A scorching, dark red current of electricity crackled through the air.A sharp, golden beam sliced through the gloom.

Sebastian Shaw’s spells clashed with the Mandarin’s blasts in a deafening boom. Sparks showered the ground, leaving scorched patches and deep, jagged scars in the stone. The two forces met in a blinding flash before canceling each other out.

Sebastian landed lightly among the rubble, wand raised. With a flick, he summoned shards of broken metal from the ruins. The fragments twisted and fused, forming dozens of chain-like serpents that shot through the air, coiling toward the Mandarin from every side.

The Mandarin’s eyes narrowed. The chains struck like vipers, but he slipped through them with fluid precision. His ten rings pulsed with power, yet it was his centuries-honed speed and strength that made him nearly untouchable. He ducked and weaved, each movement faster than the last, the metal snakes snapping at empty air.

Stepping back to create space, the Mandarin swept his hand through the air. The chains crumbled to dust, scattering like ash.

A swirl of warped space appeared behind him. Sebastian stepped from the twisting portal, wand leveled. He slashed the air—an invisible blade hissed forward. The Mandarin ducked, but the spell nicked his scalp, slicing off a lock of black hair and splitting his headband. Loose strands whipped in the wind.

A flicker of anger crossed the Mandarin’s face. He snarled and thrust his hand out. A wave of bitter cold roared toward Sebastian, the air freezing solid in its path.

Sebastian didn’t move. The frost ring on his finger glowed bright blue, the freezing wind parting around him as if it knew better than to touch him. Frost spread across the ground, but the space beneath his feet stayed bare and dry.

“I have a ring too,” Sebastian said, his voice calm. “Try to keep up.”

He snapped his fingers. Razor-edged ice spears formed in the air around him, multiplying until the sky bristled with them. At his signal, they tore forward like a swarm of arrows.

The Mandarin raised his hand. One ring flared bright, and the spears dissolved to drifting snowflakes before they could reach him.

Sebastian didn’t flinch. He snapped his fingers again. The snowflakes shuddered, spinning together into a massive, jagged hand of ice. It formed behind the Mandarin and slammed down before he could react, driving him into the stone with a thunderous crash.

But flames erupted where the fist struck. Fire burst out, consuming the ice and exploding in a wave of searing heat that surged toward Sebastian.

Raising his wand, Sebastian whispered, “Aguamenti.” He focused on the maze of pipes buried beneath the fortress. With a sharp flick, the pipes burst open. Jets of water exploded from the ground, shooting skyward before crashing down in a towering wave. The flood slammed into the roiling fire cloud.

Sizzle…Flames hissed and died, smothered by the surge. Steam billowed, cloaking the battlefield in thick, scalding mist.

Hidden in the haze, the ground behind Sebastian shifted. The Mandarin rose silently from the earth, his ten rings dimmed to mask their glow. He moved like a shadow, aiming to strike before Sebastian could react.

But Tony Stark’s mask had been worth every favor Sebastian owed. Its sensors pinged a warning the instant the Mandarin broke through the soil. As the villain lunged, the earth beneath him erupted—thick vines and gnarled roots sprang up, coiling around his arms and legs.

The Mandarin’s rings flashed, and the plants withered to ash. But the delay cost him. Sebastian spun, wand sweeping through the mist. A silent blade of magic sliced forward.

The Mandarin twisted aside, but too late. The spell tore across his right hand, severing the first joint of his ring finger, the second of his middle finger, and his entire index finger. The index finger and its ring hit the ground with a dull clink.

The Mandarin’s face contorted. The Ten Rings weren’t just weapons—they were his crown, the source of his legend. Losing even one was unthinkable. Fingers could grow back. The ring wouldn’t.

With a furious roar, he unleashed his rage. The ring on his left middle finger flared green. A storm of crackling lightning burst out, roaring toward Sebastian in a blinding flood.

But Sebastian didn’t flinch. He had no plans to fight for the fallen ring—he’d already won it. He flicked his left hand. A palm-sized portal shimmered open. Its twin snapped into place beside the severed finger. In one smooth move, Sebastian reached through, plucked the ring from the bloody digit, and slipped it onto his right index finger, tossing aside the old Frost Ring.

As the Mandarin’s lightning storm crashed forward, Sebastian raised his hand. The stolen ring glowed—and a blast of raw force exploded outward. The shockwave shredded the lightning to sparks and slammed into the Mandarin like a battering ram, hurling him through the shattered fortress walls. Stone crumbled as his body vanished into the ruins.

Sebastian looked down at the ring now gleaming on his finger. The Laser Beam.A name so tacky, only the Mandarin could have thought it sounded impressive. For all his ornate robes and grand gestures, the man had the naming sense of a five-year-old. Sebastian almost laughed—but he had bigger things to do.

This ring wasn’t just for show. It could project pure energy—shockwaves, lasers, sound bursts. It could bend gravity, distort fields, smash shields. It wasn’t cosmic-level power, but it was close enough for the fight ahead. Compared to rings that hurled fire or storms—well, his magic already had that covered. But raw force? That was worth having in his arsenal.

He glanced at the discarded Frost Ring in his palm. No contest. He’d keep the power. Laser Beam wouldn’t do, though. He’d call it the Ring of Harnessing Power. Crude? Maybe. Better than Laser Beam? Absolutely.

A deep boom yanked him back. A slab of concrete blasted into the sky, dissolving into powder midair. From the rubble, the Mandarin rose. His severed fingers had healed, skin puckered but whole. The nine rings on his hands glowed faintly, like embers waiting to ignite.

He muttered something under his breath—a low, guttural chant, impossible to understand but heavy enough to make the ground quake. The forest shuddered as if rousing from a centuries-long sleep. Cracks tore through the earth. Black smoke rose in thick coils.

Sebastian lifted off the ground, hovering above the shifting stones. His eyes locked on the Mandarin, and he smiled.

A colossal dark green claw burst from the ground, tearing deep fissures through the stone courtyard. The fortress shuddered and collapsed as massive wings unfurled, a thick serpentine tail lashed free, and a hulking beast with jagged horns rose, scales glinting as it shook off the rubble. Its huge head lifted the Mandarin onto its crown of armored bone. With a roar, the creature spewed a torrent of fire and smoke straight at Sebastian.

The Azure Dragon.Not a true dragon—an alien monster the Mandarin had bound to his will when it arrived on Earth. Loyal. Terrifying. Raw power on wings.

The Mandarin said nothing. His eyes glinted cold as he flicked his hand. The beast lunged.

Flames roared from its gaping maw, a hurricane of fire that seemed to swallow the sky. The blaze surged toward Sebastian, its heat blistering the air.

Sebastian’s Frost Ring pulsed, icy blue light merging with the new ring on his finger. Energy sparked around him. A spiral of freezing wind whipped into a vortex, spun tighter by the ring’s power. The torrent of cold slammed into the oncoming inferno.

Fire and ice met with a deafening hiss. They devoured each other in midair until both vanished in a rolling burst of steam.

Through the drifting haze, a golden ray lanced toward Sebastian’s head. He was ready. Raising his wand, he murmured, “Protego.” Three shimmering barriers snapped into place. The ray pierced them one by one, each slowing it just enough. It grazed his cheek, leaving a thin line of blood.

Sebastian flicked his wand at the cut. A soft glow sealed it, skin smooth and whole again.

Above him, the Azure Dragon beat its wings, sending gales screaming across the broken fortress. It launched forward, jaws wide.

Sebastian shot upward, hovering high above the ruined stone. He thrust his wand skyward and chanted in a voice that rolled like thunder. The sky obeyed.

Winds howled. Clouds churned black and heavy. Lightning cracked and hissed through the roiling dark. Rain and snow whipped around him, the weather bound to his will—Asgardian storm magic, power of the old gods.

The dragon roared, loosing another wave of searing flames.

Sebastian swept his wand down in a sharp arc. A tongue of hellfire flickered from its tip, snaking into the oncoming blaze. The infernal flame tore through the dragonfire, reversed its path, and roared back toward the beast.

The Mandarin didn’t hesitate. He clenched his fist. One of his rings pulsed—a dark sphere bloomed in the air, spinning into a tiny black hole that swallowed the hellfire whole.

Even authority had limits. Dormammu’s dominion in the Dark Dimension let him twist reality like clay, but here, Earth’s rules still held. The Ancient One could stand against him only outside his realm. Dormammu’s wish was simple: drag Earth into his domain and crush its defenders like insects.

Sebastian knew all this. The hellfire was a ruse, a test, a way to buy a heartbeat of time.

The Mandarin’s dragon surged closer. Sebastian pointed his wand at the boiling clouds overhead. A spear of blue-white lightning leapt from its tip, burying itself in the storm. The clouds spun faster, lightning writhing inside like a nest of serpents. Sparks danced at the corners of Sebastian’s eyes. Twelve runes, pulsing with electric light, circled his wand like planets orbiting a sun.

The time had come.

With a sharp swing, he brought his wand down. The clouds split open, revealing a blazing core like a celestial eye. A pillar of white lightning ripped downward, striking the Mandarin and the beast beneath him in a single, blinding flash.

RUMBLE!

The air cracked. The earth split. The fortress shuddered as stone crumbled to dust. At its heart, the storm’s fury fell upon man and monster alike.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep