Chapter 424: A Youkai Sage's Invitation
He quickly realized how foolish his own decision had been, though — Gongbieerzi was nowhere near this Earthling's equal, and within moments found himself getting thoroughly, mercilessly beaten down.
Whatever trick was keeping him alive for the time being clearly wasn't enough to let him fight back at all.
Just as The Other was about to seize the opportunity and slip away, he noticed the Earthling's gaze had already turned toward him — as if the man somehow already knew exactly what he was planning.
The Other's expression froze on the spot. He found himself caught in a genuinely agonizing dilemma: run, or not run?
Running now practically guaranteed he'd catch this Earthling's attention. And if the man noticed him fleeing, he might just abandon Gongbieerzi entirely and turn his focus on The Other instead!
The Other didn't believe for a second he could win against Saitama. Facing that man directly, he was fairly certain he'd be dead within a single second, no exaggeration.
As the Chitauri army's own commander, he had more than enough self-awareness to recognize that particular truth.
But if he didn't take this chance to run now, and Gongbieerzi ended up killed by this Earthling anyway... the next one to die would absolutely, unquestionably be him.
Run, and die. Don't run, and die anyway.
What was he even supposed to do here?
He was, quite genuinely, at the end of his rope.
The Other tried reaching out telepathically to Lord Thanos — the Marvel world's own "purple potato-headed menace," as it happened.
But the moment he activated that ability, he found, with genuine horror, that he hadn't reached Thanos at all — he'd connected with the Ancient One instead!
Or, more accurately — it wasn't so much that he'd reached her, as that the Ancient One had intercepted his telepathic call entirely.
A voice suddenly spoke up from nearby, and The Other could tell immediately — with total certainty — that this new voice belonged to neither the bald man nor anyone he'd already met.
"Sensei Saitama really is impressively strong, isn't he. Doesn't even look like he's fighting at full power. This quest's enemies are a bit on the weak side, honestly — barely stronger than Kaguya Shinomiya, if that."
"I'd guess Sensei Saitama's a little disappointed, actually. The enemy's turned out nowhere near as strong as he'd hoped — quite a bit weaker, in fact. Considerably weaker."
"..."
The Other turned, stiff with dread, toward the source of the voice, and his pupils narrowed sharply.
Because yet another bald head had just appeared aboard the ship. This one wasn't quite as imposingly built as the first, but it left The Other's face draining of color all the same.
Because the newcomer was, unmistakably, the Ancient One herself — Earth's own Sorcerer Supreme.
As one of Thanos's own subordinates, there was simply no way The Other didn't already know exactly who the Ancient One was — especially given this entire invasion had been aimed at Earth in the first place, and he'd almost certainly done his own homework on her beforehand.
A bizarre, overwhelmingly powerful bald human had already reduced Gongbieerzi to a punching bag, and now the Ancient One herself had shown up on top of that!
The Other could feel his own fate settling into place — and settling in thoroughly. He genuinely doubted even alerting Thanos right now would save him from what was coming. He didn't believe for a second the Ancient One would show him any mercy. He didn't believe, for that matter, that Earth's own Sorcerer Supreme was the type to hold back from killing when the situation called for it.
And, as it turned out, his judgment proved entirely correct — when the moment called for it, the Ancient One never once held back. Not once.
As the minutes ticked by, the thoroughly one-sided battle steadily wound toward its conclusion.
Whatever trump card Gongbieerzi still had left might well have proven genuinely useful against a sorcerer like the Ancient One — but against a purely physical powerhouse like Saitama, it turned out to have basically no real value. At best, it could buy him a little temporary survival.
And "temporary" meant exactly that — his trump card clearly carried a time limit.
Once that limit ran out, the card's effect would simply expire, and after that... he'd be finished for good.
As for The Other, now stuck facing the Ancient One directly — there wasn't much left to say. His individual combat ability had never been much to speak of in the first place.
And going up against Earth's Sorcerer Supreme herself made the outcome even more of a foregone conclusion — there was no realistic way he stood a chance against her.
As for Gongbieerzi's 500-cannon superweapon? Ryū had already reduced it to scrap, more or less in its entirety.
Tatsumaki, meanwhile, was busy handling the remaining Chitauri forces — leaving nothing but corpses in her wake, mowing them down like weeds.
The telekinetic shield she'd raised around herself was completely impervious to their weapons fire. And every time she actually acted, she'd simply tear their warships apart with her overwhelming psychic power.
I'm Rolling In It: Looks like the fight's winding down... gotta say, Uncle Tony's performance today's been flawless — managed to wipe the enemy out completely without lifting a finger.
I'm Rolling In It: These guys were laughably weak, honestly. This is what they thought could take Earth? Please. Did they even bother asking Uncle Tony first?
My True Form Is Cola: ...And there Mr. Stark goes running his mouth again. We've all been watching the livestream this whole time, you know — the reason you didn't lift a finger is that you never got the chance to.
My True Form Is Cola: Or, honestly, maybe it's just that Mr. Stark's too weak to actually help, so sitting there streaming was the smart move — charging in probably would've just gotten in the way.
Crazy Diamond: Mr. Stark's ego just took 999 critical damage!
Kaguya-sama: No need to worry — Mr. Stark's shameless enough, thick-skinned enough, that his ego's basically immune to critical hits.
I'm Rolling In It: Damn it! Once I get back, Uncle Tony's absolutely going to build something way more impressive!
I'm Rolling In It: Actually just asked Admin to save me a few intact warships to bring back — once I reverse-engineer their alien tech, I'll be unstoppable!
Edward Newgate: How many years is it going to take you to fully digest that alien tech, exactly?
I'm Rolling In It: With Uncle Tony's genius, three years tops! Three years, and I'll have that alien tech completely figured out!
Ying Zheng The Sovereign: ...In three years, this sovereign could probably tear the Earth apart with his bare hands by then.
Wandering Little Planet: Why does everyone keep threatening poor, adorable Earth-chan like this, wahhh...
Street-Corner Illustrator: Shocking! Qin Shi Huang-senpai actually surfaced! The man's basically a legendary permanent lurker!
Ying Zheng The Sovereign: This sovereign pops in to chat every few days, actually! Granted, not with a whole lot to say.
Maidang: Just here to lurk...
Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit: Lurking +1!
Eternally Seventeen: Oh, right — @Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit, Ahri, don't you still not have a fixed place to live? Any interest in moving to Gensokyo?
Eternally Seventeen: I've actually got one of your own kind living in my house already, you know!
"..."
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