Chapter 184

The rotting giant was simply too massive.

And the bullets from the officers' handguns—too small.

While the rounds could penetrate its decayed flesh, the tiny bullet wounds were nothing more than pinpricks to the ten-meter-tall abomination.

The creature's writhing, blood-red tendrils flexed, tightening around the wounds. In mere moments, the damage was sealed shut, layers of flesh pressing together and erasing any trace of injury.

"This isn't working! Switch to heavy firepower—bullets aren't doing a damn thing!"

Several more composed detectives quickly realized their firearms were ineffective.

One of them wasted no time. Dropping his pistol, he reached for a grenade at his waist, pulled the pin, and hurled it toward the monstrous titan.

The green grenade arced through the air before landing squarely against the creature's right arm.

BOOM!

With a deafening explosion, a massive chunk of rotting flesh was blasted off its arm.

Shredded pieces of decayed tissue splattered outward, creating a grotesque mist of blood in midair before raining down onto the battlefield.

"Nice shot!"

Chief Loren Clyde, initially paralyzed by fear, felt a surge of hope. Seeing the grenade inflict visible damage, he began to believe that maybe—just maybe—the creature wasn't invincible.

He was just about to order his officers to unleash their full arsenal—grenades, rocket launchers, anything that could tear this thing apart—

When a colossal rotting hand came crashing down.

BOOM!

The detective who had thrown the grenade—along with the police car in front of him—was flattened into a pulp.

When the grotesque hand lifted again, all that remained was an unrecognizable smear of flesh and metal.

Clyde's blood ran cold. The words he was about to shout caught in his throat.

The monster had only just begun.

It continued its rampage, bringing down its massive hands again and again, crushing several more officers before turning its gaze elsewhere—toward the panicked civilians desperately trying to flee.

"Flesh... I need... more flesh..."

Just as the abomination took a step forward, preparing to chase down the helpless crowd—

Two missiles, streaking white smoke trails, shot through the sky.

BOOM! BOOM!

The missiles—produced by Stark Industries—detonated directly against the creature's chest.

The explosion sent the monster flying backward, massive shockwaves rippling through the street.

As the dust settled, a sleek figure in red and gold streaked across the sky, arriving on the battlefield to thunderous cheers.

"Mom, look! It's Iron Man! He knocked the monster away!"

"We're saved! We're finally saved!"

"Honey, look! It's Iron Man! We're gonna be okay!"

"Don't just stand there! We need to get out of here! So what if it's Iron Man? He got his ass kicked by Abomination back in Harlem! He's not that six-winged angel—who knows if he can actually win this fight?!"

"He will! He's Iron Man! I know he'll find a way!"

BOOM!

The rotting giant crashed into a small fountain, sending debris flying.

Buried beneath layers of blubber, its bloodshot eyes snapped open in fury.

It lifted its gaze to the sky, locking onto the figure in red and gold armor.

"You... will die..."

Hovering above the wreckage, Tony Stark narrowed his eyes. His gaze flickered to the pancaked police cars, the pulped remains of officers, and the mountain of corpses inside Fisk Tower.

His voice was cold.

"The only one dying today is you, monster."

Raising his right arm, he fired a specialized micro-missile—one designed for precise elimination.

The missile streaked through the air, hurtling straight for the monster's head.

"ROAR!"

Refusing to be outdone, the rotting behemoth swung its massive right arm in an attempt to swat the missile out of the air.

Watching the slow, sluggish attack, Tony scoffed.

"Really? You think you're fast enough?"

The moment before the monster's fist could make contact—

BOOM!

The micro-missile struck, detonating directly against the creature's skull.

Flames and thick black smoke erupted from its head, engulfing its grotesque form.

"Did I get it?"

Tony was just about to confirm the kill—

When a rotting fist shot out of the flames.

Faster than he could react—

BAM!

The monstrous fist slammed into him, sending him hurtling across the cityscape.

From atop a distant high-rise, Joker Eren watched as Tony Stark was sent flying.

Shaking his head, he sighed.

"Guess he still hasn't learned his lesson."

Clearly, getting manhandled by Abomination in Harlem hadn't been enough of a wake-up call.

Sure, Stark's armor might be strong against normal enemies.

But against monsters that could withstand high-caliber firepower?

Going toe-to-toe with them was just asking to get ragdolled.

And sure enough—

He'd just gotten punched through half a skyscraper.

CRASH!

Tony slammed through multiple floors of a corporate building, tearing through offices and cubicles before landing in a pile of rubble.

For a moment, everything was silent.

Then—

The wreckage shifted.

A battered, groggy Iron Man slowly pushed himself up.

"Goddamn… That was a hell of a punch…"

It was only thanks to the vibranium-infused plating in his suit that he wasn't dead.

The vibranium had absorbed most of the impact, dispersing the energy before it could turn his organs into paste.

But still—

His head was spinning.

"Shit… This is gonna be a long night…"

As the dizziness gradually faded, Tony activated his Mark armor, taking off amidst the horrified screams of office workers inside the building.

The moment he emerged—

Tony immediately noticed the sheer scale of devastation that had unfolded in the brief time he was down.

The streets outside Fisk Tower were soaked in blood.

Corpses littered the ground, covering the pavement like a grotesque mosaic of death.

And across the bloodstained streets, countless vein-like tendrils slithered and pulsed, spreading like a vast, tangled network.

These writhing veins extracted liquefied flesh from the corpses, channeling it through their grotesque tunnels—directly into the rotting giant.

As the abomination absorbed fresh blood and flesh, the massive craters left by Tony's missiles began closing at an alarming speed.

Within seconds, the wounds had completely disappeared.

Worse still—

The monster wasn't just healing.

It was growing.

Tony's face paled.

"Shit... How long was I out? An hour?!"

J.A.R.V.I.S. calmly responded.

"Sir, from the moment you were struck until now, exactly 37 seconds have passed."

37 seconds.

Tony's expression darkened.

Thirty-seven seconds.

In barely half a minute, this thing had caused an unimaginable massacre.

It was even worse than he had predicted.

"Sir, based on my analysis, the creature is absorbing organic matter through those blood-red tendrils. If it continues, it will continue to grow exponentially stronger. You must stop it from consuming any more flesh."

Tony grimaced as he eyed the pulsating network of tendrils spreading across the city.

This thing wasn't just killing people.

It was feeding on them.

And growing stronger every second.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., switch to Inferno Mode."

"Understood, sir."

Taking a deep breath, Tony ignited the Mark suit's thrusters, launching into the sky with twin blue flames.

As he flew over the battlefield—

Both of his repulsors ignited, spewing torrents of scorching fire downward.

Hellfire engulfed the streets, incinerating the slithering blood tendrils below.

The grotesque vein-like network blackened, shriveled, and disintegrated into charred husks.

From a distance—

The rotting giant froze mid-slaughter.

It could feel its feeding network burning away.

Its bald, festering scalp rippled with movement.

Then—

Six slits suddenly tore open across the back of its head.

Within moments—

Three pairs of enormous blood-red eyes emerged from the fissures, glaring murderously at the armored figure soaring above.

Seeing the very same enemy that had wounded it earlier—

The monstrosity let out a ground-shaking roar.

"YOU AGAIN!"

As it bellowed in rage, the rotting titan swung both of its enormous, decayed arms.

The grotesque limbs twisted in impossible angles, hurtling toward Tony with crushing force.

But Tony—

Had learned his lesson.

With a precise aerial maneuver, he spun midair, veering away at the last moment.

Narrowly dodging the putrid fists, he continued his assault—

Torching every tendril still writhing across the streets.

Now that he understood their purpose, his top priority was eradicating them.

Not just to stop the monster from regenerating—

But to ensure that he wouldn't have to fight a continuously growing nightmare.

Of course—

Even as he moved, Tony never stopped attacking.

His shoulder-mounted missile pods deployed, launching a barrage of micro-missiles straight at the abomination's bloated torso.

Each impact sent chunks of rotten flesh flying.

As he weaved through the sky, Tony barked out another command.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.! Get the military on the line. We need heavy firepower ASAP. I'll hold this thing off until they arrive."

J.A.R.V.I.S. responded immediately.

"Understood, sir. Contacting the Department of Defense now—"

Before J.A.R.V.I.S. could finish, the enraged rotting giant launched another frenzied attack.

...

Meanwhile…

At the Pentagon, Department of Defense.

The emergency request for firepower support had reached the highest levels.

"General, a gigantic hostile entity has appeared in Clinton, New York. It's causing massive civilian casualties. The NYPD and other agencies have officially requested federal military intervention."

The officer's report continued.

"Sir, **Tony Stark—Iron Man—is currently engaging the monster. However, he has also sent an urgent request for military firepower support."

The aging general standing at the command console frowned.

As he listened to the report, multiple satellite feeds displayed real-time footage of the battle.

The massive nine-screen display was dominated by one horrifying image:

A grotesque, decaying titan.

It towered over the streets, butchering civilians with terrifying efficiency.

Multiple screens showed Iron Man darting around the battlefield, struggling to contain the monster.

One feed even replayed the moment Tony was struck, sent crashing through a skyscraper—only to disappear under a pile of debris.

The general snorted.

"Hmph. I knew these so-called superheroes were useless. They talk big about protecting the world, but when it really counts, they're just in the way."

His eyes narrowed.

"If Stark had handed over his Iron Man tech to the military, we wouldn't be in this mess. If we had an army of Iron Men, we wouldn't be so damn helpless against these monsters."

With a cold grunt, he issued the order.

"Send word to the nearest military bases—deploy immediate airstrikes on the target in Clinton. We are wiping that thing off the map."

"Yes, sir!"

(End of Chapter)

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