On the streets of New York, Tony swallowed hard as he watched Abomination get casually hurled into a building.
Then he turned toward Gawain, his voice carrying an unmistakable tremor.
“You think you could throw that big green nightmare around that easily?”
The words had barely left Tony’s mouth when he realized Gawain wasn’t listening.
Gawain was staring intently at the white robed man, his expression unusually grave.
Nearly half a minute passed before he finally snapped out of it.
“I’m not as strong as he is. In fact, even ten of me together wouldn’t be enough to defeat him.”
Tony’s eyes widened.
“He is perhaps the youngest person in the Eight Desolations Realm to have reached Sub-Skyfather Tier (𝐈𝐕). And among those of the same tier, I have never heard of anyone capable of matching him.”
Tony could hardly believe what he was hearing.
He had known Gawain for several months now, and this was the first time he’d ever heard the knight openly admit that someone was beyond him.
After thinking for a moment, Tony asked, “You know him?”
Gawain nodded.
“His name is Yang Chen. He comes from a human faction in the Eight Desolations Realm known as the Azure Profound Sect. I encountered him several times on the battlefront against the other races.”
“Yang Chen? Azure… Profound Sect?”
Tony struggled slightly with the unfamiliar words before looking at Gawain in confusion.
“Okay, Yang Chen’s obviously his name. What’s the Azure Profound Sect?”
“All I can tell you is that it is one of the strongest human powers in the Eight Desolations Realm, and also one of the most mysterious.” Gawain’s expression grew even more serious.
“I cannot tell you anything beyond that. There are certain matters where simply knowing too much can invite disaster.”
He turned back toward the building Abomination had crashed into.
“For now, we should deal with the situation here.”
The two were just about to move when an enraged roar erupted from the ruined building.
Abomination burst through the rubble.
His bulging eyes locked onto the white robed Yang Chen.
By now, rage had completely consumed what little reason remained in Blonsky’s mind.
He had utterly forgotten the enormous gulf in strength between himself and the man before him.
All he wanted was to tear Yang Chen apart for the humiliation of being hurled through a building.
Abomination grabbed two enormous chunks of rubble and hurled them with all his strength.
Then he roared and charged right behind them.
Tony opened his mouth to say something.
Before he could, Gawain calmly spoke.
“That brute is finished.”
The two enormous slabs of debris hurtled toward Yang Chen.
Everyone nearby felt their hearts leap into their throats.
Reason told them they should be running as far from this place as possible.
Unfortunately, humanity’s natural obsession with spectacle, and the thrill of seeing something outrageous happen right in front of them, kept their feet rooted to the ground.
What happened next shocked them all over again.
When the two pieces of debris came within roughly thirty feet of Yang Chen— they suddenly disintegrated.
Not into dust.
Into countless smooth, evenly cut fragments, as though thousands of invisible blades had sliced through them at the same instant.
And behind the shattered rubble came an even greater threat.
Abomination’s massive fist was already descending toward Yang Chen.
“Hmph.” Yang Chen casually closed his right hand around empty air.
Abomination froze in midair.
Completely immobilized.
No matter how violently he struggled, he couldn’t move an inch.
“A small punishment, so that you remember the lesson.”
Then he seemed to notice something.
Yang Chen turned away from Abomination altogether and began walking toward Gawain and Tony.
For a moment, everyone assumed he had decided to spare the monster.
Then something horrifying happened.
Abomination’s arms and legs were severed cleanly at their roots.
In the blink of an eye, all four limbs separated from his body.
His mutilated torso slowly fell toward the street.
Abomination didn’t even manage to scream until he hit the ground.
Without his limbs, he could barely even roll over.
More strangely, his extraordinarily powerful regeneration seemed to have been suppressed by something.
The wounds refused to heal.
Anyone looking closely could see a faint gray glow lingering around the severed stumps.
It clung to the wounds like an incurable parasite, preventing his body from regenerating.
The energy wasn’t Sword Aura from the Chaos Mystic Sword, but it was still Yang Chen’s Sword Aura, and it carried a faint property that made the wounds resistant to recovery.
Unless that Sword Aura was somehow erased, Abomination wouldn’t regenerate his lost limbs.
Even cutting away more of his body behind the wounds wouldn’t solve the problem.
[Emotion Points from General Ross +150]
[Emotion Points from Tony Stark +200]
[Emotion Points from Nick Fury +160]
[…]
The sight of Abomination’s limbs being severed out of thin air stunned everyone watching.
They had seen energy blasts.
They had seen shockwaves.
They could understand someone drawing a sword and physically cutting something apart.
But this?
His limbs had simply fallen off.
What the hell were they supposed to make of that?
Did that mean Yang Chen could kill Abomination without even lifting a finger if he wanted to?
And if so— could he do the same thing to any of them?
The terror of the unknown began spreading through the crowd.
At first, people merely backed away.
But as Abomination’s screams became increasingly agonized, their retreat turned into a panicked flight.
Within moments, the crowd had descended into chaos once more.
Yang Chen didn’t care about any of it.
He soon arrived in front of Gawain.
Gawain was the first to speak.
“Did you come here because of the Nether Abyss Demons as well?”
“Nether Abyss Demons?” Yang Chen looked mildly surprised.
“No. I have no particular interest in them. I came because of the Great Calamity. The elders of my sect sent me into the world to investigate the situation.”
“Then how did you end up here?” At Gawain’s question, Yang Chen blinked.
For someone who had just dismembered Abomination without moving a finger, the expression created an almost comical contrast.
He thought for a moment before answering.
“I have never left the Eight Desolations Realm since the day I was born. I know nothing about this place.” He gestured vaguely around himself.
Gawain nodded, and the two began talking.
Standing beside them, Tony suddenly noticed something very strange.
Yang Chen wasn’t speaking English.
In fact, judging by the sounds coming out of his mouth, nothing he’d said earlier had been English either.
And yet Tony understood every single word perfectly.
His mouth suddenly felt dry.
Don’t tell me this guy’s some kind of ghost or something.
Tony quietly glanced at Yang Chen again.
That proved to be a mistake.
Yang Chen was already looking directly at him.
“I am not some ghostly entity of the sort you are imagining.”
Tony stiffened.
“The reason you can understand my words is because of the soul. I am communicating directly with your soul.”
“What?”
“This is not mind reading either. It is merely a rather superficial application of the soul.”
“Oh, shit…” Tony could practically feel cold sweat forming on his forehead.
This was deeply uncomfortable.
Yang Chen regarded him for another moment.
“I have some impression of you, Tony Stark.”
Tony’s expression became more serious.
“Among the enemies you will encounter in the future, there will be no shortage of those capable of attacking the soul or corrupting it.”
Yang Chen spoke as casually as if discussing the weather.
“You would be wise to make preparations in advance.”
Tony immediately looked toward Gawain.
Under circumstances like these, he chose to trust the person he already knew.
Gawain nodded.
“You may want to believe him on this matter. The methods of the Azure Profound Sect are profound and unfathomable. It is not particularly strange that he would know something about your circumstances.”
He paused.
“I would also advise you to prepare defenses against such attacks.”
[Emotion Points from Tony Stark +160]
Tony’s faceplate opened.
He looked directly at Yang Chen and spoke sincerely.
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
The corner of Yang Chen’s mouth rose slightly.
“In that case, there is another matter.”
Tony raised an eyebrow.
“As I said, this is my first time leaving the Eight Desolations Realm. I have no money used in this world.” Yang Chen looked at him.
“And I also happen to know that you are extraordinarily wealthy. So…”
Tony immediately started laughing.
That, at least, was a problem he understood.
“No problem.” He spread his arms grandly.
“Whatever you spend while you’re here, Tony Stark is picking up the tab.”
Money?
Tony Stark had plenty of that.
And if he made sure Yang Chen was comfortable during his stay, then the next time Tony found himself in serious trouble, was a guy like this really going to stand around and watch?
As far as Tony was concerned, spending a little money to get someone on Yang Chen’s level in his corner was the bargain of the century.