"Still not planning to come out? Time isn't something I'm lacking."
Chino looked around the room.
Suddenly, the entire room and the corpses on the ground disintegrated into red particles and vanished, leaving him standing in a crimson mist.
"Master~ I have plenty of time. As long as you stay here, I can delay time. One second outside is a year, ten years, even a hundred years here."
The Scarlet Witch's voice echoed from within the mist, shifting from high to low, and moving unpredictably around him.
The Sacred Sword of Vishanti.
A dazzling golden light suddenly enveloped Chino's body.
Within this radiant glow, several rings formed by ancient magical runes rapidly took shape into sword blades and shot out in all directions, piercing through the red mist wherever they passed.
However, even though the blades tore through the mist chaotically, they failed to strike anything tangible.
"It's useless, Master~ I know you're powerful, but in your current state, you cannot defeat me."
The surrounding red mist gradually dispersed.
A massive face appeared in the sky—it was the Scarlet Witch.
Chino stood on the palm of her enormous hand.
Her lips curled into a strange smile as she gently closed her hand around him, pressing him tightly to her chest.
"Master, stay with me forever."
She murmured softly, her voice tinged with fatigue and a trace of satisfaction.
After speaking, she slowly closed her eyes. Her body floated gently in the void like a falling leaf, as if she were enjoying a moment of tranquility.
Suddenly, the Scarlet Witch spread her arms wide, and a roaring flame burst from her palms.
The fire was golden-yellow and unimaginably hot.
"Raaaargh!"
A deafening cry echoed through the air. The flames rapidly converged into the shape of a colossal phoenix.
Its entire body blazed with fire, each feather shimmering brilliantly. As it unfurled its wings, it seemed to block out the entire sky.
Within its burning chest, two figures could be seen clearly—Chino and the Dark Phoenix.
"Dark Phoenix! I personally confirmed that you left… Mystique!"
Wanda finally understood, gritting her teeth in rage.
"You thought I'd come here alone?"
Chino replied coldly.
"Dark Phoenix, kill her."
"Homewrecker. Die!"
In the eyes of the Dark Phoenix, anyone not acknowledged by Chino was a mistress.
A giant beam of golden firelight surged toward Wanda.
Wherever the beam passed, space itself twisted. Wanda had no time to dodge; she was engulfed in the blinding light and reduced to ash.
However, the residual power of the Phoenix Force rampaged across the white mental space.
Once pure and unblemished, the space was now marked by a void of darkness, like a massive black hole consuming everything around it.
"Aaaaaaaaah!"
Agonizing screams rang out from all directions.
This was her mental domain. As long as her psychic strength was unmatched, she was invincible here.
But unfortunately for her, she encountered the Dark Phoenix.
The Phoenix Force could annihilate nearly all tangible and intangible things in the universe—including mental energy.
The Scarlet Witch struggled to maintain her shattered mental defenses against the Phoenix's power.
Her eyes burned with fury as she glared at Chino and the Dark Phoenix, screaming in rage:
"You really think this is enough to defeat me completely?!"
The flames around the Dark Phoenix grew more intense. Each beat of its wings unleashed a wave of fire that distorted the surrounding void, bringing greater pain to Wanda.
Letting out a shrill screech, the Phoenix spread its wings and launched countless blazing blades like a fiery rainstorm toward the Scarlet Witch.
She didn't dare to take them head-on, flashing around the mental space as she summoned red energy to form layers of magical shields in front of her.
Each shield was inscribed with mysterious runes, resisting the flaming blades' onslaught.
Meanwhile, Chino continued carving rune sigils into the air, releasing them all at once.
Divine Thunder!
Golden lightning surged across the entire mental space, as thick bolts of divine thunder descended like swords from the heavens, striking down upon Wanda.
The lightning and Phoenix Force intertwined, creating an even more destructive force that launched the final assault on Wanda's mind.
Under the combined power, Wanda's mental space finally collapsed.
When Chino opened his eyes again, he was back in the same small room.
Lying before him was an elderly woman who appeared to be asleep.
"Chino, she's dead," the Dark Phoenix said after checking her briefly.
"Mhm. Let's go."
Chino stood and walked toward the door. He opened it to find the hallway outside. The Dark Phoenix glanced one last time at the Scarlet Witch lying on the bed before skipping after him.
"Chino, did I help you this time?"
"Yeah. A lot."
"Then I want a reward."
"Sure. What do you want? I don't have many Life Fruits left—at most I can give you five."
"Really? Slurp… But that's not what I want. Next time, I want to ride on Jean's body with you."
"…Fine. As long as you don't beg me to save you afterward."
"Then forget it. Just give me a Life Fruit. One now, and save the rest for later. I'm afraid Ganata will try to snatch them from me."
"…No problem."
Chino shook his head helplessly and handed her a Life Fruit.
The Dark Phoenix took it, popped it into her mouth, and showed a contented smile.
The two walked downstairs.
Just then, Quicksilver, still falling, crashed heavily into the ground.
He got up, ready to take his mother and sister and flee.
"Stay home and behave yourselves. Someone will come for you soon."
Chino said as he walked past.
Quicksilver paused, then raced upstairs. Seeing his dead sister, he sighed quietly.
Truth be told, the moment she began looking at him with that unfamiliar gaze years ago… she was no longer truly his sister.
Outside, the world was already in chaos.
The sun dimmed.
Birds flapped wildly under the pale sky.
The ground froze.
Storms, hail, and all sorts of catastrophes foretold the coming of the apocalypse.
"Who the hell was that guy…?"
Chino ascended into space.
The Earth had fallen into chaos. Natural disasters erupted globally, as if the end times had arrived.
Chino opened a Hell Gate and shoved the entire Earth into it.
After completing this, he didn't leave.
Instead, he gazed at the collapsing universe before him, his eyes glimmering with starlight.
This was the effect of Mimir's Authority.
The once half-completed ritual resumed.
When a universe collapses, its foundational laws and hidden principles are exposed in a pure and extreme form.
From this, Chino could extract the secrets of space-time laws and comprehend how time and space weave together and influence each other.
The universe contained a myriad of energies, and during collapse, they clashed, transformed, and annihilated one another.
Under normal circumstances, completing the ritual would fuse Chino with this world, making him an eternal entity.
But this world was already dead.
It was like a transaction—without a creditor, there's no debt to repay.
However...
"I'm still a bit short."
Chino sighed helplessly.
He was just shy of reaching multiversal level—that last step felt like an impassable chasm. Was it that he needed to fuse with a universe, or was something still missing?
Chino opened a portal and left the dying world behind.
But he didn't notice that a small red dot of light followed silently behind him… disappearing into the void as well.
Quote of the Chapter:"Power means little if you cannot control the pieces that follow you through the dark."
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