MCU- CH-166. The Sacrifice

When all the members of the God Group set their sights on Luke, the other gods had already fled when they sensed the impending danger. Even Gorr quietly blended into the fleeing crowd. However, Thor wasn't ready to retreat. Loki, standing next to him, quickly noticed what Thor was planning and grabbed him.

"Listen to me, brother. This is no longer a situation we can interfere with. We need to escape now!" Loki urged.

Faced with the sudden turn of events, Loki's first instinct was to flee, the farther, the better. It was clear that these ten gods weren't to be trifled with. Though he didn't know their identities, he could sense the immense danger they posed.

"No, Loki, go ahead. I'm sure even Luke will struggle with this enemy!"

"Luke has helped Asgard many times. Now it's my turn to help him! If I don't return alive, then the people of Asgard will have to rely on you in the future." Thor said, his expression serious.

"Brother, it's pointless for you to stay. Even Father, at his peak, might not be able to handle a battle of this level. You will surely die." Loki reasoned, not wanting Thor to throw his life away in vain.

"As a warrior, dying on the battlefield at the hands of a powerful enemy is the greatest honor. I will enter Valhalla!"

"You've always been smarter than me. I know you're more suited to be the God King of Asgard than I am. I trust the future of our people to you now."

"Go, Loki!" Thor smiled, having mentally prepared himself for death.

Loki felt a surge of mixed emotions at his brother's words. Yet the situation was too dire for sentimentalities. After giving Thor a tight embrace, Loki controlled the Destroyer Armor and quickly retreated from the battlefield.

Watching Loki's retreating figure, Thor took a deep breath and turned toward a member of the Celestials, determination hardening his gaze, "Luke, let me help you!"

Although he knew he stood no chance against the gods, Thor was prepared to assist Luke in this desperate battle. Luke, at that moment, was fending off the siege of the gods. He barely glanced at Thor but didn't refuse his help.

"Thor, be careful. These opponents are far more dangerous than anything you've encountered before. If you're not cautious, you'll die—and even your soul will be annihilated." Luke warned.

Despite Thor's mental preparation, his heart sank at Luke's words, "Perhaps even Valhalla won't save me this time," he thought grimly. But he steeled himself once more, his resolve unshaken. Wielding Stormbreaker, he summoned violent thunder and flew towards the nearest god.

However, in front of the towering god, Stormbreaker was like a toothpick. The mighty divine weapon, wrapped in lightning, appeared impressive but barely scratched the god's armor.

"Asgardians are flawed beings who should not exist." The god declared coldly, glancing at Thor before deeming him unworthy of survival.

The god raised a massive hand, unleashing a terrifying beam of energy aimed at Thor. Locked in place by the god's will, Thor had no way to evade. Just as he struggled to recall Stormbreaker for defense, a dark green beam shot up from the ground, and a mountain of swords materialized from thin air. Atop the peak stood Hela.

"You still haven't improved, Thor. Leaving Asgard to you was Father's greatest mistake." Hela mocked, her disdain evident, "You should leave with Loki and not get in the way."

Though she saved Thor's life, Hela didn't offer him any kindness, instead ridiculing him for his weakness. She didn't even glance at him as she continued to hurl dark green spears, each hundreds of meters long, toward the colossal god, attempting to buy time.

In truth, Hela already saw Thor and Loki as her brothers, but her pride wouldn't allow her to express affection like a normal sibling.

"Sister, I don't know what it was like fighting with Father in the Nine Realms, but we have the chance to fight side by side now. Let's join forces and take down this enemy!" Thor called out, sincerely addressing her as "sister" for the first time.

"Pointless struggle." The god muttered, easily shattering the weapons Hela created.

Though there wasn't an insurmountable gap between their powers, it was clear that neither Thor nor Hela could match this god.

After Hela saved him, Thor quickly summoned Stormbreaker back to his hand and charged toward the god again, "I am Thor, God of Thunder! Remember my name!" He roared, swinging his axe with all his might.

One strike, two strikes... Thor hacked at the god like a madman.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal clashing echoed in the air. Yet, despite Thor's relentless efforts, the god's armor remained unscathed, making his attacks seem almost laughable.

"Fenrir, reveal your true form!" Hela commanded suddenly.

A terrifying howl pierced the air as the demon wolf, Fenrir, opened its massive mouth and devoured countless undead warriors in one gulp. In the blink of an eye, Fenrir's body expanded until it was as large as a mountain.

Resurrected by Hela with the Eternal Flame, Fenrir had retained his appearance from life but was now a creature of death. At this moment, he resembled the mythical wolf capable of devouring the stars and the sun. Fenrir leaped at the god, biting down on his wrist, his sharp fangs sinking deep into the armor.

"Good boy!" Hela praised, summoning a colossal sword, a thousand meters long, and slashing at the god with all her might.

"Enough, insects!" The god roared, furious. Although Hela and Fenrir's combined assault hadn't caused significant damage, it had enraged him. His armor blazed with a blinding light as a destructive shockwave rippled through the battlefield.

"No, stop him!" At this moment, Hela's spiritual sense was constantly warning her of danger, so she yelled at Thor desperately. However, facing a power gap that wasn't even in the same dimension, Thor simply had few options. At this moment, he truly hated his own weakness.

"Father, if you were to encounter such an enemy, what would you do?" Thor fell into a passive state, missing his father. What he didn't know was that Odin had once defeated a god alone while wearing the Destroyer Armor. Even though he was ultimately overwhelmed by a whole team of gods, that feat was enough to set Odin apart from the crowd.

"Thor, have you forgotten? We were all born under the World Tree." At this moment, Thor vaguely heard the voice of his father whispering in his ear.

"Yes, the World Tree!" Thor didn't stop to question whether it was an illusion or not. In his desperation, he clung to the thought like a life-savingBoaw, "Great World Tree, I am willing to sacrifice my left eye in exchange for your power to protect the Nine Realms."

In the tradition of Asgard, sacrificing one's own eye was a secret passed down to him by Odin. Without hesitation, Thor reached up and covered his left eye. In an instant, blood flowed from the empty socket, and a spark of thunder crackled deep within.

But just after Thor had made his sacrifice, a voice seemed to tell him it wasn't enough.

"Isn't that enough? Then I am willing to sacrifice both my eyes!" According to Thor's logic, if one eye wasn't enough, then sacrificing both should do the trick. Without hesitation, he cut out his right eye as well.

"Idiot, what's the point of proposing a sacrifice at a time like this?" Hela, watching as her brother recklessly gouged out his eyes, couldn't help but curse angrily. She was disappointed in him. Their father had hung upside down on the World Tree for nine days and nights during his sacrifice. Now, Thor just stood there digging out his eyes with no preparation. It was absurd.

But it was too late for complaints. Just as Hela fumed over Thor's impulsiveness, something strange happened.

Boom!

As Thor sacrificed his second eye, a flash of light burst from the World Tree, followed by the deep rumble of thunder, and countless bolts of lightning suddenly appeared in the void. All the lightning gathered together and struck Thor directly.

With arms spread wide, Thor welcomed the baptism of lightning.

Crack!

Lightning struck his body, and an endless light radiated outward. The power of Asgard within Thor began to merge with him at an incredible speed. His life force rose steadily, rapidly reaching a critical point.

"Is this…? Is he becoming a cosmic god?"

"It seems Odin's faith in you was not misplaced." Muttered Luke as he sensed the power radiating from the distance. Originally, Luke hadn't planned to continue playing around with the gods who were attacking him. As a cosmic god responsible for creation and destruction, tearing apart a star was as easy as a flick of his wrist.

But just as Luke was about to act, he sensed the stirrings of the World Tree. When Thor sacrificed his first eye, Luke already knew the World Tree was about to respond. He wasn't worried.

The World Tree might not have full consciousness, but it had an instinct for self-preservation. These gods had intruded on its domain, and now it was seeking a "champion" to defend it. While Luke would have been the perfect candidate, he had no intention of sacrificing himself to the World Tree, so it had to choose Thor instead.

Thus, Luke pretended to continue his battle with the nine gods.

The gods, sensing that Thor — who had been nothing more than a bug to them moments ago — was about to ascend to their level, stopped their large-scale destructive moves. They had to kill Thor before he fully transformed into a cosmic god.

"Imperfect beings like you are not worthy of standing beside us." one of the gods snarled. He stretched out his hand toward Thor, and a terrifying distortion in space appeared, forming a black hole that began to swallow everything.

Seeing this, Hela summoned a massive mountain of swords to block it, but the black hole swallowed the swords as if they were nothing, and they collapsed instantly.

Just as Thor was about to be sucked into the black hole and annihilated, the sound of shackles breaking echoed across the cosmos, accompanied by the distant rumble of thunder.

"It's done!" Luke muttered, knowing fully well that Thor had taken that final step.

Zeus, who had fled earlier, was now terrified. He realized his control over lightning was no longer perfect. It was as if the lightning that once belonged to him now had a true master.

Having completed his transformation, Thor gazed at the black hole in front of him and waved his hand. Golden lightning crackled from the sky, neutralizing the black hole in an instant.

"You…" Hela looked at Thor, shocked into silence.

"Sister, I'll handle him now." Thor conjured a bolt of lightning, sending Hela away from the battlefield. His body surged with electricity, and in an instant, he transformed into a towering thunder giant, clashing with the god once more.

"That's enough fun." Luke said quietly, after shattering the cosmic energy from the god's earlier attack with a single punch.

Without another word, Luke's figure vanished from before the gods. However, they didn't panic, as they could still feel his presence. He hadn't left.

Rooooooooar!

The next moment, a terrifying dragon's roar echoed across the universe. A massive, ferocious black dragon appeared, blotting out the sky. The gods, towering thousands of meters tall, looked as insignificant as the dragon's teeth.

With a single bite, the black dragon swallowed the nine gods and the surrounding void. The horrifying sound of chewing followed, making countless creatures across the cosmos feel as if the end of the world had come.

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