"Wow, it seems Homelander hasn't had a very pleasant time during the days he was missing. Steve, what do you think? Does that sentence meet your moral standards?"
Steve Rogers smiled helplessly and shook his head.
"At this critical juncture, Tony, I think that sentence is more effective than any speech."
...
Inside the Dark Dimension.
Dormammu was indeed stunned.
He had devoured countless Worlds and seen Guardians from countless civilizations.
There were those who knelt and begged for mercy, those who met death heroically, and those who tried to reason with him.
But this was definitely the first person to cordially greet his mother right from the start.
And this was also what stung him the most.
Because his so-called mother had died at his own hands.
Dormammu was born into a pure energy race called the "Faltine," which had no physical bodies; they reproduced by gathering and splitting energy.
And he was the most powerful energy entity in the race, birthed by Sinifer.
But Dormammu was an anomaly among the Faltine because he developed an extreme craving for a material form.
This desire was seen as evil and depraved by the Faltine.
But in order to pursue greater power and a material form, he absorbed and killed his mother, Sinifer, who had birthed him.
This act of matricide caused him to be hunted by the entire Faltine race.
Forced to flee his original dimension, he ended up in the "Dark Dimension."
Afterward, relying on his powerful Faltine magic, he conquered it, and thus step by step, became the arrogant King of the Dark Dimension.
But the price was equally painful.
Because he had forcibly absorbed Sinifer's power, the immense agony of his mother's death was etched deep into his soul along with the energy.
Day and night, it tormented him like a shadow.
Over countless years, he had tried various methods and finally managed to completely forget this painful past.
But now, this tiny carbon-based life form had torn open his deepest scar with just one vulgar sentence.
Piercing pain surged through his entire body.
Dormammu was enraged.
The distorted space rippled violently under his anger.
He mobilized the full energy of the Dark Dimension and launched a saturation attack on Homelander.
Immediately following this, a variety of attacks—huge energy meteorites, purple lightning storms, space-shattering energy blasts, and more—came one after another, raining down on Homelander like a blanket.
The live broadcast screen shook violently.
Viewers on Earth witnessed this World-destroying offensive and finally realized the terrifying power of Dormammu.
Everyone tensed up, sweating for Homelander in their hearts.
Homelander's eyes glowed fiercely red, and thick Heat Vision erupted, sweeping wildly through the air, smashing through all the incoming attacks.
But Dormammu's attacks were endless.
At first, Homelander handled it with ease.
Relying on unimaginable speed and strength, he wove through the dense attacks, occasionally throwing heavy punches that landed on Dormammu.
But he soon discovered that such counterattacks were meaningless.
Dormammu had no physical form; he was a pure energy entity.
Moreover, here, Dormammu could infinitely draw upon the power of the entire dimension for replenishment.
Ordinary attacks hitting Dormammu caused damage equal to almost zero.
And as time passed, Dormammu mobilized more and more of the dimension, becoming stronger and stronger.
More and more attacks began to break through Homelander's defenses.
His uniform gradually began to tear, and wounds of varying sizes appeared on his body one after another.
Dormammu's booming voice echoed in his ears, cruelly mocking him.
"You are quite good, human."
Dormammu's giant face loomed closer.
"You are worthy of the World I have set my sights on, to actually be able to produce such a powerful individual."
"It is truly surprising that you have been able to hold out this long under my attacks."
"But soon, you will pay the price for your foolish actions just now!"
"Crack!" A purple dark matter thunderbolt struck Homelander on the back, sending him flying hundreds of meters.
Homelander tumbled in the air a few times, stabilized his posture, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Hahahaha—!"
Dormammu laughed even more wantonly, laughing so hard that the surrounding space couldn't stop trembling.
"Your resistance is meaningless! And that World you are desperately guarding will eventually become fodder for me to conquer the material Universe!"
The camera zoomed in, and the people in front of the screens clearly saw the holes in Homelander's suit, the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and the shocking wounds on his body.
All of this clearly illustrated the predicament Homelander was currently facing.
But he still stood like an insurmountable mountain, firmly blocking the space between the demon and Earth.
No retreating, no fear.
At this moment, countless people around the World were moved to tears.
People cried out at the screens, using all their strength to cheer Homelander on.
Notification! popularity value gained + 556670!
Notification! popularity value gained + 479522!
Notification! popularity value gained + 578888!
...
The long-lost torrent of popularity value surged in like a tsunami, making Homelander feel greatly gratified.
This was the script he wanted; all his hard work had not been in vain.
And the charging progress of Desperate Watch had reached 88%.
But at this moment, as Dormammu's offensive became increasingly fierce, the pressure in this area of the dimension grew greater and greater.
Out of the corner of his eye, Homelander caught a glimpse of the Vibranium drone swarm responsible for filming; one after another, the units were beginning to fail under this immense pressure, crashing around Homelander in succession.
Homelander glanced at the remaining drones that were still working.
He knew the time was about right; he couldn't drag this out any longer.
If he dragged it out any further, he would be forced to end the broadcast, which would be a huge loss.
A battle without an audience was meaningless.
Homelander immediately adjusted his posture.
He no longer used extreme speed to dodge attacks, but instead began to display a sense of weakness, as if he were overwhelmed.
"Bang!" Another heavy blow landed.
Homelander "failed to dodge in time" and was hit head-on by a dark energy wave.
His body tumbled continuously in mid-air, eventually kneeling on a flail-like star in a disheveled manner.
And he seemed to be at the "end of his tether," forced to let Dormammu's powerful attacks land on him one after another.
91%... 92%... 93%...
The charging progress of Desperate Watch increased rapidly accordingly.
Finally, Dormammu released a massive dark annihilation blast, completely engulfing Homelander.
The dust cleared, and Homelander's appearance at this moment was miserable to the extreme, as if he might fall at any moment.
But only Homelander himself knew that the charging of Desperate Watch had officially reached 100% at this moment.
***************************
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