Chapter 225

The entire Avengers group remained together, having spent the previous day exploring and searching for magic fruits with Natasha as their guide.

Her senses were far sharper than the others, so she led them to special locations with magical fruits.

Although she didn't directly benefit since her stats were already too high to receive an enhancement from the fruits, she was happy to assist her friends.

"Shouldn't we do something about the one following us?" Hope suddenly remarked. They had been followed since the previous day, and her patience was wearing thin.

"You're not used to being a celebrity; I just take it as normal," Tony said, shaking his head.

"My identity is still secret to most people," Hope shrugged.

"It's normal to have some followers, but it's actually weird to be followed this much, especially by someone who clearly is a soldier, probably following orders," Natasha mused.

"But I thought you couldn't communicate with people in here?" Tony asked, confused.

"And you weren't supposed to bring things either," Natasha said, eyeing Tony's suit.

"Touche," Tony muttered, pursing his lips.

"It's probably something magical; technically, it wouldn't be cheating," Betty suggested, pondering.

"I can think of several ways like telepathy or magical markings; I'm sure you could come up with more," Natasha said, looking at Tony.

Suddenly, they all heard heavy footsteps approaching them at great speed.

They almost looked to Bruce, feeling that running style was too familiar.

Natasha immediately stepped forward, looking serious, in the direction of whatever was coming their way.

Bruce, who was at the back, immediately connected many dots, his sense of familiarity with those soldiers and the heavy footsteps.

Ross was coming for him again.

And as expected, a red giant burst out from the trees, running towards them.

Bruce quickly transformed before overtaking Natasha and running towards Ross.

A great shockwave formed when both fists collided.

Behind Bruce, everyone quickly covered their faces with their forearms, protecting themselves from the wind and the particles that flew around.

When they looked around again, they realized that from the surroundings, many people had surrounded them and were heading straight towards them.

Unnoticed by anyone, one soldier didn't run towards them but started running towards Bruce, who was grappling with Ross.

This soldier's body suddenly swelled as he transformed into a green giant with marine features; fins adorned his ears and spine, and large scales covered his arms and legs.

Several lines on his body resembling gills, and bone spikes protruded from his shoulders.

Blonsky transformed beside Bruce before tackling him from behind, pushing him to the ground.

Ross saw Bruce on the ground before forcefully striking his head, causing it to sink into the ground.

Bruce fell to the ground and tried to roll away, but Blonsky climbed onto his body, wrapping his arms under Bruce's and clasping his hands behind his neck.

Bruce tried to push his arms forward to free himself, but Blonsky quickly rolled, leaving Bruce on his back.

Ross took advantage of this to continuously pound Bruce in the face and abdomen.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Avengers weren't having an easy time either.

"Let's form a circle and cover our backs," Steve said, quickly positioning himself and standing beside Hope, whom he deemed the most vulnerable.

Seeing the situation, Betty immediately began to transform, momentarily surprising the other soldiers.

If it weren't for their training, they would have stopped and doubted the feasibility of the plan, knowing that someone who could transform like that was something they couldn't handle.

Betty's tattoos began to glow from her chest before the light advanced to her fists.

Feeling her magic in her fists, Betty pointed with her fist toward the group of soldiers approaching her before releasing her magic.

A large beam of energy shot out, vaporizing all the soldiers in its path.

She quickly pointed with her other fist, making another sweep before being intercepted by the soldiers.

Betty just smiled before kicking the soldier's chest, sending him flying to crash into the one behind.

Her physique was weak, but only in comparison to those of her own kind.

Her strength and reflexes were not something soldiers like the ones in front of her could deal with.

Natasha was also having a field day, playing with her magic and using it in various ways to eliminate the soldiers.

In her hand, her magical circle spun slowly.

The ground suddenly began to tremble before the earth took the form of several giant animals that launched themselves furiously at the soldiers.

Roars and loud impacts echoed throughout the area; the soldiers responded with force, crashing directly into the animals and often destroying them.

Unfortunately for them, the animals, like Natasha's magic, seemed to have no limit; no matter how many they destroyed, more would come.

Tony, Steve, and Hope worked more as a team, eliminating the soldiers approaching them.

Steve and Hope were quite talented in magic, and Tony, despite being a bit more average, had his suit.

The three were occasionally overwhelmed by the number of enemies, but there were Betty and Natasha to relieve the pressure.

Sterns, hiding among the trees and watching the course of the battle, couldn't help but frown as he saw that nothing was going as planned except that Bruce was being defeated.

He had recognized Betty but had no idea she had been modified by Bruce's blood.

Natasha also displayed an abnormal level of strength not consistent with her last appearance.

He also had no idea how Stark had entered the event with a suit.

The only ones within his calculations were Steve and Hope, who definitely could have been defeated if not for the abnormalities of the others.

Sterns could only watch in dismay as his men were slaughtered.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he opened them with determination before starting to channel a magical pulse indicating retreat.

In the brief exchange, more than 300 of his men had died, and they hadn't managed to eliminate any of the Avengers.

Just as the magical pulse was about to leave his body, his magic was totally interrupted by a terrifying roar.

Looking in the direction, he saw a completely enraged Bruce, green blood running down his face, and one of his arms hanging weakly.

Ross and Blonsky weren't playing; they had done everything possible to kill Bruce.

Unfortunately for them, Bruce was very tenacious, and all they had managed to do was anger him.

Bruce's eyes glowed in fury as energy emanated intensely from him.

His size had broken all previous records, reaching a height of 4 meters.

With that size, it had been impossible for Blonsky to continue holding him, and they could only make one last attack trying to tear his arm; unfortunately, all they managed to do was dislocate it.

Ross and Blonsky flanked him and looked at each other, feeling that things were not going well; they hadn't expected Bruce to be so tenacious.

They would definitely have died from such a beating.

Every wound they inflicted healed as they continued to beat him.

They only succeeded in making Bruce more and more furious, large, and resilient; near the end, their blows couldn't even hurt him anymore.

Ross then realized they were screwed, if you can't kill Bruce instantly, he will slowly get stronger.

A palpable pressure was felt throughout the area with the presence of the furious giant.

Bruce stomped heavily before roaring loudly; without Ross being able to react fully, Bruce launched himself at him before punching him in the face.

Blonsky quickly leaped behind Bruce, trying to grab one of his legs, but he couldn't reach him; Bruce moved at a surprisingly fast speed for his size.

Seeing the giant looming over him, Ross could only make one last desperate attempt to cover his face.

The chilling sound of bones breaking and a sonic boom made everyone unconsciously turn to look.

Ross became a projectile, breaking dozens of trees and disappearing into the distance.

It wasn't known if he was alive or dead.

Sterns, who had been interrupted by Bruce's roar, quickly channeled his magic again, ordering the retreat.

The HYDRA soldiers immediately began to disperse in the opposite direction of Bruce, leaving Ross's soldiers confused.

Without their leader and abandoned by their comrades, Ross's soldiers reacted a bit late, causing several more to die before finally escaping.

Blonsky was the only one left in the area as he took slow steps backward, although, with his size, it was difficult to be stealthy.

Bruce, who no longer had any sanity, slowly turned to look at him.

Blonsky saw those eyes emitting a faint trail of radiation, fixed on him.

The ground cracked as Bruce started running towards Blonsky.

Blonsky quickly ducked to dodge Bruce's punch, feeling the terrifying momentum he carried.

He felt like he had become a normal human again, facing Bruce as he had done back then.

And similar to what had happened back then, Bruce turned around and kicked his chest with devastating force.

His body broke the sound barrier as he disappeared from view of the others.

Natasha saw the situation and quickly enveloped the whole group in magic, trying to erase their presence.

"Let's retreat slowly; I think Bruce doesn't recognize anyone right now," Natasha said, thanks to the magic, the sound of her voice didn't extend beyond a certain range.

"Can't you deal with him?" Tony asked.

"Are you kidding? Just look at him; he killed Ross and Blonsky in one blow. My magic wouldn't withstand his blows either," Natasha said, slowly backing away.

"He's staring at us," Betty said, a little nervously.

"Should we run?" Hope asked, hesitating.

"What do you think we should do?" Natasha asked, looking at Betty.

"I'm not sure, Bruce had never been overloaded with radiation like this before; the radiation reaches his brain and interferes with his sanity, right now, he probably doesn't recognize us," Betty said, looking at Bruce.

Natasha looked at the group with a concerned expression, as if hesitating before making a decision.

"I'll distract him; you guys run," Natasha said before walking towards Bruce.

There was still doubt as to whether he could recognize them or if he would attack them for no reason, so she advanced slowly, trying to show that she wasn't a threat.

Natasha was aware that in Bruce's current state, he was much stronger than her; she supposed that only Carol could clash directly with him, and only in her strongest form.

Anyway, she was prepared to die; she entered the event just to have fun compared to the others who could really get an upgrade.

Bruce seemed to growl slightly as he saw her approaching.

Natasha kept approaching slowly with her hands in front of her.

She was only a couple of meters away from Bruce, with him measuring almost three times her height, the difference between them was really great.

The rest of the group had already retreated and was watching Natasha from behind some trees.

"Will she be okay?" Betty asked with concern.

"This is technically a dream, so yeah, she'll be fine... I guess," Tony said, refusing to believe that Cortana didn't know what was happening; perhaps she would only intervene at the last moment.

Bruce seemed to be calming down when suddenly as if something had bothered him, he growled before swinging his fist downward towards Natasha.

Natasha reacted instantly and jumped over Bruce's shoulder before his fist came down on her.

Bruce quickly reacted and with his other arm, swung towards her shoulder where Natasha was.

Natasha disappeared from the spot again and returned to the ground.

Bruce roared in anger as he constantly tried to grab Natasha, who somersaulted, avoiding his grip.

Natasha had to move faster and faster to avoid Bruce's grip until the rest of the group hidden in the distance only saw Natasha as a blurry silhouette moving back and forth.

Bruce couldn't move so fast, but his reflexes allowed him to somehow follow her movements.

Bruce's eyes gleamed as he followed Natasha's movements; suddenly his arm stretched out at full speed and managed to grab her ankle.

Natasha saw her leg being held and Bruce's fist coming straight towards her; she could only look directly into Bruce's eyes, unconvinced of the outcome.

If only she had her familiars.

As if her feelings resonated with something, Natasha suddenly felt there was something else with her, something that was urging her to let it out.

Without too much hesitation, she clung to that feeling before letting it out with all she had.

A crimson aura surrounded her completely before a paw similar to that of a bear emerged from her body and collided directly with Bruce's fist.

The earth broke and rose around them, blocking the view of the others.

From Natasha's body, the paw continued to emerge and push Bruce until a large bear formed in front of Natasha; it stood on its hind legs, even dwarfing Bruce, reaching a height of 7 meters.

Natasha looked in amazement and excitement at the large bear, feeling her first familiar had awakened.

Bruce wasn't intimidated by the large size of the bear and roared back at it.

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