Battle's End

Sprawled across the rubble and broken tiles of a collapsed building, Abomination could not accept the reality before him. With a body comparable to the Hulk's, perhaps even stronger, he was actually the one who had been knocked to the ground.

This was the one outcome that should never have happened!

"Roar!"

Abomination roared furiously, yet even his roar carried a hint of weakness.

He would tear that person apart alive, crush every piece of flesh and bone in his body into pulp, and use his blood to wash away the humiliation of being wounded and beaten back!

Abomination thought this with savage hatred and malice. But before he could climb back to his feet, his left eye obscured by blood, a flash of light suddenly lit up before him in his green-tinted vision!

Whoosh!!

The sword tip pierced through the cloud of dust hanging over the ruins, and along with it, the sound barrier! That was why the tip arrived first, followed only afterward by the sound of the sword breaking the sound barrier!

Abomination reacted swiftly and grabbed the blade, but the sword tip still reached his throat. The sharp Retro Longsword split his tough outer skin and immediately pierced deep into the muscle, sending blood spraying out!

Everything had happened too suddenly.

Only then did Abomination see the silver-haired boy who had charged right up to him.

"Did you think you were still the only hunter on the field?"

Xi Nian's shoulder-length silver hair whipped wildly behind him as his emotionless eyes stared at Abomination.

From the moment he chose to face him with a shield, the identities of hunter and prey had reversed! And when he accidentally triggered his ability, blasting Abomination away and reclaiming the Retro Longsword, he had seized the initiative in that moment of battle.

Now, pressing his advantage and giving it everything he had, Xi Nian intended to turn this brief edge into victory!

"I've never killed a person before, but you're a monster, so it doesn't matter." Xi Nian spoke without emotion. At the same time, he gathered the remaining Divine Power within him, along with every last bit of his strength, into his hands and feet, and shoved the sword forward with all his might.

Sizzle!

Green blood with corrosive properties continuously seeped from Abomination's throat and palm. The Retro Longsword sank deeper inch by inch, like a massive nail being driven into Abomination's throat!

Having never expected to be forced directly into such a desperate situation, Abomination's remaining eye widened to its limit. The disbelief on his face gradually faded, replaced by a crazed, manic grin.

Xi Nian suddenly felt a sense of foreboding, but he absolutely could not stop or retreat now. If he lost this chance and Abomination recovered, he would not only fail to kill Abomination—he might not even be able to escape!

That was right.

He had forced himself into a dead end as well!

Abomination suddenly released the hand gripping the sword blade, allowing the sword to sink deeper into his body without obstruction. Even Xi Nian had not anticipated that move.

Then—

Abomination thrust both hands forward, wrapped his fingers around Xi Nian's body and head, and clenched down.

Almost instantly, Xi Nian felt as though two mountains were crushing his body together. He could not breathe!

"So that's it." Xi Nian understood Abomination's intentions as well.

At this critical moment of life and death, Abomination had abandoned defense and chosen to keep attacking!

Crack, crack, crack!

Every bone in Xi Nian's body crackled like beans in a frying pan. Every inch of him was being compressed, his entire body seeming ready to burst past its breaking point! With Abomination's enormous palms enclosing him, he could not see the other's condition either.

Even with his throat pierced, he still could not kill him?

"If this keeps up, I might be the one who dies first."

Xi Nian knew that very clearly, but he knew even more clearly that Abomination was trying to force him to stop.

His opponent should have reached his limit too. Otherwise, with the brute strength he possessed in close combat, Xi Nian definitely would not have lasted ten seconds. Yet more than ten seconds had already passed, which meant Abomination's strength had weakened!

If he stopped and gave up now, then he would truly lose.

Xi Nian gritted his teeth and held on. He exhausted all his strength to shove the sword all the way in, then swung it to the left.

But the sword seemed jammed between muscle and bone. No matter how hard Xi Nian tried, he could not move the Retro Longsword even a fraction!

Within the dark building.

Xi Nian and Abomination confronted each other face-to-face. Xi Nian's sword was buried in Abomination's throat, while Abomination's hands gripped Xi Nian's body. Their duel was nearing its end!

Yet until the very last second, no one could tell who would lose, who would win, or whether they would perish together!

"My body... can't hold on much longer!"

Xi Nian's body was on the verge of collapsing, yet he still could not move the sword in his hand.

Was this the end?

Filled with unwillingness, Xi Nian poured his final shred of strength into the sword.

Splat!

The sword in his hand suddenly slashed leftward. Xi Nian froze slightly as the giant hands gripping him lost all strength and fell to the ground with a thud. He opened his eyes and saw Abomination, whose head was nearly severed from his body. Only a strip of flesh remained connecting his throat, and his single eye held the same intense unwillingness!

"In the end... I won?"

Xi Nian could hardly believe it for a moment. He even forgot that his body had already been drained dry, and his legs gave out beneath him. But instead of crashing into the rubble-strewn ground, his back fell into an all-too-familiar embrace.

"What do you think?"

A clear, pleasant voice sounded beside his ear. Xi Nian's eyes widened as he saw the person he had wanted most to see at that moment of life and death.

"Auntie... Auntie."

Even Xi Nian did not know when he had called out to her without realizing it.

"Look at the state you've gotten yourself into." Diana looked at Xi Nian, her tone carrying a trace of reproach.

"Auntie, I was wrong."

The Xi Nian who had been gambling his life against Abomination just moments ago now drooped his ears and obediently accepted the scolding, leaving Diana both annoyed and amused.

But more than anything, she felt fortunate.

Fortunate that she had still made it in time.

"We'll talk when we get home."

Diana stood over six feet tall. She now wore a suit of Golden Battle Armor that gleamed all over, like a golden knight.

She acted just as decisively. Hooking an arm beneath Xi Nian's legs, she lifted him in a princess carry.

In the embrace of the mature, tall Diana, middle-schooler Xi Nian looked petite. His silver hair lay lightly against the Golden Battle Armor, making them look like a knight and a princess.

Well, there did not seem to be anything wrong with that.

Xi Nian even tugged at his skirt to keep himself from flashing anyone, though there was no one around to see anyway.

Diana glanced at Abomination's corpse on the ground, then pulled her hand across Xi Nian's body and somehow drew out that Golden Rope.

Diana smashed directly through the remnants of the building's ceiling and shot into the sky with Xi Nian. The lasso seemed to catch onto something in the night sky, and the two rapidly leaped away beneath the darkness.

"Oh, right." High in the air, Xi Nian wrapped his arms around his aunt's slender neck as if he had remembered something.

"What is it?" Diana asked, using the Lasso of Truth to carry him over the city's buildings.

"Um... never mind." Xi Nian looked back. Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a small, graceful figure darting between the skyscrapers in a district below and behind them, then shook his head.

At this moment, within the city district where flames and smoke had yet to clear.

"Is it over?"

Staring at Abomination's massive beheaded corpse in the distance, the American soldier remained dazed for a long time, until the communicator in his hand rang out. "Support forces will arrive at the scene shortly. Surviving soldiers, report the situation!"

"The situation? The target's dead. Does that count as a situation?"

The American soldier felt as if he were dreaming. That monster, which had effortlessly slaughtered his entire unit, had ultimately been beheaded and killed by someone?

He gave a brief report through the communicator, though he knew that once he returned to base, the verbal and written reports waiting for him would surely be terrifyingly long!

But—

Being alive after tonight was already God's blessing. What was there to complain about?

The American soldier turned to look inside the building he was in, then froze again.

The living room sofa was empty. Spider-Woman, who had been lying there unconscious all this time, had already vanished without a trace.

And no one noticed—

At the edge of the city district serving as the battlefield, a green figure resembling Abomination, though somewhat smaller, lurked in the shadows of a building.

Sensing that Abomination's life force had vanished, the green giant looked toward a corner of the night sky, both curious and eager for battle. In the end, his body retreated into the darkness behind him, as though he had never been there.

Undercurrents surged through this city. What had happened here, including recordings of some of the details, would spread across the world in barely half an hour.

No matter what.

Tonight's extraordinary battle had reached its end, but the impact it would create afterward was bound to run far deeper!