Tony gets looked down on

"BOOM!!!"

A deafening explosion rang out, followed by flames shooting into the sky.

Cracks instantly covered the shield, and a second later, it shattered.

The shock wave hurled Tony a hundred meters away before he managed to stabilize himself.

He had no time to wonder what that shield had been and immediately searched for Hermione.

Unfortunately, no matter where he looked, he found no trace of her-not even a scrap of clothing remained.

Tony glared furiously at the two fighter jets, his eyes reddening.

Although Hermione worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., she had no quarrel with him, nor was she a bad person.

Most importantly, she was only a child!

Now she had taken a missile head-on. Even he had nearly died inside his Iron Man Armor, let alone Hermione without any protection!

There probably wasn't even a body left.

Intense regret surged through Tony.

If he hadn't been so conspicuous, brazenly showing off in the sky, why would the military have sent fighter jets and gotten Hermione killed?

Back in the cave, he had already gotten Yinsen killed, and now...

"Phew... fuck, that scared the hell out of me. Almost took it too far..."

Suddenly, a voice came from behind Tony.

Tony's eyes widened, and he turned around in delighted surprise to see a familiar figure.

Black robes, Broomstick, little cutie.

Hermione patted her chest, lingering fear written across her face.

Fortunately, the Iron Man Armor had blocked most of the impact in front of her, or she really would have crashed this time.

Still, I've got a pretty good idea of the defensive limit of the lv2 Shield Charm now. Even though it only lasted an instant before the missile blasted it apart, it still absorbed most of the force, Hermione thought.

"You're not dead?!"

Tony blurted it out.

Hermione shot him a fierce glare. "You're the one who's dead!"

What kind of thing was that to say? Would I have ended up in such a mess if I hadn't been trying to help you?

The missile wasn't even locked onto me.

Still, she had seen how Tony had acted and knew he had come back to help her too. Much of her resentment faded, and she toned down her attitude.

"Rhodey!"

Tony hurriedly contacted Rhodey. The moment the call connected, he said, "That thing you saw in the sky was me. I'm flying in a suit of armor. Order the jets to stop attacking, now! There's a child beside me!"

After half a second of stunned silence, Rhodey immediately replied, "My God, you're actually inside that humanoid flying machine? You always manage to come up with something new!"

"But... what child? The pilots haven't seen anything except you, and you're the only target on radar!"

"That's impossible. She's right..."

Tony turned around, only to find empty air behind him. Hermione had vanished again.

When he felt someone suddenly give his shoulder two hard pats, he immediately understood.

Damn it, this trick again!

"Reducto!"

"Reducto!"

"Reducto!"

Three low cries came from beside him. A fighter jet not far away suddenly began creaking, then broke apart in midair before Tony's astonished eyes!

Suddenly left with nothing but the seat beneath his backside, the pilot felt as though he were flying naked. He was utterly bewildered.

A second later, his parachute opened, and he drifted unsteadily downward.

"Tony, what did you do?!"

On the other end of the call, Rhodey was livid.

He had already called off the jets' attack, yet an F-22 had suddenly broken apart in midair without any warning!

This was an F-22, not some piece-of-junk toy. How could it suddenly fall apart?

Tony was the only person there. He must have done something!

To get back at them for that missile!

Realizing he had been blamed for something he hadn't done, Tony immediately said, "I'll cover all your losses this time!"

With that, he decisively hung up.

The other fighter circled for a while, then seemed to receive an order and turned away.

Tony called tentatively into the surrounding air, "Hermione?"

"Right here."

A pleasant voice came from thin air, and then her figure gradually appeared beside him.

Although Tony didn't know what had happened, recalling what he'd just seen, he knew Hermione must have done something.

Then he remembered the transparent shield that had suddenly appeared earlier and asked outright, "What did you just do? Why did the jet suddenly break apart? And what technology was that energy shield? It actually blocked a missile attack. And your invisibility..."

You really are stubborn... Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "I already told you, I'm a wizard. That was all magic. Magic! Do you not understand plain English?!"

As she spoke, she pointed her Wand at Tony.

"Reparo!"

Tony heard a series of faint rustling sounds, then discovered to his astonishment that the damaged parts of his armor were gradually restoring themselves.

Moments later, it looked completely brand-new.

"Sir, the damage to the armor has been repaired for unknown reasons. Current integrity: 100%," JARVIS announced.

After everything that had happened, Tony's conviction had already begun to waver.

This miraculous phenomenon, almost like resetting its condition, finally became the last straw that broke his resistance.

"Magic really exists... How can there be wizards and magic in this world... That's impossible..." Tony muttered, his worldview severely shaken.

"What's so strange about that? There are plenty of things you don't understand. You haven't even learned all there is to know about science, yet you want to make sweeping claims about the mystical side. Pepper was right. You really are arrogant."

Hermione shook her head. "This world isn't as simple as you think."

After a long while, Tony finally came to terms with it and let out a long breath.

"Now I believe you're not with S.H.I.E.L.D. They really couldn't afford someone like you, wizard."

"My name is Hermione. Hermione Granger."

Tony nodded. "Tony Stark."

After thinking for a moment, he felt that simply giving his name was missing something, as though this little witch had gotten the better of him. He immediately added, "Renowned genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist..."

Hermione gave him a speechless look and added flatly, "And narcissist."

Critical hit!

The corner of Tony's mouth twitched.

All the things he had always taken pride in seemed beneath mention in the eyes of this mysterious young witch.

The look in her eyes always made him feel as though he were the child, showing off achievements he thought were impressive when, to an adult, they were nothing but a joke.

He, Tony Stark, heir to Stark Industries and a genius scientist, was actually being looked down on by a child?

She thought his horizons were too narrow!

For Tony Stark, who had always been envied and was the center of attention wherever he went, this was deeply uncomfortable. But he had no way to vent and could only swallow his frustration.

The two flew toward Stark Tower in silence.

Tony suddenly noticed something.

The little witch in front of him... didn't seem to fly as fast on her Broomstick as he did in his armor!

At that thought, he suddenly had a brilliant idea, and a sly grin crept onto his face.