Marvel’s Shadowed Knight

"Ah!!"

The excruciating pain made it impossible for the two Hydra soldiers to suppress their screams.

But Bruce was about to teach them the true meaning of silence.

With a swift step forward, Bruce instantly closed the distance to one of the soldiers.

A single slap was enough to make the Hydra soldier understand what "quiet" truly meant.

At the same time, Bruce retrieved his Batarang from the soldier.

Turning around, he was already in front of the last Hydra soldier. Using the same Batarang he had just reclaimed, he drove it directly into the soldier's left shoulder.

Gripping the embedded Batarang with both hands, Bruce exerted force, slamming the Hydra soldier hard against the wall.

Blood oozed from the wound beneath the Batarang.

But the Bat's assault was far from over.

He pulled out the Batarang, and in the next instant, delivered a powerful punch to the soldier's face.

Meanwhile, the Hydra soldiers outside had no intention of engaging Batman in close-quarters combat within the confined room.

They had already surrounded the space completely.

With a single hand signal from their leader, the Hydra soldiers unleashed a relentless hail of bullets, emptying their magazines in seconds.

The expensive vases, classical oil paintings—everything in the room was obliterated by the relentless gunfire.

All traces of refinement were reduced to nothing in the face of such firepower.

Yet, despite this, Crossbones still felt uneasy.

His initial underestimation of this opponent had completely vanished.

Every piece of intel on this guy described him as nothing more than a wealthy man with some gadgets, but Crossbones refused to believe that a mere rich man could wipe out an entire squad with such ease.

He signaled to a soldier beside him.

Understanding the order, the soldier grabbed a grenade from his belt, ready to toss it inside.

As for their own men still inside the room?

Collateral damage was an expected part of any mission.

However, before the soldier could throw the grenade, a Batarang suddenly shot out through the shattered wooden door.

It didn't hit anyone—just lodged itself into the ground.

One of the soldiers glanced down at it.

That's when he noticed the center of the Batarang blinking repeatedly.

"Buzz~~~~"

A blinding flash accompanied by a powerful shockwave instantly sent the Hydra soldiers flying.

Worse yet, they had all been looking directly at it through night-vision goggles.

Agonized screams filled the air—an apt description of the chaotic scene.

"Crash!"

A nearby window shattered as a dark figure burst through.

The Bat landed among them, resembling a demon hunting its prey.

If vampires still existed in this world—before the Ultimate Alliance had eradicated them—Crossbones would have sworn this guy was one of them.

Shoving aside the fallen Hydra soldiers around him, Crossbones locked eyes with Batman. He flicked out his baton, tilting his head as he smirked, "Looks like you're quite the stubborn bastard."

During the explosion, Crossbones had instinctively pulled a Hydra soldier in front of him as a human shield.

It had worked—aside from some mild ringing in his ears, he remained unharmed.

"Hydra?" Batman's raspy voice immediately exposed their identity.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Crossbones feigned ignorance.

Then, without warning, he launched himself forward, swinging his baton straight at Batman's head.

Batman raised his arm, blocking the attack with his gauntlet. Without hesitation, he stepped in closer, breaching Crossbones' guard.

With a sharp elbow strike, he drove the blow straight into Crossbones' chest.

For a split second, Crossbones felt his heart stop.

But Batman showed no sign of letting up.

As Crossbones instinctively tried to retreat and widen the distance between them…

The Bat decisively twisted Crossbones' wrist, pulling him back in front of him.

Using the momentum, he drove his knee straight into Crossbones' diaphragm, the spot between his chest and abdomen.

At that moment, Crossbones felt more than just his heart momentarily stop—his lungs spasmed violently from the impact.

This time, he had no strength left to create distance.

Batman's relentless assault had completely numbed his body.

Grabbing Crossbones by the head, Batman clenched the Hydra enforcer's neck firmly.

"For Kingpin?" Batman's voice was steady, completely unshaken.

Crossbones simply smirked.

He wasn't going to reveal anything to this guy. Even if he was now at his mercy, he would never talk.

"So, it's for Hydra? You couldn't stand the fact that I took Fisk Industries from you?" Bruce observed Crossbones' face as he spoke slowly.

Crossbones was still smiling, but this time, his grin seemed far more genuine than before.

"Then let's die together!" he suddenly shouted.

He slammed a button on his chest—not a self-destruct mechanism, but a signal.

Bruce instantly realized what was about to happen.

Without hesitation, he released Crossbones and leaped out of the same window he had crashed through earlier, using his cape to glide away.

But he was a second too late.

Just as he took off, a missile streaked toward Kane Manor.

The explosion erupted behind him in an instant.

Even with his cape absorbing some of the impact, the shockwave sent Batman flying nearly a hundred meters, hurling him into the trees.

By the time Tony arrived, all that remained was a blazing ruin.

"This isn't what I expected," Tony muttered as he landed on the smoldering wreckage. "Scan for any signs of life."

"No life signs detected."

"That's a shame. I was hoping to have a conversation with him." Tony shook his head.

He didn't know who was behind this, but in modern America, nothing really surprised him anymore.

"Hey, Fury, got some bad news—want to hear it?"

"Kane Manor, belonging to one Wick John Kane, just got blown up."

"Who did it? Go find out yourself."

As Tony's red-and-gold suit carried him away from the scene, a staggering figure slowly emerged from the forest.

Queens, New York.

May Parker had dozed off on the couch while watching television.

She was startled awake by a knock at the door.

"Who is it!?" May called out, her grip tightening around a baseball bat as she cautiously moved toward the entrance.

When she opened the door, she immediately dropped the bat and rushed forward to support the unsteady figure standing there.

"Sorry… I need urgent medical help," Batman's raspy voice could barely conceal his exhaustion.

"I understand, I understand," May said, looking at the young man before her.

For a moment, it felt like her nephew was standing in front of her again.

(End of Chapter)

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