What cascaded from the heavens was Chthon's "essence"—a literal fragment of the Elder God himself. Because his consciousness had not yet crossed into this world, this portion of his essence had the potential to manifest as an avatar, but it had not done so yet.
Even so, the sheer, staggering power it contained was absolutely beyond the combat capabilities of anyone present.
Every surviving entity from the Elder God Wars possessed a terrifying strength that defied human comprehension. Unlike the majority of dimensional helllords, such as Belasco or Dormammu, these primordial beings had not simply found a dimension to occupy or eventually merge with.
Gaea, Oshtur, Chthon, and Set held a status as Elder Gods that far transcended their titles as dimensional rulers. They possessed the raw, cosmic might to forge their own dimensions from scratch; they were, in fact, abstract entities themselves.
Because of this, the very instant Chthon's essence began to drip downward like liquefied asphalt—
The world plunged into darkness.
The sky, which had just been glowing as bright as molten magma, collapsed into absolute blackness in a single heartbeat. Every trace of light vanished completely. Seeing nothing, Peter tried to channel his bio-electricity to generate a flash of illumination.
Yet, he still saw nothing. He could feel the electricity flowing, but his suit's sonar and infrared vision had become completely useless. It was then that Peter understood what was happening.
"The light is gone..."
Chthon had decreed that there be no light.
And so, the light of the world ceased to exist.
Peter's spider-sense flared violently, pushing past its absolute limits to the point where even Strange's magic could no longer suppress it. The web-vision inherited from Noir Spider-Man kicked into full gear. This unique sight, which required no light to function, finally revealed the truth of their situation to Peter.
The sky had turned into a physical, solid entity. Chthon had endowed it with mass.
Consequently, gravity inverted. The entire realm of Limbo began to collapse and press upward toward the sky, its immense mass rapidly converging around that single dripping drop of essence.
Yet, at that exact structural apex—
Light returned to the world.
Strange held the Book of Vishanti high, unleashing a torrent of potent white magic. The gentle, pure energy swept past Peter, transforming every member of the Midnight Sons into an individual beacon of light, illuminating the dark expanse of Limbo.
The solidified sky began to fracture, drifting further upward as the crushing, inverted gravity gradually dissolved.
For a moment, Peter was at a loss for what to do. He looked at Strange, then glanced back up at the massive fissures tearing through the sky. These rifts had previously collided with the spatial tears Peter himself had created, and though they had been crudely mended by Chthon, they were now left battered and broken.
Right then, a spectral mouth materialized out of thin air right beside Peter's ear, projecting Strange's voice.
"The Book of Vishanti can't hold out for long. Our time is strictly limited. Your task remains the same as before, Spider-Man: keep destroying the summoning ritual. The others will back you up."
Strange looked upon the battlefield with grim anticipation. Leaving the Book of Vishanti to float in the air and shield the group, he watched below as Illyana and the Midnight Sons locked in fierce combat against the enemy, aided by an endless vanguard of undead legions.
But even this was not enough.
"Chthon can continuously channel his infinite power through this small droplet of exposed essence," Strange explained to Wanda. "Unless we can sever this connection, we won't be able to destroy or seal the entire rift."
Having witnessed Chthon's overwhelming might firsthand, Wanda pointed out the fatal flaw in the plan. "But even if it's just a fraction of his essence, Chthon is still far stronger than us. He's practically impossible to fight."
"Yes, which is why we must halt his momentum. That brings us to the next step."
As Strange spoke, he cast a spell to retrieve his next prepared artifact: the Casket of Ancient Winters, belonging to the Frost Giants.
"The Casket of Ancient Winters can summon the Fimbulwinter—a frost potent enough to freeze magical energy itself. It will freeze the Elder God's essence in place, buying us the brief window of time we need while Chthon is temporarily stalled."
A confident smile appeared on Strange's face. In Limbo, a realm eternally choked by hellfire and the stench of sulfur, a freezing gale capable of plunging the world back into the Ice Age erupted. Within moments, the absolute zero wind blanketed the realm, beginning to crystallize and solidify the descending essence of the Elder God in the sky.
At that exact moment, Strange relayed the most critical phase of the plan to Peter.
"You are the only one who can pull this off. You have to cut it down!"
Hovering in mid-air courtesy of the Cloak of Levitation, Peter found the demand utterly ridiculous.
"Strange, I think your perspective is warped by the distance. You have no idea how massive this thing actually is. Even at its narrowest point, its diameter looks to be at least forty kilometers wide! How am I supposed to cut through that?"
"Just focus on cutting it. I've lined up some help for you. Furthermore, we absolutely cannot allow Chthon's essence to hit the ground of Limbo. I will guide you through the rest of the problem, but you need to move right now."
Unable to comprehend whatever crazy plan Strange had cooked up, Peter chose to trust him and leaped into action. He began to tear at the fabric of space once more. This time, however, an anomaly occurred. It was as if he had struck a highly specific, critical nexus point; the spatial rift instantly tore open across more than a dozen kilometers.
This was the miraculous utility of Chaos Magic.
"Your mutant ability manipulates probability, while Chaos Magic possesses the power to reshape the very fabric of the world. When these two forces intertwine, Miss Maximoff, they grant you the power to alter reality itself—though, under normal circumstances, you rarely choose to care."
Strange chanted his incantations, assisting Wanda in channeling her magic. He directed the vast, surging torrent of Chaos Magic straight into Peter's hands. With the reinforcement of Chaos Magic, Peter's ability to tear through reality amplified exponentially in an instant.
He brought his hands down with a heavy, decisive sweep, carving a massive, gaping wound across the high atmosphere of the entire world.
Immediately after, that severed droplet of essence began to fall, shifting and morphing as it descended. Just as Strange had warned, it could not be allowed to land; it was Chthon's literal essence, fully capable of birthing a true avatar of the Elder God.
Yet, by that same token, it was an incredibly massive reservoir of energy, no different from the purest dimensional power.
The Anti-Venom suit instantly surged forward, covering Peter from head to toe. He immediately manifested the spell Strange had instructed him to use. A colossal bow forged from pure, raw magical energy materialized in Peter's grasp. Following that, the entire power of Chthon's severed—yet still unfathomably dense—essence was funneled directly into the weapon.
Then came the freezing gales of the Casket of Ancient Winters, the reality-warping Chaos Magic from Wanda, the pure white magic from the Book of Vishanti, and the dark necromantic energies from the Necronomicon. All of these catastrophic forces converged into a single arrow.
"Who am I supposed to shoot? Chthon? Because honestly, shooting Belasco with this feels like total overkill."
"Yes! Raise your bow and release it right into Chthon!"
Peter raised the bow, aiming straight at the spatial rift he had torn into the sky. He took a deep, steadying breath.
He released the string.
In that fraction of a second, Chaos Magic enveloped the shaft of the arrow before it vanished entirely, swallowed whole by the void.
A mere heartbeat later.
The sky over Limbo returned to a state of absolute serenity, perfectly calm, as if nothing out of the ordinary had ever transpired.
And then, Peter lost consciousness.
-----------------------------------------------
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi