As Artoria's magic was injected, the ice blade unexpectedly cooperated with her power. A white light shone from the blue blade, which greatly surprised Artoria. Soon, Artoria received feedback from the ice blade. The ahoge on her head twitched; her intuition told her the ice blade was saying it was full and ready to release energy. Trusting her intuition, Artoria unleashed a powerful slash toward the tsunami. In that instant, thousands of ice-blue light pillars appeared before her. The sea surface instantly froze into ice, and the tsunami before Artoria became a massive glacier.
"Interesting. Something created by technology can rival a C+++ rank Noble Phantasm. The end of science is theology—that saying isn't false at all."
Artoria touched the blade of the ice blade in surprise. She hadn't expected it to release such a wide-range attack. She spoke with some emotion; although its name was 'Imitation Spirit Blade,' its attack effect could already leave those so-called famous swords in the dust. As expected of the graduation weapon for Goushinnin Memento, its damage is impressive.
"Bang! Crack!"
While Artoria was reflecting, an orange-red energy beam pushed a figure and slammed it into the massive glacier, punching through the thick ice in an instant. Along with the impact, the glacier began to shatter, and chunks of ice weighing hundreds of pounds fell off. Artoria turned toward the source of the energy beam, and that familiar blue suit entered her field of vision. Okay, no need to look further there. Artoria turned back to the one being attacked. The guy with the trident had smashed a huge crater into the ice. He was still stubbornly struggling to stand up. Artoria could clearly see the burns on him caused by thermal weapons. Such injuries would leave an ordinary person immobilized in bed, but they were healing rapidly on this guy.
"Artoria, what weapon did you use to freeze the tsunami? Nitrogen?"
Tony, piloting his new suit, came to Artoria's side. He looked curiously at the collapsing glacier. He couldn't imagine what method Artoria had used to freeze the tsunami and the surrounding sea. Even using nitrogen would require at least tens of thousands of tons, and seawater couldn't freeze that quickly. Aside from a Mutant, he couldn't think of any way to create a glacier of this scale. He had been fighting with all his might and hadn't seen Artoria's side; otherwise, he would have definitely asked his sister for the ice blade to study it.
"Your opponent doesn't look like he's staying down yet. Don't slip up, brother."
Regarding Tony's habit of getting distracted on the battlefield, Artoria rolled her eyes. She pointed a finger at Namor, who had already stood up, and spoke to Tony with some helplessness. Couldn't he see the guy's eyes were red with rage? Artoria jumped down from Touka's back and landed on the ice. Against an enemy, you can use any number of underhanded tactics, but you must never underestimate your opponent. How many villains have underestimated the protagonist only to have a flag firmly planted and their whole team wiped out? Seeing Artoria was annoyed, Tony, who had been a bit overconfident after winning, quickly composed himself. He piloted his suit to land next to Artoria, and they walked toward Namor together.
"You seafood bastard, using that big trident of yours to stir up a tsunami—are you trying to start a real war against the surface?"
Artoria and Tony walked up to Namor. Looking at the panting Namor, who was covered in bruises, Tony didn't feel the slightest bit sorry. After all, this guy had ruined his beautiful wedding. He stepped forward a couple of paces, shielding Artoria behind him. If this guy launched a sudden attack, he could provide more protection for his sister.
"It was you surface dwellers who started the war first! You trash who pollute the ocean—because of your existence, the beautiful sea is dying on a massive scale. Does the ocean not even have the right to unleash its wrath, Iron Man?"
Taking a deep breath, Namor's already short temper flared into a rage upon hearing Tony's questioning. With a flick of his trident, the distant ice cracked instantly, and a pillar of water erupted. However, it didn't attack Tony and Artoria; instead, the water crashed down before them, bringing a heap of ocean trash—tattered fishing nets, plastic bottles, and trash bags—right to their feet.
"Land-dweller, tell me, what is this? Why do they appear in the ocean? Is it your wish to see adorable dolphins die from eating trash, or heavy fishing nets strangling sea turtles until they suffocate? Tell me! Land-dweller, what do you take the ocean for?"
Namor's interrogation left Tony speechless. Could he say this was an inevitable part of social development? Could he say this was human business and had nothing to do with him? Seeing the pile of trash before him, Tony's anger dissipated significantly, replaced by a sense of guilt. After all, no one could truly say who was right or wrong in this situation. He wasn't wrong to protect the humans on land, for if a tsunami hit, coastal cities would be submerged, and countless lives would be lost. Yet, Namor wasn't wrong to seek justice for the ocean, given the pollution humans caused. Tony, in his high position, had never paid much attention to environmental issues, and now, being scolded to his face by an enemy made him feel quite uneasy.
"Pfft!"
Just as the atmosphere between the two sides turned strangely tense, a silver radiance pierced through Namor's body in an instant. Namor collapsed to the ground, a silver knight's lance embedded in his abdomen. Tony was all too familiar with this weapon—wasn't this his sister Artoria's? He looked at Namor's pained expression on the ground and then noticed a dagger in Namor's left hand; it seemed the man had intended to launch a sneak attack.
"I told you not to get distracted, but don't let your enemy's insults make you miss such a small move! You can listen to what they say, but you must also pay attention to where you are."
Artoria stepped forward and kicked the dagger out of Namor's hand. She hadn't missed a single one of his subtle movements. While Tony was busy blaming himself, this guy had intended to throw the dagger in a sneak attack. The dagger didn't seem ordinary either; it looked like it was made from the tooth of some Sea Beast and was exceptionally sharp. If Tony had been hit, it likely would have pierced his suit instantly, leaving a large hole in him.
Before Namor could act, Artoria had thrown her Rhongomyniad. Seemingly believing Tony was the strongest person present, Namor had completely ignored Artoria's existence. Artoria's strike perfectly subdued him. After retrieving the dagger, Artoria pulled her Holy Lance Rhongomyniad out of Namor's body, and blood instantly stained the ice red.
"As a human, I am sorry for humanity's actions toward the ocean, but violence cannot solve everything. If you want humans to cherish the ocean, then come and help guide them to do so!"
Seeing his sister walk away without a change in expression, Tony understood her intent—this person was left for him to handle. Tony walked up to Namor and used the first-aid system on his suit to give him an injection of Healing Medicine. Tony spoke to the wide-eyed, disbelieving Namor. Upon hearing Tony's words, the despair in Namor's eyes turned into confusion, as if he didn't understand why Tony was helping him. After listening carefully, Namor felt lost. Were they really not going to kill him?
"I've decided to form an organization called... the Illuminati. Interested in joining? No membership fees required."
Seeing the wound on Namor's abdomen healing rapidly, Tony extended his hand and voiced an idea he had held for a long time. He opened his faceplate and looked sincerely at Namor lying on the ground. Hearing Tony's words and seeing his gaze, Namor felt a flicker of emotion for some reason. He also reached out his hand, and Tony and Namor shook hands amicably. The Illuminati was thus established, and Tony even added a bit of humor at the end.
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