Ancient One intervenes, the showdown with Iron Monger

Luke looked at Ancient One, who had suddenly appeared, and nodded. Since the big shot had arrived to carry him, he could sit back and relax.

He supplied all his energy to Ancient One, who used that power to unfold the Mirror Dimension and trap Andrews inside.

Andrews sensed the change in space and turned to look at Ancient One.

"Impossible! You can casually create a space parallel to the Material World!"

Ancient One ignored him. With a movement of her hand, the surrounding space twisted.

Andrews's eyes widened, and multicolored energy erupted from his body, but Ancient One casually dispersed it all. It was as powerless as a child's wild punches.

Ancient One seized Andrews by the throat with one hand. Looking into his terrified eyes, she did not hesitate. A magic circle unfolded, slicing the head off Andrews as she held him.

Watching Andrews, who had been evenly matched with him, get casually crushed, Luke could only cheer for the big shot's awesome skills.

Ancient One turned around and looked at Luke.

"If the Dark Dimension hadn't stopped supplying me with energy, I really wouldn't have known you'd run into trouble," Ancient One said helplessly, dismissing the Mirror Dimension with a wave.

"It's fine for now. Your Shadow World is right beside our world, so I can easily cross over and replenish my energy directly in this Dark Dimension. But if you move farther from the Material World in the future, never cut off the energy supply, or I could very well die on the spot."

Luke nodded and returned to his Shadow Dimension, but he still could not sense the surrounding space.

Luke supplied energy directly to Ancient One through himself, while diverting some energy to wear down the seal. Only then could he restore his connection to the Shadow Dimension.

Watching the Shadow Ninjas finish off the enemies, Luke ordered them to eliminate the enemies in the world on the other side. Only then could he fully occupy their world.

Ancient One went to the Dark Dimension on the other side and looked around for a while. When she returned, she added several coordinates to the booklet.

"These are several unclaimed Dark Dimensions that dimension was harvesting. You can harvest them too, and much faster than he could."

"But you need to wear down this magic circle quickly. Otherwise, with your connection to your Dark Dimension severed, it will become an unclaimed dimension. That's also why I was able to enter so easily."

As she spoke, Ancient One glanced at Luke a couple of times.

"You're certainly getting stronger quickly. It's just still not enough."

Luke smiled helplessly. He already recovered 480 energy points per second, yet he still could not let this big shot use her real abilities, only stretch her limbs a little. It made him feel he still had a long way to go.

After looking around Luke's Shadow Dimension for a while, Ancient One told him to come collect the coordinates for the Small Dimensions after some time, then left.

According to her, she had recently been modifying various spells to make Luke their energy supplier. That way, once Luke was strong enough, she could cast spells using the energy he supplied.

Luke did not mind. He generally did not fight anyway, instead commanding the Shadow Army to attack. Besides, supplying energy did not reduce his maximum capacity, so he had nothing to fear, and he could also ride Ancient One's coattails.

What followed was very boring, however. Having lost his connection to this dimension, Luke could not use it to return to the Material World. The big shot had not taken him along when she left, either, so he could only stay in this world and slowly wear down the seal.

Perhaps the big shot had left him behind because she was afraid he would run around instead of wearing down the seal?

Fortunately, the Shadow Ninjas could still go to another world to bring Luke food. Otherwise, he might have starved to death here.

Five days later, Luke finally wore away the seal and restored his connection to the Shadow World.

He transferred the supply channel between himself and Ancient One to the Shadow World, then established a supply channel between himself and the Shadow World.

After this battle, Luke could do these things himself without relying on the system.

Returning to the main world, Luke flopped onto his bed and rolled over comfortably.

He picked up his phone. Since there was no signal in the Shadow World, Luke had only been able to have the Shadow Ninjas download some DC Comics to read.

He opened his phone and discovered over a dozen texts. Around ten were from Tony, and some were from Coulson.

Luke frowned and called Tony first.

Elsewhere, Tony had finally recovered from the paralysis and was staring at the hollow in his chest. Obadiah had just taken his Arc Reactor, and he felt his heart struggling to beat.

The phone in his hand suddenly lit up with Luke's incoming call. Delighted, Tony answered.

"Hey, Tony. I've been busy these past couple of days. What's wrong?"

"Can you come over? My Arc Reactor's been taken."

Tony spoke with all his strength.

"Uh, I'll be right there!" Luke had not expected the plot to have reached this point already. He hurriedly drew a circle to go to Tony.

(In my setting, portals can only be used in the Material World and the Mirror Dimension that depends on it. Ancient One used another method to enter the Shadow World.)

Tony watched in some shock as a Spark Door opened before him and Luke walked through.

A Shadow Ninja went downstairs, found "Tony's heart," brought it over, and deftly installed it in Tony, making him feel his strength return.

Once he recovered, Tony went downstairs and spoke while putting on his newly invented Mark 3 Armor.

"Obadiah was the mastermind behind my kidnapping. Sorry, buddy. I suspected you before."

Tony put on his armor and prepared to find Potts. Obadiah had just said he would go after her!

"Tony? Where are you?" Rhodey's voice came from upstairs.

"Hey, Rhodey!" Tony called, and Rhodey ran down.

"Tony, what are you wearing?" Rhodey stared at Tony's armor in shock.

"Uh, my prosthetics? Anyway, why are you here?"

Rhodey glanced at Luke beside him, unsure how he had ended up hanging around Tony, but still said, "Potts said Obadiah planned your kidnapping and asked me to come protect you."

"Well, you're late. Where's Potts now?"

"He took five agents to arrest Obadiah."

"Five agents won't be enough." Tony recalled what Obadiah had said about his own armor. "Luke, can you use that door from earlier to take me to Stark Industries? Potts might be in danger."

Luke nodded and swept his hand, opening a portal.

"Holy..." Rhodey stared at the portal, frightened into swearing.

"Hey, Rhodey, are you coming?" Tony called after he and Luke stepped through and saw Rhodey still on the other side.

"Okay," Rhodey answered, then carefully jumped through.

"I hope you'll keep this portal a secret." Only after receiving Rhodey's and Tony's assurances did Luke relax.

Tony was fine, but Rhodey had the U.S. Military behind him. If they found out, they would pester Luke to death.

"Tony?" a voice came from behind them, and the three turned around.

"Potts?" Tony relaxed at the sight of Pepper. Potts had not gone inside yet.

"Luke, why are you here?" Coulson stood nearby with several agents and spotted Luke.

"Why didn't you reply to my messages?"

Luke was trying to think of an excuse when the concrete ground before him suddenly heaved upward, and an enormous suit of armor appeared in front of him.

"Iron Monger? Tony, didn't you say your prosthetics would be destroyed?" Luke looked at Tony in confusion.

"That shouldn't be possible. That explosion, plus the chain of explosions afterward, definitely should've destroyed that armor!"

"A chain of explosions?"

"Yes!"

"Then never mind."

?

Ignoring Tony's puzzled look, Luke turned toward Iron Monger.

This was not his Shadow World, where Dark Energy was everywhere. The most power he could unleash now was those 800 energy points.

Eight hundred energy points were equivalent to a shot from a tank's main gun, which was quite powerful, but Luke did not think it could defeat Iron Monger. Even Tony's Mark III could withstand tank fire, and this oversized iron doll's defenses were not necessarily weaker than Tony's.

"Coulson, I don't think your little pistols will hurt this thing. I suggest you fall back and clear out the onlookers."

Luke spoke helplessly as more and more people gathered around.

Watching a spectacle was not exclusive to Chinese people. These foreigners were outdoing each other in courting death. The atmosphere here was clearly wrong, yet they still dared to approach with their phones out.

Coulson looked at the little pistol in his hand, then at Iron Monger, several people tall before him, and nodded. He took Potts, Rhodey, and the agents to disperse the crowd, while Luke and Tony faced Iron Monger.

"Will your ninjas work against this thing?" Tony asked Luke quietly as he watched Iron Monger.

"Maybe." Luke was not sure himself. Every Shadow Ninja now had a physique eight times that of an ordinary person, and the Blade Soldiers had greatly enhanced agility, but that did not necessarily mean they could bring this thing down.

Shadow Ninjas appeared one after another behind Luke. Obadiah frowned, unsure what these things were.

But with Iron Monger, his confidence had swelled to an extraordinary degree. He believed himself invincible.

The rotary machine gun on his arm spun, spitting a tongue of flame toward the Shadow Ninjas.

The ninjas advanced one after another. A ninja could slash down a few bullets before being pierced by those that followed, but together they forcibly blocked the bullets, buying time for their companions.

Some ninjas circled around the flanks and were blasted away by Iron Monger's missiles, but they were not Luke's finishing move.

Blade Soldiers appeared silently, one after another, and pounced directly onto Iron Monger, their sharp claws scoring marks across his armor. The Ninja Soldiers seized the chance to leap onto him as well, their physical strength eight times that of ordinary people bringing Iron Monger straight to the ground.

Luke also took two steps forward, bringing these Shadow Ninjas within his range, and had them try to infiltrate Iron Monger through the gaps to kill Obadiah directly. To their surprise, however, Iron Monger's armor was packed with dense wiring.

Countless wires intertwined, constantly carrying energy from the reactor throughout the suit. They actually hindered the Shadow Ninjas' stealth movement. Many Shadow Ninjas turned into shadows and slipped inside, but it was as though they had entered a maze, greatly slowing their passage.

Luke shook his head. Electricity was also a form of energy and could impede the Shadow Ninjas' stealth movement. Ordinary walls contained only a few wires, which did not affect their movements. But Iron Monger's wiring was so abundant and dense that it formed a maze of wires. Still, given a little time, the Shadow Ninjas could bypass these bundles and get inside.

They only needed to keep Iron Monger pinned down for a while.

But his hopes failed while his fears came true. Pinned to the ground, Iron Monger activated his thrusters to escape, throwing off all the ninjas on top of him.

Iron Monger flew quite fast as well, quickly leaving Luke's range. The Shadow Ninjas could only leave their stealth state and take human form, only to be crushed apart by Iron Monger's armor.

"Damn it!" Luke said irritably. A little longer, and they would have killed Obadiah outright.

Tony was equally helpless and flew toward Iron Monger in the sky.

"He probably won't land again. Can you fly?"

Luke sighed. None of his Shadow Ninjas could fly yet. Though he could fly using Shadow Energy, he was much slower than he was on the ground.

"Wait, Tony, hold on!" Luke suddenly had an idea. He caught up with Tony, turned into a shadow, and covered the surface of Tony's armor.

"What the hell?" Tony watched in surprise as Luke vanished before him, and patches of black paint appeared on his armor.

"I'm in shadow form right now. Get up there and touch him in a bit, and I'll take the chance to jump onto him."

"Your superpowers really are pretty good." Tony nodded and flew after Obadiah.

"Hey, asshole, where are you running?" Tony fired two repulsor blasts straight at him, but they could not penetrate Iron Monger's armor at all.

Iron Monger taunted him a little and tried to use his rotary machine gun and cannon against Tony, but the Blade Soldiers had targeted and destroyed those ranged weapons earlier.

Left without a choice, Iron Monger charged straight at Iron Man. He refused to believe that, with his enormous size, he could not overpower Iron Man's little frame!

Things went just as Iron Monger expected. His impact sent Iron Man flying, but he failed to notice a dark shadow transfer from Iron Man onto him.

"Hello there, asshole!" Luke said quietly, giving Obadiah a fright.

"Who's there?" Obadiah shouted with a frown, thinking someone had connected to his communications channel.

But Luke materialized directly on him and slammed a fist infused with Dark Energy into Iron Monger's helmet. With the added Dark Energy, the punch carried dozens of tons of impact force, stamping a fist-shaped dent straight into Iron Monger's helmet.

"Asshole!" Obadiah looked at the damage readings displayed before him. He had not expected the punch to be so powerful and immediately swung a fist at Luke.

Luke hurriedly turned into a shadow and vanished again, next appearing behind Obadiah.

The Dark Energy on his hand condensed into a broken blade, which slashed straight into the back of Obadiah's neck. Because Dark Energy had extremely powerful corrosive and assimilative properties, the strike left a vicious gash in the back of Iron Monger's neck.

Inside, Obadiah also sensed the threat to his life and maneuvered constantly, trying to shake Luke off.

Luke had no choice but to retreat into shadow, clinging to Obadiah like a maggot burrowed into bone.

Watching Obadiah constantly fishtail, Luke figured he would be thrown off as soon as he appeared. He simply kept summoning Shadow Ninjas, having them enter Iron Monger through the opening he had just cut.

Ignoring his dizziness, Obadiah gritted his teeth and kept maneuvering. He never expected a ninja sword gleaming with cold light to emerge from somewhere and press against his neck, making him stop immediately.

"There we go. Head down, or this blade will cut through your neck in a moment!"

From a distance, Tony watched Obadiah maneuver constantly. But his armor could not match the strength of Obadiah's larger suit, and his ranged weapons could not penetrate Iron Monger's defenses, leaving him feeling powerless.

When I get back, I'm developing some armor-piercing weapons!

Just as Tony settled on his next stage of plans, he saw Iron Monger stop maneuvering and fly toward the ground.

What happened?

Tony followed and saw Iron Monger standing there obediently. Luke detached himself from him and stood on the ground as well.

"What happened, Luke?"

Luke turned and waved to Tony, then turned back to Iron Monger and said, "Get out of the armor immediately!"