Marvel: Starting as a Time Criminal, Stealing Powers

Looking at the man who casually walked out of the Bifrost and blocked the terrifying frost breath as if it were nothing...

Recalling what he had just said...

Thor and the others' expressions changed. Awe slowly appeared in their eyes.

This might be the one who killed the Ice Beast from afar.

And since he could use the Bifrost, it likely meant he came from Asgard. That meant he wasn't an enemy!

He might even be a powerful figure sent by King Odin himself to save them!

Only Loki showed a different expression—fear.

At that moment, all the suppressed memories surged up.

Especially that slap... He could still feel the burning pain on his face.

Just then, a deep, unsettling hum echoed in the air.

Everyone looked up—and their scalps went numb.

The ice dragon's chest lit up from within. A thick, dark blue mist began to rise, climbing upward layer by layer until it gathered at the throat and surged out!

Its breath had evolved—from pale blue to a dark blue ionic state!

The previously indestructible Seraphim Shield—a magical barrier—began to show signs of strain. Frost crept across its surface, and the golden arcane symbols rotating inside started to slow...

Then they stopped.

Crack.

The shield dimmed rapidly as the frost solidified into ice, and deep, spiderweb-like cracks spread across it!

Thor's expression darkened.

Even this powerful shield was about to shatter completely!

The others looked horrified.

At this level of frost breath, even a single touch could reduce them—except Thor—to frozen dust.

But just as they braced for death, the man—Russell—smiled casually and said:

"Relax. I won't let you catch a cold."

As he spoke, the shield that had been on the verge of collapse suddenly glowed brightly again. The magical lines inside began spinning rapidly once more!

It held.

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise!

But Thor noticed something else. At some point, Russell had raised his palm upward.

And in the next instant, a terrifying red pillar of fire erupted from his hand!

The moment the magic shield dropped, the raging inferno surged out like a tornado—first consuming the frost breath, and then in a blink, devouring the ice dragon itself!

"So powerful!"

"This is even stronger than that previous sun!"

Sif instinctively raised her arm in front of her face as if to shield herself from the overwhelming heat. She couldn't shake the illusion that her body was melting like a candle.

Turning her head, she saw even Thor was sweating—clearly affected.

Suddenly, a pained roar tore through the sky.

With a loud explosion, the flames were scattered by a shockwave—and the dragon, now covered in charred wounds, shot into the sky!

Thor, always observant, immediately noticed: the dragon was smaller than before.

Clearly, escaping that blaze had come at a terrible cost.

His eyes lit up with hope!

Now was the time to press the advantage and end it—

But he suddenly noticed that Russell wasn't moving at all.

He was just standing there... like a spectator.

Then, a series of low rumbles echoed through the clouds.

Thor looked up—his face tightening.

The ice dragon had spread its wings again, and now it was summoning a massive storm of jagged ice cones, each one larger than a man, and sending them crashing toward the ground!

The sky darkened under the sheer number of them.

There was nowhere to run.

Fandral instinctively hunched down, his ears ringing from the howling wind. He turned, praying the man would raise that magic shield again.

But Russell didn't move.

The ice cones drew closer.

Fandral's heart raced in panic.

Loki was so scared he wanted to dig a hole and crawl inside.

Sif, however, stood firm.

She didn't flinch.

In that moment, she had completely placed her faith in the man who had walked out of the Bifrost.

She even felt a sense of anticipation—

Would he use that blazing fire again to incinerate them?

Or unleash some kind of powerful area-of-effect spell?

Or perhaps another shield?

But with only a hundred meters left before the massive cones would strike...

Nothing happened.

No spell.

No fire.

Was this... the end?

Sif's eyes began to fill with doubt and confusion.

And that's when he moved.

Just one small gesture.

He calmly raised a single finger and tapped the air.

That was all.

But the effect was earth-shattering.

The hundreds of massive ice cones—each over ten meters long—suddenly froze in midair, suspended half a meter above everyone's heads.

Then, a calm voice echoed:

"Here. You can have them back."

In the next instant—

It was as if the world flipped upside down.

Or maybe time itself reversed.

All the ice cones suddenly rotated in the air and then launched upward at twice the speed they'd descended—hurtling toward the dragon like a blizzard of spears!

At that moment, everyone—Loki, the Warriors Three, even Thor—stood there completely stunned, mouths agape.

This scene was even more shocking than the earlier firestorm.

And it was all done with such ease...

As if it were nothing more than breathing.

High above, hesitation flickered in the ice dragon's glowing eyes.

Its limited mind couldn't comprehend why its attack had reversed.

It wasn't until the spears closed in that it finally realized:

They weren't reversing. They had betrayed it.

It flapped its wings, trying to dodge—

But its huge body was too bulky and sluggish.

In the next moment, the same ice cones it had summoned rained down upon it.

Worse yet—the dragon had flown out of the immediate area, but the cones still followed and struck true.

The dragon's pained roars echoed across the sky.

When the final cone struck, the creature was in a miserable state.

Its wings, abdomen, and torso were covered in deep, hideous wounds.

Thor saw everything clearly—and his shock ran even deeper than the others.

This dragon... now had no power left to resist.

Then, he saw Russell lift his hand again.

Thor didn't understand what he was doing.

"Why are you just standing there? Give me the hammer," Russell said casually, extending his hand.

Thor blinked.

Then quickly explained:

"Great one, it's not that I don't want to give it to you... but Mjolnir is forged from star core and Uru alloy. Only those deemed worthy—by Odin or the hammer itself—can lift it."

Sif stepped forward and added:

"He's telling the truth. Thor isn't lying."

Russell said with mild irritation:

"Stop talking nonsense. Just give it to me, or it'll run away again."

Thor's cheek twitched slightly. After a moment of hesitation, he didn't dare to refuse.

He reluctantly handed Mjolnir over and said cautiously:

"Please be careful. It's extremely heavy. I'll stay nearby in case I need to retrieve it..."

"Take what?"

Russell took Mjolnir casually and responded without a second thought.

Sif and the others were completely stunned. Thor's jaw dropped, his entire worldview shaken.

He was utterly confused.

Only he and Odin should be able to lift it!

But that was just the beginning.

A sudden clap of thunder jolted everyone out of their stupor.

Thor looked up and saw that the sky had turned pitch black. Not a single star shone down—it was as if the heavens were being swallowed by something.

His expression changed.

"Thunderclouds..."

He muttered, realization dawning.

The sky was changing.

He couldn't help but say again, this time with disbelief:

"How is this possible? There's no water vapor!"

When they first arrived, he had tried to summon lightning, but failed.

Because on this frozen planet, all the water vapor in the air had long crystallized into ice. It couldn't form clouds.

But Russell just chuckled and said lightly:

"For Odin's sake, I'll give you a reminder."

"It's not water vapor that forms thunderclouds... it's divine power."

As the words fell, Russell raised Mjolnir high into the air.

Instantly, a bolt of dazzling lightning surged upward and pierced the black clouds above!

It triggered a chain reaction—dark thunderclouds rumbled wildly, and lightning crackled within!

Sensing danger, the ice dragon roared and immediately turned to flee, flying back in the direction it came from.

But Russell only sneered.

"If I let you run, all this effort would be wasted."

Mjolnir fell.

A blinding flash tore through the darkness as countless bolts of divine lightning rained down from the clouds—completely engulfing the ice dragon!

The creature let out a long, tortured roar.

It twisted and writhed in the storm, layers of frost forming over its body, only to shatter again under the relentless strikes.

It couldn't even fight back.

Suddenly, the ground trembled violently with a deep rumble!

Thor, still recovering from shock, sensed something and turned.

On the lightning-lit ice field, the King of the Frost Giants—Laufey— had appeared at some point.

Now, glowing blue patterns covered his body. He pressed one hand into the ice, sending waves of blue energy through it.

The ground cracked apart, revealing a massive abyss so deep that even the lightning couldn't find the bottom.

The struggling ice dragon in the sky seemed to sense the signal.

With a roar, it flapped its broken wings. A surge of brilliant blue energy erupted from its chest, momentarily dispersing the surrounding lightning.

Then—it dove straight for the abyss below, clearly trying to escape.

"It's running!"

Sif shouted, her voice filled with urgency. Even her usually calm composure faltered.

Russell remained calm.

But in the eyes of everyone else, something had changed.

His body began to float.

His pupils glowed brighter, golden like molten lava, and red light shimmered from beneath his eyes.

The Four Warriors and Thor didn't sense anything unusual—no visible surge of energy.

But Loki's expression twisted in terror.

A sudden spiritual fear overwhelmed him.

He didn't know what Russell was about to do—but he knew it would be terrifying.

Then, in the blink of an eye—

Two blazing red beams burst from Russell's eyes, cutting across space and striking the diving dragon.

The beams sliced straight through the sky, vanishing into the distance.

The dragon's descent halted.

Its tightly folded wings fell limp.

Its downward-facing head tilted to the side.

Thor's pupils constricted sharply. He had realized what had just happened.

A moment later, the dragon's massive body—cleanly sliced in two—plummeted into the abyss below.

That became its grave.

"Too powerful... how could anyone be this terrifying..."

Thor muttered, barely able to process what he'd just seen. The others stood frozen in even deeper shock.

Then, a voice filled with anguish rang out!

"NO!!!"

The King of the Frost Giants—his eyes bloodshot, his heart breaking—roared in despair.

All reason had vanished.

His gaze locked onto the being in the air who had shattered everything.

If not for him, Odin's sons and these warriors would already be dead.

Nidhogg, the ice dragon, would still be alive—not killed so easily, not so brutally!

But when his eyes met Russell's—those golden eyes still burning with divine light—his rage faltered.

Clarity returned for just a second.

"Ha..."

He barely got a word out.

Before he could speak again—a fireball streaked down from the sky!

BOOM!!

The ground quaked with the impact!

Russell appeared amid the flames, one foot firmly stepping on the chest of the Frost King.

Laufey couldn't even utter a sound before deep cracks formed across his body, glowing with lava-red light.

In the next moment—flames burst from the cracks, along with his mouth, nose, and eyes.

The King of the Frost Giants didn't leave behind a single word.

Nothing was left of him.

As the flames dissipated, the remaining Frost Giants on the battlefield froze, wide-eyed.

None had expected their mighty king to die like that.

But after a few seconds of silence, they all went berserk.

With howls of rage, they charged toward Russell in a black wave.

Yet on the far side of the abyss, Thor and his companions weren't worried at all.

They were still in shock—trying to process the horrifying scene that had unfolded in just moments.

Then, Loki suddenly blinked. He touched his forehead and looked down.

His hands were dripping with sweat.

He frowned and asked:

"Do... do you feel hot?"

His words snapped the others out of their trance.

They looked around—and realized the cold air was gone.

The ground beneath their feet—the eternal permafrost—was heating up.

Once again, Thor muttered the most frequent words of the night:

"How is this possible?"

"This is Jotunheim—the coldest realm among the Nine!"

Then something clicked.

He turned toward Russell—and what he saw shook him to his core.

Cracks of molten lava were spreading from beneath Russell's feet!

The ancient ice cracked and melted away.

The earth beneath turned charred brown, and black smoke poured from deep fissures.

Jotunheim—*the Realm of Ice—*was slowly being transformed...

Into a Land of Fire.

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