Diablo Appears Once More

Chen Tian's pupils suddenly contracted, and the crimson glow in the Heavenly Eye surged like flames. His breathing grew rapid, cursed energy roiling uncontrollably around him and forming a distorted energy storm.

"What does whether I slept well have to do with you?!"

His voice boomed like thunder through the Mirror Dimension, shattering the glass curtain walls all around him.

The fragments did not fall. Instead, they floated eerily in midair, each piece twisting within the Mirror Dimension and reflecting fragments of Chen Tian's dreams.

The Ancient One's expression remained calm, but a trace of pity flickered deep in her eyes.

"Chen Tian, your mind has already been corrupted." She spoke slowly, pressing her hands together before her chest as a golden magic circle spun between her palms. "You haven't even realized that you are being controlled."

"This is my fault too... I was always guarding against Dimensional Demon Gods, yet I forgot that you were only ever a psychologically fragile child."

"A child?!" Chen Tian sneered, a savage curve lifting at the corner of his mouth. "Who do you think you are? I only wanted to prevent the scenes from my dreams from happening! I was protecting my friends! I don't want my friends to sacrifice themselves after saying, 'I am Iron Man,' ever again!"

Chen Tian's expression turned somewhat deranged. "What is Captain America? What is Bucky? That damned saintly Captain America can betray Tony for his friend, so why can't I kill him and his damned friend?"

"I am not from this world! So! I can do whatever I want!"

The Ancient One let out a long sigh, the sleeve of her robes drawing a golden arc through the air. The entire Mirror Dimension twisted violently like a shattered kaleidoscope. Countless memory fragments rearranged themselves before finally freezing on the deepest fear within Chen Tian's dreams—

Above the ruins of New York, Tony Stark's nanotech armor lay in pieces. Chen Tian's hand gripped his throat, azure cursed energy flowing between his fingers. Tony's faceplate had long since shattered, and those caramel-colored eyes that had always gleamed with intelligence were now filled with tears, reflecting Chen Tian's savage face.

"Is this the future you want?" The Ancient One's voice came from every direction, each syllable striking Chen Tian's heart like a heavy hammer.

The Chen Tian in the reflection tilted his head, his mouth splitting into an inhuman grin. "It is only a necessary sacrifice." With a crisp crack, Tony's neck twisted at an unnatural angle, and the light in those eyes froze forever.

Chen Tian suddenly dropped to his knees in reality, his stomach convulsing violently. More images emerged from the ashes: Pepper died while clutching Tony's corpse; 2B's mechanical core was crushed by his own hand; Steve's Vibranium shield was embedded in Wanda's chest...

"No... this isn't me..." Chen Tian's voice broke apart as he shook his head frantically, only to find another version of himself standing in every fragment—each with the same crimson light dancing in his eyes.

The Ancient One appeared amid the drifting ashes. This time, she did not cast any spell. She merely watched Chen Tian quietly. "See clearly. This is what the Dimensional Demon Gods want you to do."

She pointed to the final fragment, which reflected the current Chen Tian. "You think you are protecting them, but in truth, you are becoming their greatest threat."

Chen Tian's nails dug deep into his palms. Blood dripped through his fingers onto the ground of the Mirror Dimension, sending ripples outward.

Every drop reflected a different future—but in every future, he stood atop mountains of corpses and seas of blood, with the bodies of his friends beneath his feet.

"That dimensional being is more cunning than you imagine." The Ancient One's voice softened. "It wants your soul to fall. It wants you to walk the path of corruption yourself. It is luring you into its trap."

With a wave of her hand, she dispersed the bloody illusion. "You fear repeating past mistakes, yet it is precisely this obsession that has led you down the worst possible path."

The Mirror Dimension began to collapse, countless glass-like fragments flying through the air.

Chen Tian stared blankly at one of them—2B was smiling at him, holding up the strawberry ice cream they had once bought together.

The pink scoop gave off a faint icy mist, and a drop of melted cream slowly slid down the edge of the cone. Her silver-white hair drifted gently in the wind. Behind her was a brilliant blue sky so vivid it hurt the eyes, and her whole body seemed bathed in a halo like that of an Angel.

"Now you understand." The Ancient One's voice gradually faded away. "True protection is not killing, but..."

Her final words were swallowed by the howling wind. Chen Tian suddenly fell, plunging toward bottomless darkness. In the instant before he lost consciousness, he seemed to hear the words Tony had said before dying in his dream.

"Kid, you're better than this."

Chen Tian's body continued falling through the darkness. Amid the howling wind came countless familiar sounds—the clang of Tony forging iron in an Afghanistan cave, the sharp whistle of 2B's blade cutting through the air in battle, the loud cheers of the Arbitrators at a joyful post-battle barbecue. Those sounds were like sharp shards of glass, scraping against his nerves again and again.

Then, suddenly, the fall stopped.

He found himself standing in a pure white space, with calm, mirror-like water beneath his feet. The surface reflected not his own image, but countless silhouettes of futures. In some worlds, he smiled as he high-fived the Arbitrators in celebration; in some, 2B was stuffing half-melted ice cream into his mouth; in others, he sat alone atop the ruins of Stark Tower, holding a bloodstained Vibranium shield.

"The choice has always been in your hands." The Ancient One's voice rose from beneath the water. As ripples spread, her figure emerged like an ink-black lotus.

This time, she wore no sorcerer's robes, only a simple white gown. "You are the most unique existence in this world. Across countless parallel universes and timelines, only one you exists. Neither the past nor the future—no one can influence you through the timeline."

"All change comes from within yourself, Chen Tian. You have the right to choose to become better, or worse."

Chen Tian knelt on the water's surface, staring at the crimson glow in his pupils with a dazed expression.

"I..." Chen Tian's voice caught. "All I ever... wanted... was a perfect ending..."

The Ancient One slowly crouched beside Chen Tian and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. Warm power flowed from her palm.

"There has never been a perfect ending in this world, Chen Tian." Her voice was gentle yet powerful. "It is because life is imperfect that it is precious. It is because there are regrets that people cherish the present."

Chen Tian held his head, his face full of agony. "But..." His voice trembled. "In my dreams..."

The Ancient One gently shook her head, her gaze as deep as an ancient well. "Those scenes are illusions the Dimensional Demon Gods wanted you to see." Her voice carried the calm of one who saw through everything. "They are luring out your fear and magnifying your confusion. Especially the being lurking in your dreams—Nightmare. It is weaving a trap from your deepest obsession."

The moment the Ancient One spoke the name "Nightmare," the entire white space suddenly shook violently. The crimson in Chen Tian's eyes churned like boiling magma, while the previously clear water instantly turned blood-red.

"Hehehe..." A chilling laugh suddenly echoed through the space. It sounded like thousands of voices layered together, carrying both an old man's rasp and an infant's wail. "Sorcerer Supreme... you should not... meddle in other people's affairs..."

Every reflection on the water twisted into a savage ghostly face. The hem of the Ancient One's white gown fluttered without wind. Her eyes sharpened, and her hands swiftly formed seals, but the blood-red energy actually corroded backward along the paths of her spellwork.

The Ancient One's pupils abruptly contracted. For the first time, shock appeared in those eyes that had seen through countless dimensions. Her white gown fluttered without wind, golden spell patterns appearing around her body, only to be completely corroded the moment they touched the blood-red energy.

"So that is it..." Her voice trembled slightly. Even the Vishanti's Light gathered at her fingertips had been stained a filthy black. "This is not an invasion from a single dimension, but... a feast of demons."

The water boiled and churned, revealing three savage reflections—

Mephisto's crimson goat horns pierced the surface as Hellfire burned in the void. The infernal runes left behind after the New Mexico explosion now flickered deep within Chen Tian's mind.

Dormammu's dark energy was as viscous as asphalt, seeping from every seam of Whiplash's armor. The seed planted during the battle in Monaco had now taken root and sprouted within Chen Tian.

Nightmare's tendrils were the densest of all, spreading throughout the entire space like blood vessels. Every pulse made the crimson in Chen Tian's eyes burn brighter. When Chen Tian was planning the Washington District battle, Nightmare had used his worry and pressure over the plan to seep into every one of his dreams.

"What a delicious soul..." The three demonic voices resonated through the space, shattering the water's surface. "Sorcerer Supreme, did you think it would be enough just to block our true bodies?"

The Ancient One staggered back, a trace of golden blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. She suddenly understood everything—when she battled Dormammu at the New York Sanctum, when she contended with Mephisto in Hong Kong, when she defended Kamar-Taj against Nightmare's invasion... those seemingly accidental dimensional disturbances had all been carefully designed traps.

Just as the blood-red energy was about to completely consume Chen Tian, the entire space suddenly shook violently. A pungent sulfur stench filled the air, and smoke burst from the void like a volcanic eruption.

The Ancient One jerked her head up. Amid the endless smoke, a pair of massive claws blazing with Hellfire tore through the dimensional barrier.

"It is you—" A deafening roar sent hundred-meter waves exploding from the water, transforming it into a towering sea of fire. "You dare devour my master while I am away?" Sulfurous fire rained down in torrents, each drop erupting into blinding purple-black flames upon touching the blood-red energy.

The Ancient One's white gown was swept up by the heatwave. She saw Diablo, hundreds of meters tall, stepping out of the boiling lava. Countless flames coiled around his seven demon horns, forming a burning crown in the void.

The projections of the three demon gods shrieked at once. Mephisto's goat horns suddenly caught fire, Dormammu's dark energy violently contracted as though it had encountered a natural enemy, and Nightmare's tendrils—those blood-vessel-like things that had been arrogantly writhing moments ago—were now carbonizing and collapsing at a visible rate.

"You even made little 2B cry?" Diablo's third eye suddenly turned toward a fragment of the future, where 2B's core was frozen in the moment of being crushed. The entire white space was suddenly stained the dark red of purgatory. Countless lava chains shot from the void, pinning the projections of the three demon gods firmly in midair.

"My master may only be an immature-minded fellow, but is his spiritual world something trash like you can touch?!"

Diablo's bone-spiked tail gently curled around the unconscious Chen Tian. The demonic flames capable of melting Vibranium now brushed across the boy's pale face as softly as feathers.

Dormammu's dark projection twisted violently and let out a deafening roar. "Mephisto! You damned liar!" Dark energy exploded in the void like boiling asphalt, creating countless spikes. "Didn't you say your soul curse had severely wounded him?!"

The Hellfire on Mephisto's goat horns flickered erratically, and panic flashed in his crimson pupils. "That is impossible... I sacrificed a third of Hell's authority and part of my soul..." His voice suddenly caught, because one of Diablo's chains had curled around the neck of his projection. The purple-black flames burning on the chain made him recognize the familiar energy fluctuations.

"That is... my power?!" Mephisto's projection suddenly trembled violently. "You actually turned my curse... into nourishment?!"

Diablo burst into earth-shaking laughter, the flames atop his seven demon horns surging wildly. "I have to thank you for that, old bastard!" He suddenly turned toward Nightmare's projection, which was quietly dissolving. "Trying to run?"

Countless burning chains suddenly pierced out from within Nightmare's projection. The tendrils that had already turned to mist were forcibly nailed back into solid form. Nightmare let out an inhuman scream. "No! These chains are reverse-tracking our dimensional coordinates!"

The three demon gods simultaneously sensed the terror of those chains—they were not merely restraints. Through the connection between projection and true body, they were madly devouring the origin power of each of their dimensions. Cracks began appearing in Dormammu's Dark Dimension, Mephisto's throne of Hell shook violently, and within Nightmare's domain, countless nightmare creatures turned to ash.

"Detonate the projections!" Nightmare made the decision first, its projection suddenly swelling into a massive black sun. "We cannot let him find the dimensional coordinates!"

Dormammu let out an unwilling roar, dark energy exploding like a supernova. "Diablo! This isn't over!" At the very moment his projection collapsed, he glared venomously at the unconscious Chen Tian. "His soul will sooner or later..."

"Shut up, trash!" Diablo's massive claw clenched hard, and the projections of the three demon gods exploded into a sky full of light. Yet at the final instant, those burning chains suddenly split apart, turning into countless tiny fire serpents that slipped into the spatial cracks created by the explosion.

Three muffled cries of pain could vaguely be heard from the void, followed by the thunderous rumble of violently shaking dimensional barriers. Diablo watched with satisfaction as the fire serpents vanished into the cracks, then gave a low, savage laugh. "Enjoy the 'gift' I sent you..."

The Mirror Dimension began to shake violently, countless cracks spreading through the void like a spiderweb. Several tears were ripped into the Ancient One's white gown by the raging energy currents, and she discovered in horror that those cracks were not ordinary spatial fractures—they were dimensional fault lines seeping into reality.

"Diablo!" Urgency entered the Ancient One's voice for the first time. She formed seals with both hands in an attempt to stabilize the space, but the golden spell patterns shattered inch by inch as soon as they formed. "You must hold this place together! Otherwise, the real dimension will—"

"What will happen?" A crisp female voice suddenly rang out. As the smoke dispersed, the previously savage Lord of Terror had taken human form. Leah stood barefoot atop the boiling lava, her wine-red hair flying in the energy storm, an innocent yet cruel smile on her lips. "New York will collapse? Dimensions will overlap? Or..." She suddenly leaned close to the Ancient One's ear, her breath carrying the scent of sulfur. "Will you finally admit how useless you guardians are?"

The Ancient One's pupils constricted. In her two thousand years as a guardian, she had never seen the collapse of the Mirror Dimension affect reality. Yet now, she clearly saw beyond the cracks—the walls of the Empire State Building were splitting apart without cause, pedestrians on the streets were collapsing with blood pouring from all seven orifices, and black snow had begun falling over all Manhattan.

"Demons only know how to destroy." Leah spun lightly, the hem of her dress sending up waves of Hellfire. "For repairs, you should seek..." She suddenly imitated the solemn tone the Ancient One often used. "The Eternity you serve?"

Leah's indifference made the Ancient One grit her teeth. Taking a deep breath, the Ancient One tore the Eye of Agamotto from her chest, emerald light flowing across her palm.

Leah watched coldly, her wine-red hair flying in the energy storm. "Old hag, do you think I will help you clean up this mess?" She held the unconscious Chen Tian in her arms. "What do I care if reality collapses or mortals die?"

The Ancient One did not answer. She merely raised the Time Stone high. Emerald light erupted, and the collapsing space began shaking violently. Leah suddenly felt her arms grow lighter—Chen Tian's body was becoming transparent!

"What are you doing?!" Leah's pupils suddenly contracted. She lunged at the Ancient One, only to be blocked in midair by turbulent time currents. She watched helplessly as Chen Tian's outline grew fainter and fainter until he finally turned into specks of starlight and entered the timeline.

"Stop! Old hag!" Genuine panic appeared in Leah's voice for the first time as she wildly struck the barrier of time. "You will send him into the timeline!"

Under the Time Stone's light, the Ancient One's face aged rapidly, wrinkles crawling over her features like vines. Yet she continued maintaining the spell with unwavering determination. "This is... the only way..."

Leah's body also began turning transparent. She looked down at her gradually fading arm, then suddenly let out a heart-rending roar. "Ancient One! When I return, I will tear your soul into pieces! Every piece will burn in Hellfire for a thousand years!"

Before she could finish her threat, her entire body vanished bit by bit from her fingertips, like a pencil drawing erased by a rubber. The last things to disappear were her eyes, burning with fury as they stared fixedly in the Ancient One's direction.

Under the Time Stone's power, the entire Mirror Dimension began repairing itself in reverse. Shattered glass fused together again, and the collapsed structures returned to normal. But the Ancient One knew that because the Time Stone's power and the collapsing energy had affected Chen Tian, he would enter the timeline, and no one knew when he would appear again.

She fell to her knees in exhaustion, and the Time Stone rolled from her withered hand. In the final moment before she lost consciousness, she seemed to hear a demon's roar from distant time and space, along with the faint call of a young man...

Tony lounged lazily on the sofa. He loosened his tie and casually tossed his expensive custom suit jacket onto the couch.

"Welcome back, sir." JARVIS's voice flowed down from the ceiling. "You have worked continuously for fourteen hours. I suggest that you—"

"Save it, old JARVIS." Tony undid his cufflinks. "Those old fossils at the Pentagon are even more troublesome than the Ten Rings." As he walked toward the liquor cabinet, a holographic projection automatically unfolded, displaying twelve Arbitrator defense bases under construction around the world.

Amber whiskey swirled in his glass, but Tony's gaze fell on a group photo hanging on the wall—one taken at an Arbitrator barbecue party. Chen Tian had sliced through the grill, while Chef Dogdan roared furiously behind him. Tony, Thor, Hulk, Natasha, and Barton were laughing heartily nearby. Then the dark circles beneath his own eyes in the reflection of the glass pulled him back to reality.

"Still no news from that kid?" Tony suddenly asked, his voice hoarser than he expected.

"The global surveillance network has not detected Mr. Chen Tian's aircraft signal." JARVIS paused. "However, I have found evidence of an explosion in Sokovia."

Tony's fingers suddenly tightened. The glass swayed in his hand, amber liquor dripping through his fingers and splashing across the marble floor in glaring streaks.

"Pull up the footage." His voice turned icy at once, all exhaustion gone. "Immediately."

A holographic image appeared before Tony. In the image, a towering castle deep within the mountains of Sokovia suddenly exploded violently.

Tony frowned. "Rewind. Enlarge the third quadrant."

The holographic projection instantly switched. With a delay of 0.3 seconds, JARVIS brought up satellite footage of Sokovia. The castle exploded in extreme slow motion.

"Play it again." Tony's voice was tense.

The footage played again. In the final frame before the ancient castle exploded, Tony suddenly saw a silver flash shoot out from the ruins.

"Stop!" Tony sprang to his feet. "Zoom in on that point of light!"

The image enlarged and sharpened continuously. The silver light gradually took on a humanoid outline—Pietro was sprinting, Wanda in his arms, with Captain America and the Winter Soldier on his back.

"JARVIS, who are the running man and the woman in his arms?" Tony sat back down and took a sip from his glass.

"Sir, no valid information could be found," JARVIS replied.

Tony frowned and set down his glass. "JARVIS, make preparations. We are going to Sokovia."

"Sir, the Mark-Eclipse armor has completed maintenance and is ready for use."

As JARVIS finished speaking, the Mark-Eclipse rose from beneath the floor in the center of the hall.

Tony walked up to the armor. Just as he was about to reach out and touch it, a sudden palpitation gripped his heart.

"Sir? Your heart rate—"

"I am fine." Tony rudely cut off the AI's warning, but his hand was trembling uncontrollably. The hollow feeling brought by that palpitation was far too familiar—familiar enough to be horrifying. The last time he had felt it was when he watched his parents' coffins being lowered into the ground.

"JARVIS! Find a way to contact Steve! Tell him I am on my way!"

The muscles in Tony's face stiffened as he clenched his teeth.

"I want him to tell me why he was there!"