Chapter Sixty-Two: This Is What True Battle Means

The enemies were Ebony Maw and Black Dwarf.

“You will all perish under the hand of Lord Thanos. Rejoice, you lowly mortals, for you shall be balanced with all things…” Ebony Maw, with an air of superiority, proclaimed Thanos’s cataclysmic ideology as though granting charity.

“Do it!”

Yang Xin didn’t bother with words; a mere glance was enough before he swept his hands outward.

The heavens inverted, gravity spiraled out of control—the Mirror Dimension was unleashed.

Yang Xin’s sudden action caught Ebony Maw and Black Dwarf completely off guard. Instinctively, they searched for footing, while the sorcerers of Katemaji, trained in ninjutsu, channelled chakra to their feet, standing with ease wherever they pleased. Following the plan, the sorcerers struck in unison.

Golden whips lashed out, binding Ebony Maw into a cocoon, even his fingers immobilized. Yang Xin used the Body Flicker Technique to appear beside him.

“Water Style—Water Prison!” Yang Xin’s left hand conjured a sphere of water, tightly encasing Ebony Maw.

“Lightning Style—Lightning Tiger Strike!” A ball of lightning sparked in Yang Xin’s right hand. He didn’t bother to shape the lightning further—his left hand dissolved the water prison, and his right hand slammed onto Ebony Maw’s shoulder.

“Ah!” Ebony Maw screamed in agony, the magic he had mustered shattered in an instant.

Yang Xin’s right hand poured out powerful chakra, leaving Ebony Maw unable to gather magic. With his left hand, Yang Xin formed a single-handed seal: “Multi Shadow Clone Technique!”

Four shadow clones emerged, each taking a corner and rapidly forming seals.

“Five Elements Seal!”

“Four Symbols Seal!”

“Eight Trigrams Seal!”

Yang Xin’s clones unleashed nearly every sealing technique they knew to suppress Ebony Maw’s magic, then immediately dispelled themselves.

“Natalya!” Yang Xin shouted.

From the moment Yang Xin moved, Natalya had been quietly raising her cosmos. She knew Yang Xin had long been preparing for this moment. Now, she frantically thrust her right hand skyward and cried out, “Aurora Freezer!”

A blast of chilling air shot forth, encasing Ebony Maw in a frozen coffin. Perhaps Natalya pushed herself too hard—for Yang Xin, in the silver cosmos that enveloped her, caught a faint hint of gold.

“So this is a sign of her impending breakthrough…” Yang Xin was genuinely happy for Natalya.

Only two seconds had passed, yet Ebony Maw was already captured. Yes—captured. Yang Xin’s intent was to take him alive; had he wanted to kill Ebony Maw, it would have been no trouble—a single Chidori would have pierced the frail mage’s heart.

In that brief span, Black Dwarf had only just found his footing. Stabilizing his stance and seeing Ebony Maw’s fate—uncertain whether dead or alive—his first instinct was not to fight, but to flee, and he acted accordingly.

Black Dwarf swung his weapon wildly, desperately trying to smash the Mirror Dimension while calling to the warship overhead. A tractor beam shot down, attempting to break through the dimension and extract him.

“Nick Fury, shoot down the alien warship above immediately!” Yang Xin contacted Fury at once.

“In American airspace, authorization from the Security Council and the Pentagon is required to deploy heavy weapons…” Nick Fury replied with bureaucratic formality.

“Shoot down the alien warship above! Now!” Yang Xin paid no heed to Fury’s protocols, shouting urgently.

“Alright!” Perhaps Yang Xin’s urgency was too intense, or maybe Fury had never seen him so desperate—Fury issued the order to attack the alien vessel.

SHIELD’s prepared cruise missiles soared skyward, striking at the hovering alien warship. Simultaneously, Quinjet fighters loaded with ammunition launched, unleashing a torrent of firepower.

Yet it was useless—the warship’s energy shields made gunpowder weapons ineffective.

“Activate Asgard’s starship battle group! All of them!” Yang Xin bellowed.

“This…” Fury hesitated.

“There’s no time for secrecy!” Yang Xin shouted.

The concealed Asgardian interstellar ships dropped their camouflage, revealing rows of menacing cannons. A barrage of collective fire brought the alien warship crashing down.

“Your escape is cut off. Will you surrender or die?” Yang Xin looked at Black Dwarf coldly.

“Lord Thanos will not fail.” Black Dwarf raised his weapon defiantly.

“Dr. Banner, you’re up!” Yang Xin said coolly.

Dr. Banner wished to regain confidence through battle, but no matter how furiously he slapped his own face or pounded his chest, the Hulk refused to emerge.

“Bruce, look at me!” Yang Xin commanded sharply.

Dr. Bruce Banner instinctively looked at Yang Xin, met by a pair of scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan eyes.

Suddenly, Banner let out a wild roar, instantly transforming into the invincible Hulk, charging at Black Dwarf. With a single punch, he sent Black Dwarf flying, then bounded forward and hammered him mercilessly.

“What did you do to Bruce?” Natalya asked curiously. Could it be that with just a glance in the crowd, a refined physicist would become a green, rampaging beast?

“I merely cast a little illusion on him,” Yang Xin shrugged.

“What kind of illusion? Bruce’s tragic life?” Natalya pressed.

“Now Bruce and the Hulk are showing signs of merging. His past tragedies and abuses no longer trigger transformation—the suffering has ceased to be the source of his tragedy, and instead has become the drive for their unity. Perhaps it’s a kind of seasoned perspective—true warriors dare to face bleak lives, and Bruce is such a man.”

“So what illusion did you use?” Natalya’s curiosity deepened.

“His girlfriend’s story. It’s a novel centered on Bruce Banner’s ex-girlfriend, Betty Ross, daughter of General Ross, adapted and directed by yours truly in a little dramatic vignette…” Yang Xin replied calmly.

“What kind of story could make Bruce so agitated?” Natalya’s eyes widened.

“Want to see?”

“Yes!”

Yang Xin activated the Sharingan, casting the illusion on Natalya. Despite her extensive training, Natalya was left breathless after witnessing it, then furiously flashed Yang Xin the middle finger.

“Is this really good for Bruce?”

“What’s wrong with it? I blurred Betty’s image in the illusion, only making Bruce angry. How best to enrage him? The murder of a father or the loss of a lover—I’ve never met Bruce’s father, so I had to simulate the scene of losing a lover…”

As Yang Xin and Natalya conversed, the transformed Hulk battered Black Dwarf until he was barely alive.

“Hold your fists!” Seeing Hulk about to kill Black Dwarf, Yang Xin shouted urgently.