Noah reached out towards the portal device, but before he could touch it, an energy shield materialized, halting his movement. When his hand made contact with the shield, it immediately repelled the force back into his arm.
"Just a light touch, and already such a powerful recoil?" He pressed slightly harder, but the shield remained unyielding, reflecting an even stronger wave of energy.
He attempted to probe the shield with his magic, but all his efforts were futile—the magic bounced back with each attempt. The energy was too pure, entirely composed of the Infinity Stone's power, and conventional methods proved useless.
"Is the shield generated by the Tesseract really that strong?" Noah frowned.
He drew Muramana, and a vortex of sharp air currents enveloped the blade. He wasn't going to give up, confident that even such a powerful shield could be breached. The sword's edge, surrounded by wind currents, was so sharp it could cut through steel. The magical enhancement further amplified its power, and the space around the blade began to distort.
"Steel Tempest!"
The sword lunged towards the blue shield. The blade moved so fast that it split the air before it, creating a powerful sonic boom. Upon contact with the shield, the barrier's surface rippled like water and began to bend inwards. However, at the same moment, the barrier began accumulating power for a counterattack.
Noah instantly realized the shield was preparing to unleash a powerful energy wave. Quickly assessing the situation, he used Arcane Shift to retreat.
As soon as his sword left the shield's surface, the shield released a powerful surge of energy that flooded the entire first floor of Stark Tower with bright blue light. The energy wave, like a tsunami, rushed towards Noah.
He realized this was the combined force of his attack and the Space Stone's energy, and it needed to be taken seriously.
After using Arcane Shift, he braced himself for the incoming energy wave. A moment later, he swung his sword, and a Wind Wall materialized before him. This time, the wall took the form of a hemisphere, like a dome, protecting both the portal device and himself.
The blue energy streams collided with the Wind Wall, creating a tempest that tore apart the tower's floor. The Wind Wall absorbed some of the impact, but soon began to crumble. However, at the last moment, a green, bony plating infused with energy appeared on the wall, gradually neutralizing the remaining energy from the Tesseract.
When everything calmed down, Noah dismissed the wall. The floor around him was scarred and destroyed, and the only area that remained undamaged was protected by the Tesseract's shield.
"It seems brute force won't work here," he muttered, looking around the devastated room. It was a good thing this wasn't his house.
He had already tried using brute force. Last time, he felt that he could have breached the energy shield by putting more power into his attack. After all, it was just a protective barrier created by the Tesseract's energy, activated by the portal device, and it didn't reflect the Cube's full power. However, if a powerful being were controlling the Tesseract, breaching such a shield would be practically impossible.
Despite the theoretical possibility of breaking the barrier, the resulting energy backlash could cause significant damage. Not only Stark Tower, but the entire street could be leveled.
Noah looked up at the beam of light emanating from the portal device. A hole had already been blasted through the tower, through which the portal itself, hovering in the sky above the building, was visible. After his last attack, the Tesseract, reacting to the impact, began emitting even more powerful energy. The beam became deeper and more intense, and the portal's size nearly doubled. He could already hear a roar from the other side.
Realizing that brute force wouldn't work, he decided to try a different approach. If he continued attacking, the portal would become large enough to allow a Chitauri ship to pass through.
"I wonder if I can just store this thing in my inventory," he approached the barrier again and placed his hand on its surface.
He attempted to transfer the shield, along with the Tesseract, into his inventory, but nothing happened.
"Apparently not. This shield is blocking my actions. If I could touch the device itself, it might work."
Having failed with his inventory, Noah considered another option.
He removed his gauntlets, revealing his hands, which began to glow with golden energy. This was the power of his Flash spell, granted by the system. After mastering this ability, powerful spatial energy began circulating within his body. He had already studied its nature once and even experienced a cosmic journey induced by this power.
This golden energy was an extremely potent spatial force, and he thought it might help him pass through the shield created by the Space Stone. He considered the possibility of teleporting directly inside the barrier, but decided to test his theory with his hands first. It was safer—even if something went wrong, only his hands would be affected, and they could be quickly healed thanks to the Resolve rune.
Noah extended his hand, enveloped in golden energy, and carefully touched the blue shield. Before his eyes, the barrier's surface rippled like water, and his fingers easily passed through it.
Whoosh!
A moment later, he used Flash and found himself right next to the portal device.
"Flash saves the day, as always."