High above New York, on the other side of the spatial passage, a vast, dark expanse of deep space stretched out. Floating silently in the darkness was a space fortress.
All around it, countless mechanical beasts of unknown life forms drifted back and forth. Their rigid, dark-gray skin was plated with vicious, solid metal armor.
These half-biological, half-mechanical monsters swam like a dense school of fish through the starry sea. Receiving the order for a full-scale assault, they opened their gaping, blood-red maws and surged toward the somewhat narrow spatial passage.
Chitauri soldiers poured endlessly out of the passage. In groups of three or five, they rode small flight craft, scattering in all directions with savage grins, brandishing weapons, still fantasizing about slaughtering the native creatures.
Instead, they were met head-on by a salvo of warheads from the Decepticons. And then, there was no "then."
Next, one metal behemoth after another swam downward, their flanks dangling with countless Chitauri soldiers, each clad in armor, faces twisted with ferocity, fierce eyes gleaming with bloodthirsty light.
The Chitauri descended like a plague of locusts, claws and teeth bared, shrieking wildly, unleashing energy beams madly across New York City. A bloody massacre unfolded in every corner of the city.
Well, it was the Chitauri being massacred.
Still, the spatial passage was too narrow, limiting the speed of the Chitauri army's invasion. Otherwise, New York would have been razed to the ground long ago.
Even so, the hardest-hit area, Manhattan, had become a living hell. Countless Chitauri blanketed both sky and ground.
"So he's finally making his move."
The superheroes who rushed to the scene thought the same thing the moment they saw it.
"Superheroes! Assemble!"
Zodesis's voice was broadcast to everyone's ears. Every superhero brought out their signature skills.
Zodesis didn't stay idle either. Although he was still wearing the Dark Knight armor as a disguise, he could afford to reveal a few small abilities now.
A dozen Chitauri had just burst out of the wormhole, grinning savagely, when in the next second, a red beam shot from afar, evaporating them on the spot.
Another sweep of heat vision cut a metal behemoth in half through the waist.
Others were astonished that Zodesis had developed such a terrifying energy weapon—and one that fired from the eyes, literally hitting wherever he looked.
Zodesis's heat vision had evolved to a terrifying degree. Only vibranium, adamantium, atomic alloy, and impact steel could possibly block it now.
Other than those, virtually any substance would be penetrated in less than a second.
In the global live broadcast, the people of the Marvel world witnessed the power of a Superman from the DC world!
A single blast of freezing breath instantly pacified half of New York's skies. The Chitauri dropped like dumplings into boiling water, shattering into frozen popsicles on the ground, making every viewer feel as if it were all unreal.
The Sword Bureau's surveillance footage was even clearer than the television broadcast. A sweeping view of the battlefield showed Zodesis's every move.
Under his high-speed punches and kicks, the Chitauri army was like oversized building block toys—falling apart at the slightest touch.
Why? Why does he get so much stronger every time he disappears?!
The Big Five rogue states could only swallow their bitterness in silence. They had thought that with so many superheroes gathered, and given that Zodesis didn't care for politics and only loved research, they could gradually divide and conquer.
After all, they were also worried that Zodesis's personal charisma was too strong and might lead to problems.
They had assumed that no matter how strong Zodesis was, it would be limited, and he couldn't possibly surpass all the superheroes combined.
But now, compared to Zodesis, the Sword Bureau's superheroes looked like a bunch of problem children—and "children" was the key word!
Tony stared grimly at the data. The moment Zodesis fired his heat vision earlier, Tony realized his symbiote armor couldn't withstand it.
What kind of principle had this monster used to develop such a terrifying energy weapon?
And that completely unscientific weapon that froze the atmosphere—
Zodesis felt great. Heat vision swept across heaven and earth as if it cost nothing. Wherever it passed, Chitauri evaporated, gasified, and sublimated. Leviathans were sliced apart.
He single-handedly held back the alien army. Everyone else was just mopping up stragglers and picking off survivors.
After all, there were too few superheroes who could fly and had ranged attack capabilities. Even those who did—well, Zodesis gave up on that idea after watching Hawkeye's explosive arrow fail to kill a single Chitauri.
Fortunately, he'd had the foresight to manufacture and sell Decepticons in advance. Now the Decepticons could hold the line for a while.
Especially the Decepticons purchased by the Sword Bureau with UN funding—they numbered in the hundreds to thousands. Coordinating with the US Air Force's Decepticons, they had achieved a pretty good crushing victory.
The Chitauri army was also beginning to realize that they hadn't come to invade—they had come to die.
"How can this be!"
Loki watched Zodesis, as mighty as a god in the sky, in utter disbelief. Even though the man relied on equipment like that iron-skinned Tony Stark, the gap was far too great.
"Loki!"
Thor, God of Thunder, did not attack the Chitauri. Following his instinct, he found his brother.
"Come back with me. Father and Mother both miss you dearly!"
Thor said to Loki.
"Father doesn't miss me at all. And... you've been too careless."
Loki's figure appeared behind Thor, then he plunged two daggers into his brother's kidneys.
These two daggers came from Loki's mother, Frigga—the weapons she had used in her youth. Odin gave Thor Mjolnir, and she had given the daggers to Loki.
The only person in all of Asgard whom Loki would obey without question was Frigga.
"Ah!"
Thor let out a miserable cry, clutching his kidneys and falling to his knees.
Even as Thor, the God of Thunder, he couldn't withstand such an injury.
Fortunately, Asgardian recovery was stronger than that of humans. If he were an Earthling, those two strikes would likely have crippled him for good.
"My dear brother, this is the end."
Loki's smile was savage, but he made no move to finish the job. Thor struggled to his feet, yet he couldn't bring himself to hurl his hammer at his brother.
Truly a scene of brotherly love and mutual respect. Any outsider watching would probably misunderstand their relationship.
Zodesis, on the other hand, paid no further attention to Loki. Who did Loki think he was? If Zodesis really wanted to kill him, he could do it and even Odin wouldn't know.
But seeing all those so-called superheroes reduced to mere spectators down below today, Zodesis figured that the cosmic knights of his Kryptonian Empire definitely needed to be equipped with agile flight capabilities.
Then, just at that moment—
The entire city of New York collapsed. The superheroes, caught completely off guard, fell along with it.
"Hahahahahaha! Today is the perfect chance to round up every last superhero in one sweep!"
/-\
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