Selene watched Tony showing off in the sky, grinding her teeth in frustration.
She felt utterly restrained—not because she was weaker than Iron Man, but because he refused to come down and fight her directly. That rendered much of her strength useless.
Her recent evolution hadn't granted her a second form. She still retained a human appearance, unlike Elder Marcus who had wings and another transformation—naturally, she couldn't fly.
She needed to lure him down somehow.
Selene pulled a gold coin from her waist and held it up.
"Tony, if you want it, come get it yourself."
Then she tucked it back into her pocket and sprinted off at full speed.
"Sir, she's running," J.A.R.V.I.S. reported.
"I see her."
Tony accelerated to Mach 3 and gave chase, dropping high-explosive bombs from his back in the process.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
From above, Tony dropped the explosives along Selene's path, accurately predicting her trajectory and surrounding her in a wide blast radius.
When the smoke cleared, he spotted Selene curled up in a crater, clothes tattered, lying motionless. Her shallow breathing and visible healing confirmed she was severely injured but alive.
"Man, saturation bombing feels great," Tony said with satisfaction. "I need to design a support satellite that can airdrop supplies and ammo."
"J.A.R.V.I.S., add that to the memo."
"Already done, sir."
Tony landed next to Selene and reached toward her lower back.
"Pretty sure she tucked the coin right here. Hopefully the blast didn't knock it loose…"
In the audience, everyone thought Tony was about to claim his first coin.
But before his hand reached her waist, Selene suddenly sprang up—plunging a short alloy blade at Tony's abdomen.
CLANG!
Metal clashed against metal, sparking violently.
The impact sent Tony flying, but the blade shattered in Selene's hand.
"What? It didn't pierce?"
That alloy dagger wasn't ordinary—it could slice stone with ease. Strengthened by her vampiric power, it should've made the sneak attack work. Staring at the broken hilt, she tossed it aside and charged at Tony again.
The tables turned in an instant, stunning everyone watching. Selene had feigned injury to bait Tony down—but she had underestimated the suit's defenses.
In a blink, she reached Tony as he tried to get up and swung a powerful punch straight at the arc reactor on his chest.
"Let's see how you fly without your power source."
But before her punch could land, a laser shot out from Tony's chest—piercing her stomach.
ZHHH!
Selene looked down to see a fist-sized hole through her abdomen—blasted clean by the laser cannon in Tony's chest.
THUD!
Her limbs gave out, and she collapsed to the side.
"You should've stabbed the reactor directly," Tony said. "What a waste."
…
Watching Selene fall with a massive hole in her stomach, both Betty and Pepper Potts screamed and covered their eyes.
Marcus and the other vampires looked visibly disappointed. Selene was about to lose a coin—but thankfully she had a second one, which gave her another chance to come back.
Back on the battlefield, Tony didn't move. Instead, he asked calmly, "This one's mine, right?"
Smith Dole's voice came from above.
"Selene versus Tony Stark—winner: Tony Stark. He gains the second ticket."
Descending from the sky, Smith Dole landed beside them, confirmed Tony's victory, retrieved the coin from Selene, and handed it over to Tony. Then he lifted Selene into his arms and flew upward.
A massive aircraft hovered above. Smith flew inside with Selene.
"Put her in the healing pod. Drop her into a no-combat zone in ten minutes so she can rejoin the match."
Several staff members quickly took Selene and placed her in the pod. Though she hadn't lost consciousness, the hole in her gut was healing slowly. Without the pod, she wouldn't have survived the next match.
…
Tony said nothing to Smith Dole and didn't linger. He immediately began scouting for a second target—one more coin and he'd qualify for the finals.
Elsewhere, Bruce Banner was still running through the forest. Though he hadn't seen the battle between Tony and Selene, the sounds of explosions had been thunderous and unmistakable.
He couldn't imagine how a single person could create such a prolonged bombing onslaught.
"No way someone came into this tournament lugging an armory," he muttered. "Who the hell is this guy—did he bring an artillery regiment to a fight?"
Banner now fully understood: the competitors in this Dragon Ball contest were no pushovers. He wasn't the only abnormal one.
Meanwhile, Xu Xialing and Shang-Chi had just regrouped at their rendezvous point.
As soon as they met, Shang-Chi asked, "Xialing, did you hear those explosions?"
Xialing rolled her eyes. "I think everyone on the island heard that."
Shang-Chi raised both hands and said helplessly, "I can't even imagine who we're up against. You think our bodies can survive blasts like that?"
Xialing fell silent. She knew better than to bluff bravado.
"There's a lot of contestants. I doubt they're all that powerful."
"As long as we get one ticket, we make the finals."
"And whoever we face there… we'll deal with them when the time comes."
"The second location update's coming soon. Be ready."
…
(End of Chapter)
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