Chapter 69: For the Sake of the Alliance...

“A silk... curry stick—!!!”

As Luke’s shout echoed across the battlefield through the mech’s loudspeaker, the Warlord executed a dazzling sword swing, unleashing a devastating wave of energy. No, wait—a sword beam.

The arc of energy was ten meters wide, shaped like a crescent moon. It shot upward from the ground, like a newborn moon climbing the heavens.

The sword beam shone with blinding brilliance, so intense that ordinary people could not look at it directly. That’s how Asura lost his sight.

With incredible speed, the sword beam ripped through the sky, crossing several hundred meters in the blink of an eye. Its destructive power became instantly apparent.

Tony, who was flying toward the conference venue, suddenly saw a burst of light erupt from the ground below. A tidal wave of energy surged towards him, and his suit’s HUD flashed red across every interface.

“Sir, evasive maneuvers!” JARVIS alerted him.

In a split second, Tony pushed his thrusters to the limit, rocketing upward at full speed. The Iron Man suit barely dodged the oncoming torrent of energy.

The Hammer Iron Soldiers who had been pursuing him relentlessly were struck head-on by the blade of Asura’s demonic light. The ten-meter-wide sword beam swept through the air, engulfing every Iron Soldier in its path. They exploded helplessly in midair, bursting into brilliant blooms of fire and smoke that glittered over New York’s skyline.

James Rhodes, who should have been the first victim, opened his eyes to find himself miraculously unharmed. Glancing around, he saw that not a single Iron Soldier remained.

Tony didn’t stop climbing until he reached two thousand meters. Even then, his heart was still racing with fear. He asked JARVIS in astonishment, “JARVIS, what the hell was that thing?!”

“Sir, that energy level exceeds all my readings. The origin is on the ground.”

Tony’s expression grew grave as he looked down.

Meanwhile, this sudden turn of events had already drawn the full attention of the world’s elite. Through live feeds, military leaders across the globe had witnessed the spectacle and were left in uproar.

Luke’s Asura Demonic Light Slash was clearly something unprecedented. Military brass everywhere bombarded their scientific advisers with questions: What kind of weapon was that? Why had they never heard of it before? Was it some new American laser weapon?

The Americans could only respond: If you’re asking us, who are we supposed to ask?

Even the U.S. military was baffled, having no recollection of any energy weapon like this. What puzzled them most was that the weapon seemed to be—a sword?

A sword that unleashed high-intensity energy shockwaves?

It was simply unbelievable!

The President of the United States was roused from sleep by an emergency call. Realizing the gravity of the situation, he ordered, “Get me the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.—I want answers!”

On the ground, Luke withdrew his mech’s massive sword, deeply satisfied with the power of the Asura Demonic Light Slash—ten out of ten, especially for the cosplay.

The strongest blow of the strongest Noble Phantasm from the strongest Servant—Artoria, the King of Knights—from the greatest anime in the universe, Fate!

Too bad, no one in this world recognized it.

What? You say the Golden King is the strongest? Does he have an ahoge? No! Therefore, the conclusion is: the King of Knights with the ahoge reigns supreme!

The entire sequence—from charging up to unleashing the sword beam—had been faithfully captured by countless cameras. Luke didn’t yet know that, in time, this move would become famous as the “Holy Sword,” amassing a legion of fans. The British, in particular, would become his most devoted followers.

At S.H.I.E.L.D.’s science division, in the agents’ dormitory—

“Jemma, did you hear what he just shouted?” A young man with short brown hair paused, hand halfway to his mouth, dumbfounded.

Beside him sat a blonde girl of similar age. She smiled and, in a British accent, replied, “Excalibur—the legendary sword forged by elves in Avalon, bestowed upon King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake.”

“Oh, come on, Jemma! As a Brit, of course I know what that is. But why would the Apostle shout the name of the Holy Sword? Is the Apostle secretly British?”

“Oh, Fitz. Don’t tell me you’re about to say—”

“I’ve made up my mind, Jemma.” The brown-haired youth, Fitz, straightened up with a look of resolve. “Whether the Apostle is British or not, from today on, he’s my idol!”

Jemma watched him with an amused smile. As a genius in mechanical and electronic engineering, Fitz had been a fan ever since the Apostle first appeared online. He was always praising the Apostle’s designs as “uniquely mature and harmoniously unparalleled,” and was utterly captivated by them.

Tonight, when the Apostle showed up piloting an even larger mech, Fitz nearly leapt from his chair and almost dragged her out to the scene.

“I doubt S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn’t made contact with the Apostle. In the future, you’ll have plenty of chances to meet him in person,” Jemma said, grinning.

“You’re right!” Fitz instantly perked up, rubbing his hands together as if preparing a thousand questions to ask the Apostle when the time came.

Meanwhile, Tony was no less shocked as he spotted the six-meter-tall giant mech on the ground.

“JARVIS, is today April Fool’s Day?”

“Today is September 32nd, sir.”

Tony, of course, knew what day it was. He was just too stunned to care.

If not for that unmistakable, iconic style—and the barely restrained, sky-puncturing ferocity woven into that energy attack—Tony might have thought he was looking at Obadiah’s Iron Monger.

Rhodey had also spotted Luke. Still unable to regain control of the War Machine armor, he asked over the radio, “Tony, is that reinforcements of yours? Pretty huge if it is.”

Reinforcements? Tony wanted to say that he’d almost died back there! Rhodey, strangely, seemed completely unfazed.

Tony blazed through the sky like a red comet, arcing gracefully down to land in front of Luke.

“Apostle?”

“Good evening,” Luke replied, activating his mech’s loudspeaker. To avoid exposure, he’d already had Christina set up a disguise for him. For now, he wasn’t planning to reveal his identity to Tony.

“Were you planning to take me out along with them?” Tony demanded.

Luke knew exactly what Tony meant. He himself had been startled by the Asura Demonic Light Slash—his first time using it, he hadn’t aimed properly. He managed to avoid Rhodey, but nearly hit Tony.

Still, the result was perfect, wasn’t it?

Luke would never admit to a mistake.

“Relax, everything’s under control,” he replied in a calm tone.

Lottos chimed in beside him, “That move gets full marks from me! Baa-ha-ha! I’ll give you a C rating—keep letting yourself go, kid!”

Luke was delighted. “From D to C? Not bad. Let’s keep going—for the sake of the League (and the ratings)!”

Tonight’s fireworks show was only just reaching its climax—the true villain, Whiplash, had yet to appear.

As Luke thought this, more Iron Soldiers emerged. At that moment, Christina matched a figure in the crowd to Peter Parker, bringing his image onto Luke’s display. Luke spotted the young Spider-Man, masked and mingling with the panicked throng.

“What the heck—why is he wearing a mask?”

That explained why Christina hadn’t found Spider-Man until now: Peter Parker was wearing some unknown mask.

Just then, an Iron Soldier landed directly in front of Peter. Assessing the threat, it activated its shoulder-mounted cannon and aimed it straight at Spider-Man.

...

PS:
Please allow me to postpone the National Day bonus chapters until after the book’s official release, for the sake of even better rankings during the new book phase. I hope everyone will understand.