The Twelve Skewer Demon King!

In this international metropolis on the other side of the Earth, unlike the hemisphere opposite, it was already night here. The night market was bustling now, crowds flowing back and forth like shuttles, as all kinds of specialty food stalls kicked off their evening business. There were stalls stir-frying shrimp with rice noodles, selling grilled meat skewers, offering wontons and dumplings—basically, any Eastern cuisine you could think of, you could find something to satisfy you here.

Annie was now standing in front of a grilled skewer stall, swallowing hard. Her teleportation spell had just carried her halfway across the globe to this spot. At the end of the street ahead in this Eastern metropolis stood a mage tower—what those mages called the Sanctum.

Right now, that Sanctum was starting to collapse, with a bunch of mages brawling over there! Annie had originally wanted to go help, but when she reached a grilled skewer stall, she decided to ignore them for now and let them fight a while longer. It probably wouldn't matter much—they'd been at it for so long already, waiting a bit more wouldn't kill them!

The aroma of these grilled skewers was just too tempting. The rich scent made her unable to move a step; fighting could definitely wait! Maybe she could even buy a few skewers and watch them fight while eating? Yeah! That's the plan! Conquered by the fragrance, Annie made her decision on the spot.

Inside the stall in front of Annie, a burly middle-aged man with a bare chest and a fierce face was busy at the blazing charcoal stove. Neat rows of skewers sizzled on the grill under the intense heat, and the man focused intently, watching the heat while sprinkling various seasonings over the meat. As the spices mixed in and were roasted by the high temperature, they began to release an irresistible, mouthwatering aroma.

"Uncle! Uncle! How much are these skewers?" This was the smell! Annie's eyes lit up as she sniffed hard, breathing in the wonderful scent, and quickly asked about the price. She couldn't wait to taste them.

"Huh? Oh! Hello there, little one! There are three kinds here: pork skewers are five Hong Kong dollars each, beef skewers ten, and lamb skewers fifteen! How many do you want?" The man had been so busy he hadn't noticed Annie—after all, she was only a bit taller than his stall counter, so it was normal not to spot her.

"Hong Kong dollars? I don't have any..." Annie stood on tiptoe, staring at the already-grilled skewers, swallowing again.

"If you have RMB, that works too." The man figured this little girl was a tourist; not having Hong Kong dollars was normal.

"I don't have that either..." She had neither of the two currencies he mentioned.

Annie suddenly found these Earth people utterly infuriating. Why did they have so many kinds of currency? And they could just use some printed, colorful paper as money? Back in Valoran, they used gold, silver, or copper coins that worked everywhere—not this complicated mess like Earth people did!

"Little one, if you don't have money, there's nothing I can do! Where are your parents? Maybe you can ask them for some cash?" The middle-aged man thought Annie had snuck off without her family noticing, so he suggested this while looking around, hoping to spot the blonde girl's foreign parents and use his broken English to trick them into buying some. That would be his first sale of the day.

"Hmph! My family's not here!" Mentioning that only made Annie angry.

Her family was still in Valoran. She'd come to this Eastern city to find those Kamar-Taj mages for knowledge on spatial magic, but who'd have thought they'd start fighting among themselves? She was at a loss now, unsure which side to help.

"Hey! Look, I don't have RMB or your Hong Kong dollars. I only have this! So, are you selling or not?" Annie grumpily handed over a crisp, greenish-gray hundred-dollar bill. Coulson had prepared these earlier to prevent her from causing trouble by using gold coins, and she still had several stacks in her spatial pocket.

"This is... Hiss...! US dollars?" The man stopped his work, took the bill curiously, and after a glance, gasped in shock. This was a US bill... and it felt real.

"Hey! Are you done staring? Can this buy your skewers or not?" This guy was so weird—just a piece of paper, and he had to stare at it for so long? Annie was getting impatient. She'd given him money now; if he still wouldn't sell, she'd have to resort to force!

"Huh? Oh! Yes, yes! Of course, no problem at all!" Jolted by the girl's urging, the man snapped back, quickly stuffed the bill into his apron's money pouch, grabbed a random handful from the grilled skewers, and shoved them into the little girl's hands without another word.

"Here! These are all yours now—eat up, go wild!" After handing over the skewers, the man grinned so wide his mouth nearly split.

He'd not only made his first sale but also scored a huge profit. He hadn't even thought about giving change. Later, even if the girl's parents came to settle accounts after she finished the skewers, he'd just deny everything! The girl had eaten a bunch, so he'd claim it cost a hundred dollars—what could they do about it?

"Mmm~! So good, so good!" With the skewers she wanted, Annie flashed to the rooftop of a tall building unnoticed. She sat on the edge, dangling her feet, stuffing grilled meat into her mouth while watching the two groups of half-baked masons brawling in the street below.

"Wow~! Tibbers, look how lame they are! Do mages here love close combat that much?" Annie munched on a skewer, critiquing the fight below. Hadn't anyone told these heretical mages that this was wrong?

"Proper mages, and they've learned it all wrong. Tch, whatever~!" Annie shook her head dismissively and tossed a finished bamboo stick down. She didn't care if it hit the fighting groups below.

Huh? Just as Annie was about to keep eating, she noticed the whole world freeze. Time had stopped? How was that possible? Then she saw a pure dark world descending from the sky toward Earth—or more accurately, trying to devour it?

"Tibbers! Should we step in?" Annie asked while eating, recognizing the dark world above. It was similar to little bear Tibbers' Shadow Realm, but slightly different.

Master! Inside is a chaotic, evil, malformed Shadow Creature that survives by devouring the essence of different worlds. There are plenty of these in the Shadow Realm too! But I've never seen one this big. How many worlds must it have consumed? Though its rank is only Pseudo-God, its body is enormous! It can harness too much energy. I suggest you don't act rashly.

"Not act? Just let it eat Earth? No way!" Annie was startled by Tibbers' advice. Was this dark creature so powerful that even Tibbers was backing down? But not acting wasn't an option! Earth had people she cared about, and she wouldn't let it be devoured.

Oh, my little mistress! If this malformed dark creature hadn't grown this big, I could have crushed it with one claw! But look at it now—how many planets and worlds has it swallowed?

If you must act, wait for one decisive blow, hit its soul hard, and scare it off! Otherwise, a prolonged fight will only hurt us. Oh, look! That guy in the red cloak just went in. Maybe we can wait a bit longer?

"Huh? Really? That guy's brave!" Annie spotted a man in a red cloak flying into the dark world above. After a moment of surprise, she went back to munching her skewers. Tibbers was right—she'd watch and see.

A close-combat mage charging into the enemy's home turf? Calling him brave was the best she could do. If it were her, she'd never do something that stupid!

"Hmm? Tibbers! Something feels off?" Annie puzzledly nibbled her skewer, finished it, tossed the stick, and counted what she had left. Twelve skewers total. Still so many—she'd keep eating!

"Ah!!! Tibbers! I found something amazing—my skewers never run out! Look, I counted just now: twelve total. I ate two, so there should be ten left! But look—still twelve!"

Annie suddenly realized this shocking, bizarre fact. No matter how many she ate, the skewers never decreased! How strange!

Endless skewers? That was great! At first, she thought she'd miscounted, but now, after eating two, there were still twelve. Eat two more, still twelve! They just wouldn't run out!

Tibbers didn't answer. It also sensed something wrong but was observing carefully.

"Tibbers... I swear, I never want to eat skewers again!!!" After countless rounds, Annie angrily tossed her twelve skewers downstairs.

She'd repeated this eating cycle countless times—hundreds? Thousands? She'd lost count! Maybe she'd eaten tens of thousands of skewers? It was terrifying!

Now the sight of skewers made her nauseous, but she realized she couldn't stop even if she wanted to! She'd thrown them downstairs, but the next instant, they were back in her hands—still twelve, no more, no less!

"Ah!!! So annoying!" Annie threw the skewers down again and launched a fireball, burning them to ash! That should stop them from coming back, right? For the first time, Annie felt that even the best food could drive you crazy if you ate too much.

"Tibbers... What's happening to us? Why is this?" Annie stared blankly at the twelve skewers that had reappeared in her hands.

She felt awful. These weren't skewers—they were twelve demons! She'd tried burning, freezing, disintegrating, banishing, even tossing them into another dimension! But every single time, they came back—exactly twelve, no more, no less!

Ha! I get it! Master, the skewers aren't the problem—time has been looped infinitely! Look! That guy in the red cloak is flying into the dark world again!

"He's flown countless times already! What's so strange about that? Huh? Wait—how could he fly that many times? So it was him!" With Tibbers' reminder, Annie snapped out of the twelve-skewer nightmare and spotted the culprit. That bad guy had a green gem on his chest, its energy similar to the two she already had.

Since Annie had the Space Stone and the Mind Stone, that red-cloaked jerk's gem was probably the Time Stone? Otherwise, why would she have been stuck in a time loop, eating endless skewers until she nearly lost it? That red-cloaked guy was definitely a villain!

Master! The time loop has ended. The timeline seems back to normal.

Just as Annie was thinking of a way to end this infinite time loop, Tibbers suddenly reminded her that the time loop had already ended.

The impending dark world seemed to have been dealt with by that person in the red cloak. Looking at the sky and streets returning to normal, then at the meat skewers in her hand, Annie's mouth twitched. She tossed them directly onto the balcony. She didn't want to look at them again, not even half a glance—she was that annoyed!

After a moment, watching the two mages leaving below, especially the one in the red cloak, Annie thought it over and used Flash to jump down to the street. She planned to tail them properly and find a chance to get her hands on that gem.

Annie felt that something as dangerous as the Time Stone absolutely could not remain in their hands. It was truly perilous—what just happened was proof! They had nearly trapped her in that time loop forever. So, Annie figured, she might as well reluctantly help them keep that dangerous thing safe?

"Hey! Little girl, finished those skewers that fast? Were they good? Want some more?" As Annie passed by, the sharp-eyed barbecue vendor spotted her immediately and grabbed a handful of skewers, waving them temptingly.

"Pfft! They were disgusting! I'm never eating your barbecue again!" At the sight of the skewers, Annie nearly threw up. Furious, she turned around and made a fierce face at him! She had almost puked from eating them, and this guy still wanted to trick her into having more?

"Disgusting? No way?" The vendor stared doubtfully at the little girl fleeing as if escaping, then looked at the skewers in his own hand. He picked one up and tried it himself. Nodding as he chewed, he thought, This is right, the taste is still the same as always—spicy and fragrant! Smooth and delicious! How could it be disgusting? His stall had been a famous local staple for decades.