The instant Blackheart burst free from the cocoon, black mist surged across the entire farm.
The stench of sulfur filled the air, while the sky itself was stained pitch-black by the power of Hell.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents suffered terribly beneath the pressure bearing down on their souls.
Every instinct in their minds was screaming at them to run.
Several agents with weaker wills had already lost control of themselves and were stumbling backward in an attempt to flee.
Coulson and Natasha, however, were veterans with exceptional mental discipline.
They managed to hold their ground and immediately hurled several more Holy Water Grenades.
Unfortunately, the weapons that had worked so reliably before were far less effective this time.
They could barely affect Blackheart’s body.
“Hahahaha! Is that supposed to tickle?” Blackheart threw his head back and laughed.
Then his figure blurred.
In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of one of the fleeing agents and seized the man by the throat with one hand.
Blackheart opened his mouth.
The agent’s soul was forcibly ripped from his body and sucked straight into Blackheart’s maw.
“Oh, shit!”
“Take him down! Take him down now!”
The horrifying sight sent the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into a frenzy.
They opened fire on Blackheart with everything they had, holding their triggers down without restraint.
After seeing the demon’s terrifying speed, none of them believed they could outrun him anyway.
The farm, which had only fallen silent for a brief moment, erupted once more with deafening gunfire, punctuated by the occasional shouted curse.
But their firearms couldn’t harm Blackheart at all, while the Holy Water Grenades were simply too difficult to land on him.
Amid the thunder of gunfire, Blackheart claimed the souls of two more agents.
The sight dealt another brutal blow to the morale of the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel.
Just as they were struggling desperately to hold their ground, a massive beam of light slammed into Blackheart.
The impact staggered him and drove him several steps backward.
Enraged, Blackheart snapped his gaze toward the source of the attack.
Hovering in the air was a red armored figure.
Tony had arrived.
“You irritating little insect! Die!” Having his meal interrupted sent Blackheart into a rage.
Black mist poured from his mouth before compressing into an arrow like projectile that shot toward Tony.
But the black projectile never came close to hitting him.
Tony had already witnessed Blackheart’s terrifying speed.
There was no chance in hell he was going down there to trade blows at close range.
Instead, he stayed in the air and bombarded the demon relentlessly.
Micro missiles and energy beams rained down as though ammunition were free.
At that moment, Tony was practically a flying weapons platform, unleashing a terrifying volume of fire.
Naturally, Blackheart had no intention of simply standing there and taking it.
He relied on his speed to weave and dart through the barrage, constantly dodging Tony’s attacks while occasionally firing black mist projectiles back at him.
Blackheart, thoroughly fed up with getting bombarded from above while being unable to do anything about Tony, finally changed targets.
His figure flashed.
He appeared in front of another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and didn’t even bother stealing the man’s soul this time.
One blow sent the agent flying dozens of yards.
The man screamed as he crashed to the ground.
He struggled weakly twice before going still.
“Fuck!”
Seeing Blackheart kill someone right in front of him again, Tony swore furiously.
His barrage became even more vicious.
“Hahahaha! Human, what if I kill them right in front of you?” Blackheart taunted.
“What can you possibly do to me?”
He charged toward his next target, deliberately provoking Tony as he went.
As far as Blackheart was concerned, all he needed was for that flying tin man to lose his temper and come down.
If Tony dared enter melee range, Blackheart would show him the true meaning of cruelty.
Unfortunately for him, Tony wasn’t stupid.
There was no chance he was going to fall for such an obvious provocation and fly down there just to get himself killed.
Instead, Tony continued attacking Blackheart from the air while hurling insults back at him as cover.
Another suit of armor was already racing toward the farm with Gawain aboard.
Once Gawain arrived, Tony was certain the demon below would die beneath his sword.
Meanwhile, Coulson and Natasha weren’t standing idle either.
While Tony kept Blackheart occupied from above, they organized the remaining agents for a large scale Holy Water Grenade attack.
The moment Blackheart struck down his next target, dozens of grenades appeared overhead.
“ARGH! Treacherous humans!” Caught completely off guard, Blackheart suffered badly.
A large section of his body was corroded by the holy water, while much of the black mist surrounding him dissipated.
“Humans! You have angered me!” Blackheart roared.
Black mist surged violently all around him.
Faint, ghostlike lakes of magma appeared in the surrounding landscape.
The air itself began to distort, and for one disorienting moment, Tony and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents felt as though they were staring directly into the gates of Hell.
The fleshy protrusions on Blackheart’s forehead split apart.
True demonic horns erupted from beneath his skin.
At the same time, his body swelled rapidly as though flooded with some monstrous stimulant, growing until he stood nearly sixteen feet tall.
He now resembled a crimson giant.
“Now, you insects will witness the true power of the great Son of Hell!”
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The moment Blackheart drew upon more of his power, the magical formation linking Earth’s three Sanctums began to hum violently.
The disturbance immediately roused the Ancient One, who had been using the Eye of Agamotto, the Time Stone, to examine and straighten the timeline.
Yet she did not intervene immediately.
She could sense Dormammu’s power.
Clearly, the dimensional demon god had also noticed the growing chaos on Earth.
His power was slowly seeping into the magical formation protecting the planet.
The Ancient One needed to deal with that far greater threat first.
Before turning her attention away, she gave Blackheart a long, penetrating look. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Clearly, Hell was going to be held responsible for this.
Blackheart probably never would have imagined that merely answering his followers’ sacrifice and coming to Earth to feast on a few souls would attract the personal attention of the Sorcerer Supreme.
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Blackheart, naturally, knew none of this.
At the moment, his mind was occupied entirely with slaughtering the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and the flying tin man above him.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t going to get the chance.
Gawain had arrived.
Carried to the battlefield by one of Tony’s suits, Gawain leaped from the sky and brought his sword down in a devastating overhead strike aimed straight at Blackheart.
By the time Blackheart sensed the danger, Gawain’s blade was already above his head.
Feeling the terrifying force contained within that descending sword, Blackheart didn’t dare underestimate it.
Dense black mist surged over both arms as he crossed them above his head to block.
The instant the two forces collided, the power of the sun radiating from Excalibur Galatine burned straight through the black mist around Blackheart’s arms.
Then the sheer force of the blow sent Blackheart himself flying.
He hurtled dozens of yards backward, black blood spraying from both arms.
Only after crashing heavily to the ground did Blackheart roar in fury.
“Human! I will kill you! I will strip the flesh from your bones and condemn your soul to burn in the fires of Hell for all eternity!”
With that, Blackheart vanished.
He reappeared directly in front of Gawain, both arms wreathed in black mist as he smashed them downward with tremendous force.
Gawain raised his sword and blocked.
Then, without hesitation, he swept the blade upward from below in a vicious counter aimed at Blackheart’s legs.
Blackheart’s expression changed.
He hurriedly brought an arm down to intercept the strike.
The two immediately launched into a furious close quarters exchange.
Sword and claws collided again and again as they attacked without pause.
Their movements became so fast that neither Tony nor the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents could even follow them clearly.
“What is that sword in your hands, human?!”
After another violent clash, both combatants sprang apart.
Blackheart glared at Gawain and demanded an answer.
He could feel an incredibly dense concentration of solar power within that blade.
The energy suppressed him severely, while the black mist surrounding his body was being countered at every turn.
“Enough noise.” Gawain landed.
His legs flexed.
Then he exploded forward once again.
The sight sent Blackheart’s fury boiling over.
Ever since the moment of his birth, only one being had truly stood above him, the Lord of Hell, Mephisto.
Blackheart had scarcely ever suffered humiliation at anyone else’s hands.
And now, some mere human from Earth dared treat him with such contempt?
Enraged beyond reason, Blackheart gathered black mist around himself and charged straight at Gawain.