"Quickly, get the artisans moving. Build a temporary floating platform. Now."
Watching from the rear, Loki immediately realized something was wrong.
The Rainbow Bridge was narrow. At most, six Asgardian soldiers could advance at a time, and they were being met by exactly six defenders. Every clash became a controlled six-on-six engagement. Worse still, Rowan's group wasn't throwing defeated soldiers into the void beneath the bridge. They were merely knocking them down.
That created a fatal bottleneck.
The soldiers behind couldn't advance without first pulling their fallen comrades back for treatment. Each delay bought the defenders precious seconds to recover their breath. Six enemies fell, a pause followed, then another six. Over time, the defenders barely felt fatigue, while Asgard's momentum steadily bled away.
Asgard might have tens of thousands of citizens, but fewer than ten thousand true warriors. Loki couldn't afford to let them be worn down like this.
Moments later, golden devices were carried onto the bridge by Asgardian artisans. With a hum of energy, radiant light unfolded outward, forming massive floating platforms that linked seamlessly with the Rainbow Bridge. In seconds, an enormous combat field surrounded the control chamber, eliminating the choke point entirely.
Now soldiers could attack from all sides.
"Not good," Steve muttered.
The pressure surged instantly. What had been manageable became overwhelming. The defenders were forced back step by step as waves of Asgardian soldiers flooded in from every direction. Injuries began to appear. Steve started calling down lightning more frequently, hammer blazing with thunder.
But he wasn't Thor.
The power he wielded came entirely from the hammer, not from within. His control over lightning lacked the depth and endurance of its true master.
"Bruce," Steve shouted, teeth clenched, "it's time!"
Seeing the Warriors Three and Lady Sif wounded, Logan riddled with weapons he hadn't even had time to pull out, Steve knew they were out of options.
Bruce didn't hesitate.
He charged forward with a shout, sprinting straight toward the oncoming soldiers. One spear lashed out instinctively—
—and the Hulk emerged.
"HULK!"
The roar shook the platform. With a single sweeping motion, Hulk sent a cluster of Asgardian soldiers flying like broken dolls.
"Hulk, help them!" Betty cried.
Hulk turned, saw her, and nodded once before plunging into the melee.
The tide slowed again.
Loki's hands trembled with fury.
"These wretched mortals," he snarled. "If that's how they want it… then die."
He raised the Eternal Spear and summoned the final guardian of Odin's vault.
The Destroyer descended in a thunderous crash, its uru-metal body radiating ancient power. It leapt straight at Hulk, its face opening to unleash a searing beam of energy that blasted Hulk clear across the platform.
Hulk hit the ground, rolled, then rose with an enraged roar and charged back in.
Metal met muscle.
The Destroyer could not be destroyed. Hulk could not be put down. The two locked into a brutal stalemate, neither yielding an inch.
But without Hulk holding the line, the rest of the battlefield tilted sharply against the defenders.
Steve was being pushed back.
Loki laughed. "Now what will you do?"
Above the control chamber, the sky darkened.
Black clouds gathered unnaturally fast, layered thick with crawling veins of lightning.
Loki frowned. "What is this?"
It wasn't Steve.
Rowan stepped out of the control chamber, eyes finally opening as he rotated his index finger slowly.
"Finished at last," he said calmly.
He raised his hand to the sky.
"Ancient Magic: Thunderstorm Descent."
The clouds answered.
Lightning fell like rain.
Bolts hammered the platform in dense, unrelenting waves. Asgardian soldiers struck by the storm staggered violently, bodies locking up, muscles refusing to respond. Even their legendary physiques couldn't fully resist it.
They didn't burn. They didn't die.
They simply couldn't fight.
That was enough.
Steve and the others cut through them effortlessly. One strike, one fall. The battlefield inside the storm became a massacre.
Soldiers outside the storm hesitated, watching their comrades collapse the moment they crossed the boundary.
"Steve," Rowan sent mentally, "help Hulk. Use the hammer. Break that armor."
Steve didn't question it. He sprinted straight toward the Destroyer, hammer crackling with power.
Lightning magic alone wouldn't stop it.
Mjolnir would.
As Steve joined Hulk, cracks finally appeared across the Destroyer's surface.
Rowan held the storm steady, his magic linking to the sky itself. The lightning wasn't draining him. It was draining the heavens.
He could keep this going until Odin woke.
Loki's expression finally broke.
"Charge! All of you!" he shouted desperately. "I want to see how long he can hold it!"