Seeing the red light fade from the decapitated Bronze Soldier's eyes, Steve let out a heavy breath.
Finally, they had a weak point. They no longer had to strike blindly against an invincible wall.
This single victory sent a ripple of hope through the surviving S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents. As long as the enemy could bleed—or in this case, break—humanity could win.
The Agents adjusted their aim, their scopes locking onto the narrow, unarmored gaps at the necks of the Bronze Soldiers. On the rooftop, Hawkeye swapped his explosive payloads for razor-sharp, armor-piercing broadheads.
With coordinated, precise strikes, the Bronze Army's numbers began to thin. It was a grueling, bloody grind, and agents were still falling to the relentless halberds, but the tide was finally turning.
Then, the unmistakable roar of heavy rock music tore through the morning sky.
Accompanied by the blasting speakers, New York's most famous celebrity superhero descended from the clouds.
Iron Man.
"Whoa, what am I seeing?" Tony Stark's voice broadcasted from the suit's external speakers as he hovered above the chaos. "A Star-Spangled Man. Who brought the old-timer out of the museum?"
While Tony teased Captain America, he didn't hesitate to enter the fray. He had seen the carnage on the news. Pepper had been keeping him under strict watch, and the Military was constantly hounding him for his armor designs, but when Agent Coulson showed up with a direct S.H.I.E.L.D. invitation, Tony leaped at the excuse to fly.
He raised his hands, firing repulsor blasts into the crowd of ancient warriors. The concussive beams kicked up chunks of asphalt but failed to dent the heavy bronze plating.
The Bronze Soldiers, lacking long-range weapons, hurled their heavy blades into the air like javelins. Tony casually strafed to the side, evading them with ease.
"Let's turn up the heat," Tony muttered.
He deployed his shoulder-mounted pods, firing a swarm of smart micro-munitions. The tiny missiles rained down, engulfing the street in a series of fiery explosions.
When the smoke cleared, the Bronze Soldiers were still marching, their armor scorched but intact.
'How is that possible?' Tony thought, frowning inside his helmet.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., analyze their weaknesses."
The suit's optics swept the block, projecting infrared scans and tactical telemetry across Tony's HUD.
"Based on the attack vectors of the ground troops and the wreckage of the defeated units, I have a conclusion, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. reported. "The constructs have an unarmored gap at the neck joint. I recommend a focused, high-energy cutting attack."
"Right. Let's use the one-offs."
Tony dropped low to the ground. He ejected the red cartridges from his gauntlets, igniting the two-hundred-petawatt cutting lasers. Spreading his arms wide, he spun like a top, flying straight through the enemy lines.
The high-intensity beams sliced through the exposed neck joints like warm butter. In mere seconds, Iron Man decapitated a dozen Bronze Soldiers—achieving in moments what S.H.I.E.L.D. had bled for over the last hour.
Parked quietly in an unassuming black SUV on a side street, three figures watched Iron Man's devastating display.
"You wanted to help those insects just now, didn't you, Yuri?"
In the back seat, Narberal Gamma stared coldly at her sister. To the denizens of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, humans were lower than dirt. Without a direct order from the Supreme Being, helping them was tantamount to treason.
But Yuri Alpha was an anomaly. Her creator, Yamaiko, had endowed her with a positive Karma value of 150. Unlike Narberal, who harbored a staggering negative 400 Karma, Yuri possessed a sliver of empathy for the fragile mortals.
'They fight with honor,' Yuri thought, keeping her expression perfectly neutral. But she knew her place. The Supreme Being's commands were absolute.
"Let us go," Yuri said, adjusting her glasses and looking at Wilson Fisk in the driver's seat.
Fisk shifted the SUV into gear. With the heroes fully occupied by the Bronze Soldiers, it was the perfect natural barrier for them to slip away unnoticed.
The black SUV pulled out onto the avenue, slipping quietly away from the warzone.
The roar of a heavy motorcycle engine caught Tony's attention.
On the ground, Steve Rogers had secured his shield to his back and was revving the throttle of an abandoned NYPD motorcycle. His keen eyes had caught the suspicious SUV driving away from the S.H.I.E.L.D. perimeter.
"Stark, I'm leaving this to you," Steve called over the comms. "I'm going after that car. They might be pulling the strings here."
Steve popped the clutch. The motorcycle shot forward, kicking up a rooster tail of dust and debris as he sped out of the combat zone.
"What an energetic old man," Tony shook his head, pivoting back to blast another Bronze Soldier.
A few blocks away, Steve successfully navigated the wreckage and closed the distance on the black SUV.
Inside the vehicle, Narberal glanced at the rearview mirror.
"Someone is following us," Narberal stated flatly. "Shall I eliminate him?"
"Show some restraint, Narberal," Yuri ordered strictly. She was the team captain for this mission, and she wanted a clean exit.
Narberal clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Tch."
She rolled down the tinted window and casually extended her hand.
[Tier 3 Magic: Lightning Ball]
Three crackling spheres of highly concentrated electrical energy materialized around her fingers. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the lightning spheres hurtling backward.
Riding at top speed, Steve had no time to react.
The spheres slammed into the motorcycle's front forks, erupting in a blinding flash of blue light. A massive surge of electricity coursed through the metal frame and directly into Steve's body.
His muscles instantly locked up. The paralyzed super-soldier and his heavy motorcycle tipped over, skidding violently across the asphalt in a shower of sparks.
By the time the paralysis faded and Steve managed to push himself up from the ruined bike, the road ahead was completely empty.
The SUV was gone.
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