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{Chapter: 386 The Island Was Bombed}
Algrim panted heavily, his massive chest heaving as he stared into the smoke and flame-filled crater below. His dark red eyes gleamed with cruel satisfaction. The blast he had unleashed was enormous—enough to obliterate a small mountain. Surely, nothing could have survived that.
But then, a voice thundered through the chaos, calm and mocking.
"This level of attack? I'm very disappointed."
From the heart of the swirling smoke, something surged forward with a deafening metallic thud. A towering green-gold figure, plated in gleaming metal and radiating with sheer, primal force, emerged.
"No..." Algrim muttered, stumbling a step backward in disbelief.
The form was unmistakably William, but he had evolved—taller, broader, radiating an oppressive aura. A robot-like form, perfected and far more stable than the one Algrim had briefly seen during the Asgard battle. Now, this was no desperate transformation. This was power incarnate.
William landed with a thunderous crash, his metal feet splitting the ground beneath. His emerald-gold aura shimmered with unnatural heat. Without speaking, his body began to shrink, morphing back into his more familiar two-meter form, still covered in a faint green-gold metal glow with energy.
He raised one hand, gave Algrim the middle finger, and smirked. "Stupid. You meet someone stronger than you, and all you do is shout 'Impossible'? That's your whole vocabulary? Grow up."
Rage distorted Algrim's face. He roared, but before he could even tense to respond, William moved.
With what appeared to be a casual step, William vanished from view, reappearing directly in front of Algrim. The speed was incomprehensible—it defied logic. No build-up, no warning. Just instant, overwhelming presence.
"Let me show you the difference between us."
With a flick of his leg, William drove his foot into Algrim's chest.
"Fly, you second-rate villain."
Boom!
Algrim screamed in pain as the kick launched him into the air like a meteor in reverse. Blood burst from his lips as he tore through the sky, climbing to a thousand meters in a single bound before he managed to stop himself mid-air, energy flaring open to halt his fall.
"No!" Algrim roared in frustration, eyes bloodshot. "I am invincible!"
Crimson light erupted from his chest, tendrils of raw chaos spiraling above his head. A massive sphere of burning red-black energy began to form, crackling with unstable force. It grew larger and larger, expanding to nearly ten meters in diameter.
Below, William folded his arms and looked up.
"Oh, here comes the tantrum. Someone didn't like getting grounded."
"WILLIAM! DIE!" Algrim shrieked, his voice shaking the clouds.
With a mighty heave, Algrim hurled the ball of energy downward. It screamed through the sky like a vengeful comet, distorting space as it fell.
William didn't move.
The sheer pressure of the descending blast began to tear up the landscape. Trees disintegrated. Rocks cracked. The very air screamed in protest. The ground beneath William cratered from the pressure alone.
Then it hit.
A blinding explosion erupted with apocalyptic force. It was as if a second sun had crashed into the island. A mushroom cloud of fire and smoke rose into the skies, accompanied by deafening roars of destruction. Waves of molten earth and dust shot out in every direction. The island—or what was left of it—quaked beneath the pressure.
Tidal waves, dozens of meters high, surged outward, flooding the coastline and dragging away debris in a chaotic torrent.
In the distant sky, the projection screen flickered with static before stabilizing again, zooming in slowly on the epicenter of devastation.
Waves of dark red energy surged from the projection, forcing Alice, Pepper, and the others to shield their eyes from the harsh, flickering glare.
"W-Was that... a nuke?" Pepper stammered, her voice barely above a whisper. Her face was pale, and her arms trembled slightly.
Alice narrowed her eyes, not blinking. "No. That wasn't a nuclear bomb. That was worse. Pure, unfiltered rage channeled into volatile dark energy. Algrim poured everything he had into that shot."
Ada crossed her arms, jaw clenched. "If William didn't dodge that in time..."
"He didn't," White Queen cut in sharply, her expression unreadable. Her fingers moved rapidly, scanning energy readings on her device. "He took it. Again."
Sif exhaled sharply through her nose, trying to hide the tension building inside her. But her tightly clenched fists betrayed the concern she refused to admit. "That fool... always thinks he's invincible."
As the light began to fade and the dust settled across the sky, the women's eyes snapped back to the screen.
Their breath caught.
"He wasn't exaggerating... the island... it's gone," Jane murmured.
Where once there had been an island, now only seven or eight massive, turbulent whirlpools spun angrily in the sea. Chunks of rock and shattered reef littered the area, but the landmass itself had been annihilated. Only fragments remained, and the air was thick with steam.
Algrim hovered in the air, panting, his gaze scanning the watery abyss below. He wiped blood from his lips and narrowed his eyes. "That had to have done it... there's no way..."
Suddenly, one of the whirlpools stilled. A ripple broke the surface, and from the swirling sea, a figure slowly emerged—tall, powerful, and glowing faintly with green-gold energy.
William.
His body hovered just above the water, his arms crossed casually. His metal skin glowed faintly, but his eyes—his eyes burned with unwavering confidence.
Algrim's jaw dropped.
"Impossible!" he howled. "You should be vaporized!"
Alice and the others let out a breath they hadn't realized they were holding. Jane gripped Pepper's hand, and even Sif looked visibly relieved.
William slowly rose until he was eye-level with Algrim, then smirked. "Is that all you can do? For someone claiming to be reborn, you're awfully underwhelming."
"Don't mock me!" Algrim screamed, his body surging with dark red energy once more. He slashed both hands through the air, sending dozens of energy blasts screaming toward William.
William didn't move.
The energy slammed into him with deafening force. Bang, bang, bang—a cascade of explosions enveloped him in a wall of smoke, flame, and concussive force. The ocean churned violently below.
"Go to hell!" Algrim roared, launching one final, massive energy sphere into the heart of the maelstrom.
Boom!
A towering shockwave erupted, sending flames and clouds soaring into the sky. Algrim hovered in place, panting, sweat pouring down his face, watching intently as the smoke began to clear.
And then—
A figure emerged, untouched.
William strode forward through the smoke, calm and deliberate. His arms crackled with energy, and his gaze was locked onto Algrim with predatory focus.
"You done?" he asked.
Algrim took an involuntary step back.
With a flash, William vanished and reappeared in front of Algrim in the same breath.
BAM!
William's fist buried itself in Algrim's gut.
"P-Puh..." Algrim's body curled like a shrimp, his eyes bulging, and blood sprayed from his mouth.
William pulled back and watched Algrim groan in agony. "How's that feel? Need a moment?"
Algrim's knees buckled, but he forced himself to stand. "I... I can't lose... I'm supposed to be a god now..."
With a sickening squelch, his abdomen detonated outward, blood and entrails spraying as Algrim let out a gurgled scream.
"Why, how could it be?" Algrim stared at his stomach in a daze, how could it explode?
"Ah..." Algrim screamed in pain, and his body fell rapidly from the air to the bottom.
He plummeted toward the sea.
William hovered above him, shaking his head. "Every one of my punches carries a secondary internal detonation effect. Bet you didn't know that. Idiot."
Then, William's gaze snapped sharply to his left.
There was nothing there.
But William's eyes narrowed.
"Come out," he growled, his voice echoing across the heavens. "I know you're there, you peeping bitch. Don't make me come get you."
The clouds above rumbled. Somewhere, someone was watching—and William knew it.
The battle wasn't over.