Diablo Appears Once More

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

"Whether I slept well or not, what does that have to do with you?!"

His voice was like a thunderclap, echoing through the Mirror Dimension and shattering the surrounding glass curtain walls.

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

Ancient One's expression remained calm, but a trace of pity flashed deep within her eyes.

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

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

"A child?!" Chen Tian sneered, a vicious curve tugging at his lips. "Who do you think you are? I just wanted to prevent the scenes from my dreams! I'm protecting my friends! I don't want my friends to die after saying, 'I am Iron Man,' ever again!"

Chen Tian's expression was somewhat crazed. "What is Captain America? What is Bucky? That damned sanctimonious Captain America could betray Tony for his friend, so why couldn't I kill him and that damned friend of his?"

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

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

Above the ruins of New York, Tony Stark's nanotech armor was shattered beyond recognition. Chen Tian's hand clutched his throat, azure cursed energy flowing between his fingers. Tony's faceplate had long since broken apart, and his caramel-colored eyes, always gleaming with intelligence, were now filled with tears as they reflected Chen Tian's savage face.

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

The Chen Tian in the mirror tilted his head, his lips splitting into an inhuman grin. "A necessary sacrifice." With a crisp crack, Tony's neck twisted at an unnatural angle, and the light in his eyes froze forever.

Chen Tian suddenly dropped to his knees in reality, his stomach convulsing violently. More scenes emerged from the ashes: Pepper died while holding 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—that version's eyes burned with the exact same crimson light as his own.

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 present Chen Tian. "You think you're protecting them, but in reality, you're becoming their greatest threat."

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

Every drop of blood reflected a different future—but no matter which future it was, he ultimately stood atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, his friends' bodies beneath his feet.

"That dimensional creature is more cunning than you imagine," Ancient One said softly. "It wants your soul to fall. It wants you to walk down the path of corruption yourself. It is luring you into its trap."

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

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

Chen Tian stared blankly at one fragment—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 fluttered gently in the wind, behind her a blue sky so vivid it hurt the eyes. She seemed to be bathed in an angelic halo.

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

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

"Kid, you're better than this." (Kid, you should have done better.)

Chen Tian's body continued falling through the darkness. Amid the howling wind came countless familiar sounds—the clanging of Tony forging metal in an Afghanistan cave, the sharp whistle of 2B's blade cutting through the air during battle, the Arbitrators cheering loudly at a joyful post-battle barbecue party. 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 a mirror-still surface of water beneath his feet. What it reflected was 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 still others, he sat alone atop the ruins of Stark Tower, holding a bloodstained Vibranium shield.

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

This time, she was not wearing sorcerer's robes, but a plain white gown. "You are the most unique existence in this world. Across countless parallel universes and timelines, there is only one you. Whether in the past or future, no one can affect you through the timeline."

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

Chen Tian knelt on the water, staring at the crimson in his own pupils with a dazed expression.

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

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 things are imperfect that life is precious. It is because there are regrets that people cherish the present."

Chen Tian clutched his head, his face filled with pain. "But..." His voice trembled. "In my dreams..."

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 understood everything. "They are tempting your fears and magnifying your confusion. Especially that existence lurking in your dreams—Nightmare. It is weaving a trap with your deepest obsession."

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

"Hehehe..." A bone-chilling laugh suddenly rang through the space. It sounded like thousands of voices layered together, containing both an old man's rasp and an infant's cries. "Sorcerer Supreme... you should not have... meddled..."

Every reflection on the water twisted into hideous ghost faces. The hem of Ancient One's white robe fluttered without wind. Her gaze sharpened, and her hands swiftly formed seals, but the bloody color actually corroded backward along the paths of her magic.

Ancient One's pupils suddenly contracted. For the first time, those eyes that had seen through countless dimensions showed shock. Her white robe fluttered without wind, golden magical patterns appearing around her body, only to corrode completely the instant they touched the bloody energy.

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

The water boiled and churned, revealing three hideous reflections—

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

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

Nightmare's tentacles were the densest of all. They spread through the entire space like blood vessels. Every pulse made the crimson in Chen Tian's eyes burn brighter. When Chen Tian planned the Battle of Washington District, it had already used Chen Tian's worries and pressure over the plan to seep into every one of his dreams.

"What a delicious soul..." Three demonic voices resonated through the space, shattering the water's surface. "Sorcerer Supreme, did you think stopping our true bodies would be enough?"

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

Just as the bloody energy was about to completely devour Chen Tian, the entire space suddenly shook violently. A pungent stench of sulfur filled the air, and smoke erupted from the void like a volcanic eruption.

Ancient One abruptly raised her head. Through the smoke filling the heavens, a pair of enormous claws burning with infernal flames tore open the dimensional barrier.

"It was you—" A deafening roar sent waves a hundred meters high exploding from the water, turning it into a towering sea of fire. "You dared devour my master while this king was away?" A torrential rain of sulfurous fire fell, each drop erupting into blinding purple-black flames upon touching the bloody energy.

Ancient One's white robe was lifted by the heatwave. She saw the hundreds-of-meters-tall Diablo stepping from boiling lava, countless flames winding around his seven demon horns like a burning crown in the void.

The projections of the three Demon Gods shrieked at the same time. Mephisto's goat horns suddenly caught fire, Dormammu's dark energy shrank violently as if encountering its natural enemy, and Nightmare's tentacles—those blood vessel-like things that had been dancing so arrogantly just moments earlier—were now carbonizing and collapsing at a visible rate.

"And you even made little 2B cry?" Diablo's third eye suddenly turned toward a fragment of the future, frozen on the moment 2B's core was crushed. The entire white space was suddenly tinted the dark red of purgatory. Countless lava chains shot out from the void, pinning the projections of the three Demon Gods firmly in midair.

"My master may be just an immature brat, but is his spiritual world something trash like you can touch?!"

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

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

The Hellfire on Mephisto's goat horns flickered uncertainly, panic flashing through his crimson eyes. "That's impossible... I sacrificed one-third of Hell's authority and part of my soul..." His voice abruptly caught because one of Diablo's chains had wrapped around his projection's neck. The purple-black flames burning on it made him recognize that familiar energy fluctuation.

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

Diablo let out earth-shaking laughter, the flames on his seven demon horns surging. "I should be thanking you, old bastard!" He suddenly turned toward Nightmare's projection, which was quietly dissolving. "Trying to run?"

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

The three Demon Gods simultaneously felt the terror of those chains—they were not merely restraints. Through the connection between their projections and true bodies, they were frantically 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 were turning to ash.

"Detonate the projections!" Nightmare made the decision first. Its projection suddenly expanded 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!" In the final moment before his projection collapsed, he cast a venomous look at the unconscious Chen Tian. "His soul will sooner or later..."

"Shut up, trash!" Diablo's massive claw suddenly clenched, and the projections of the three Demon Gods exploded into countless motes of light. Yet, in the final instant, the burning chains split apart and became countless tiny fire serpents that burrowed into the spatial cracks left by the explosion.

Three muffled groans of pain faintly echoed from the void, followed by the thunderous roar of dimensional barriers shaking violently. Diablo watched the fire serpents vanish into the cracks with satisfaction and grinned savagely. "Enjoy the 'gift' I sent you..."

The Mirror Dimension began to tremble violently, countless cracks spreading through the void like a spiderweb. Several tears were ripped into Ancient One's white robe by the violent currents of energy. To her horror, she discovered that those cracks were not ordinary spatial fractures, but dimensional fault lines penetrating toward reality.

"Diablo!" Urgency entered Ancient One's voice for the first time. She formed seals with both hands, trying to stabilize the space, but the golden magical patterns shattered inch by inch the moment 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 hideous Lord of Terror had taken human form. Leah stood barefoot upon the boiling lava, her wine-red hair flying in the energy storm, an innocent yet cruel smile on her lips. "New York collapsing? Dimensions overlapping? Or..." She suddenly leaned close to Ancient One's ear, her breath carrying the scent of sulfur. "Will you finally admit how useless you guardians are?"

Ancient One's pupils shrank sharply. In her two thousand years as a guardian, she had never seen the collapse of the Mirror Dimension affect reality. Yet now, she could clearly see beyond the spatial cracks—the walls of the Empire State Building were cracking apart for no reason, pedestrians on the streets were collapsing as blood flowed from their seven orifices, and black snow had begun falling across the sky over Manhattan.

"Demons only know how to destroy." Leah spun lightly, her skirt kicking up waves of Hellfire. "Repairing it? You should go find..." She suddenly imitated Ancient One's customary solemn tone. "The great Eternity you serve?"

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

Leah watched coldly, her wine-red hair flying in the energy storm. "Old hag, do you think I'll help you clean up this mess?" She held the unconscious Chen Tian in her arms. "What does the collapse of reality or the deaths of mortals have to do with me?"

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

"What are you doing?!" Leah's pupils contracted sharply. She rushed at Ancient One, only to be blocked in midair by turbulent currents of time. She could only watch as Chen Tian's outline grew fainter and fainter before finally turning into specks of starlight and entering the timeline.

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

Ancient One's face rapidly aged beneath the Time Stone's glow, wrinkles crawling across her features like vines. Yet she continued maintaining the spell with unwavering resolve. "This is... the only way..."

Leah's body also began turning transparent. She looked down at her gradually fading arms, then suddenly let out a heart-wrenching roar. "Ancient One! When I return, I'll tear your soul to 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 rubber. The last things to disappear were her eyes, blazing with rage as they stared fixedly in Ancient One's direction.

Under the Time Stone's power, the entire Mirror Dimension began repairing itself in reverse. The shattered glass pieced itself back together, and the collapsed structures returned to normal. But 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 might appear again.

She dropped to her knees in exhaustion, the Time Stone rolling 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 a faint call from a young man...

Tony lay lazily on the sofa. He loosened his tie, casually tossing 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 recommend that you—"

"Save it, JARVIS." Tony undid his cufflinks. "Those old fossils at the Pentagon are even harder to deal with than the Ten Rings." As he walked toward the liquor cabinet, a holographic display automatically unfolded, showing twelve Arbitrator defense bases under construction around the world.

Amber whiskey swirled in the glass, but Tony's gaze settled on a photograph on the wall—it was from an Arbitrators barbecue party, where Chen Tian had cut through the grill, Chef Dogdan roaring angrily behind him, while Tony, Thor, Hulk, Natasha, and Barton laughed heartily nearby. Then the dark circles beneath his eyes in the glass's reflection pulled him back to reality.

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

"The global surveillance system has not detected any signal from Mr. Chen Tian's aircraft." JARVIS paused. "However, I 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 suddenly turned cold, all exhaustion gone. "Now."

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

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

The holographic display switched instantly. With a delay of 0.3 seconds, JARVIS brought up satellite footage of Sokovia, the castle exploding 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 streak of silver light shoot out of the ruins.

"Stop!" Tony shot to his feet. "Enlarge that point of light!"

The image magnified and sharpened continuously. The silver light gradually revealed a humanoid outline—Pietro was sprinting at full speed, Wanda in his arms, with Captain America and the Winter Soldier strapped to 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 records were found," JARVIS replied.

Tony frowned and set down the glass. "JARVIS, get ready. We're going to Sokovia."

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

As JARVIS finished speaking, 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 seized him.

"Sir? Your heart rate—"

"I'm fine." Tony roughly cut off the AI's warning, but his hand trembled uncontrollably. The hollow feeling brought by that palpitation was too familiar—familiar enough to be terrifying. The last time he had felt it was the moment he watched his parents' coffins lowered into the ground.

"JARVIS! Find a way to contact Steve! Tell him I'm 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!"