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Behind a crumbling wall, Tony Stark leaned heavily against the concrete, breathing hard.
"JARVIS… use the Blessing of the Goddess of Life."
The so-called "Blessing of the Goddess of Life" was actually the super recovery medicine provided by Rimuru. Tony had stored three capsules inside the Mark IV armor.
It was also one of the greatest trump cards of the Mark IV's life-support system.
"Yes, sir."
After using the recovery medicine, Tony's injuries rapidly healed.
Although this wasn't the first time he had experienced its effects, he was still deeply shocked every single time.
Instantly healing severe injuries truly felt like a miracle.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
"JARVIS, report the armor's damage status."
The helmet display turned red.
Almost every component had suffered severe damage.
Tony sighed helplessly.
"Alright, alright… I get it."
Honestly, the Mark IV had already exceeded expectations in this battle test. At the very least, it had performed reliably without malfunctioning.
Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough to win.
That realization left Tony somewhat frustrated.
The gap between himself and Rimuru was simply enormous.
Without energy shield technology, the Mark IV's armor alone couldn't meet the combat requirements needed for battles against monsters of this level.
The armor had suffered critical damage, and the shock-absorption system had deteriorated significantly. Tony himself was badly injured, and two of his three recovery capsules had already been used.
The brutality of this fight had far exceeded Tony Stark's expectations.
"Sir," JARVIS reported, "your remaining energy reserves are critically low. You are currently in an extremely dangerous condition. I strongly advise immediate withdrawal from combat."
Tony waved it off, pretending to sound relaxed.
"My father taught me many things, JARVIS… but he never taught me how to run away from a battlefield. Right now, what you should be doing is helping me figure out how to win."
"Yes, sir."
BOOM!
Unable to find Iron Man, Abomination had already descended into complete madness.
He leapt more than ten meters into the air, bounding wildly between skyscrapers. Every now and then, he smashed walls apart or kicked cars aside in fury.
Within a short time, the entire street had become a wasteland of rubble and destruction.
"Tin can! Is that all you've got?!"
"Come out! Get out here!"
Abomination's furious roars echoed endlessly through the city.
Meanwhile, Tony's mind raced.
How could he defeat Abomination?
His weapons were nearly depleted, his armor was failing, and he himself was exhausted.
At this point, external assistance seemed like the only option left.
Even if he couldn't defeat Abomination outright, he at least needed to stop the monster from continuing its destruction.
"JARVIS, pull up a holographic map of the entire street."
"Immediately, sir."
After carefully scanning the area, Tony finally selected a particular building.
"JARVIS, scan that building for life signs."
"At once."
A few moments later, JARVIS responded.
"Sir, scan complete. No life signs detected."
"Good. Prepare the optimal engagement plan. I'm going to lure that big bastard over there and bury him properly."
"Yes, sir."
RATATATATAT!
A barrage of bullets rained down onto Abomination, instantly drawing his attention.
"Tin can! Finally got the courage to come out?!"
Seeing Iron Man reappear, Abomination immediately became excited and charged forward with a massive punch.
Of course, Tony had no intention of engaging him head-on.
Using mobility and hit-and-run tactics, he skillfully kited the simple-minded brute, gradually leading him exactly where he wanted.
Several minutes later, Tony successfully lured Abomination to the predetermined ambush location.
His original plan was simple:
Use his final explosive payload to collapse the entire building and bury Abomination beneath the rubble forever.
But just as he prepared to execute the plan, Tony suddenly noticed something shocking.
A life signal had appeared on the rooftop.
Zooming in, Tony discovered a reporter standing there with a camera, filming the battle live.
The rooftop had been empty during the earlier scan.
When had this idiot gotten up there?!
Was this guy risking his life for a news report?!
Tony suddenly felt the urge to curse.
If he had to describe his current mood, it was like watching a disaster movie where a bunch of elementary school kids suddenly wandered onto the battlefield.
Even worse, at that exact moment, Abomination hurled a car toward Tony—
And by sheer coincidence, the car was flying directly toward the reporter.
"What?!"
The reporter froze in terror and instinctively shut his eyes.
BOOM!
Flames erupted violently from the thrusters beneath Tony's feet.
In an instant, Iron Man appeared in front of the reporter and caught the flying vehicle with both hands.
The expected impact never came.
The reporter slowly opened his eyes and witnessed a scene he would never forget.
Iron Man, wearing heavily damaged armor, knelt before him while struggling to hold up the incoming car.
Iron Man had saved him.
As Tony strained to set the vehicle aside, the reporter's eyes suddenly widened.
"WATCH OUT!"
But it was too late.
Tony had no time to evade.
What the reporter never expected was that, just as Abomination's enormous kick came crashing down, Iron Man suddenly wrapped his arms around him protectively.
BOOM!!!
CRACK! CRACK!
Both of them were sent flying like cannonballs.
Excruciating pain tore through the reporter's body. He coughed up blood as his consciousness rapidly faded.
The final thing he remembered was the shower of sparks erupting endlessly from Iron Man's damaged armor.
Tony wasn't in much better condition.
His vision went black, and the overwhelming pain nearly caused him to lose consciousness completely.
If Hulk hadn't arrived at that exact moment and diverted Abomination's attention, giving him no opportunity to finish Tony off…
Then one of Marvel's future giants—Iron Man—might have died right there.
Perhaps this was what people called protagonist luck.
"Sir… sir… sir…"
Everything was dark. His ears rang violently.
Only after a long time did Tony finally begin to hear JARVIS's voice clearly again.
"Sir, I have detected that your life is in critical danger. I will now override manual authorization and administer the Blessing of the Goddess of Life."
This was an automatic emergency protocol Tony had created for situations exactly like this.
"Stop."
Just as JARVIS prepared the injection, Tony stopped him.
"Sir," JARVIS said, "your injuries are extremely severe and require immediate treatment. Without emergency intervention, you will enter shock within ten minutes. Organ failure will begin within twenty minutes. Death is estimated within thirty minutes."
Tony slowly turned his head.
In the distance, Hulk and Abomination were locked in a catastrophic battle. Every collision between them looked powerful enough to destroy the entire city.
Tony took a deep breath.
"My fight is over."
Then he looked toward the unconscious reporter beside him.
"Use the medicine on him instead."
JARVIS paused briefly before replying:
"Sir… you are truly a noble man willing to sacrifice yourself for others. You are pure and honorable."
Tony laughed self-mockingly.
"Noble? No, no, no. I'm just a loser. Go ahead and treat the reporter."
"Yes, sir."
The final recovery medicine was used on the reporter.
His injuries healed rapidly.
Meanwhile, the battered and heavily damaged Iron Man armor slowly rose into the sky and flew away.
All across the world, countless people watched Iron Man's departing figure on their screens.
But instead of gratitude, many eyes gleamed with excitement as headlines and criticism had already begun forming in their minds:
"Iron Man Defeated by Monster — Flees the Battlefield!"
"Superhero or Cowardly Escape Artist?"
"Unable to Protect Civilians — Does Iron Man Still Deserve
Control Over Humanoid Mecha Technology?"