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Seeing Tony get sent flying, Rimuru was momentarily speechless.
More importantly, her face hurt.
Just a moment ago, she had confidently assured Pepper and the three kids that everything was under control. Then, in the very next second, Tony was whipped away by an electric lash.
Tony Stark, Tony Stark... were you doing this on purpose just to spite her?
He wasn't some hot-blooded shonen protagonist.
Who gets beaten half to death in every single fight?
Had anyone ever seen a third-generation machine defeat a fourth-generation one?
The F-22 wasn't some outdated internet meme. No matter what comparison you made, a newer generation of technology should have a clear advantage.
Of course, if we were talking about a certain country whose military once managed to sink its own submarine inside its own shipyard using an anti-ship missile launched from another submarine, then Rimuru couldn't guarantee anything.
The Crimson Armor's technology level was, at best, comparable to the Mark II. Its overall design philosophy was nearly identical to that of the Iron Overlord.
Compared to the sleek and refined aesthetics of the Mark series, Crimson inherited the traditional characteristics of Russian weaponry:
Massive.
Heavy.
Rugged.
Brutal.
But Rimuru had to admit—
The Crimson Armor looked incredibly fierce and imposing.
If Tony's Mark armor resembled an exquisite work of art or an expensive toy for the wealthy, then Crimson was a genuine battlefield killing machine—the poor man's iron rose.
Without the generous assistance of Justin Hammer, Ivan Vanko naturally wouldn't have had access to those advanced materials.
Compared to the original movie timeline, Ivan's greatest advantage in this world was the abundance of information available about the Mark armor.
Mark had fought Abomination.
Fengshen had battled the Hulk.
With Ivan Vanko's computer expertise, obtaining classified military footage was hardly difficult.
Armed with enough combat data, it was only natural that he could devise countermeasures.
Still, a technological generation gap wasn't something that could easily be overcome.
Especially after Rimuru—the little butterfly effect—appeared, causing Tony to suffer far more setbacks and forcing the Mark series to evolve at a much faster pace.
Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!
The electric whip continuously emitted ear-splitting arcs of electricity.
No one knew exactly how much Ivan had increased its power output, but the whip seemed almost possessed by overwhelming destructive force.
Every time it struck the ground, a massive trench was instantly carved into the arena floor.
The Mark armor, which had already been blasted away moments earlier, was covered in alarming damage.
Yet in Rimuru's eyes, that was all superficial.
By this stage, both Mark and Fengshen had long solved issues like electrical resistance and insulation.
Electricity shouldn't have posed any serious threat.
What Rimuru couldn't endure, however, was the ignorance of the spectators.
"Ivan!"
"Ivan!"
"Ivan!"
The crowd erupted into thunderous cheers.
After all, defeating Tony Stark—the richest man in the world—was the kind of underdog story everyone loved.
In the blink of an eye, Ivan Vanko and his Crimson Armor had won over nearly the entire arena.
Unlike the others, Pepper's expression grew increasingly worried.
Her beautiful eyes widened, and her breathing became noticeably faster.
Rimuru gently comforted her.
"Pepper, don't worry. Mark IV has plenty of ways to deal with a heavily armored opponent like Crimson."
"Even without anything else, the anti-armor missiles, corrosive missiles, and laser-cutting beam are more than enough to turn Crimson into scrap metal."
"Right..."
Pepper didn't know much about mecha technology.
But Rimuru's explanation sounded logical, clear, and convincing.
She immediately felt a little more reassured.
Seeing that her words had worked, Rimuru flashed a confident smile.
In the original movie, Tony and Ivan had nearly fought each other to death because they were exhausted after battling an entire army of Hammer drones.
Most of Mark's weapons had already been depleted.
Even his trump card—the laser-cutting beam—had been used up.
Aside from briefly firing a few shoulder-mounted micro-missiles, Tony had spent most of that battle fighting hand-to-hand.
Naturally, getting battered by bare fists and electric whips had left him in terrible shape.
But the current situation was completely different.
Mark was fully armed.
Fully upgraded.
And operating at peak condition.
Losing should have been practically impossible.
"Pepper, you've already seen how powerful those electric whips are."
"With Tony's intelligence, there's no way he'd engage Crimson in close combat."
"All he needs to do is use Mark IV's superior mobility, create some distance, and kite Crimson around the arena while bombarding it from range."
Before Rimuru could even finish speaking—
The thrusters beneath Tony's feet erupted with blazing flames.
Mark IV instantly shot into the sky.
Wearing his trademark arrogant grin, Tony raised a fist the size of a sandbag and charged directly at Ivan Vanko.
CLANG!
The Crimson Armor staggered backward after taking a heavy punch.
Tony's iron fist nearly knocked Ivan off his feet.
Unfortunately—
Even the smallest mistake could lead to catastrophic consequences.
The moment Ivan regained his balance, he swung an electric whip backhandedly toward Mark's neck.
Crackle!
The whip wrapped itself around Mark IV's throat.
Perhaps because the current was exceptionally powerful, the armor's systems suffered temporary interference.
Then—
Tony Stark dropped to one knee.
Literally.
He knelt.
The smile on Rimuru's face slowly disappeared.
Her expression stiffened.
Tony Stark...
Were you sent here by the Monkey King just to mess with people?
This battle was so absurd that it was crushing her IQ.
You were piloting a lightweight, highly mobile combat armor.
Your opponent looked like a moving fortress.
And your solution was to charge into melee range?
Had your brain stopped functioning?
Seeing the suspicious looks in Pepper's eyes—as well as those of Peter, Mindy, and Dave—Rimuru felt her face burning with embarrassment.
She was supposed to be the real expert here.
A genuine expert.
Not some fake analyst.
And she was being humiliated in front of a group of younger kids.
She wanted to save at least a little face.
So what exactly was happening?
Did the Crimson Armor possess some unknown black technology?
Mental attacks, perhaps?
"Great Sage, does Ivan's Crimson Armor possess any special unknown technology?"
Answer: No unknown special weapon systems detected.
"What about psychic abilities or mind-control powers?"
Normally, Rimuru would never have asked such a ridiculous question.
Because Ivan Vanko clearly had no superpowers.
But at this point, she was beginning to doubt reality itself.
Answer: No abnormal psychic fluctuations detected.
Rimuru: "..."
In other words—
Tony was getting beaten by the Crimson Armor because this was genuinely his actual performance.
Black lines instantly appeared across Rimuru's forehead.
Without hesitation, she added another item to her notebook.
She now had one more reason to beat up Tony Stark.
Back in the arena, the battle gradually reached a stalemate.
After several exchanges, Tony finally managed to tear away Ivan's twin electric whips, though the effort left his own armor damaged as well.
The intensity of the fight immediately skyrocketed.
With the electric whips gone, the two mecha were suddenly fighting on nearly equal footing.
There were no flashy tricks.
No complicated tactics.
Only the most primitive and violent form of combat:
Collision.
Impact.
And pure brute force.
The battle was so fierce that every clash sounded like two mountains colliding.
The thunderous booms echoed throughout the arena.
A fight between giant mecha was infinitely more exciting than a fight between ordinary men.
The terrifying sense of weight behind every impact perfectly embodied the aesthetics of violence.
Each collision sent shockwaves through the audience.
Whenever chunks of steel armor were torn apart, showers of sparks erupted into the air.
The spectacle awakened humanity's most primal instincts.
Blood rushed to people's brains.
The crowd screamed.
Roared.
Howled.
Everyone had gone completely mad with excitement.
Even Rimuru, who normally couldn't stand bloody violence, found herself infected by the atmosphere.
Without bullets.
Without futuristic super-weapons.
Just pure martial combat.
It was unbelievably cool.
"So this is a true martial arts match..."
"Crimson is far heavier than Mark. If this keeps going, Tony will definitely lose."
BOOM!
During another violent collision, Tony made a slight mistake.
Crimson seized the opportunity and landed a devastating uppercut directly on Mark IV's jaw.
Tony was sent tumbling backward across the arena floor.
Tony Stark: "..."
Pepper: "..."
Peter Parker: "..."
Mindy: "..."
Dave: "..."