The surge of energy from the portal struck Alexander like a tidal wave.
His shadow armor rippled violently, arcs of unstable energy flickering across its surface as it struggled to contain the escalating pressure. He dug his feet into the fractured ledge, the stone beneath his boots crumbling from the force. The wind screamed past him, howling like a beast. Yet, amidst the chaos, his eyes remained fixed on the figure beyond the rift.
The being stood motionless in the swirling void. Golden plates shimmered across its massive form—armor forged with strange runes that pulsed with a deep, inner light. Its face was hidden beneath an ornate helmet, but its eyes, twin embers of violet, pierced through the rift like blades. It didn't need to speak to make its presence known.
This wasn't a soldier.
This was a herald.
Alexander narrowed his eyes. "You're not coming through."
Even as the words left his mouth, the vortex expanded again. The light flared brighter, surging upward and outward. Lightning crackled through the sky, connecting clouds like veins of fire. But it wasn't just light coming through now—there were shapes moving behind the vanguard. Dozens of them. Unfamiliar. Unearthly.
He could feel it in his core.
They weren't Chitauri.
They were something older.
Then came the voice.
Not spoken aloud, but planted directly into his thoughts—laced with force, pressure, and ancient authority.
"This world has been marked."
Alexander stumbled, clutching his head as the voice reverberated through his skull like a bell tolling in a forgotten cathedral. It wasn't just sound. It was weight—memories, pain, conquest. For a moment, his mind was flooded with glimpses of ruined worlds, scorched skies, and legions marching across broken galaxies.
"Alexander, status!" Tony's voice broke through his earpiece, cutting through the daze. "Whatever you're doing—do it faster! We've got a second signature forming, and I don't like how big it is!"
Alexander's breathing steadied. His eyes snapped back to the rift.
"It's not just a second portal," he said quietly. "It's a message."
Behind him, Thor grunted as he pinned Loki to the ground. Lightning danced between his fingers. "What message?"
Alexander didn't look back. "He said this world has been marked."
On a rooftop two blocks over, Natasha crouched beside Clint, her rifle aimed at the rift.
"That portal's growing faster than it should," she said. "Something's changing."
Clint exhaled slowly, lining up a shot on a Chitauri rider. "Yeah. And I don't think Loki's running the show anymore."
Suddenly, the street trembled beneath them.
A thunderous roar shattered the air as another leviathan burst through the portal. But this one was unlike the others—it was larger, its body plated in gold and crimson armor, its maw radiating a violet glow. The creature snarled, wings stretching wide as it crashed through a building on entry, glass and steel cascading to the ground like rain.
"New guest incoming," Tony announced. "Bigger, angrier, and way uglier!"
Alexander didn't hesitate.
He sprinted to the edge of the tower and hurled himself into the air.
His body vanished into shadow mid-flight, reappearing directly above the leviathan's back. He slammed down hard, blade first. The impact jolted the creature, eliciting a shriek of pain. Its armored scales resisted at first, but Alexander drove his blade deeper, channeling pure shadow into the wound.
The leviathan twisted, thrashing across the sky. Its path carved through the skyline, tearing into three buildings, each one collapsing behind it in a wave of smoke and fire.
But Alexander didn't let go.
Clinging to the beast, he summoned spikes of shadow from his gauntlets, embedding himself into the creature's back. With a roar of his own, he released a pulse of energy through the wound.
The shadows exploded outward.
The leviathan shrieked—a sound so loud it cracked nearby windows—and then its body began to collapse inward, its core igniting in violet flame. The creature let out one final, shuddering breath before it spiraled downward, crashing in a cataclysmic heap between the towers of Midtown.
Fire and smoke bloomed into the sky.
Alexander landed beside the smoldering wreck, breath heavy, armor scorched.
But the portal... kept growing.
Tony's voice crackled in his ear. "Alexander, whatever that thing was, it wasn't alone."
Alexander turned toward the sky, where another shadow stretched through the widening portal—not a figure this time, but a structure. Towering, angular, and unmistakably alien.
A command ship.
And it was moving.
End of Chapter 77
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