A New Era

"Ha ha ha ha! That's right! Just like that! Slaughter! Destruction! Ruin! Let the whole world burn!"

Watching the entire Moon Fortress become engulfed in blinding light and violent explosions, Alexander Pierce fell into an uncontrollable frenzy, like a lunatic who had taken far too many drugs.

His demonization was no longer limited to his body. It had infected his soul, the very essence of his life.

That hysterical state of mind made it hard to connect him with the calm, rational, patient mastermind he had once been—the man willing to spend decades slowly realizing his ambitions and dreams.

A Hydra soldier had merely shown a frightened expression before being instantly blasted to death by a Fireball he launched. Even the corpse had turned into a puddle of blackened carbon.

Impossible to communicate with!

Completely unreasonable!

Entirely self-centered, with no regard whatsoever for the looks of others!

Nick Fury, who had witnessed the scene with his own eyes, was soaked through with sweat.

He might not have feared a calm and rational Alexander Pierce, but he had every reason to fear a lunatic who could do something earth-shattering at any moment.

Because lunatics could not be predicted through experience, familiarity, or interests. Or rather, they simply did not care about such things. All they wanted was a thrill.

In that regard, Abyss demons had something in common with the Greenskins of the Warhammer Universe.

The latter never considered the consequences when pursuing the sheer exhilaration of battle.

Whether they faced ordinary Milky Way powers such as the Imperium of Man, the Eldar, and the T'au, or terrifying forces like the Necrons, Tyranids, and Chaos Daemons—beings that made the legs of most civilizations tremble—they would charge forward without hesitation for a brutal, fist-to-fist, blood-drawing contest between "real men." Even if they