The raging tornado seemed to connect heaven and earth into a single roaring line, and within it, the emerald energy was even more violent than the storm itself.
Then—suddenly—everything stopped.
The entire half of New York fell silent. Not a single current of air moved, as though the wind itself had been frozen in place.
BOOM!!!
In the next instant, the massive tornado before Garuda came crashing down, slamming directly into the half-formed Sand Giant below.
The entire street vanished beneath the spiraling storm. Every pane of glass in every building shattered in an instant. Towering skyscrapers were stripped bare, leaving nothing but skeletal steel frames.
The Sand Giant didn't even have time to scream before he was completely torn apart by the wind.
The storm howled, whipping up sand and debris, the wind's roar peaking in a deafening crescendo.
Then, with a single motion of her hand, Garuda directed the tornado toward the coastline.
The ocean erupted. Seawater was drawn into the vortex, twisting into a colossal water dragon that roared toward the heavens.
As the sand collided with the seawater, it turned into thick, muddy sludge—only to be shredded again by Garuda's claws and storm.
Finally, Garuda spread her arms wide. The tornado detonated outward in a massive explosion. The shockwave and countless blades of wind tore through the beach, leaving it utterly devastated.
When the winds finally subsided and the sea calmed, the Sand Giant's form had completely vanished.
On the battered shoreline, a wounded figure lay sprawled—Marco, now returned to his human form.
Garuda's massive body slowly descended to the ground before dissolving into a thousand motes of green light.
From within that fading light, a human figure stepped forward—
Lucas, back in his normal form.
His face was pale. Maintaining Garuda's form drained an enormous amount of magical power. From the moment he'd transformed to the moment he dispelled it, barely ten minutes had passed… yet he was already running on empty.
His body felt heavy, his muscles stiff. Even holding his sword would be difficult now.
"Ugh… damn it, Atum," Lucas muttered under his breath. "I think you scammed me again. My whole body feels like it's turning to stone… even walking hurts."
He tried to stretch his limbs, but they barely responded. Moving one step at a time, he shuffled toward the unconscious Marco.
Lucas could tell the man was still alive. Through his magic, he could sense faint life signs—weak, but stable. Give it a month or two, and the guy would recover.
You had to hand it to him—Marco was one tough bastard. Even after being torn apart by Garuda, he was still breathing. That elemental body of his was practically cheating—Logia-class resilience at its finest.
> [Ding~ Reminder: Using magic or transforming into a summoned form has no side effects. The current condition of the host is merely due to mana depletion and mental fatigue.]
The system's calm voice chimed in his mind, as if smugly reminding him.
Lucas exhaled in relief and plopped down beside Marco.
"Hey… I made a promise to a little girl to bring her father back. So don't you dare die on me, got it?"
He lightly smacked the unconscious man's shoulder.
The feeling of mana exhaustion was truly awful. His entire body was sore, and his head pounded like a drum.
Before long, Marco groaned and slowly came to. His vitality was downright monstrous—after being shredded to bits, he was already regaining consciousness.
"Your daughter's name is Camilia, right?" Lucas said, glancing down at him. "She asked me to find her dad."
At the mention of his daughter, Marco's eyes flickered. He turned his head with difficulty to face Lucas.
"I'm… not a good father," he whispered weakly. "She'd be better off not finding me…"
"Whether you're a good father or not isn't my problem," Lucas replied evenly. "I accepted Camilia's request—to bring her father home. So that's exactly what I'm doing."
As far as Lucas was concerned, Marco's moral track record wasn't his concern. He had a job to do, and he intended to finish it.
He sat quietly on the ruined beach for about ten minutes—until a group of armed agents surrounded them in a tight circle.
Every single one of them was in black combat gear, weapons raised.
Lucas immediately spotted Coulson and Natasha among them.
Moments later, Peter and Gwen dropped from above, landing protectively in front of him, standing shoulder to shoulder.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Gwen snapped, eyes sharp. "Lucas saved all of you!"
Her stance said it all—one wrong move and she'd start swinging.
"I think there's been a misunderstanding," Coulson replied with his usual disarming smile. "We're not here to hurt anyone. My agents are just… a little on edge after what they saw."
He gestured subtly for his men to lower their weapons.
Behind them, Lucas rolled his eyes. S.H.I.E.L.D.—always the same song and dance. Talk smooth, act dirty.
"Relax, Ghost-Spider. I know him."
Lucas stood, stretching his still-stiff body. His mana hadn't fully recovered, but the soreness and heaviness were gone.
"Alright, Coulson. I'll leave the cleanup to you. I trust S.H.I.E.L.D. can handle the rest, yeah?"
He grabbed Marco by the collar and hoisted him up effortlessly.
"This guy's my client. I'm taking him back. What happens after that isn't my concern."
And with that, he turned to leave—with Natasha silently falling in beside him.
Lucas knew exactly what S.H.I.E.L.D. would do with someone like Marco. A guy with his kind of power? They'd never let him walk free. Best case—they'd study him. Worst case—they'd brainwash him into one of their assets.
Either way, Marco wouldn't die. So Lucas didn't care to interfere further.
Bringing Natasha along was mostly for appearances—it made for a convenient excuse to "hand Marco over," and S.H.I.E.L.D. would handle the paperwork. Besides, with the chaos Marco had caused, his arrest was inevitable. The whole city was talking about it; every news outlet was already on fire.
Before long, Natasha drove them to Camilia's home.
The little girl was already waiting by the door, her mother beside her. Lucas had asked Skye to notify them in advance.
But when Camilia saw her father—bloodied, bruised, barely recognizable—she burst into tears.
It took Lucas quite a while to calm her down, patiently explaining that her dad would be okay. Only then did she stop crying, sniffling softly, her big teary eyes tugging at everyone's heartstrings.
She knew her father had done bad things, but she didn't throw a tantrum or beg him to stay. For someone so young, she was astonishingly mature. Even Natasha found herself moved.
After promising Camilia that her father would be fine, Natasha escorted Lucas and Marco back to the car.
As they drove away, the system's voice chimed again in Lucas's mind:
> [Ding~ Congratulations, host! Mission complete. Rewards have been deposited into your system inventory. Please check at your convenience.]
"...!!!"
Lucas's body shot upright in the seat, startling Natasha so badly she almost swerved.
"Jesus, Lucas—what's wrong with you?" she snapped. "You trying to give me a heart attack? Do I need to take you to a hospital or what?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 20 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoyed Marvel Manifestor, please give it a Power Stone and leave a review! Your support means everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~