Odin lost.
And he lost badly.
Despite unleashing the full might of the All-Father, wielding Gungnir, clad in the Destroyer Armor, even pushing his body to the brink of collapse, he still lost.
The tireless, ambitious king was ultimately defeated… by someone who broke the rules of the game entirely.
BOOM!
Martin ripped the Destroyer Armor straight off Odin's body. He didn't bother keeping it, once his AllSpark confirmed it had fully overridden the armor's control systems, he casually flung it far into deep space, letting it drift in the vacuum like discarded scrap.
Then he followed up with a merciless strike.
One punch.
Unleashing its full terrifying force, the blow sent Odin hurtling thousands of light-years away, despite the All-Father summoning every ounce of godly power to shield himself. Blood spilled from his mouth as his battered body vanished into the void.
"Well then, Your Majesty… looks like your fig leaf has been ripped off again. What's left to say now?"
Martin flickered through space, instantly reappearing in front of Odin.
Three minutes, precisely.
With practiced precision, Martin disabled the Matrix of Leadership, choosing to preserve the remaining seven minutes for a truly dire future, one where he might face an overwhelming cosmic threat.
If it ever came to that, and he was forced to burn through the last seven minutes of the Matrix's power, it would likely be against a being on the level of a greater-than-universal entity, or worse, a multiversal god who could stand alone against the infinite tapestry of realities.
As for this battle against Odin?
Martin was… satisfied.
He'd tested both the Apex Armor and the Matrix of Leadership in real combat. He'd pushed his AllSpark to new extremes, feeling firsthand the consequences and potential of tapping deeper into its fire.
"If only I had the Star Saber, I wouldn't have needed to go through all this trouble, relying on the Matrix boost just to smash him with my fists… Honestly? That's weak."
He shook his head, muttering to himself with mild frustration.
Gungnir, the so-called most powerful weapon in Asgard's history, had proven underwhelming. In the end, it was merely a Skyfather-tier spear.
If Martin had wielded the Star Saber, the ultimate offensive relic revered across the multiverse of Transformers, Odin would've been sliced in half in under a minute.
The Star Saber wasn't just legend, it was a multiversal myth. A supreme weapon whose name echoed across countless parallel Cybertrons. Compared to it, Gungnir was a glorified toothpick.
One strike with the Star Saber, and that spear would've been cleaved in two like a twig.
Martin stood amid the stars, about to take another step forward, when he paused.
A surge of raw Odinforce roiled around Odin's frame, and something far darker began to fester: a vicious, death-bound rage. It was clear, if Martin dared approach again, Odin would trigger a suicide counterattack.
"You've won… Earthling."
Odin's voice was strained, full of bitterness, and something else, emptiness. Defeat on a scale he'd never known.
Even when he'd once stood alone against the Fourth Host a thousand years ago, he hadn't tasted loss like this.
And that had been just a millennium ago, a blink for an Asgardian. Yet even Odin, the All-Father himself, could not escape the price of time.
It was common knowledge that the average Asgardian had triple the physical strength of a human, comparable to a nerfed version of Captain America, whose baseline strength was about one ton.
But once an Asgardian gained godly power, their combat power and energy output would soar exponentially. Thor, with his thunder powers. Hela, with dominion over death. They were apexes of that truth.
And while Asgardians maintained their prime for centuries… once decline began, the fall was swift, merciless, and absolute.
Even Odin, Skyfather though he was, could not outrun his race's fate.
"Your presence… is a destabilizing force across all Nine Realms. Though our conflict has been fierce, I do not wish for you to stand as their enemy."
Odin inhaled sharply, struggling to suppress the decay gnawing at him. He squared his shoulders and forced the words out.
Martin smiled.
"Odin… from what I know of you, compromise has never been your style."
"I am not compromising with you. I am compromising for Asgard… and for the Nine Realms!"
Odin's body tensed, his expression a blend of icy fury and grim finality.
This man, this human, was beyond terrifying. And he bore hostility toward Asgard. Worse yet, Odin's son, Thor, was still on Earth…
If Odin were to fall here, who's to say this man wouldn't turn on Thor? On all of Asgard?
"There are secrets buried in Asgard… powers that even I, at my peak, dared not trifle with. You don't know what you're toying with, human. Only I, only Asgard, can contain them."
Odin's eyes gleamed with a chilling threat.
Martin didn't flinch.
Then, a new voice broke the silence, resonant, calm, and saturated with ancient power.
"Martin. This battle ends now."
The Ancient One stepped forth from Earth, the swirling sparks of a portal parting space itself.
She stood in front of Martin, eyes filled with mystic clarity.
This was the first time Martin had ever seen Earth's hidden trump card, this impossibly well-connected, borderline omnipotent Guardian of Earth.
-------
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]