Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three cars orbiting the armored figure crashed down, sealing the venue’s entrance.

Tony studied his opponent, noting seven arc reactors powering the suit—on the chest, shoulders, hands, and knees—converting energy into powerful electromagnetic fields. It was a multi-source design Tony once considered, but his new second-generation arc reactor, now in the Mark VI, outpowered multiple older reactors without sacrificing defense or mobility. Still, he hadn’t entirely abandoned multi-source ideas; his wrist-mounted laser cutters used miniaturized palladium cores.

“Tony Stark,” the figure growled, “I’ve waited for this day!”

The unmodified voice clicked instantly. “Zack? Zack Stane?” Tony said, stunned.

“Why not me?” Zack snarled. “You jailed my father, but I’m here now. Our fathers built Stark Industries together. Why do you get to shine, doing whatever you want, while I’m stuck serving you? My father cleaned up your messes, but Stark should be ours—it should be Stane Industries!”

A low hum surged as Zack’s seven reactors glowed blue, arcs crackling across his suit. A powerful magnetic field launched the two remaining cars at Tony with terrifying speed.

Tony raised his palms, firing repulsor blasts to deflect the first car. He angled it to hit a wall, sparing the crowd. But the second car closed in too fast for a repeat.

Bracing, Tony caught it with both hands. Zack yanked the first car back, slamming it into the one Tony held, crushing him to the stage.

Zack didn’t stop. He magnetized the wrecked car again, ready to strike, but a sparkling circular portal snapped open, swallowing the vehicle. Another portal appeared behind Zack, spitting the car out to slam him from the air.

Sebastian stood firm, a sling ring on his left hand, faint black smoke curling around him—a mark of his Muspelheim-forged wand’s power. Facing the panicked crowd, he waved his wand, casting Incendio. Flames traced the ground, opening portals before the onlookers.

“Get out now, or I can’t guarantee your safety!” he shouted.

He signaled Natasha, Pepper, and Happy, who nodded, leading the way through a portal. Their example spurred others to follow, fleeing swiftly to avoid a stampede.

As the crowd fled through the portals, Tony and Zack disentangled themselves from the wrecked cars and stood, facing off.

Zack’s gaze shifted between Tony and Sebastian, shrouded in faint black smoke from his Muspelheim-forged wand. “My father warned me you had a magical ally,” Zack said slowly. “And here you are, together.”

Tony stepped forward, voice firm. “Zack, tell me—where are Obadiah and the guy who built the arc reactor?”

“You want my father and Vanko?” Zack sneered. “Don’t worry, you’ll see them soon.”

His mask’s blue-lit eyes flared deep red. Simultaneously, the steel soldiers on the stage activated, their eyes glowing the same ominous hue. In unison, they raised their weapons, firing at Tony and Sebastian.

Bullets rained down. Tony rocketed upward, smashing through the shattered glass ceiling. He wasn’t concerned for Sebastian—Tony knew his magical prowess could handle the onslaught.

As expected, Sebastian dissolved into black smoke, a spell akin to Apparition fused with Kamar-Taj sorcery, and streaked out of the venue, soaring into the sky.

Zack watched them escape, ordering the steel soldiers to pursue with lethal force. He chased Tony, his suit’s seven arc reactors powering two weapons: an arc pulse cannon and a high-energy cluster cannon. The cluster cannon drained too much power, so Zack relied on the pulse cannon and his electromagnetic fields, limited by the suit’s multi-source design, which sacrificed space for additional weapons to avoid compromising agility.

Hum! Hum!

Energy blasts crisscrossed between Tony and Zack in a fierce aerial duel.

Backed by the steel soldiers’ relentless fire, Zack’s assault overwhelmed Tony, who struggled to counter. But then, reinforcements arrived.

A six-barreled Gatling gun roared, unleashing a storm of bullets that obliterated three steel soldiers in seconds.

Tony glanced at the War Machine suit and patched into Rhodes’ comms. “Rhodes, about time!”

“Can’t handle these clowns without me,” Rhodes quipped.

“With you and Sebastian, we’ve got this,” Tony said.

Before he could finish, their comms crackled, hijacked by a familiar voice. “Tony,” Obadiah taunted, “Zack’s not the only one with a score to settle.”

A nearby parking lot truck burst open. Two distinct armored figures—Obadiah and Vanko—emerged, their suits fully activated, and launched into the air.

Sebastian’s eyes locked onto the two armored figures charging toward them. The bulkier suit, bristling with weapons, was clearly Obadiah’s Iron Monger, nearly identical to the one he’d faced before, save for minor tweaks and upgraded arm and back-mounted weaponry. The other, leaner suit bore no visible weapons, only subtle devices on its arms—Vanko’s Whiplash armor, built for heavy defense with hidden capabilities.

Shrouded in black smoke, Sebastian glided down beside Tony and Rhodes.

Tony’s HUD scanned the suits, feeding data to his allies. “Obadiah’s Iron Monger has heavy armor and two back-mounted weapons,” he said. “The right one’s energy signature is massive—probably a heavy hitter. Vanko’s suit shows no weapons, but those arm devices are trouble. They wouldn’t deploy without a plan.”

“Battle strategy?” Rhodes asked.

Tony chuckled. “Strategy? We fight. Three-on-three, one each!”

Vanko’s voice cut through, thick with a Russian accent. “Three-on-three? You’re miscounting. It’s four-on-two.”

His armor’s eyes flared red. Instantly, Rhodes’ War Machine suit locked up, its white-glowing core and eyes shifting to match Vanko’s crimson hue. Without hesitation, its Gatling gun swung toward Tony and Sebastian, unleashing a torrent of bullets.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Most bullets targeted Tony, forcing him to dodge and dive toward the ground, weaving between cover.

“Rhodes, what’s happening?” Tony shouted through comms.

“I can’t control it!” Rhodes yelled. “The suit’s hijacked!”

Tony’s face darkened. Rhodes had mentioned the military upgraded his War Machine with Hammer Industries’ input. Given Obadiah, Vanko, and Zack’s ties to Hammer Industries, they’d likely rigged the suit from the start.

“Damn it,” Tony muttered. “Sebastian, it’s just us!”

Sebastian, free-falling with a comm device in his ear, grinned. “Scared, Tony?”

“Scared that you will die ,” Tony shot back. “Don’t let me down.”

“No worries,” Sebastian said. “I could handle them solo if I had to.”

“Prove it,” Tony challenged.

Tony spun mid-fall, facing upward, and unleashed repulsor blasts at the charging steel soldiers. Crafted from standard steel, they shattered under the energy barrage but kept coming, their sheer numbers and relentless firepower resisting quick annihilation.

Tony weaved through the air, leveraging speed and agility to dart between buildings and ground cover, with Obadiah’s Iron Monger and Vanko’s Whiplash armor leading a squad of steel soldiers in pursuit.

Meanwhile, Zack’s electromagnetic suit and the hijacked War Machine, backed by the remaining steel soldiers, chased Sebastian, who streaked through the sky as black smoke—a Kamar-Taj-infused Apparition spell.

The soldiers’ weapons struggled to track Sebastian’s fluid form. With his new dragon heartstring wand and heightened reflexes, ordinary firearms posed little threat unless he was caught off-guard.

Glancing at Tony, now dodging heavy fire, Sebastian knew he couldn’t delay. He halted mid-air, the black smoke dissipating to reveal him gripping his wand. With a flick of his wrist, red arcs of magic—akin to Confringo—lanced from the wand’s tip, striking the nearest steel soldiers and blasting them to fragments.

Before the others could return fire, Sebastian dissolved into black smoke again, soaring upward.

Zack and War Machine, undeterred, led the remaining soldiers in pursuit. While Apparition had altitude limits, it could reach above the clouds.

Sebastian pierced the night sky’s clouds. As the steel soldiers followed, he rematerialized, staring down at them under the moonlight. His wand erupted with black-and-red flames—Fiendfyre, the cursed hellfire.

He’d climbed high to unleash Fiendfyre’s devastating power safely, away from civilians.

Fiendfyre roared from Sebastian’s dragon heartstring wand, its searing black-and-red flames engulfing the steel soldiers. The blistering heat melted their bodies in moments, triggering explosions as they disintegrated.

Zack, initially dismissive of the summoned flames, froze in horror at the soldiers’ fate. His suit’s thrusters flared, propelling him away from the cursed fire. Though his armor was tougher than the soldiers’ standard steel, he doubted it could withstand Fiendfyre’s paper-scorching intensity.

Still, Zack didn’t hesitate to order the hijacked War Machine to charge Sebastian through the flames, sacrificing it to press the attack.

Rhodes, trapped inside the uncontrollable War Machine, braced for disaster, a torrent of curses running through his mind as he hurtled toward the deadly blaze. But just as doom seemed certain, the Fiendfyre swirled into a vortex, rapidly collapsing back into Sebastian’s wand like water draining through a sieve.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep