The hulk, a force of nature. The embodiment of anger, some would say. This being was now kneeling from the pain of a single punch, spat on and now called weak.
Weak..
It didn't take long for the hulk's power to start rapidly increasing once again, his muscles started becoming even denser than before, his shorts ripped even more now, barely covering his privates and he grew even taller than before.
Shaking off the pain from before the hulk now stood at a whopping 3 meters towering over the general ranked lifeform. The hulk didn't shout this time but instantly followed up with a fist to the general ranked lifeform's face.
Seeing the punch approaching his face, the general ranked nether lifeform was shocked due to the speed at which it came at him. Barely managing to react in time, the nether lifeform grabbed the hulk's fist with one hand, doing so with great difficulty too, while with his other hand that held the staff he continuously fired nether energy blasts at Tony.
"Creature of this world, how exactly did you suddenly manage to become so much stronger?" The nether lifeform said to the hulk, confusion evident in his voice .
Not even replying, the hulk punched at the nether lifeform with his free hand missing entirely as the nether lifeform had managed to dodge, right as it was about to counterattack the hulk seemed to enter a frenzy and accelerated beyond his usual speed, catching the general ranked nether lifeform off guard.
* BOOM *
With a well placed punch, the hulk managed to finally hit the nether lifeform sending it flying and giving tony some time to finally breathe.
As the nether lifeform was hurled through the air, it wondered how exactly this foe it was fighting…..was continuously getting stronger and stronger. At first it easily overpowered the hulk, then the next clash it was only slightly weaker than the nether lifeform. And now…. It surpassed the nether lifeform in terms of brute strength.
But even while thinking all of this, the nether lifeform wasn't worried. Because all this time, it never used nether energy to strengthen its body while fighting the hulk, all this time it was using the raw physical power of its body to fight the hulk.
Now that it had realised that the hulk would just continuously get stronger, it deemed the hulk the larger the threat than the one that could fly, which was tony.
Slamming its hands on the ground it threw itself up in the air and then flipped and landed on its feet. Now deciding to go all out it needed something to take care of Tony while it fought the hulk.
"[Adrian's Blessing]" the nether lifeform said as he pointed his staff at the corpses of the dead humans. Out of the eyeball atop his staff, a tear fell out, black as night. It fell on the ground sounding like regular water splashing on any surface.
Not even a moment later it changed form into a gaseous state that quickly flew and entered the eyes and mouths of the dead humans.
The moment the dark vapor seeped into the lifeless bodies, a haunting transformation began. Shadows coalesced around each corpse, twisting and warping as the essence of the nether lifeform's magic coursed through them. The dead humans' eyes glowed with an unholy light, and their bodies jerked and twitched to life, rising as grotesque marionettes bound to the will of their master.
As they rised their bodies started losing blood and their skin got paler and paler. All this blood flowed into the air and went to the eye on the staff of the nether lifeform. Staring at Tony were 25 undead humans who at the will of the nether lifeform, charged towards him.
Knowing the undead it created would need some form of flight to be able to stall Tony or a way to move in the air, the nether lifeform pumped all 25 undead humans with nether energy and imagined them forming wings on their back.
tattered wings sprouted from the backs of the reanimated corpses. The wings were made up of pure nether energy, flickering in and out of visibility due to the fact that this was not the nether lifeform's ability, the only reason it could do this was because of the staff that Adrian had given it.
For it to summon Adrian's will so he could interact with this world, it needed enough essence. So far the only essence it had gotten was the blood it got from turning the dead humans into undead. This amount of essence was almost nothing.
If it could get the essence of the hulk however, it would greatly benefit it..
It didn't want to fail this mission like the other lesser ones of its kind, it wanted to prove its strength to its master and maybe….just maybe get a name.
As the undead beings took to the air with terrifying grace, their bones cracking with the movement, they spread out in a chaotic formation, swooping toward Tony. Their hollowed eyes shimmered with malevolence, a stark reminder of their lost humanity. Each flutter of their wings sent shivers through the air. Tony, realizing the imminent threat, prepared himself for the onslaught.
Seeing that Tony was busy with the undead it had created, the nether lifeform charged at the hulk with the intent to kill.
* FWOOSH *
The nether lifeform threw out a punch that was much stronger and faster than all his previous punches. The hulk put his arms up to block as even with his increased strength he still lost in the exchange. Once again his bones were broken, but this time he didn't get thrown away.
The nether lifeform, realising it could deal even more damage to the hulk, used its free hand with the staff and charged up nether energy directly through the staff. Almost instantly an orb of nether energy appeared at the tip of the staff.
The orb of energy shot from the staff like a comet, a streak of darkness aimed straight at the hulk.
* BOOM *
An explosion occured sending dust and debris all over the place along with both the hulk and the nether lifeform flying. The flying undead humans who had been chasing after Tony were also blown away along with Tony himself.
The place where the hulk and the nether lifeform fought now had an extremely big crater, showing the destructive might of the nether lifeform.
Dust and chaos engulfed the battlefield as the explosion settled, the sky darkened by the aftermath of the horrendous confrontation. The ground trembled beneath the weight of the aftermath, and for a moment, everything was silent but the distant creaks of earth resettling.
As the dust began to clear, the horrifying sight of the hulk's half destroyed body came into view. The right side of his body was entirely gone, arms and legs. The hulk himself wasn't dead but unconcious.
"BANNER!" Tony shouted at hulk, this foreign and horrifying sight of hulk's almost destroyed body affecting him greatly.
Tony tried to fly to the hulk, but the flying undead creatures created by the nether lifeform were right there with him, blocking his path.
With a surge of dread coursing through him, Tony's heart raced as he locked eyes with the bloodless and dead eyes of the undead. Their twisted, bloodless faces stared back at him, eyes glimmering with an otherworldly malice, fully aware of the weakened condition of his friend
"No, no, no," Tony muttered to himself, grit evident in his voice. He vectored his suit's systems to scan for the nearest threats, calculating an escape route, but he knew he couldn't leave Bruce behind. Not like this.
"Shit, where the heck is Thor and the others!?." Tony muttered to himself.
"Why aren't they here yet!"
Realizing that he needed to act fast, Tony began combining his attacks, quick firing pulses of energy against the undead while also devising a strategy to clear a path to the Hulk. Each repulsor blast was calculated, expertly landing strikes to keep the creatures at bay, but the sheer number of them was overwhelming. They swarmed him like locusts, dark limbs reaching for him from every direction.
While Tony was trying to cook up a way to escape the undead and find a way to save the hulk, the nether lifeform was walking towards the hulk, ready to extract his and see if the quality of his blood would be able summon Adrian's will.
Finally reaching where the hulk was, the nether lifeform placed its staff near the hulk's half destroyed body and chanted.
"[Adrian's Blessing]"
Once again, the eye on top of the staff shed a tear, this tier then quickly turned into a gas that flew into the hulk's eyes and mouth.
The hulk's body trembled, unlike with the regular humans the hulk wasn't instantly turning into an undead.
The nether lifeform looked at the creature it thought it would finally get as a powerful minion in confusion, wondering why the ability wasn't working as it should.
"Why isnt it working." the nether lifeform said in confusion. It didn't doubt its master's power, it never did, so it looked to see if the hulk was truly dead.
Looking closely, he could see that the hulk...was still breathing, with half of his body destroyed the creature before it was still breathing which greatly shocked him. Deciding to completely end the hulk so it could get a powerful minion and potent blood that could potentially allow it to summon its master's will, the nether lifeform aimed his hand at the hulk hulk's head, ready to destroy it with a blast of nether energy.
"shit,shit….SHIT!" Tony shouted in frustration
"I should have some other armours ready, I need to call the-"
* CACKLE *
* BOOM *
The sound of lightning and thunder echoed in the skies along with the sound of something moving at an extremely fast speed towards where the nether lifeform was. Focusing its senses, the nether lifeform could see and recognise that what was approaching him from the skies was a hammer.
The nether lifeform's expression hardened, ready to intercept this fast approaching object as he raised his staff and pointed it at the incoming hammer.