Hero Association Online Part 13
The first one to make a move was none other than Peter.
In an instant, he crossed the distance between them and leaped behind Owen, spinning with a kick aimed directly at his master's head.
Owen simply followed him with his eyes and barely tilted his neck.
The sole of the boot brushed past his hair.
Peter landed with one hand on the ground and, using the momentum, threw a punch straight toward Owen's abdomen.
Owen blocked it simply by raising one hand, letting the fist crash into his palm.
Not to stop the punch.
Instead, he absorbed the energy of the impact, which entered through his palm and became crimson energy that traveled through Owen's body toward his other hand. He barely moved it, releasing the energy, which had grown tremendously as it coursed through his body.
A blast of repulsion exploded behind him, sending the surrounding rubble flying.
Only then did Owen finally speak.
"You're still putting too much weight on your left leg."
Peter didn't answer.
Instead, he attacked with a knee strike.
Owen took half a step backward, and the knee passed barely an inch from his face.
But Owen's expression didn't change at all.
"Don't correct it after the strike. Correct it before," Owen continued calmly.
Peter attacked again.
A punch.
Another.
A spinning kick.
Everything chained together as one seamless sequence.
Owen simply walked through every attack, barely moving his body, yet effortlessly dodging each one, always leaving exactly an inch of space between himself and every blow.
...
Tony watched all of it while deflecting an enormous chunk of concrete hurled by Ebony Maw.
Even Pietro, who was recovering his stamina, couldn't help opening his mouth.
"Is he... giving him a lesson right now?"
"I don't know."
Steve couldn't take his eyes off them either.
He could feel the strength behind every punch Spider-Man threw as it sliced through the air.
A level of skill and senses even beyond his own.
And not only that.
The training Peter had received was so complete that even Steve knew fighting him wouldn't be easy.
Yet there was Owen, moving with absolute ease, calmly guiding him.
Meanwhile, Tony had plenty of complaints, but at the same time he felt more at ease knowing Owen could deal with Peter without hurting him.
On the other side of the battlefield, Supergiant watched with a faint smile.
"Your efforts are meaningless. Right now, he only listens to me," she murmured mockingly.
Peter unleashed another barrage of attacks, each one growing faster and more powerful than the last.
His suit had begun tearing from the sheer force his own body was generating, and with every strike it was even possible to hear his bones dislocating themselves so he could use one hundred percent of his full strength.
Owen casually raised one hand, stopping the punch that could have carried the force of ten tons.
Then his other hand moved so fast that all anyone saw was a crimson flash as it struck several points across Peter's body.
The sound of Peter's bones snapping back into place echoed through the battlefield.
That forced Peter to take a step backward.
But he immediately threw another punch.
"The wrist," Owen said as he watched the strike coming.
Peter unconsciously rotated his wrist, straightening the alignment of his fist.
Owen dodged by tilting his head to the side.
This time, as Peter's punch sliced through the air, it looked even more powerful than when he'd been attacking without caring about the damage to his own body.
A small gust of wind burst from his fist.
"Much better," Owen said with a faint smile.
But this time, Owen didn't stop to defend himself anymore.
Instead, he crouched slightly.
His hand suddenly appeared against Spider Man's chest.
He merely flicked his wrist.
Repulsion energy burst from his palm, sending Peter flying several meters backward.
Peter rolled through the air, adjusting himself to land on his feet.
The instant he touched the ground, he charged again.
This time using a far more complicated combination of attacks.
It was a sequence Owen knew perfectly.
Because he was the one who had taught it.
"The third strike comes too fast."
Peter slowed the third strike ever so slightly.
This time, everyone who had been trying to keep track of the fight while focusing on their own battles noticed it at the same time.
Tony stopped firing for a fraction of a second.
"Did... he correct it?"
Pietro had seen it too and couldn't help smiling.
Then he turned around and rejoined Tony, Nicolás, and Barton in their battle against Ebony Maw, knowing Owen could handle Peter perfectly well.
Supergiant frowned ever so slightly as she noticed the same thing.
In the distance, another explosion caused by Hercules and Hulk shook the city once again.
Her white eyes remained fixed on Peter before shifting toward Owen.
She parted her lips slightly, as though beginning to whisper something.
But before she could—
Cull Obsidian's massive battle axe came flying straight toward her.
She was forced to dodge, moving to the side.
The axe missed its target.
Then its chain suddenly went taut and it was pulled back into Captain America's hands.
"Looks like I'm finally getting the hang of this," Steve said calmly.
That seemed to annoy Supergiant.
...
Several meters away, Hulk seemed to hear something.
He turned around and looked toward Owen.
But he was fighting Hercules, who swung his mace straight toward the green giant's chest, launching him backward and smashing him into a nearby building.
"Hey, my great friend. Don't get distracted during our incredible battle," Hercules said, still wearing that huge grin, thoroughly enjoying the fight they were having.
…
Ebony Maw took advantage of the distraction to tear up another enormous section of the street.
Thousands of fragments began circling around him.
But a coin tore through the air at supersonic speed.
At the same time, Barton fired three explosive arrows.
Tony unleashed an energy blast.
All three attacks landed almost simultaneously.
Ebony Maw's improvised defense exploded before it could even finish taking shape.
At that same moment, using the floating rubble as stepping stones, Pietro appeared beside Ebony Maw at just the right moment, gripping a steel pipe. Carrying all the momentum from his speed, he swung it straight into the ugly alien's face, sending him flying backward once again.
"Very nice," Nicolás said over the communicator.
"I'm starting to get used to this whole teamwork thing," Tony added with a slight smile.
"It's a miracle," Barton replied as he reached into his quiver for another arrow.
But at that very moment, his expression suddenly began to change, becoming completely blank.
Out of nowhere, he drew the arrow...
And instead of aiming at Ebony Maw, he aimed directly at Tony's back.
But before he could release it, his communicator suddenly discharged a powerful electric shock that paralyzed him, making him collapse to one knee, completely stunned.
Barton grabbed his forehead with a pained grimace.
Then smiled mockingly.
"Ha. Sorry, but I made sure no one would ever control me again," he said as he adjusted his communication device back into place.
Behind his ear, a small implant could be seen extending directly toward his brain.
Supergiant looked toward Barton for a moment.
A trace of annoyance crossed her face before she once again dodged Steve's attack, which this time barely grazed her clothing, tearing part of it.
That only made her look even more irritated.
Then she muttered something under her breath once again.
...
Peter kept attacking.
Every movement was faster than the last.
This time, he didn't seem to care about his own body at all.
His attacks were so violent that they seemed to shatter his own bones, unable to withstand the full force he was unleashing against Owen.
Owen saw it.
For a brief moment, his expression turned colder.
But he said nothing.
Every so often, he stopped Peter's attacks just long enough to put his bones back into place, effortlessly redirecting the force of each strike or simply dodging them.
"Breathe," Owen said in a serious tone.
Peter immediately took a deep breath upon hearing those words.
"Relax your shoulders."
Peter's shoulders dropped just a few centimeters.
"Center."
Peter adjusted the weight of his body.
Then he launched another combination.
"No way..." Supergiant murmured, her eyes widening in surprise for the first time.
She began muttering something, almost as if she were shouting under her breath.
But her expression never changed.
Until finally, she couldn't help shouting at Peter.
"Attack! Kill him!"
This time Peter's speed increased even further.
But it still wasn't anywhere close to Owen's.
Even Steve had trouble following him with his eyes.
"Good."
Another punch.
"Faster."
A kick.
"Don't lose your balance."
Peter corrected his stance even while attacking.
Supergiant no longer wore that serene expression she'd had at the beginning.
This time, she raised both hands toward Peter.
"Obey me!!" she screamed again.
But this time Peter trembled.
Instead of becoming faster, his attacks began slowing down.
Growing heavier.
His breathing became more and more frantic.
Peter threw the slowest punch yet.
It carried almost no strength at all.
This time Owen didn't dodge.
He simply stood there, waiting for the punch to land against his face.
But it was so weak it didn't even move him.
Owen kept his eyes fixed on his student.
"Breathe."
Peter breathed.
"Focus."
Peter's right arm began to tremble.
He took another step.
He tried to raise his other arm.
But this time, it looked as though something was stopping him.
His arm remained frozen in the air, trembling, as though he were fighting against his own body.
A faint white energy began radiating from Supergiant's hands.
"OBEY ME!!"
This time, Owen finally looked annoyed.
His gaze locked onto Supergiant.
At the same time, an overwhelming killing intent filled the battlefield.
Then...
She felt a crimson flash pass beside her face.
She never saw it.
She only felt it.
Her eyes widened as she instinctively raised a hand to her cheek.
She looked at her fingers.
They were stained with her own blood.
Then she looked back at Owen.
He casually moved his hand, and a dagger—no one knew when it had even appeared—returned to him, pulled back by a thin metallic wire extending from Owen's wrist.
She froze.
Realizing Owen had attacked so fast she hadn't even perceived it.
She could have lost her head in that instant.
Owen stopped paying attention to that woman, whose only real strength was controlling others.
Instead, he looked back at Spider Man.
A faint chuckle escaped him.
"So... you're finally waking up. Kamala's going to make fun of you for a long time after she finds out you got mind-controlled by an alien woman," Owen said with an amused smile.
"...Instructor?" Peter asked in confusion beneath his mask as he looked around the battlefield. "I think... I missed something," the boy said.
Tony slowly let out the breath he'd been holding for several minutes.
Pietro's shoulders finally relaxed with relief.
Even Steve couldn't help smiling a little when he saw Peter had come back.
As silence settled over the battlefield.