Over the Afghan Desert!
In the void, a black rift was continuously spreading.
Before long, a small figure tumbled out from the rift!
If anyone had been paying attention to this scene, they would have noticed that the figure was actually just a nine-year-old child.
Below the rift, a group of terrorists was relentlessly firing at a humanoid metal figure.
Tony Stark raised the flamethrower in his hand, preparing to wipe out the terrorists who had killed Yinsen and avenge his fallen friend!
Just as Tony was about to press the trigger, the falling figure from the sky crashed straight into the terrorist base!
"What the hell was that?"
Tony's eyes widened as he stared at the deep crater formed by the impact.
As an arms dealer, his first instinct was that whatever had fallen was an unexploded missile!
And he wasn't the only one with that thought—every single terrorist present also assumed that something akin to a missile had just dropped from the sky!
For a moment, no one dared to make a move!
Tony Stark, clad in the Mark I armor, was the closest to the deep crater.
Wanting to confirm his suspicions, he cautiously moved toward it.
At this moment, no one was foolish enough to open fire.
If what lay beneath truly was a missile, then everyone in the base could kiss their lives goodbye.
"Argh! There is sand in my mouth! Pfft, pfft, pfft! What the hell?! How did I end up in the middle of a desert?! That old dragon didn't do this on purpose, did he?"
A small head poked out from the crater!
However, before Jin could even finish spitting out the sand from his mouth, a terrorist aimed and fired at him.
"Watch out, kid!"
Tony Stark lunged forward in the Mark I suit, using his armored body to block the bullet.
Jin's eyes narrowed slightly. If someone had looked closely, they would have noticed his once round, lively blue eyes shifting—turning into vertical pupils, resembling those of a cat… or a lizard.
"Kid, are you alright?"
Tony Stark tried to check Jin's condition, but the terrorists had no intention of playing fair. Without hesitation, they opened fire, unleashing a hail of bullets at the two of them.
The sound of bullets clanging against metal rang continuously. Originally planning to escape with Jin, Tony had no choice but to hold onto the child tightly, shielding him with his armored body.
Jin finally snapped back to his senses!
"Where the fuck is this?"
"Did I mess up the coordinates?"
"No way! With that old dragon's help, the positioning shouldn't be wrong!"
However, Jin was already certain that he had returned to Earth!
The reason was simple—compared to the last world filled with magical elements, the presence of firearms, a product of technology, was undeniable proof that he had traveled back to the more familiar and realistic Earth.
The scent of gunpowder lingering in the air, the constant sounds of gunfire and explosions ringing in his ears, and the man standing in front of him, clad in crude armor, bravely shielding him—Tony Stark!
"Hey! Aren't you Tony Stank?" Jin's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the man before him, the one who would soon become Iron Man. His mind swirled with shock and confusion, tangled in a complex web of emotions.
Had his mutant ability taken him to the Fairy Tail world for several days, while only a single night had passed in his original world?
Looking at Tony Stark in the Mark I suit, Jin quickly determined the date—May 1, 2009—the very day Tony Stark would escape from the Ten Rings' captivity.
Perhaps, once they got out of here, Jin would be able to contact his convenient mother and finally confirm whether he had truly returned to his own world.
"Mr. Tony Stank, just standing here getting shot at? That's not really your style, is it?"
Tony's mouth twitched at the remark, clearly displeased with the unexpected nickname!
If it weren't for the fact that the one saying it was just a kid, he might have considered throwing the little brat out!
"Kid, you know me?"
While enduring the barrage of bullets, Tony swiftly analyzed the battlefield, searching for an opportunity to break through, all while taking a moment to respond to Jin.
"Of course I do! The super genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist—Mr. Stark!"
Hearing Jin's precise summary, the corners of Tony's mouth lifted slightly into a helpless yet somewhat proud smile. He hadn't expected that, even in such a dire situation, a child's words could bring him a moment of ease.
"Alright, mysterious little boy. Since you know me so well, we need to get out of here fast. We can't let these guys ruin our good mood." Tony quipped, activating the propulsion system on his armor in an attempt to force a breakout.
However, while shielding Jin earlier…
The terrorists' assault rifles had already damaged the thrusters on Tony's suit.
"Oh, damn it!"
With Jin's unexpected arrival disrupting events, Tony Stark could no longer escape this desert terrorist base on his own.
Originally, Tony Stark planned to use the flamethrower in his hand to ignite all the missiles piled up outside the cave entrance, wiping out every terrorist and avenging Yinsen, who had sacrificed himself inside the cave.
Then, he would escape on the spot using the thrusters of the Mark I armor.
But now…
Fuck!
As Tony kept trying to activate the thrusters, despair started creeping in. He knew that if he couldn't escape, what awaited him next would be…!
At this moment, the small-framed Jin stopped caring about whether or not he should conceal himself!
A faint but undeniable Dragon's Might radiated from his tiny body.
Tony, clad in the bulky Mark I suit, was effortlessly pushed aside by Jin!
"Oh! My God! You little brat, what the hell are you doing?! Don't you know this is dangerous?!"
Clang! Clang! Clink! Clink!
As Jin broke free from Tony's protection, several bullets struck his body. However, strangely enough, none of them could pierce through his skin.
Tony stared in utter disbelief at what was happening in front of him!
Blue lightning crackled around Jin's small frame, arcs of electricity dancing wildly. At the same time, his body became covered in a fine layer of scales.
"Oh! Shit! Kid, you're a mutant?!"
Tony's first thought was of the mutants he knew—those who could wield strange and extraordinary powers.
"Well, that's not entirely wrong! I am a mutant. But the power I'm using right now… isn't my mutant ability."
Lightning crackled and surged across Jin's small body.
"This power is magic! It's called 'Dragon Slayer Magic'!"
As Jin demonstrated his abilities, his tone carried a hint of pride.
"There's really such a thing as magic in this world?"
Tony Stark felt like his entire worldview had just been flipped upside down in a single day!
While Tony was still questioning reality, the terrorists on the battlefield had completely lost their minds!
"Oh no! A devil! He's a devil!"