Marvel With Zanpakutou

"Ugh..ahhhhhh!!"

Ikaris’s eyes widened to the point of tearing, veins bulging as he plunged into utter madness. From his throat came a beast-like roar, laced with hatred, pain, resentment, regret, every tormenting emotion at once.

He watched helplessly as the brothers and sisters who had lived beside him day after day, as close as blood kin, died one after another in order to save him. Pain and hatred pierced his body like a million sharp blades.

They were ten siblings in all.

For thousands of years they had stood side by side, even driving back the most powerful of the mutant races. Yet now, here on this icy plain, they were being slaughtered like livestock, three lives lost in a single battle.

For the already-few Eternals, this was a devastating blow.

And more importantly...

Among them, the most vital member, the Eternal Supreme Ajak, was still here. If she were to die saving him, then he would become the greatest sinner in this Eternal squad.

The Eternal Supreme Ajak was the only one who could contact the Celestial Arishem, and the only hope they had of returning to their homeworld. Even if he died, he could not let anything happen to Ajak.

"No... get out of here... Ajak!" Ikaris left two trails of bloody tears as his fingers carved five bloody grooves into the ground. Crying out in agony, he pleaded, "Don’t come to save me, just leave, please!"

"I can’t! I won’t leave!"

Ajak raised her golden staff, summoning a golden, semi-dome curtain of rain around her. Her gaze was unwavering as she said, "I’m the leader of this squad. I have the authority to protect each and every one of you. They’ve already sacrificed themselves... I will not let you be next!"

Her abilities were fairly limited, unlike the others, she lacked great offensive power. But she was the only one who could heal others’ injuries, so her role in the team was more akin to a support, a healer.

As the gentle golden light flowed from Ajak’s hands, Ikaris’s wounds began to mend, his severed arm and leg were slowly regrowing.

At this healing rate, she would need only another minute to restore Ikaris to full strength.

But the problem was...

The enemy would never simply stand by and allow that to happen.

"No... Ajak, go now!"

Ikaris’s eyes widened in terror as he looked to the sky, the man’s gaze had already locked onto the Supreme Ajak.

Before his warning even ended, a blazing blue arrow of light ripped through the air like a shooting star, slamming into the golden rain curtain with a deafening boom.

Bang!

Ripples spread violently from the point of impact, and the curtain wavered dangerously, as though it would shatter at any second.

Yet, it still held.

"Go, Ajak! Forget about me, he’s after you!" Ikaris realized the man’s true target was clearly the Supreme Ajak, and he urged her desperately to flee.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Hundreds of blue light-arrows poured down like a torrential storm, hammering the golden curtain and sending wave after wave of ripples through it. The entire space trembled violently.

The golden staff standing beside her cracked all over under the relentless bombardment, fine fractures spreading across its surface. The golden gem at its tip dimmed further and further.

The golden rain curtain... was about to give way.

"It’s too late... please, Ajak, go now! Leave me! Stop worrying about me!!"

Ikaris begged in anguish for Ajak to abandon him.

But her only response was an even brighter surge of golden light, and that steadfast, unshakable gaze.

After thousands of years together, he knew exactly what that look meant.

Never abandon. Never give up.

Ikaris’s heart bled. He wished she could be just a little more selfish now, leave him and run from that devil.

"Almost done! Just give me a little more time!" Ajak poured more energy into her healing, ignoring Ikaris’s pleas and never glancing back at the enemy, focusing every ounce of strength on mending her comrade’s injuries.

That slightly haggard face was beading with fine sweat, each droplet joining into lines that ran down to the chin before falling, clearly showing he had pushed his ability to the very limit.

Crack!

The crisp, unmistakable sound of shattering metal rang out, overpowering all the noise outside. In Ikaris and Ajak’s ears, it was unbearably sharp.

"The artifact... can’t hold on much longer!" Ikaris cried out in alarm, his expression turning even uglier.

The golden scepter standing beside them was covered in terrifying cracks from top to bottom, and the gem inlaid at its tip had grown so dim it was nearly extinguished.

Once that scepter completely broke, it would mean the disappearance of the golden rain curtain, and when that happened, neither of them would escape death.

They were racing against time.

And the ticket for this race... was the lives of the two of them.

Would the golden rain curtain collapse first, burying them both under the blue light arrows?

Or could Ajak heal Ikaris in time, letting them both escape to safety?

Ikaris’s heart was lodged in his throat, he knew that man hadn’t even used his full strength yet.

If he so much as used the power from earlier, it would only take one or two strikes to smash the golden rain curtain and kill them both on the spot.

The only reason he hadn’t...

Perhaps was simply to enjoy watching them struggle before death.

Please... just a little faster!

Ikaris looked at the swaying, fragile golden rain curtain, praying for the healing to go faster. Once his legs were fully restored, he could take Ajak and fly away from here.

His prayer, however, seemed to have no effect.

Floating in midair, the man seemed to lose interest. He raised a hand and drew it across in front of him.

Azure radiance condensed, forming into a great bow shaped like a waning crescent moon. His other hand drew back an invisible bowstring, upon which a glowing azure arrow materialized.

Thrum!

The bowstring snapped with a thunderclap, rippling the clouds for a thousand miles.

In a thousandth of a second, an azure arrow streaked across the sky, trailing a spiraling gale like a falling star. Its descent was so immense it could rival a blow that split the heavens.

Rumble!

The instant the azure light arrow struck the ground, it erupted into a blinding glare, clouds of smoke hundreds of meters high billowing upward, countless shards of rock blasted into the air.

A visible shockwave blasted out in all directions, shaking the mountains and forests in its path. Like steel blades plowing through the land, it carved deep, jagged scars into the earth, the deafening sonic boom carrying for hundreds of kilometers.

The ground was left with a crater a hundred meters deep, from just a single arrow.

"Ran away?"

The man’s gaze did not linger on the crater, but instead turned toward the billowing smoke. With superhuman eyesight, he locked onto a direction.

Within the smoke, a faint and fading golden light was darting away at several times the speed of sound, Ikaris and Ajak.

It turned out that, in the very last second, Ikaris hadn’t waited for a full recovery. He had grabbed Ajak and flown off, squeezing the last of his strength from his half-healed body.

Doing so might kill him afterward.

But Ikaris could no longer endure watching a comrade die before his eyes, especially when that person was the Supreme of the Eternals, tied to their mission on Earth and the hope of everyone returning home.

"Heh... running pretty fast."

The man’s gaze locked on the single remaining point of light far away, a trace of mockery in his eyes. "But you think you can offend me and then run? What, do you think I’m running a charity?"

Target... locked.

Starting position... confirmed.

"No one... can stand in my way."

A gun appeared in the man’s hand. His eyes narrowed slightly, and then he pulled the trigger.

"Pierce All, Divine Annihilation Arrow!"

Boom!

An azure arrow blazed across the heavens like a meteor, finally vanishing into the distant horizon.