The frenzied Hulk charged at the army outside, unleashing a brutal, one-sided rout. Blonsky watched the Hulk rampage across the battlefield and waved for Betty to be taken away. Then he looked at the bags of blood. They were labeled as Banner's blood, and they gave him a bold idea.
Rimuru arrived at the battlefield in the Dragon Knight Armor and looked down at the rampaging brute. He hadn't gotten a good look last time, but now he could see clearly. Just look at those muscles-you could see every striation. The Hulk as he was now was far stronger than he would be later. The way he was beating up the army was like Tyson walking into a kindergarten.
"Hey, Rimuru, you got here pretty fast this time. Why aren't you going after that monster? Are you scared?" Rimuru was still watching the Hulk's performance when Tony's voice came through.
Rimuru turned and felt as though he'd transmigrated again. Hulkbuster Armor? You built it already? Hmm... maybe not. It looks a little different.
"See that, Rimuru? Now this is real heavy armor. I modified it from the Iron Monger, especially to deal with big guys like that. What do you think? Looks a lot more intimidating than your flashy getup, doesn't it?"
Hearing Tony's explanation, Rimuru understood what he'd been working on lately. So he'd modified the armor Obadiah had left behind. Rimuru had to admit, it did look a little like the Hulkbuster Armor, but it seemed a bit small compared to the Hulk. Or was the Hulk just too big right now?
Looking at the stubborn fool in front of him, Rimuru felt his own penchant for underhanded tricks surface. "All right, since you're ready, you go first. Let's see what you can do."
Rimuru's voice carried a teasing note as it echoed through the comm channel. Beneath Tony's faceplate, his lips spread into a characteristically confident grin.
"Ha! Let me show you the aesthetics of heavy firepower!"
Before the words had even left his mouth, the modified "Iron Monger," painted entirely red and several times bulkier than the Mark Series-or, as Tony privately called it, "Giant Hammer No. 1"-
Its rear thrusters erupted with blazing white exhaust, and the massive machine accelerated with a speed that belied its size. Like a humanoid cannonball, it dived toward the green giant in the distance, who was swinging a main battle tank around like a toy.
"Hey! Big guy, look over here!" Tony raised his voice, and the external speakers amplified it. "Hey! This is a public street. No working out here!"
The Hulk was hurling the mangled tank wreckage at a squad of soldiers retreating in panic when he heard Tony and whipped his head around. His eyes, burning with pure rage, locked onto the big metal suit speeding toward him through the air. A deafening roar swept out like a shockwave. He kicked off the ground, instantly shattering the hard concrete into a spiderweb of cracks, and his enormous green body leaped up to meet Tony. A fist as big as a bowl hurtled straight at him, tearing through the air with a shriek.
"Bring it on!" Tony advanced instead of retreating, raising both arms in front of him. The thick composite armor plates on his forearms snapped open with a click, revealing densely packed miniature missile launchers beneath.
All right! Tony was going in! That was the spirit! Stay sharp! Don't lose points! They'd come through blades and bullets!
Dozens of miniature armor-piercing rounds streaked toward the Hulk, trailing white smoke. Explosions joined into a sheet of flame in midair, and smoke swallowed the green figure in an instant.
But the next second, a green fist tore through the smoke and slammed squarely into the chest of Tony's armor.
Boom!
A muffled crash rang out, like a massive bell being struck. Tony felt as though a heavy rocket had hit him head-on. He flew backward out of control, smashing through two lampposts and several walls along the way. Hopefully, none of them were load-bearing. He plowed a long furrow through the road before finally coming to a stop.
Tony was down!
"Cough... JARVIS, damage report!" Tony shook his somewhat dizzy head as yellow warning symbols indicating external armor damage flashed inside his faceplate.
"The main chest armor plate is deformed, the cushioning system is overloaded by 37 percent, and energy output has fallen by 15 percent. Sir, the target's physical strength exceeds the projected model by 47 percent," JARVIS reported calmly.
"I noticed that too." Tony spat and watched the Hulk land steadily out of the smoke, with only a few scorch marks on his body and visibly angrier than before. "Has this guy gotten even bigger since last time?"
The Hulk pounded his sturdy chest and let out a defiant roar. Then he charged again, each step making the ground tremble.
Tony quickly gained altitude. His shoulder armor flipped open, revealing two thick sonic cannons. "Try this!" Powerful, invisible sound waves blasted the Hulk, attempting to disrupt his balance and inner ear.
The Hulk's charge faltered. He clutched his head in pain and roared in irritation, but after only two seconds, he adapted to the interference-or rather, his rage overwhelmed his discomfort. Even more ferocious than before, he seized a military jeep beside him and hurled it at Tony like a baseball.
Tony nimbly swerved aside. The jeep tumbled through the air, struck the outer wall of a building behind him, and exploded with a thunderous crash.
"Strength, speed, endurance, regeneration... he's got almost no weaknesses in any area, and he only gets stronger the longer he fights. Can this thing really still be considered a living creature?"
Rimuru floated at ease higher in the air. Beneath the Dragon Knight Armor's visor, he stroked his chin and analyzed the fight with interest. "Tony's modified armor has plenty of firepower, but its mobility and agility are a lot worse than his Mark Series. He's at a bit of a disadvantage against an agile, berserk powerhouse like this, and its energy consumption must be staggering."
On the battlefield, Tony began to change tactics. Instead of trying to meet force with force, he used his ability to fly to keep moving, harassing the Hulk with palm cannons, miniature missiles, capture nets, stun rounds, and other nonlethal but irritating methods. He tried to wear the Hulk down or make him expose an opening.
This "fly-like" fighting style drove the Hulk into a complete rage. He furiously tore apart everything around him that he could throw. Rocks, vehicles, and chunks of concrete filled the air, forcing Tony into difficult evasive maneuvers and leaving him looking somewhat disheveled for a time.
"JARVIS! Calculate his jumping trajectory! Predict where he'll land! Get that ready," Tony ordered after narrowly dodging another concrete slab hurtling toward him.
"Calculating... Sir, the target's movement patterns are highly unpredictable. Biological feedback based on his anger increases the randomness of his movements. The suppressor is fully charged, but close-range deployment is recommended for a higher chance of success. Risk assessment: high."
"High risk, high reward! Lock onto his next jump!" Tony's gaze sharpened. The armor's main rear thrusters fired at full power, propelling him straight toward the Hulk as he leaped again. Tony stretched both arms forward, as though about to give him an "iron embrace."
Rimuru raised an eyebrow at the sight. "Oh? Going for hand-to-hand combat now? Counting on your lucky birth chart to keep you alive, huh?"
Just as the two were about to collide, two enormous metal clamps lined with intricate energy circuits sprang from the inner sides of Tony's armored arms and snapped toward the Hulk's neck and waist. They were Strength Suppressors he had designed using concepts from the Anti-Giant Armor. They used microcurrents to disrupt bioelectricity, in an attempt to temporarily restrict the Hulk's movements.
But the Hulk's reaction in midair was astonishingly fast. With a roar, he thrust his thick arms outward at a speed and angle that defied common sense!
Crack! A grating sound of twisting metal rang out.
The two metal clamps, capable of locking down a heavy armored vehicle, were forced out of shape and cracked by the Hulk's brute strength!
"What?!" Tony exclaimed in shock.
Using that force, the Hulk grabbed one of Tony's armored legs with one hand and raised his other fist high. Its knotted muscles looked as though they had been twisted from steel wire, with veins bulging across them. With an air of utter destruction, he swung it down hard at Tony's head!
If that punch landed cleanly, no matter how tough the armor was, Tony inside would probably be reduced to pulp.
At that critical moment,
A white jet shot silently down from high above, striking the Hulk's raised wrist with pinpoint accuracy.
There was no explosion, no impact.
The jet of liquid nitrogen carried extreme cold. A thick layer of crystalline frost instantly covered the skin at the Hulk's wrist and spread rapidly up his arm, making his punch stall for an instant.
Tony seized that brief moment of stiffness. His leg thrusters fired at full power, and he broke off the section of leg armor the Hulk was holding to force himself free. Narrowly escaping the Hulk's grasp, he retreated rapidly.
"Thanks, Rimuru," Tony called over the comm, still shaken.
"You're welcome. Watching you perform was pretty entertaining. I almost got to see a tin can have its head blown off." Rimuru's lazy voice came through. A wisp of cold vapor slowly dissipated from the sprayer in his hand. The jet of liquid nitrogen had been his handiwork.
The Hulk shook his frozen arm, and the tremendous power of his muscles shattered the ice, sending it falling away. Distinct purplish-blue frostbite marks remained on his wrist, though they were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. He looked up, his furious gaze leaving Tony for the first time and turning toward the white figure high in the air who had been "watching the show" all along, but had now intervened.
New target locked.
A low, threatening growl rumbled in the Hulk's throat. His legs bent slightly, and he clearly turned his next attack toward Rimuru.
Seeing that, Tony became delighted instead. "Haha, looks like you pulled aggro, Rimuru! Your turn!"
Rimuru looked at the pair of rage-filled eyes below. Far from being afraid, the corners of his mouth curled slightly upward beneath the Dragon Knight Armor's visor.
"Then come on!" he shouted. The Dragon Knight on his body began to unleash its full power, its energy lines shifting from blue to a pulsating gold-red. "I want to see just how hard those striated muscles really are."