"Hey… is it too late to write my will?"
"My God, this is completely insane."
"At this point, running at full power—or using the bracelet to teleport back to headquarters—sounds like the smartest move."
"Even if I finish the Vibranium Dreadnought, I still couldn't tank this. Psychic powers are just unreasonable…"
If even Child Emperor, Tony Stark, and Thor Odinson were utterly helpless, ordinary civilians in the western town stood no chance at all.
Staring at the meteor descending from the heavens, despair swallowed everyone whole.
Unless someone launched a nuclear missile right now and intercepted it mid-air—
This was no longer a human battlefield.
This was gods clashing, with mortals caught in the fallout.
"Relax," Aiden Cross said calmly, giving a thumbs-up. "With me here, this place is perfectly safe."
The peak S-Class physique granted by Titan Valor, the peak S-Class spiritual pressure inherited from Ulric Cinder, and the near–Vice-Chairman-level psychic power derived from Tornado of Terror—
Protecting a single town was effortless.
The empowered Princess Regalia was only quasi-S-Class.
Tornado of Terror stood at the threshold of S-Class proper.
Neither posed any real pressure to him.
Since Tornado wanted to vent her battle hunger, he saw no harm in letting her make a scene—within limits.
"Wow. I suddenly feel extremely secure."
"JARVIS, activate cinematic viewing mode."
"Anyone want popcorn? The shop over there has plenty."
"I'll take one."
"I want a soda."
"..."
The three men who had been on the brink of panic instantly relaxed.
They unfolded three folding chairs, sat down with popcorn and drinks, put on sunglasses, and assumed the posture of tourists watching a spectacle.
Only Jane Foster, who had no real grasp of Aiden's strength, remained frantic.
"Thor, we have to run!"
"Jane, this is actually the safest place," Thor said seriously.
"If we leave, we might die from unidentified area-effect damage."
"What are you even saying?!"
"Trust me. Sit down and eat some popcorn."
"…Fine."
Jane stomped her foot in frustration.
In truth, she had little confidence she could escape the meteor's impact zone in time anyway. And with Thor staying, she refused to flee alone.
More importantly—
The entire town had been sunk ten meters underground. Without special equipment, no ordinary human could climb out of this crater.
"A meteor?" Princess Regalia glanced upward coolly.
"A trivial trick."
She swung her sword skyward.
A sword wave thousands of meters long tore through the air, cleaving the descending meteor cleanly in half.
The shattered fragments scattered across New Mexico.
Even the debris alone was enough to cause devastating damage.
"One isn't enough?" Tornado of Terror grinned. "Then how about ten?"
Green light flared around her as her psychic power erupted once more.
Ten flaming meteors appeared above the atmosphere.
If they struck the ground, seven or eight cities would vanish into fire and ash.
"No matter how many toys you summon," Princess Regalia replied coldly,
"they remain nothing more than entertainment."
Pale violet sword light streaked across the sky.
One meteor after another was annihilated mid-descent, reduced to nothing before impact.
City-destroying celestial bodies were, to her, no more significant than marbles.
"Spectacular. Visual effects: ten out of ten."
"If this were Hollywood, it'd win Best Visual Effects of the Year."
"My inspiration is exploding. I've already imagined ten flashy moves with terrible damage efficiency."
They ate popcorn, drank soda, and casually commented on the apocalypse unfolding above them.
Aiden, who was casually blocking stray fragments with psychic force, briefly considered letting a few pieces through—just to teach the three spectators a lesson.
As the battle intensified, he began thinking seriously about how to break it up.
If this continued, all of New Mexico—and possibly neighboring states—would be reduced to ruins. Millions would die.
He felt no particular sympathy for those potential deaths.
But the Hero League operated under the banner of justice.
That reputation mattered when recruiting native heroes of this world.
After a moment's thought, Aiden found a solution—one that might calm the rampaging Princess.
"Jane," he said, turning slightly,
"does your town have—"
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