Hawk stared blankly at the torn sky above Manhattan, where endless darkness had been exposed.
Above Manhattan, an eerie blue light shot into the heavens, repeatedly striking the gap in the sky as though it were opening a passage through space.
The space opened overhead looked as if it had been brutally torn apart by an invisible hand. Eerie blue light flickered continuously along its edges, crackling and hissing.
Hawk instinctively lowered his gaze to his right hand.
But...
The next second.
He came to his senses.
No.
The sky had not been torn apart by him. It had been torn apart by the Space Stone.
2012.
The Chitauri invasion!
A thought flashed through Hawk's mind as he realized the current point in the timeline. With a swish, his gaze returned to the torn sky.
Sure enough.
As the portal opened over Manhattan, Chitauri Soldiers poured through it like a swarm of metallic locusts being tipped out.
They surged forth all at once!
The Chitauri Soldiers arriving on Earth rode sleek individual flying craft that glinted with cold, harsh light. Their engines emitted piercing whines that set teeth on edge, while dark alloy carapaces tightly wrapped around their inhuman bodies.
BOOM!
As the first Chitauri Soldier pulled the trigger on his energy weapon, the glass curtain wall of a Manhattan skyscraper was instantly pierced and exploded.
"Walaa!"
"Attack!"
"Invade, invade!"
"Kill them!"
The swarming Chitauri Soldiers let out excited howls. Once they emerged from the wormhole, they quickly determined their respective tasks.
Some Chitauri Soldiers lowered their craft and flew toward the streets of Manhattan.
Others raised their craft, confirmed their attack directions in midair, and swept toward Brooklyn.
Of course.
Queens was also within the Chitauri Soldiers' attack range.
"Holy shit!"
"What is that?"
"Aliens are invading Earth?"
"They're coming this way!"
"Gasp!"
"God!"
"Run!"
"Ah!"
Like Manhattan, which had already descended into complete chaos, the residents of Queens shrieked as they saw the Chitauri firing energy weapons while wantonly punching through skyscrapers, setting cars ablaze, and killing civilians. They fled in every direction they believed to be safe.
The monstrous cries of the Chitauri Soldiers.
The crashing destruction of skyscrapers.
The scorching explosions of cars being blasted apart.
The wails of slain civilians and the desperate cries of people fleeing in panic. At that moment, all of New York City had fallen into overwhelming terror.
Standing on the rooftop, Hawk instinctively turned to return to the apartment.
But...
The instant he turned around, he abruptly stopped. As though he had remembered something, he turned back and looked up at the Chitauri Soldiers shrieking through the sky toward Queens like a plague of locusts.
One Chitauri Soldier piloting a flying craft overhead and screeching toward this area spotted Hawk standing on the rooftop.
After all, invaders loved nothing more than watching helpless civilians scream and wail beneath their assault as they tried to flee the slaughter.
So while everyone else was fleeing in panic, Hawk alone stood there without moving. He was impossible not to notice.
Their eyes met.
Within Hawk's azure eyes, a star seemed to flicker.
"Human!"
The Chitauri Soldier stared at Hawk, who was looking directly at him. Beneath his dark alloy faceplate, his snake-like eyes seemed to receive some kind of signal. He broke away from the formation, piloting his craft as he dove toward Hawk on the rooftop.
The first thing he did was fire an energy blast.
Energy filled with destructive force gathered at the front of the craft. The instant it condensed into shape, it was fired directly at Hawk.
Hawk watched the energy blast rapidly expand in his vision, his pupils contracting slightly.
BOOM!
The energy blast struck the rooftop floor, instantly shattering it with a thunderous explosion and throwing up clouds of dust.
The Chitauri Soldier saw Hawk vanish the instant the blast hit, only to appear on the other side completely unharmed. Without showing any expression, he pulled the trigger again.
BANG, BANG, BANG!
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
The apartment rooftop seemed to have welcomed the apocalypse as the Chitauri Soldier relentlessly bombarded it with energy blasts.
Broken stone flew everywhere.
Dust filled the air.
Hawk's figure darted continuously through the dust, dodging one energy blast after another from the Chitauri Soldier.
His body shifted rapidly beneath the Chitauri Soldier's barrage.
At first, Hawk had been somewhat flustered, but now he had calmed down and was handling it with ease.
It had taken him less than a minute.
Saint Seiya had been born for war.
The Chitauri Soldier kept firing.
BANG BANG—CLICK!
With a crisp sound, the soldier firing energy blasts abruptly froze, then looked down at the craft's empty energy magazine.
Just then.
The wind howled.
The Chitauri Soldier looked up. A shattered steel panel from a water tank came screaming out of the dust and slammed into his flying craft with a BANG!
Struck by the broken steel panel, the craft lurched sharply. The Chitauri Soldier riding it instinctively lifted off, but lost his balance and fell straight from the craft.
THUD!
"Hiss!"
The Chitauri Soldier who had fallen onto the rooftop quickly rose to his feet and drew the weapon from his back. It resembled a firearm, but it too used an eerie green energy source as its core.
"Hiss hiss hiss!"
The Chitauri Soldier made incomprehensible sounds, as though he were saying something—or perhaps communicating with his own kind.
Hawk did not quite understand what the Chitauri Soldier was doing, but he did not care much.
After all...
They were fighting. Focus!
After the Chitauri Soldier's frenzied assault, the apartment rooftop had already been shattered beyond recognition.
Though it had not collapsed yet, it was not much different from having collapsed.
More than half the rooftop floor had caved in. Some sections had even continued falling after collapsing, crashing all the way down to the third floor and exposing the apartments across three levels.
Yet no one noticed what was happening on the rooftop.
New Yorkers might not excel at much, but when it came to staying alive, no one understood survival better than they did.
After growing up amid countless shootings and terrorist attacks, New Yorkers had long mastered the art of turning around and running for their lives the instant danger appeared.
The dust on the rooftop gradually dispersed.
Very soon.
Hawk's figure emerged.
The Chitauri Soldier looked at Hawk appearing before him. A cold glint flashed through his eerie green eyes as he instantly pulled the trigger.
"Die!"
"..."
Before you continue