Sizzle!
Beneath the ice, golden rays cut wildly through the frozen layer. Nur had to dodge the attacks while avoiding the massive chunks of ice falling around him.
The excavation shaft wasn't very large, only a few dozen square meters, leaving Nur little room to maneuver. It was a difficult situation, but fortunately he wasn't alone.
A powerful figure shot into the air like a cannonball, heading straight for Ikaris. It was Ellis, a physically enhanced Inhuman.
However, such a direct attack was nothing to Ikaris. With just a slight twist in the air, he easily dodged, causing Ellis to miss and crash into the ice wall, creating a deep hole upon impact.
As Ellis stumbled out, dazed, he was met with another blast of Ikaris' golden heat vision.
Fortunately, Ellis was physically stronger. Though Ikaris' heat vision was powerful, it wasn't at the level of Superman's. The searing rays made Ellis scream in pain, burning his skin badly, but they weren't powerful enough to pierce him instantly.
Still, it was only a matter of time. Ikaris had almost limitless energy, while Ellis' endurance had its limits.
But the other Inhumans weren't going to stand by and watch. Just as Ikaris was concentrating on "roasting" Ellis, a lean figure suddenly fell from above and landed directly on his back.
It was Alvak, who had originally been standing guard above the mine.
When Ikaris entered the ice shaft, Alvak hadn't noticed right away—not because he was careless, but because he was alone and had to monitor all directions. Most of his focus was on the ground, not the sky.
On top of that, Ikaris had appeared suddenly, moving with incredible speed and making no noise as he flew. In the time it took Alvak to lower his head, look up and turn around, Ikaris had already entered the shaft.
However, the sounds of battle and his comrades' shouts quickly alerted him. He immediately slid down, arriving just in time to see his allies being overpowered.
Without hesitation, he leapt into the air and landed on Ikaris, who was acting purely on instinct due to the Eternal Madness.
Despite his slim build, the force of his landing made Ikaris stagger slightly, interrupting his attack on Ellis and giving the others a brief moment to recover.
But Alvak didn't stop there. After landing, he wrapped his left arm around Ikaris' neck while his right hand slashed the dagger at his throat.
Then came an awkward realization—no matter how much he slashed, he couldn't even scratch Ikaris' skin.
It was expected. Alvak's dagger wasn't made of vibranium or any other high-grade metal—just a strong alloy. There was no way it could cut through the body of an Eternal.
Ikaris didn't want to give him time to think. He reached out to grab Alvak, but Alvak was as slippery as an eel, twisting and slipping from his grasp.
If Ikaris weren't as strong and durable as he was, he might have already been taken down by Alvak's grappling techniques—just like how a certain Black Widow would do in the future.
But even in his berserk state, the "Little Superman" reacted instinctively—plummeting straight toward the solid ice below.
At this speed and height, Ikaris, being an Eternal, would be completely fine. But Alvak? He would not be so lucky.
At the last moment before impact, Alvak was forced to flip backwards, separating from Ikaris. The remaining force of the fall sent him rolling for a dozen meters before he finally came to a stop. He lay there for a while, struggling to get up—his body was now riddled with fractures and bruises.
If not for the enhanced physique granted by Terrigenesis and the sturdy uniform he was wearing, he might have ended up crippled or dead.
On the other hand, Ikaris slammed into the ice with full force, creating a deep crater.
But in the next second, he stood up unharmed and floated back into the air. His golden eyes locked on the wounded Alvak and prepared to fire.
Before he could, a barrage of energy bolts struck his face and torso.
Ambur and Nur had recovered in the short time they had and drawn their weapons—sleek, sci-fi-looking pistols, remnants of Kree technology.
Though not the most powerful weapons, they could easily penetrate the armor of a military vehicle.
But against Ikaris? The blasts barely made his head tilt, as if they had only annoyed him. They couldn't even mess up his hair.
"Shit, is this guy even human?" Nur muttered in disbelief.
"I've never seen a human who can fly without wings and is completely bulletproof," Ambur said with a forced grin.
"Could he be one of us? He doesn't seem right—looks like he's gone berserk!" Nur dodged Ikaris' heat vision with a dive and yelled at Ambur, who had taken cover.
"I don't know! But someone this strong definitely isn't an ordinary human. And right now we should be thinking about how to escape, not trying to figure out what he is!" Ambur shouted back.
"Can't you use your powers to control him?" Alvak, who had used the distraction to escape, now crouched beside Nur.
"No use! Ambur and I both tried—our powers don't work on him!" Nur snapped.
Ambur's mind control and Nur's hypnotic gaze were incredibly effective against normal beings.
But Eternals weren't normal beings. Even if they could reproduce, that didn't change the fact that they weren't truly biological in the same sense as humans.
Their abilities were completely useless against Ikaris.
"Damn it, just die already!"
Ellis, now recovered, charged at Ikaris again.
But this time, the enraged Ikaris, irritated by the repeated attacks, didn't even bother to dodge. Instead, he threw a punch of his own.
Their fists collided.
A loud crack rang through the air.
Ellis let out a scream as he was sent flying.
Did he really think that his enhanced strength could take on an Eternal? Even among the Eternals, Ikaris wasn't the strongest—Gilgamesh was the real powerhouse, a being who could literally arm-wrestle Odin. If Ikaris didn't fear him, why would he be afraid of some Inhuman?
Trying to match Ikaris in raw power? Unless you had a vibranium shield like Captain America, that was nothing more than a death wish.
By the time Ellis struggled to his feet, his right arm—the one he had used to clash fists with Ikaris—was completely limp, rendered useless.
But the berserker Ikaris showed no mercy. He charged through the desperate gunfire of Nur and the others, pinned Ellis to the ice, and pummeled him relentlessly. Within moments, the strongest physical enhancer among the Inhumans was battered and bloodied, barely clinging to life.
The other three could only watch helplessly. They had no way to intervene.
--
Join Patreon to read ahead!