“Shit!”
Tony Stark slammed his fist onto the workbench in anger.
With a heavy *thud*, the thick alloy surface trembled violently, remaining completely intact.
Tony himself, on the other hand, gasped from the sharp pain, wringing his reddened fist as a burning sensation surged across the back of his hand.
This sense of physical helplessness made the anger and frustration in his chest burn even hotter.
It infuriated him far more than losing a mere reactor.
That reactor was just rigged bait, a piece of scrap metal he could detonate at any time.
But in that case were all his analysis data on the [Whispering Leech Ashes], along with every remaining sample!
He had poured endless effort into trying to use science to decipher that unreasonable, “idealistic” creation.
Now, those precious research results—along with that dangerous source of corruption itself—had fallen into the hands of an unknown, hostile enemy.
It felt absolutely awful.
Tony paced back and forth frantically in the laboratory before finally snatching up his encrypted phone and dialing Leon Hall.
“There’s been a slight hiccup in my plan.”
The moment the call connected, Tony got straight to the point, his voice heavy with frustration.
“Obadiah’s men took the bait, but they also helped themselves to another case sitting right beside it.
The one…
containing those ‘ashes’ you gave me and all the reports.”
Silence hung on the line for a few seconds.
“I see,” Leon Hall’s voice remained calm, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
“Just ‘I see’?” Tony raised his voice.
“You know better than anyone how dangerous that stuff is!
Now it’s in the hands of an old madman preparing to launch a coup—god knows what he’ll do with it!”
“Calm down, Tony,” Leon Hall’s voice hit like a bucket of cold water.
“This might not be a bad thing.”
“Not a bad thing?” Tony nearly laughed out of sheer anger.
“It will drive the madman even madder, and force the beast’s claws and teeth into the open completely,” Leon Hall said slowly.
“Prepare yourself for the final battle.
Leave the rest to me.”
With that, Leon Hall hung up.
…
His brow furrowed tightly, his eyes turning intensely grave.
He naturally knew what that unexpected “gift” implied.
Based on his previous discussions with Tony, the core property of the [Whispering Leech Ashes] was [Probability Mist]—a type of cognitive interference field capable of severely disrupting precision electronic targeting systems.
This thing had little effect on flesh and blood, but for a technological construct reliant on data streams, radar locking, and AI-assisted systems, it was practically a natural nemesis!
Obadiah’s Iron Monger armor was already a giant heap of cobbled-together steel, far inferior in performance to the Mark series, with its sole advantages being brute force and firepower.
If he integrated [Probability Mist] into that suit…
For the Mark armor, which relied heavily on Jarvis’s assistance systems and various high-tech precision weapons, that would be an absolute nightmare.
Tony’s radar would malfunction, his missiles would veer off course, and the accuracy of his repulsors would drop drastically.
The technological advantage he prided himself on would be severely eroded on the battlefield by an unreasonable “mystical” force.
Leon Hall let out a slow breath of stale air.
His plan had gained a lethal variable due to a mercenary’s quick-fingered opportunism.
Time was running out.
He had to complete his preparations before Obadiah digested this unexpected gift.
He needed to advance.
He had to become a true [Seer] before the final battle!
Leon Hall walked into the room he had set up as a prayer chamber and shut the door.
In the center of the room rested a simple altar drawn with chalk and spiritual materials, bearing only a single dim holy emblem.
He sat cross-legged, hands folded, and softly recited that familiar yet divine honorific name.
“The Fool that does not belong to this era;”
“The mysterious ruler above the gray fog;”
“The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.”
“I pray for Your gaze, praying that You reveal to me the location of the [Stellar Crystal].”
As he recited, his spirituality was elevated infinitely, his consciousness seemingly detaching from his physical shell and ascending into a vast, grayish-white fog.
In the next second, fragments of chaotic yet information-dense visions flooded into his mind like a bursting dam!
It was the rooftop of a skyscraper, with the city’s sea of lights stretching below, while the rooftop held a massive, ominous “crater”—the base of the main Arc Reactor atop Stark Tower!
Then, the scene shifted.
A heart radiating blue light was held high—it was the [Mortal Pseudo-Heart], the Arc Reactor!
BOOM!
A thick, brilliant pillar of energy beyond words shot skyward from the reactor base, as if it were the [Wrath Falling from the Sky], slamming violently into that “heart”!
Destruction, purification, rebirth! This chapter is updated first at g.com.
As the light faded, amid the chaotic ruins, a brilliant crystal that seemed to condense the light of an entire starry sky slowly floated into view.
Leon Hall’s heart trembled violently.
The revelation for the advancement ritual had never been this clear!
“With the wrath falling from the sky as the anvil…”
“With the mortal pseudo-heart as the furnace…”
“With the decisive will of a mortal as the hammer…”
The anvil was the [Earth Core Crater], the furnace was the [Arc Reactor]—both aligned perfectly with the upcoming battlefield between Tony and Obadiah!
But what was the “hammer”?
Who was the mortal wielding the “hammer” with “decisive will”?
The rigged reactor Tony had sent out, while serving as a trump card, did not fit the description of a “decisive will.” That was a trap, a piece of deception, not a mortal’s “choice”!
Leon Hall forcibly suppressed the agitation in his chest and pulled out the smooth Tarot deck from his pocket.
Instead of divining the ritual itself, he changed the question.
“In this war, who holds the key to victory?”
He shuffled and cut the deck with practiced skill, then pulled a card from the deck.
The moment he flipped the card, Leon Hall’s pupils shrank sharply.
It was The Lovers.
On it emerged a blurry, slender female figure.
Her form was enveloped in a soft halo, her face obscured, but her signature, crisp stride and the data terminal gripped tightly in her hand…
Leon Hall recognized her.
Pepper Potts!
It was her!
Leon Hall instantly connected all the clues together.
The command to overload the main reactor and release that blast of [Wrath Falling from the Sky] could not possibly come from the armor system itself!
The person who ultimately pressed the button, deciding the life and death of two steel giants, bringing down that final hammer blow as a mortal…
could only be her!
“So that’s how it is…” Leon Hall murmured softly, his eyes shining with clear realization.
The final battle between Obadiah and Tony was the stage for his ritual to advance to [Seer].
In this fight, Tony could not lose, Obadiah had to die according to the script, and Pepper Potts had to make the most resolute choice at the crucial moment.
Not a single step could go wrong.
The incident with the leech ashes had abruptly heightened the difficulty of the ritual, introducing massive risk into Tony’s performance.
But now, he had also found the most crucial hammer that could strike the final note.