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*****
Despite the Red Skull's extravagant rhetoric and his vivid descriptions of the glorious perks that came with being the Leader of Hydra, Fini still didn't agree to accept the position.
After a moment of bewilderment, he had snapped back to reality. The Hydra of today wasn't the same as it was during the Red Skull's reign—unified in spirit, fighting with a single will.
As the organization expanded, the Hydra on Earth might still shout the same slogan, but their factions were clearly divided, with each branch having its own leader. If he went back and claimed to be the Supreme Leader, he would almost certainly be suppressed by all of them simultaneously.
Having had his fill of food and drink, Fini stood up to stretch. He walked to the edge of the cliff and peered down into the abyss.
He had spent all this time chatting with the Red Skull specifically to see if the Soul Stone would manifest itself, but after so long, there hadn't been a single ripple of movement in the surroundings.
Thus, he decided to take the initiative.
"Soul Stone! Get your ass out here!"
To the Red Skull's utter astonishment, Fini shouted toward the bottom of the cliff, "If you don't come out, I'm going to smash this shitty altar and destroy your godforsaken planet!"
"Fini, obtaining the Soul Stone requires a price," the Red Skull, acting as the guide, couldn't help but remind him from the side.
"I know. But today, I'm going to make it understand that if I don't get it, there will be a price to pay for that, too."
Brilling with suppressed rage, Fini didn't hesitate to equip Incursio. Using the Bukujutsu (Sky Dance) technique, he flew high into the air, took aim at the two massive stone pillars, and began to chant:
"My name is Fini Halsey, the sole user of Explosion Magic on Earth!"
"Soul Stone, witness my power!"
"Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark, I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson!"
An unprecedentedly massive magic circle appeared in front of Fini. He was determined to show the Soul Stone the true devastation of Explosion Magic.
"The time of awakening arrives! The justice fallen upon the infallible boundary, appear now as an intangible distortion!"
"Dance! Dance! Dance! I desire for my power to reach the source of collapse—a collapse beyond reach! Burn the heavens and all creation to ashes! Descend from the abyss!"
Fuelled by his intense emotions, the chant, and a certain resonance that Fini hadn't yet noticed, this Explosion Magic was destined to be more powerful than any he had cast before.
"This is the strongest means of attack known to mankind! This is the ultimate offensive magic!"
The profound magic circle erupted with a violent, crimson light. Only one final step remained.
"Ex—"
"Stop!"
A youthful voice rang out in Fini's mind, nearly causing him to misfire the spell.
Struggling to maintain the unprecedented power of the spell, Fini looked around with a cold sneer and asked, "Why did you teleport me here?!"
"Your soul is very unique. Time cannot see through your future, and Space grew curious, so it decided to send you here for me to observe!"
The youthful voice in his head explained, but the reason only served to make Fini even more furious, nearly breaking his concentration on the spell.
"You sent me to this middle-of-nowhere shithole because of that stupid reason?!"
"That was Space acting on its own initiative; I did not request it!" The Soul Stone shifted the blame immediately before adding, "You cannot destroy this place. Withdraw your ability."
"Send me back!" Fini didn't hesitate to state his demand.
"I cannot do that!"
"Then get ready to find a new place to wait for your 'destined one'!" Fini feigned the motion of slamming the magic downward.
"You cannot do this!" The Soul Stone's voice sounded somewhat indignant. "My power cannot teleport you back; only Space can achieve that."
"Then tell Space to send me back!" Fini decided that once he got back, the Space Stone was definitely going to pay.
"But you are too far away from it!"
The Soul Stone's reply nearly made him explode with rage. "And whose fault do you think that is?!"
The light of the magic circle flickered wildly under the influence of Fini's agitated emotions, appearing on the verge of spiraling out of control. Suddenly, a burst of orange light shone from the bottom of the cliff, enveloping Fini and his magic circle, causing both to settle into a state of calm.
"I can ensure that the next time it is activated, it will send you back."
Fini, soothed by the Soul Stone's power, frowned. He eventually put in the effort to dissipate the magic to its weakest state and redirected the target toward a distant mountain peak. After all, the Soul Stone was one of the Infinity Stones. Fini could test its limits, but he was also wary of what trump cards it might hold.
BOOM!
Even though he had dissipated as much power as possible, the resulting explosion was still staggeringly immense. Fini didn't have the luxury to investigate the reason for this increased potency just yet.
"Can't it just initiate a teleportation actively?" Fini asked while floating in the air. This sensation of talking to the void felt a bit awkward.
"Sending you here consumed a significant portion of its power, so it cannot actively open a portal again for the time being."
This answer left him speechless. He couldn't help but ask, "Just how high is your level of intelligence?"
"Do not attempt to judge us by your human standards," the Soul Stone's voice said, sounding youthful yet carrying a hint of maturity. "Time, Space, Mind, Power, Reality, and Soul—we know everything in this universe."
"Heh, but you don't know me!" Fini sneered.
"That is why Space found you so strange. And now, I am curious about you as well."
The Soul Stone glowed quietly in its hidden location. While it was the most self-aware and capable of self-preservation among the six stones, it was ultimately still a stone; it could only exert its maximum power in the hands of a wielder.
Furthermore, Fini's soul was indeed something it couldn't see through. That was the real reason it had stepped forward to explain itself. Otherwise, for anyone else, even if they truly threatened to destroy Vormir, it wouldn't have appeared. More likely, it would have simply taught them a lesson, showing them that not every "stone" was to be trifled with.
"Heh!"
Fini didn't know the underlying reasons, but the Soul Stone's compromise led him to temporarily abandon further provocations. The main reason for his confidence was his belief that with the Ancient One as his backup, he would surely find a way home.
"Has Earth changed a lot now?" the Red Skull asked blankly as he watched Fini descend from the sky.
"It's changed quite a bit," Fini replied, nodding as he thought of all the events to come.
Previously, although the way Fini equipped Incursio was magical, the universe was full of bizarre technologies, so the Red Skull hadn't realized just how powerful Fini was. It wasn't until that "Explosion Magic" just now that he realized the harmless-looking boy in front of him was essentially a humanoid nuclear warhead.
At this moment, the Red Skull didn't even realize that what he had just witnessed wasn't even the full power of that spell.
Fini was also pondering the same thing. He had noticed that the power of this Explosion Magic was terrifyingly high—to the point where he almost lost control. Yet, aside from the chant being a bit longer and himself being a bit angrier, there didn't seem to be anything different from his previous casts.
(End of Chapter)