The gunfire lasted only an instant.
Yet, under the barrels of the guns, more than a hundred villagers fell, their blood streaming like rivers to stain the weathered plaza red.
These were unarmed, defenseless civilians, without a doubt, a massacre. But neither Schmidt nor the rest of Hydra showed the slightest sign of hesitation or mercy.
"Y–you… you bastards!!!"
Old John's limbs trembled with icy rage, his teeth grinding so hard they nearly shattered.
A fury unlike any he had ever known burned in his chest, corroding his reason. Upon his withered, bark-like skin, countless black veins bulged, radiating an aura of pure, violent bloodlust.
In the next moment, the old man vanished from sight.
Large sections of cracked stone were blasted upward and shattered, carried by an explosive shockwave in all directions. They whistled through the air like bullets, and wherever a soldier was struck, crimson bursts erupted across their chests.
Before Schmidt could react, a fist smashed squarely into his face.
Bang!
The blow hit with the force of a speeding train, a sharp crack of breaking bone echoing out.
One moment Schmidt's face still wore its calm expression,
the next, he was sent flying like a cannonball, plowing a trench a yard wide through the stone-paved plaza, before crashing into and collapsing a brick building, where he was buried under the rubble.
"Commander Schmidt!!!"
Every soldier was stunned, fear flashing across their faces.
If Schmidt died here, their fate as Hydra soldiers would be sealed, returning home would only mean a cruel execution.
Quickly, several turned their guns toward the shocked villagers, intent on avenging their commander and slaughtering every last one of these defiant "vermin."
"DON'T YOU DARE!!!"
A voice like a thunderclap roared in everyone's ears.
The sound was like a devil's chant, rattling skulls and leaving most unable to control their limbs for a moment.
Old John ripped away the clothes on his upper body, and in seconds, his shriveled frame swelled with muscle, his stature rising and thickening severalfold. Black, rope-like veins throbbed across his skin, and the violent, murderous aura he emitted made everyone shudder, like gazing upon some ancient war god.
"Kill… kill him!!!"
Driven by terror, the soldiers aimed every gun at Old John.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom,
Blinding muzzle flashes erupted in a storm of gunfire.
But to everyone's shock, Old John blocked every single bullet with nothing but his body. Spent shells piled up in heaps at his feet.
At that moment, he looked like a god descended to earth,
though to these Hydra soldiers, he was nothing short of a demon reborn.
"Die!"
Old John stepped forward and threw a punch, the tangible force of it crashing down like a mountain.
Several men were instantly blown apart, their flesh and blood scattering like gore-smeared confetti, a gruesome sight.
"A demon… he's a demon!"
Before the others could react, Old John plunged into their ranks, punching again and again.
The deafening shockwaves seemed to strip the air from the area, leaving the survivors gasping, as though they were suffocating.
In mere seconds, over a hundred Hydra soldiers were reduced to pulp beneath his fists. Everywhere he passed, there was nothing but mangled flesh, and the thick stench of blood hung heavy in the air, a scene straight from hell.
Bathed in gore, Old John's eyes gleamed with a golden light.
The villagers stared in horror. They had never imagined that the kind old man they knew was actually a monster in human skin, his body harder than steel, impervious to blades and bullets, his fists powerful enough to shatter stone and topple walls.
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion shook the air, sending waves of dust and debris rolling in all directions.
All anyone could barely make out was a streak of fire tearing through space, and even the ground beneath their feet seemed to tremble. Old John spewed out hundreds of milliliters of blood, his body flung backwards at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
The "King of Land Battles", the tank, had unleashed its true power!
The several-hundred-millimeter armor-piercing round slammed into him. Even though Old John was an Asgardian, with skin and flesh as tough as refined steel, he still couldn't withstand such terrifying impact. Smashing through several stone buildings, he was finally engulfed in the blazing light of the shell's explosion.
"Ahhh!!"
A roar echoed above the small town, a violent shockwave scattering the debris piled atop him.
Old John, looking like a demon in his fury, charged out from the ruins. Embedded steel fragments clung to his chest, blood streaming freely, yet he seemed oblivious to pain. With unrestrained rage, he rushed at those steel behemoths, the tanks.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dozens of shells were fired in unison, the shockwaves rolling like giant waves.
The earth-shaking thunder rattled the air, acrid gunpowder smoke filling every breath. Many staggered back in terror, as if jolted by an electric shock.
"Kill!!!"
Old John, like a berserker charging to his death, used his frail, aged body to challenge the power of modern technology. He swung a mighty punch, and shattered one shell mid-air.
Unfortunately, he only stopped one.
The remaining shells slammed into him, the overwhelming force surging through his body like a flood. He spat out another mouthful of blood before being engulfed by roaring fire and explosions. Clouds of dust and debris billowed skyward, spreading violently outward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
The tank guns fired again, determined to obliterate the old man completely!
No… no… no!
Seeing this horror, Yvette's mind went blank, her heart pounding violently.
The indescribable pain turned into searing rage, flooding her thoughts and awakening a dormant power within her, a gift left to her by a man before his departure.
In the heat of her fury, Yvette triggered this "gift." A power beyond human limits fused with her soul, giving birth to something entirely new.
"Grandpa!!!"
Her sharp cry even drowned out the thunder of the cannons.
At that moment, the power building inside her reached its peak. Fueled by anger, it erupted outward, rippling from her like waves, twisting reality itself.
Buzz
In that instant, the entire town lost its color. Everything became a monotone, lifeless gray.
Dozens of fired shells seemed to freeze in mid-air, as if God had pressed the "pause" button.
Yvette could clearly see the flames still blooming from the tank barrels, and the faint trails the shells left in the air. Every person's expression was locked in the exact moment before.
In truth, time hadn't stopped.
If one looked closely, they'd see the shells were still moving, but slowed down hundreds or even thousands of times, creating the illusion of stillness.
Yvette didn't know what had happened, and she didn't care.
She rushed forward, ignoring everything, and with her small, delicate body, dragged her grandfather away from the path of the shells.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Time suddenly resumed. The church was obliterated in a barrage of explosions.
Pulled to safety, Old John stared at his granddaughter in shock. Others hadn't seen clearly, but he had.
In that single instant, Yvette had slowed time itself to a crawl!
Time manipulation…
In Old John's long memory, this was a domain only gods could touch, a supreme realm beyond mortals.
Yet his granddaughter Yvette, with the body of a mere human, had stepped into that highest realm.
The others were utterly bewildered. They had no idea what had happened.
One moment, Old John was about to be torn apart by tank shells. The next, he was suddenly dozens of meters away.
The tank's spotter, watching from inside, was completely dumbstruck. This… this shattered everything they thought they knew about the world.