Steve drew a deep breath and planted his feet firmly in the mud.
The power awakened by the serum surged through his veins. He raised his left arm, and an invisible ring of light spread rapidly outward from beneath his feet.
Alliance Ring LV4.
This was the ability granted by the dose of Compound V Lucian had given him. Had Lucian been here, he would certainly have been surprised. This version of Compound V, designed specifically to strengthen the body, originally had only an extremely slim chance of awakening powers other than Super Physique, yet Natasha, Hawkeye, and Steve had all awakened other abilities.
After activating Alliance Ring, Steve could clearly feel a suppressive force settling directly over Thena in front of him within its domain. At the same time, the strength drained from her was distributed evenly among the six people he considered his teammates: Tony, Wanda, Barton, Hulk, Pietro, and Natasha.
It was a peculiar sensation, as though the flow of energy in everyone around him had become connected to him.
"Not bad," Tony's voice came over the comms. Since his physique was the weakest, the boost he received was the most noticeable. "So you've switched classes to battlefield support?"
Steve had no time to respond. He raised his Vibranium Shield, muscles taut, and stared at Thena a few steps away.
There was a limit to the weakening effect, after all. Against a warrior who had lived for thousands of years, any carelessness was asking for death.
I have to keep this woman occupied. Steve had worked it out clearly. The killing intent she radiated was the strongest; she was definitely the Eternal with the greatest direct offensive power here. He could not let her interfere with the others destroying the device.
Thena moved.
The golden longsword in