Afghanistan, the Kandahar Mountains.
Inside the camp, the Ten Rings members were on high alert.
Not long ago, Tony Stark had escaped from their grasp. After suffering a heavy loss, Raza had armed the camp to the teeth.
RPGs and ammunition crates were piled in the corners, heavy machine guns were mounted on the rocky walls, and autocannons had been installed on the high lookout towers.
Inside a tent, Raza stood with his hands behind his back in front of a roughly assembled Iron Suit, wearing a smug smile.
Though the suit was crude, with messy welds, it was the Mark 1 Armor Tony Stark had welded together from scrap metal while trapped in a cave. It overturned conventional wisdom. Even Raza could tell that this Iron Suit could change the face of warfare.
"Stark can make something like this out of junk. No wonder he's the smartest man in the world." Raza grinned viciously, his eyes full of greed. "With this thing, that old fox Obadiah will keep working with me."
Suddenly, one of his men rushed in. "Boss! Three groups have arrived outside. They demand we hand over the suit, or they'll flatten the camp!"
Raza's heart tightened. "How many of them?"
"Thirteen... thirteen people."
"Huh?" Raza thought he'd misheard. "Thirteen?"
"Yes."
Raza kicked him. The man flew backward and landed face-first in the dirt.
"Useless! What's there to fear from thirteen people? We have more than thirteen RPGs!"
"Pass on my orders. Chop up those thirteen fools who don't know their place and feed them to the dogs!"
Roaring, Raza grabbed the AK-47 in the corner, his eyes blazing with fury.
Tony's escape had been a fluke. Surely he could handle thirteen stragglers.
Even if they were the most elite Delta Force special forces, they'd still end up on their knees begging for mercy against his hundreds of armed men and dozens of RPGs!
Outside the camp, thirteen figures leaned casually against the rocks.
They weren't special forces. They were three Reincarnator teams affiliated with Obadiah's faction.
"Brother Wolf, why bother talking to the Ten Rings? We could just charge in, kill everyone, and then look for the Mark 1 Armor. Wouldn't that be easier?"
A close-cropped, muscular man grinned as he spoke. His nickname was Bull, and he toyed with a modified energy dagger, his eyes alight with anticipation.
The man they called Brother Wolf went by Blood Claw. Leaning against the rocks, he held a cigarette between his fingers and wore a cold smirk.
"Why rush? That idiot Raza's keeping watch over the armor for us. It saves us from blindly searching the mountains."
"It's easier when someone leads us to it. Besides, they're all gathered together, so we can take them out in one go."
As they spoke, Iron Arm, another Reincarnator, suddenly looked up. "They're coming out."
The camp gates swung open, and over a hundred armed men poured out with their guns raised. Raza trailed behind them, his face full of disdain.
Blood Claw grinned, his bones cracking.
In the next moment, his body swelled. His muscles bulged, his hands turned into sharp wolf claws, and his fangs jutted out. In an instant, he transformed into a werewolf over two meters tall.
Before the Ten Rings members could fire, Blood Claw blurred forward and charged at the armed man in front. His sharp claws slashed down viciously.
With a wet splat, the man's body was sliced in half at the waist, blood spraying everywhere.
Blood Claw then bent down and sank his jaws into another man's head. There was a sharp crack as his skull shattered. Brain matter and blood dripped from the werewolf's mouth, his brutality beyond measure.
The other Reincarnators attacked as well, showing no mercy.
Poison Girl flicked a finger, and venom landed on one of the armed men. A violent sizzling sound came from inside his body as his skin rapidly rotted away. His screams were bloodcurdling, and within seconds, he melted into a puddle of pus.
"Mechanical Arm," his body covered in mechanical prosthetics, turned both arms into small energy cannons and opened fire. Bullets poured down like a torrential rain. Ten Rings members fell in droves, and even the Sentry hiding behind a rock was struck through cover by an energy bolt and killed on the spot.
The Ten Rings were mowed down like wheat.
Some opened fire. Bullets hit Blood Claw, but he didn't even flinch. He turned and bit half the shooter's body off.
Others threw grenades, but Iron Arm kicked them back. They exploded among their own men.
The Ten Rings members, who had charged out full of confidence, watched the scene before them. Their swagger vanished, replaced by fear, and their will to fight crumbled completely.
They realized they weren't facing people at all, but a band of demons straight from hell!
Some threw down their weapons and ran. Others' legs gave way, and they collapsed on the ground, trembling and endlessly begging for mercy. Their earlier arrogance was gone.
They had no choice. Those who didn't surrender were already cold corpses, and they didn't want to share their fate.
The battle was over in just three minutes.
There was no resistance, only a one-sided slaughter.
Bodies covered the ground outside the camp, and blood ran like a river.
The dozen or so remaining Ten Rings members knelt on the ground, shaking like leaves.
Blood Claw hauled Raza in front of him. Raza's face was deathly pale.
He finally understood how badly he'd misjudged things. These thirteen people weren't stragglers at all. They were monsters who could flatten his camp with ease!
He asked in a trembling voice, "Who... who are you?"
Blood Claw slowly shrank back to human form, though he was still covered in blood. He looked down at Raza with cold eyes. "When is Obadiah coming?"
Raza's mind went blank. They weren't after him—they were after Obadiah!
That old bastard set me up!
Raza raged inwardly, but dared not let it show. His desire to survive overwhelmed everything, and he sold out his ally without hesitation. "O-Obadiah will be here tonight. I can help you! I know this place well. I'll help you ambush him!"
Mechanical Arm adjusted his glasses, his tone flat. "Keep him alive for now. We can kill him after Obadiah gets here."
Raza had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the rest of the sentence, and his heart sank.
Just then, Iron Arm whipped his head around. The red light in his mechanical eye flashed wildly.
"Someone's approaching!"
"Is it Obadiah? That shouldn't be. I remember he came after dark, and it isn't fully dark yet."
"No! The signal source is different, and the target is moving fast. It's heading straight for us!"
"What are you afraid of?" Bull scoffed, thumping his chest. "So what if they show up? The thirteen of us can handle hundreds of people like it's nothing."
Blood Claw scoffed as well and flexed his claws. "At worst, it's a United States military fighter. We'll kill as many as come."
"Something's wrong!" Iron Arm's voice abruptly rose. The alarm in his mechanical eye beeped rapidly. "The number of targets is wrong! There are suddenly dozens more signals! No, hundreds!"
"Their numbers are still increasing!"
Blood Claw narrowed his eyes and gave an immediate order. "Strike first. Take them out before they realize what's happening!"
"Hmph. So what if they have more people? This time, don't hold back. Everyone, finish them quickly!"
"Okay."