Queens, Evan Mercer’s home on Prince Avenue.
Evan wasn’t surprised to see that the rate at which his Emotion Points were increasing had slowed considerably.
After all, the initial shock caused by the Molten-Blood Demon was gradually wearing off.
That was entirely within his expectations.
As for why he didn’t simply unleash the Molten-Blood Demon again and have it slaughter its way across the world to stir up more chaos?
The answer was the Ancient One.
She was Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, a Skyfather Tier (𝐕) powerhouse, and she was exceptionally sensitive to anything resembling a dimensional invasion.
Having a demon rampage across the planet would basically be the equivalent of climbing onto her shiny bald head and taking a dump.
Evan had no intention of inviting that kind of attention.
Nor was this the right time to reveal his trump card, the Yellow Wind Sage.
A powerhouse on that level would be completely wasted if all he did was shock a few people on Earth.
Evan needed the right opportunity, something that would put the Yellow Wind Sage before a much wider audience.
“Hmm… I should probably give Tony a boost.”
Evan rubbed his chin.
“Otherwise, with the fights coming up, current Tony’s going to be stuck on the sidelines.”
With that thought, he ordered Gawain to go find Tony.
Knowing Tony’s personality, the man was absolutely going to research magic now.
And if Evan knew him at all, Tony was probably already designing an Anti-Demon Armor.
Maybe even an Anti-Gawain Armor.
The thought made Evan grin.
After giving the matter some consideration, he also ordered Gawain to leave S.H.I.E.L.D.
He had already fed them all the information he wanted them to know.
If they demanded anything more this soon, Evan genuinely wasn’t sure what else he could make up on the spot.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Elsewhere, after leaving S.H.I.E.L.D., Gawain headed straight for Stark Tower.
Nick Fury and Coulson, meanwhile, fell into another long silence.
Eventually, Fury spoke.
“Coulson, find me more scholars who specialize in Celtic mythology.”
He paused.
“And make sure every last one of them signs an NDA.”
“Yes, sir.”
Coulson left the office.
Fury was alone.
He reached into his coat and pulled out an old-fashioned pager.
For a long while, he simply turned it over in his hand.
Then Fury sighed and put it away again.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Stark Tower, early morning.
Pepper Potts stepped out of the elevator, ready to begin another day of work.
Then she noticed the tall figure sitting inside Tony’s office.
Any lingering sleepiness vanished instantly.
There was no chance Tony would be at work this early.
And after remembering what Tony had told her the previous night, that Obadiah had somehow escaped custody almost immediately after being imprisoned, Pepper immediately had a bad feeling.
She quietly began backing toward the elevator.
Then a familiar voice stopped her.
“Good morning, ma’am. May I ask where Mr. Tony Stark is?”
Pepper recognized the voice.
It was the knight from yesterday.
Remembering how he had helped Tony, she decided he probably wasn’t a threat and finally relaxed.
Gawain nodded from inside the office.
“If he is resting, then I can wait. Please continue with your work as though I were not here.”
“Just a moment, sir. I’ll call Tony first.”
Gawain clearly wasn’t interested in making conversation, so Pepper pulled out her phone and called Tony.
After several minutes, she hung up and walked into the office.
“Sir Gawain, you can call me Pepper. I’m Tony’s personal assistant.”
She smiled politely.
“Tony asked me to arrange a car to take you to him. Would that be all right?”
“That would be appreciated, Miss Potts.”
Gawain stood.
This time, rather than jumping straight off the building, he actually took the elevator.
Before long, the car Pepper had arranged delivered him to Tony’s mansion.
Surprisingly, Tony himself was already waiting outside.
The driver was stunned.
Tony Stark was famously proud, arrogant, even.
Yet here he was, personally standing outside his own home waiting for someone to arrive.
“You actually came back.”
There was genuine delight in Tony’s voice.
He had already been thinking about integrating magic into his next suit.
In fact, he had been seriously considering whether to risk experimenting on the magical energy Gawain had left inside his body.
Then Gawain had suddenly shown up again.
Talk about perfect timing.
“The King has ordered me to remain here for the time being,” Gawain said as he stepped out of the car.
“His decisions are never without purpose. Something will undoubtedly happen soon.”
Tony led him inside.
As they walked, Tony enthusiastically introduced the mansion and its technology.
Gawain had certainly shocked Tony plenty.But at the end of the day, Gawain was still a man from ancient times.
Getting to return the favor with a little twenty first century technological shock did wonders for Tony’s bruised ego.
Before long, they reached Tony’s workshop.
It was considerably larger than it had been before.
Three different suits of armor were currently under development.
One of them immediately caught Gawain’s attention.
The material it was built from seemed capable of resonating, ever so slightly, with magical energy.
Tony had discovered the material after making J.A.R.V.I.S. run comparisons throughout the entire night.
Its properties bore a faint similarity to the energy Gawain had left within Tony’s body.
Once Tony found that out, he had deployed his most reliable superpower.
Money.
A batch of the material had been acquired at record speed and immediately brought into the workshop for experimentation.
Gawain, however, appeared largely uninterested.
He simply looked at Tony.
Tony quickly caught on.
“These are Iron Man Armors I designed. Same basic idea as the suit you saw last night.”
“And why have you brought me here to see them?”
Gawain looked over the machines.
“I know little about mechanisms of this sort. There are similar creations within the Eight Desolations Realm, but I am… not on particularly good terms with those who make them.”
For a moment, a trace of reminiscence crossed his face.
Tony nodded.
He gestured toward one of the suits.
“This is my new Mystic Armor.”
Gawain raised an eyebrow.
“The idea is to find a new energy source that can power the suit. All I need you to do is inject some magical energy into it.”
After hearing the explanation, Gawain extended one hand.
Golden energy gathered in his palm.
He pressed it into the armor.
A faint golden glow immediately spread across its surface.
Tony’s face lit up.
The reaction proved that his chosen material really could interact with magic.
“J.A.R.V.I.S., record everything.”
“Of course, sir.”
After finishing, Gawain stared at Tony with a thoroughly baffled expression.
He genuinely could not understand why something as basic as channeling magical energy into an object had made Tony so excited.
Tony ignored the look completely.
He hurried to the armor, worked the controls for a moment, and suited up.
Tony threw two punches.
The faint golden glow promptly faded away.
But those two movements had genuinely been powered by magical energy.
The efficiency was atrocious, certainly.
But it had worked.
Gawain’s pupils widened slightly.
Watching remotely, Evan was equally astonished.
He had always heard that Tony Stark possessed an absurd talent for science and engineering.
Apparently, the reputation was completely deserved.
Maybe I really should invest in Tony a little.
Evan found himself increasingly tempted by the idea.
After all, raising a character and watching him develop could be pretty entertaining too.
Inside the workshop, Tony spread his armored arms proudly.
“This is the Mystic Armor I’ve been working on.”
“Right now? Okay, fine, it doesn’t actually do much.”
He raised a finger.
“But that’s a materials problem, not a concept problem.”
“If I can find the right material, the entire suit could improve dramatically.”
Tony’s excitement grew as he spoke.
“And once I properly combine magic with technology?”
His faceplate slid shut.
“Those bastards from the Nether Abyss are going to get one hell of a surprise.”
His thrusters ignited.
Before Gawain could respond, Tony blasted straight out of the mansion and shot into the sky.
Gawain remained behind, staring after him in disbelief.
As Tony flew overhead, plenty of people below managed to photograph him.
Tony didn’t care.
Even if everyone found out that he was Iron Man, what was Congress going to do about it?
This was America.
Capital ruled here.
And Tony Stark was about as close to capital incarnate as a human being could get.
Unfortunately, Tony was getting a little too cocky.
At this point in time, there were plenty of people who would love nothing more than to watch Tony Stark fall flat on his face.
And among them, few had more resources to make that happen than Justin Hammer.