Chapter 264

Thus, Captain America, Black Widow, and Melinda finalized their plan beneath the eastern window of the command vehicle on a dark and windy night.

The three led the operation team quietly into the village—no shooting—slipping into the factory building. Then, relying on the twelve anti-Sorcerer bracelets, they would catch Evenson off guard, seize him in one fell swoop, and escort him to Fengbo Pavilion—ah, no, escort him back to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Unfortunately, they had been discovered.

Awooo—Woof! Just as they had made it halfway in with their people, a resounding howl, wolf-like at the front and dog-like at the end, tore through the night sky.

"Damn it, Hubbs." Natasha, holding two pistols and advancing in a crouch, frowned and cursed under her breath at the howl.

"Who?" Captain America immediately asked.

"That dog Evenson keeps… I suppose it counts as a dog." Melinda, also crouching, spoke with a grave expression. "It looks like a Husky, but it has extremely powerful tracking abilities. When Tony Stark was kidnapped by terrorists in Afghanistan last time, they found him through its sense of smell."

After explaining that, Melinda added doubtfully, "That shouldn’t be possible. The nearby surveillance footage showed no sign of Hubbs being here. It and Evenson’s other four subordinates should be in Scotland."

"He must have used some special method to hide their movements," Natasha guessed. "Or some unknown means to bring them here."

"Summoning…" Melinda seemed to recall something. "I remember Evenson once used a scroll to summon some monsters. He must have used the same method to call his subordinates back."

"This just got harder." Natasha pressed both of her bracers, and blue fluorescent light immediately flashed over them. "We don’t have much information on those people, but anyone who could live under the same roof as Evenson for so long definitely isn’t normal."

"There’s no point sneaking in now." Captain America straightened up. "Since we’ve been discovered, we can only speed things up and deny him time for his next move."

Then he said to the others, "I’m going on ahead. Keep up."

With a whoosh, Captain America charged out like an unchained Seventy-Six. Back in the day, he had chased cars on foot on land and submarines barehanded in the water. Bolt’s speed would only count as failing before him.

"I’m here." Before long, Captain America had reached the base of the building’s wall. Judging from the speed at which he spoke through his communicator, he had sprinted that distance without even needing to catch his breath.

"I’m going in." Captain America notified his companions. I’m about to dive the tower for a forced kill. Hurry and catch up. But his expression suddenly changed. "Damn…"

The moment he said that, he leaped away from the wall. In the blink of an eye, before his feet even touched the ground, the wall he had been pressed against was smashed open, and a hulking man charged out from inside.

"Tyler…" Melinda spotted the tall figure from afar. "Quick, rush him."

The fighting had already started up ahead. What was the point of hiding around here at a snail’s pace? Charge in already.

"Hm?" Tyler, who had burst through the wall, saw the large group rushing toward him in the distance. Rather than fear, he bared a savage grin and mocked Captain America. "Can’t you even fight on your own?"

"Hmph…" Captain America looked at the big man before him and smiled as he shook his head, utterly disdainful. Yet as he casually swayed his body, he suddenly raised his hand and hurled his shield at Tyler.

Captain America did not underestimate Tyler. Though he had knocked down plenty of similarly burly men before, not one of them had ever been able to smash through a wall—especially an old concrete wall from the World War II era.

Unfortunately, Captain America’s tried-and-true heroic throw, which sometimes even defied the laws of physics, was caught by Tyler with a single outstretched hand.

"Interesting." Tyler caught the shield one-handed, grinned, and lightly tossed it back. "But I’m looking forward to a real challenge!"

Captain America had barely caught the shield when he saw Tyler’s body undergo a drastic transformation. He grew even more massive, his clothes bursting apart. His skin turned bluish-black, his features became more ferocious, and his eyes glowed scarlet. Even more shockingly, a towering horn sprouted from his head, bony spikes emerged segment by segment along his back, and his feet turned into hooves.

"The Burning Legion conquers all!" Tyler, returning to his Demon Guard form, charged Captain America with a spiked battering ram in hand.

As for why he was not wielding that iconic Arclight Axe, it was naturally because of Evenson’s orders.

Hubbs’s perception range was enormous, and that dog never liked using barks to relay information. So, from the moment these people had been lying in ambush outside and discussing their plan, Evenson had already known they were coming.

But what else could he do? Make a ninety-year-old woman—also a former S.H.I.E.L.D. leader—kneel on a concrete floor with her hands shackled and suspended, then tell everyone he was giving her physical therapy? Who would believe that?

Since it was impossible to explain clearly, there was no need to explain. Once his side had settled things, the facts would speak louder than any argument.

So he had his subordinates prepare to receive the guests—ah, no, to hold those people off. He also instructed them not to kill anyone if possible, because once lives were lost, things would truly become difficult to handle.

With that in mind, Tyler’s Arclight Axe, which could split ten people in one swing, was naturally forbidden. Evenson had even specifically told him to switch to a gentler weapon.

Tyler thought it over. Since the boss considered bladed weapons insufficiently gentle, he would switch to one without a blade. So he came out carrying this spiked battering ram. Sigh, it still felt gentler than an axe.

Bang, bang, bang!

A continuous series of impacts rang out as Tyler swung the battering ram again and again at Captain America.

However, Captain America was completely outmatched in strength against this Demon Guard restored to his true form. As for combat experience… let’s just talk about the difference in strength.

All he could do now was raise his shield and struggle to block. Tyler was also considerate enough to act like Captain America’s usual enemies: he struck nowhere else and kept hammering the shield.

Just then, Natasha and the others finally arrived with their people. Although they all carried guns, who would dare fire support shots from afar during such close-quarters combat? My ancestry may be Russian, but that didn’t mean I could shoot my own people first.

"Get ready to support the Captain… Hm? Ugh!" Just as Natasha prepared to go help Captain America, she suddenly felt her waist tighten, as though something long and thin had wrapped around it. Then an enormous force yanked her away.

"Beautiful lady, if you go any farther, you might get hurt." It was a gentle female voice, yet it made Natasha’s skin crawl.