Lucien crashed into the nearest stone construct with his fist, the impact sending shockwaves through its granite body. Cracks spread from the point of contact like spider webs before the entire thing crumbled to pieces.
"Well, that was easier than expected," he muttered, turning toward the next construct.
The stone giants—or whatever they were—moved like mindless programmed machines. They swung their massive fists at anything that moved, but their attacks were slow and predictable. The V-shaped grooves on their faces occasionally flashed with red energy, shooting beams that scorched the pavement where they hit.
One of the energy blasts grazed Lucien's shoulder as he dodged, the heat singeing his shirt. "Okay, note to self—stay away from the laser eyes."
A sorcerer in dark robes called out to him from behind a shimmering barrier. "Hit them on the head! That's their weak point!"
Lucien glanced at the man—Asian features, serious expression, definitely someone who knew what he was talking about. But as Lucien threw another punch that went completely through a construct's torso, reducing it to rubble, the sorcerer's advice seemed unnecessary.
"Never mind," the man said, watching another stone giant collapse under Lucien's casual backhand. "Just... do your thing."
"Thanks for the tactical advice," Lucien called back, grinning as he grabbed a construct by what passed for its arm and used it to club another one into pieces. "Very helpful."
The battle continued for several minutes, with Lucien methodically working his way through the stone army. These things were about as strong as the D-rank monsters he'd been fighting in dungeons—tough enough to be dangerous to normal people, but nowhere near his current level.
What made them problematic was their numbers. They kept pouring out of the portal like an endless tide, and while Lucien could destroy them easily enough, he couldn't be everywhere at once.
The sorcerers were doing their best to help, but their spells seemed designed for precision rather than the kind of wholesale destruction needed here.
"Hey!" the same sorcerer called out again. Lucien noticed he seemed to be the leader of the group. "Can you increase the speed a bit? If you can keep destroying them near the portal entrance, we can seal it off!"
Lucien nodded, wiping stone dust from his hands. "On it!"
He moved toward the portal, his enhanced speed carrying him through the crowd of constructs like a wrecking ball. His punches came faster now, each one precisely targeted to cause maximum destruction.
The stone giants tried to adapt, clustering together and coordinating their attacks, but they were fundamentally mindless. They had no real strategy beyond 'attack the threat,' and that made them predictable.
"Come on, rock brains!" Lucien taunted as he shattered three constructs with a single spinning kick. "Is this really the best you've got? I've seen more intelligence in actual rocks!"
He reached the portal area and began clearing everything within a twenty-foot radius. The constructs kept emerging, but now they were being destroyed faster than they could organize.
"Wong!" one of the other sorcerers called out. "He's clear! Start the sealing!"
The leader—Wong, apparently—stopped trying to fight the constructs and instead began weaving complex gestures with his hands. The other sorcerers followed suit, abandoning their combat spells to focus on whatever ritual would close the portal.
"How long do you need?" Lucien asked, punching through two constructs at once.
"Two minutes!" Wong replied, sweat beading on his forehead as golden light began to emanate from his hands. "Maybe three!"
"Take your time," Lucien said, catching a construct's energy blast on his forearm and barely feeling it. "I've got all night."
The portal began to shimmer and contract as the sorcerers worked their magic. The flow of stone giants slowed, then stopped entirely as the dimensional rift sealed itself with a sound like tearing fabric.
The remaining constructs, cut off from whatever was controlling them, simply stopped moving and crumbled to dust.
Silence fell over the street, broken only by the heavy breathing of the exhausted sorcerers.
"Well," Wong said, straightening his robes, "that was dramatic. Though I have to admit, your approach was much more effective than ours."
"Sometimes the direct method works best," Lucien replied, brushing stone fragments from his shirt. "What the hell were those things anyway?"
Wong's expression grew serious. "Mindless Ones. Creatures from the Dark Dimension, typically controlled by Dormammu himself."
"Dormammu?" Lucien's knowledge of Marvel lore kicked in. "The cosmic fire-head guy who eats dimensions?"
"That's... actually not a terrible description," Wong admitted with what might have been amusement. "Though I wouldn't recommend saying that to his face."
"I'll keep that in mind. So why were his pets having a street party in New York?"
Wong exchanged glances with the other sorcerers before answering. "We were attacked earlier tonight. Red Skull stole an artifact from our sanctum—a device that contains a fragment of Dormammu's power and can command his armies if Dormammu allows it. And, seeing what has happened tonight, he was granted permission by Dormammu."
"Red Skull," Lucien repeated, "Nazi super-villain Red Skull?"
"The very same. This portal attack was just a distraction he created before escaping with the artifact."
Lucien felt his phone buzzing and pulled it out to see Natasha's number. "Excuse me for a second."
He answered the call while walking a few steps away from the sorcerers.
"Lucien," Natasha's voice was sharp with concern. "We just got informed of an incident in your area. Are you involved in whatever just happened?"
"Stone monsters from another dimension," Lucien replied succinctly. "All handled now, but we've got a bigger problem. Red Skull stole some kind of artifact that controls Dormammu's army."
There was a pause on the other end. "Of course he did. I'll put out alerts and start tracking him down. Can you get more details from whoever you're with?"
"Working on it."
Lucien ended the call and returned to Wong. "SHIELD's going to help track down Red Skull. Anything else I should know about this artifact?"
"It's called the Dark Spear," Wong replied grimly. "In the wrong hands, it could open permanent gateways to the Dark Dimension, but Red Skull is not powerful enough to do that. We need to recover it quickly, as we don't know what he might do with the spear."
"I'll pass that along. Anything else I can do?"
Wong studied him for a moment. "You fought well tonight. I'm Wong, the acting Sorcerer Supreme."
"I'm Lucien," Lucien said as they shook hands, "Pleasure meeting you."
After exchanging contact information with Wong, Lucien began making his way back toward his apartment. The night had taken an unexpected turn, but at least the immediate crisis was resolved.
He was about halfway home when he noticed something wrong.
The street ahead was eerily quiet—too quiet for a New York evening. No traffic, no pedestrians, no ambient city noise. It was like walking through a movie set after filming had wrapped.
Then he saw them.
Anna, Daniel, and Illyana were walking down the sidewalk about a block ahead, but something was off. Laura was unconscious and injured, being supported between Anna and Daniel, her head lolling forward unnaturally.
Lucien's enhanced senses immediately went on high alert. Why was Laura unconscious? Where were all the other people? What had happened to—
A cloaked figure dropped from a nearby fire escape, landing silently behind his friends. More figures emerged from alleys and doorways, surrounding the group with a predatory aura.
Lucien didn't hesitate.
He launched himself forward with every ounce of speed he possessed, covering the distance in a second. The lead attacker was raising his hand—a hand with claws just like Logan's—toward Anna's back when Lucien's fist connected with his face.
The impact sent the cloaked figure flying backward into a parked car with enough force to cave in the door.
Lucien landed between his friends and the remaining attackers, his muscles tensed for combat. There were at least six more figures, all wearing identical dark cloaks that obscured their faces.
"Who the hell are you guys?" Lucien demanded, his voice carrying the kind of cold fury that promised violence.
The attackers didn't answer. Instead, they moved as one, producing different types of claws and advancing with coordination.
They were strong and had abilities like Wolverine.
But they'd made one crucial mistake.
They'd threatened his family.
And that was something Lucien would never tolerate.
.....
POWER STONE GOAL: 700 ( 1 Extra Chapter)
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