318 Hulk’s Tough as Ever!

'BOOM! BOOM!'

The city that once forged in steel, now resembled a scene straight out of a post-apocalyptic nightmare.

'CRASH—!'

The ground shattered. Buildings crumbled.

Dust and debris filled the air. Shattered walls flew like shrapnel.

What once seemed like sturdy, alloy-constructed machinery and infrastructure now fell like sandcastles beneath a tsunami—obliterated in the blink of an eye by the sheer ferocity of battle.

To an ordinary bystander, this fight would look outrageously one-sided.

On one side: the unstoppable Hulk, a green-skinned juggernaut of muscle and rage, capable of tearing through anything in his path.

On the other: a delicate, graceful figure weaving through his onslaught like a swallow—none other than Kagura.

Was this the fabled "Beauty and the Beast"?

Anyone with a shred of common sense would assume that even if Kagura could dodge most of Hulk's attacks with her nimble movements, one glancing blow would be enough to end the fight—or her.

But as the old saying goes: never judge a book by its cover.

Yes, Hulk was powerful—arguably the strongest member of the Avengers.

He'd torn through the Hulkbuster armor "Veronica" built specifically to contain him, and traded blows evenly with the god of thunder himself.

But Kagura wasn't just some fragile girl.

Her combat android body gave her abilities no ordinary human could match.

With the support of her White Moon Tactical Suit, she not only held her own against Hulk but could even pressure him when she activated her conceptual ability:

[Charged Aerial Combat Mode.]

"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"

Hulk snarled like a wild beast, grabbing a massive metal crate—half the size of a shipping container—and hurling it down at her.

'BOOM!'

The crate crashed into the ground with an earth-shaking impact.

A shockwave rippled outward, distorting the air and blasting nearby debris away.

The earth cracked like glass, sending razor-sharp shards of metal flying.

'ZING—!'

In the next instant, a flash of steel swept across the twisted remains of the metal crate.

'WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!'

Silver light zipped through the air like a serpent, too fast for the eye to follow.

'CLANG—!'

The crate, once solid and unyielding, was now neatly sliced into dozens of pieces, scattering across the ruined battlefield and crashing into wrecked buildings, kicking up fresh clouds of dust.

The silver-haired girl stood tall, unscathed before the Hulk. With a flourish, she spun her vibranium blade in a dazzling arc.

Her golden eyes gleamed with fire.

"Hmph. Not bad, Green Giant. It's been a while since I've fought someone who could go toe-to-toe with me like this."

"Actually—now that I think about it, you might be the first. Though... I've only been hitting you with the back of my blade so far."

'ROAR! ROAR! ROOOOAR!!'

Even in his chaos-maddened state, influenced by Wanda Maximoff's reality-warping magic, Hulk seemed to grasp her words.

And he did not like them.

Her offhanded comment about "using the back of the blade" struck his pride like a hammer.

The green titan's muscles bulged even larger.

With a roar of fury, he charged like a freight train, fists raised, aiming to tear this infuriating girl to pieces.

Despite nearly half an hour of non-stop combat, Hulk showed no signs of fatigue.

His ferocity was just as intense as when the battle began.

"Jeez, Hulk... are you ever gonna run out of steam?" Kagura muttered, dodging another swing.

"If this keeps up, I'm gonna run out of power before you do! Can you please chill out for a second?!"

Her android core allowed her to activate powerful conceptual abilities during battle—but not indefinitely.

Energy consumption was still a problem.

Honestly, if Hulk had been an enemy she was allowed to kill, she'd have ended this a long time ago.

The core energy she'd already burned would've been enough to vaporize most foes ten times over.

If she used full-strength attacks like EMP Burst or Frozen Sky, Hulk wouldn't be standing right now—or hopping around like a rabbit on steroids.

But she wasn't here to kill. She was here to save him.

'CLANG—!'

Kagura deflected another punch with her blade.

'WHOOSH—'

The shockwave lifted her long silver hair in the air. Even amid the chaos, she looked ethereal—graceful and otherworldly.

[Core Energy Remaining: 37.6%]

Yeah... she couldn't keep this up.

Her plan had been to wear Hulk down with sustained attacks, then use Cloaked Electromagnetic Mental Interference to purge Wanda's chaos magic and restore his mind.

But this Hulk was even tougher than she expected.

No wonder he was the Avengers' tank—he could take punishment like nobody else.

Still, Kagura couldn't help but wonder: if Hulk's so durable, how did Thanos knock him out so fast back then...?

While she was lost in thought, Hulk's fists came raining down again like machine-gun fire.

Kagura flipped away with practiced agility, using her enhanced reflexes to avoid the barrage.

"Okay... time for a change of plans. Since I can't knock you out first and fix your brain after... guess I'll have to do both at the same time!"

Deploy Light Wings!

With a burst of energy, Kagura soared into the air, causing Hulk to lunge forward—only to strike nothing but air.

She zipped behind him and delivered a solid kick to his back, throwing him off-balance. At the same time, she sheathed her blade.

[White Moon Suit: Switching Armament—Weapon Code: Chains of Heaven!]

If your rage and power are like the Avengers' own berserker Hercules...

Then I'll become your Enkidu—one who binds the gods themselves!

In the next instant, golden light flashed across her suit.

Chains formed from quantum matter conversion technology erupted from her wrists—glowing with radiant power.

'CLANK CLANK CLANK—!'

Like sentient serpents, the chains coiled tightly around the Hulk, binding him head to toe.

He was slammed to the ground, completely immobilized.

"Don't bother struggling," Kagura said, landing gracefully in front of him. "These vibranium chains have an internal arc reactor power source."

"They're designed to lock down your joints and muscle tension points with precision. Not even you can break out from the inside."

She began walking toward him, calm and composed. "Just hang in there a little longer. I'm going to free your mind—"

'BOOM—!'

A blinding red flash cut her off mid-sentence.

The explosion rocked the entire area, flames erupting and earth crumbling beneath her feet.

A voice echoed from above.

"Sorry, but I can't let you do that."

Kagura looked up.

There, floating above the battlefield, was the Scarlet Witch—Wanda Maximoff—gazing down at her with fierce determination.

"Long time no see, silver-haired girl."

"But this time... no matter what..."

"I'm not going to lose."