Gawain understood that their master still had a use for those two men, so for now, he could only focus his attacks on the Molten-Blood Demon.
Even if the Molten-Blood Demon was killed, it would simply return to their master, so Gawain had no reason to hold back.
With that thought, he shot toward the demon and brought his sword down in a vicious slash.
The Molten-Blood Demon’s body dissolved into magma, causing Gawain’s strike to accomplish little.
When the attack failed, Gawain immediately pulled back.
In the distance, Tony saw Ivan Vanko stop attacking and quickly flew over to join Gawain in the fight.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had just arrived weren’t idle either.
Their advanced weapons and Holy Water Grenades were unleashed against the Molten-Blood Demon in a barrage.
Unfortunately, the demon manipulated the surrounding magma to block everything.
Unlike Blackheart’s demonic mist, the Molten-Blood Demon’s magma had no fear of holy water.
After forcing Gawain back, the Molten-Blood Demon wrapped Obadiah and Justin Hammer in Magma Shields.
It then created a pool of molten rock beneath them and shoved both men inside.
With those two safely out of the way, the Molten-Blood Demon was free to fight without restraint.
Its Magma Whip lashed through the air as one Magma Sphere after another flew outward.
Within moments, magma had spread throughout the entire Hammer Industries production facility.
It had to be said, the Molten-Blood Demon was exceptionally skilled at reshaping the battlefield.
Against opponents on the same tier, that ability was extremely difficult to counter.
“Damn it! We need to get out first!” Barton immediately ordered the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to retreat.
Unfortunately, the Demonspawn they hadn’t finished killing earlier had now become their greatest obstacle.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had caught the creatures off guard with their initial assault, but the Demonspawn had recovered and were now counterattacking.
The rivers of magma spreading through the corridors were already causing the agents serious problems, and the Demonspawn themselves were considerably stronger than ordinary humans.
If one of those creatures managed to close the distance, an ordinary S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had virtually no chance of survival.
Tony saw the situation deteriorating rapidly.
His expression hardened.
He shot toward the agents and began blasting with his Repulsors, forcibly carving an escape route through the Demonspawn.
The Molten-Blood Demon immediately noticed the opening.
It sent a broad wave of magma toward Gawain to keep him occupied, then snapped its Magma Whip viciously toward Tony.
Tony couldn’t evade in time.
The blazing whip was moments away from striking him when—
A robot suddenly flew into its path.
The machine smashed against the Magma Whip, knocking the attack off course.
Tony stared in shock toward the direction the robot had come from.
Ivan Vanko had saved him.
“Tony!” Ivan shouted.
“Your life belongs to me! Someday, I’ll kill you myself!”
With that declaration, Ivan turned and ran.
This place was obviously no longer safe.
And he had no doubt there were plenty of people in America who would be interested in his technology.
Having missed its chance to strike Tony, the Molten-Blood Demon gave a cold snort and returned its attention to Gawain.
The two immediately plunged into battle. Get faster updates on g.com.
Gawain’s sword techniques were fierce and precise, while the Molten-Blood Demon’s whip tore through the air in wide, destructive arcs.
Their exchange grew increasingly violent, and the area affected by their battle continued to expand.
Tony soon joined in as well.
Repulsors and micro missiles repeatedly streaked toward the Molten-Blood Demon, constantly interfering with its movements.
“You irritating insect!”
Tony’s harassment was driving the Molten-Blood Demon mad.
Anyone would have been furious if, in the middle of fighting someone else, an untouchable nuisance kept flying around overhead and taking potshots at them.
The Molten-Blood Demon roared.
Two Magma Whips erupted into motion at once, forcing Gawain back.
Then the demon slammed one hoof into the ground.
BOOM!
The earth trembled violently.
More than a dozen Magma Pillars erupted from underground.
Several of them towered nearly a hundred meters into the sky, high enough that people even within New York City could see them.
They were on an entirely different scale from the Magma Pillars that had appeared at Stark Tower before.
In an instant, every building throughout the Hammer Industries production facility groaned under the strain.
The entire complex looked ready to collapse into ruins.
The ceiling, already torn open by Tony earlier, finally gave way with a thunderous crash.
With the roof gone, Tony, Gawain, and the Molten-Blood Demon were completely exposed to the open sky.
In terrain like this, the Molten-Blood Demon could summon Magma Pillars at any moment for either attack or defense.
Even Gawain couldn’t finish it off quickly.
Tony, meanwhile, had been forced high into the air.
Trying to attack the Molten-Blood Demon through a forest of erupting Magma Pillars was simply too dangerous.
Even Tony wasn’t reckless enough to take that risk.
“Oh, shit. This thing is seriously that strong?”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
It wasn’t long before U.S. military forces stationed around New York noticed the disturbance.
Not that they had much choice.
The NYPD was practically melting their phone lines with calls.
“Once it’s in range, I don’t care what else is happening, open fire!” General Ross roared.
“I want that monster blown to ash!”
Ross had only just managed to locate the Hulk and had been preparing an operation to capture him when this incident interrupted everything.
More importantly, this was not the kind of threat the military could simply ignore.
The instant Ross gave the order, several short range missiles launched into the sky.
Dozens of rockets followed close behind, all streaking toward the Molten-Blood Demon.
Having learned from their previous encounter, the military didn’t approach this time.
They attacked entirely from long range.
Unfortunately, it made no difference.
The Molten-Blood Demon sensed the approaching threat and immediately took control of the surrounding Magma Pillars.
The pillars erupted simultaneously. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Streams of molten rock connected in midair, forming something resembling a gigantic barrier that enveloped the entire Hammer Industries production facility.
Missiles and rockets slammed into it.
Thunderous explosions rolled across the battlefield.
But the molten surface of the Magma Barrier flowed continuously, absorbing and dispersing the force of the blasts.
Not a single missile or rocket penetrated inside.
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“Damn it! What the hell are those military idiots doing?!”
Nick Fury, who had been monitoring the operation the entire time, was furious at the military’s reckless intervention.
Whether their weapons could kill the Molten-Blood Demon had already been answered during the incident at Stark Tower.
They couldn’t.
What Fury was worried about was Gawain.
If the military accidentally injured him, stopping the Molten-Blood Demon would become even harder.
Then the enormous Magma Barrier rose around the battlefield.
Fury’s expression somehow grew even grimmer.
“Oh, shit.”
“What the hell is that?”
[Emotion Points from Nick Fury +106]
[Emotion Points from General Ross +58]
[Emotion Points from Tony Stark +180]
[…]
The ability to alter the terrain on such a massive scale left everyone, both on the battlefield and watching from behind the scenes, with chills running down their spines.
For the moment, none of them could think of a way to break through.
Tony, however, immediately began bombarding the Magma Barrier.
Gawain was still trapped inside.
Tony had only known the knight for a few months, but he’d already come to genuinely regard him as a friend.
After all, Gawain had effectively saved his life more than once.
Energy began gathering in the chest of Tony’s Iron Man Armor.
A thick Unibeam erupted from his chest and slammed directly into the Magma Barrier.
This attack finally produced a reaction.
Ripples spread across the molten surface like waves across water.
Tony saw that it was working and immediately increased the power output.
Then, just as he pushed more energy into the Unibeam—
The Magma Barrier opened by itself.
Tony’s eyes widened.
Because through the sudden opening, he could see exactly where his Unibeam was going.
Straight toward Gawain’s back.
Gawain was still locked in combat with the Molten-Blood Demon.
“NO!” Tony knew exactly how powerful his Unibeam was.
He immediately cut the energy output.
But the beam he’d already fired was still racing forward.
In the next instant, it was about to strike Gawain directly in the back.