The Aggrieved Hulk

Under Natasha and the surrounding bystanders' watchful eyes, Hulk leaped high into the air and flew rapidly toward the other end of the street.

Boom! Although Richard had not struck with full force, Hulk still flew dozens of meters before crashing heavily onto the street, smashing a visible impact crater into the ground.

The crater was not particularly deep, and the force of the impact was nothing to Hulk's thick skin and sturdy frame.

But compared to the damage to his body, the damage to Hulk's pride was far greater.

Simply put, ever since his "birth," he had never suffered such humiliation.

After all, he was usually the one sending others flying.

And now, he had actually been sent flying himself.

More importantly, he had been sent flying in front of Natasha.

Unlike Banner, Hulk never hid his affection for Natasha.

Otherwise, Natasha would not have become the only person among the Avengers who could make him obediently hand control of his body back to Banner.

Though Hulk did not yet understand love between a man and a woman, there was one thing he knew for certain: he did not want Natasha to look down on him.

If Natasha's careless remark had merely stirred up Hulk's competitive spirit before—

Then now, he was truly angry.

Or rather, furious!

To Hulk, anger was like adrenaline to an Ordinary Person. It could greatly enhance his already unreasonable strength and physique.

Hulk, who had not suffered much damage, immediately climbed to his feet. He turned to Richard and let out a roar like that of an ancient beast.

Then, like a crazed rhinoceros, he charged wildly toward Richard.

Thud thud thud thud thud...

Hulk's footsteps boomed like war drums.

They were heavy, but they also carried an astonishing sense of power.

Every step Hulk took left a crater-like footprint in the smooth, hard street.

In the blink of an eye, Hulk had charged up to Richard, raising his right fist and swinging it viciously at Richard's head.

Faced with Hulk's attack, Richard did not use Teleportation to dodge. Instead, he swung Masamune.

Earth Shake!

Four Consecutive Slashes, swift as lightning, appeared in an instant. Masamune's razor-sharp blade repeatedly cut across Hulk's body.

Slash slash slash boom!

Unlike the Earth Shake Richard had used before, its final slash sent Hulk flying as it cut across his body.

Earth Shake's final slash had always possessed the effect of knocking enemies away.

It was just that Richard had rarely used it before—or rather, he had never had much opportunity to use the knockback effect of Earth Shake's final slash.

There was no need to mention ordinary Mutant Agents and Special Forces Members.

The first three slashes of Earth Shake were enough to kill them.

Benjamin, the Action Department Director of the Los Angeles Branch, had originally had the chance to experience the knockback effect of Earth Shake's final slash.

But unfortunately, Richard's Earth Shake had only been Level 2 at the time, and had not yet reached the point where he could freely adjust its power.

Now, he finally had an opportunity to use the knockback effect of Earth Shake's final slash.

Before everyone's eyes, Hulk was sent flying once again. He flew backward for dozens of meters before crashing heavily onto the street.

Whether it was Natasha, who knew Hulk better, or the bystanders who, like Richard, had only seen reports about Hulk online, none of them had expected Hulk—far larger than Richard—to be sent flying twice in a row within just a few seconds.

Not only had they not expected it, even Hulk himself had not expected things to develop this way.

In his view, all he needed was to use a little strength to crush Richard, who looked like a skinny little monkey.

But the result was that, even now, he had not been able to touch Richard at all.

Not only that, Richard had left five or six wounds on him.

Though Hulk did not know Richard very well, he knew that he disliked Richard—very much.

Just like before, Hulk quickly got back up and charged at Richard once more.

Then, with a bang, Richard sent him flying again.

Realizing that he could not easily touch Richard, Hulk immediately changed tactics.

He came to a sedan and effortlessly lifted it up.

Then, he used the car in his hands as a weapon and smashed it viciously toward Richard.

Seeing Hulk change tactics and begin attacking him by throwing cars, Richard still did not use Teleportation. Instead, relying on his own agility, he calmly dodged the cars Hulk hurled at him.

For cars he could avoid with just one step—or even half a step—to the side, he chose to dodge directly, letting them fly past only centimeters from him.

If a car required several steps to avoid, he would use Masamune to cut it in half, letting the two halves fly past on either side of him.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang...

Car after car was hurled out by the Hulk as if they cost nothing.

Although he had aimed at Richard as best he could, the cars he threw never once managed to touch him.

Not only that, seeing Richard calmly dodge his attacks only made the already furious Hulk even angrier.

Before long, the nearby cars had all been thrown away by the Hulk.

These cars, struck by this undeserved disaster, lay scattered across the street behind Richard like garbage.

Although the Hulk's Ranged Attacks failed to harm Richard, his actions caused no small amount of trouble for the surrounding Bystanders.

When the Hulk threw the first car, the Bystanders behind Richard realized that the Hulk did not care about their presence at all.

They had thought they were far enough away to safely stay and watch the show.

However, reality proved that watching a battle between superhumans up close was an extremely risky thing to do.

Even if they were not the Hulk's targets.

Flying shards of glass and wreckage from the cars were just as deadly to them.

After several unlucky people were struck by glass shards and car wreckage, the Bystanders filming Richard and the Hulk with their phones finally realized that they were merely bystanders, not frontline reporters who needed to risk their lives for a headline.

No one needed to remind them. After seeing those injured unlucky people, the Bystanders took off running as though fleeing a disaster.

Neither Richard nor the Hulk paid any attention to the Bystanders.

After the Hulk had thrown all the nearby cars, Richard raised Masamune and said to him.

"Your Ranged Attacks are over. Now it's my turn."

After saying that, he raised his right hand, palm facing upward, and drew upon the magic power within his body.

Black Magic Crystal! As his magic power was consumed, a pitch-black energy sphere, twenty to thirty centimeters in diameter and resembling a Black Hole, appeared in Richard's right palm.

For those who had never played Final Fantasy VII, it was difficult to tell what kind of skill Black Magic Crystal was just from its name.

The so-called Black Magic Crystal was actually the summoning of a meteor formed from magic power to fall from the sky and attack the enemy.

In the game, the power of Black Magic Crystal was fixed.

But the power of the Black Magic Crystal Richard had mastered depended entirely on how much magic power he consumed.

Put simply, the more magic power he consumed, the larger the meteor he summoned, and naturally, the greater its power.

Furthermore, he could decide the height from which the meteor descended.

In the game, the meteor would only fall from a height of around ten or twenty meters above the target's head.

But here, Richard could freely choose whether the meteor fell from a few dozen centimeters above the target or from High Altitude thousands of meters overhead.

The greater the height, the stronger the impact.

But likewise, the greater the height, the lower the chance of hitting the target.

Unless the target failed to notice the falling meteor and foolishly remained where they were.