"In that case, farewell forever."
With a light wave of her hand, a ball of flame appeared out of thin air and hovered in place.
Tony suddenly spoke up. "Extremis soldiers are immune to fire. That won't work."
His warning earned him an eye roll from Hermione.
"This is Fiendfyre. As long as my magic doesn't dissipate, it will never go out."
The Fire Serpent swallowed Aldrich Killian in an instant, and his screams cut off abruptly within the flames.
A moment later, Hermione withdrew the flames. All that remained on the deck was a pile of ashes.
A fire soldier burned to death... Tony opened his mouth, instinctively wanting to make a quip, then closed it again.
Rhodey stood nearby, deeply shaken by everything he had witnessed.
At last, he remembered where he had seen that green light.
Wasn't that the instant-death magic used against the Chitauri during the Battle of New York?!
He looked at Hermione, still struggling to believe that this seemingly harmless young girl wielded such terrifying power.
"Tony, with backup this powerful, why didn't you call her in sooner?" Rhodey couldn't help complaining. "We wouldn't have had to fight so hard back there."
Tony gave a bitter chuckle.
"You think I didn't want to? This little brat does whatever she feels like. If that idiot Killian hadn't been asking for death, we'd probably still be locked up."
Night fell, and New York's neon lights shimmered with a hazy glow.
Stephen Strange finished his day's work and walked out of the hospital.
"Phew..." Stephen let out a long breath, instinctively raising his wrist to glance at his exquisite watch.
The hands on its face pointed to eleven at night.
"Christine must be asleep by now..." Stephen murmured to himself.
Christine had given him this watch.