The soldier hadn't wanted to kill the young man, so he had aimed for Alex's leg. When the bullet got close to Alex, it was intercepted by a layer of green light, and it stayed suspended in the air while Alex continued walking.
The soldier lowered his gun and looked on in shock.
Seconds later, a golden flame emerged from Alex's body and burned away his camouflage, revealing his black clothes. His long black hair fluttered in the wind, while his eyes were enveloped in golden flames.
With every step, he left a scorch mark on the ground, and as he walked toward the group of super soldiers, he was surrounded by a bright, golden flame.
"My god!" one of the soldiers cried. "What kind of monster is this?"
"That's the enemy!" a commander shouted back as he recognized Alex. "Quick! Open fire and kill him. Don't let him get any closer to us!"
At his command, the entire army of super soldiers jumped to action. They began to turn their machine guns and tanks in Alex's direction, and just outside the base, men began to set up howitzers and rocket launchers.
The closest group of snipers had Alex in their sights. Although they could shoot from this distance, it was difficult to be accurate. But, with hundreds of soldiers firing at once, the bullets came streaming toward Alex and Natasha in a heavy shower.
Before the bullets could hit either of them, the golden flame that surrounded Alex's body burned them away. As if nothing were happening, the pair continued to move forward at a steady pace.
The super soldiers could not believe it. With open mouths, they stared at the man who was fast approaching.
For the first time since they had left the cave, Natasha began to feel afraid.
**
Riley stood among his commanders and watched as Alex continued to draw closer, pushing on through the shower of bullets. He had been shocked to learn from his men on the ground that Alex had survived the attack in the desert. Now, he could not believe what he was seeing; not a single bullet was capable of touching Alex.
"Don't stop!" he roared through his walkie-talkie. "We need to ramp things up. Use the tanks, the cannons, the rocket launchers—whatever it takes!"
His commanders responded immediately. Over a hundred tanks turned toward Alex and aimed straight at him. At the same time, several rocket launchers began to fire.
Dozens of missiles descended from the sky above Alex. Fireballs exploded on the ground, stirring up tons of sand. Smoke filled the air, and shrapnel shot out in all directions. After such a heavy round of missiles, Riley knew that his army would suffer many casualties.
Just as the commanders began to relax, they spotted a golden light emerging through the black smoke. Moments later, it became clear that it was Alex. He was surrounded by a golden light, and the flames, smoke, and shrapnel had been unable to harm him.
Riley and the commanders straightened up. "The rockets may not have killed him," one commander said, "but let's see how he gets on with the tanks."
Within a few seconds, the tanks began to fire. Several shells flew through the air, charging toward Alex, leaving a long white trail in the sky. They moved faster than the speed of sound and hit the ground with a series of explosions. It felt as though the whole earth was about to collapse.
After this round of attack, the super soldiers quickly loaded a fresh round of ammunition and prepared to fire. Again, the area around Alex filled with smoke and fire. Within a minute, the soldiers launched their third attack.
"That should do it," Riley said to his commanders.
Nobody was able to utter a word as they looked nervously toward the area under fire. Even the strongest tank would be reduced to scrap metal under such an assault, Riley thought, satisfied. Surely, no human could survive this.
Natasha, who had been standing right beside Alex, had kept her eyes closed during the attack. Though she had heard massive explosions all around her and had felt the ground tremble, she had been able to remain standing. Alex's power must be protecting me, too, she thought.
After a minute, the commanders noticed a figure moving on the battlefield. As he stepped closer, they realized it was Alex. He was completely unharmed, and his entire body was glowing with a golden light.
Riley was furious. "No way!" he said, dropping the walkie-talkie from his hand. "What has he become?"
The entire army froze, and the soldiers felt as though they were witnessing a miracle.
Riley was trembling all over. He had felt so strong surrounded by his army of super soldiers. But, at this point, he was losing confidence in his men.
"Sir, what should we do next?" came the voice of one of his commanders.
Riley snapped out of his daze, took up the walkie-talkie, and roared back, "Mobilize all tanks, cannons, armored vehicles, and armed helicopters. Stop him at all costs!"
Alex, who hadn't quite reached the base yet, decided it was time to speed up. After jogging for twenty seconds, he built up to a run. As he gained speed, the golden light around him grew brighter and left a long trail of flames behind him.
The steel wall of the base was incredibly thick, but Alex didn't even slow down. He charged straight forward, right toward the wall.