"Use the Sleep Spell."
Arthur didn't hesitate.
His strength was nowhere near that of the Ancient One—he couldn't rip the Hulk's soul out of his body with a flick of the wrist. The only method he could think of was to cast a sleep spell, force the Hulk into unconsciousness, and end this rampage before it got worse.
Fortunately… before he arrived, the Hulk's outburst had already scared off the civilians. The entire district was abandoned, no one daring to set foot near it. Everyone had fled in the opposite direction.
That much at least worked in Arthur's favor, letting him and the others conceal their identities.
But even so… it still wasn't enough.
Arthur clenched his teeth, one hand gripping the crackling whip of magic, the other spreading a ripple of energy outward. Surveillance cameras across the block sparked, burned out, and fell silent under his spell. With that problem taken care of, he began chanting the incantation for the Sleep Spell.
Yet even now… he had underestimated the Hulk's strength.
Arthur was an accomplished sorcerer, well above the average Sanctum guardian, but all the knowledge he'd gained—every countermeasure he knew—was rooted in magic. Against an existence like the Hulk, he was completely out of his depth.
Neither he nor the other sorcerers at his side knew the truth about the creature. They didn't understand that the angrier the Hulk became, the stronger he grew.
In Arthur's eyes, the Hulk was nothing more than a brute whose punches carried the force of hundreds of tons.
"Hulk… very angry!"
Pinned down, the monster's fury spiked. His massive hands clenched, muscles swelling, and with a deafening roar he began to force the sorcerers' bindings apart.
"What are you doing?!" Arthur shouted desperately. If the Hulk broke free, their situation would become a nightmare. This was no time for carelessness.
But the sorcerers shackling the Hulk's arms weren't slacking, nor were they underestimating him. They were pouring every last ounce of strength into restraining the beast—yet it wasn't enough.
They hadn't realized the truth. The Hulk's power wasn't merely overwhelming; it was limitless.
Within a matter of heartbeats, his raw might surpassed their combined effort.
With a sudden wrench, the Hulk's massive fingers seized hold of the scarlet whips of energy and yanked. Two sorcerers were ripped from the ground, flung skyward like rag dolls.
"Not good!" Arthur cursed, stomping down and splitting the pavement beneath him as he tried to drag the Hulk into the ground. But the moment he pulled, he realized the truth.
He couldn't move him.
Even straining with every fiber of his body, the Hulk didn't budge an inch. Veins bulged along his thick neck, his face twisted into a mask of rage, but he stood unshaken.
"AAAAAHHHH!"
The two sorcerers hurled into the sky screamed as the Hulk crouched low, then launched himself upward in a single, explosive leap.
The airborne sorcerers tried to fight back, casting spell after spell, but none of their magic pierced the monster's hide. The Hulk's flesh was far tougher than anything they could comprehend.
Boom! Boom!
His fists slammed into their stomachs with the force of collapsing mountains.
Splat! Splat!
Blood spewed from their mouths, raining crimson through the air as their bodies plummeted. They hit the ground like meteors, carving deep craters into the street.
Arthur and the remaining sorcerers were dragged skyward by the Hulk's jump. In desperation, they abandoned their bindings and instead formed a joint spell. Six glowing circles flared in their palms, weaving together.
Storm clouds blackened the sky. Thunder rumbled.
Arthur took the lead, channeling their merged magic into a colossal dragon forged from lightning. The beast roared, crackling with thunderbolts, its gaping maw illuminated with blinding arcs.
With the Hulk midair and unable to dodge, Arthur seized the moment, thrusting both hands downward.
The lightning dragon obeyed, diving with a roar, jaws snapping shut around the Hulk as it drove him into the earth below.
Ka-BOOOOM!
The district shook as if the world were ending. A mushroom cloud of dust and rubble surged upward. Arthur and the others pulled back immediately—they had poured everything they had into that spell. This was their strongest technique.
As the haze cleared, the Hulk lay facedown in a massive crater.
Had it worked?
"Is it… over?" Arthur muttered, though unease gnawed at his chest.
The Hulk didn't even have a scratch. Not a bruise, not a cut—nothing.
Within seconds, the beast pushed himself up, shook his head, and began to rise.
Arthur's eyes went wide.
What… what kind of monster was this? He was more terrifying than any dimensional invader Arthur had ever faced.
"HULK… SMASH!"
The Hulk clapped his enormous hands together. An invisible shockwave exploded outward.
Arthur and the others didn't even have time to react. The wave struck them head-on, blasting them out of the air and slamming them into the ground like broken dolls.
"Arthur…" one of the sorcerers croaked weakly, unable to even stand.
The Hulk didn't intend to spare them. He lumbered forward, each step echoing with dreadful weight. The pressure alone was suffocating.
Despair washed over them.
"No choice…" Arthur gasped, teeth clenched. In this moment, only one face came to his mind—
Senju Haruto.
By rights, Haruto was supposed to be the guardian of the New York Sanctum. But for various reasons, the responsibility had fallen to Arthur. Crises like this were his duty to handle—unless an enemy appeared that no one else could possibly defeat. Only then would he call for Haruto.
And right now, the Hulk was that enemy.
"Die!"
The Hulk suddenly surged forward, leaping high, fist cocked back to obliterate Arthur where he lay.
Arthur squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't even have the strength to roll aside. This was the end.
But just before the blow could land, a fiery circle flared into existence between them, expanding in the blink of an eye.
From within the portal, a single arm extended—calm, steady—and met the Hulk's descending fist head-on.
BOOM!
The collision sent a shockwave rippling outward, shattering every pane of glass within blocks.
"Hulk?"
The man who caught his fist looked faintly surprised. But only faintly.
Because even the Hulk wasn't a threat to him.
Yes—the one who had arrived was none other than Senju Haruto.