Bazel hummed a lighthearted tune as he slowly walked through the corridor.
Although the entire base was nearly completely paralyzed, this corridor had not been affected. Firstly, earthquake resistance had been considered during construction, and secondly, it was already located far away, outside the range of that beam attack.
The communicator clenched in his hand continuously emitted Red Skull's furious roars.
From the anxious tone and trembling voice, it was obvious that this leader was panicking, but unfortunately Bazel neither cared nor minded. To Him, it sounded no different from the chirping of insects.
When had humans ever cared whether the sounds made by insects beneath their feet represented sorrow or joy?
The lights within the corridor flickered brightly and dimly. Upon the silver-white metal walls on both sides, sometimes was reflected the figure of the German officer Bazel, while at other times there appeared another slender figure draped in a magnificent multicolored robe and wearing a golden double crown.
He... or rather, He.
Hummed an ancient and bizarrely lighthearted tune, crazed and sharp like a terrifying magic flute.
Within the metal corridor stretching roughly a hundred meters, that unbearable and piercing demonic sound reverberated repeatedly between the metal walls like a gigantic loudspeaker. Every HYDRA soldier who heard the sound twisted in agony and bled from all seven orifices before dying.
Stepping over corpse after corpse, Bazel arrived at the end.
After several simple biometric verification procedures, the tightly shut heavy metal door slowly opened, and an extreme cold white mist drifted outward.
The temperature throughout the entire corridor seemed to instantly drop significantly. A thin layer of frost quietly spread across the surroundings, and the breath exhaled from one's mouth sparkled with crystalline particles, clearly showing just how low the temperature behind that door truly was.
Inside the room beyond the door was complete darkness, without the slightest trace of light. The temperature there was several hundred times colder than outside.
In merely a few breaths of time, Bazel's beard and eyebrows became covered in white ice crystals, his face turned an unnatural bluish-purple, and even his clothes were coated in a hard layer of frost, making his movements somewhat stiff.
On the wall beside him hung an electronic temperature gauge, displaying a temperature of -187.53℃.
Within such an environment of extreme cold, a normal human could survive only a few minutes, perhaps even less. Yet Bazel seemed not to care at all as he moved with stiff footsteps deeper inside, arriving before a sealed chamber filled with an unknown green liquid.
Inside the gigantic sealed container slept a man nearly three meters tall.
Black hair, black eyes, handsome features. The firm contours of his face resembled carvings made by blade and axe, exuding determination. The only flaw was that half of the man's face had already transformed into white skeletal bone, resembling a living corpse.
Even through the sealed container, one could smell that rotten stench.
The magnificent armor that appeared forged from gold bore ancient traces corroded by countless ages. Countless mottled battle scars intertwined across its surface, silently telling of what kind of brutal wars he had once fought.
Although he was still sleeping, or perhaps already completely dead.
That unmatched heroic bearing and aura still made one feel as though he were alive, like standing before an insurmountable mountain.
A gigantic golden greatsword, covered in countless chips left behind from fierce battle, was still tightly gripped in his hand, just as when he once wielded it. Sharp and terrifying, one could even smell the lingering scent of blood.
He had once been a great warrior, originally meant to sleep forever until the end of time.
But someone was unwilling to let him continue sleeping.
"Hehe... we meet again."
Bazel stroked the container, his gaze dim as though recalling something: "The cold sun that once illuminated the universe is now reduced to only a shell. But this time... your enemy is Him."
Black currents radiating extreme ominousness gradually seeped into the glass container.
The unknown green liquid inside suddenly began boiling, then, like clear water tainted by ink, was visibly dyed black at a speed discernible to the naked eye. The face of the man clad in golden battle armor slightly twisted, revealing a hideous and terrifying expression.
"Awaken, warrior."
Bazel's hollow voice echoed like a ghost: "I have found a good opponent for you. I hope you two get along pleasantly."
The next moment, the man's tightly shut eyes suddenly opened.
Boom——!
The sealed container filled with black liquid exploded from within by some sort of force.
Howling violent energy flooded the room. Broken metal fragments and glass shards burst through the air like a rainstorm of pear blossoms, producing heart-palpitating shrieks. Bazel, being closest, was directly shredded into minced flesh by the scattered fragments, while the remaining shards embedded deeply into the steel walls.
One foot stepped out of the container first, firmly planting itself upon the ground.
Then a man resembling a rotting corpse, his body radiating dense death qi, emerged from the shattered container. Within those turbid gray eyes was染ed a trace of ominous blackness, and the originally golden power battle armor had now astonishingly transformed into an ominous black color.
The 「Original Body」... had awakened!
The gigantic golden greatsword ignited with flames as the Original Body, dazed and confused, dragged the greatsword step by step toward the corridor.
There, a battle awaited him.
...
...
...
The once-arrogant Red Skull had finally achieved his lifelong wish.
The man lowered his eyelids and slowly raised his palm. Azure radiance gradually condensed into form as one soul projection after another appeared within his mind, encompassing the entirety of HYDRA's underground base.
Judging the degree of evil in every soul, he quickly determined which soul projections belonged to HYDRA members.
"Multiple... Heilig Pfeil!"
The man lightly parted his lips, and accompanied by his cold voice, an azure beam shot directly into the heavens.
Moments later, the azure beam exploded high in the sky like fireworks. A vast rain of light arrows descended like hanging pearl curtains, carrying immense momentum from the heavens. The densely packed arrows alone were enough to strike terror into one's heart.
Steve happened to awaken at this moment. As he groggily opened his eyes, he witnessed a scene that he would never forget for the rest of his life.
The pitch-black night curtain was actually torn apart by azure radiance.
Amid the roaring of thunder, countless azure light arrows descended endlessly from the heavens like raging tides.
Every single arrow was incomparably precise, piercing through those fleeing and screaming HYDRA soldiers, mercilessly harvesting every life, slaughtering people who possessed no ability to resist. Blood flowed like rivers and screams shook the heavens.
The thousands of lives within the entire base all transformed into souls beneath the arrows in a mere dozen seconds.
Not one survived. Not one remained alive.
The only people still breathing were non-HYDRA members.
Just as Steve believed everything had ended, he suddenly felt his heart sink violently. His brain ached as though struck by a heavy hammer. In the moment before losing consciousness, he saw a gigantic black shadow nearly three meters tall streak through the night sky like a comet and crash toward that man.
Rumble rumble rumble——!!!
A world-shattering roar instantly ignited the peak battle.
The two visible energies intertwined and tore at each other, colliding violently in midair and erupting with brilliance comparable to a comet, stirring up rolling explosive fierce winds and airwaves that mercilessly trampled and destroyed everything within a thousand-meter radius.
Those ominous pitch-black eyes collided through the void against molten gold-red eyes blazing like magma.
Invisible power shattered space itself, while violent battle intent accumulated within each other's eyes.