Kamar-Taj.
At the summit of the snowy mountain, a dark shadow seeped up from the ground, gradually condensing into human form.
When the darkness faded, a witch in a black and purple dress stood revealed.
Agatha Harkness.
A powerful and sinister sorceress who had lived for centuries.
But now, her hands radiated darkness, her eyes consumed by corrupt energy. She had completely lost herself.
"This world will belong to me."
Agatha grinned cruelly. With a wave of her right hand, a book covered in chilling, arcane symbols appeared before her.
The Darkhold.
The more its wielder used it, the more their soul was corrupted.
The next moment, the Darkhold floated without wind, opening to reveal blank pages.
To others, its pages showed incomprehensible and forbidden knowledge—different for every reader.
But not to Agatha.
As she chanted dark incantations, lines of black magic began to materialize across the pages.
Taking a step forward with the Darkhold in hand, Agatha's body was instantly swallowed in black mist.
When she reappeared, she had crossed the magical barriers of Kamar-Taj and entered the core of Earth's dimensional barrier.
Even Chthon was excited now.
Earth.
The central axis of this universe.
The birthplace of the ancient Mephistas.
This world held symbols and powers beyond comprehension.
That's why every Mephista craved Earth—not some other distant, backward civilization.
After all, if their goal was just destruction, they could easily devour primitive worlds lacking a Sorcerer Supreme or dimensional barriers.
But that held no value.
Only Earth mattered.
If Earth fell, the entire real universe would be swallowed and become part of the Dark Dimension.
But for Chthon, this was only the beginning.
Unlike the other dimensional Mephistas, Chthon had a deeper purpose.
By corrupting this timeline, he could reverse-pollute Eternity itself.
That was his true goal.
Agatha's smile grew more maniacal as she pressed the Darkhold deeper into the heart of the dimensional barrier.
Ripples spread across its surface like water.
Everything around her twisted and shimmered. In the blink of an eye, the world transformed into an ancient stone plaza.
At its center stood colossal, Eternal Statues.
And the Darkhold, which Chthon had tried to force into the dimensional core, was now being held… by a translucent, ethereal hand.
The Ancient One.
She looked at the utterly stunned Agatha and smiled warmly:
"Look at you. You keep pushing, I just have to catch it."
"You're too generous, Chthon. You came all this way just to bring me a gift. How could I possibly refuse?"
Chthon was dumbfounded.
He raised his finger and cursed furiously:
"Ancient One! You tricked me!"
"You let that demon 'kill' you on purpose! You staged everything… just to bait me into this trap!"
The Ancient One feigned offense.
"Don't make it sound so harsh. I just missed an old friend, that's all."
"You finally came to Earth, yet you didn't come say hello. As your host, wasn't it my duty to seek you out?"
Chthon roared:
"Seek me? You're nothing but Eternity's lapdog!"
"All Sorcerer Supremes… despicable, filthy, black-hearted scum!"
At this moment, he seemed even more unable to accept failure than Mephisto before him.
He completely lost the dignity of a dimensional demon.
The Ancient One just smiled, watching him writhe in fury.
"The guest brings a gift; it's only proper for the host to offer one in return."
"I've thought it over… and the best gift for you is a peaceful death. Don't you agree? Very considerate of me."
Ignoring Chthon's raging curses, the Ancient One raised her hands calmly.
In an instant, countless streams of golden magical energy pierced through the space, sinking into the Eternal Statues.
The statues began to glow faintly, their forms turning ethereal and transparent.
Inside them… countless swirling galaxies could be seen.
The next moment—
The illusion expanded.
The entire Mirror Dimension transformed into a vast sea of cosmic stars.
It was indescribably breathtaking.
'Agatha' let out a shriek, her body melting into shadows as she desperately tried to flee.
But it was futile.
The shadow incarnation was pinned by immense gravitational forces, dragged directly into a massive, blazing yellow star.
The Ancient One's playful smile faded.
With a cold expression, she casually tossed the Darkhold after her.
It too was consumed by the sun, vanishing alongside its master.
And then—
The world returned to silence.
In the desert.
After hearing Russell's words, the smile on 'Wanda's' face vanished, replaced by shock.
Then… he seemed to sense something.
In just a dozen seconds, the shock in his eyes turned into furious rage.
"Eternity's lapdogs!"
"You Sorcerer Supremes actually teamed up to trick me!!!"
On the ground, Captain America and Black Widow didn't understand what had suddenly happened.
But the frustration in the evil entity's voice was unmistakable.
Clearly, it had suffered a serious setback.
At this moment, Russell sneered:
"Too stupid, Chthon."
"If I didn't set a trap for you, should I have sent you a welcome invitation? At least Mephisto knows how to accept defeat."
As he spoke, his expression shifted. He grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth:
"As a guest, isn't it rude to come without bringing a gift?"
"So… why not leave the origin of your dimension behind?"
The moment his words fell, flames erupted within the swirling white space, instantly dispelling the surrounding black smoke!
The sense of imminent doom reached its peak.
Russell raised his hand, opened his fingers—and a green gem materialized out of thin air.
The Time Stone.
In the next moment, complex and ancient spells appeared in the air!
The Time Stone emitted dazzling green mist, quickly forming dozens of overlapping temporal arrays!
At the same time…
In the spiritual world.
Wanda, still bound by black chains, suddenly saw the shadowy monster wrapped in a blood-red robe before her shatter into countless fragments.
Then it melted into black liquid, twisting and reshaping itself—gradually forming a colossal magic array!
Chthon was trying to retrieve this fragment of consciousness carrying the origin of the black magic dimension.
He was trying to escape!
Wanda didn't understand what was happening, but then a cold voice echoed around her mind:
"If I let you escape, wouldn't all my efforts be wasted?"
With those words, countless flames erupted, instantly swallowing the dimensional transmission array!
A soft milky-white light shone from within the flames, followed by a pained, agonized scream.
More than ten seconds passed.
When the flames dissipated, a dark rune floated silently in the spiritual world.
At some point, Russell appeared beside it. He gently blew on the rune, and the black magic that had been etched into Wanda's soul dissipated into wisps of black smoke.
He turned, glancing at Wanda's stunned face—still bearing traces of youthful softness—and said softly:
"You're safe now."
In that instant, the black chains binding Wanda ignited and crumbled into green smoke.
Freed, she collapsed to the ground, her eyes finally regaining clarity.
All the terror and despair she had endured for days melted away.
When she saw the man standing before her… she finally broke down and cried.
She had survived.
In the real world.
The moment Chthon's consciousness was completely destroyed, the overlapping temporal arrays flared to life!
Then they expanded wildly, creating a spectacular vision that enveloped the entire Earth.
At that moment, a unique temporal anchor point was forged, tied to the destruction of Chthon's manifested consciousness.
A timeline beyond time itself glowed with brilliant green light, but quickly receded—waiting for its moment to act.
Above the desert.
The time array faded.
Russell calmly held the exhausted Wanda in his arms. With a single thought, he warped space and appeared before Black Widow.
"Take care of her."
With that, he handed Wanda over.
Black Widow and Captain America watched as cracks spread visibly across the surrounding space.
Then, before their eyes, Russell took a single step forward—and vanished into the rift.
"Do you think there's a heaven in there?" Captain America asked softly, still dazed.
Black Widow smiled faintly and pulled out her dagger. "Thanks… but no."
Captain America replied politely, then looked around and sighed:
"Nick Fury's going to have a hard time explaining all this."
Black Widow was surprised. "You're not going to call him a n****r anymore?"
Captain America pointed toward the sky.
"I believe in God now."
In the Mirror Dimension.
Apocalypse was in critical condition.
Although he had regained consciousness, his body was severely damaged. Even surviving the infusion of Phoenix Force fragments was a miracle.
Of course, the main reason was that what he absorbed was merely a fragment.
As for Jean Grey… she had already collapsed unconscious.
Russell immediately understood why.
Her soul was cursed by Chthon, and the darkness buried deep in her heart had been magnified, completely shattering Professor X's psychic defenses.
At the same time, her soul itself was being corroded.
The effects weren't visible before—but after absorbing Phoenix Force fragments, her corruption was fully exposed.
Apocalypse couldn't resist the Phoenix Force at all. His body was on the verge of exploding.
Russell sighed.
Kamar-Taj's records had been right.
Phoenix Force fragments cannot be stolen.
They choose their hosts.
Otherwise… destruction is inevitable.
It reminded him of those aliens who once tried to steal Phoenix Force in the "New Mutants" storyline before he arrived in this world.
However…
He might have a chance.
His survival would depend on one thing:
Was his system stronger—or was the Phoenix Force?
Russell looked coldly at the two before him.
One: Apocalypse—the mutant tyrant who sought to rule the world.
The other: Jean Grey—whose heart had completely blackened under Chthon's curse.
He felt no hesitation.
The next moment… the north wind howled.
Winter was coming.
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