It's over, it's all over... Raiden body went limp, collapsing to the ground.
The excessive consumption of power and the finally released inner pressure caused Raiden to let go of the tightly wound nerve he had been holding onto.
Lying on the ground, Raiden closed his eyes. He wanted to rest, he needed to rest, but the soul stone gripped tightly in his right hand kept urging him on.
Raiden could feel the cold and heat within the soul stone. He could hear the bald man's screams coming from within.
Raiden couldn't rest yet, he had to fulfill his promise.
Raiden wanted to change this world. He wanted to become a hero. He wanted to make this world a better place.
Raiden wanted to let the bald man see with his own eyes that everything he had insisted on would perish under his efforts.
This world would become a peaceful paradise, while the bald man... he could only stay in hell, watching helplessly, longing, and enduring endless suffering.
"Huh, what's that?" Collapsed on the ground, Raiden suddenly noticed something flickering on the surface.
Raiden propped himself up and walked over. On the ground, a ring was lying there quietly.
Raiden bent down, wanting to pick up the ring with his hand, but at an angle Raiden couldn't see, from his palm, a black ethereal hand reached out and took the ring.
Naturally, Raiden grasp came up empty.
"Eh? Where's the ring?" Raiden removed his hand to find the ring was gone, even though it was clearly there just now... But exhausted in body and mind, Raiden didn't think much of it, assuming he must have been seeing things.
"Thud"
Raiden suddenly collapsed to the ground... He was truly exhausted.
...
"Why did you do that just now? Why did you give him back his emotions? Why did you take the ring?" In Raiden mental world, a white phantom questioned.
"Who are you to question me!" The black phantom snarled.
Then, as if talking to himself, he said.
"If I didn't give that guy back some emotions, he would become weak again before long. And this ring... consider it my reward!"
The black phantom rubbed something on himself, as if... he was missing something.
...
"Why is it so noisy?" Raiden rubbed his eyes and got up from the ground. A commotion could be heard from outside the cave.
"How are there still living people?" Raiden widened his eyes, stretched his body, and walked towards the cave entrance.
Outside the cave, two groups were in a standoff, or more accurately, two people against a group of people. Two iron battle suits were hovering in the air, engaged in a heated "debate" with a fully armed group on the ground.
"Hehe, don't shoot, really, we're on the same side!" Delan said, making people lower their guns while raising his hands above his head.
"Same side?" Tony looked suspiciously at this group of people. They didn't look like good guys at all, and there were even two tanks... Tony and Yinsen had discovered this group when they arrived, at that time these people were cleaning up the battlefield.
Tony initially thought they were enemies, but before he could open fire, the people on the other side had already surrendered and disarmed themselves.
Although they had all put down their weapons, greatly reducing Tony wariness, one should never let their guard down completely. Moreover, they still hadn't explained Raiden whereabouts clearly, so Tony and Yinsen remained in a standoff with this group of people.
"Hey, Tony? Yinsen? How did you guys get here?" Raiden walked out of the cave, the sunlight was really blinding. Raiden shielded his forehead with his hand and asked.
"Raiden!" Tony and Yinsen excited voices came from inside their armor.
The two quickly piloted their suits to land in front of Raiden.
"Ow ow ow ow!"
Tony and Yinsen gave Raiden an enthusiastic iron hug, causing Raiden to cry out in pain repeatedly.
"Loosen up, loosen up, your armor is really hard!" Raiden said with a grimace, patting Tony and Yinsen armor.
Tony tapped his chest, making a crisp sound.
"How about it? We've still got a suit for you at home. Want to go back and try it on?"
Raiden shook his head.
Tony was frowning, about to ask something, when suddenly Raiden pointed in a direction and asked.
"Who are they?"
Tony looked in the direction Raiden was pointing. The people Raiden was pointing at were the very group they had been in a standoff with earlier. Tony and Yinsen quickly aimed their weapons at that group and demanded.
"Who exactly are you people?"
"We're on your side, really on your side!" Delan hurriedly waved his hands and explained.
"We're from Eden, from the tavern! The tavern people, you know?" Delan stepped forward and explained to Raiden.
"Tavern people? Did Michelle send you?" Raiden asked, puzzled.
"Uh... we came on our own. We're here to help you." Delan hesitated before saying.
Behind Raiden, Tony quietly asked Yinsen.
"Who's Michelle?"
"Raiden friend... you know." Yinsen shrugged and said.
"Oh~" Under the cover of his armor, Tony face showed a gossipy expression.
"If you're Michelle's people, what are you doing here?" Raiden asked, confused.
"To help you take care of the Ten Rings gang!" Delan swung his fist vigorously, but immediately lowered his voice, saying somewhat embarrassed.
"But, we saw you performing so well earlier, so we didn't come down to disturb you."
Raiden smiled and waved his hand helplessly, saying.
"Alright then, thanks for your help, but you should leave this place quickly."
"Uh." Delan rubbed his hands embarrassedly and said, "Can we take all these weapons with us?" Delan pointed at the weapons on the ground.
They had come all this way and done nothing, yet still wanted to pick up some free weapons. Delan's old face was a bit red with shame, but fortunately, face wasn't worth much in the Middle East. What was valuable were weapons, guns!
"Sure, sure, go ahead and pack them up quickly." Raiden said carelessly. Originally, he hadn't thought much of these weapons anyway.
However, it was Tony who showed a bit of curiosity about these strange-looking weapons.
"Can I take a look?" Tony reached out his hand to a person who was picking up a gun.
"Oh, of course, of course." The person quickly handed the gun to Tony.
Tony examined the gun for a moment, then fired a shot at the ground. A laser beam shot out, and instantly, a large hole was disintegrated in the ground where it hit.
"Eh!" Tony exclaimed, instinctively pointing his gun at the person. He wanted to see what reaction shooting someone would have.
The person being aimed at quickly waved his hands.
"No, buddy, calm down, calm down!"
"Oh, don't worry." Tony said, lowering his gun. Then Tony aimed at the corpse on the ground and fired a shot. The corpse instantly disintegrated without a trace.
"This gun is really interesting. I'm taking one!" Tony said to Delan, who quickly nodded.
In a short while, all the weapons in front of the cave were moved away by Delan's men. Those that could fit in the cars were loaded, and those that couldn't were hung on their bodies. Every person was covered in guns.
"You should leave quickly now!" Raiden said to Delan.
"Uh, what about you? Aren't you coming?" Delan asked.
"I still have something to do." Raiden said, looking back at the cave.
Delan looked at Raiden back, then immediately left with his men.
After Delan's people had gone far, Tony asked Raiden.
"Raiden, what else do you need to do?"
Raiden looked back at Tony, pointing at the cave and said.
"Send a messages."
"What kind of messages?" Tony asked, puzzled.
Raiden didn't speak. He turned back to face the cave, raising his right hand high.
On Raiden right hand, power was gathering, and a burning soul sword appeared in Raiden hand. Raiden held the sword with both hands, the sword tip pointing down and held in front of his chest.
"StrunBahQo!"
Raiden shouted, and the sword in his hands plunged into the ground amid this authoritative voice.
Instantly, the sky was covered with dark clouds, thunder and lightning flashed. A bolt of lightning split the sky, and at the same time, the ground beneath Raiden feet sank.
The cave in front of them collapsed in an instant.
In the midst of the dust filling the air, Raiden led Tony and the other person out.
"Raiden, where are we going now?" Tony asked curiously, looking back at the collapsing ground.
"We? We're going to be superheroes!"
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