BOOM!
The vibration from their point of impact rippled outward, shaking the tectonic plates beneath the ocean floor and causing a massive displacement of water. The resulting colossal waves surged toward the coastline, creating a man-made tsunami.
Deep beneath the surface, a massive crater had formed in the seabed rocks from their fall, and the ocean was now rushing in to fill the void. However, in the center of the pit, a ten-meter-diameter spherical zone remained bone-dry. It was as if an invisible barrier held the sea at bay, refusing to let a single drop enter.
Within this sphere, Aurelius Viremont had Ikaris's head pinned deep into the rock!
Between the Limitless, the repulsive force of Cursed Technique Reversal: Red, and a physique reinforced by both Energy Absorption and Cursed Energy Manipulation, Ikaris found himself unable to break free—even with a constitution stronger than a standard Hulk.
Endless Spatial Slashes worked in tandem, slowly tearing through the Eternal's armor, shredding his "Superman" flesh, and grinding away his pride. Ikaris howled in agony, but the strongest warrior of the Earth's Eternals was currently being held down like a common insect, unable to budge.
Aurelius Viremont looked at Ikaris, whose body was trapped in a continuous loop of crumbling and regenerating, and mused silently. Having just reached Lv.4 Limitless, his spatial slashes were still a bit too thin; they lacked true solidity. They were fine for dealing with mortal flesh, but against a non-human entity like an Eternal, their lethality was significantly diminished despite being able to bypass defenses.
It would take quite some time to kill Ikaris using only spatial slashes.
Seeing that Ikaris still hadn't given up struggling, Aurelius Viremont flashed a brilliant smile. Under Ikaris's trembling gaze, Aurelius Viremont shifted his posture, stepping heavily onto the Eternal's head with one foot, and brought his hands together in a cupping motion.
With his left palm open and his right hand crossed over it, an azure black hole and a horrific black-red singularity manifested within the ten-meter dry zone. They collided!
Accompanied by purple, lightning-like energy, a sphere of imaginary mass slowly materialized in front of Aurelius Viremont.
Hollow Technique: Purple!
Seeing the purple orb that had easily bypassed his defenses once before, Ikaris's fear of death reached its zenith. He struggled violently, firing golden cosmic rays from his eyes in a desperate counterattack, but the energy was simply absorbed by Aurelius Viremont and converted into his own power.
Realizing his struggles were futile, Ikaris resorted to threats: "Mortal! Let me go! I carry a Great Mission bestowed by Arishem the Judge, leader of the Celestials! If you kill me, you will surely be destroyed by the Great Celestials!"
While stabilizing the Hollow Technique: Purple, Aurelius Viremont sneered. "You mean the 'mission' to maintain human population growth so you can provide nourishment for the Celestial seed in the Earth's core, eventually destroying the entire planet?"
Ikaris's eyes widened in shock. "How... how do you know that?"
Aurelius Viremont didn't answer. As the terrifying purple sphere neared completion, Ikaris's terror peaked. The image of another Eternal woman flashed through his mind—Sersi. No, he had to go back. He had to preserve his memories of her!
He surged with one last burst of strength.
But the purple imaginary mass was already finished. With a casual flick of Aurelius Viremont's finger, the horrific sphere lunged toward Ikaris's head.
In an instant of sheer horror, Ikaris's head was completely annihilated. The sphere continued its path downward, erasing everything in its way and carving a bottomless trench dozens of meters wide into the seabed.
Ikaris's head was gone—erased by "Purple." Such an injury was beyond even an Eternal's regenerative capabilities. His life vanished completely. The most powerful Eternal warrior on Earth had been slain in the deep sea by the White Demon.
Using gravity to lift Ikaris's remains before him, Aurelius Viremont formed a pea-sized purple singularity at his fingertip to precisely cut into the body. Slowly, a golden energy core emerged. Despite millions of years of use, it still pulsed with immense power.
Aurelius Viremont's face lit up with excitement. He placed the core into his pocket dimension. Feeling the steady stream of cosmic energy radiating from the space, he smiled broadly. Loki and Jane Foster's "deliveries" hadn't arrived yet, but Ikaris had stepped up to be the first "good samaritan."
Tossing Ikaris's corpse into the bottomless pit, Aurelius Viremont burst through the surface of the ocean and flew into the distance. He recalled Tony having another seaside villa nearby...
Aboard the Helicarrier, Nick Fury and Coulson sat in stony silence. They had seen everything through the satellite feed. The White Demon had flown out of the ocean unscathed, but there was no sign of Ikaris.
The outcome was self-evident. A warrior who had been active since the dawn of human civilization, an Eternal with thousands of years of combat experience, had been killed by the White Demon.
If it were just a death, they would be shocked but not catatonic. However, the satellite footage showed that as the White Demon emerged from the water, his clothes were perfectly neat, save for a damp hem. He bore no injuries whatsoever. This meant the gap in power between the two was not just large—it was overwhelming.
Fury watched the replay of the battle over and over, finally pausing the frame at the moment Aurelius Viremont breached the surface.
"What exactly happened to the White Demon? How did he become strong enough to crush Ikaris so decisively?" Fury repeated the question, searching for an answer he couldn't find.
After a long moment, a wave of helplessness washed over him. With their current resources, even dealing with Ikaris would have been nearly impossible, let alone the White Demon.
But as a top-tier agent, Fury quickly suppressed his emotions and turned to the equally stunned Coulson. "Inform the rest of the Eternals that Ikaris has been killed. Give them the detailed data we have on the White Demon and the footage of the battle. Though they've lost their strongest warrior, their abilities are unique; they might still be able to cause trouble for him—perhaps even a small chance of killing him."
He paused, his gaze hardening. "Also, send a message to Dr. Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic). Request that he develop a more powerful spatial disturbance device and a device specifically targeting the White Demon's energy absorption. Aside from essential base operations, funnel every cent of our funding into Dr. Richards' research! Since the White Demon has no weaknesses, we will manufacture them for him!"
....
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