Although Loki didn't understand why Ethan Blake was doing any of this, one truth remained undeniable—power decided everything. Ethan had demonstrated overwhelming strength throughout the battle, and that alone was enough to settle the matter. Lowering his head slightly, Loki forced himself to speak respectfully.
"I understand, Your Excellency."
As he spoke, Loki extended his arm and handed the scepter to Ethan without resistance. The weapon's blue gem glowed faintly, casting a cold light across Ethan's hand the moment he took hold of it.
The instant Ethan touched the scepter, he recognized it for what it truly was. Beneath the shimmering blue casing of the gem lay something far more extraordinary—the Mind Stone, one of the legendary Infinity Stones.
This stone was no ordinary artifact. It was part of the fundamental laws of the Marvel universe itself, a fragment of cosmic power beyond imagination.
Loki's use of it had been crude at best.
The Mind Stone could allow its wielder to enter the minds of others, bending their thoughts and will. More than that, it could channel knowledge, ideas, and consciousness directly into the user's brain. It enhanced psychic strength, magnified mental energy, and greatly amplified psychic abilities.
Simply holding the scepter, Ethan could already feel the change.
His mental power was growing stronger.
The sensation was subtle but unmistakable. Like a calm tide steadily rising beneath the surface, his consciousness felt sharper and more expansive with every passing second.
After a moment, Ethan stored the scepter away and turned his gaze toward Loki. His eyes lingered on the Asgardian for a moment as he considered what to say.
"Since you gave me such a generous gift—and even a friendly warning," Ethan said calmly, "you'd better go hide in Asgard and stay there. Otherwise, Thanos will never let you live."
Loki froze.
Not only had he failed to retrieve the Space Stone, but he had also lost the Mind Stone that Thanos entrusted to him.
Thanos would never forgive that.
Back during the future Avengers confrontation, Thanos had personally killed Loki. Whether that was for his twisted belief in universal balance or simple personal revenge was unclear.
But one thing was certain.
If Loki stayed in Asgard, Thanos wouldn't dare make a move.
As long as Odin lived, no one in the universe would casually provoke Asgard.
Even Odin at the end of his life remained terrifyingly powerful. In fact, many cosmic powerhouses believed Odin was most dangerous when he was close to death.
"You actually know Thanos?" Loki asked in shock.
He stared at Ethan as if seeing him for the first time.
How could a native of Earth know the name of Thanos?
"You should disappear with Dr. Selvig," Ethan said casually, waving his hand dismissively. "Just make sure no one finds you for the next two hours."
Loki nodded and turned to leave.
Relief washed over him as he retreated. Inwardly, he thought how fortunate he was that Ethan liked the scepter enough to keep it.
Otherwise, he might have ended up smashed into paste by that terrifying hammer-like punch.
What Loki didn't realize was that the "big gift" Ethan mentioned had nothing to do with the scepter.
It was the portal in the sky.
With a flash, Ethan teleported back beneath the massive gateway and resumed blocking it.
The moment he reappeared, the Avengers collectively breathed a sigh of relief. His absence, even for a short time, had made the battlefield noticeably harder to manage.
Without Supergiant's mind control, the Hulk had already returned to normal.
Not Bruce Banner—just Hulk in his usual state.
Right now, the giant green monster was happily wrestling with a massive Leviathan biological warship, smashing into the creature with explosive fury.
Ethan barely spared the Leviathans a glance.
He had already killed one earlier, and it hadn't yielded any summoning energy at all. Worse still, killing a Leviathan took far longer than slaughtering ordinary Chitauri soldiers.
In the time required to kill one Leviathan, Ethan could easily wipe out dozens of Chitauri.
That kind of inefficient trade wasn't worth his effort.
Thor soon returned to the battlefield as well, descending like a storm wrapped in lightning. Bolts of thunder ripped through the sky as he attacked the alien invaders, dramatically easing the pressure on the Avengers.
Even though Ethan had crushed the majority of the Chitauri forces, plenty of stragglers still slipped through. And above them, more than a dozen Leviathan warships still floated ominously in the air.
Time passed quickly.
Two hours slipped by before anyone realized it.
Deep within Ethan's consciousness, the progress bar of the summoning system had climbed to an unprecedented 1250%.
That meant he could now perform twelve consecutive summons at any moment.
Of course, the rate of growth had slowed noticeably.
The number of Chitauri pouring from the portal had decreased drastically. By the end, Ethan had stopped guarding the portal entrance entirely and started competing with the Avengers for the remaining enemies.
Then, finally, Loki appeared again.
No one knew where he had been hiding for the past two hours.
But Hawkeye's sharp eyes spotted him almost immediately.
Within seconds, the Avengers surrounded him. Ethan stood nearby with a faint smile, watching the scene unfold.
Loki raised both hands without hesitation.
"I surrender."
His voice carried no arrogance this time.
"Alright," Hawkeye said coldly, drawing his bow and pointing an arrow directly at Loki's chest. "Tell us how to close the portal."
"I don't know," Loki replied honestly.
He genuinely had no idea.
When he created the portal, he had never once considered closing it afterward.
Before the Avengers could react with frustration, another voice spoke up.
"I know."
Dr. Selvig stepped forward.
Now that the Mind Stone had been taken into Ethan's golden space, Loki's control over the scientist had weakened dramatically. Without the stone sustaining it, the mental domination had almost completely vanished.
At this moment, Selvig had essentially regained his full clarity.
"Doctor, how do we shut it down?" Captain America asked urgently.
"I installed a failsafe," Selvig explained quickly. "It can cut off the cube's energy source. But only Loki's scepter can break through the Tesseract's energy field."
Tony Stark frowned immediately.
"Where's the scepter?" he asked sharply. "And don't even think about trying anything clever."
Loki blinked in surprise.
He hadn't expected this development at all.
So Selvig had secretly prepared a backup plan while under mind control?
But what confused Loki even more was something else.
Ethan had told him to hide Selvig for two hours.
Did that mean Ethan already knew Selvig could close the portal?
Or… did Ethan simply not want the portal closed too early?
Why would that be?
Loki had no answer.
And more importantly, he didn't dare ask.
Instead of responding to Tony, Loki turned his head toward Ethan.
Boss… this one's yours.
"The scepter is with me," Ethan said calmly.
He added casually, "After killing Supergiant—the hooded woman—I picked it up as loot. It looked pretty nice, so I kept it."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"You didn't realize it could shut the portal down?"
"Nope," Ethan replied with a shrug.
Tony smirked. "Guess you're not completely omniscient after all."
No one suspected him.
During the battle, Ethan had killed more Chitauri than anyone else by far. If he hadn't blocked the portal earlier, New York might have fallen long ago.
No one had any reason to question him.
"I'll close it," Ethan said.
The moment the words left his mouth, he vanished.
In an instant, he appeared atop Stark Tower.
Standing there, Ethan looked up at the massive portal hanging in the sky. Occasionally, stray Chitauri soldiers still emerged from its swirling depths.
He let out a long sigh.
Where would he ever find such a perfect opportunity to farm summoning energy again?
After tasting this kind of feast—endless enemies and easy power—it was hard not to feel spoiled.
Thinking back to the miserable grind he endured before this, Ethan felt a wave of melancholy.
The more he thought about returning to that kind of slow progress, the worse he felt.
With a decisive motion, he used the scepter to sever the Tesseract's power supply.
The brilliant blue beam connecting the cube to the portal vanished instantly. Without its energy source, the enormous gateway in the sky began shrinking rapidly.
At the same moment Ethan closed the portal, Natasha Romanoff received a communication from Nick Fury.
She had been smiling faintly, relieved that the battle was finally ending.
Then her expression froze.
"Tony, hurry!" Natasha shouted into the comms. "Stop Ethan right now! Don't let him close the portal."
....
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