Ye Mo's hand had just lifted from the ground when the Vibranium fragments felt slightly warm on his fingertips. The edges of the cold mist had begun to melt, slowly receding like the receding tide. The Steel Bone in his right leg was still stuck, and every movement felt like a wire pulling back and forth in his joint. Although the blood in his left shoulder had stopped gushing out, the sticky, wet feeling against his skin sent chills down his spine. He leaned against the broken stone pillar, panting heavily, but his mind dared not stop— Malekith stood motionless on the high platform, surrounded by black mist, not even offering a glance, yet the density of magical energy in the air was rising, making his eardrums buzz.
He knew this thing wasn't just for show.
One second he was thinking about Thor's flank, his fingers already gesturing a signal, but the next second he sensed something was wrong. Malekith's hand movement was slow, like pulling an invisible bowstring, but Ye Mo's nerves immediately tightened. This wasn't a test, nor was it delay; it was the prelude to a killing move.
He had no time to call for help, nor could he run. Emma Frost was still meditating with her eyes closed, the peripheral vision of the Mental Barrier faintly visible above her head; Thor's figure had just flashed to the side and behind the platform, still more than ten meters away from Mjolnir would land. Both of them were currently in mid-air, and a single blow would be fatal.
"Damn it." Ye Mo cursed under his breath, his palms instinctively crossing in front of his chest to block, not for attack, but purely a physical reaction before his brain could process it. A place flashed through his mind—the third level of the Gene Spiral Tower, a certain ability node that had never been activated, like an old switch covered by a gray cloth. He had accidentally triggered it once, during the Hulk's rampage, when Bruce punched through the Wall Phasing, and he instinctively lunged forward, as if something had deflected the flying concrete debris. At the time, the system didn't give any notification, and he forgot to investigate further.
But right now, I don't have time to think about it in detail.
He gritted his teeth, his consciousness slamming into that point, like banging his head against a rusted iron door.
"Open it!"
A jolt ran through his chest, as if a piece of glass had suddenly shattered inside him. It didn't hurt, but there was a strong sense of "presence" emanating from his nerve plexus. Immediately afterward, a semi-transparent, pale blue, oval Force Field unfolded with a "whoosh," forming a dome that covered a three-meter radius in front of him, perfectly enclosing Emma Frost and Thor's positions.
Almost at the same second, Malekith swung his arm down.
A jet-black energy shockwave erupted from his palm, like a high-pressure water gun spraying not water, but the entire night sky. It hurtled along the ground, denting metal floors in its path, instantly vaporizing ice, and scattering debris in all directions. The shockwave struck the shield with a deafening roar, like someone smashing a row of high-voltage transformers right next to your ear.
Ye Mo was pushed back half a step by the recoil, his feet carving two shallow furrows in the scorched ground. He gritted his teeth, bracing himself against the inside of the shield, feeling as if he were supporting a wall that could collapse at any moment. The surface of the shield trembled violently, ripples spreading outwards, the faint light at the edges flickering like a faulty light bulb.
"Don't move!" he heard himself shout, his voice hoarse and barely audible. "Nobody move! If this happens, nobody will survive!"
Emma Frost jolted awake, her pupils still unfocused, her first instinct to stand up. She raised her hand, but a glimpse of the swirling black mist outside the shield caught her eye, and she froze. Realizing what had happened, she quickly withdrew her movement, leaned against the stone pillar, and sat upright, placing her hands clasped on her knees. She held her breath, not daring to blink even a fraction of an eyelash.
Thor had already leaped half a step, preparing to use the momentum to rush forward, but he was also stopped by this sudden barrier. He looked down at the blue light at his feet, then looked up in Ye Mo's direction, his brows furrowed, but he did not force his way through. He knew that now was not the time to be reckless.
Outside the shield, the shockwave continued to be output, and the black mist, like a living thing, tried to penetrate, erode, and seep through. Fine crack-like flashes began to appear on the surface of the shield, like static electricity crawling on glass. Veins bulged on Ye Mo's forehead, and the energy in his body was being pumped into his chest as if drained by a water pump. Cold sweat trickled down his temples, dripping onto his collar and staining a small dark patch.
He could sense that this thing wouldn't last much longer.
But that's not important. What's important is—just hang in there.
Three seconds.
It might take less than three seconds.
But he held on.
The energy of the shockwave finally began to decay, the black mist gradually thinned, and eventually receded back onto the platform like the receding tide. The ripples on the shield slowly subsided, the faint light stabilized, and the edges stopped flickering. Ye Mo slowly breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his arms little by little, and the shield also contracted accordingly. Finally, with a soft "pop," it disappeared completely, as if it had never existed.
He staggered, nearly falling to his knees, and managed to steady himself by bracing himself against a stone pillar with his left hand. The Steel Bone in his right leg was completely destroyed; his entire leg was now numb, and the wound on his left shoulder was bleeding again, dripping down the folds of his work pants.
But he still looked up and grinned at the two of them. "Still alive... pretty good, huh?"
Emma Frost stared at him for two seconds without saying a word, but her gaze changed. The doubt she had felt earlier about whether he could actually do it was replaced by something deeper—as if she was realizing for the first time that this guy wasn't the Ye Mo who could only talk his way out of trouble.
Thor cracked his knuckles, glanced at the platform, then looked back at Ye Mo: "Your new trick, next time could you at least give me a heads-up? I almost thought you were going to self-destruct."
"There's no surprise if you tell me in advance." Ye Mo panted, wiping his face and finding his palms covered in sweat and dust. "Besides, I don't even know if it will work out myself."
What he didn't say was that, for a fleeting moment, he genuinely thought he was going to die there. Not because of the pain, nor because of exhaustion, but because of the pressure of "having to hold on," which was more intense than any physical injury. He used to think of himself as a freeloader; Tony taught him technology, Emma Frost saved his life, and he was lucky if he could even get close to Thor in a fight between gods. But in that moment, he suddenly understood—some things, no one can shoulder for you; if you don't step up, no one else will.
He glanced down at his hand; a faint ember of blue light lingered in his palm, vanishing in an instant.
On the high platform, Malekith slowly lowered his arm, and black mist once again enveloped his body. He didn't speak, but his gaze fell on Ye Mo, no longer with the contempt of "an ant jumping around," but with a hint of... assessment. It was as if he was taking this guy, who shouldn't have been on the battlefield, seriously for the first time.
Ye Mo looked at him, grinned, and this time didn't say anything. He just raised his right hand and made a "please go ahead" gesture, exactly the same as when he froze the enemy earlier.
The wind rushed in through the damaged bulkhead, carrying the smell of burning metal and ice shards.
The three remained standing in the same spot, their positions unchanged, their distance maintained, and their fighting stance unchanged.
The shield is gone, but something else has changed.