Ferrus Manus's skull gave a dull crunch between Angron's palms. Liquid metal seeped through its cracks, but had no time to repair the damage, because Angron's fingers kept tightening.
The skull caved inward from both sides. First the temples collapsed, then the cheekbones and jaw. Layer after layer of metal deformed, shattered, and twisted beneath the unbearable pressure.
One of Ferrus Manus's eyes was forcibly squeezed out of its socket, trailing a severed optic nerve and several strands of wiring. It fell to the ground, then vanished into the swirling dust.
His other eye was still moving.
That last mechanical eye scanned Angron at an extraordinary frequency, countless streams of data racing through the depths of its pupil.
It read the temperature of Angron's exposed skin, calculated the alignment of muscle fibers from their texture, estimated the strain on his heart from the pulsing of his blood vessels, and analyzed his lung capacity and oxygen uptake from the pace of his breathing.
Although Ferrus Manus's brain had suffered severe damage, half his skull caved in like a broken bowl, the processing core encased in steel continued to function.
"Angron, you are too reckless." Ferrus Manus's voice forced its way out of his shattered metal throat, stuttering like a skipping recording. Every syllable carried a grating crackle, yet he retained a chilling composure.
"You have already laid all your trump cards bare before me."
He paused, his lone eye still scanning. His gaze passed over Angron's shoulder and through the flying dust as he stored every detail in his database.
"I will find your weakness and tear it open in our next battle."
Angron said nothing, as though he could not be bothered to waste any effort on those words.
His lowered gaze held nothing but a crimson blaze, like a