Jotunheim.
A realm shrouded in eternal ice and night.
The sky was a dull lead-gray. Jagged glaciers stretched to the horizon like the bones of colossal beasts.
A biting wind howled, whipping ice crystals into the air and making the entire world look dead and desolate.
Boom!
A pillar of multicolored light tore through the silence and smashed into the vast ice field.
The light faded, revealing Thor and the Warriors Three upon the frozen land.
"Hah! Frost Giants! The Lord of Thunder is here!"
The moment he landed, Thor couldn't wait to roar provocatively, his voice echoing far across the empty ice plains.
Soon, the ground began to tremble.
From the shadows of the glaciers, Frost Giants—tall, blue-skinned, red-eyed—charged out with weapons forged from condensed ice, roaring as they came.
"Asgardian!"
Facing the enemy horde, the three warriors all wore solemn expressions and raised their weapons into defensive stances.
But Thor's face was full of excitement and contempt.
"Good!"
He laughed loudly and rushed forward first, carrying Mjolnir like an unstoppable war chariot toward the densest group of giants.
"Thunderbolt!"
He swung the hammer. Thick chains of lightning erupted, instantly turning seven or eight Frost Giants at the front into charcoal.
Immediately after, he threw the hammer into the sky and spun it at high speed.
Chain lightning rained down like a storm, throwing the giant formation into chaos. Wherever it passed, ice shards and debris exploded into the air.
The Warriors Three followed closely behind, guarding Thor's flanks.
Volstagg's great axe cleaved open and shut, splitting Frost Giants in half with each blow.
Fandral's swordplay was agile and swift, piercing throats from the most impossible angles.
Hogun's mace was calm and lethal—each swing turning enemies into bloody pulp.
The four of them were like a red-hot blade stabbing into the Frost Giants' cold front line, killing their way forward like a quartet of slaughter.
But Jotunheim was, after all, the Frost Giants' homeland.
The enemies were endless, surging from all directions. Gradually, the three warriors began to feel the strain.
Their divine power drained rapidly, their breathing growing heavier.
"Thor! There are too many!" Volstagg shouted, panting as he chopped down a giant. "We've gone too deep! If Laufey comes personally, we'll all die here!"
"Thor! We've proven Asgard's might—now it's time to retreat!" Fandral urged.
But surrounded by hundreds of giants, Thor showed no fear at all. He laughed instead.
"Retreat? No!"
"This is only the beginning!"
He smashed aside the giants before him, then turned to the three warriors with a confident grin.
"That killer move of mine… hasn't even been used yet!"
"Killer move?" The three warriors were dumbfounded. "At a time like this you're still holding back? What kind of move is worth saving?"
"Haha! Then open your eyes and watch!"
Thor roared, inhaled deeply, and recalled the Ten-Thousand Sovereigns Thunder Art Lucci had taught him.
He no longer relied on brute force. He linked his divine soul with Mjolnir's spirit, connecting the Laws of Thunder between heaven and earth.
"By decree—!"
Golden lightning flared in Thor's eyes.
"Thunder Prison!"
Rumble—!
A terrifying thunder pressure—ten times, even a hundred times stronger than before—exploded outward from Thor.
In the sky, endless golden sacred lightning answered his call, pouring down like a vast sea of thunder.
This lightning was no longer a chaotic bombardment.
Under Thor's will, it transformed into an enormous spherical prison forged of pure thunder and lightning.
The Thunder Prison instantly engulfed every Frost Giant within a radius of one kilometer.
Zzzrrt—!
The shrill screams lasted less than a second before stopping abruptly.
Inside the thunder prison, countless bolts raged and tore everything apart.
Those bodies of cold ice were as fragile as paper before the most blazing, most unyielding divine lightning—evaporating in an instant, leaving not even residue behind.
When the light faded…
The thousands of Frost Giants that had surrounded them were gone without a trace.
Only a huge circular crater remained, its surface melted into glass, still exhaling greenish smoke.
The battlefield fell into dead silence.
The Warriors Three stared blankly at the miracle before them, then looked at Thor standing at the center of the crater, warhammer in hand like a King of Thunder.
Their minds went completely blank.
"This… this is what you meant by… the true power of thunder?" Volstagg stammered, nearly dropping his axe.
"Thor… how did you get this strong?" Fandral's voice trembled.
Thor restrained the thunder around him and strode forward, pride written all over his face.
"Haha—this… Lucci taught me."
"If I hadn't mastered this power, how could I have dared to bring only the three of you to fight Frost Giants?"
Lucci.
Again Lucci.
Hearing that name, the three warriors exchanged looks, incomparable shock in their eyes.
At last, they understood why Thor respected Lucci so much.
…
On the Bifrost.
Heimdall's gaze remained fixed on Jotunheim.
When Thor displayed the devastating Thunder Prison and cleared the field in an instant, shock surged across even Heimdall's iceberg-like face—something that hadn't changed for thousands of years.
"This technique… is… strong."
He was stunned by Thor's growth, and at the same time grew even more interested in the Fourth Prince, Lucci.
Thor's party didn't seem to be in danger for the time being.
Then…
Heimdall withdrew his gaze from Jotunheim and looked toward Lucci's palace.
Perhaps Thor was right.
Perhaps it was time to consult Lucci.
Perhaps—he really could untie the knot in Heimdall's heart.
…
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