The Apex Armor.
One of the Ten Great Artifacts of Cybertronian Civilization!
"I can't believe… I actually pulled a legendary artifact…"
Martin stared blankly at his own hand, eyes wide in disbelief, breath catching in his throat. Did that whole ritual about washing your hands before drawing loot… actually work? Could it really boost your luck?
This was no ordinary tech, this was an artifact. Even a civilization as advanced and war-hardened as Cybertron had only managed to forge ten of these in its entire history!
"What I really wanted was the Star Saber, a blade that cuts through anything, peerless in offense. With that in hand, I could probably take down gods themselves… But now that I think about it…"
Now that he thought about it, the Apex Armor wasn't a bad draw at all.
Its defense was unmatched. Its mobility? Off the charts. Sure, it didn't pack quite the same offensive punch as the Star Saber, but this armor… this was terrifying in its own right.
Wearing this thing? Martin might as well be immortal. Any deity below Multiversal-level wouldn't be able to scratch him. Not even a hair.
His face lit up with joy as he deployed the Apex Armor, watching it materialize and settle quietly onto the ground before him. Sleek. Menacing. Gloriously alien.
Just looking at it filled him with satisfaction.
Wearing this was basically a death flag for his enemies. And even if some powerful freak did show up, well, he still had ten minutes of access to the Matrix of Leadership. That would be more than enough to nuke anything that dared stand in his way.
Everything was finally falling into place. The future was coming fast, and Martin was already ahead of the curve.
He turned to gaze out the window of a towering structure, looking down upon a sea of Transformers hard at work. The skyline was erupting with massive alien towers, distinct from any Earth architecture.
Colossal metallic structures rose skyward; grandiose, towering, and tailor-made for mechanoids that stood meters tall.
Yes. Everything was finally turning for the better.
"Once the base is complete, we'll deploy the Protoform Pods, true-born Cybertronians. It won't be long before there's no one left on this planet who can stop me."
He stretched out his arms, as if embracing the blinding future. Confidence and ambition radiated from him like solar flares.
And while Martin and his metallic legions constructed their foothold on Earth...
Far away, on the vast, flat-topped continent of Asgard, tension was erupting beneath the sacred branches of Yggdrasil.
The All-Father Odin, sovereign of the Nine Realms, clashed violently with his own son.
The thunder god Thor, ever headstrong and prideful, had openly questioned his father's will.
Framed as a disagreement between father and son, it might have passed as a heated family argument, but through the lens of divinity, this was rebellion.
A subordinate god defying the All-Father was an unforgivable act of insubordination.
The dignity of the All-Father was not to be tarnished, not by anyone. Not even his son.
"Father! I was just about to slay the Frost King! Why did you forcibly recall me mid-battle?!"
"Foolish boy! You nearly got your comrades killed. Is that how you fight on the battlefield? With arrogance? With reckless pride?! You almost reignited war across the Nine Realms!"
Odin sat upon his throne, fury blazing in his one good eye.
The sheer weight of the Odinforce, a power older than stars, surged like a supernova. The fury of a god who had lived for millions of years was not a thing mortals could comprehend. The pressure alone felt capable of shattering a planet.
All across Asgard, the people trembled.
Odin's strength was unfathomable. As the top-tier Skyfather and ruler of the World Tree's central axis, his might kept even cosmic threats at bay. His legend stretched from the deepest realm to the highest branch.
He drew the sword that controlled the Bifrost Bridge, and hurled it violently before the gatekeeper Heimdall, who caught it in stoic silence.
"We can no longer hesitate. The foul Frost Giants are clawing back the glory that once belonged to Asgard, inch by inch!"
Thor, towering and furious, pushed back with the defiance of a lion in its prime.
Upon discovering a group of Frost Giants had infiltrated Asgard, he had charged straight into Jotunheim, their frozen stronghold, and had been utterly crushed.
He had been no match for Laufey, the Frost King. Right now, Thor was more a God of Hammers than a God of Thunder. He had yet to master the divine power of lightning, and against a Skyfather-tier opponent like Laufey, he didn't stand a chance.
Were it not for Odin's timely intervention, he would've perished.
"I'll make them fear me, Father!" Thor roared. "Just as they once feared you! I'll bring Asgard the respect it deserves, with my fists, and with unmatched might!"
Odin said nothing. He looked down from the throne, regal and cold. He had long prepared for this confrontation… and yet disappointment still flickered in his eye.
This son of his, impetuous and reckless, with no fear of failure or the unknown, was not yet fit to inherit the throne.
He couldn't pass down the crown. Not to this Thor.
This wasn't just about a throne.
To become All-Father was to inherit the Odinforce, a cosmic reservoir of power that had taken eons to accumulate.
Asgardians grew stronger with age, but that strength also weighed heavily on their bodies. The older they became, the more crushing the burden of their power.
That's why Odin spent long periods in Odinsleep. His body could no longer withstand the sheer mass of energy surging within him.
Sometimes, he envied the other pantheons, Zeus of Olympus, or the Jade Emperor of the Heavenly Court.
Their races didn't suffer the same burden.
-------
TN: There was no Heavenly Court I could find on fandom, but there is "Pure Blissful Kingdom of Lofty Heavenly Lights and Ornaments." Such a long-ass name as expected of China. That might be the kingdom that the Jade Emperor ruled.
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]