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*****
Extremis virus grants a certain resistance to high temperatures, but it does not confer immunity. Fini used Golden Derivative Magic to momentarily restrict the bald man's movements, then began his incantation:
"Blacker than black, darker than dark,"
"Combine with my deep crimson!"
"The moment of awakening has arrived."
"Fall into the boundless realm,"
"And form an invisible distortion."
"Explosion!"
The magic enveloped the entire courtyard. The bald man, already slowed by Golden Derivative Magic, had no way to dodge.
Under the searing heat of the crimson flames, even the Extremis virus could not facilitate recovery. With a final, piercing scream, the man's entire body vanished, swallowed by the inferno.
Fini checked his system and was pleasantly surprised to find that the experience granted by the man was quite substantial. Perhaps four or five more like him would be enough for the eighth extraction.
And that was just a low-level subordinate. The version of Extremis Killian had injected surely had something extra; otherwise, he wouldn't be the final boss.
Returning to Tony and Rhodey's side, Fini asked curiously, "You said you found their base?"
"The Roxxon Norco. It's currently located on a coast in western Florida. If that guy wasn't lying to me, that's likely their nest!" Tony replied, glancing at Trevor.
"I didn't lie! I really heard them say it!" Trevor quickly explained, nervous under Fini's gaze.
"You mean we go there now?" Fini asked Tony.
"While I appreciate being passive in certain... other matters, when it comes to combat, I prefer to hold the initiative!"
Hearing Tony's words, Fini shot him a look of disdain before agreeing. He turned to Rhodey: "We're heading to that coast now. You take this guy back first. If things aren't settled by the time you're done, come back as backup!"
"Stay safe, you two!"
Rhodey nodded and grabbed Trevor. Amidst the actor's terrified screams, Rhodey flew off toward the White House in Washington.
With Rhodey gone, Fini and Tony didn't waste any time and headed straight for the Roxxon Norco.
Since the location was also within Florida, it wasn't too far from Miami. In just over ten minutes, the two arrived.
The sky had turned completely dark, but the coastline was brightly lit. Dozens of soldiers armed with firearms were on alert, patrolling the perimeter.
"Unsurprisingly, this is definitely his base," Tony whispered over the comms, remaining invisible alongside Fini in the shadows.
"Mhm!"
Fini nodded, his eyes glowing as he watched the patrolling soldiers. If these were all Extremis soldiers, the experience would be massive!
"Got a plan of action?" Tony asked.
"How about we just start hitting them?"
Fini didn't have a complex strategy. This was the main base; even if Killian wasn't currently there, he would surely rush back the moment he received word of the attack.
"I like that plan. Jarvis, let's start the party!"
Tony wasn't much for planning either. These days, he preferred to play things by ear—which was exactly why he couldn't stand Captain America's habit of needing a detailed plan for everything.
Under Jarvis's control, over thirty Iron Man suits flew in, their palm cannons aimed at the guards who had just spotted them. Tony's voice boomed:
"You are surrounded! Drop your weapons and surrender immediately!"
Seeing Tony still attempting to negotiate, Fini turned to him with a look of speechlessness. Without a word, he deactivated his invisibility, flew in front of the nearest guard, and blasted him with Explosion Magic.
Unfortunately, that one hadn't been injected with Extremis.
Watching Fini's move and then seeing the guards he'd tried to persuade open fire, Tony shrugged helplessly. "Fine. I hear your answer!"
He then ordered Jarvis to open fire, and the battle commenced.
The chaos quickly triggered the base's alarms. Inside the facility, Killian—who was busy researching improvements to the Extremis formula—immediately noticed the anomaly.
"What's happening?"
Leaving the lab, Killian grabbed a passing guard by the collar and frowned.
"Infiltrators! It's Iron Man and the Silver Knight!" the guard answered shakily, terrified by the heat radiating from Killian.
Upon hearing the answer, Killian's face darkened instantly. Red light flowed beneath his skin, and his palm began to heat up unconsciously, causing the guard to scream in pain.
The scream snapped Killian out of it. He tossed the guard aside and began walking toward the exit.
Meanwhile, after searching for a while, Fini finally ran into two Extremis soldiers. They were two large men in tank tops, showing off massive, bulging muscles.
The moment they saw Fini, they didn't even offer a greeting. They lunged forward, their glowing red arms reaching out for a lethal bear hug.
"Sorry, I'm not into hugging men!"
Having spent so much time around Tony, Fini had unconsciously picked up the habit of quipping during combat. He activated his Breathing Technique, circled behind them, and slammed their heads together.
As they fell dizzily to the ground, he blasted them both in the head with Explosion Magic, ending the fight instantly.
With so many targets around, Fini didn't need to be picky about his combat style. Although the experience per kill might be slightly lower this way, he could make up for it with sheer volume.
As more Extremis soldiers emerged, Fini realized that the thermal scanning Tony had installed in his HUD made it very easy to distinguish between those who were enhanced and those who were not.
With Tony's filtering, Fini's job became much easier. In a short time, he took down six more Extremis soldiers, finally filling his experience bar for the eighth extraction.
But just then, Tony's serious voice came over the earpiece: "He's here!"
Fini froze and looked toward Tony. He saw a shirtless, tattooed man. With a burst of strength in his legs, the man performed a series of agile leaps, grabbed a flying suit of armor, and slammed it into another.
In just dozens of seconds, he had personally destroyed two suits.
This level of skill and power far exceeded the other Extremis soldiers. Aside from the creator of the experiment, Aldrich Killian, it couldn't be anyone else.
Fini flew over to Tony, looking down at Killian from above.
Tony had Jarvis pull all the remaining suits closer. In this short window, nearly half of the thirty-plus suits had already been destroyed. Fini felt a twinge of pain at the waste—it would have been better if they'd been turned into experience for him instead.
Seeing their movement, Killian signaled his men to stop their attack. He looked up at Tony hovering in mid-air, his gaze filled with a complex history. He smiled:
"Tony. I didn't think our reunion would happen quite like this. You've certainly exceeded my expectations."
"To be honest, I didn't expect it either."
Looking at the man who had been shaped by his past mistakes, Tony felt a faint pang of guilt. If he hadn't lied to him back then, or if he had kept his promise to meet him on that roof, would they have ended up working together instead?
Fini didn't share Tony's complex emotions. While the two were talking, he was preoccupied with a different dilemma: whether or not to perform the eighth extraction right now.
The system could not store excess experience. This meant that if he didn't extract the skill now, he wouldn't gain any experience from the upcoming fight.
In the past, he always had time to prepare and estimate his pulls. He had never filled the bar in the middle of a battle like this.
On one hand, he didn't want to waste the experience he'd get from Killian. On the other, he was worried that a sudden extraction would prevent him from using Golden Derivative Magic to maximize his luck.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Fini made his decision. He would extract now. After all, the experience from Killian and his remaining soldiers was too valuable to pass up.
More importantly, he decided to trust his Golden Derivative Magic. Having trained for so long on Vormir, he had improved.
Taking a soft breath, Fini ignored the heated conversation beside him. He activated his luck enhancement through Golden Derivative Magic and hit the extraction button!
The system's extraction happened in a flash. There was no sound, no special effects. Aside from Fini himself, no one knew he had acquired a new ability.
Zafkiel: Dalet (Fourth Bullet)
Source: Date A Live
Description: The Angel of Time!
(End of Chapter)