Thousands of miles away, Tony Stark looked at Kratos, who had dramatically appeared under the searchlights like the main character, and felt quite relieved.
"As expected, we are the same kind of people."
Feeling at ease, Tony continued his work on his peace project.
In fact, Tony was a bit stressed recently. After all, there were so many young people around here, holding AKs and looking all benevolent, who could play *Clash of Clans* even without phones.
It made him question what justice really meant.
Meanwhile, at the New York power plant, a fierce battle had erupted.
Electro suddenly pulled his right hand back behind his body, and a massive lightning shockwave slammed into Atreus's body.
The scorching electric light engulfed his outer body. Even though the rubber insulation suit prevented a direct hit, the high-energy reaction from the electricity made the surrounding air almost boil.
Atreus's natural instinct to avoid danger kicked in, and without needing to shout, "A1, flash grenade!", the exaggerated electric light pierced through his eyelids and struck his eyes.
He was caught off guard! He didn't dodge!
If Atreus were just an ordinary human or wasn't wearing Tony's suit, wouldn't he have been knocked out on the spot? Or worse, turned into a well-done steak?
"Ahhhhhh—!"
The sudden shock made Atreus let out a loud roar.
With his brutish, barbarian-like appearance, Kratos seemed just as terrifying to Electro as Electro was to him.
It was bizarre. Spider-Man hadn't shown up, and the mysterious man who had soloed the Lizard on TV had suddenly arrived. After all, before becoming a superhuman, Electro, Max, was just a humble corporate drone.
When Max saw Kratos, take the full force of his electric blast, then tear through the massive surge of electricity with his bare hands like a thunder-wielding Titan from mythology and continue charging forward at full speed, Max truly panicked.
This time, Electro shifted his mind, and two bolts of lightning sprang from his left arm, pulling his almost fully elementalized (thunder) body sideways in mid-air by about three meters.
Logically, this exaggerated movement should have been enough to avoid the bald brute's pounce.
At that moment, Atreus displayed an agility that rivaled Spider-Man's—he raised his right arm, and the strange flame-shaped broken blade he was holding suddenly shot out.
If it were just an ordinary thrown weapon, Electro wouldn't have been scared. With his ability to fly, he theoretically had the advantage over those still bound by Earth's gravity.
Max dodged again.
But to his surprise, the blade wasn't aimed at him. Atreus's imitation of the *Blades of Chaos* had wrapped around a nearby towering electrical pole full of electromagnetic power rings. His entire body, like an acrobat on a horizontal bar, swiftly swung through the air in a 270-degree arc and once again charged at Max with blinding speed.
Even though Max had become a superhuman, just moments ago, he was still human. Even as Electro, his previous weaknesses remained unsolved, like his slow reaction time.
In a flash, Atreus had him pinned.
"Ah!"
Theoretically, at this moment, Electro had fully elementalized his body, and he shouldn't be susceptible to any physical attacks.
But when Atreus slammed into him, Max was stunned to find that he couldn't turn his body back into pure electricity.
What was going on?
Max was still in shock as Atreus grabbed him with brute force and plummeted from the sky.
"Boom!"
A violent impact sent debris flying everywhere.
Amid the raging dust and shockwaves, the sound of rapid, heavy blows echoed like a torrential downpour.
It was Atreus iron fists!
With a strength stat of 42, an ordinary man could deliver about 100 to 150 kilograms of impact force with a punch.
Adding the force from falling from the sky, Atreus first punch was a no-holds-barred, genuine *ton* of damage.
Without even a scream, Max's semi-transparent face, now showing the electric currents underneath, was instantly deformed.
If it were an ordinary human, that punch would have been enough to explode their head. At the very least, his cheekbones and jaw would have been completely shattered.
But this punch only distorted Max's head, leaving him dazed and senseless, though he still had a way to go before 'death.'
Just as Atreus delivered his seventh punch while straddling Electro, another electric shock hit him.
From the half-ruined blue mouth of Electro, a huge burst of plasma sprayed out like a dragon's breath.
Superhuman beings really are unreasonable.
Atreus paused for a moment and took the hit.
It didn't hurt!
The only issue was that Electro had once again created some distance between them.
In Max's eyes, Atreus was undoubtedly a monster too. His entire face and chest had been charred from the electric blast, and not only was he not dead, but he also had the energy to taunt him.
"That didn't hurt! Come on, put some effort into it! You're no better than an electric flyswatter, little eel!" Atreus deliberately provoked him.
Simple physical attacks couldn't truly kill Electro.
Atreus could only think of one solution, the same as in history—make him self-destruct.
To make him self-destruct, he first had to drive him mad.
Small-minded people who gained power they didn't deserve often became extremely arrogant.
Having already likened himself to Zeus, how could he allow himself to be defeated by a bald-headed nobody?
With a flicker, Electro reappeared three meters to Atreus left and sent another electric blast.
"Boom!"
Sparks flew.
Atreus was a bit surprised. His opponent hadn't aimed at him but at the ground beside him.
The intense electric light shattered the cement ground and blew up many pieces of power generation equipment. Countless metal fragments, like shrapnel from a grenade, whistled through the air in all directions.
In Electro's eyes, this improvised cluster bomb would undoubtedly make Atreus suffer.
Unfortunately, in the midst of the flying debris, the hulking figure charged out like a bull, barely missing a chance to slam Electro with a devastating blow.
"Fxck! Fxck! Fxck!" Max shouted three consecutive "F-words," fully expressing his deep frustration: "I'm the god of a new era! How can a bastard like you stand in the way of my conquest of the world—?"
Before his transformation, Max had been just an electrician, easily pushed around by any middle manager.
Years of repression had led to extreme insecurity.
In the soil of deep insecurity, a monster called *extreme arrogance* had been lying in wait. The sudden gain of power, despite its painful acquisition, only made Max more insane the more he had been repressed.
How could he allow himself to fall here?
He hadn't even begun his grand revenge against Spider-Man yet!
Screaming and cursing the world that had oppressed him, he flew to the highest point of the power plant, carried by electromagnetic forces.
Every wire, every battery in the plant responded to his call, surging with electricity.
From afar, countless electrical towers lit up like the beams of light in a rhythm game, glowing yellow as his power surged.
At the same time, Electro's body was no longer the usual bluish color but had transformed into a brilliant golden hue.
Countless volts of electricity flowed into his body, and the overwhelming power gave him the illusion that he had become stronger.
"Hahahaha! I am a god! The god who will rule the world!"
From the dark ground below, someone's voice suddenly rang out: "Oh, right, right, right!"
(End of Chapter)