Chapter Forty: The Final Battle Begins

On the opposite shore, gazing at the massive dragon bones spiraling above the Statue of Liberty, Alexandra and her four companions felt a surge of fanaticism well up in their eyes. Yet this fervor, when it touched upon Gu Zhongyan atop the dragon bones, transformed into a bone-chilling cold. Clearly, Gu Zhongyan, who had forced them to sacrifice their souls and then seized the dragon bones, had become the most hated existence in their four hundred years.

“Kill!”
Over a hundred ninjas swarmed forward like a hive, moving with precise coordination. The rear ranks drew their bows and fired, sending a dense hail of arrows whistling toward the five figures on Liberty Island. At the same time, the front ranks moved swiftly, dashing onto the steel bridge that led to Liberty Island, as if storming a beachhead.

Their training was evident; both the flying arrows and their charge were flawless. Gu Zhongyan knew he had to deal with the ninjas before the Five Fingers landed on the island, otherwise the battle would become much more difficult.

“Luke, block the bridge! Leave the arrows in the rear to me. The rest of you, stay alert. Don’t let them set foot on Liberty Island.”

With that, he waved his wand, casting two spells in quick succession.

“Hurricane!”
“Flying Sand and Stones!”

A whirlwind materialized out of nowhere, sweeping into the rain of arrows. Though it didn’t scatter them entirely, the wind diminished their speed and force, ruining their aim. Not only did the sharp arrows fail to hit their marks, most couldn’t even cross the water between the shores, falling straight down into the sea.

The manicured lawn beneath the Statue of Liberty, under the spell of flying sand and stones, erupted into chunks of turf that hurled themselves onto the already narrow steel bridge, quickly piling up into mounds that broke the ninjas’ momentum.

At this moment, Luke Cage let out a roar and, following the direction of the wind, charged toward the bridge. Like a giant, he smashed a heavy fist into a ninja who had just vaulted over the mound. Bang! Like a missile, the ninja was sent flying before he could react, crashing into the rear ranks and eliciting cries of pain.

Standing atop the bridge, Luke was like an enraged polar bear; each swing of his fist sent a ninja flying. Though the ninjas were numerous, the bridge was narrow, and Gu Zhongyan had shaped its terrain with turf and soil into a virtual bottleneck.

Luke stood there, exuding the aura of a lone defender, holding back an army. Especially as he was immune to blades and bullets, enhanced by two of Gu Zhongyan’s spells, he faced the ninjas’ attacks with pure offense and little need for defense. In a short time, he had severely wounded at least seven or eight ninjas, rendering them incapable of fighting.

If Luke was formidable alone, there was more to contend with than just him. While Luke blocked the bridge, the other three did not idle. The Old Staff, in particular, showed a ruthlessness beyond the others. Though Luke’s attacks were devastating, he still held to a principle of not killing outright. The Old Staff, however, had no such qualms; whenever Luke crippled a ninja, he would step forward without hesitation to deliver the fatal blow, harvesting souls one after another.

If Luke and the Old Staff held the ground, then Jessica, with her ability to fly, was the guardian of the waters. The ninjas of the Hand were well-trained and would not neglect swimming. While the main force charged on land, a small contingent swam around to flank from the water, hoping to break the defense from another direction.

But reality proved harsher than their hopes. In front of Matt, who was almost a human radar, even their near-silent swimming could not escape his ears. Once detected, Jessica would launch herself like an arrow, soaring toward the water and smashing a fist onto a ninja’s head.

With her ability to lift cars with ease and throw shoes hard enough to embed them in the floor, Jessica’s punches were no less punishing than Luke’s. Almost no ninja could remain functional after taking a hit from her. If one did, she simply hit them again.

She darted across the water as if playing whack-a-mole, landing punch after punch upon the ninjas’ heads. In no time, a dozen bodies floated on the surface, unconscious or drowned.

With four blocking the assault and Gu Zhongyan’s magic supporting them, not a single ninja managed to set foot on Liberty Island. Yet the favorable situation did not allow Gu Zhongyan to relax. He knew well that, compared to these seemingly elite ninja troops, the true threat lay in the five elders of the Hand. The charging ninjas were merely a cover for their movements.

Indeed, just as the ninja army was completely blocked, the Five Fingers of the Hand moved. Watching their falling comrades, Alexandra growled, “Useless!” and shot forward like an arrow toward Luke on the bridge.

“Hah!”
She stepped into a bow stance, left foot forward, right foot back, her arm bent, and launched a punch at Luke. He, lacking any prior experience fighting the Hand, was caught unprepared and took Alexandra’s punch squarely on the chest.

Yet Alexandra was startled to find that her sure-hit strike was stopped at the last instant by an invisible force, unable to land at all. Though Luke was momentarily caught off guard, he was a street-honed superhero; he clenched his fist and unleashed a heavy punch, the wind howling as it crashed forward.

Alexandra’s expression shifted, and she hastily countered, her fists flying like cannonballs, left and right, generating a barrage of thunderous impacts that shook the air with force.

But in the urgency of the moment, the force behind her punches faltered. Bang! A numbing shock ran up her arm, and she was thrown backwards, landing hard atop two nearby ninjas.

Seeing this, Luke advanced swiftly, his eyes narrowing dangerously, letting out a growl as his muscles trembled and his joints crackled with explosive force. He roared like a bear, stamping the ground so hard the bridge seemed to shake, and charged straight for Alexandra, throwing a punch as she struggled to regain her footing.

Just as this punch was about to crash into Alexandra’s chest, a sharp clang rang out. A cold blade slashed from behind her, its deadly aura so fierce that Luke felt a sting on his skin before it even touched him, as if already torn by its power.

His expression flickered and he stepped back, but another sword whistle cut the air behind him. The frigid sword light intertwined with the lethal blade, sealing off any retreat.