"Damn it—what's going on outside?"
At that moment, Tohka found herself back in darkness, sitting on her throne. Opposite her was the Kabbalah Tree of Life, shining in iridescent colors. But she was in no mood to admire any of it.
She had let her guard down and gotten hit by Loki's trump card. She didn't know what happened to other people when that scepter touched them, but in her case she'd been sent straight here.
If she'd known, she would have stuffed a steel plate in her chest like Tony. Her Spirit Dress was supernatural in nature and apparently couldn't block the Mind Stone's control.
Of course, the main reason was that Loki didn't really know how to use it properly. If he did, its power would have been far stronger than Miku Izayoi's or Professor Charles's—he wouldn't have needed direct contact and wouldn't have been so limited. Otherwise, Tony's arc reactor wouldn't have been of any help.
"Damn it, Miku, Miku is also outside. And the Inverse, the Inverse me, she should also be here. Then who exactly is the one outside, the me under Loki's control, or the Inverse me?"
Anxiously pacing back and forth in front of her throne, she knew that no matter who it was, Miku Izayoi would be in danger. Loki with the Mind Scepter was not someone she could resist. And Gods by nature had powerful magic and strong minds—so even without that, Tohka wasn't sure she could hold him off.
"Wait—this is the Kabbalah Tr
ee of Life. It's always been inside me…but what is it actually good for?" Only now did Tohka finally pay attention to the Tree she had always subconsciously ignored. According to Odin, that old fossil, this thing was supposedly comparable to the Infinity Stones in power. But from what she'd seen, it was nothing but decoration.
"Kabbalah…Kabbalah—I refuse to believe you're just a fancy flower vase." Muttering to herself, Tohka walked right up to the Tree and reached out to grab it.
As soon as she did, the entire Kabbalah Tree of Life erupted in dazzling light. Then, Tohka felt everything go black again. When she opened her eyes, she realized she'd already left that place.
"You are…the other me."
But as soon as her vision cleared, she was stunned by what she saw—standing in front of her was a girl who looked exactly like herself.
"Heh, I didn't expect this…seems you've already figured out how to use that thing."
Facing her, the Demon King Tohka only smiled faintly. Even she didn't fully understand what the Kabbalah Tree could do. She just hadn't expected Tohka would be the first to trigger this energy. At the same time, she frowned slightly.
After all, Tohka was the real core. No matter how strong she was now, she knew she'd already been weakened by several levels, and even her magic supply was starting to fail. In other words, she only had the energy she had right now—once it was gone, it would never replenish.
Knowing she didn't have much time left, she couldn't be bothered to explain everything to Tohka. Instead, she turned her gaze to Stark Tower, where the Tesseract was releasing its immense energy. Without waiting for Tohka to say anything, she flew straight toward it.
"Damn it—that woman…"
Tohka also followed her gaze—but their focus clearly wasn't the same. Tohka's attention was on Miku Izayoi, who was standing anxiously on the rooftop watching all this. Even though she hadn't read the later parts of the story, she remembered from episode two of the anime—this other self never held back. So, the two of them now had a rather unpleasant misunderstanding.
Bang. In the next instant, Tohka shot forward and intercepted Demon King Tohka before she could advance further. But the Demon King, distracted by her goal, casually swung her sword. Tohka blocked it, then immediately counterattacked.
"You—" Seeing her attack parried—and then having a sword swung right back at her—Demon King Tohka glared furiously at this version of herself, then charged in earnest.
In the sky above New York, a black and a blue-violet beam collided again and again. The nearby Chitauri soldiers who had tried to approach were instantly pulverized into dust by the shockwaves.
Not only the infantry—even an assault ship that came barreling toward them was ignored. As if it didn't exist, the two Tohkas smashed together, and the massive ship split in half with a deafening crash.
"What the hell is going on—why are there two Tohkas?"
At that moment, Tony and the others finally arrived. Everyone looked up at the sky, where two identical girls were locked in a brutal duel. Black and blue-violet light filled the entire airspace.
The Chitauri forces were not so lucky—everything that got near the two was obliterated.
"I…I have no idea either."
Put on the spot by everyone's stares, Tony looked just as bewildered. But soon, they noticed the energy array on top of Stark Tower.
Meanwhile, the Chitauri finally seemed to learn their lesson. They gave up trying to interfere with the duel and turned their attention to New York itself. Clearly, they were planning to let the two fight each other to exhaustion before making their move.
"Damn it—they've figured it out. Whatever, don't worry about those two Tohkas for now. As long as they stay in the sky, it's fine. Let's move!"
Seeing the Chitauri horde pouring into the city again, Captain America knew this wasn't the time to ask questions. He turned to Tony. "Tony—the Tesseract should be at the top of your tower. Get up there and shut it down."
"Got it. Leave that to me."
Without wasting another second, Tony shot into the air. After blasting a few enemy ships out of his path, he landed on the rooftop. There, he was greeted by an unexpected scene.
The Tesseract sat in its device, radiating massive energy. The doctor had somehow passed out. But more surprising, Miku Izayoi was also there, anxiously watching the two fighting in the sky.