Tony Stark had just deactivated his visor, taking a deep breath of hot, fresh air, and said:
"Phew—! Little Red, what was that just now?"
Matt Murdock leaned against the crumbling wall, his fingers lightly touching the wound on his ribs, and said with difficulty:
"Believe me, I want to know even more than you do!"
His voice carried its usual calm and restraint, but his slightly rapid breathing betrayed the severity of his injuries.
"You don't know?" Tony Stark raised an eyebrow. "Isn't West Central City your kids' playground? I thought it was another major local feature—right alongside gangs, prostitutes, drugs, and STDs."
As he spoke, he tapped his helmet. "Jarvis, analyze the composition of that monster."
Matt Murdock wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and settled into a more comfortable position against the wall. "Three days ago, the Punisher and I killed a demon that lurked in the shadows at the docks. Since neither of us had ever seen such a bizarre creature before, I—"
The blind lawyer suddenly tensed, his bloodied knuckles gripping Tony's armored shoulder tightly, and roared:
"Get out of the way!"
The two had barely scrambled a few meters when the asphalt behind them erupted skyward like an explosive charge.
BOOM!
The shockwave sent them flying. Matt curled midair instinctively but was still struck in the back by flying debris, spitting out a mouthful of blood upon landing.
BANG!
Tony's armor slammed into the concrete wall, leaving spiderweb-like cracks in its wake, while Jarvis's alarm blared intermittently:
"Breastplate integrity at 23%... Propulsion system failure..."
"Damn it!" Tony grumbled, trying to activate the backup power. "Can't you street vigilantes ever tangle with normal criminals? Y'know—like those guys who rob convenience stores? You can't catch them all anyway! Seriously—"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of thunderous footsteps, as loud as an avalanche, echoed through the smoke and dust.
A seven-meter-tall rock troll tore through the haze—its body composed of obsidian-like minerals, with eerie purple crystals embedded in its joints. Most terrifying of all were the scars covering its form: blue light pulsed from those fissures, as if countless wind blades were slicing it from within.
Matt Murdock lay motionless on the ground, silent and still, as though dead.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Tony raised his trembling arm and fired several beams from his palm repulsors. The lasers exploded against the troll's chest—but left only a shallow scorch mark.
"Damn it! This thing's even more stubborn than those old fogies on Capitol Hill! Jarvis, find me a weakness!"
ROAR—!
The rock troll unleashed a deafening bellow. Its right arm suddenly deformed and reformed into a two-meter-diameter stone hammer—and came crashing down toward the fallen Matt Murdock.
"Little Red—! Jarvis, overload the reactor!"
Tony triggered the armor's remaining power—but the leg plating was so badly damaged that even an overloaded reactor couldn't move him.
At that critical moment, a warm golden light suddenly flooded the sky.
"Time to clean up the battlefield!"
A silver-white greatsword descended like divine judgment, its blade wreathed in swirling rock-elemental energy that formed a dazzling stream of light.
BOOM!!
The instant the sword struck the troll, time seemed to freeze. The entire street collapsed beneath them, and a colossal shockwave radiated outward in a perfect ring—shattering every window within a hundred meters.
The rock troll began to disintegrate from the point of contact, its obsidian body shattering into countless fragments like a broken mirror.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A warm, honeycomb-shaped shield of light enveloped Matt Murdock and Tony Stark just in time. Flying pebbles struck the barrier with a crisp, rain-like patter.
As the smoke and dust cleared, a striking white-haired girl stood at the center of the battlefield.
She wore heavy armor in white and gold, with delicate red patterns adorning the edges of her skirt armor. Between her steel boots and the hem of her skirt, a stretch of black stockings covered her thigh.
Most striking was the silver-white greatsword in her hand—almost as tall as she was—its blade radiating a warm, sun-like golden glow.
Tony Stark paused for a moment, then turned to Matt Murdock and said,
"Well, if demons have shown up… I guess it's only natural a battle angel would follow, right?"
Matt Murdock remained silent, lying motionless on the ground as if dead.
After a beat, Tony still wasn't entirely at ease. "JARVIS," he said, "scan Brodmann's area 17, the temporal lobe, and the lateral geniculate nucleus—check for signs of concussion."
But before the words were fully out of his mouth, Matt Murdock's voice came from beside him:
"I heard the sound of metal armor… and a heartbeat. She's real—and human."
At that moment, the girl at the center of the battlefield seemed to hear their conversation. She turned toward them, her emerald eyes gleaming in the night, and said gently:
"Please stay inside the shield. I will protect you."
Her voice was soft yet firm, carrying a faint foreign accent.
Matt Murdock struggled to sit up and warned, "Watch out! That rock troll isn't completely dead—the fragments are reassembling!"
He broke into a fit of coughing. "Cough—cough—cough—!"
Sure enough, the scattered gravel trembled. Obsidian shards on the ground drew together toward a central point, as if pulled by an invisible magnet.
"Boom—!"
Purple crystalline veins threaded through the rubble, and in the blink of an eye, the troll had reassembled most of its body.
Noelle gripped her sword with both hands. The light along the silver blade surged violently.
"Splash—!"
An immense wave of rock-elemental energy erupted beneath her feet, forming a golden halo. Her white hair lifted as though stirred by an unseen wind.
"I will uphold the maid's etiquette!" she declared.
The glow of the greatsword extended outward, forming a phantom blade over a hundred meters long—a divine weapon worthy of myth, cleaving the earth itself.
"BOOM—!"
The rock troll had barely finished reassembling when the colossal, golden "lightsaber" crashed down upon its head.
There was no explosion. No shockwave. Only a pure torrent of energy that swept through heaven and earth alike.
"Pfft…"
The troll's body turned to dust the instant it touched the blade. The purple crystals evaporated with a sound like shattering glass.
"BOOM—!"
The sword's momentum didn't wane. It carved a trench nearly a hundred meters long into the earth. Asphalt on both sides surged upward like ocean waves, exposing bedrock tens of meters deep.
The ravine's cross-section was smooth as polished glass—so flawless it reflected the faint glow of distant neon lights.
Tony Stark immediately sealed his helmet. Inside, the HUD flashed wildly:
"WARNING: ENERGY SIGNATURE EXCEEDS MEASUREMENT RANGE. GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE ALTERED."
He stared at the petite figure standing at the ravine's edge. Noelle was lowering her greatsword, its tip striking the ground with a resonant clang.
"Cough—cough—cough—!"
Matt Murdock suddenly convulsed, blood seeping between his fingers.
Hearing this, Noelle sprinted over, dropped to one knee beside him, and planted her sword in the earth.
With concern in her eyes, she removed one metal glove to reveal a palm glowing with warm golden light.
"Please relax," she said softly. "I won't hurt you."
A yellow halo enveloped Matt's chest. His broken ribs emitted faint clicks as they realigned, and internal bleeding visibly ceased.
"Phew… Thank you so much!" Matt's voice softened with both relief and curiosity. "May I ask—how should I address you?"
"My name is Noelle," she replied with a warm smile, still concentrating on the healing aura. "I am a maid knight of the Knights
of Favonius. I'm still an apprentice, but please—leave everything to me! Whether it's battlefield cleanup or healing wounds, I'll do my best!"
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