Marvel: The Imposter Inventor

Chapter 296 Call Me ADC, Progress Stalled

"Captain, raise the shield!"

A roar came from not far behind him. Without the slightest hesitation, Steve kicked away the demon that was still trying to entangle him.

He then quickly raised the shield, crouched down, and curled up most of his body behind the vibranium shield.

The next moment, an arrow flashing a dangerous red light swiftly flew over Steve's head and landed in an exaggerated parabola into the large group of lizard demons in the distance.

"boom--"

Flames soared into the sky, and the earth trembled.

The group of demons that had gathered together were instantly blown to pieces, and the translucent shockwave carried away the debris and spread outwards.

The windows of all the buildings on both sides of the street were shattered, and a huge circular crater was left on the ground at the center of the explosion.

Even Steve, who was more than 100 meters away from the center of the explosion, was thrown several meters by the huge wave generated by the explosion and crashed hard into a bus behind him.

"Ahem, Patton, didn't we agree to reduce the charging time by one second?"

He forced himself to stand up despite the pain in his back, ignoring the car behind him that had been smashed into a large dent.

As Steve spoke, he raised his shield again and smashed it a few times, killing the demon that had been entangled with him just moments before, only to be embedded in the vehicle's metal frame due to lack of preparation.

However, before Hawkeye, who was somewhat embarrassed, could give an answer...

Hulk, who was closer to the explosion's epicenter, had already crawled out of the collapsed building, covered in dust and dirt.

"Roar!!"

Enraged, Hulk grabbed two pieces of rubble, each over a meter long, and hurled them at the two demons beside Hawkeye.

Two loud 'bang' sounds rang out.

Feeling the whistling wind rushing past his ears, and witnessing the demon's head being smashed open by a rock, Clint felt a chill run down his lower body, and his lips twitched involuntarily.

"Hey! Hulk! I'm here to help you get out of this siege!"

"Hulk, I hate explosions!!"

He bared his teeth angrily at Eagle Eye in the distance, smashing the surrounding building ruins and sending rubble flying. He then kicked away a demon that was still writhing at his feet, not quite dead yet.

Hulk then charged forward once more.

"Captain, we're still 800 meters from the next gate of hell!"

Natasha, who ran up from behind, reached out and helped Steve, who was staggering, to his feet. She looked at the projection screen on her wrist and said softly.

"I'm fine, hurry up and catch up, don't let Hulk charge that deep by himself again!"

After saying this, Steve strode after him.

That's right, although they were supposed to be acting separately, and Luca had assigned bodyguard mechs to assist them.

However, not every Avenger has the ability to fight independently against the tide of demons.

Coincidentally, Hulk, being an unstable element, needed Natasha's company, so naturally, Steve and Clint, who were weaker in combat, were also grouped together, forming a four-person team.

However, perhaps even Hawkeye himself did not expect that when dealing with enemies like the Demon, who have high attack and defense and diverse and bizarre abilities, his output as an 'ADC' was not weaker than that of a 'berserker' like Hulk.

Most demons cannot withstand the attack of laser arrows head-on. Even for the few demons with specialized defensive capabilities, Luca has equipped them with special energy-piercing arrows among his unique arrows. And if a large number of demons are clustered together, a single charged explosive arrow can achieve a near-wipeout effect.

After going back and forth like this, Steve and Natasha actually started to regret not agreeing to Luca's 'trade-in' equipment upgrade event.

However, even with Hawkeye, an excellent DPS, and Hulk, a trailblazer comparable to a demon bulldozer, Steve and his team can still clearly feel that it is becoming increasingly difficult to continue advancing.

Initially, they didn't even need to look at the 'map of spatial weaknesses' provided by Tony Stark; they could roughly determine where the Gates of Hell were located simply by the density of the demons.

But now, the demons that have spread have spread throughout New York, and even the areas behind them where the passageways have been closed will soon be filled with demons that have escaped from other gates of hell.

Especially since there weren't many living people in New York at the moment, those headless demons would swarm around them like a flood the instant they sensed the presence of the Avengers.

The density is almost comparable to the zombie hordes depicted in movies and TV shows.

How many gates of hell are still open?

After Steve smashed down six or seven demons with a flying shield, he let the Haro mechs in the air finish them off, and then turned to Natasha beside him and asked a question.

"There are 8887 left. Most of Manhattan and the Bronx have been cleared out, but most of the clearing was done in Orange. His mobility and destructive power are very strong, and those demons can hardly hinder him."

Natasha, hiding behind a stone wall, looked at the information in her hand and spoke quickly.

What Natasha said was not an exaggeration.

Luca, piloting the Boxer Gundam, could basically crush those demons, especially since the Gundam itself possessed excellent flight capabilities.

In fact, without the other Avengers members to 'drag' him down, Luca mostly ignored the demons' attacks.

They rushed straight to a gate of hell, cleared out the surrounding demons with a bombardment, then had the Haro mechs that followed them bring over a 'box' to cover it up, and finally fired and left.

Otherwise, given the speed at which Steve and his team advanced on the ground, it would have been impossible to close so many Hell Gates in such a short time.

The reason why the Avengers prioritized cleaning up Manhattan and the Bronx was not due to considerations of financial or economic prosperity.

After this battle, New York was destined to become ruins, and all its former glory would remain in the past.

The main reason is that these two regions in the northwest are closer to the land, and New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania are all located in this direction.

Closing all the gates of hell in this direction as soon as possible would reduce the difficulty of sealing off the demons. Rather than letting them wreak havoc on the land, the people's original intention was to drive these demons towards the sea.

However, given the current number of demons, this goal is clearly difficult to achieve.

"As the blockade becomes increasingly difficult to maintain, Orange has withdrawn a portion of its outer AI forces into New York to assist in destroying the Gates of Hell."

"In addition, some of the mages from Ka. Kamar-Taj also set aside some of their manpower to participate in the cleanup of the Staten area."

"The speed at which the gates of hell are closed should be able to improve, but... the number of demons that have spread out is probably..."

At this point, Natasha's tone became hesitant.

Clearly, although a solution to the Gates of Hell has been found, at this rate, the battlefield may eventually spread to the entire East Coast.

However, just as the two fell into a brief silence, Rhodes's voice, tinged with fear, suddenly rang out in the communication channel.

"Hey guys, does anyone know where I can find a shipping container that's over 100 meters long?!"

(End of this chapter)