“Boom!”
In an instant, lightning roared through the sky and struck down. The cracks on Mjolnir’s surface spread with terrifying electric light before the hammer shattered into pieces.
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh.”
At that moment, the fragments of the broken hammer shot out like a meteor shower, effortlessly smashing through the rings surrounding the spire. The shards crashed into the tower’s surface, triggering a series of explosions.
“Rumble!”
“Ah! Run for your lives!!”
“It’s those demons! Their kind already killed many villagers.”
“Titan gods, please save us!”
“They’re going to destroy the temple!”
People fled in panic. Some Titan guards on the rings fell into the wreckage, but nearly half of them managed to avoid the hammer’s debris.
“There they are!”
“Stop them!”
“These despicable villains!”
They rode their flying machines toward Jane Foster, but were intercepted by Barton, who had been lying in wait.
“Whiz—”
“Boom!”
An alloy arrow exploded mid-air, and the heatwave sent one of the flying machines spiraling out of control, leading to a chain of explosions.
“Rumble!”
“Ahhh!”
“It’s an ambush!”
“Land immediately!”
Chaos broke out at the scene as Loki, blending into the crowd, conjured hundreds of solid clones that charged toward the Titan guards.
“Zzzzzz—”
The Titan guards activated their taser devices, but the clones were unaffected.
“Purple brutes, your doom has arrived.”
The “Lokis” flung their daggers and swarmed toward the Titan guards.
“Bang!”
In the next second, a buzzcut guard stomped on one of the clones, confusion plastered on his face.
“Doom? From a pathetic weakling like you?”
The clone’s face froze. “Well, actually… I’m more of a mage.”
Before the guard could act further, more clones piled onto him, overwhelming him.
In the midst of the battle, Loki, dressed in a tuxedo with his hands behind his back, whistled as he strolled through the chaos, a smug smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Jane Foster called back the hammer fragments embedded in the tower, which tore through the Titan guards as they flew back and reassembled into Mjolnir in her hand.
Seeing the Titan guards in disarray, Jane Foster raised Mjolnir, her face stern, and shouted as thunder rumbled across the sky.
“Bring on the Brazilian babes!”
“Boom!”
Just as she finished her call, reinforcements from the Titan Guard arrived, unleashing lethal energy weapons that bathed the area in fire.
With the overwhelming reinforcements, the group surrendered and was swiftly taken away.
At the same time, taking advantage of the chaos, Xia Luo and his group slipped into the interior of the spire.
Through the hole created by the hammer fragments, Tony observed the scene outside.
“She’s got more presence than Thor,” he couldn’t help but admire.
Carter’s eyes sparkled with envy. “I love her armor.”
Lizard Parker scratched his head. “Does her hammer have auto-navigation or something?”
“That’s called an artifact,” Old Steve explained.
Xia Luo looked up at the countless stairs overhead and noted the absence of an elevator or any similar device.
“I’m guessing the temple is at the top,” he surmised.
Infinite Tony was skeptical. “Do we really need to go all the way up?”
“Of course.”
Xia Luo smiled. “Just attacking the spire isn’t enough. Completely destroying the temple will ensure we succeed.”
“Isn’t that going too far?” Carter hesitated.
Infinite Tony activated his nanotech suit. The nanometal split into small propulsion devices and attached to Carter and the others, lifting them into the air.
“This planet’s doomed anyway. Keeping the temple intact won’t make a difference,” Tony remarked.
“What?”
As Carter and Lizard Parker were lifted by the propulsion devices, they couldn’t comprehend Tony’s reasoning.
Old Steve, who followed closely, explained, “We once fought Thanos. Back then, Titan was already gone. So, I’m guessing this Titan will meet the same fate.”
With that, Infinite Tony, now airborne, glanced down at Xia Luo on the ground.
“Are you going to swing up by yourself? My nanometal’s running low.”
“I doubt you’re that strapped for resources.”
Xia Luo’s face darkened as he shot webbing toward Tony’s suit.
“All set.”
“Lazy Spider-Man.”
Infinite Tony chuckled as he closed his metal helmet, then shot toward the top of the tower with Xia Luo in tow.
“Boom!”
Soon, they reached the top, where they found a massive altar.
The altar, roughly the size of a football field, resembled a giant millstone, covered in intricate and cryptic runes.
Around it, large stone tablets inscribed with Titan symbols stood in a circle, weathered by countless ages, their surfaces cracked and worn, radiating an aura of mystery and ancient power.
Above them, the night sky was filled with shimmering stars. In the distance, one could occasionally glimpse the faint, colossal figures of Titans moving among the stars.
“So, this is Titan’s temple?”
One by one, they landed on the altar, surveying the enormous stone tablets towering like skyscrapers around them.
Tony raised his hand, scanning the inscriptions. “These are the names of deceased Titans, recording their deeds during life,” he explained.
Xia Luo wasn’t particularly interested in the inscriptions.
He knelt down, running his hand over the altar, deep in thought.
“What are you thinking about?” Carter asked.
Xia Luo stood up. “I found out that this place is where every pure-blood Titan undergoes their coming-of-age ceremony.”
It was after Thanos’s ceremony that his personality drastically changed. Perhaps this was where he uncovered some secret about Titan.
“Look here!”
Suddenly, Lizard Parker pointed to a blood-red groove in the center of the altar.
He sniffed it and said, “It’s blood, though the scent is faint.”
Xia Luo approached the groove. “Lizard dude, why don’t you try bleeding into it?” he suggested.
Lizard Parker gave him a disgruntled look. “Fake Spider-Man, we came here to destroy the temple, not to play your games.”
Xia Luo shrugged, then leaned over to whisper something in Carter’s ear.
Instantly, Carter gasped, “My God, is that true?”
“Of course.” Xia Luo grinned mysteriously.
Seeing this, Lizard Parker felt an ominous sense of dread.
“What did you tell her?” he asked.
Xia Luo turned to walk away. “Nothing important. Don’t worry, she understands you.”
“Fine! I’ll do it!” Lizard Parker clenched his jaw, seeming to have figured out something. He slashed his palm with a claw, letting his green blood drip into the groove.
Immediately, the groove lit up with green light.
“Crack.”
The altar began to tremble slightly, and overhead, the stars seemed to rotate slowly, forming a vague, strange pattern.
Lizard Parker wasn’t interested in whatever was happening. He glared at Xia Luo.
“Now, tell me the truth.”
Xia Luo nodded in satisfaction. “Sure.”
Leaning closer, he whispered, “I told her… my cat can do backflips.”
Lizard Parker: “???”
Damn it, he’d been tricked again.
“Hey, Spider,” Old Steve called out, pointing to the increasingly clear pattern in the sky, his expression turning odd.
“It looks like your spider symbol.”
Xia Luo looked up, his face thoughtful.
“It’s a broken Spider Totem.”
As soon as he spoke, the fragmented Spider Totem suddenly glowed brightly, transforming into a red and blue pillar of light that engulfed Lizard Parker’s body.
At the same time, Xia Luo felt a strange sensation.
He looked down to find two complete Spider Totems appearing one after another on his chest…
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