The smiles on the faces of the Avengers vanished in an instant.
It wasn't that they didn't know how to process it. It was that they didn't want to say it out loud. After realizing the World Security Council had launched nuclear payloads directly at them, they all understood the grim reality. To the men in suits, the Avengers had already become expendable pawns.
However... Captain America looked around at the terrified civilians slowly emerging from the dust and rubble of the subway stations.
A profound sense of purpose welled up from the bottom of his heart. The Avengers never fought for those politicians. They fought for the people standing right in front of them.
"Don't say it, Stark," Steve ordered, his voice cutting through the heavy silence. He interrupted whatever bitter, cynical remark Tony was about to make. "We still have a mission to complete."
Seeing the plummeting morale of the team, Steve knew this was no time to complain about the shamelessness of those in power. The priority right now was to clear out the remaining, disorganized Chitauri soldiers. The people of New York still needed their protection.
Under the Captain's unwavering command, the Avengers pulled themselves together. They split up once more to begin mopping up the remaining alien troops.
.....
Meanwhile, at the original site of the Great Tomb of Nazarick...
The once lush, pristine forest had been turned into a scorched, irradiated, glassed-over barren wasteland. The apocalyptic heat and radiation brought by the nuclear payload had yet to dissipate.
"Revenge!"
"Revenge!!"
"REVENGE!!!"
Voices filled with absolute, blood-curdling resentment and rage echoed through the smoldering ruins.
The earth shattered, and a towering demon with massive bat wings burst violently out from the ground. Following him, another figure tore from the soil into the sky: Shalltear Bloodfallen, fully clad in her Blood Valkyrie armor. A massive, magical sapling erupted from the glassed earth, slowly unfurling its protective branches to reveal the dark elf twins, Aura and Mare, jumping down to the ash.
Finally, a swirling black portal appeared.
The Supreme Ruler of Nazarick, Ainz Ooal Gown, stepped through the gate. His skeletal body was completely unharmed, protected by the tomb's absolute defenses.
However, unlike the Supreme Being, Sebas Tian and the members of the Pleiades Battle Maids who emerged from the portal behind him... were each covered in severe, bleeding injuries from absorbing the shockwave to protect the tomb's weaker denizens.
"Shalltear."
"Shut up!"
Ainz's voice was deeper and more terrifyingly serious than ever before. He scanned the irradiated, ruined environment. A calming green light flashed incessantly over his skeletal form.
Even with the continuous activation of his undead passive skill, [Emotion Override], he could hardly suppress the catastrophic fury boiling in his soul.
He had originally intended to play the long game. He had intended to establish goodwill and get along peacefully with humanity.
'But, since you do not need this goodwill...' Ainz thought, the red orbs in his eye sockets blazing with lethal intensity. '...then it shall be as you wish.'
"You want war?" Ainz whispered, the sound carrying over the ash. "I grant you your war."
"Wait! Ainz-sama!" Demiurge stepped forward, pushing his cracked glasses up his nose. "Since the humans dared to launch such an apocalyptic attack unprovoked... perhaps they have already set an ambush with beings capable of contending with us. You cannot take the physical risk of deploying yourself!"
Demiurge bowed deeply. "My suggestion is... send Pandora's Actor."
[Tier 7 Magic: Greater Teleportation]
Ignoring the demon's cautious advice, everyone from the vanguard of Nazarick vanished instantly.
When the entities reappeared, they were hovering high above the center of New York City.
This terrifying scene simultaneously appeared on the satellite feeds before the eyes of Nick Fury and the members of the World Security Council.
'Oh no,' Fury thought, a cold sweat breaking out across his forehead.
That was the exact, horrifying thought that rose in the hearts of every politician watching the screen. No sovereign entity could remain calm after suffering a nuclear strike. And when they saw the Overlord of Death and his demonic generals teleport directly into the airspace of the most populated city on Earth, panicked, screaming orders began to pour out from the congressional hall.
Inside the Helicarrier, Nick Fury immediately opened a scrambled, wide-band channel to the team.
"Avengers, retreat! Retreat immediately!"
Nick Fury's frantic voice rang in the earpieces of all the Avengers. However, there were only urgent, panicked demands to flee, without any tactical explanation.
"Fury," Steve Rogers replied, throwing a Chitauri off a car. "Why? We still have remaining troops that haven't been cleared out."
"Nazarick has come for revenge!" Fury yelled. "Retreat quickly! This isn't our mission anymore!"
Before Steve could even process the warning, Ainz Ooal Gown, leading his Floor Guardians, had already materialized in the sky above them. The air seemed like solid ground as the monsters of Nazarick stood steadily in mid-air, looking down at the city with absolute, unadulterated hatred.
"I have come to do battle," Ainz's magically amplified voice boomed across the entire island of Manhattan.
With that simple, chilling declaration of war, the Overlord raised his skeletal hands and unleashed the most devastating magic known to the New World.
[Super-Tier Magic: Iä Shub-Niggurath]
Several massive, interlocking, pitch-black magic circles expanded rapidly across the sky around Ainz.
In a single instant, a suffocating, black aura plummeted like a localized hurricane, permeating the entire city center. The spell demanded a sacrifice for the Black Harvest.
Every single living creature caught within the expansive range of the dark aura died instantly. Their souls were violently ripped from their bodies. Whether they were invading Chitauri soldiers or innocent humans hiding in the rubble, they all collapsed silently, dying collectively at that exact moment.
"No!!" Steve screamed, his eyes wide with horror.
The Avengers watched this apocalyptic scene, their hearts bleeding for every life instantly snuffed out. Thousands of souls, gone in a microsecond. But even so, they could do nothing to bring back the dead.
The leather glove Captain America used to grip his shield creaked under the sheer force of his tightening fist.
Yet his remaining, tactical rationality screamed at him that for the exhausted Avengers to rush in now would be a completely pointless suicide mission.
"Fall back! To the jet! Now!" Steve ordered, pulling Natasha and Clint along to board the hovering Quinjet that had come to extract them.
As the ramp closed, Steve looked out toward Ainz Ooal Gown's floating form in the distance.
'This grudge,' Steve vowed silently. 'We will surely repay this in the future!'
However, they wanted to leave, but would the enraged Guardians of Nazarick allow it?
The answer was absolute. No.
The Quinjet had just engaged its thrusters to take off when it was violently smashed from above by a devastating kinetic impact. Fortunately, the jet's altitude wasn't high; the Avengers inside only felt a massive, jarring jolt before crashing heavily back into the asphalt.
Then, blinding sunlight poured into the cabin.
Right before their eyes, the heavily armored roof of the Quinjet had been cleanly sliced right down the middle, peeled open like a tin can.
Standing on top of the ruined jet, a female knight encased in spiked, demonic black full-plate armor entered their sight. A massive, terrifying battle-axe spun effortlessly in her gauntleted hand before being firmly grasped.
"Those who offend the absolute majesty of Nazarick..." Albedo's voice dripped with sadistic, murderous venom. "...must all die!"
Albedo leaped down from the roof, her Divine Class bardiche, [3F], swinging directly toward the trapped Avengers with the force of a falling meteor.
Dr. Banner immediately roared, his skin turning green as he began transforming into the Hulk to meet the attack. But the Captain stepped ahead of him, raising his Vibranium shield to block for the others.
"Hulk, break the rear hatch!" Steve commanded, bracing his boots against the floorboards. "This space isn't suitable for us to fight!"
Hulk paused for a microsecond upon hearing the order. But for someone who treated him with respect and called him by his actual name... he liked the Captain quite a bit.
With a roaring punch, Hulk smashed entirely through the jammed rear hatch, and the Avengers poured out of the cabin into the street.
The Captain, who had planted himself to block the incoming vanguard attack, followed closely behind. However, he didn't jump out on his own; he was violently sent flying backward out of the jet by a single, catastrophic blow.
Steve crashed into the street, rolling aggressively to his feet.
"Captain... your shield..." Hawkeye gasped, nocking an explosive arrow.
Steve looked down at the legendary vibranium disc strapped to his arm. After blocking just one direct hit from Albedo's strike, a visible, jagged chip had appeared on the edge of the indestructible shield.
Combined with the structural-destroying properties of her World Item, [Ginnungagap], Albedo specialized in utterly annihilating objects with absolute defense.
Several heavy, black axe-shadows flashed violently inside the ruined cabin, and the remaining steel frame of the Quinjet fell away in ribbons. Albedo leaped down from the gap she had carved, approaching the Avengers with a slow, predatory, cat-like stride.
"We can talk," Natasha stepped forward, her hands raised slightly.
Natasha was the person who had the most contact with the people of Nazarick besides Coulson. She really didn't want to fight these monsters. In terms of individual combat power, aside from the Hulk and Thor... the rest of them had absolutely no hope of victory in a physical brawl against a Guardian.
However, Albedo had absolutely no intention of entering into any so-called negotiations with the Black Widow.
"Filthy, treacherous humans," Albedo sneered beneath her black helm. "Death is your best destination."
[3F] swung in a deadly, horizontal arc, the divine axe-light flashing brilliantly.
The Captain could only grit his teeth, plant his boots, and raise his chipped shield to resist the blow.
CLANG!
The massive impact force was so overwhelming that Steve was entirely unable to stop his retreat. His boots dragged backward, carving a deep, straight furrow into the asphalt for twenty feet.
Negotiations were useless. The battle triggered instantly.
The members of the Avengers engaged in a righteous, desperate gang-fight. Hulk roared and leaped high into the air, while Thor summoned the lightning and swung Mjolnir directly at the dark knight. Hawkeye and Natasha sprinted for cover, looking for tactical angles to launch their ranged attacks.
And high above the street, our dear Tony Stark hovered in his battered Mark VII armor.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.," Tony sighed, watching the demonic knight single-handedly hold off two literal gods. "Send me a new suit of armor. We're gonna need it."
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