Chapter 8 – Side Effects of the Devil
Chen Tian and Yinsen watched helplessly as Tony, wearing the Mark-2-Devil Edition armor, blasted out through the massive hole in the ceiling.
Once Tony was gone, the two men stared at each other in silence. Chen Tian quickly shouted into the air, "Jarvis! Project the live feed onto the main screen!"
The central holographic display flickered to life, showing the first-person view from the demonic armor. Tony was tearing through the clouds at Mach 4, leaving a hundreds-of-meters-long trail of sulfur flames behind him.
"Jarvis! Show vital signs!" Chen Tian yelled.
A new window popped up displaying Tony's physiological data — heart rate 180, blood pressure off the charts, adrenaline levels twenty times above normal.
"This is impossible…" Yinsen's crucifix clattered to the floor. "No human body can survive those G-forces without turning into—"
"Meat paste?" Chen Tian finished grimly. "It looks like this armor did something to Tony."
Chen Tian's eyes grew darker with anger. Since Diablo had helped design the suit, that sly demon was clearly influencing Tony.
"Sure enough, no matter how edgy or unreliable he acts, a demon is still a demon."
Chen Tian slammed his hand on the table. This time, he refused to use that cringy summoning chant. He was the summoner — why should he obey his own summon?
"Diablo! Get the hell out here!"
Chen Tian roared. Yinsen jumped in surprise. "Uh… Chen Tian, you can summon him like that?"
Sure enough, Diablo didn't appear in his usual form, but a thick, pungent smell of sulfur filled the lab — far stronger than the exhaust from Tony's armor.
"I knew it! There was no need for those embarrassing lines!" Chen Tian grew even angrier. The shame of shouting those chants combined with the frustration of being played by Diablo made him want to punch the demon.
"Get out here right now, Diablo!" Chen Tian shouted again.
Flames and lava swirled into existence in the air, forming a vortex. A feminine figure stepped out — short-haired Lia wearing a red leather jacket, smiling awkwardly.
"Um… My Lord…"
"Shut up! I talk, you answer!" Chen Tian cut him off.
"What the hell is going on with Tony's armor?" Chen Tian pointed at the abnormal data on the holographic feed.
"Uh… well, the armor was infused with my Power of Terror. That mortal's body couldn't handle it, so…" Diablo pointed at the glowing runes around the arc reactor on Tony's chest. "I gave his body a little… enhancement."
Diablo made a cheeky "you know what I mean" gesture.
"Motherf—" Chen Tian clutched his head. Enhancing the armor was one thing, but enhancing Tony's body too? Was this novel really called Helping Tony Stark Become Invincible from the Start?
I'm supposed to be the protagonist here!
"And why can you strengthen Tony but not me?" Chen Tian demanded angrily.
Yinsen looked speechless. Is this really the time to ask that? Shouldn't we be worried about Tony?
Diablo's mouth twitched. "It's not that I can't strengthen you, My Lord… but there are side effects. Besides, you might have better ways to grow stronger later. No need to use my method."
"Side effects?" Chen Tian and Yinsen said in unison.
Diablo nodded and pointed at the live feed. "See for yourselves~"
Chen Tian and Yinsen turned their attention to the projection.
In the holographic footage, the demonic armor slammed into the center of the village like a meteor. The shockwave flipped three pickup trucks, sending Ten Rings members flying like ragdolls.
When the dust settled, the terrifying demonic armor slowly rose. Its appearance alone made the terrorists' legs go weak — even the civilians looked horrified.
"First question." Tony's voice came out raspy, like it had been scorched by hellfire. He grabbed the nearest terrorist by the throat. "Where's Abu?"
The man frantically pointed toward the north side of the village. The next second, his body burst into flames and burned into charcoal amid agonized screams. Tony shook the embers off his hand. "Thanks for the cooperation."
He turned to the remaining terrorists, an evil laugh echoing from the armor. "I told you — God may not punish you…"
"But the devil will!"
"Jarvis, play my killing playlist." Tony snapped his fingers. The armor's external speakers immediately blasted Queen's Another One Bites the Dust.
Before the Ten Rings members could recover from the sudden BGM, the demonic armor's mechanical wings split into six barbed tentacles.
The front-row terrorist who raised his AK-47 was instantly grabbed by the ankle and swung like a human wrecking ball — bang bang bang! — smashing into seven or eight of his comrades.
"Eco-friendly combat," Tony whistled. "Zero ammunition used."
One bold fighter fired an RPG at Tony's back. The rocket hit — only to be instantly vaporized by sulfur flames.
Tony turned around. The faceplate split open, revealing a mouth full of sharp fangs. "Surprised?" At point-blank range, the palm cannon fired, blowing the man apart like a tomato in a microwave.
"Sir, women and children at three o'clock," Jarvis warned.
"Copy that." Tony shook the "ketchup" off his arm, then slid on one knee in front of the civilians. He magically produced lollipops from the armor's seams. "Strawberry or blueberry?"
The children stared blankly behind him — a terrorist trying to sneak-attack was hanging upside down from the armor's spiked tail, molten lava dripping from it.
"Looks like the kids prefer barbecue flavor." Tony shrugged. Suddenly, he spotted a familiar figure trembling behind a nearby wall. "Aha! Got you, little rat!"
Abu leaned against the wall praying with his eyes closed. Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced his chest. He looked down to see a demonic claw stabbing through his ribcage, clutching his still-beating heart.
With a powerful yank, Abu was dragged out from behind the wall and hoisted high into the air.
The demonic armor held him up face-to-face. "Hey, Abu. Remember me? The great Tony Stark!"
Abu coughed violently, spraying blood onto the faceplate. Tony's voice rumbled like a demon savoring a sinful soul.
"Hey buddy, you got my armor dirty. Well~ I think I kinda like it."
The palm cannon erupted in flames. Abu was burned to ashes right in Tony's hand.
Satisfied, Tony flicked the ashes away and slowly rose into the air, looking down at the civilians he had "rescued."
"You're welcome. Um~ do any of you speak English?" Tony tilted his head. "Never mind. Just thank me in your hearts."
Whoosh! Flames burst from the armor's feet as Tony shot into the sky.
BOOM—!
An armor-piercing round slammed into Tony mid-air, knocking him down like a baseball. The demonic armor plowed a thirty-meter trench through the ground, smashing through three mud walls before stopping.
"Sir, left-side armor damaged 12%," Jarvis's voice crackled with static. "Heavy armor heat signature detected."
Tony rose slowly from the rubble. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with nothing but madness and excitement.
"Ha… hahaha…" A inhuman laugh echoed from inside the armor. Tony suddenly exploded forward, cracking the ground beneath him in a spiderweb pattern.
He leaped onto a tank like a cannonball and plunged his claws into the armor seams.
Screeeech—!
The ear-piercing sound of metal tearing filled the air. Tony ripped open the 20-ton tank like a can, revealing two terrified terrorists inside.
"Guess what game we're playing?" Tony's voice split into a double tone. "A. Human pinwheel. B. Blood fireworks. C. All of the above?"
Before they could answer, the armor's tentacles stabbed into the tank's ammunition compartment. Hellfire surged in. The entire tank swelled into a massive fireball — and Tony stood right in the center of the explosion, letting the flames lick his armor as if enjoying a hellish sauna.
"This… this is… Tony?" Yinsen stared in disbelief.
In Yinsen's memory, Tony was flirty and carefree, but deep down he still had a sense of justice. But the Tony in the footage was clearly enjoying the slaughter.
Chen Tian gritted his teeth and grabbed Diablo (now in Lia form, wearing the red jacket) by the collar.
"This is the 'side effect' you mentioned?!"
"Heh… heh… My Lord, you know how Hell works~ It amplifies negative emotions. It can't be all bright and righteous like Heaven~" Diablo's mouth kept twitching.
Chen Tian summoned the First Generation Kitetsu with a wave of his hand and pressed the blade against Diablo's neck.
"Tell me! How do we fix this?!"
"Uh… when he comes back, I… should… maybe… be able to remove the negative emotions…" Diablo answered uncertainly.
"What do you mean 'should' or 'maybe'?! You can't even fix it?!" Chen Tian yanked Diablo's face close and shouted.
Diablo wiped the spit off his face. "Heh… I should be able to handle it… but it's not guaranteed. After all, we demons only specialize in causing trouble. We never planned for cleanup. If it were those winged bird people… maybe they could…"
"Motherfucker!" Chen Tian shoved Diablo away and pointed at his nose. "You're getting grounded! I'm not summoning you anymore!"
"Nooo~~~ My Lord~~~" Diablo dropped to his knees. "It's so boring in your summoning space~ All I do is count stars and sleep!"
"Get lost!" Chen Tian kicked him away.
Tony sat atop a small mountain made of terrorist corpses. Within a thirty-meter radius, the ground had been scorched and polished smooth by sulfur flames, as if sandblasted by a giant.
"Ah~ All done~ Time to go home. By the way, Jarvis, tell Happy I'm throwing a party. The theme is… emmm…" Tony looked around at the scattered limbs and snapped his fingers.
"Jarvis, call it 'Hell's Kitchen: Michelin Three-Star Barbecue Night'!" Tony sat on his throne of bodies and snapped again. Small sulfur flames popped out from the armor's seams like mood lighting. "Make sure Happy prepares some limited-edition demon horn headpieces. Oh, and book Chef Gordon Ramsay to come grill at the house."
As the armor shot into the sky, Tony suddenly braked mid-air, nearly turning the vulture drone behind him into roasted chicken wings.
"Right! Order a three-layer lava cake too!" He gestured in the air. "Put a chocolate plaque on top that says 'I Saved Countless Idiots' in frosting!"
The villagers on the ground stood frozen, watching the iron demon hum Devil's Dance while drawing heart-shaped trails across the sky.
One brave child waved the lollipop Tony had given him. Suddenly, a small flame burst from the candy stick — even the lollipops had been marinated in hellfire.
"Sir, are you sure you want to host this kind of party at the mansion?" Jarvis sounded resigned. "Miss Potts shredded your copy of the Key of Solomon last week."
Tony performed a barrel roll to dodge a civilian airliner, a certain mosaic-covered surveillance video flashing across his HUD. "Just say it's a cosplay theme! Isn't Pepper obsessed with that Hazbin Hotel cartoon lately?"
The demonic armor flew at extreme speed. Tony was thoroughly enjoying the flight — so much so that he didn't even notice he had entered a U.S. military no-fly zone.
"Warning! AN/APG-77 radar lock detected!" Jarvis's alert cut through the rock music. Two F-22 tactical markers appeared on the holographic interface.
Tony did a graceful ballet spin. The armor's tail flames drew a wine-red spiral in the clouds.
"Relax, Jarvis~" Tony smirked. "Let me give the Air Force kids a little show—"
Before he could finish, two missiles streaked toward him trailing white smoke.
BOOM! BOOM!
The shockwaves sent Tony tumbling through the air. Warning lights flashed wildly across the faceplate as demonic runes clashed violently with green radar waves.
"Sir, I recommend deploying countermeasures immediately!" Jarvis said.
Before he finished, the armor's shoulder plates split open — but instead of flares, a hellfire tornado erupted.
The two missiles vaporized instantly in the flames, not even getting a chance to explode.
"Wow!" Tony looked at his smoking palm. "Way better than Stark Industries' decoy flares!"
The pilot's pupils shrank behind his helmet. "Command! Target is emitting some kind of plasma flame!" His finger hovered over the weapon safety. "Requesting gun run!"
"Take down that son of a bitch who dares provoke the Air Force!"
"Yes, Sir!" The pilot was about to fire the cannon.
Suddenly, AC/DC's Highway to Hell blasted through the fighter's comms. The pilot froze as the demonic figure ahead drew a heart-shaped trail in the air.
"Hahahahaha, bye-bye!" Tony blew a kiss toward the jets.
A pair of mechanical demon wings suddenly spread wide behind him. Hand and foot thrusters erupted with flames, flooding the pilots' view with yellow fire.
They heard several loud bangs.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
By the time they could see clearly again, the demonic armor had vanished, leaving only the cloud rings of a sonic boom behind.
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