Chapter 71: Detonation Protocol

The air cracked apart as the two figures launched forward.

Alexander's blade, now extended and jagged like lightning forged in shadow, arced through the air with deadly precision. The enemy's spear met it halfway, blue and violet energies colliding in a soundless explosion. The force from their clash sent ripples down the cracked asphalt, splitting the ground beneath their feet as a halo of power erupted around them.

Tony and Natasha braced against the shockwave. It hit like a hurricane, bending traffic signs and knocking debris into the air. A parked motorcycle was flipped onto its side, and glass cracked under the pressure. Natasha shielded her eyes, crouched low behind a battered sedan. Tony's jets flared as he dug into the air with force, stabilizing midair.

A moment later, the combatants were gone—both vanished into a storm of movement that blurred the lines between solid and shadow.

From rooftop to rooftop, they moved like phantoms. Each impact shattered concrete, tore through rusted metal piping, and punched holes in brick walls. Alexander blinked forward in short bursts of shadow, teleporting just ahead of every lethal sweep of the spear. He wasn't just faster now—he was instinctual, the shadow armor moving in sync with every muscle and impulse.

The enemy matched him perfectly. It struck with terrifying precision, reading his angles, adjusting within milliseconds. Its mechanical eyes flickered, recalculating, adapting. Each clash between them sent blue sparks flying across rooftops, igniting trash bins and setting wooden water towers ablaze.

Alexander twisted midair, calling forth a wall of condensed shadow just as the enemy lunged with its spear. The weapon clanged against the barrier, vibrating with such intensity that the surrounding air rippled. For the first time, the silver-armored figure paused, processing this unexpected resistance.

Alexander didn't give it the luxury of contemplation. He ducked under the recoiling spear and drove a gauntlet-wrapped fist into the enemy's temple. The impact sent shockwaves through the air. Cracks webbed across the helmet, and a faint hiss of leaking energy escaped from its seam. Before it could recover, Alexander spun and kicked it square in the chest, sending it crashing into a parked delivery truck below.

The vehicle crumpled under the weight, its roof flattened like a tin can. The enemy didn't move.

Alexander landed beside it a second later, breathing hard but steady. His pulse thundered in his ears, and the shadows around him flexed like coiled serpents.

Tony descended beside him, landing with a thud that dented the pavement.

"Whatever that was," Tony said, eyes wide inside his HUD, "do it again. Repeatedly."

"Not sure it'll work twice," Alexander muttered. "It's learning."

A shriek of energy split the air as the downed truck exploded in blue light.

The silver-armored enemy launched from the wreckage, helmet fractured, one eye flickering. Its movements were more erratic now—faster, but unstable. From its chest, plating retracted like petals peeling away from a flower.

Revealed within was a pulsing core—unstable, radiant, and deadly. The light wasn't just illumination; it warped the air around it, distorting reality in pulses.

Tony's HUD screamed.

"Energy spike detected," he warned. "That thing's about to go nuclear."

From a nearby rooftop, Natasha shouted, "We need to pull back—now!"

Alexander didn't move. "We can't. If it detonates here, the radius will level five blocks. We finish this. Now."

He took a step forward, his shadow blade dissolving and reforming into a longer, sleeker lance of pure void.

The enemy raised its arm—but it was too slow.

Alexander blinked forward in a burst of shadow.

He plunged the lance straight into the core.

There was silence.

For a heartbeat.

Then the world erupted.

The explosion shattered the street, flaring upward like a blue sun. Concrete buckled, fire raged, and the air thundered from the impact.

Tony caught Natasha midair, shielding her with his armor as they were tossed back by the blast.

When the dust settled, a crater smoldered at the center of the battlefield.

From the fire, Alexander rose.

His armor steamed, the shadows retreating slightly before reforming. The lance flickered before vanishing entirely. He stood tall, unwavering.

At his feet lay the silver-armored figure—its chest cored through, the unstable energy extinguished completely.

Tony landed beside him, stunned. "You ended it."

Alexander exhaled slowly. "I had to."

Suddenly, a dull thud echoed from the sky—a second drop pod crashing down behind him.

But this one didn't open.

It emitted a pulse, scanned the area, and then imploded into itself—gone in a flash of blue light.

Tony's eyes narrowed. "That wasn't a soldier. That was surveillance."

Alexander's gaze darkened. "Someone's watching."

End of Chapter 71

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