Marvel: The Awakened One

ROOOOOAAAAAR!

A thunderous dragon’s cry erupted through the ocean depths without warning.

Hovering above Talokan, Hawk watched the phantom dragons converge into his fists—then drove both hands downward toward the city below.

The next moment.

Hundreds of fire dragons exploded from his knuckles.

Every single one was corporeal—not mere illusions, but compressed manifestations of Hawk’s Cosmo pushed to its absolute limit. Solid as steel. Deadlier than anything steel could ever be.

The dragons raced each other toward their target, their combined roars shaking the very ocean. They tore through the water like paper—and in the instant Namor’s pupils visibly contracted, they slammed into Talokan’s energy shield with devastating force.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Blinding light erupted the moment the hundred dragons struck.

The smug expression on Namor’s face froze solid.

Because, One after another, the endless torrent of fire dragons hammered the same point on the shield. Amidst their deafening chorus, a single, crisp sound cut through.

CRACK.

Namor’s frozen expression twisted into horror.

The next moment.

SHATTER—!

The energy shield exploded. The dragons poured through the breach like water through a broken dam, flooding into the city—and slamming directly into Namor before his expression could even finish changing.

Namor plummeted toward Talokan’s royal palace below.

As he fell, he witnessed his handpicked elite warriors disintegrate into ash beneath the dragons’ fury. He watched the energy shield he had placed all his faith in bloom into brilliant flame before shattering completely.

Fragments of the barrier cascaded downward like a beautiful crystal rain—glittering shards tumbling through the dragons’ roar, showering the city below.

The shield that had once protected Talokan—

Now became the instrument of its people’s deaths.

THUNK!

”Daddy...”

THUD!

”...”

As the crystal shrapnel rained down, the wet sounds of fragments piercing flesh filled the air. In moments, hundreds of Talokanil citizens lay dead beneath that beautiful, deadly storm.

Panic erupted. The surviving citizens turned to flee toward the crystal structures behind them.

The next moment.

CRASH!

Namor struck like a meteor—smashing directly through one of those crystal buildings, collapsing it instantly and crushing a dozen citizens who had just ducked inside for cover.

The invasion alarms shrieked to life—their piercing wail echoing through every corner of what remained of Talokan.

Simultaneously.

With the energy shield’s failure confirmed, Talokan’s anti-air batteries activated across the entire city. Azure energy crackled to life atop rooftops throughout the metropolis.

Every barrel trained on the figure above—emerging from black flames, clad in obsidian phoenix armor, faceplate concealing all but golden eyes that gazed down upon them like a god observing insects.

”FIRE!”

”FIRE!”

”FIRE—!”

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM—!

At the soldiers’ furious commands, Talokan’s defensive batteries unleashed everything they had. Azure energy bolts erupted from every direction, weaving together into an impenetrable net that screamed toward Hawk above.

Hawk’s right hand opened. His expression was ice. His voice, colder still.

”Phoenix Wing Rise!”

SCREEEECH—!!

A phoenix wreathed in black flame burst from his palm. As its wings unfurled, they seemed to blot out the entire city below.

The next second.

The Black Phoenix unleashed a cry that shook the entire ocean floor—then dove straight into the oncoming energy barrage, and through it, into Talokan itself.

Practice makes perfect.

After using Wakanda as his warm-up, Hawk had become quite efficient at genocide.

Fire dragons to breach the gates.

Black Phoenix to scour the earth.

Against Hawk’s ultimate cleansing technique—now fully armored in his Surplice—Talokan’s anti-air defenses were about as effective as Berlin’s flak towers in the final days of World War II.

That night, Berlin’s anti-aircraft guns never lost.

But Berlin did.

BOOOOOOOOM—!

The Black Phoenix passed through the energy net without slowing—then crashed into Talokan proper.

The next second.

Phoenix fire—like divine judgment—flooded every inch of the city.

As everyone knew.

Phoenix flames burned all things to nothing.

Talokan’s towering crystal palaces began to boil within the black inferno.

Coral-paved streets liquefied instantly into molten slag.

Countless Talokanil—faces frozen in terror and disbelief—were vaporized the moment the flames touched them.

Even Namor, just rising from the rubble of the collapsed building, was caught in the black tide. The devastating force sent him flying once more—WHAM!—slamming into the massive crystal statue at the city’s center.

A statue carved in his own likeness.

Namor’s monument shattered on impact.

The next moment.

Before the fragments could even hit the ground, the phoenix fire swept over them—and they began to melt.

Namor crashed to the surface and struggled upright, his form rising rapidly.

His eyes blazed with shock and fury.

Everything he could see—his beloved Talokan—had vanished. In its place stretched a boiling, chaotic hellscape.

Black flames and white steam churned together in a mad vortex. The Talokan he had known was disappearing before his eyes—erased in real time.

As for his people...

Gone.

Every last one.

Hawk kept his promises.

When he said he’d wipe out your bloodline, he meant all of it. Not one survivor.

And now—

”Beautiful, isn’t it?”

”...”

Namor heard the almost appreciative tone in Hawk’s voice. His head snapped around, expression contorted with rage, eyes weeping blood as he glared at his tormentor.

His voice seemed to rise from the deepest abyss.

Fury.

Hatred.

And... regret.

”RAAAAAAAGH!”

”YOU DESERVE TO DIE!!”

Namor’s roar tore from his throat. His body launched forward—rocketing toward Hawk, fist drawn back as if he intended to smash Hawk’s skull with a single blow of pure rage.

But—

SQUELCH!

”Urk—”

Namor’s charge froze mid-motion. His pupils dilated. His gaze dropped—

To the trident now buried in his chest, sliding through his flesh like a knife through tofu.

Hawk let out a cold laugh.

The next second.

WHAM!

His form vanished. Trident in hand, he reappeared—pinning Namor against the Vibranium mountain that bordered Talokan’s ruins.

That thunderous impact was the sound of the trident piercing through Namor’s body and embedding itself deep into the mountain’s face.

Hawk released the weapon. He regarded Namor—now crucified on his own divine artifact.

Namor’s hands gripped the shaft, but he could no longer sense the trident’s familiar presence.

The weapon had erased every trace of his connection to it.

The trident belonged to Hawk now. Completely.

”AAAARGH!”

”I’LL KILL YOU!”

”I SWEAR I’LL KILL YOU!”

Namor had descended into complete madness. He thrashed against the trident, screaming at Hawk, blood streaming from his eyes—his gaze burning with the desire to tear Hawk apart with his bare teeth.

Hawk heard the impotent rage and snorted dismissively.

Namor continued struggling to wrench the trident free, all while howling at Hawk.

”You DEMON! You MONSTER! I’m the one who wanted you dead—why did you have to slaughter my people too?!”

Pinned helplessly to the mountainside, Namor stared at the ruins of Talokan being swept away by the ocean currents. He thought of the citizens who had revered him as their king.

Now they were gone. Not even ashes remained.

Namor glared at Hawk, eyes streaming crimson.

Every word was a bloody accusation.

”You devil! You fiend! You butcher—”

”I gave you a chance.”

Hawk cut him off, expression flat.

”I gave you a chance back then. I told you to hand over the Wakandan remnant. You refused. I also told you—you could refuse, but the price would be your entire tribe’s lives.”

Namor’s body went rigid.

The next second, His struggles to remove the trident grew even more violent.

Suddenly—

CREAK!

The trident shifted slightly within the Vibranium mountain.

Namor’s eyes lit up.

Hawk’s eyebrow arched. His right foot rose—then stomped down, driving the trident even deeper into the mountain.

Now Namor’s back was flush against the rock face. He couldn’t move at all.

Hawk kept his foot planted on the trident, regarding Namor—blood pouring from every orifice, yet somehow still clinging to life.

”Any last words?”

SPIT!

Namor coughed blood, glaring at Hawk with crimson eyes. But his gore-stained lips twisted into a savage grin.

”If you’ve got the balls—kill me. Otherwise, I WILL kill you.”

Hawk smiled faintly.

”Happy to oblige.”

With that.

Hawk’s right hand shot out—clamping onto Namor’s face exactly as he’d gripped Shuri’s. In the same motion, he yanked Namor free and rocketed upward, tearing through the ocean surface in a streak of rainbow light before shooting into the sky.

He didn’t stop until he reached the upper atmosphere.

The next moment.

SPLAT!

The instant Hawk halted miles above the earth, his right hand clenched. Just as he’d crushed Shuri’s skull.

He did the same to Namor’s.

Namor’s head burst like a watermelon.

Here’s the thing.

Like Mephisto, Namor was effectively immortal as long as he remained in the ocean.

But...

’Immortal in water? Then I’ll just drag your ass into the sky and kill you there.’

Simple solution.

And so, Marvel’s Sea King, Namor McKenzie—dead.

But the instant Namor’s skull exploded...

Hawk’s Sixth Sense...

SCREAMED!

❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁

~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)

~# Bonus Chapter every 300PS