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*****
Loki stared in astonishment, a sudden bad premonition bubbling up in his chest. Then, he saw a card abruptly materialize in Feny's hand.
"My turn! Come forth, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
When the massive, ferocious Blue-Eyes White Dragon manifested, the first person to jump wasn't Loki—it was Black Widow standing right beside Feny.
In Western lore, dragons had long been symbols of malice, brutality, and overwhelming power. The beasts that kidnapped princesses were dragons; the monsters that sought to destroy the world were dragons. In short, if something was both evil and terrifying, it was usually a draconic conspiracy.
So, when Blue-Eyes appeared, Natasha instinctively scrambled back two steps, her expression etched with pure dread.
Loki fared much better. Asgard ruled the Nine Realms, and he had seen his fair share of colossal creatures in other worlds. However, this was clearly his first time encountering a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Seeing those razor-sharp talons and the bone spurs glinting like cold steel on its wings, he felt his bad premonition solidify.
"ROAR!"
Blue-Eyes let out a deafening roar, causing the small, reinforced room to shudder violently.
Feny leaped lightly onto the dragon's back. He glanced at the trembling Black Widow and urged, "Get up here, quick! We're leaving!"
Natasha looked at the gargantuan dragon, then at Feny. Finally, she cautiously scrambled up the dragon's tail and onto its back.
"ROAR!"
Another roar from Blue-Eyes sent a shiver through Natasha's entire body.
Feny ignored her, gently patting the dragon's neck. While using 'Ars Magna' to maintain the oxygen isolation layer around them, he commanded:
"Destroy this place. Fly us out!"
Feny never doubted the dragon's destructive capabilities. After it reached three stars, he had tested its attack and defense once.
Regarding defense, he was—as always—reluctant to hit his pet too hard. But when it came to offense, he let Blue-Eyes go wild.
The result of that test was eye-opening: with just two swipes of its claws, 'Incursio' had sustained visible damage. It was then Feny realized that a three-star Blue-Eyes' greatest weapon wasn't just its three charges of 'Burst Stream of Destruction', but the primal lethality of its claws and fangs.
As expected, the specially reinforced room Loki had prepared was like wet tissue paper to the dragon. Aided by Feny's 'Ars Magna', the escape was executed without a single spark to ignite the surrounding hydrogen.
In the blink of an eye, they tore through the ceiling and soared into the night sky.
Watching them go, Loki's face twisted in frustration. He had spent so long preparing this trap, only to find it couldn't hold Feny for even ten minutes.
As they cleared the base, Blue-Eyes roared again, spreading its wings. Its pristine white scales shimmered brilliantly under the moonlight. Below, the people of the city who caught sight of the spectacle gasped in shock, frantically reaching for their phones.
"Is that... is it actually a dragon?"
High in the air, Natasha had adjusted somewhat to the situation. She reached out to touch the smooth white scales beneath her, asking Feny with wide-eyed curiosity.
"Of course it is!"
Feny scanned the horizon, searching for Tony and the others who were supposed to be laying the ambush. Since Loki had set a trap for him, there was no reason to believe the other side hadn't been compromised as well.
Sure enough, once they were clear of the room, signal interference vanished. Feny heard Nick Fury's angry, urgent voice through the comms: "Agent Romanoff, Halsey, what is your status? Acknowledge immediately!"
"We're here!"
Natasha's expression shifted instantly. Dropping her fascination with the dragon, she replied into her earpiece: "We were ambushed by Loki. We just broke out!"
"Thank god you're alright." Nick Fury's tone softened slightly, but he quickly moved to the briefing: "The Loki we saw was a fake—someone he had disguised. Thor has been stabbed and injured."
"Furthermore, Loki has seized the Helicarrier and taken control of Banner!"
As Fury spoke, Feny spotted the location of Tony and the rest of the team.
Under the cover of night, their battlefield looked far more grim than the base. Smoke billowed and the ground was pockmarked with craters, as if it had been carpet-bombed.
Fortunately, none of them were ordinary humans. Even the "weakest" among them, Hawkeye, had been sniping from a distance. While the team looked battered and soot-stained, they were largely functional.
Seeing the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Tony and Cap didn't spot Feny immediately. Thinking it was another one of Loki's biological weapons, they braced themselves, faces grim as they prepared for a fight.
It wasn't until Feny hovered down from the dragon's back, carrying Black Widow, that they relaxed.
"So this is the 'little pet' you were talking about!?"
Tony, being the most familiar with Feny and having been promised a look at the pet earlier, guessed the truth instantly.
"As you can see!"
Feny shrugged, then looked at Thor, who was being supported by Captain America. "What happened to you guys?"
"We walked into a trap," Steve replied, his face covered in grime. He looked at Feny with a frustrated expression. "While Thor was trying to talk to him, Loki used the distraction to ambush him. Then, they rained missiles down on the entire area."
Feny looked at the bleeding wound on Thor's waist and asked incredulously, "You knew he was the God of Mischief. How did you let him get the drop on you?"
"He is my brother!" Thor replied, his voice thick with sorrow and betrayal.
As they spoke, a Quinjet descended nearby. Nick Fury stepped off, looking the group over before staring at the Blue-Eyes White Dragon for a long moment. He finally turned to Feny.
"When exactly did you get a dragon?"
"None of your business!"
Feny rolled his eyes, then frowned at the disheveled state of the team. He turned back to Fury. "How did Loki know the plan?"
"There's a mole on the Helicarrier feeding him intelligence."
Fury let out a heavy sigh. Although he had sensed something was wrong within S.H.I.E.L.D. since last year, he hadn't realized the rot went so deep—deep enough to lead them into this disaster.
Feny felt a bit of self-reproach. He had become somewhat arrogant. His rapid growth in power had made him believe he could completely disregard someone like Loki.
"So, what's the move now?" Black Widow asked. Of everyone present, only she and Feny appeared to be in fighting shape; even Fury was sporting minor injuries.
"We go after them. We have to retake the Helicarrier first!"
Nick Fury assessed the team's condition before settling his gaze on the pristine Feny. "When I left, he had secured Banner. If the Hulk comes out, are you confident you can handle him?"
"Why don't you go give it a try?"
Feny replied dryly. In truth, almost everyone there (except the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents) could probably hold their own against the Hulk for a while.
Thor was injured, but Asgardian physiology meant he'd be back on his feet soon. Cap's "I can do this all day" resilience meant he could stall the Hulk even if he couldn't win.
And Tony? After studying the "Hulkbuster" concepts with Banner for so long, he could probably stay in the fight as long as his armor held together.
However, while they could all fight him, actually subduing the Hulk was a different story. Even Thor would have to tread carefully against a truly enraged Hulk.
Feny was in the same boat, but he was the most familiar with the Hulk's patterns, making him the logical choice to manage the big guy.
But before any of that, he had a much more pressing matter to attend to. After all that grinding and practicing on the way here, the experience bar had finally hit the limit.
He was ready for his seventh skill extraction!
(End of Chapter)