Marvel: Hunter

Although the Chitauri had been temporarily cut off, the number of those who had already entered Earth was not small.

They attacked Tony in such a short span of time that even he felt overwhelmed and momentarily disoriented.

However, Tony is still Tony.

Even though he was being tightly entangled by a Chitauri warrior, his mind was still running at high speed, quick as ever.

The Avengers weren't the only ones involved in this battle!

One was still free.

Blaine.

That's Mister Hunter.

If this had been before, Tony might never have had such a thought.

But just now, Blaine had shown off a set of maneuvers—he could definitely fly, and at extreme speed. Even with the Mark armor, Tony could barely track him.

It takes about 4.5 seconds for a person to fall from a height of 100 meters—very, very fast.

Natasha was currently at an altitude of several hundred meters, and her falling speed would only increase as she descended. By estimation, she would hit the ground soon.

In the brief moment just now, she had already fallen a third of the way. In a few seconds, she would be smashed to pieces—unless, by some bizarre stroke of luck, a Chitauri happened to pass by beneath her and cushioned the fall. Otherwise, she would die.

However, a few seconds might be enough.

Mr. Hunter's top speed—Mach 7.97 according to JARVIS —should be enough to reach Natasha before she hit the ground, right?

"Mr. Hunter! I'm issuing a mission to save Natasha! The bounty is a hundred million!"

Tony roared at the top of his lungs, deliberately making his voice louder than the chaos of the battlefield, ensuring it reached Blaine's ears.

A hundred million to save Natasha's life.

Absolutely worth it.

Who was Natasha? Agent Black Widow. Her life was worth a fortune.

Even if she weren't Black Widow—or even an agent—as long as she was Tony's friend, if someone could save her for a hundred million dollars, Tony would choose to do it without hesitation.

That's typical Tony—sharp tongue, soft heart.

Blaine: "Huh?"

Then he reacted abruptly.

He wouldn't mind saving Natasha if there was money involved.

Truth be told, he had noticed Natasha's fall earlier but had remained indifferent. There was no surge of emotion—if anything, part of him found it almost darkly amusing.

If Natasha died, so be it. He had no intention of saving her.

She meant nothing to him—neither a friend nor anything more. They had only met a few times, exchanged fewer than ten sentences, and had even been on opposing sides before. They'd fought each other. Why should he save her?

Blaine wasn't a superhero like Spider-Man, saving people for free.

And no, there was no deeper relationship. Blaine was particular about personal boundaries; casual encounters were one thing, but anything more involved was off the table.

Besides, his current mission was to deal with the Chitauri invasion, not to do favors for the Avengers.

Blaine was just a bounty hunter—someone who wanted to complete the mission he'd accepted. He wasn't their babysitter, running around to save everyone in danger.

It simply wasn't in the scope of his mission.

Unless…

If there were a separate mission for it, then Blaine could take it.

If there's money on the table, and it doesn't interfere with an existing contract, he'll accept it. The system would allow it as long as the new mission didn't conflict with his current target.

"I've accepted this mission!"

As soon as Blaine spoke, he channeled magic to manipulate the surrounding wind elements, then added Flight magic—without bothering to conjure the stylish but useless wings.

He left behind an afterimage, vanishing instantly.

The next moment, he reappeared midair where Natasha was falling.

It had been less than two seconds from accepting the mission to now, so when Blaine reached her, she was still about 100 meters above the ground.

Blaine didn't make the rookie mistake of grabbing her outright.

He could easily catch her without injuring himself—but Natasha was another matter. Catching her abruptly would be no different from her hitting the ground, as the fall's momentum would still be in her body.

It's like a car accelerating from a standstill to 200 km/h and crashing into a wall. Whether the wall is 1000 meters or 1500 meters away, without any deceleration, the collision is still catastrophic.

The same applies to falling from a great height—the further you fall, the faster you go. Without a buffer, the result is the same.

When someone collides with Blaine's diamond-hard body at terminal velocity, the damage could be worse than hitting the ground directly.

There was a solution—like slowing a car before a crash. Reduce the speed bit by bit until the final impact is soft.

Blaine still had 100 meters to work with, so there was no need to panic.

He wrapped his arms gently around Natasha, not stopping her immediately but falling with her, using his flight to gradually bleed off the speed until the force of her fall was gone.

By the time they reached the ground, Natasha was unharmed.

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