Chapter Sixty-Five: Hurry, Invite the Buddha Himself!

“Captain, we’ve got trouble again,” Nick Fury said through the comm headset to Rogers.

“Yes, I can see that clearly enough—but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Inside the helicopter, Steve Rogers looked at the shield in his hand, comparing himself to the dragon soaring in the sky above. He fell silent in despair.

If it were the army, he might stand a fair chance. But the enemy was airborne. They had air-to-ground superiority.

Nick Fury gritted his teeth, staring at the screen where Sindragosa wheeled through the clouds. The dragon depicted was not of Western legend; it bore more Eastern traits, its robust and menacing bone spines exuding a strange nobility. The juxtaposition of holiness and savagery lent it a sense of contradiction and forbidden allure.

“Captain, the military’s air force squadron is ready to depart. They’ll reach the battlefield in fifteen minutes. All we can do now is pray—or buy a one-way ticket to hell…”

“So you finally realize you’re going to hell, Fury?”

“Do you think I could ever go to heaven like you, Captain? You adorable thing.”

For once, the two shared a rare joke.

Then came a long silence.

“God help us,” Nick Fury murmured, pausing before adding, “If I survive this, I might become a devout believer.”

Rogers traced a cross over his chest, took a deep breath, and raised his shield. As the helicopter’s rear door opened, he leapt onto Rand Tower.

“All squads, be advised: Energy readings below exceed Level 7. Teams disperse and alternate actions. May God protect us.”

Soon, the gloomy skyline was lit by countless fiery trails. Since Sindragosa had taken to the skies, the military’s fighter squadrons had been assembling!

A relentless barrage of artillery commenced, targeting Sindragosa directly. Explosions thundered without pause, shaking the heavens.

Every type of airborne ordnance—large and small, of all calibers—was fired at Sindragosa.

Among them were ground-to-air missiles, armor-piercing rounds, blasting shells, even depleted uranium rounds—an arsenal both vast and varied.

The firepower was unprecedented.

Below, Roald watched the sky, continuously integrating armor and anti-magic shields into Sindragosa’s card.

For ten straight minutes, the barrage allowed Roald to thoroughly test Sindragosa’s defenses. The dragon emerged almost unscathed, but her fury grew boundless. She too was prone to fits upon waking.

Frost surged higher as Sindragosa rose, ascending into the upper sky. Wingless, she defied science, flying wreathed in storm and ice!

At her apex, Sindragosa abruptly accelerated downward, her skeletal form enveloped in wind and frost, diving from high to low.

Her serpentine form, nearly a hundred meters long, twisted and spun, slicing through the air. Her massive body, harder than metal, became a whirling drill charging toward the air force squadron.

Though lacking wings, her claws and ancient body were indestructible. As she spun, Sindragosa became a tempest of frost, unleashing a barrage of icy blades!

She pierced the air force formation, transforming into a terrifying storm of frost blades.

Where the frost blades and storm swept, fighter jets and drones alike, missiles and ground-to-air shells, all were obliterated—nothing remained!

The violent air currents, laden with ice shards, shredded anything that touched the center, pulverizing objects instantly. Steel fragments fell like snow.

As Sindragosa dove lower, the rapid air pressure split the Manhattan River, sending up massive waves quickly frozen by her frost, the river’s surface sealed in ice. Buildings nearby had their glass shattered and cracked by the terrible wind pressure!

Cars, debris, and wreckage were flung skyward, raining down to cause further destruction.

The sky grew quiet. The ground grew quiet.

After that brief silence, panic erupted anew.

“Roar~~~”

Sindragosa let out a triumphant cry, as if boasting her strength to Roald. Turning her body like a serpent, she rose to her utmost height, then dove again!

This time, blue energy crackled in her maw.

On S.H.I.E.L.D.’s satellite images, a storm-like cloud approached at speed, a Level 7 energy surge flashing red alarms everywhere.

Brilliant blue energy gathered, its aura unmistakably deadly.

After a brief charge, Sindragosa chose the simplest, most direct method.

A cascade of shining blue frost descended, annihilating everything below—buildings, installations, military emplacements—frozen and shattered into clouds of ice fragments.

Region after region was swept clean. Large swathes of Manhattan became a land of snow and ice. Before landing, Sindragosa, unsatisfied, received Roald’s psychic transmission and turned toward another target.

“Oh, shit, Director, that monster’s heading for us!”

Hill stared at the energy direction on the cloud map, unable to restrain her expletive.

“How long until it arrives?” Nick Fury clenched his fist, asking.

“At its speed, not more than a few minutes.”

“Oh, shit, she’s accelerating, Director.”

Before Fury could respond, the monitoring room erupted in chaos.

Urgent distress calls went out at once.

“Requesting assistance! S.H.I.E.L.D. requests immediate support!”

“The monster is heading for HQ—requesting help!”

“Requesting evacuation, immediate evacuation required!”

Sindragosa streaked across the land, trailing storms and sonic booms, sweeping up masses of icy wind. The immense air pressure carried objects behind her, forming a long pressure tail.

Buildings lost their rooftops, the ground was ripped up with countless debris and explosions, and weaker structures were demolished by the fierce wind and pressure. Debris soared, accompanied by the screams of hapless victims.

Far away in Ohio, True Gold watched the devastation in Hell’s Kitchen, crushing his cane to splinters.

It was gone—everything he had in Manhattan was gone.

Where Sindragosa flew, nothing within a hundred meters remained intact; the super-speed flight left a deadly trail wherever she passed.

“Director! I think we need to evacuate!” Hill grabbed important documents as the monitoring room descended into chaos.

“I don’t think that monster is just passing by, nor is she coming for a casual afternoon tea. She’s likely here for a taste of something more.”

Seeing the destruction wrought by Sindragosa’s passage, Nick Fury clenched and unclenched his fist.

“We’re evacuating!”

“And—quick, call Thor…”