The armor's core energy began to surge, its soft blue glow turning entirely into blazing gold and red, with waves of scorching air trailing its flow. Without waiting for Hulk to pounce, Rimuru fired the thrusters beneath his feet. Blue-red flames erupted, and he shot forward like a shell from a cannon.
Hulk had already tensed every muscle in his body. He stomped down, and the cracked ground collapsed beneath him with a roar. His massive green body leaped into the air, his thick right arm swinging around, his hand clenched into an iron fist. It came crashing down with a howl of wind and unstoppable brute force.
The two figures collided in an instant.
Boom!
A deafening crash erupted, and a shock wave rolled out from the point of impact. The wrecked vehicles nearby were sent flying, breaking apart in midair and scattering scrap metal across the ground. The two traded a solid punch. Hulk was jolted back a step, his arm dropping limply despite himself, while the armor plating on the Dragon Knight Armor's surface shook violently, the vibrating metal letting out an ear-splitting hum.
Neither of them had gained much from that exchange. Rimuru's first move had been a test. He had expected Hulk to be strong, but not this strong, and his smaller size had also put him at a disadvantage.
The violence on Hulk's face froze. Not particularly bright to begin with, he could not understand how his full-strength blow had been stopped so firmly.
While Hulk was distracted, Rimuru seized the chance to throw a dishonorable punch, driving his heavy alloy fist straight into Hulk's bulging belly. Another muffled thud rang out. Hulk's massive body curled inward, a stifled roar forcing its way from his throat. His airborne posture collapsed, and he crashed to the ground like a boulder.
Boom!
Dust and rubble shot into the sky. His impact left a deep crater in the ground, with countless cracks spreading from its edges.
Tony, operating the modified Iron Monger in midair, watched in astonishment. His excited voice came over the communicator. "And you had the nerve to criticize me for using the high-tech armor I designed to fight up close? What are you doing? Damn, you really just met him head-on with pure strength? I thought you were going to pull some tricks!"
Rimuru did not answer. His thrusters fired again, and he leaped into the billowing dust.
An angry roar soon came from the bottom of the crater. Hulk rolled over and stood, his extraordinary healing ability smoothing away the impact to his abdomen in the blink of an eye. His eyes were blood-red, his green skin shining from his fury. Every muscle was taut, every line radiating world-destroying brute force. When he saw Rimuru approach, he charged without a word, the ground trembling beneath his feet. His fists hammered down one after another, his movements wild and untrained, yet every punch carried crushing force, enough to dent and deform a steel plate.
Faced with the storm of attacks, Rimuru neither dodged nor retreated. He traded punches with Hulk just as recklessly.
Sharp metallic clashes rang out in rapid succession, muffled thuds bursting between them. Hulk punched at Rimuru's face, but Rimuru turned his head and shifted to the side, driving his hard shoulder plate into Hulk's chest and forcing the blow back. Hulk swung both arms around, trying to use his size advantage to lock Rimuru in a crushing embrace. Rimuru immediately crossed his arms to block, then seized Hulk's two thick arms. His waist and abdomen flexed, and he used Hulk's own force to twist him violently.
The faint sound of bones slipping out of place mixed with the scrape of metal. Hulk's massive body was flipped clean over and sent rolling a long way across the rubble, his enormous weight plowing two deep furrows in the ground.
Hulk reacted quickly from the ground. As soon as he steadied himself, he thrust out both legs, kicking his huge feet into Rimuru's chest at once. The attack came so suddenly that Rimuru was driven back several hundred meters before he barely managed to steady himself. Several shallow dents had been kicked into his breastplate.
"He's fucking strong. The worst part is, this thing doesn't even get tired." A whisper came from beneath the faceplate as the fighting spirit in Rimuru's eyes fully ignited. "I can't beat him in a contest of strength. Looks like I'll have to learn from Thanos and use some technique."
He stepped forward and closed the distance to Hulk in an instant. His right fist drove toward Hulk's face. The moment Hulk raised a hand to block, Rimuru bent his arm and drove his elbow across, smashing the hard elbow plate into Hulk's jaw.
Boom!
Hulk's enormous head snapped back, the flesh on his face shaking violently. Before he could recover, Rimuru kicked high, bringing his alloy boot down hard on Hulk's neck and knocking the raging green giant to the ground once more.
The battle had completely turned around.
Hulk, who had been unstoppable on the battlefield moments ago and had even defeated Tony's heavy armor head-on, was now completely suppressed. Every punch, charge, and pounce was either taken head-on by the armor or skillfully deflected and countered. The more impatient and furious he grew, the more reckless his attacks became, and the harder the counterblows he took.
After several more head-on exchanges, broad patches of skin had been scraped from Hulk's knuckles. The recoil from repeatedly striking the hard armor had left his entire arm numb. Wariness gradually crept into his blood-red eyes alongside the madness, but the savagery in his bones had not diminished in the slightest.
He threw back his head and let out a roar that shook the streets. His muscles swelled again, his body growing a size larger. The aura of power surging around him suddenly soared, and even the rubble on the ground trembled under the unseen force. This time, he did not strike wildly. He lowered his body and steadied his center of gravity, slowly gathering strength in his right fist. He concentrated all his brute force into one point, then suddenly unleashed it straight at Rimuru's heart.
Tony tensed in midair, all the armor's weapons immediately going on standby. "Watch out! Get out of the way! This guy's getting serious!"
Rimuru planted his feet firmly, all the gold-red energy around him pouring into his right arm until the lines on his gauntlet shone with a piercing light. "Then bring it on! You think I'll shy away from him?" Without dodging or evading, he swung his own fist to meet Hulk's heavy punch head-on.
There were no flashy moves, just the most direct, most brutal clash of strength.
Boom-!!
An earth-shattering crash erupted. A massive shock wave swept across the battlefield, and clouds of dust surged into the air, instantly obscuring the entire view. Turbulent currents slammed in every direction, forcing Tony to activate his armor's defensive barrier just to stay steady.
The dust slowly settled, and the scene came into view.
Rimuru still stood where he had been. Only a few edges of his armor showed slight wear, its energy lines flowing steadily, his aura showing no sign of disruption.
Hulk, meanwhile, knelt on one knee in the crater, his enormous head bowed slightly. His entire right arm trembled, its taut muscles slowly relaxing. His knuckles were bright red, and the whole arm was faintly misshapen.
Just as Rimuru thought the battle was over, Hulk suddenly gave a wicked smile. The sight gave Rimuru a bad feeling. Hulk had not been beaten down onto one knee; he had done it deliberately, because one of his hands had already grabbed Rimuru's foot. Hulk then lifted Rimuru and swung him left and smashed him right, giving him the Loki treatment.
The sight made Tony's eyes nearly pop out. Wouldn't Rimuru be smeared evenly across the inside of the armor? Speaking of which, who had he named as the beneficiary on the insurance policy he had bought for him?
Just as Tony was about to go to his rescue, a bolt of lightning sent Hulk flying. Don't get the wrong idea; this was the Bolts of Balthakk. Surely you didn't really think the Demon Lord had only one skill?
As everyone knew, things with powerful physical bodies had extremely low resistance to magic, sometimes even negative resistance. Supes was one such example.
The blast left Hulk completely dazed. His chest was now scorched black, and it was healing very slowly.
Just as the two sides were falling into a stalemate, another big guy joined the battlefield.
Abomination entered the scene.