High above New York, a gaping wormhole tore open the sky, swirling like a black hole. Beyond it stretched the endless void of deep space.

“Rowan, what is that?”

Hill’s voice trembled with unease.

“A spatial wormhole.”

Rowan gazed at the familiar blue-black vortex, his eyes distant.

“What’s it for…”

Natasha began to ask, but before she could finish, swarms of grotesque, insect-like aliens surged out of the darkness.

Her words faltered. She understood instantly why Loki had gone through all that trouble.

It was to summon an army.

Both Natasha and Hill’s expressions turned grim with shock. They never expected that the alien invasion from the movies would unfold before their very eyes.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

Tony, clad in his red-and-gold vibranium armor, shot upward like a missile, charging headlong into the Chitauri warriors who were mounted on sleek flying craft. His repulsors blasted several out of the sky, their bodies and machines erupting in flames.

But for every one that fell, more scattered across the city, unleashing indiscriminate firepower on Manhattan.

The streets below dissolved into chaos.

A squad of Chitauri veered toward the towering structure of Kroll Industries.

Rowan activated his wrist communicator.

“Shuri, bring up the vibranium shield around the tower.”

“On it, boss.”

Shuri had already spotted the incoming aliens. Without hesitation, she engaged the defense system.

An icy-blue barrier shimmered into place, enveloping the skyscraper in protective light.

Two unlucky Chitauri slammed straight into it, their speed turning the collision into a fiery explosion. They didn’t survive the impact.

The others hovered in shock. They hadn’t expected Earth to wield such advanced technology. After a few futile blasts of their energy rifles bounced harmlessly off the shield, they gave up and diverted toward softer civilian targets.

“Rowan, are these Asgardians?” Natasha asked, her expression tense.

Since Loki was a prince of Asgard, their first assumption was that these soldiers were his people.

Rowan shook his head.

“No. Asgardians look human, just like us. These creatures are something else Loki must have called in outside help.”

Natasha and Hill exchanged looks and nodded. They had both met Thor the day before. Arrogant though he was, he hadn’t seemed truly malevolent.

As long as these invaders weren’t Asgardians, that was a small relief. Gods from myths and legends were trouble enough.

“Rowan, Natasha and I should get out there and help!” Hill urged. Watching the Chitauri wreak havoc across New York was unbearable.

“Go. If things get dangerous, contact me immediately.”

With a determined glance at each other, Natasha and Hill rushed out. Their vibranium battle suits gave them the confidence to take on alien soldiers. The defense barrier recognized their biosignatures and let them pass freely.

Rowan, however, remained by the window. He didn’t move to join the fight.

How many New Yorkers lived or died wasn’t his concern. He wasn’t a saint.

Fury hadn’t begged him for help, and without profit on the table, Rowan saw no reason to dirty his hands.

“Boom!”

A streak of lightning split the sky, slamming into Stark Tower’s rooftop platform. Thor had arrived and immediately began clashing with his brother Loki.

Rowan’s attention, however, never left the Tesseract and Loki’s scepter.

He had waited patiently for this moment. Unless the Ancient One herself appeared, no one could stop him from claiming two Infinity Stones today.

If Fury refused? Then S.H.I.E.L.D. would be crushed.

If the World Council objected? Then the World Council would be crushed.

He already controlled Wakanda. If it came to it, he was ready to sever ties with the United States and the Council entirely.

Soon, the original Avengers had all assembled in New York, fighting side by side.

But against endless swarms of Chitauri, their efforts were like drops in an ocean.

In a shadowed corner, Nick Fury watched with a heavy heart. He knew he bore most of the blame for this disaster.

One hand in his pocket, he toyed with the old pager inside, torn on whether to press it.

As Fury wrestled with his choice, a vast shadow fell across the city. He looked up and his single eye widened in horror.

A monstrous leviathan, the size of a battleship and armored with jagged plating, burst from the wormhole. Chitauri soldiers leapt from its sides, ready to join the slaughter.

Fury’s jaw tightened. The creature resembled a floating whale crossed with a warship, and it filled him with dread.

Even if he paged Carol now, she was light-years away. By the time she returned, Earth might already be lost.

Gazing at the endless stream of enemies pouring from the wormhole, Fury realized the Avengers weren’t enough.

He turned his eye toward Kroll Industries, its tower encased in a glowing blue shield. After a long breath, he pulled out his phone and made the call.

The chime of the ringtone reached Rowan, who had been studying the alien leviathan with keen interest. He picked it up, smirking when he saw the name.

“Fury.”

“Rowan,” Fury’s voice was heavy, “you see what’s happening. I need your help.”

Rowan’s tone was calm. “In our agreement, there was nothing about alien armies, was there?”

“I know it’s dangerous, but this is about humanity’s survival—”

“Stop.”

Rowan cut him off sharply. He loathed this kind of moral guilt-tripping.

“You caused this mess. And now you want me to clean it up? Not a chance. Try to guilt me again and I hang up.”

Fury fell silent, his jaw tight.

Rowan continued coldly, “But… I could be persuaded. I’ll deal with the aliens. In return, I want the Tesseract and Loki’s scepter.”

Fury’s single eye flickered. He hadn’t expected Rowan to demand the Tesseract. But the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. Rowan didn’t need money, he already possessed overwhelming strength and even technology like energy shields. The only things that could tempt him were cosmic treasures.

Reluctantly, Fury weighed his options. He hated the idea of giving up the Tesseract. Its limitless energy could change the future of humanity. But after this debacle, he would almost certainly be stripped of it anyway. Better to hand it to Rowan now and let the fallout land elsewhere.

“…Fine. I agree.” Fury’s voice was grim.

“As if your word alone means anything,” Rowan replied dryly. “Run it through your superiors. I don’t want arguments later.”

Fury’s lips twitched. Rowan had already seen straight through his maneuvering.

With no choice, Fury ended the call and went to Pierce and the World Council.

The revelation of an alien invasion sent shockwaves through the Council. After a rapid discussion, they conceded. If Rowan could shut the wormhole and stop the invasion, handing him the Tesseract was a price worth paying.

Fury relayed their decision back to Rowan.

“Can you really close that damned portal?” Fury asked, uncertain.

“No problem. Leave it to me.” Rowan smiled faintly.

Two Infinity Stones, delivered straight into his hands. He would tidy up their alien mess as a courtesy.

He ended the call, laughter curling at his lips.

It was time to show Marvel’s so-called heroes the true terror of a warrior and a psychic.

With a thought, Rowan’s armguard flowed outward, transforming into a sleek vibranium battle suit.

In the corner, his dragon-etched shield and blade leapt to his hand.

Stepping onto the shield, he shot into the sky. The energy barrier rippled like water as he passed through unhindered.

The surrounding Chitauri immediately converged, weapons blazing.

Rowan didn’t even glance at them.

Six blades shot from his belt, whirling into a deadly orbit around him. Each was an S-rank weapon, honed to perfection.

With a whisper of thought, they shrieked in the air and vanished into streaks of ghostly blue light.

Alien skulls burst like melons, their corpses tumbling from the sky. Fiery explosions erupted as some smashed into nearby buildings.

At that moment, one of the leviathans veered toward Rowan, but its attention was locked on a familiar red-and-gold figure flying ahead of it.

Tony Stark.

“Rowan?!”

Tony’s eyes widened behind his visor as he saw the figure soaring calmly in the air.

Rowan could fly?! That shield was it Wakanda’s latest craft?

“Move! Get out of the way, Rowan!” Tony shouted.

But Rowan only smiled, unflinching.

“Rowan, it’s going to—”

Tony tried to warn him, but froze as the blades around Rowan shifted position, orbiting him like stars in formation.

Rowan lifted one hand.

The six blades screamed forward, becoming streaks of blue fire.

“Clang, clang, clang!”

The sound of metal rang out, too fast for the human eye to follow.

Just two breaths.

Six blades of flying steel sliced through the Chitauri leviathan from every angle.

Tony couldn’t help but glance back.

The next moment, his eyes went wide, pupils contracting sharply!

The massive war-beast had split apart into seven or eight pieces, collapsing midair.

A torrent of green blood spilled across an entire city block.

Boom!

Chunks of the Chitauri leviathan crashed into the asphalt, sending up clouds of dust.

The Avengers, who had just regrouped and were preparing to take down the beast together, froze in place.

None of them had imagined that something so enormous, a creature that looked nearly impossible to deal with, could be cut apart like vegetables.

And in barely two seconds.

They all stared at Rowan, floating above the battlefield, their expressions caught between shock and disbelief.

Thor narrowed his eyes slightly, astonished.

He hadn’t expected that aside from the Hulk, Midgard this small planet still had someone this powerful.

Even for him, those blades would have been troublesome to handle.

“Raaagh!”

Sensing the leviathan’s death, nearby Chitauri soldiers let out furious roars.

Loki, too, was seething.

A mere human, daring to steal the spotlight?

How arrogant.

He quickly wove a spell, sending a command to the Chitauri leader: Full assault!

At once, from the wormhole in the sky, more leviathans poured through two, three, then more each carrying swarms of Chitauri warriors.

The Avengers gazed upward, breath catching at the sight.

“Prepare for battle!”

Captain America’s resolve was the firmest. He reacted immediately, rallying his team and assigning positions.

But before the words had even left his lips, Rowan smiled faintly.

In a flash, he stepped onto his pentagonal shield and soared straight toward the wormhole.

“What is he doing?”

Cap’s eyes widened in disbelief.

That was exactly where a whole fleet of Chitauri war-beasts was emerging each one brimming with enemy soldiers.

“Don’t worry, Cap. Rowan’s stronger than you think.”

Natasha stepped out from a nearby street, casually dispatching a Chitauri trooper before flashing a reassuring smile.

By then, Rowan had already reached the space beneath the wormhole.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Six SS-grade flying blades streaked through the air like lightning.

The Chitauri soldiers mounted on the sides of the leviathans immediately turned their weapons on him, unleashing a barrage of glowing blue energy bolts.

Rowan’s thoughts stirred, and the vibranium plating of his armor sealed over his head.

The energy blasts struck harmlessly, absorbed by the armor’s surface, leaving ripples of violet light across the plating.

The leviathans, however, had no such defense.

SS-grade blades, sharp enough to pierce the hide of monarch-class beasts, tore through their alloyed bodies as if they were nothing.

In an instant, the blades swept through their hulking forms, carving them apart from the inside.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Four or five leviathans exploded at once, raining down chunks of flesh and armor in a storm of gore.

Hundreds of Chitauri soldiers spilled from their bellies, screaming in despair as they plummeted from hundreds of feet up.

Their suits offered no salvation none could survive the fall.

Rowan didn’t pause for breath. His blades darted through the sky like silverfish, weaving and dancing.

The Chitauri riders descending on their hovercraft fell before him like a game of connect-the-dots, each kill neat and effortless.

All across the sky, Chitauri bodies and broken machines began to rain down in an endless torrent.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep