Meanwhile, Peggy Carter, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton arrived at the battlefield.
What they saw shocked them.
The entire factory complex had collapsed.
In the middle of the ruins, Tony Stark was fighting a strange man wearing ten rings on both hands.
Nearby, James Rhodes had already rescued the Vice President. He quickly re-entered the Iron Patriot armor and charged straight toward Aldrich Killian.
However—
The moment Rhodes approached, Killian kicked him away effortlessly.
Killian had been injected with a far higher concentration of the Extremis virus than the mercenaries.
His strength and regenerative ability were naturally far greater.
Seeing this, Carter, Natasha, and Barton immediately joined the battle against Killian.
On the other side of the battlefield, the Mandarin activated the ring on the middle finger of his right hand.
The ring manipulated the surrounding air currents, allowing him to rise into the sky.
He engaged Tony in aerial combat.
Tony immediately ordered Jarvis to deploy the remaining Iron Man suits to assist him.
BOOM—!
BOOM—!
BANG—!
Even with multiple suits assisting him, Tony still struggled.
The Mandarin's ring abilities were simply too overwhelming.
If Tony's armor had not been constructed from vibranium, he might already have been killed.
The Mandarin glanced coldly at the surrounding armors.
Then he raised his right hand.
The index finger ring flashed.
A powerful sonic wave combined with an electromagnetic pulse erupted outward.
The shockwave slammed into the Iron Man suits.
Within seconds, the armors lost stability.
The electromagnetic interference disrupted their systems.
One by one, they fell from the sky.
Soon—
Only Tony's vibranium armor remained hovering in the air.
Even his suit was struggling to maintain flight.
Inside the helmet, Tony stared at the Mandarin with a serious expression.
He hadn't expected the opponent to be this dangerous.
All of the Mandarin's abilities clearly originated from the Ten Rings.
Tony knew that if he could remove those rings, the battle would be over.
But that was easier said than done.
He couldn't even get close.
The ring attacks were relentless.
Even his vibranium armor had begun to show visible damage.
The Mandarin looked at Tony with a cold smile.
Then he raised his left hand.
The ring on his little finger flashed.
A surge of blue energy shot toward Tony.
Tony's sensors immediately reacted.
The energy signature contained a powerful freezing effect.
Tony instantly fired his repulsors at full power.
Jarvis calculated rapidly.
If Tony was hit directly, the armor—and possibly Tony himself—could be frozen solid.
The freezing capability was comparable to the one Karl had demonstrated before.
Tony panicked slightly.
Inside the armor, the four new-element arc reactors began pouring out energy.
Tony unleashed everything he had.
But the Mandarin only sneered.
He increased the output of the ring.
BOOM—!
The blue energy overwhelmed Tony's attack.
Although its power was partially weakened, it still struck him directly.
Tony's entire body froze instantly.
Encased in ice, he fell from the sky.
CRASH!
Tony slammed into the ground.
The impact created a large crater.
Even with the super gene serum, Tony felt dizzy from the shock.
The Mandarin slowly descended beside him.
Tony was still disoriented from the fall.
He barely noticed when the Mandarin extended his hand.
The ring on the right ring finger flashed.
Tony's vibranium armor began disintegrating.
Piece by piece, the armor broke apart and vanished.
Within seconds—
The suit was completely gone.
Tony's eyes widened in shock.
Vibranium… disintegrated?
Without hesitation, Tony began frantically pressing the emergency bracelet on his wrist.
He repeatedly sent distress signals to Karl in the East.
This situation was completely absurd.
Vibranium was supposed to be one of the most indestructible metals on Earth.
Yet the Mandarin's ring had disintegrated it instantly.
How could anyone fight that?
Calling Karl was the only option left.
The Mandarin ignored Tony's desperate actions.
In his mind, victory was already assured.
Once he controlled Tony Stark, he could seize Stark Industries.
With Stark's technology, he could mass-produce weapons and armor.
Then he could build an army and conquer the world.
A smug smile appeared on the Mandarin's face.
He raised his left hand again.
The ring on his ring finger flashed.
This ring possessed mental control abilities, allowing him to dominate a person's mind at close range.
A surge of psychic energy stabbed into Tony's brain.
But something was wrong.
No matter how many times the Mandarin activated the ring—
Tony remained unaffected.
The Mandarin frowned.
Tony quickly realized what was happening.
Karl had previously constructed mental defenses inside Tony's mind using the Mind Stone.
That protection was now saving his life.
At that moment—
Tony's vibranium bracelet armor rapidly expanded across his body again.
He threw a punch toward the Mandarin.
BOOM—!
The Mandarin remained expressionless.
The ring on his right index finger flashed again.
A powerful sonic blast struck Tony.
Tony was sent flying once more.
Nearby, Rhodes noticed Tony's situation.
Even though he didn't know what had happened to Tony's armor earlier, there was no way he would leave his friend to fight alone.
Rhodes immediately charged forward.
Unfortunately—
He was blasted away as well.
In an instant, the situation had changed from one person being beaten up to two people being beaten up.
Meanwhile, in the East.
Karl was sitting peacefully in the courtyard.
Suddenly, his bracelet began vibrating violently.
Distress signals from Tony were flooding in.
Karl frowned.
Tony has vibranium armor…
Who could possibly push him this far?
Without another word—
Karl vanished from his chair.
May, Gwen, and the others looked at each other in confusion.
None of them understood why Karl had suddenly disappeared.
When Karl arrived on the battlefield—
The scene shocked him.
Tony's vibranium armor had been destroyed again.
Tony himself was covered in blood.
"Karl, you damn bastard!"
Tony shouted the moment he saw him.
"I sent you dozens of distress signals!"
"And you only show up now!"
"If you had come any later, I'd already be dead!"
Tony pointed angrily toward the Mandarin.
"All ten rings on his hands have different powers!"
"One of them can disintegrate matter—it destroyed my vibranium armor!"
Karl looked curiously in the direction Tony indicated.
Sure enough—
A man stood there with ten rings covering both hands.
Karl frowned slightly.
In the original timeline, the Mandarin was supposed to be a fake identity created by Killian.
Yet now—
A real Mandarin with the Ten Rings had appeared.
Then—
The constellation Sagittarius appeared in the sky.
Golden light descended.
Karl's Gold Cloth formed instantly around his body.
BOOM—!
Karl disappeared.
In the next instant, he appeared behind the Mandarin.
The Ruyi Jingu Bang materialized in his hands.
With a single swing—
Karl smashed the Mandarin straight into the ground.
Not far away, Carter and Natasha—who were still fighting Killian—finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Karl had arrived.
The situation had just changed completely.
Visit patreon.com/ShiroTL for more chapters.