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*****
"Silver Knight!"
"Go for it!"
"Wipe them out!"
Fini's performance sent the rescued crowd into a state of pure ecstasy. Some even pumped their fists, cheering and shouting words of encouragement with frantic excitement.
The number of robots on the ground wasn't particularly large—at least not compared to the dense, locust-like swarm currently chasing Tony through the sky. Because of this, Fini managed to clear the ground level relatively quickly. Even so, the scene was grim; many civilians had been caught in the crossfire and lay in pools of blood.
But Fini couldn't afford to focus on them right now. High above, Tony was surrounded by a massive horde of machines. It was a perilous situation, and had War Machine not suddenly arrived to provide backup, Iron Man likely would have been swatted out of the sky by now.
Fortunately, thanks to the diversion provided by the two armored heroes, the majority of the robots had finally begun to cluster together.
Speaking of which, it had been seventeen years since Fini first acquired 'Golden Ars Magna.' Even if he only counted from the moment he could actually use it, he had been practicing for a full decade. In those ten years, Fini had never once neglected the cultivation of this power.
Especially after joining Kamar-Taj two years ago, where he learned the underlying reasons for his power's limitations, his proficiency had skyrocketed.
To Fini, 'Golden Ars Magna' might not be his strongest ability at the moment, but it was the one he treated with the most gravity. Its ceiling was simply too high, and its potential power too terrifying; he refused to let himself reach the end of his journey without having absolute mastery over it.
Day after day of training, year after year of cultivation—Fini had almost never slacked off.
Consequently, even with the restrictions of the Three Sanctums and the inherent resistance of the world's sorcerous energies, the power of 'Golden Ars Magna' continued to improve steadily.
Using the Sky Dance technique, Fini rose into the air and came to a halt a short distance away from Tony and Rhodey. Taking a long, deep breath, he concentrated the mental blueprints in his mind with all his might. In an instant, he issued his decree:
"Centered on myself, let there be a complete vacuum within a ten-meter radius!"
"Outside of that ten-meter radius, let the oxygen content in the air increase tenfold!"
Almost immediately, the clouds began to churn and the wind howled around Fini. If anyone had a sensor nearby, they would have discovered that the oxygen in the surrounding atmosphere was aggressively converging toward his location.
The moment he felt the skill take effect, Fini shouted at the top of his lungs to the two men: "Tony! Rhodey! Get over here, now!"
He immediately began the rapid incantation:
"Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark,"
"I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson."
"The time of awakening arrives."
"Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary,"
"Appear now as an intangible distortion!"
Hearing Fini's call, Rhodey—piloting the War Machine—felt a flash of surprise, but Tony breathed a silent sigh of relief. They had shot down a fair number of robots in the air, but their ammunition was mostly depleted, and the sheer number of remaining enemies was still enough to make one's skin crawl.
"Quick! Get to him!"
Without a second thought, Tony led Rhodey in a charge toward Fini's position. Bolstered by their thrusters, they reached Fini's side in a matter of seconds.
Fini, who had been brewing the explosion magic the entire time, saw the two finally enter the oxygen-free zone he had created. As the robots continued their relentless pursuit, he unleashed the final trigger of the spell without hesitation:
"Come forth!"
"Explosion — Enhanced!"
A blinding, crimson light swallowed the entire sky, erasing every other color from existence.
Many years later, when the citizens of New York recalled the scene of that day, their faces would still pale with lingering fear as they muttered: "I thought I was looking at the end of the world."
BOOM!
A full-powered 'Explosion' was already powerful beyond imagination, but what happened when you enhanced it tenfold?
Fini hadn't known before, but at this very moment, he found out.
He was flying—not with his Sky Dance technique, but because he had been blasted backward by the sheer force of the shockwave. The air pressure alone propelled him beyond the speed of sound, which, in a twisted way, indirectly granted his wish for a higher flight speed.
Flying alongside him in a similarly undignified fashion were Tony and Rhodey.
Although Fini had isolated the oxygen around them to prevent fire damage, the indirect force of the magic still battered him. The impact of the blast was more terrifying than a direct hit from a missile. Fini felt as though every single one of his internal organs was screaming in pain.
If the indirect impact was this bad, one could only imagine the fate of the robots at the center of the magic. Many were vaporized on the spot, leaving not even a scrap of debris behind.
The trio was thrown back a full two blocks before finally coming to a halt.
Crawling out of a collapsed wall, looking utterly disheveled, Rhodey stared blankly at Fini. It took him a long while before he managed to choke out a sentence to Tony: "He's a friend... right?"
The question didn't really need an answer. Tony opened his faceplate, revealing a grimacing face. He remained silent for a good while before looking at Fini and saying, "That move has some decent kick. Something new you learned?"
Fini rolled his eyes and ignored him. He was still in a world of pain, and he was certain the other two weren't feeling much better.
The three of them returned to the battlefield, looking at the carpet of wreckage and the mess of the scene. For a moment, they were all silent.
Even though the 'Explosion' had been aimed at the sky, the shockwave had caused massive collateral damage to the ground, and the falling mechanical parts had smashed into buildings and injured people.
However, the sheer power of the blast had accomplished its goal: at least half of the targets had been wiped out. Now, only a small fraction of the robots that had escaped the blast remained, wobbling through the air as they tried to charge Tony.
They were quickly and silently dispatched by a few well-placed energy blasts.
"Their target was you, so I'm assuming I don't have to pay for the property damage!"
Despite the tragic scale of the scene, Fini didn't feel any regret. If he hadn't done this, the consequences would likely have been much worse. He had never been an overly sentimental person.
"Yeah," Tony replied quietly. For once, he didn't joke or argue with Fini.
This was Stark Tower. The destroyed buildings were his, and the people injured were mostly his employees. The fact that the enemy had done all this just to get revenge on him filled him with a sudden, heavy wave of guilt.
As Tony's best friend, Rhodey seemed to sense his thoughts. He walked over and patted Tony on the shoulder, offering comfort: "Let's finish this first before you worry about the rest. Where's the person in control?"
"Ivan Vanko!"
Tony's eyes sharpened. He hadn't forgotten the man behind this. Everything that happened today was his fault.
But before hunting down the enemy, Tony needed to confirm one thing. Ignoring Fini's exasperated expression, he commanded Jarvis:
"Call Pepper."
"Tony? Where are you? Are you guys okay? What was that explosion? I saw you and Fini and Rhodey disappear right after it happened!"
The moment the call connected, Pepper Potts spoke at a frantic speed, her voice trembling and bordering on tears. Anyone could hear the raw terror in her voice.
Hearing her voice, Tony's expression visibly softened. He reassured her, "We're fine. Where are you now?"
"Natasha and I are still in the building."
Pepper clearly wasn't the type to flee and leave others behind. Even though Tony had told her to leave at the start, she had stayed to coordinate the evacuation.
"Then stay inside. Don't go running around," Tony instructed helplessly. He said a few more words of comfort before hanging up. Turning to see Fini and Rhodey sitting on the ground, casually chatting, he said with a touch of exasperation:
"Hey! The fight isn't over yet. We need to find that bastard!"
"Listen to you," Fini replied lazily. "I thought you two were going to chat for another half hour!"
Fini found that Rhodey was actually quite an interesting guy to talk to, with a great personality to boot. In just this short amount of time, the two of them had already hit it off as friends.
(End of Chapter)