Malrick couldn't help but marvel inwardly.
So, Eternity was a romantic after all.
In the Marvel Universe, Eternity had his counterpart, Infinity—his female equal, the other half of his cosmic balance—and there was also the Unending Queen, a being he could never quite forget.
Far beyond, in another reality entirely, existed Destiny, the embodiment of the DC Universe itself.
No wonder Eternity had envied Malrick for his ability to traverse worlds freely.
Now, the reason was clear.
Malrick smiled faintly. "You're talking about Destiny, aren't you? I didn't see her when I was in the DC Universe, but I'll keep an eye out next time. Do you want me to pass a message to her?"
Eternity was silent for several moments, as if torn between thought and hesitation.
Finally, he spoke.
"There's no need. Besides, you should return, Malrick. The Scarlet Witch is calling for you."
"Scarlet Witch? Wanda's looking for me?" Malrick raised an eyebrow.
He rose to his feet, glancing down at his colossal form.
Then, with a thought, he withdrew the Rege Duo Clone into his inner world and emerged in his true body.
Less than two meters tall, his human form made conversation with Eternity feel far more natural.
He no longer had to look down from tens of thousands of kilometers above.
"Then I'll take my leave. Thank you, Eternity."
He smiled, turning to the Ancient One's spirit.
"And you too, Master. Once Wong finishes your portrait, Kamar-Taj will be able to see you again."
Malrick waved and stepped through the portal from which he came.
The place where Eternity resided was the center of the universe.
Normally, one could only reach it through the Eternity Altar—a sacred site said to allow the first visitor to make a single wish to Eternity himself.
But Malrick's direct arrival here had been like taking a cosmic shortcut.
Passing through the portal, he found himself inside a vast altar temple.
Behind him stood an enormous sculpture of Eternity, its cosmic eyes glowing faintly in the dim light.
Before him, carved along both sides of the hall, were the heads of other cosmic entities.
On the left: Death, Aeon, and Infinity.
On the right: the Living Tribunal, the Watcher, and the leader of the Celestials.
Malrick couldn't help glancing back at Eternity's towering sculpture.
"So, this is the Eternity Altar, not Earth… If I tried to reach Eternity again through this altar, could I still make another wish?"
Though he asked himself the question, he had no intention of exploiting it.
Eternity had genuinely called him a friend. He couldn't bring himself to act shamelessly.
Drawing a circle in the air, Malrick began forming a Mystic Portal, intending to return to Earth and see what Wanda needed.
But before he could finish the spell, a circle of crimson light appeared beneath his feet.
The red glow shimmered like liquid fire, flaring brighter with each pulse.
He instantly recognized that chaotic hue—Wanda's magic.
"This is… a summoning spell? Don't tell me Wanda's summoning me like a summoned beast?" Malrick muttered, half amused, half exasperated.
Still, if Wanda was using Chaos Magic to reach him, it had to be something urgent.
He didn't resist, allowing the crimson energy to engulf him completely.
A ripple of distortion swept through space.
When it faded, Malrick was back on Earth.
The Chaos Magic that wrapped around him still surged with intensity.
Then came the sounds—voices shouting, pleading, crying out in fear—all merging into a single, desperate chorus.
Gunfire and explosions thundered in the background, filling the air with smoke and destruction.
Malrick's expression hardened.
Ever since he had driven the American military out of Asia and demonstrated his ability to withstand nuclear explosions barehanded, there hadn't been a single large-scale war on Earth.
So what was happening now?
Why did this place look like a battlefield from hell?
Could time have flowed differently in Eternity's realm?
Had something changed drastically while he was away—had Thanos arrived?
Before he could assess further, a familiar voice came through the noise.
"Hurry up, Witch girl! The powerful ally you promised—can he actually show up anytime soon?" Tony Stark's voice crackled through the chaos.
"I've been trying, but I can't find him! It's like he's behind some kind of barrier… Wait—he's here! I found him, he's here!" Wanda's voice rose in relief.
"Thank God," Tony muttered. "I hope the person you made us stall for is actually worth it."
Listening to them, Malrick quickly realized something was off.
The crimson energy around him dissipated, revealing a devastated landscape.
He stood in the middle of a war zone.
Tony Stark's armor was shattered and sparking.
Thor's face was blackened with soot, his breathing ragged.
Even Hulk was barely standing, bloodied and dazed.
The Avengers, battered and exhausted, surrounded him.
Their bodies bore deep cuts and scorch marks, but their eyes were filled with weary determination.
Beyond them stretched a field of destroyed machines—mountains of steel corpses.
Broken Ultron drones lay piled like hills, their limbs torn apart, wires sparking.
Yet more continued to crawl and fly toward them, filling the skies in waves.
The Avengers struggled to hold their ground, their strength nearly spent.
And among the swarm above them floated a single crimson figure.
A humanoid body of red and gold, a glowing yellow gem embedded in its forehead.
Naked, synthetic, emotionless—it looked eerily familiar.
"That's… Vision," Malrick muttered.
"No, wait—that's Ultron. He successfully took control of the body meant for Vision."
His eyes narrowed slightly as he pieced it together.
The Avengers fought on, glancing toward him with equal parts hope and disbelief.
Only Wanda looked at him with raw emotion—relief and recognition written across her face.
She wore her red jacket and black dress, her long boots streaked with dust.
Older now, mid-twenties perhaps—more mature, more grounded, yet still carrying that same spark of wild determination.
Malrick instantly realized—this wasn't his universe.
He had been summoned into a parallel Earth, right at the climax of the Avengers' war against Ultron.
But this Ultron had gone further than the one he remembered.
He had successfully merged with the body originally designed for him—the Vision body.
So, this world's Avengers were losing, and Wanda, desperate, had summoned him from across realities.
But how did she even know him?
Did his Wanda share her dreams with the others across parallel worlds?
Malrick glanced at Wanda, half amused, half intrigued.
He had to admit—this version of her was strikingly beautiful.
"I've come in response to your summons," he said calmly.
"Are you the one who called me?"
Before he could say another word, Wanda rushed toward him and threw her arms around him.
"Malrick!" she cried, clinging tightly for a brief, emotional moment before pulling away and grabbing his hand.
"Please, Malrick, save Pietro! He was shot—he's not breathing!"
Malrick followed her trembling finger to where Pietro lay on the ground, pale and motionless.
He felt a pang of disbelief.
After the training he'd given the Pietro in his own universe, he thought such a ridiculous thing—a speedster killed by bullets—would never happen again.
Yet here it was, repeating itself in another world.
Pietro's body was riddled with holes, the blood drying against his skin.
His chest no longer moved.
But Malrick saw something else.
Switching to his spiritual vision, he spotted Pietro's soul hovering above the body.
It hadn't yet been claimed by Death.
Good—he could still save him.
There were two ways: he could use the Zeus Spring Water to restore the body, or a far simpler one—the Time Stone.
Malrick summoned the Time Stone from within his inner world.
A wave of green energy descended, swirling around Pietro's corpse.
The bullets lifted from his wounds, his skin turned from pale to flushed, and within seconds—he gasped for air.
"What… what happened to me?" Pietro blinked, dazed, his mind frozen at the moment he had shielded Hawkeye from the bullets.
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