Ch. 277 People Have Different Physiques

In any case, he still had to give Odin this bit of face.

What's more, Thor had a very obvious "little brother complex."

Although the Thor of this world had not yet shown this tendency, Russell didn't want to provoke a Thor with a "little brother complex" in Asgard.

After all, the Thor in this world was much stronger than the one in the cinematic universe.

Leaving that aside, just the fact that Thor defeated Knull, who had possessed Grendel, was enough to prove that his strength surpassed that of the Thor in the cinematic universe.

Although Loki didn't know what Russell was thinking right now, seeing Russell's current expression instinctively made him feel a bit displeased.

Russell's current expression reminded him of some unpleasant scenes.

After shifting his gaze away from Russell, Loki didn't say another word and went from the second-floor corridor to the training ground, where he gave some instructions to the royal guards who were in training.

The next moment, the royal guards who had been training vigorously a moment ago left the training ground one by one, giving way to Loki and Russell.

After Loki had cleared the area, Russell exhibited his flying ability and flew directly from the second-floor corridor to the training ground.

Loki was indeed a skilled sorcerer, mastering illusion magic that was indistinguishable from reality, but Loki had a very obvious weakness.

He couldn't fly!

Not only could Loki not fly, but he also hadn't mastered any magic related to flight.

Russell didn't know whether Loki had intentionally avoided learning flight-related magic or simply couldn't learn it.

However, this didn't stop him from giving Loki a little taste of his flight abilities granted by his Kryptonian physiology.

If he remembered correctly, Loki had always been a bit jealous of Thor, who could fly using Mjolnir.

As expected, just as he had anticipated.

Seeing him take off effortlessly without any equipment, Loki's face briefly showed a hint of displeasure.

Although Loki quickly regained his composure, it didn't escape Russell's notice, as he had been closely observing Loki's expressions.

Jealous, is it?

Perfect!

That's exactly what he wanted!

Russell remained silent, wearing a smile on his face as he gracefully landed in front of Loki.

Seeing him land deliberately in front of him, Loki raised his right hand and made a casual gesture.

Subsequently, a green magical light shone upon him.

As the green light moved, Loki's clothing underwent a noticeable transformation. His dark green casual attire turned into golden armor, and a golden horned helmet appeared on Loki's head out of nowhere.

If he were to add the Mind Stone scepter, Loki's appearance would be identical to the image in Russell's mind, the one who intimidated others to kneel.

"What about your weapon?" Russell inquired.

Although Russell could perform the same transformation magic Loki had just displayed, he had no intention of doing so.

"I already told you earlier; I'm quite the accomplished warrior myself!"

With these words, Loki's hands moved from his waist, and two exquisite silver-white daggers appeared in his hands.

Seeing the daggers in Loki's hands, a word flashed in Russell's mind.

Kidney-stabbing knives!

Weapons designed for Thor, with a 100% armor-piercing effect against him!

"Your weapons seem a bit small," Russell remarked calmly.

Then, under Loki's gaze, he drew the Sword of Athena hanging at his waist.

"I forgot to mention earlier, this sword is called the Sword of Athena. It has amazing cutting capabilities, extremely sharp!"

Having said that, Russell held the sword in his right hand and casually performed a sword flourish.

Although he hadn't used the Sword of Athena in battle before, and he hadn't even specifically trained in swordsmanship, it didn't mean his swordsmanship skills were poor. As the Hulk's instructor in melee combat and weapon skills, Russell's proficiency in bladed combat was top-notch.

In some respects, he could even rival the world's top blademasters like Stick, unlike Stick, who specialized only in staff fighting. Russell was proficient in the majority of bladed weapons.

After receiving his first system reward, the "Blessing of Wonder Woman," Russell found himself strangely familiar with bladed weapons, possibly because he received the reward from Diana herself. Even weapons he had never encountered before, like bows, spears, or battle axes, became manageable in his hands within a short time.

In gaming terms, one could describe his proficiency as a "Bladed Weapon Mastery" passive skill.

After gaining his Kryptonian physiology, this "Bladed Weapon Mastery" passive skill received a significant boost.

He had already tested this out on the Hulk. To put it bluntly, the Hulk could now handle most bladed weapons with ease, and Russell's diligent "teaching" played a significant role in this.

"Don't underestimate the physique of the people of Asgard!" Loki said proudly.

If it weren't for Russell confirming that the Sword of Athena was a divine weapon forged by divine power, Loki would have definitely taunted Russell for his ignorance, as he couldn't believe Russell would entertain the idea that Earth weapons could harm the people of Asgard.

Upon hearing Loki's words, Russell became even more convinced that Loki had no idea about his true heritage. If Loki knew he was not an Asgardian but an enemy of Asgard, a Frost Giant, he wouldn't be making such statements.

"People indeed have different physiques," Russell began, intending to explain further, but considering Loki's lack of understanding of the underlying meaning, he decided to abandon the idea.

"Indeed, people have different physiques. I will make sure you understand that very soon."

As Russell had expected, Loki didn't understand the meaning behind his earlier statement and confidently replied, "Is that so? I look forward to witnessing that."

Russell smiled and made a gesture, inviting Loki to make the first move.

Compared to ordinary Earthlings, Loki indeed had a significant advantage in terms of physique. However, his opponent was not an ordinary Earthling but Russell, who possessed a Kryptonian physiology.

While the media on Earth might not openly call Russell a monster, anyone who had witnessed his brutal defeats of Grendel and Godzilla knew that his strength was beyond belief. Even the massive forms of Grendel and Godzilla couldn't withstand his brute force.

Apart from his appearance and size, Russell was even more monstrous than Grendel and Godzilla.

Upon seeing Russell's gesture, Loki didn't waste any time. He propelled himself forward, using his legs to shoot toward Russell.

Loki's speed was decent; even in Asgard, he was considered one of the faster individuals, befitting an assassin who used small blades. However, in front of Russell, who possessed superhuman vision, Loki's movements appeared to be in slow motion.

Only when Loki reached him did he calmly raise his right hand and made a casual swing. The Sword of Athena's blade accurately hit the small knife in Loki's hand.

Clang!

A crisp sound of metal collision rang out. Along with the collision sound, there was also Russell's overwhelmingly powerful strength.

To the royal guards and others observing from the sidelines, they could only see that Russell's strike was very fast, but they couldn't discern the true power behind it.

However, Loki had an entirely different experience.

The moment the Sword of Athena struck the knife, he felt a power almost as strong as Thor's.

Although Russell's strike seemed casual, it was almost enough to make him lose his grip on the small knife. If he hadn't adjusted his wrist in time, Russell's strike would have sent the knife flying.

Realizing this, Loki abandoned his thoughts of close combat with Russell after the collision. He rapidly retreated several meters, wielding the small knife in his hands like a staff.

In the next moment, five or six lifelike illusions of Loki appeared around Russell.

Finally resorting to his signature ability—illusion magic?

Once the illusions of Loki appeared around him, Russell stopped swinging his sword, applying a bit more force to his legs to quickly retreat over ten meters.

Then, under Loki's gaze, he sheathed the Sword of Athena and retrieved the Lasso of Truth from his waist.

After grabbing the seemingly ordinary Lasso of Truth, it immediately shimmered with a golden light, transforming into a magical rope of light.

With the Lasso of Truth in his hand, Russell began to swing it.

Under his control, the golden Lasso of Truth, as if imbued with life, completely ignored those illusions and flew at incredible speed towards the revered Loki.

Like the Sword of Athena, the Lasso of Truth was also crafted by Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire, using the material from Gaia, the Earth goddess's girdle.

Aside from its ability to compel truth-telling when ensnared, the Lasso of Truth had some other often overlooked capabilities.

For example, it possessed an almost "indestructible" property and the ability to extend almost indefinitely.

While it appeared to have a length of only around ten meters, in reality, the Lasso of Truth could extend to several hundred meters or even kilometers.

Furthermore, the Lasso of Truth had a magical effect of dispelling the target's corruption.

If Russell remembered correctly, in some universe, the Superman Clark, also known as Superman, once used the Lasso of Truth to dispel Diana's corruption, forcing the Three Fates who possessed her to reveal themselves.