Inside Limbo.
Tony Stark, who had set foot in hell for the first time, had a face full of curiosity.
He was fascinated by everything around him.
"Shit! What am I seeing?"
"That demon just jumped straight into a pool of magma… and is using it as a shower!?"
"Isn't that still carbon-based life?"
"Damn, what kind of cellular structure can withstand magma at 1200 degrees Celsius?"
Tony took a deep breath and tried to force himself to accept what he was seeing.
These aren't humans, these are demons. He couldn't judge them based on human science.
"Fuck… now I understand why conventional weapons can't harm them."
He remembered the last battle in New York.
When he used weapons from his armor back then, he hadn't managed to kill more than a handful of demons.
Now he finally understood the reason.
If they could bathe in thousand-degree magma as if it were thermal water, then their physical strength and resilience surpassed anything human technology could penetrate.
It was perfectly normal for them to be immune to weapons that relied on high temperatures.
"I told you already…"
"Can't you act like a beginner who just landed in hell, instead of making a fuss about everything you see?"
"People are bathing, and you're staring at them like a pervert for half the day."
Aron looked at Tony with disgust.
From the very start, he had known Stark wasn't someone he could easily tolerate.
He shook his head, completely disappointed.
Aron then continued in a serious tone:
"Enough. Let's get down to business. I gave orders to the demons down there."
"They're to return to Earth as soon as they find people who accidentally wandered into Limbo."
That's right! Strange wasn't the only one who had accidentally ended up here.
At the moment, there were hundreds of unfortunates in Limbo that Aron already knew about.
And that was only part of the picture…
After all, Limbo was enormous.
There were surely many more people who had been teleported somewhere deeper and farther away, beyond his current reach.
"I explained to the International Council what your connection to the Limbo dimension is."
"All the countries have one by one suspended their preparations for war."
Since yesterday, when they learned Aron was the master of Limbo, Tony had rushed to the United Nations.
He was worried he would be just one step too late.
Such a misunderstanding could have pushed the entire world into a meaningless conflict.
The more he thought about it, the more afraid Tony became.
Because, if someone recklessly turned Aron against humanity… the consequences would be unimaginable.
"It's good I came to you right away, otherwise this would've ended in a quarrel…" Tony didn't get to finish his sentence.
Boom!
Suddenly, a powerful blast echoed through Limbo.
Aron frowned, and his gaze immediately turned toward the horizon from where the sound spread.
At the very edge of Limbo, a massive portal suddenly opened.
Out of it began to emerge tanks.
Then armored vehicles, helicopters, and entire units of American soldiers, lined up densely like ants.
"This…" Tony's eyes widened.
He rubbed his face and even blinked several times, thinking he was hallucinating.
"A few minutes ago, you told me not to start any fight…"
"And now a tank division is coming over the cliff."
Aron glanced at him sideways and murmured through a smile: "Tony, you're really good at this tactical deception."
"I'm really not lying to you, Aron!" Tony replied in panic.
"I… I really don't know what's happening here…"
Cold sweat drenched him. Of course, it could also have been from the heat, after all, Limbo's temperature was far from pleasant.
"Forget it," said Aron.
"It's too late for explanations now."
"I'm going to see who's commanding this army. Maybe I can stop them!"
Tony lowered the visor of his helmet, then launched himself at full speed toward the army emerging from the portal.
"Oh, just look at this stupid boy rushing ahead," Aron murmured calmly, without a trace of panic.
He knew Tony wasn't lying.
At the United Nations session, Stark had really been busy.
He had indeed made sure that countries suspended their war plans one by one.
But…
"In this world, there are always a few black sheep."
...…
"Hurry, hurry!"
"Move out!"
"Build a multi-layered defensive zone around the portal!"
"Send out reconnaissance drones!"
"Detection of the situation is priority!"
"The entire army on alert! Destroy any creature that approaches!"
Near the teleportation channel, General Ross was the first to pass through the portal.
He commanded the vanguard precisely and secured the area around the passage.
Immediately after him, rows of soldiers, tanks, armored carriers, and helicopters began pouring out of the portal.
Like a steel flood, they spread from the entry point across the surface.
Boom!
Tony Stark, clad in steel armor, crashed down from the sky.
His armor was already covered in scratches, it was clear he had been hit by anti-aircraft fire.
"Ross?"
"Are you insane!?"
"Didn't you hear about the ceasefire?"
"Who gave you the order to attack!?" Tony lifted his visor and unleashed his fury at the general's face.
"Stark? What are you doing here?" Ross was genuinely shocked when he saw him.
"Don't change the subject, Ross!"
"I'm asking who forced you to launch an attack! Don't you know there's a ceasefire?"
"Don't you know that the Lord of Limbo is a human too?" Tony was furious, never before had he felt such anger toward someone.
He felt like he would lose control and curse Ross's ancestors eight generations back.
So much effort, so many meetings at the United Nations, so many compromises.
All of it had been in vain.
Ross had destroyed everything with one move.
"Who forced me to attack?"
"It's the people of America! It's freedom!"
Faced with Stark's questioning, General Ross felt uncomfortable, especially since more than 280 soldiers stood around watching.
But, as always, he tried to get out of it with empty rhetoric, invoking ideals he himself didn't follow.
"Bullshit!"
"This is just your personal ambition!" Tony didn't allow himself to be deceived.
"For freedom!"
"Hoorah!"
The soldiers around him, indoctrinated and deceived, believed Ross's words.
His voice was like a trumpet, and their reactions like soldiers entering a trance.
They raised their weapons and marched forward, shouting slogans as if filled with renewed zeal.
Ross watched the scene with pride.
Ambition gleamed in his eyes, cold and sharp like an eagle's gaze.
The first general to set foot in and conquer another world.
That capital was enough to elevate him to the very top of political and military power in America.
"Tony Stark, you are accused of treason, crimes against humanity. I advise you to surrender immediately…"
Ross's order resounded like a sentence.
The surrounding soldiers immediately aimed their weapons at Tony.
"You're completely insane!" Tony cursed, activated his suit's thrusters, and shot into the sky.
Surrounded by enemies, he had to break through the blockade and return the way he had come.
"Open fire!"
"Shoot him down!"
"Tony Stark is a traitor to humanity!" roared General Ross, as volleys and explosions from anti-aircraft weapons erupted from all sides.
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