Marvel: The Sole Player

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As Darian’s voice fell, a silver humanoid suit of armor with sharp lines appeared out of thin air behind him.

The armor split vertically down the middle, its left and right shells unfolding outward before snapping shut from behind Darian, enveloping his entire body.

The next moment, the energy core in the center of the armor’s chest suddenly lit up. A piercing blue light radiated outward from the center, turning into countless fine, flowing veins of light that quickly covered the entire suit.

The two dark eye sockets on the mask also lit up with a cold blue glow, instantly maxing out the sense of oppression.

Black Sky was stunned on the spot.

He had already prepared himself to face taboo magic.

Who could have imagined that Darian would say he was going to demonstrate a mage’s true power, only to suddenly don a high-tech mecha the next second?

Through his acquired memories, Black Sky naturally knew what mecha were. He also knew there was a human Superhero in New York whose superpower was being rich, and who often showed off over the New York skyline wearing expensive armor.

But you, a mage, are actually piloting a mecha?

Is this even reasonable!?

Having donned the ultron armor, Darian rose directly into the air, looking down at Black Sky. "You are the first demon to push me to this extent. You should feel honored."

Black Sky: "..."

Why does this line sound so familiar?

However, he quickly snapped out of it and sneered, "Playing tricks... no matter what stunts you pull, it won’t change the fact that you’re dying today."

In his view, if Darian had truly used some taboo magic, things would have been more difficult.

After all, the price of taboo magic was high, but so was its power. With the strength of this clone, he wasn’t sure if he could withstand it.

But switching to a mecha made things much simpler.

No matter how advanced human weapons were, they were just superficial wounds to him.

Just like that guy called Iron Man; even if the opponent used missiles and explosives in turns, he could still restore himself to his original state within a few breaths. They couldn’t cause him any real harm.

Black Sky stopped wasting words. He raised his hand to condense a black energy ball and blasted it directly at Darian.

Darian had no intention of dodging. He raised his hand and met it with a punch.

Boom!!

A deafening explosion erupted on the spot.

Darian smashed the black energy ball head-on with a single punch. The surface of the ultron armor was unscathed, without even a scratch left behind.

"What?"

Black Sky’s face was full of astonishment.

Although this strike wasn’t his full power, it wasn’t something ordinary metal could withstand, let alone be shattered by a single punch.

"That’s it?"

Darian’s voice came through, filled with obvious mockery.

Black Sky’s expression darkened. Black mist surged violently around him, and several black energy balls instantly condensed, bombarding Darian in a dense volley.

Darian didn’t panic at all. The shoulder sections of the ultron armor popped open, revealing two rows of launchers.

However, what shot out weren’t small missiles, but countless blue energy bolts.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions rang out one after another.

The blue energy bolts and black energy balls collided in mid-air. The Impact generated by the energy collision spread outward in layer after layer. The glass of the surrounding buildings was instantly shattered into powder, and fragments rained down.

The crowd watching below was blown unsteady by the gale. Their hair was flipped back, instantly turning into a sea of slicked-back styles, exposing their hairlines; whoever had the highest was the most embarrassed.

In terms of firepower, the ultron armor side clearly dominated.

Blue energy bolts poured continuously from the launchers, soon overwhelming the black energy balls and blanketing Black Sky from all directions.

Black Sky quickly condensed layer upon layer of energy shields to wrap around himself.

But the power of these blue energy bolts far exceeded his imagination. The energy shields shattered one after another, and his replenishment speed couldn’t keep up at all.

Seeing them about to break completely, two pairs of huge black wings suddenly sprouted from Black Sky’s back. With a powerful flap, he charged toward Darian at extreme speed, his massive claws wrapped in black mist as he swung them fiercely.

Clang!

The claws scraped across the surface of the ultron armor, leaving several clear claw marks.

However, those claw marks existed for less than a second. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared completely, and the armor’s surface was restored to its original state.

Before Black Sky could pull his hand back, Darian had already seized his arm. A burst of white mist suddenly emerged from the palm of the ultron armor, and the temperature instantly dropped to the freezing point.

A layer of frost followed Darian’s palm, rapidly extending to Black Sky’s arm. The sound of cracking ice filled the air as Black Sky’s entire arm, along with his claws, was frozen into a block of ice. The ice layer continued to crawl toward his shoulder and body, and the bone-chilling cold pierced straight into his marrow.

Black Sky’s pupils shrank, and he instinctively wanted to pull his hand back and retreat.

But Darian didn’t give him the chance. The fingers of the armor suddenly exerted force.

Crack!

With a crisp sound, that arm frozen into a block of ice was crushed into pieces, ice mixing with chunks of flesh and scattering everywhere.

"Bastard!"

Black Sky let out a miserable howl. A ball of black light condensed between the horns on his forehead, and an energy cannon blasted straight toward Darian’s face.

Fearless, Darian puffed out his chest. The energy core in his chest erupted with blinding light, and a thick blue energy beam blasted out head-on.

Boom—!

The two energies collided in mid-air. Both sides blasted frantically at each other, and the terrifying energy fluctuations caused the surrounding air to distort.

However, Black Sky had no idea he had made a fatal mistake: he was standing on the left.

Since ancient times, the one on the left loses the beam struggle; this was a law of the Universe.

Unsurprisingly, after a brief stalemate, the blue energy beam directly swallowed the black light and continued to grind toward Black Sky himself.

"This kind of power... how is it possible!?"

Black Sky’s face was full of disbelief.

He hurriedly propped up layers of energy shields, trying to intercept the blue energy beam.

But the blue energy beam blasted through them with almost no resistance. The shields shattered layer by layer without even a decent fight, and the beam struck his body directly.

Black Sky was pushed backward by the beam, flying all the way and crashing straight into the ground from mid-air like a meteorite.

Boom!!

Accompanied by a massive Impact, a crater over ten meters in diameter was smashed into the ground. Rocks and dust exploded upward, and the entire block vibrated wildly.

As the smoke and dust slowly cleared, the state of the bottom of the crater was revealed.

Black Sky lay in the center of the pit, his body deeply embedded in the cracked concrete.

At this moment, he looked wretched. Large areas of flesh had been erased by the energy, revealing the charred bones beneath.

However, such injuries were not enough to kill Black Sky.

The flesh on his body began to writhe frantically. Meat buds grew rapidly from the edges of the wounds, constantly repairing his injuries.

Darian descended from the sky, his feet landing heavily in the crater.

Black Sky’s newly repaired body forced itself up, swinging a claw to counterattack.

Darian dodged directly, reached out to grab the twin-tails on Black Sky’s head—no, the two curved horns—slammed his head down, and simultaneously drove his right knee upward, smashing it heavily into Black Sky’s face.

Bang!

With a scalp-numbing Impact, Black Sky became dizzy and saw double when looking at Darian.

Darian didn’t stop. Alternating his fists, he swung left and right, raining punch after punch onto Black Sky’s face.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang—!

Every punch was wrapped in blue energy, piercing through Black Sky’s defenses and dealing true damage.

Even more excessively, the surface of the ultron armor’s fists had sprouted sharp spikes and barbs, just like a mace.

Whenever Darian’s fist landed, these spikes and barbs stabbed directly into Black Sky’s flesh. When the fist was pulled back, it tore away large patches of newly grown skin and meat. It was comparable to a gruesome torture, causing Black Sky to howl repeatedly.

"Aaaagh—!"

The black energy inside Black Sky suddenly erupted, and his injuries were repaired in an instant. The black wings on his back flapped violently as he tried to escape Darian’s control.

Darian reacted faster. He reached out with both hands and grabbed the base of Black Sky’s wings.

Rip!

With a loud tearing sound, the two ’chicken wings’ were brutally ripped from his back by Darian.

Black Sky’s body instantly lost balance. Having barely flown half a meter, he crashed heavily back to the bottom of the crater.

He turned his head and saw Darian standing behind him, whispering like a demon, "Why run, little demon? We haven’t played enough yet."

Black Sky’s whole body trembled subconsciously. He couldn’t help but recall the scene when he was caught and beaten by that bald woman.

He didn’t expect that after so many years, he would experience this feeling again.

"Don’t underestimate me, human!"

Black Sky was suddenly fly into a rage from shame.

He was an ancient demon, after all. Even if he was just a clone now, he shouldn’t be pushed to such a pathetic state by a human.

If word of this got out, he’d be too embarrassed to even greet other Dimensional Demon Gods when he ran into them.

Black Sky gritted his teeth. Ignoring whether this vessel could withstand it, he desperately channeled the black energy within him.

The next moment, his aura began to climb steadily. The black energy around him became so thick it was almost solid, and his body size began to swell frantically, eventually becoming even larger than the Hulk.

Standing before him, Darian only reached up to his waist.

"Roar!!"

An inhuman roar erupted from Black Sky’s mouth. His fist, carrying thick black energy, smashed fiercely toward Darian.

Darian didn’t take it head-on. The ultron armor instantly flew backward, easily dodging Black Sky’s attack.

At the same time, he raised both hands. Two piercing blue energy beams quickly condensed in his palms and blasted straight into Black Sky’s face.

Black Sky ignored it, raising his arm to block in front of him. Braving the blue energy beams, he charged toward Darian with brute force.

Under the continuous output of the blue energy beams, the flesh on his arms was stripped away layer by layer. But he forced his way through the blue energy beams to get in front of Darian. With both arms gone, he used his head to ram forward.

Duang!

With a crisp sound, their heads collided violently.

Under the reaction force, both of their heads snapped back.

Black Sky’s eyes were fierce as he slammed his head forward again.

Darian wasn’t afraid and actively met him.

He was the one wearing a helmet; who was afraid of whom!

Duang! Duang! Duang!

The collision sounds were continuous, each one louder than the last.

After an unknown number of hits, the two finally stopped.

Black Sky shook his massive head. His eyes were unfocused, he saw stars, and his feet were unsteady. He couldn’t even stand straight, his body swaying constantly.

Darian also shook his head, similarly a bit dazed, but his state was far better than Black Sky’s.

After all, he was wearing a helmet, and the ultron armor itself had extremely strong anti-vibration effects, which could maximize the offset of the Impact from the collision.

Darian quickly recovered.

While Black Sky was still dazed, Darian grabbed Black Sky’s head. His hands began to freeze, the cold air constantly freezing Black Sky’s head, preparing to crush it in one go.

"Roar!"

Black Sky reacted in time. A scalding heat wave erupted from his body, pushing back the incoming cold air.

Immediately after, he opened his large mouth, and a scorching pillar of fire erupted, spraying directly toward Darian.

He knew Darian could ignore the fires of Hell, but the ultron armor on him might not be able to.

Black Sky was betting that the ultron armor couldn’t withstand high temperatures. As long as he could burn this armor, Darian would be without protection, and he could take the opportunity to counterattack.

Unfortunately, his calculations were wrong.

Setting aside the fact that Darian’s ultron armor had long ago integrated the materials of the Destroyer armor, giving it inherent immunity to water and fire, even the fires of Hell couldn’t damage the ultron armor.

Moreover, the protective effect of the fire-repelling bead didn’t just work on Darian himself; it also covered all the equipment on his body, including this ultron armor.

The pillar of fire sprayed onto the ultron armor without producing any effect, not even a slight change in temperature.

Darian ignored the erosion of the flames and suddenly reached out with both hands, grabbing Black Sky’s upper and lower jaws.

Then, the ultron armor’s eyes burst with piercing blue light, the glow growing brighter and brighter.

Boom—!

Two blue energy beams, condensed to the extreme, shot directly from Darian’s eyes. Following the path through Black Sky’s forced-open mouth, they blasted fiercely into his body.

Black Sky let out a scream of extreme agony. His massive body began to tremble violently, and the black energy around him became frantically disordered.

He desperately tried to break free, but Darian’s hands held his jaws in a death grip. Darian had even activated his Super Armor state, entering an immovable condition.

No matter how much force Black Sky exerted, he couldn’t move Darian even an inch.

Regardless of his rapidly depleting mana, the blue energy beams from Darian’s eyes didn’t weaken in the slightest, pouring continuously into Black Sky’s body.

Under this infusion of destructive energy, Black Sky’s body was constantly being destroyed. To repair the wounds, the mental power Black Sky had attached to this vessel was being consumed at high speed, and it was about to hit rock bottom.

"No!"

Black Sky’s eyes were full of unwilling resentment.

He had finally waited until that bald woman was gone to come to Earth, only to be sent back with his tail between his legs like this.

Most importantly, now that the entire Hand was gone, he didn’t know when he’d be able to come to Earth again.

He was not reconciled!

"If I hadn’t temporarily chosen an unsuitable vessel, how could I have failed so easily!"

Black Sky was filled with grief and indignation. It was all Darian’s fault for interrupting his plan; otherwise, he could have descended to Earth using Elektra’s perfect vessel, and his strength would definitely have been much greater than it was now.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he stared fixedly at Darian.

"Wait, isn’t there a perfect vessel right in front of me?"