A red and gold stream of light, like an angry comet cutting through the dark night, crashed into the sky above Stark Tower!
"Pepper!"
Tony roared into the communication channel, his gaze locked through the Visor onto the hideous Beast perched atop the building—the iron monger.
"Obadiah!"
What answered him wasn't words, but a miniature missile whistling out from the iron monger's shoulder launcher!
"Jarvis, target Obadiah for me!"
"Sir, locking on... Warning! Unable to lock onto the iron monger chassis!" Jarvis's voice quickened for the first time, sounding like data interference. "The target is shrouded in an unknown Energy Field. All guidance programs directed at the chassis have failed!"
"Analyze the Energy Field composition!"
"Sir, unable to parse. Its properties subvert existing physical models."
"Damn it!"
Tony's heart sank. That [whispering leech ash]! Obadiah really used it!
But the missile itself wasn't shrouded. Tony reacted instantly, switching targets and snapping the lock-on frame onto the rapidly approaching missile.
"Locked on, intercepting!"
Fire erupted from the mark iii's shoulder. A precision Interceptor Missile struck first, turning the incoming missile into a brilliant firework mid-air.
However, this brief victory provided no room to breathe.
"Hahaha... Do you see, Tony?" Obadiah's arrogant, raspy laughter echoed through the public channel.
"Your little toys are useless against me now! Today, the technology you're most proud of will become your tombstone!"
Before he finished, the Gatling Guns on the iron monger's arms began to spin madly. Simultaneously, the launch pods on its back fully opened, pouring a steel storm of bullets and Rockets toward Tony, blotting out the sky!
Obadiah gave up on precision strikes; he intended to drown Tony alive with the most savage, irrational saturation fire!
"Shit!"
Tony cursed as the HUD on his retina was instantly flooded with hundreds of red threat alerts! Countless lines of fire wove into a web of death; he was like a fly trapped in a net, with no choice but to dodge.
Jarvis could automatically intercept some, but faced with such a dense barrage, even the AI's processing power had reached its limit!
"Switch the Palm Repulsors to manual mode! Use other weapons to intercept the Rockets!"
Tony roared, forcibly taking control of the repulsors. He wove through the barrage in a disheveled manner, the repulsors in his palms and automatic weapons firing wildly to shoot down incoming Rockets. Scorching warheads constantly hammered against the armor's surface with a popping sound like roasting beans. While the bullets couldn't penetrate his defense, the resulting Impact made every step difficult.
He was a genius inventor, a top-tier engineer, but he had never been a marksman!
Most of his energy was spent on evasion and interception, leaving him with no strength to organize an effective counterattack. He tried to raise his hand to shoot at the iron monger, but under manual control, those blue energy beams almost all missed, only grazing the paint on the iron monger's massive frame!
He was like a drowning man being battered by giant waves, only able to wave his arms desperately to keep from sinking, unable to harm the vicious dragon that had stirred up the storm.
Humiliation, anger, powerlessness!
Boom!
A Rocket he failed to intercept exploded against the side of his armor. The violent Impact sent him flying, crashing into the street like a meteorite and plowing a deep trench into the hard asphalt road!
The violent Impact left him dizzy, and his bones felt as if they were falling apart. A sweet taste rose in his throat—the taste of blood—which he forced himself to swallow back down.
"Sir, seventeen percent armor damage. Leg thrusters are malfunctioning." Jarvis calmly reported the battle damage.
Before Tony could crawl up, a massive shadow loomed over him.
The iron monger descended from the sky with overwhelming force, stomping down hard with one foot!
"It's over, Tony! Stark Industries' future is mine!"
"Go to hell!"
"Jarvis, 'Warhammer Protocol'!" Tony let out a Beast-like roar from behind his Visor, gritting his teeth.
Just as the giant steel foot was about to crush him into a meat patty, the armor on the mark iii's right arm snapped open, and a massive Tungsten Steel Warhammer handle popped out. Stark immediately inserted the handle into a large iron block on his back. In a series of complex mechanical transformations, it instantly extended and locked! (Raise your hand if you know the prototype)
Bang—!
Tony didn't dodge. Instead, using all his strength, he swung that rugged warhammer upward with a violent force, precisely parrying the iron monger's stomping foot!
Two disproportionate pieces of steel collided violently, erupting in a deafening roar and blinding sparks!
A terrifying force surged through the hammer handle. Tony felt as if his right arm was being torn apart! The bones of his entire arm wailed under the Impact!
But he succeeded! He blocked the strike!
Obadiah was stunned.
He looked down at the suddenly appearing warhammer, filled with primitive, violent aesthetics, unable to react for a moment. What was this? This wasn't in the blueprints at all!
"Now!"
Tony's eyes were bloodshot. He exerted sudden force from his waist, rolling on the ground while using the momentum to send the iron monger stumbling!
Then, like an enraged Beast, he leaped from the ground. The blue light of the arc reactor in his chest flared brilliantly, all energy converging toward the warhammer in his right arm!
"My turn! Old man!"
Tony roared, gripping the hammer handle with both hands. He poured all his previous frustration, anger, and powerlessness into this single strike. In a near-frenzied state, he swung the heavy warhammer in a full moon arc, carrying a scream that tore through the air, and smashed it ruthlessly into the iron monger's chest!
This had nothing to do with technique.
This was merely the purest, most savage venting of power!
Obadiah didn't even have time to react before the massive warhammer slammed solidly onto his chest plate!
Clang—!!!
The sound was no longer that of metal colliding, but like the tolling of an ancient cathedral bell!
A visible Impact radiated outward from the point of Impact!
Under this terrifying force, the iron monger's massive frame flew backward uncontrollably for the first time, smashing through a bus and rolling along the road for over ten meters before finally coming to a stop!
The street was a mess.
Tony knelt on one knee, gasping for air while clutching the warhammer. The massive recoil had left his arm nearly numb. The warhammer leaned against the ground, supporting his body which felt ready to fall apart. A few sparks flickered from the armor joints of his right arm; clearly, that overloaded strike had caused damage.
In the distance, the iron monger struggled to rise from the bus wreckage. On its thick chest armor, a clearly visible, deep dent had appeared!
"You... you... bastard!"
Obadiah's voice was filled with unbelievable shock and the fury of being provoked.
He thought this was a one-sided slaughter, but he didn't expect that his nephew, whom he had cornered, would actually pull out a hammer from between his teeth!
With this one hammer strike, the nature of the battle had completely changed!