"Juggernaut, unstoppable!"
A scarlet giant over five meters tall roared as he smashed through countless stone pillars. Figures in dark green combat uniforms fired at him from all sides, but their bullets could not penetrate his defenses and ricocheted off with metallic clinks.
Fear soon sent the combat squad scattering. Only their captain stood his ground, his expression cold as he confronted the giant head-on with a futuristic rifle.
Several plasma blasts of dazzling blue light struck the giant, leaving patches of charred flesh. He immediately screamed in pain.
Then he swung his fists in fury and lunged at the man who had dared hurt him.
The man dodged with inhuman agility, but the giant eventually caught him and punched him into a puddle of silver liquid.
The giant let out a triumphant roar, smashed through a thick stone wall, and disappeared into the ancient complex he had devastated beyond recognition.
The silver liquid slowly coalesced. A human head formed first, followed by an earpiece in its ear.
"First squad reporting. Acquisition of the mission target, the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, has failed."
"Cause of failure: after being unearthed, the target emitted a peculiar red glow. One human member of the squad was drawn to it, lost his reason, and approached to touch it. The gem then merged with his body, transforming him into a giant calling himself Juggernaut."
"Based on the punch Juggernaut just landed on me, his force output is at least 1,102,311.31 pounds."
"A plasma rifle powered by energy extracted from the Tesseract can cause minor charring, but the damage heals instantly."
Far away in New York, Brad watched the field recordings transmitted by the T1001 Terminator with a conflicted expression and pinched his brow, feeling a headache coming on.
"If I'd known, I would've sent a squad made entirely of Terminators."
"Recall the other two squads. Replace their personnel before sending them out again. If they all run into something like this, Canada is finished."
Brad stood and paced back and forth. Then he gritted his teeth, opened a window, and shot into the sky with a whoosh before flying at high speed toward Canada.
None of the Terminator models under his command could fight this monster called Juggernaut. Only Brad himself, comparatively the most expensive unit to produce, could take him on.
The Moonstone provided a decent flight speed, but Brad wanted to reach the scene faster. After all, he now regarded every blade of grass and every tree in Canada as his property.
Dozens of exhaust ports opened along the mechanical spine on his back. With a violent burst of flame, Brad instantly broke the sound barrier.
A while later, Brad spotted the red giant rampaging through Canada's Rocky Mountains.
But as he drew closer, he saw someone else blocking Juggernaut's path.
A yellow hood, monk's robes, and a delicate face that flashed into view as she darted and dodged.
Inside Brad's mind, Skynet suddenly sounded an alarm.
" Danger! Extreme danger!"
Brad braked as hard as he could in midair, the pull of inertia making his entire body ache.
"What danger? Isn't this person in the database? That's the Ancient One, isn't it?"
For the first time, Skynet did not answer Brad. Instead, it fell silent, pretending not to hear him.
Brad could certainly force Skynet to speak, but before he had the chance, the Ancient One on the ground noticed him hovering overhead.
She opened a golden portal and appeared beside Brad in a flash. Without any visible means of support, she floated face-to-face with him in midair.
The Ancient One looked over the modifications to Brad's body, understanding dawning on her face.
"At Earth's normal rate of development, it would take at least another seven hundred years to achieve what you've done to yourself."
"So you're the emissary of Skynet, that newly ascended god of the multiverse?"
"You're responsible for that monster down there, aren't you? Under the normal timeline, the temple of Cyttorak, the Crimson Demon God, couldn't possibly have been unearthed this early."
Brad paused. For an instant, he felt countless questions and objections rising to his lips. In the end, he forced them down, though the muscles in his cheeks twitched a few times.
Brad inclined his body slightly in midair. "Greetings, exalted Sorcerer Supreme. Why don't we deal with that trouble down below before we discuss this further?"
The Ancient One turned to look at the monster roaring up at them and sighed. "No. I've already angered him. He'll come up here to find us."
Brad raised his eyebrows. Before he could figure out what she meant, a horrifying scene unfolded.
The giant roared at the sky several times, then suddenly bellowed, "Juggernaut cannot be stopped!"
Then he lifted one foot and planted it on the air in front of him.
He actually charged toward Brad and the Ancient One as they floated in midair, as though invisible stairs were continually forming beneath his feet for him to run up.
"What?!"
The sight undoubtedly challenged Brad's mind, which was built largely around a scientific worldview.
"Stop gawking. Juggernaut is the emissary of Cyttorak, the Demon God of the Crimson Cosmos. One of his traits is that nowhere is beyond his reach, whether in the sky, beneath the earth, or through mountains of blades and seas of fire. Once he sets us as his targets, he will be able to run right up to us."
"Cyttorak has three temples on Earth, and you unearthed the one where the fabric of space is weakest. This Juggernaut is incredibly powerful in every sense, because some of Cyttorak's tendrils have already reached into this space!"
"I cast concealment magic here four hundred years ago. I have no idea how you found this temple!"
The Ancient One's small mouth rapidly delivered those words. Then she thrust out a hand, and the two of them immediately separated in midair.
The next second, Juggernaut charged between them.
The Ancient One swept both hands through the air, and two circular golden magic arrays appeared. One cast golden light over Juggernaut as he kept running through the air, trying to change direction. She hurled the other at him like a throwing disc.
Brad turned his head, used his mutant ability to force Skynet into action, and began scanning and analyzing Juggernaut.
Countless streams of data surged through his mind. Unfortunately, Brad still possessed far too little data on supernatural powers unrelated to technology.
The analysis progressed slowly.
"Too slow... Connect to Supercomputer 'Canada'. Sorcerer Supreme! Give me a hand!"
The Ancient One glanced over, casually formed a Magic Formation, and tossed it at the back of Brad's head.
Brad, who had become dizzy and muddleheaded after connecting to Supercomputer 'Canada', instantly felt his mind clear.
Magic really is useful!
Analysis complete. Activating counterforce field. Matching frequency: Cyttorak of the Crimson Cosmos. Frequency matching complete. Counterforce field active.
The five-meter-tall giant who had been running on air began to shrink.
His entire body also began to fall.
The Ancient One froze for a moment. "Technology can stop a Dimension Demon God's invasion too?"
A second later, she said, "Cyttorak is angry. He's intensifying his encroachment on this space."
Brad curled his lip.
"Increase counterforce field output. Run Supercomputer 'Canada' at full capacity."
"Connect to every Field Relay Generator within range."
Across Canada, every Smart Home Robot developed by Brad's company froze for an instant in its owner's home.
At last, Juggernaut shrank into an unconscious ordinary man in midair and plummeted toward the ground.
The Ancient One waved her hand and caught the man with a Magic Formation before he could splatter into pulp.
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