The first time the boy was hit, he countered with a heavy punch.
His opponent—a monstrous demon—swung violently, but the boy barely had time to react. He raised his silver cross-shaped sword and blocked it just in time. The sheer force of the blow sent him flying backward, his boots dragging across the dirt as he slid for over ten meters before finally coming to a halt.
But the demon didn't flinch.
Instead, it stared calmly at the figure now descending from the sky—a sleek, shining figure in silver-white armor. There was no mistaking the design. It was Iron Man, floating above like a guardian angel.
Anyone in the modern world would recognize him. As one of the most famous superheroes on Earth, Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, stood just behind the Goddess of Judgment in terms of popularity.
"Nice job, kid. I'll take it from here." Tony's voice echoed through the metal speaker built into his helmet as he landed beside the young swordsman.
He sounded calm, almost mechanical. His confidence wasn't unfounded. This wasn't his usual suit—it was custom-built anti-demon armor, something he had designed specifically to counter dark forces. He had never truly tested it in battle until now.
But as Tony prepared to engage the demon, the cross-shaped sword suddenly blocked his path.
Startled, Tony looked down at the blade, then over at the boy. The boy didn't even glance at him. His eyes were cold and focused like blades of ice as he stared at the demon. "This is my trial mission," he said, his voice calm and sharp. "Don't interfere, Iron Man."
Trial mission? Tony blinked under his helmet, stunned.
But there was no time to argue. The boy could feel something unnatural—a chilling sense of being watched, a terrible force pressing down on him. He knew instinctively this demon wasn't alone. They needed to end this quickly.
As if answering that urgency, the boy's eyes suddenly turned a glowing aqua blue.
BOOM.
A sudden burst of blue energy erupted from his body. The aura rolled out like ocean waves, and even his hair stood on end. The air crackled. Snowflakes began to form from thin air.
Tony was blown a few steps back from the blast.
His HUD scrambled briefly before stabilizing. When he looked up, he was shocked to see the boy holding his sword in one hand while the other quickly formed a series of magic hand signs.
An intricate blue magic circle wrapped around the boy's left wrist, glowing like frost under moonlight. His lips parted, and a chilling mist escaped as he breathed out, followed by a powerful shout.
A cold wind swept through the battlefield—one so sharp, it cut through the air like knives.
And in the blink of an eye, the entire area was frozen.
A full kilometer of land turned white with ice and snow.
Blizzards howled across the plain. Snow coated the ground and swirled in the air like ghosts.
Even Tony was stunned. He looked down and saw frost forming on the surface of his armor. Thankfully, the anti-demon armor was equipped with low-temperature protection and self-heating functions. Without those systems, he might've been frozen solid.
The demon wasn't as lucky.
"What... what is this? Is this... frost magic?!" the demon shrieked in disbelief. "How can a brat like you use magic?!"
It was more than just confusion—it was fear.
Even Tony's jaw tightened. "Where did this kid learn magic?" he whispered to himself.
His eyes stayed fixed on the glowing blue circle on the boy's wrist, a memory surfacing in his mind—a woman from another world, one who had once explained the boundaries between science and magic.
"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. reported, "the temperature around the subject has reached minus 269 degrees Celsius. Approaching absolute zero. External armor is at negative 100, and self-heating systems are active. But the temperature is still falling. Recommend retreat."
But Tony couldn't move. He just stared.
Absolute zero. The theoretical temperature where all molecular motion stops. In space, the coldest naturally occurring temperature is 3 Kelvin—just 3 degrees above absolute zero. But this kid?
This human boy, who just a month ago had disappeared without a trace, had returned from the unknown and now could summon temperatures near the edge of the physical world.
This wasn't some mutant power or radioactive accident.
This was true magic.
And the demon knew it too.
It roared, summoning its dark power in desperation, trying to melt the frost building around its body. But it was no use. The demon wasn't high-ranked. It couldn't summon hellfire or warp the battlefield with shadow. It was powerless against the merciless chill of frost magic.
Cracks formed over its body.
And within seconds, it was trapped—frozen in a massive block of ice, standing over four meters tall. Through the translucent layer, the demon's twisted face was still visible, struggling and snarling.
BANG.
The boy didn't hesitate. The glowing magic circle shattered on his wrist, and wind and snow danced around him like a cloak.
He leaped into the sky, body pulsing with magic power.
A hundred meters high in the air, he stepped into nothingness. A glowing ice-blue circle formed beneath his feet, holding him as if the air itself had turned solid.
Then, with a swift downward motion, he plunged toward the demon.
The silver cross-shaped sword gleamed with brilliant blue light, trailing a fiery arc behind him as he dived.
BOOM!
The moment the sword struck, the world seemed to explode.
A massive shockwave spread in all directions, flinging snow, rock, and shattered ice into the sky. The air rumbled like thunder. The ground shook violently, and the shockwave could be felt for miles around.
Even Tony had to boost his thrusters to avoid being swept away.
People standing kilometers away, curious bystanders who had been watching from rooftops or behind hills, were suddenly hit by a wave of icy wind. Before they could react, they saw a flash of blue light crash down, followed by a thunderous roar.
Then the air struck them—blasting them off their feet, tumbling into cars, walls, and fences. Even those filming were thrown like leaves in a storm.
When the dust finally settled…
The demon was gone.
Only shattered ice and scorched earth remained, steam hissing from the heat of impact clashing with the cold.
Tony hovered nearby, silent.
His helmet scanned the area, but the only life signature it picked up was from the boy, who was now standing calmly where the demon once stood, his sword still glowing faintly blue.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Then Tony's voice, quiet and filled with disbelief, came through his helmet.
"What... are you?"
But the boy didn't answer.
He looked up toward the sky, feeling that eerie sense again—that someone was watching. Somewhere beyond the clouds, he sensed eyes filled with greed, malice, and hunger.
This wasn't the end.
Someone—or something—had seen what he could do.
And they wouldn't just sit back and watch.
This was only the beginning.
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