章節 93: Torture And Aftermath
After Alexander stopped flailing around, Liam crouched down again.
"So, will you talk with me now?" he asked.
Alexander looked at him but didn't respond. He was clearly still in immense pain, yet his loyalty to Hydra remained unbroken.
"You know, Hydra will never be able to save you here," Liam said. "This place isn't something they can trace."
Alexander stared at him in silence.
"Alright then, if this is what you wish for," Liam said, grabbing the hammer again.
Alexander tried to roll his arms away this time, but Liam held them together. The hammer crashed down on another finger, breaking it into pieces.
Liam watched as Alexander screamed in pain again, his mouth open as wide as it could go, releasing a scream from the top of his lungs. Out of reflex, Alexander tried to reach for his arm again but stopped sooner this time when they clanked against each other.
After Alexander calmed down somewhat, Liam could see how shaken he was.
"Listen to this," Liam said, crouching down and taking out a spoon. He tapped it against Alexander's arm softly, producing a metallic clang. "That is the sound of pure ice and metal."
Alexander's eyes started to lose focus as Liam spoke.
Liam stood up and paced back and forth for a moment. "You know what," he started. "I will heal your arms and let you go if you tell me everything you know about Hydra."
"Hail Hydra," Alexander slurred, his speech still affected by the immense pain. "You cut off one head, and two more will take its place."
Hearing this, Liam smiled softly as he took out the hammer construct again. He repeated the process for the last three fingers on that hand. Alexander fainted as the hammer struck the final one.
Liam woke Alexander by burning a circle into one of his legs with the Bolts of Balthakk. Upon waking, Alexander was disoriented and dazed. He no longer screamed, seemingly having lost his voice.
"Like I said, Hydra will not be coming to save you," Liam began. "What is more precious to you—your life and no more suffering, or Hydra?"
Alexander remained silent, holding on to his last bit of mental strength.
"You might not know what's happening outside," Liam said, starting to lie, "but SHIELD is in full operation again. It won't take long before they find every single Hydra member and base.
"As time passes here, they've already found Arnim Zola's brain and the other larger bases in Siberia."
Liam saw a moment of doubt pass in Alexander's eyes. Although it was a lie, Liam knew it would have a great effect on someone like him. After all, what's the point of serving an ideal if it's already starting to disappear?
Liam knew he had to strike the final blow to break him. He created a large hammer and raised it high above Alexander. Alexander's expression changed as he saw it.
When Liam swung down, Alexander's right arm shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. Alexander raised his stump and tried to scream but collapsed, unable to make a sound.
"Alright, let's see what he has to tell me when he wakes up," Liam muttered.
After a minute, Alexander woke up again and began speaking gibberish. Once he calmed down, Liam started questioning him. Alexander answered all the questions, showing only slight hesitation at a few.
When Liam finished his interrogation, he froze Alexander again and left. He created a portal to an exact coordinate in Sokovia but found the entire base from Strucker had been burned down.
'This was to be expected. Strucker is a smart man, of course,' Liam thought. 'I don't have any other way to search the world for him. The only way to find this base would be through SHIELD or sheer luck, neither of which is an option right now.'
'Strucker likely wouldn't use any bases Alexander would know about. Further searching is useless,' Liam thought, deciding to head back to his room.
As he opened a portal, his room was still empty. Feeling tired from all the fighting, Liam decided to get a few hours of sleep before dealing with the next tasks on his mind.
Now that he had saved his grandfather and gotten retribution against the man who ordered his death, Liam still had to help his grandfather adjust to this place and show him around.
At the same time, he needed to bring Illyana to the Ancient One. It was common knowledge for higher-level mages to introduce someone with high potential for magic to her and get them settled this way.
After that, he would write down everything about his new abilities and anything related to them.
'It feels kind of strange,' Liam thought. 'Pretty much right after the evolution, I had to go back and deal with another major enemy. I haven't even had time to properly check out everything that's new.'
'I can't plan and deal with everything on my own time, this was a good lesson for me." Liam thought. 'With Hydra gone already, I wonder how much the future will change.'
Elsewhere...
A body-camera walked into a room filled with sliced-up body parts.
"This was all done by one person, Executive Romanoff?" a man in a clean suit asked.
"Yes, that is correct," Romanoff stated.
"And where is Director Fury right now?" Another man asked.
"His injuries are being treated in a hospital," Romanoff said.
"Injured by the man who killed all these people without issue?" another member asked.
"Yes," Natasha answered awkwardly.
"So he's a danger, completely uncontrollable," one man concluded.
"No, he only did this be—" Natasha began but was interrupted.
"There's no excuse for punching a higher-up. There's a clear hierarchy, and he defied it," the man said. "This is clearly a very dangerous situation. World leaders, can any of you imagine a man like this charging into your army camps?''
"Not only could someone like this take over entire countries on his own, but if left alone, the sacrifices needed to stop him would be enormous," the man continued. "If we could even kill him, considering he disappeared with that strange portal."
"I can assure you, he has no such intentions," Natasha said.
"And what proof do you have of that? Even if he says so now, he might change his mind later," the man asked, silencing Natasha.
"As world leaders, we need to improve our weapons and military to control this danger," the man continued.
At a separate meeting among important Americans...
"You see this right here," a certain general said. "Our military needs a way to protect itself against monsters like this. I suggest we continue hunting the asset and use the results to create super soldiers of our own."
"I suggest further probing into Tony Stark's weaponry. A few of those suits would make neutralizing the target easier."
"Suits are weak compared to men strengthened to that degree. They'll fold your suits in two," a certain general said.
"Silence now, Ross. We'll discuss this further later," another man said. "With threats like these, multiple measures might be needed."
章節 94: Gramps And Illy
Happy new year everyone!!
.....
After sleeping for four hours, Liam woke up. As he opened his eyes, he found Illyana asleep in a chair in the corner of the room, her head resting on Lockheed, who was curled up on her lap.
Liam silently moved out of bed. While he was changing his clothes, he noticed that Lockheed's eyes were wide open and watching his every move. Despite Lockheed moving slightly, Illyana remained asleep.
'She's probably exhausted from whatever she did in Limbo,' Liam thought, placing a finger to his lips to signal Lockheed to stay quiet.
Lockheed let out a soft sigh, a wisp of smoke leaving his nose before he closed his eyes again.
When Liam finished changing, he opened the door and stepped out. Walking through the corridors, he soon reached his grandfather's room. After knocking, the door opened.
"Hey, Gramps," Liam said with a smile.
"Good morning, Liam," his grandfather greeted warmly, gesturing with his arm. "Come in, come in."
Liam stepped through the door as Harold closed it behind him.
"Sit down. I'll set a cup of coffee," Harold said.
Liam nodded and sat down, watching as his grandfather prepared two cups of coffee with a bright smile and full of care. Harold seemed to act like nothing was wrong, despite having just been discharged from the hospital a few hours earlier and having to move to a new place for reasons he didn't fully understand.
"All right," Harold began, stirring his coffee as he sat across from Liam. "Why don't you start from the beginning? What's this magic business you've been hiding from me?"
Liam hesitated for a moment but then began recounting his magical journey. He explained how he'd gotten lucky with stocks from Stark Industries, how he'd wandered the streets after hearing rumors of strange happenings, and how he eventually stumbled upon the master of the sanctum, who had accepted him as a student and taught him magic.
He chose not to tell his grandfather anything about his reincarnation, his knowledge of the future, or Incursio, which came with them. He didnt want to tell him. And even if he did, he thought it wasn't the right time—his grandfather was already dealing with so much over the past few days. Liam knew he needed to ease him into this information if anything.
"So you got to do all of this for free?" Harold asked skeptically.
Liam knew the truth would come out when his grandfather read the first book, so he didn't plan on hiding that.
"No," he admitted, setting his coffee down. "It's not without cost. The sanctums protect the world from otherworldly creatures. When I learned magic, I agreed to help defend the world and go on missions when needed."
Harold leaned back in his chair, his brows furrowing. "Otherworldly creatures? Missions? What exactly have you gotten yourself into?"
"These creatures come from different dimensions," Liam explained. "They invade our world for multiple reasons, but most of the time, they're here to kill or conquer. Mages are trained to stop them."
Harold's expression darkened as he processed Liam's words. "Have you considered what I thought before you started this?" he asked. "I already lost your mother and grandmother. Did you think I would want you anywhere near something dangerous like this?"
Liam met his grandfather's gaze. "I did think about it," he said firmly. "I'm not a kid anymore, Gramps. I'm already twenty years old. I thought about this a lot before I made this choice, and even now, I still think it's the right one."
Harold sighed, his expression softening slightly. "I understand that you aren't a kid anymore," he said after a moment of thought. "But why would you want to do something like this? You could've lived a perfectly normal life."
"Multiple reasons," Liam said. "I find learning magic fascinating and fun, but that's not everything. It's also about understanding the world in ways most people can't. I always prioritize my own life, but I'll protect innocent people when I can."
After reassuring his grandfather further, Harold—though not completely happy—seemed to come to terms with Liam's decision. Liam brought him to the library, introducing him to Master Drumm. After helping his grandfather select books on the sanctum's history, Liam returned with him to his room before seeing him off.
Upon returning to his own room, Liam noticed Illyana was awake. She was wearing a dress he had bought for her while she played with Lockheed.
"Hi, Illyana," he said as he entered. "I see you finally woke up."
"And I see you've finally returned," she replied.
"Yes, I've finished dealing with my problem," Liam said. "What about you?"
"I cleaned things up in Limbo as well," she said.
"Good. Then I'll introduce you to the master of this place now," Liam said. "You'll need to show her respect. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes," Illyana nodded.
"Okay, follow me then," Liam said.
They walked through the corridors, heading toward the Ancient One's room. Illyana glanced around as they walked, her eyes wide as she saw the sight of multiple people being trained. Her own world didn't have anything like this.
When they reached the Ancient One's room, Liam knocked and was granted entry immediately.
"I see you've brought someone interesting along again, young Liam," the Ancient One said with her usual warm smile. "And you seem to have gone through some intriguing changes yourself."
"I would say so, yeah," Liam replied as Illyana followed closely behind him into the room.
After the Ancient One and Illyana introduced themselves, they all sat down.
"So, what is it that you need, young Liam?" the Ancient One asked.
"Is it possible for her to settle here and perhaps learn magic as well, if she chooses to?" Liam asked, glancing at Illyana.
"It is possible, but there is a requirement," the Ancient One said. "She must undergo my training. Otherwise, she will have to leave."
As Liam opened his mouth to speak, the Ancient One gestured for him to remain silent.
"She is a danger to those around her if she isn't in control of her powers—and you know this, Liam," the Ancient One said.
Illyana's expression darkened. "What danger am I?" she muttered.
"While it might not be intentional, I cannot risk the dark aura within you taking over and endangering my students," the Ancient One explained. "Nor can I risk what might happen to the barriers around this place should you lose control."
Liam immediately understood the Ancient One was referring to Illyana's Darkchylde form. Knowing this, he couldn't refute her statement.
"So, tell me," the Ancient One continued. "Do you wish to learn, or do you want me to return you to your dimension?"
"What do you want, Illyana?" Liam asked, looking at her.
Illyana also understood the Ancient One's concerns, though she wasn't didn't know what the barriers were or why they were so important.
"Do you think I should?" Illyana asked Liam.
"It's completely up to you," Liam said. "But I do think it could help you a lot."
Despite remembering her previous experiences with others offering to help her control her powers, Illyana chose to trust Liam's judgment.
"Alright," she said, turning to the Ancient One respectfully. "Then guide me, please."
創作者的想法
Donnuuu
Donnuuu
Hope I did this somewhat correct, I really struggle with direct confrontations like with his grandfather haha.
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