Hero Association Online Part 6
Owen stared at Corvus and his halberd for a moment before disappearing in a reddish flash.
Corvus, who had been looking at him mockingly just an instant ago, watched him vanish without being able to follow his speed.
Red flashes darted across the battlefield in every direction while Corvus struggled to keep up.
His eyes widened and he immediately swung his halberd behind him, more on instinct than perception.
The weapon collided with one of Owen's daggers.
The impact unleashed a shockwave that split the ground around them. One of Corvus's feet was even driven slightly into the earth while the red energy pouring from Owen's body seemed to want to crush him into the ground, as if it wasn't repulsion at all but pure temporary gravity.
Corvus tried to move his halberd, but before he could counterattack, the golden wire attached to Owen's other dagger had already wrapped around his wrist.
Owen immediately pulled on it while his reddish energy traveled inch by inch through his body and then through the wire.
As it tightened, it began sliding through Thanos's son's skin.
Corvus's arm was severed by a cut so thin it looked like a surgical amputation.
Even the bone was sliced cleanly with ease.
Blood immediately began pouring out as the arm flew through the air.
But even with that injury, Corvus growled and slashed with his halberd, trying to force Owen to release the wire so he could recover his arm before it flew too far away.
But just as the weapon passed in front of him, Owen leaned forward and ducked beneath Corvus's armpit.
Moving behind his elbow, he grabbed Corvus's wrist and slammed his own elbow into Corvus's forearm.
A sharp strike loaded with red energy that hit the alien's arm head on.
A loud internal crack echoed out as the arm bent at an angle it definitely shouldn't.
The halberd slipped from his grasp for an instant.
Owen didn't stop attacking.
He drove a knee upward into Corvus's chest, sending him flying backward.
This time with even more energy behind it, causing Corvus's body to fold in on itself as he was launched away.
Corvus ended up crashing into a nearby wall of the base, shaking the entire island.
Which at this point seemed to tremble every few moments, whether because of Owen's fight or Wanda's.
"Your weapon is dangerous," Owen said.
"But you aren't."
He added while looking at the cloud of dust that had swallowed Corvus, fairly certain he'd end up paying for those damages himself later.
Then his gaze settled on the halberd lying on the ground.
And he crouched down to pick it up.
But before he could touch it, the weapon moved on its own, flying back toward where Corvus had been sent.
When it pierced through the dust cloud, the cloud parted, revealing Corvus standing there.
The halberd flew directly in front of him and embedded itself into the ground while releasing a faint dark glow.
Meanwhile, Corvus's broken arm twitched for a moment, fractured bones cracking audibly.
And suddenly it returned to normal.
At the same time, he was holding the arm Owen had cut off.
Causing even Owen to slightly furrow his brow, having not noticed when Corvus had recovered it.
But in the next instant, he watched Corvus press the severed arm against the bleeding stump.
And under the glow of the halberd, it rapidly fused back together.
Corvus even flexed his fingers while the remaining wounds slowly continued closing.
Owen wasn't surprised by what he saw.
But his expression looked even colder than before, as if he now understood that killing Corvus wasn't going to be nearly as easy as he had thought.
…
Back in New York, Pietro was still running with the unconscious Strange slung over one shoulder.
And he was really not having a good day.
Stone pillars kept rising in his path, one after another, forcing him to change direction every few meters.
"Just to be clear," Pietro said through the communicator while jumping over a destroyed taxi and weaving between two overturned cars. "When I said I needed help, I didn't mean emotional support. I meant people punching the ugly alien. Though maybe I do need a little bit of the first one too," he added.
"We're on our way," Tony immediately replied through the communicator.
"How close?" Pietro asked as stone spikes formed in front of him, forcing him to leap sideways onto the wall of a building and run across it for several meters before returning to the street because the wall suddenly broke apart into loose bricks farther ahead.
"Duck," Tony instantly said through the communicator.
And Pietro, who never slowed down, immediately obeyed and slid across the ground, narrowly avoiding Tony, who suddenly shot out from an intersection while both arms of his armor were locked together in front of him, forming a massive nanotechnology cannon that was already fully charged.
A golden energy beam fired instantly toward Ebony Maw, who was still floating through the air while pursuing Pietro.
Even the alien stopped the moment he saw Tony aiming at him.
Immediately, Thanos's son raised both hands.
The buildings on either side of him suddenly collapsed.
Cars lifted directly in front of him, forming a shield to stop Tony's energy beam.
Or at least buy him enough time to dodge.
Because the moment the energy beam struck, it destroyed everything in its path, completely burning through it and triggering a massive explosion.
Which sent Ebony Maw flying backward several meters.
It didn't do much damage, but it was enough to buy them some time.
"Kid, get the wizard to the idiot on the flying motorcycle," Tony immediately said.
"You know I'm listening through the communicator. I can shoot you from where I am," Nicolás said in a somewhat annoyed tone.
But Tony ignored him.
And Pietro, who had paused for a moment after seeing Ebony Maw get blasted away, watched Spider Man swing between the buildings and fire a web toward Strange, who was still unconscious, pulling him out of Pietro's hands.
Which was honestly a relief, because Pietro was completely exhausted and wouldn't have been able to keep running much longer while carrying another person.
"Don't drop him or I'm deducting points from your evaluation," Tony shouted just in case.
Peter swallowed nervously.
"Okay. No dropping the wizard."
"BOOM!"
At the same time, a massive explosion echoed through the city as a building began collapsing not far away, followed by impacts so powerful they resonated across all of New York and an enraged roar.
"Fuuuu..." Tony let out a long sigh for a moment, already knowing Hulk was taking certain liberties with the whole trying not to destroy the city part of the fight.
But he didn't dwell on it for long.
"Alright," Tony said as he landed heavily on a ruined street. "Now we can focus on the skinny one."
He said it to Pietro, who took the opportunity to rest for a few moments but stretched his muscles, preparing himself for the fight.
Ebony Maw slowly descended between shattered buildings, his robes moving with the wind while his eyes locked onto them.
Then he looked into the distance and saw Strange being carried away by Spider Man.
He didn't seem rushed.
But the absolute calmness from before was gone.
"More insects. Then I shall have to crush you first before taking the stone," Ebony Maw said irritably.
Tony raised a hand.
"You know, between the people standing here right now, the one who actually looks like an insect is you," Tony told him.
And Pietro couldn't help agreeing with a nod and a faint amused smile.