Chitauri Invasion

Loki sheathed the Longsword in his hand and seized Tony by the throat, his face somewhat twisted.

"You will all kneel before me."

Loki's superhuman strength clamped tightly around Tony's throat.

The next moment.

The crisp sound of shattering glass rang out.

Only then did Loki suddenly react and turn his head.

A lean figure stood behind Loki.

With a radiant smile, Leo looked at Loki before him. Golden Light gathered in his hand as he struck toward Loki's chest.

Loki's expression changed, and he took a large step back.

Yet Leo's slender little hand still pressed against Loki's chest. A tremendous force surged forth, sending him flying.

At the same time, a mass of Golden Light clung tightly to Loki's chest and burrowed into his body.

Loki slammed heavily into the wall, cracking the bricks behind him.

Yet his feet remained firmly planted on the ground as he straightened up.

He did not appear to be injured.

Tony saw Leo's arrival.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., what are you waiting for?"

Inside the room, a door slowly opened, and a crimson integrated fuselage barrel-shaped aircraft blasted out with flaming exhaust.

It streaked past Tony and rushed outside.

It unfurled high in the air as its complex subsystem transformation mechanisms began to deploy, unnecessary external components blasting away.

The entire aircraft rapidly transformed in midair.

In less than three seconds, it transformed into humanoid Iron Man Armor at low altitude and swiftly flew back into the room.

Tony spread his arms, his back facing the Mark VII Armor rapidly attaching itself to him.

The red-and-gold Armor flew behind Tony and decelerated sharply. The next moment, the mechanical mechanisms on the Mecha's wrists seized the laser calibration bracelets, and the Armor itself attached to him.

The segmented soft lining deployed by the Mark VII pulled Tony into the Armor and wrapped him tightly within it.

The two sides of the helmet closed together, and the resolute Mark VII faceplate snapped into place.

Before Tony's eyes, status bars rapidly appeared one after another.

The entire Mark VII rose slightly into the air.

The plasma sprayed from the Repulsor Blast thrusters on its back allowed Tony to hover steadily in the air, freeing up his hands.

Tony looked at Loki standing not far away and growled in a low voice.

"You also offended someone else—Agent Coulson."

A short blade suddenly appeared in Loki's hand.

But Tony was faster. He raised his arm and fired a blast, pinning Loki back against the wall.

The palm cannon's increased output ratio, along with the Repulsor Blast after a brief charge-up, was enough to hurt Loki.

Leo also stared blankly at the Mark VII Armor beside him.

He could not help but sigh, So cool!

The Mark VII looked bulkier than the Mark VI, with its surface returning to a rounded design. Its Arc Reactor had also reverted to the classic circular design.

Because of its thicker build, its weight had clearly increased as well. To avoid reducing its flight maneuverability, multiple booster thrusters had been added.

Repulsor Blast thrusters on its back, along the sides of its legs, and beneath both ribs.

Overall, it still looked unbelievably cool.

The short blade in Loki's hand fell to the ground, and only then did he notice the trace of Golden Light on his chest.

Leo smiled as well. The Golden Light had invaded far more slowly than it would have with an ordinary person, but part of it had already entered Loki's body.

He could roughly sense Loki's presence now.

Loki stood up while clutching his chest. Illusory divine radiance emerged from his body, frantically repelling Leo's Golden Light.

Without Leo's continued support, the mass of Golden Light attempting to take control of Loki quickly vanished amid its clash with Asgardian divine power.

Leo lightly curled a finger, and the short blade Loki had dropped shot toward him, stopping in front of him.

At the same time, he waved his hand. The Mind Scepter, which had been following behind him, flew out in a blur and plunged deeply into the ground beside the Tesseract Machine.

The metal short blade forged from Asgardian metal spun continuously in Leo's hand. Its sharp edge brushed over his palm as softly as a feather, leaving him completely unharmed.

Tony turned his head and said, "Leo, the Tesseract Device outside can't be shut down. If we want to—"

Before he could finish, a thick blue beam shot into the sky, stabbing straight upward.

It reached an altitude of a thousand meters, beneath the clouds.

A ripple traveled down from the top of the beam as a pitch-black Portal slowly expanded.

Tony froze for a moment and could not help looking up.

The Chitauri Soldiers, who had long been prepared, opened their tightly shut eyes.

Small two-man aircraft streamed endlessly out of the massive Portal.

Watching this unbelievable sight, Tony's eyes beneath his faceplate were filled with resolve and gravity.

"Come on."

The pale blue status bar dimmed and slid aside, while an entire red combat weapons status panel appeared before Tony.

"Army!"

Tony bent slightly and shot upward.

On every Chitauri aircraft, one person piloted the craft while the other stood behind them, wildly firing an Energy Weapon.

Mark VII rocketed upward, while large numbers of Chitauri Soldiers had already begun spreading across the entirety of Manhattan.

With the aid of his back thrusters, his hands fired continuously. Every Repulsor Blast took out either a Chitauri Soldier or a small aircraft.

But at such high speeds, even with J.A.R.V.I.S.'s assistance, Mark VII could not completely evade the downward-rushing stream of Chitauri Soldiers, and they collided.

Tony narrowed his eyes at the mass of aircraft.

The bulging weapon pods on his shoulders opened.

Each weapon pod contained forty-two Honeycomb Launch Units, each one holding a Micro-missile.

They featured a six-fin design and impact-detonation fuses.

All the missiles rapidly launched, trailing smoke behind them. Their infrared imaging tracking and composite guidance systems gave them exceptional maneuverability and tracking capability.

Each missile struck an aircraft. In just two or three seconds, dozens of Chitauri aircraft exploded, taking out more than a hundred Chitauri Soldiers.

But it was still only a drop in the bucket. Vast numbers of Chitauri Soldiers poured out, scattering across Manhattan and even throughout all of New York City.

A powerful energy beam could trigger a massive explosion simply by hitting a car. When it struck the ground or a wall, it exploded like a grenade, sending dust flying and Fragmented Stone scattering.

Such explosions were happening every moment.

Loki's hands and feet were locked to the ground with metal restraints. Leo lightly tapped the side of his glasses.

He watched the Chitauri Soldiers spreading in every direction.

His body trembled slightly as two enormous Purple-Gold phantom wings unfolded behind him.

At the same time, the short blade beside him, along with three golden Metal Darts, transformed into four streaks of light and shot away.