Chapter 161: Utter Destruction

In just a fleeting moment, Thor saw Harvey's body vanish entirely.

This caused Thor to search about frantically, and the next second, he saw a void black hole materialize right in front of the Destroyer.

Harvey's figure stepped out from within, and instantly, Thor felt a wave of lethal threat washing over him.

It felt like some terrifying menace was prying into reality, and in the face of this horrifying dread, there was no safe haven to be found anywhere in the heavens or on earth.

Tony felt it too, his pupils contracting sharply.

Harvey’s right hand transformed into a blade of purple energy, executing over forty cuts in a single fraction of a second.

The Destroyer, forged from Uru metal and reputed to be completely indestructible, parted like soft wood before Harvey, instantly sliced into countless pieces.

Yet, even with its body thus destroyed, the Destroyer was not entirely dead.

Anticipating this very outcome, Harvey directly unleashed the power of the void from his hand, driving it straight into the remains.

Severing the connection to the divine power, he reduced the Destroyer to a heap of scrap metal in an instant.

Afterward, carrying the countless fragmented pieces of Uru metal, Harvey flew slowly across the ocean and landed back on the shore.

"Tony, keep these."

"This is Asgardian Uru metal, a rather scarce material."

"You can take it and study it."

"I'll be heading back now. Don't bother me unless it's important."

With that, Harvey dropped the shattered remnants of the Uru metal onto the beach.

As the metal fell, it emitted a series of loud, clanging echoes.

Though each piece looked quite small, their extreme density meant that even a tiny fragment possessed staggering weight.

Then, without waiting for Tony's reply, Harvey took a single step and vanished into thin air.

"Tony, what you said before—I believe it now."

Seeing the Destroyer dismantled so effortlessly, with its divine power severed and its life completely snuffed out, Thor experienced turbulent waves of shock in his heart. Pausing for a moment, he spoke up.

Previously, when Tony claimed someone could forcibly lift Mjolnir, he simply hadn't believed it.

Because he refused to believe that anyone could pick up the enchanted hammer forged by his father without being deemed worthy.

Yet now, he had witnessed with his own eyes how the Destroyer, crafted by his father's own hands, was sliced to pieces in a single move, its very consciousness obliterated by Harvey.

This level of sheer power completely shattered Thor's worldview.

"I told you before, I had no reason to lie to you."

Tony replied, reaching down to pick up a piece of Uru metal. Feeling the heavy weight concentrated in such a small fragment, a gleam of excitement lit up his eyes.

This shape-shifting Uru metal was undoubtedly the ultimate material for crafting armored suits.

As long as he could figure out a way to utilize it, his Iron Man armor would become extraordinarily powerful.

"I know, but... who on earth is he?"

Hearing Tony's words, Thor nodded, finally voicing the question he desperately wanted answered.

"He doesn't want to talk to you, and I'm not at liberty to tell you arbitrarily."

"The only reason he was willing to help this time was because the Destroyer launched a direct attack."

"Otherwise, even if he had foreseen it, he probably would have just saved my life in passing and completely ignored the Destroyer."

Tony shook his head and spoke up.

After all, Harvey was not from Earth, and he simply didn't care all that much about the survival of the blue planet.

"Well, I suppose we can talk about it another time..."

Thor was filled to the brim with curiosity regarding Harvey, but since Tony refused to elaborate, there was nothing he could do. He would just have to wait and see.

Soon, several sets of Iron Man armor descended from the skies, swiftly gathering up and carrying away the scattered pieces of Uru metal.

"If he wants to see you and have a chat, he'll find you himself."

"If you go looking for him uninvited, you're far more likely to end up getting severely beaten."

"So, you don't need to dwell too much on Harvey."

"For now, why don't you explain to me why this Destroyer attacked you in the first place."

Having instructed Jarvis to transport the Uru metal back to the mansion, Tony turned his gaze toward Thor and spoke slowly.

"To put it simply, my foolish brother Loki has lost his mind."

"He tricked me into believing my father had died, seemingly to prevent me from returning to Asgard."

"Once I saw through his deception, he summoned the Destroyer and tried to have me killed."

A look of melancholy crossed Thor's face as he explained.

"Ah, family business. Understood."

"You should head back and deal with your foolish little brother."

"If you need any help, you can come find me later."

Hearing that it was purely an Asgardian domestic affair, Tony realized this was well outside his sphere of influence and lost all desire to pry deeper.

"Right. I'll go say goodbye to Jane and the others, and then head back to Asgard to sort things out."

Thor nodded. Family scandals shouldn't be aired to outsiders, and he certainly didn't care to elaborate on such a humiliating episode.

"Let's get one thing straight first: I'm keeping the Uru metal as my spoils of war."

"If you decide you want it back later, I'll give you half at most."

Seeing that Thor was preparing to return to Asgard, Tony said earnestly.

"That's fine. Although Harvey was the one who truly saved my life,"

"he was still brought here by you. Valuable as Uru metal may be, Asgard still has more."

"You can keep all of it, it's not a problem."

Thor waved his hand dismissively and said with genuine gratitude.

If Tony hadn't summoned Harvey to instantly dismantle the Destroyer, his only option to make the automaton retreat would have been to sacrifice his own life, forcing Loki to recall it.

Therefore, this life-saving debt certainly deserved to be repaid.

"Then I thank you in advance. You're welcome to visit Earth anytime as a guest."

"Just remember to use the front door the next time you drop by my house."

Hearing Thor surrender all the metal to him, Tony accepted it with a clear conscience and a smile.

"Agreed."

Thor nodded in response.

Shortly after, Tony flew away, pausing briefly to make a call to S.H.I.E.L.D.

He briefly explained the situation, instructing their agents to cordon off and restore the beach.

In truth, S.H.I.E.L.D. had already monitored the battle on the beach via satellite.

With such a massive commotion down by the coast, the only reason no panic had broken out among the public was because they had handled the containment immediately; otherwise, it would have caused a global uproar.

Whether it was the hammer-wielding blond man or Tony himself, both had displayed terrifying power far exceeding modern standards.

As for their opponent—a horrific monster that even this super-powered warrior couldn't defeat despite throwing everything at it—its defensive capabilities were utterly despair-inducing.

They had originally thought that metal monster was terrifying enough.

Yet the appearance of Harvey had sent a collective cold sweat down their spines.

The seemingly invincible metal monster had been nothing more than paper before Harvey.

A despair-inducing horror had been effortlessly slaughtered by an entity even more terrifying than itself.

They had no idea just how far Harvey's power extended, but one thing was abundantly clear: it was certainly not something modern human technology could ever hope to counter.

This realization only solidified S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resolve to give Harvey a wide berth in the future.