New York, Northern Tower.
After a day of slacking off, Lorien clocked out as usual.
[Ding~ Check-in successful] echoed in his mind.
He turned and headed upstairs.
The Ballerina Twins appeared at his side.
"Master, Osborn Industries has been exposed for conducting bio-mutation experiments. They were also behind the mutated humans from before," Aria reported.
Changing into his indoor shoes, Lorien asked casually,
"And now?"
"With the FBI and federal agents investigating, Norman Osborn—the true controller of Osborn Industries—has already relocated the company's core talent and technology," Aria explained.
Bella added, "In the public eye, Osborn Industries has collapsed. Its stock dropped by half within an hour."
"Some institutions went bankrupt. Others made a fortune."
"But in truth, the Osborn family has already shifted base. Right now, they're likely conducting research in secret somewhere in the States."
...
U.S. stocks aren't like A-shares.
A-shares have daily limits on price swings, and you can only go long—short selling isn't allowed.
But in the U.S. market, there are no such limits. You can bet on rises and falls simultaneously.
And before the scandal broke, even many Osborn employees didn't know what was happening inside their own company.
"Interesting."
Lorien thought for a moment.
"This news came out around 4 PM?"
"Yes, precisely at 4:30," Aria confirmed. "Which left the market less than half an hour to react."
The market closes at 5 PM.
So in thirty minutes, Osborn stock halved before trading ended.
Which meant most shareholders hadn't even had time to sell.
What now?
Too bad.
Tomorrow it'll come down to who has the faster internet.
Or who's willing to undercut hard enough to get their sell orders filled first.
Otherwise, they'll be stuck in the queue.
And since Osborn is such a massive company, countless institutions and individual investors had gone heavy on its stock.
With the rug pulled out from under them like this...
Lorien shook his head.
"No matter the market, it's always full of suckers."
Many lost money on Osborn, but just as many short-sellers would be celebrating.
There are always winners and losers. It's never total ruin.
...
After changing into slippers, Lorien entered the Little Universe in search of Wanda.
She sat cross-legged on the grass, eyes closed, weaving subtle motions with her hands.
Before her floated a cube within a cube, twisting, restructuring, merging.
Lorien recognized it instantly: a space-time confinement spell.
From a distance, it reminded him of Lux's Q in League of Legends—the snare that can catch two targets.
He approached quietly, intending not to disturb her, planning instead to lie back on the grass nearby.
But as he drew closer, Wanda cut off the spell herself, opened her eyes, and said,
"I can smell Dark Magic."
"Hm?"
Lorien activated the Phoenix Force to sense.
"Indeed."
He usually avoided relying on the Phoenix Force—it revealed too much too easily.
But the moment he reached out, information rushed in:
1. One of the Annihilation Wave's forces—the Brood Queen—was approaching the outer Solar System.
2. Venom had bonded with reporter Eddie and discovered Osborn's mountain base. They were already on the move.
3. Natasha was about to message him.
4. Tony had just mastered a new spell.
5. The Spider-Alliance quartet hadn't gone home after school. They were out fighting crime, teaching Peni how to swing, and would very likely run into Venom tonight.
6. "Stephen's" corpse had been resurrected—or rather, possessed—becoming Dark Stephen, and was now headed for Kamar-Taj.
So the Dark Magic Wanda sensed...
It was Stephen's body being puppeteered back to life.
Lorien sat down beside her, meeting her gaze.
"Did you sense it from the Darkhold?"
"Yes."
Wanda nodded. With a single outstretched hand, the Darkhold appeared out of thin air and landed in her palm. She gazed at its black-and-crimson cover, flipped through the pages as if searching for something, and occasionally closed her eyes to feel its aura.
After a moment, she skimmed a few more pages, then pointed to one spell with certainty.
"This one."
Lorien applauded.
"Your magical intuition is razor-sharp now, Wanda."
Wanda smiled.
"Only because someone's been teaching me well."
They both looked at the spell in the Darkhold. The one Wanda had indicated was akin to borrowing a corpse to return a soul. It could even reach across the multiverse for remote control.
But the requirements were strict:
1. There must be a link between the two worlds—without a link, it's like having no network.
2. The target you control must be connected to you; otherwise, failure is highly likely.
Wanda recited the conditions.
Lorien shook his head and added,
"There's one more thing it doesn't mention."
"What is it?" Wanda asked, puzzled.
"3. The side effects are severe. Once you cast it, your soul starts to corrode—best case, you get devoured by wraiths. Worst case, Chthon locates the anchor point between universes and directly consumes the caster's soul. That's how Chthon is reborn."
Wanda understood. This wasn't a side effect of the spell itself, but of the Darkhold.
"Lorien, does using the Darkhold always start corrupting your soul?"
"Yes," Lorien nodded. "But the Darkhold in your hands is an exception. Every universe has a Darkhold and a Chthon. In yours, Chthon's already been purified from the book, so the side effects won't trigger. You can use it normally."
The Darkhold Wanda held had long since been purified by Lorien.
Prompted by his reminder, Wanda brushed her fingers over the pages and suddenly said,
"Then I want to try."
"Hm?"
Her words caught Lorien off guard.
"You haven't tried it yet?"
Wanda nodded.
"Even without the side effects, I was afraid using this magic would inflate my ego and warp my mind. But now it can't affect me."
Her resolve was firm.
Lorien half-turned and clapped his hands.
"Come on, let me watch you transform."
Wanda nodded, opened the book, scanned the pages, and selected an advanced spell.
Then she lifted her hand in a light pull, and the Darkhold floated up on its own. At the same time, Wanda rose slowly into the air.
In an instant, the sky turned crimson. Scarlet clouds blotted out the sun, as if shrouding the whole world. Wind surged; red mist coiled.
The next moment, three vast scarlet magic arrays bloomed in the sky.
Wanda's entire form transformed. Her hair coiled up, crowned by an exquisite headpiece. Her outfit shifted into a fitted, cinched bodice with a red evening dress whose skirt trailed only in the back.
"Wow~"
Lorien breathed out his admiration. Truly beautiful.
Seeing her poised to unleash power, he pointed past the red haze toward a distant mountain.
"If you're going to test it, throw it at that mountain. It'll repair itself by tomorrow."
Wanda turned to look, confirmed the target, and extended a finger toward the peak.
At once—
"Boom~!"
All three arrays fired, launching three massive scarlet spheres.
They looked like fireballs because of the color, but only when they struck the mountain would you realize—this was Chaos Magic.
Boom! Boom! Boom!~~~!!!
As the three massive "fireballs" slammed into the mountain peak, a shockwave visible to the naked eye rippled outward. The summit shattered, and the ground began to quake!
Lorien watched the shockwave racing toward him, genuinely surprised.
This spell was ridiculously strong. No wonder it came from the Darkhold. Of course, Wanda's own power was nothing to scoff at either.
As the shockwave bore down on them, Lorien lifted his hand and made a loose fist.
In the next instant, the world froze.
The shockwave stopped midair.
The collapsing mountain stilled.
The quake ceased entirely.
Then, under Wanda's watchful gaze, Lorien slowly clenched his hand.
And in reality—
The shockwave reversed!
The mountain knit itself back together!
The tremors vanished as if they had never been!
By the time Lorien's hand fully closed, the mountain stood intact once more, everything restored as though nothing had ever happened.
After rewinding time, Lorien lowered his hand.
Wanda floated down, pouting.
"I fought so hard, and you just swoop in to steal the spotlight."
Lorien chuckled.
"Wasn't I pretty cool just now?"
"So cool~!"
Her honest answer made him grin. He let his gaze roam over her outfit again—her leather top, the tight corset at her waist, the flowing train of her gown. Then his eyes moved up to her neatly coiled hair and the exquisite crown atop her head.
The crown was stunning. Crimson, tipped with two small horns, it made her look every bit the Scarlet Witch.
Lorien reached out and brushed her cheek.
Wanda closed her eyes, tilted her face upward, and nuzzled into his hand like a cat.
He traced her cheek with his thumb, murmuring in admiration.
"Wanda, you're truly beautiful."
She opened her eyes, stepped back slightly, and teased with a smile.
"Am I more beautiful now, or before the transformation?"
"...?"
Lorien's mouth twitched.
"Why don't you ask whether you're prettier as the saintly version of yourself under the talisman spell, or the witchy one?"
"Alright." Wanda's eyes glimmered with amusement. "Then which of the two is more beautiful?"
"..."
Lorien thought for a moment.
"Wanda is the most beautiful."
"Cheater~"
Buzz~~~
Just then, Lorien's phone buzzed. He glanced at it—sure enough, it was Natasha, just as he'd sensed earlier.
Which meant before long… Stephen, and "Stephen," would both be in trouble.