casket and the scepter weren't as strong as Gungnir, this meant that in a short time, Harry's strength had multiplied several times over.
Realizing he'd completely lost the beam clash, Loki immediately tried to evade.
But suddenly, the soil around him seemed to come alive, transforming rapidly into walls that rose and boxed him in.
Those walls would shatter with a touch, but they were infused with a portion of Harry's magic—meaning even breaking through them would take Loki a fraction of a second.
And in a fight like this, a fraction of a second was enough for the railgun strike to land.
Loki's face turned grim. He fully activated the Casket, layering dense, hard ice over his body, trying to tank the blow head-on.
When the ice reached two meters thick, he made a startling move:
He threw the scepter and the Casket away together. A portal opened exactly where they fell, swallowing both relics and sending them to some unknown distance.
And in that same moment, the electromagnetic railgun strike finally broke through the energy beam's resistance.
With an earthshaking explosion, it slammed into the massive ice shell around Loki.
The violent aftermath expanded outward, whipping up a storm of wind so intense that even the smallest among them—Black Widow—would've been blown away if she hadn't instantly driven a short blade into the ground to anchor herself.
Harry swung a hand. Telekinesis smoothed the gale to nothing, restoring clear air and calm.
Then Harry Apparated, slipping around the battlefield and appearing on another road—standing in front of Loki, who'd been driven into the metal siding of a truck.
Harry produced an energy rope and used a hogtie-style binding along with rune chains, locking Loki in place. He dismissed the Mirror Dimension, repaired the lightly damaged street with the Repair Charm, then brought Loki back in front of the Avengers with a grin.
"Mission accomplished. Let's head back for now."
Tony looked around. The street that had just been damaged was now restored as if nothing had happened. He couldn't help sounding envious.
"Magic is ridiculously convenient. Too bad I can't get those spells to stick no matter what."
Coulson sighed as well. "Agreed. If we could master the Repair Charm, S.H.I.E.L.D. would save a fortune."
Natasha looked at Harry, curiosity in her eyes. "Harry, any tips for learning the Repair Charm?"
Harry opened a portal and stepped through. He glanced back.
"If you're bad, practice more."
Natasha: "…"
…
After transporting Loki to the Helicarrier, Fury locked him inside a transparent sealed cell.
Harry stared at it, speechless, then asked, "Fury. You're really just going to put him in this tiny cage?"
Fury's face darkened. Tiny?
His stuff was never tiny.
But Harry was currently S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most important investor, creditor, and strongest combatant. So Fury swallowed his pride and explained anyway:
"Harry, don't underestimate it. If he tries to escape—if he so much as scratches the glass—he and the cage will drop from nine thousand meters up."
But to Fury's surprise, Harry still looked unimpressed. If anything, he looked even more disgusted.
"All that… for this?" Harry said.
Fury frowned. "What's wrong with it?"
"You know who Loki is? Asgard's second prince. The purest Frost Giant bloodline.
"This might work on a normal Asgardian, but against Thor or Loki—or anything with comparable physicality—it does nothing.
"A falling body has terminal velocity. Even if this cage is denser than a normal human, it still hits a limit.
"Even if that limit is higher than a human's, it still won't be enough to deal lethal damage to Loki.
"So right now, Loki only needs to touch the glass lightly—and he can walk right out of your Helicarrier."
"WTF?"
Nick Fury was a meticulous agent, but he was still mortal. Even with the Life Equation slowing his aging and raising his lifespan ceiling, it was hard for him to truly think from a superhuman perspective.
That was why he came up with an idea that looked perfect on paper, but was laughably flimsy in practice.
Harry sighed. The Avengers would fall apart on day two without him.
He swung his wand. The air rippled in visible waves.
Golden runes flared into existence one after another, orbiting Harry in a fast spiral.
When the runes interlocked into a larger rune, it sank into the cage.
A moment later, a blue-glowing magical energy field formed inside the cage, sealing Loki within it.
Only then did Harry smile at Loki.
"I'm sure Your Highness the second princess can read what these runes do. One is explosion. One is imprisonment.
"If you force your way through the field, the magic I injected will detonate. That kind of explosion might not kill you—but it'll take limbs.
"Loki… you don't want to spend the rest of your life as a cripple, do you?"
Loki had been indifferent to Fury's "trap," but the moment Harry's magic cage appeared, he erupted in fury.
"Damned Potter—you'll regret this!"
An energy prison personally designed by Harry was something even Loki couldn't break easily. Without outside help, he'd be trapped.
That would absolutely interfere with his plan.
Harry was already used to Loki's threats. His smile widened, and he turned away.
Inside the cell, Loki watched Harry's back. His eyes flickered violently for a moment, then calmed again.
He was Loki, the God of Mischief.
How could he not have a Plan 2.0?
…
In the conference room, the Avengers sat around a triangular table.
Steve had just woken up from being frozen again. He looked drained—clearly frostbitten.
Even so, in a crisis, he forced himself steady and spoke first:
"Barton, Dr. Selvig, and Crossbones still haven't shown themselves. They're hiding—planning something."
Black Widow held a high-tech tablet, scanning information while keeping one ear in the meeting.
"Also, before Harry defeated him, Loki tossed the mysterious scepter and the Casket into a portal.
"That portal behaved exactly like the Tesseract's. So the Tesseract is probably in Barton's hands now."
"Talking around it won't help," Fury cut in, blunt and direct. "The real question is: what's their goal?"
Harry thought of Loki's brother and smiled.
"If there's one person in the world who knows what Loki is trying to do—besides All-Father Odin and Queen Frigga—it's him."
"Who?" someone asked.
"Loki's brother. Thor."
Harry decided he'd find Thor and tell him Loki was safely in custody, so he could relax.
Though maybe it wasn't necessary. Lately Thor had been glued to his girlfriend, having the time of his life—he'd probably forgotten Loki existed.
Poor Loki. Always thinking about his brother.
While his brother was already drowning in romance.
Harry opened a portal and stepped into New York, intending to head to Thor's place.
Then he froze.
A middle-aged man stood in front of him.
Black, strange energy stained the area around the man's eyes. His face looked twisted and evil, his aura gloomy—like a rat in the dark.
And on his forehead was an arcane symbol Harry recognized instantly.
In the multiverse, it represented Dormammu.
There was no question: this ordinary-looking middle-aged man was one of Dormammu's thralls.
A normal sorcerer, confronted with Dormammu—or any similar evil dimensional demon-god—would've been scared out of their mind.
Harry was the complete opposite.
He broke into delighted glee. As the man recoiled in fear, Harry Apparated right in front of him, drew a lightning sword, and pinned him to the wall with a single thrust.
Then Harry slammed a hand onto the man's head, trying to use Dormammu's energy left on him to forcibly pry open the gate to the Dark Dimension.
Very quickly, tracing the dark energy backward, Harry's consciousness shot through the multiverse. The scenery around him collapsed and reassembled like a shattered kaleidoscope—reality's boundary twisting and melting into a whirl of bizarre, shifting colors.
Soon, Harry stopped before a thick, viscous darkness. He knocked on the "door" with his mind and bared his teeth at the massive, undulating silhouette within.
"Open up, Dormammu. I'm here to bring you warmth."
A face formed—countless worlds corrupted by darkness shaping Dormammu's features, with cold black flames filling in the gaps.
Dormammu stared at Harry, expression ugly. He truly didn't want to deal with this damned chaos mage.
Why did something like this exist?
Not even having mastered his own dimensional universe, yet able to erupt with power so extreme it could pose a lethal threat to Dormammu.
Dormammu didn't understand it—but he had no choice but to talk.
Because if Dormammu wanted to devour Earth—and the young Celestial's body within Earth—he couldn't get around Harry.
He didn't dare let Harry enter the Dark Dimension, so he spoke across the barrier between dimensions.
Dormammu forced down his emotions, trying to make his smile as "friendly" as possible, enunciating each word:
"Harry. I'm here to negotiate."
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810