Thor gripped his hammer and walked over slowly.
He stood before Black Sky and raised mjolnir.
Dazzling lightning condensed on the hammer's head, illuminating the entire pier.
The hammer fell, and lightning erupted!
Black Sky's body crumbled within the lightning—his bulging muscles withered, his sharp claws fell off, and his runes turned to ash.
Unbelievable.
A deathly silence fell over the pier.
Fifty ninjas stood rooted to the spot, as if frozen by a spell.
Their blades were raised mid-air, yet no one dared to take a step forward.
What had they just witnessed?
That Blond strong man—the one who had been beaten by Black Sky until he was covered in wounds and could barely stand.
He had suddenly summoned a hammer, then became wreathed in lightning, and then, with three strikes, he had smashed Black Sky into a useless wreck?
Impossible...
This is impossible!
Murakami's hand trembled as he gripped his sword. His face was pale, his lips quivered, and his eyes were fixed intently on the hammer in Thor's hand.
"Impossible..." Madam Gao took a step back, her usually kind-looking face now filled with terror.
"The 'Beast'... How could the 'Beast' be defeated..."
She had lived for centuries and seen countless powerful individuals, but she had never seen power like this.
Lightning, thunder—it was practically the power of a god.
She turned, wanting to flee.
"Stay right there."
Loki's voice wasn't loud, but everyone on the pier heard it.
That voice was terrifyingly calm, like a sheet of ice in the dead of winter, chilling to the bone.
Madam Gao's footsteps froze; she didn't dare move.
Loki walked over slowly, not even sparing a glance for Murakami as he passed him.
He walked up to Madam Gao and looked down at her.
"You want to run now?" he asked.
Madam Gao's lips were trembling.
"I..."
Loki gave a soft chuckle.
The smile was cold.
"You've come looking for trouble with my big sister time and time again," he said.
He looked at the wreckage of Black Sky on the ground.
"And now you've even brought this sort of thing."
Madam Gao took another step back.
"We... we can compensate you..."
Loki tilted his head.
"Compensate?"
Madam Gao nodded frantically.
"Money, territory, power—you can have whatever you want—"
Loki laughed.
He laughed louder this time, but there wasn't a hint of warmth in his smile.
"mortals," he said, "do you think I lack such things?"
He raised his hand, and green magical light condensed at his fingertips.
Madam Gao's eyes widened.
"No—"
A flash of green light.
Madam Gao vanished into thin air.
No blood, no corpse, no trace.
It was as if she had never existed.
As the fifty ninjas watched this scene, fear flooded over them like a tide.
Some began to flee, some knelt to beg for mercy, and others slumped to the ground, unable even to stand.
Loki turned and looked at them.
His gaze was as cold as winter stars in the night.
"You lot," he said, "not one of you will escape."
He raised his hand.
The green light spread out, enveloping the entire pier.
The ninjas' bodies began to blur, like pencil marks being erased.
There were no screams, no struggling—they just vanished bit by bit, as if they had never been there.
A few seconds later, the pier was empty.
The fifty ninjas, Murakami, and Madam Gao were all gone.
No bloodstains, no bodies, no trace of any kind.
Only the river wind blew across the empty pier, making a low whistling sound.
Fifty-three lives had simply vanished without a sound.
No trace, no evidence, and no one would ever know what had happened here.
Thor stood to the side, watching it all.
His hammer was still in his hand, and the wounds on his body had mostly healed, though bloodstains remained on his clothes.
He didn't speak.
Loki turned his head to look at him.
"What?" he asked. "Do you think I was wrong?"
Thor was silent for a moment.
He thought of those ninjas, who had come looking for trouble again and again. They had brought that black monster. They had almost hurt his big sister.
He thought of the woman named Jessica, who had been controlled by the Purple Man for three months, forced to do many things she never wanted to do.
He thought of the ordinary people oppressed by Kingpin, the poor souls who took out high-interest loans they could never repay.
He remembered what his father had said: a true king must know how to protect his people.
He raised his head and looked at Loki.
"No," he said, his voice calm. "They got what they deserved."
Loki raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Oh?"
Thor hoisted the hammer onto his shoulder.
"They came looking for trouble with Big Sister," he said. "Then they should face the consequences."
He paused.
"I just didn't expect you to be so... clean and efficient."
Loki gave a small smile.
"I am the God of Mischief," he said. "Leaving no trace is a basic skill."
Thor curled his lip.
"Alright then."
He turned and walked toward Mavuika.
Loki followed behind him.
Mavuika stood where she was, watching her two younger brothers walk over.
Her expression was very calm, revealing neither joy nor anger.
Thor walked up to her, feeling a bit guilty.
"Big Sister..."
Mavuika looked at him.
"Are your injuries healed?"
Thor blinked, looking down at his chest. The wounds had already closed, leaving only faint scars.
"They're healed."
Mavuika nodded.
"That's good."
She turned and walked toward the pier's exit.
"Let's go. Home."
Thor and Loki exchanged a look.
Thor whispered, "Is Big Sister angry?"
Loki thought about it.
"Probably not," he said. "Normally, if she's angry, she lashes out on the spot."
Thor swallowed hard.
The two of them quickly followed.
The three of them walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.
The night wind blew off the river, carrying the chill of early autumn. The river water below glinted silver in the moonlight, and Manhattan in the distance was brightly lit.
Thor carried mjolnir, his steps light as if he were dancing. Although his wounds had healed, his clothes were still stained with blood, making him look a bit disheveled.
But he didn't care.
The hammer was back.
He was Thor again.
...
After the matter with Kingpin and The Hand concluded, the streets of New York returned to their usual bustle.
The shadows that surged in the dark of night, like mist dispersed by sunlight, quietly receded back into the corners where they belonged.
Mavuika's life also returned to peace.
In the evening, just as Mavuika arrived home, her phone rang.
The screen displayed two words: Tony.
She picked up the call, and before she could speak, Tony's signature voice, tinged with a hint of dissatisfaction, came from the other end.
"Mavuika, did you forget to tell me something?"
Mavuika set her bag on the sofa, her tone calm: "What thing?"
"What thing?" Tony's voice rose.
"You were attacked! Kingpin! The Hand! Dozens of ninjas! And you actually didn't tell me?"
Mavuika raised an eyebrow slightly. "How did you know?"
"How did I know?" Tony's tone held a hint of smugness.
"Do you think Stark Industries' security system is just for show? I can see the surveillance on every street in New York. I got the footage of you fighting in the street that night long ago."