Chapter: 104

It seemed there was quite a bit of pride leftover in the Hulk's body, as my taunting was all it took for it to lose its fear and charge me. It sped across the streets in a high-speed rage, rushing towards me.

I smirked.

Before, its speed would have been too much for me to keep up with. Now, though, with 100 extra Strength, I could keep up with him.

I could do more than that, actually.

The Hulk reared back its fist and threw a devastating punch right at my head. The air vibrated from the friction of how fast his punch was delivered. In response, I arrogantly raised one hand up right in front of his incoming punch.

BOOM!

An explosive shockwave rang out when his blow connected with my hand. I felt myself skid backward a few feet. And yet, when the dust settled, I had completely managed to stop his strongest punch with just one hand.

Could the undead feel surprise? The answer was yes, at least in this universe. Zombie Hulk's eyes widened at not being able to hurt me. I felt like returning the favor, so with my other hand, I reeled back my own fist before swinging it forward and connecting with the Hulk's torso. The Hulk was still too surprised at what had happened to react in time.

Another sonic boom rang out as my punch connected. An instant later, he was lifted off his feet and sent blasting backward. His large frame left a trail of destruction on the streets as his body skipped along the ground.

"Hot damn, that was awesome!" I exclaimed with glee. I felt like Superman with the strength of that punch!

[That was pretty cool! Be careful not to get too prideful, though. You probably really pissed him off there…]

"WRRRRRROOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!"

The roar he let out as he stood up again was unlike any I had heard before. It was primal, full of hatred... and hungry. The intelligence seemed to have disappeared from the Hulk's eyes. All it wanted to do now was devour me.

The ground gave way beneath him as he rocketed forward far faster than he had before. Luckily, I was prepared for his increase in power. I was done messing around knowing that I was on a time limit here. Not just for Mana Burst, but also because other powerful zombies besides the Avengers might show up soon.

I could already hear thunder starting to echo above. That signaled that Thor, at the very least, had once again shown up to support the Hulk. I'm sure any second now I'll hear him and Sif start fighting it out. I wasn't worried. With Extremis boosting her and my Sister's armor–that was made to fight against ultimate class beings–Sif should be fine. Likewise, Iron Woman shouldn't have any problems against Hawkeye or Black Widow. It was only their unexpected arrival and the vibranium arrows that caught us off guard in the first place.

The hulk barreled towards me and instead of trying to punch me, he went for a full body tackle. I wasn't going to risk testing my strength against him again now that he had powered up from rage. I flapped my fours wings and jumped over him. As he sailed beneath me, unable to stop from his momentum, I tossed a [Lightspear] at his back. I could easily afford to dump a large chunk of MP into it to raise its penetrating and burning powers.

Its instincts were still spot on as it shifted to the side just enough for my spear to miss his spine. It still pierced his side though.

"GRAAAAAAHHHHH!!"

"Huh? That's new…" I muttered. The Hulk was shrieking in actual pain this time. My [Lightspear] was actually causing it physical pain where before he mostly ignored getting impaled.

[Light Manipulation has leveled up! → Your Holy Light burns away all evils! You now deal Double the Damage and Pain given to dark beings and the undead hit by your light attacks!]

Nice!

The hulk reached back and tore my Lightspear out of his back. The skin on his hand was partly melted from just touching the weapon. That move must have been instinctual as there was still only hunger in his eyes. He leapt up in the air to once again try and grab me. It wasn't hard for me to move out of the way and dodge.

Flying against a grounded enemy was a huge advantage…

CRACK!

"Is that all the Mighty Thor has to offer!? I am disappointed!" I heard the sound of thunder followed by Sif taunting Thor coming from a few blocks away. She was starting her fight, which meant that I should wrapt mine up soon now. Just in case I had to grab her and bolt if more zombies showed up.

"Well, then Hulk. This has been an… interesting experience, I suppose. I wasn't expecting to end up in a zombie death world but I can't say it hasn't improved the ways in which I'll approach fights from now on." I started monologuing while floating in the air. High enough that he couldn't reach me.

"ROOOOAAAARRRR!" It raged at me from below. It picked up some nearby rubble and chucked it at me faster than the speed of sound, but I was currently fast enough to easily dodge that.

I laughed. Who knew bullying zombies was fun. "Yes, yes. I know you want to end this too. So let's end it!"

-5000 MP

From the sky above me, numerous [Lightspears] started to manifest. Dozens…hundreds. I honestly lost count. All I know is that this was more MP than I'd ever spent before. This felt like a truly devastating attack that I was about to unleash.

And then I did so. Below me I rained death from above. Every single [Lightspear] crashed down towards the zombie filled streets below me…and exploded.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!

I think I may have overdid it a bit…

A large chunk of the City…simply vanished from existence. The explosive purple Light Energy was so hot and bright that the concrete, steel, and zombies below all simply turned to ash. The resulting shockwave was so strong I was flung back hundreds of yards before I could properly stop myself. It looked like I honestly just dropped a nuke on the city…

…I'm glad I aimed that attack away from where Sif and Iron Woman were fighting.

[You have defeated the Hulk! You have gained the Hulk Serum! You have slain 1583 level 1 and 2 zombies!]

+22560 MP!

"Ugh!" I grunted as a massive wave of power suddenly entered me. This was insane! 'Over 22000 MP!!!' That was a number I couldn't even fathom before today! This much power felt like I had liquid fire coursing through me. I felt like I was going to EXPLODE!

This was not good. I was in so much pain that I could barely stay in the air. I was forced to descend to the now ashen ground. As soon my feet touched the ground I doubled over in pain. Painful shudders ran through me!

[Warning! Mana Burst has been forcefully halted due to an influx of too much power! The host's body has taken on far more Mana than it can safely handle! Host must undergo emergency evolution! The Host will be forcefully leveled up so they don't explode!]

[You have leveled up!]

…

[Level: 15→40]

[Name: Layla of the Fallen]

[Title: Angel of Hope]

[Level: 15]

[Sacred Gears: Purger of Darkness, Orb of Anywhere]

[HP: 8200]

[MP: 2100]

[Vigor: 220]

[Strength: 70]

[Intelligence: 210]

[Luck: 100]

[Skills: Observe 3, Angelic Mastery 4, Acting 3, Light Manipulation 6, HP to MP conversion]

[Perks: Never Tell Me the Odds, Mana Replenisher, Lucky Shot, Mana Burst]

[Drawbacks: Sin of Lust]

[Available Free Stat Points: 250!!!]

[Skill Up Point: 0]

…

[The host is in too much pain to properly distribute stat points. All 250 points will be allocated to Intelligence.]

I let out a scream as another pair of wings burst out from my back!

XXX

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