Chapter 80: [184] - The Eternal, Ikaris

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Their bodies were covered in rough, black chitinous shells—cracked and fissured all over.

Dark golden light leaked through the cracks and crevices, as if molten lava flowed beneath the surface. Asymmetrical limbs—some with multiple arms, others with writhing tentacles...

As Hawk looked at the two Deviants in front of him, he remembered Felicia's description.

It wasn't just close.

It was identical.

But—

These two Deviants, which were currently roaring at him in aggressive postures, weren't attacking.

Was it because they didn't want to?

No!

They couldn't. Because these two Deviants had been chained up.

That's right.

Caged.

Hawk immediately noticed the chains wrapped around the two Deviants.

Two thick chains—gleaming silver, looking almost identical to Adamantium—were wrapped tightly around each Deviant's torso. The other ends were anchored deep into the mountain wall behind them.

No matter how hard the Deviants struggled, the chains connected to the mountain remained taut and unyielding. There wasn't even the slightest sign of breaking.

"Deviants... Chained up."

"What the—"

After processing what he was seeing, Hawk couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath. His mind was racing with questions.

But that wasn't the point.

The point was—as the two Deviants thrashed in fury at the sight of him, the rattling chains caused the moss and outer layer of the mountain to crumble away, revealing what lay beneath.

Hawk stared as the mountain's surface peeled back, exposing a silver glow. He froze for a second, then walked over to the exposed section. The moment his hand made contact with the wall, he opened his Sixth Sense fully.

And then—

He was stunned.

No way...

The entire mountain was Adamantium? Are you kidding me?

Hawk's mind flashed back to when he'd first descended—all those floating mountains he'd seen scattered throughout the Hollow World. His shock multiplied tenfold.

To be honest, before coming down here, Hawk had been hoping to find some Adamantium. But he'd assumed it would be like Vibranium—something he'd have to dig out like a miner.

Turned out, he didn't need to dig at all. These floating mountains—large and small—suspended in the Hollow World's sky were made entirely of Adamantium. They'd just been petrified over countless millennia, forming what looked like ordinary rock.

Hawk's heart started racing. He made an immediate decision, turned around, and didn't even spare a glance at the two chained Deviants.

He didn't know what had happened here.

But... Not his problem.

He'd come here to find Adamantium. What happened in this place—and why it happened—was none of his business.

Grab the Adamantium and get out.

That was the plan. Hawk stepped back through the white barrier, returning to the temple.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Two beams of golden energy slammed into Hawk's chest. Caught off guard, he shot backward like a meteor, rocketing through the barrier and back into the canyon where the Deviants were chained. His momentum didn't stop until his back slammed into the Adamantium mountain wall.

The mountain shuddered. More moss and stone crumbled away, exposing an even larger section of that distinctive silver glow.

At the same time—

The two Deviants, seeing that Hawk had suddenly reappeared within their attack range, didn't hesitate. Roaring like chained guard dogs, they lunged at him.

Hawk's Cosmo ignited instantly. He threw a punch, and with a sickening crunch, his fist punched clean through one Deviant's torso. Then, without missing a beat, he spun mid-air and delivered a brutal axe kick to the second Deviant, slamming it into the ground.

The impact was so powerful that the Deviant's head smashed into the earth—revealing that the ground itself was also made of Adamantium.

Which was harder—a Deviant's skull or Adamantium?

The answer was obvious.

With a melon-splitting sound, the two chained Deviants were now just corpses—one with its stomach blown out, the other with its head shattered.

Inside the gut of the one with the blown-out stomach, a partially formed Skullcrawler was visible.

Clearly, The Skullcrawlers that had been roaming outside—and the ones climbing up to Skull Island—were mutated offspring born from these two captive Deviants breeding with each other.

Hawk's mind raced as he pulled his gaze away from the Deviant corpses and focused on the white barrier in front of him.

...

Soon.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the temple. A man emerged.

He had a rugged face, black hair, piercing blue eyes, and a muscular build. He wore a blue-and-gold uniform.

The man's gaze first landed on the two dead Deviants at Hawk's feet.

Then, When his eyes shifted to Hawk, his blue irises flooded with golden energy. An instant later, two beams—identical to Superman's heat vision—shot toward Hawk.

"The same trick doesn't work twice on a Saint."

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Hawk watched the attack coming and threw a punch to deflect it. At the same time, his body flickered and vanished. When he reappeared—accompanied by the sound of the Phoenix Cloth materializing and locking into place—he was directly in front of the man. And his fist slammed into the man's chest.

Turnabout's fair play.

The rugged man's expression flickered with surprise. Then, just like he'd done to Hawk moments earlier, he was sent flying backward.

CRASH!

The man shot through the white barrier and slammed into one of the massive statues in the temple.

The impact caused the petrified outer layer of the statue to crack and fall away, revealing the silver glow beneath.

Even the statues are made of Adamantium?

Hawk flickered after him, watching as the massive statue began to topple. His mind reeled. Then he flickered again, reappearing in front of the man—who had just stabilized himself mid-air.

Another punch.

WHAM!

"You're asking for it!"

The man's eyes blazed with golden energy once more. Scorching beams erupted from his pupils and collided with Hawk's fist in mid-air.

The violent energy exploded outward, flooding the temple. The entire structure began to tremble.

From the ceiling beams to the walls to the floor—everything began to crack and peel. The petrification and moss fell away completely, revealing what the temple had always been made of.

Still Adamantium.

The legendary metal—supposedly rarer and stronger than Vibranium, indestructible once set—was lying around this place like trash.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The shockwave from the clash sent both Hawk and the man flying backward.

Soon, The two of them stabilized mid-air—one hovering near the temple entrance, the other near the white barrier. They faced each other across the vast, open space of the temple.

Hawk's Cosmo continued to burn. He stared at the rugged, black-haired man across from him. His mind raced through possibilities until it landed on a name.

"Ikaris!"

"..."

Hearing Hawk call out his name, Ikaris—who had been preparing to unleash another blast—paused. The golden energy in his eyes flickered but didn't fire.

Still, his gaze remained ice-cold as he stared at Hawk. His voice was low and dangerous.

"Who are you?"

"So it really is you..."

Hawk's suspicion was confirmed. His gaze swept across the ten statues in the temple, then the murals on the walls. Finally, his eyes settled on the skeleton that had just fully collapsed from the tremors—the one with the hole punched through its chest.

"The two people in those murals—that's you and Sersi, right?"

"The Iwi living here are your descendants. Yours and Sersi's."

"Am I right?"

Hawk spoke while keeping his eyes locked on Ikaris.

Ikaris's gaze was glacial.

His response was the same as before.

"Who the hell are you?!"

"Hawk. Just a guy passing through."

"Passing through?" Ikaris's gaze lowered slightly. Then his eyes returned to Hawk. "No one on this planet has energy as powerful as yours."

Hawk smiled faintly. "I had my own lucky break."

See?

Before Hawk had gotten the Reality Stone, Mephisto had seen through him immediately—recognized that his power came from outside this universe.

But after using the Reality Stone to manifest and solidify his energy, even an Eternal like Ikaris couldn't tell where his power really came from.

By now, Hawk had pieced together what had happened here.

Years ago, after Ajak—the leader of the Eternals—led the team in eliminating the last Deviant, she told everyone to scatter across the world and wait for the Emergence.

Ikaris and another Eternal, Sersi, had stumbled upon the Hollow World. They'd settled here. And the Iwi were born.

But later, Ikaris and Sersi left for some reason, abandoning the Iwi to fend for themselves.

At some point after that, Ikaris came back. And he brought two Deviants with him.

The Iwi had no choice but to flee to the surface—to Skull Island. Over time, thanks to the different flow of time, they gradually devolved into the native tribespeople. Only the high priests, passed down from generation to generation, knew the truth about the Deviants.

As for why Ikaris did all this?

Who knew? But one thing was certain—Ikaris had brought back Deviants that were supposed to have been wiped out. That much was undeniable.

In the Eternals storyline, after the truth came out that Ikaris had used Deviants to kill Ajak, Sersi had confronted him. She'd demanded to know: "Did you bring the Deviants back?"

And Ikaris's response?

Silence.

Silence was answer enough.

Just like now.

Ikaris listened to Hawk's claim about having a "lucky break," then let out a cold laugh. His eyes flooded with golden energy once more.

"I don't care who you are. Now that you know, you're not leaving."

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

"..."

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