Quaggs lay on the ground like a grotesque starfish.
His gigantic tentacles stretched in all directions, rising like mountain peaks, supporting the massive trunk of his body.
Compared to him, Ebony Maw and Black Dwarf were as small as grains of rice, almost insignificant under his shadow.
In other words, to the two of them, Quaggs looked like the heavenly vault, as if covering the entire world above their heads.
More than a dozen gigantic eyeballs, like dozens of shining moons, stared straight at them, unmoving and cold.
"What… what kind of monster is this…?"
Even Black Dwarf, who usually feared nothing, felt an icy wave of dread crawl through his bones.
Especially when his gaze accidentally met one of those enormous eyes, it was as if an invisible force pierced his mind.
His brain throbbed as if struck by a hammer.
His consciousness began to fade, and before his eyes appeared revolting, surreal hallucinations: tentacles turning into countless eyes, hideous, incomprehensible monsters whispering in unknown tongues…
"That is… that is a dimensional demon god from another space!"
"Don't look at it!"
Ebony Maw, usually a master of manipulation and deceit, didn't dare even lift his head. His voice, though quiet, was full of panic.
At that moment, a cold voice came from the side, sharp like a knife cutting through the silence:
"I heard… you're looking for this?"
At the same time, the space rippled with a familiar, terrifying energy.
Ebony Maw immediately recognized that presence, it was precisely that power which had forcibly dragged them into this twisted world.
"I am Ebony Maw, servant of Lord Thanos… may I ask…"
Speaking the name of Thanos was supposed to be a card of salvation, but it sounded hollow and weak in the face of what stood before them.
Ebony Maw raised his gaze toward the source of the voice.
It was a man.
At least, that's how he appeared.
But the aura radiating from him was even more terrifying, even darker and more sinister than that of the monstrous being above them.
Looking more closely, Ebony saw that the man, Aron was shrouded in ghastly visions: shadows of tentacles, darkness surging like black flame, wreaths of bones and crowns floating above him, flames the color of blood and night…
That monstrous evil seemed to cover half the celestial vault.
"Ebony…"
Black Dwarf opened his mouth to say something, but the words stuck in his throat when he saw the gleaming Eye of Agamotto hanging around Aron's neck.
It was proof of the truth.
Ebony Maw didn't need to guess, he knew no one would dare, nor could they, deceive a being whose power surpassed even that of dimensional demon gods.
But this knowledge brought no comfort.
For whether you knew it or not, no one could even think of snatching something from the hands of the one standing before them.
"Lord… there may have been a misunderstanding between us," Ebony Maw said, his voice showing utter submission.
"Our goal was only the mages of Kamar-Taj. We never intended to oppose your… allies or beings from other dimensions."
"In fact…"
He swallowed hard and continued, trembling.
"I personally feel the deepest respect for you."
Ebony Maw didn't even dare to use his innate ability of manipulation.
Instead, he simply bowed deeply, his body bent almost at a ninety-degree angle, his head lowered to the ground.
"The main thing is that I didn't know that the item was in your possession. If I had known… I would not have dared even to think of touching it."
His long, slender body was practically kneeling on the ground, his forehead lowered, his eyes avoiding Aron's gaze.
He didn't dare raise his head.
He didn't dare even to look again at the gleaming Eye of Agamotto hanging around Aron's neck.
"But didn't you say that when we first arrived here?"
Black Dwarf, barely recovering from the terror he felt before Quaggs, lifted his head at Ebony Maw's words.
"Didn't you say…" Black Dwarf continued in disbelief "…no matter who possesses the jewel, you'd kill them to take it?"
"You even said that besides this one, you'd grab the other jewels as well and that you'd help me bring them to you as the new cosmic overlord…"
"Enough!"
"Shut up!"
Ebony Maw almost hissed through his teeth, trying to cut him off before he said anything more.
At the same time, he tried to use his innate demagogic ability to influence Black Dwarf, but it was clearly too late now.
He hadn't expected that his own foolish companion would expose him at the worst possible moment.
Ebony Maw awkwardly turned his head toward Aron, desperately seeking a way to explain everything that had been said.
"Lord… this is a misunderstanding… we and you, and your allies from the other dimension, surely have no conflict…"
Aron stood to the side, observing them indifferently, not interrupting Ebony Maw until he had completely run out of words.
Then he spoke coldly:
"Kill them."
"Yes."
Quaggs, who had been silent all this time, didn't waste a moment.
His twelve massive eyeballs shone with a terrifying dark purple light.
"No! No! You can't kill us! We never offended you!"
"I don't even know your name!"
Ebony Maw shouted in panic, feeling the icy core of death descending upon him.
As soon as he tried to flee, tentacles sprouted out of nowhere, wrapping around both him and Black Dwarf, pinning them in place like trapped insects.
"I am a master of the universe! I served Thanos! You can't kill me!"
"I can surrender to you! Just take my sou—"
Ebony Maw didn't get to finish his sentence.
More than ten pillars of dark purple energy crashed down from the sky like the wrath of a deity.
The pillars of destruction cut through everything in an instant.
Ebony Maw and Black Dwarf didn't withstand even a single second.
When the beams ceased, not a trace of their bodies remained, not a single particle of what they had been survived.
Even the ground beneath them was turned into a molten crater, as if the abyss itself had devoured their existence.
"Aron," came Quaggs' deep, slightly resentful voice, "next time you summon me, could you do it somewhere that's not so hot?"
His massive form hunched as he spoke, his tentacles lazily swaying as if waving away the discomfort.
"This place is miserable. There's nowhere to settle, magma everywhere… even though my body doesn't burn, this roasting is unbearable."
"Alright," said Aron calmly. "I'll take you somewhere colder."
He raised his hand and touched the exorcist card.
As soon as Quaggs saw that item, it was as if lightning had struck him, his entire colossal figure froze.
"Wait! No! Just tell me where! You don't have to use that! Really, it's really not necessary!"
His tentacles began flailing wildly, as if trying to stop Aron from teleporting him again to an even worse place.
"Look at you, such a coward," Aron retorted. "Go by yourself. And don't forget to pay the rent this month on time."
Quaggs received the spatial coordinates that Aron sent: from the Laniakea Supercluster, across the Virgo Cluster, through the Local Bubble and beyond, all the way to the Oort Cloud, at the very edge of the Solar System.
Simply put: just outside Earth.
Aron actually had no intention of directly involving himself in what could be called the "war for the infinity stones."
After all, without Thanos and his real threat, the whole battle would look like the performance of a few amateurs.
But Ebony Maw's act of theft had truly enraged him.
"You want to fight? Then fight," he thought. "But why steal? And right from my own backyard."
Today's attack had been aimed at Kamar-Taj.
And who knows, tomorrow someone might try to take advantage of his absence to sneak into the New York Sanctum.
True, the chances of a successful break-in weren't great, the Ancient One was still there after all.
But… what if?
What if, at that moment, Wanda, Gwen, Skye, or Black Cat were in the Sanctum?
What if something happened to them?
That wouldn't be something that ended with the deaths of a few intruders.
No, then everyone who bore the name of enemy would have to die.
And the "dogs of Titan" deserved to be punished.
To prevent something like this from happening again, Aron didn't waste time on arguments or threats.
He simply sent Quaggs to take care of the problem, with full freedom to reduce the opponent to dust.
Quaggs, now with the given coordinates, said nothing.
A rift opened in space and he vanished, leaving the dimension of Hell.
"Wait a moment…" Aron raised an eyebrow.
"Did I forget to tell him which side is the enemy and which is the ally?"