Mercer chuckled, unafraid to face the tentacles head-on.
His figure flickered. In the blink of an eye, the spectral Susanoo appeared beside several tentacles, and lengths of tentacle three or four meters long dropped to the ground.
The Great Old Ones knew its few tentacles were no match for Mercer in its current state. Two tentacles withdrew and braced against the Portal, trying to force it wider.
Mercer would not give it that chance. He raised his blade and severed the tentacles holding the Portal open.
"This farce ends here!"
The ocular power of his mangekyo sharingan erupted, instantly dismantling the Magic Array powering the Tesseract. The Portal began to shrink.
Seven or eight tentacles had originally extended through the Portal, but their number dwindled as it shrank. They desperately propped it open, unwilling to let Mercer drive them back like this.
The superheated Dark Saber sliced straight through those tentacles, rendering their efforts useless.
The final two tentacles were severed as well. With nothing holding it open and no functioning Magic Array, the Portal gradually closed.
In truth, Mercer could have closed it as soon as he saw the Magic Array. His sharingan, which had learned the entire Book of the Vishanti, could easily see through the principles governing its operation.
Stopping it was naturally just as easy. But the unexpected emergence of Susanoo had made Mercer want to test its power, so he had not rushed to close it.
Now that he had tested it enough, and with no idea whether the Great Old Ones had any other tricks, Mercer closed the Portal before anything else could happen.
The Tesseract had no consciousness of its own. Once the Magic Array powering it failed, all the azure magic surrounding it withdrew into the cube, and it dropped where it was.
Everything fell silent again.
With the dust settled, Mercer breathed a sigh of relief. He restored the Dark Saber to its normal size and deactivated Susanoo.
"You've really made me see you in a whole new light. You're so much stronger than I imagined!" Galacta came over to Mercer, studying the man before her curiously.
His age was barely a fraction of hers, yet he kept producing one hidden trump card after another.
Galacta had never heard of anything in this universe like that deep-purple skeletal giant, and it did not look like some piece of advanced technology, either.
"That doesn't matter. What matters is that we still need to arrange the battlefield." Mercer surveyed the area, a smile curling his lips.
"Arrange the battlefield?" Galacta looked puzzled.
Mercer leaned close to her ear and said a few words. Her eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly. "I'm in!"
Ten minutes later.
[Boundless Lockdown] was lifted, and before long, the doors were forced open.
"Mercer!"
Carter's voice rang out from outside. The S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel rushed in, only to freeze at the devastation inside.
Not a single part of the Gymnasium remained intact. Huge marks left by the lashes of some unknown thing covered the place, along with scorched black blade scars.
The once-pristine floor was shattered everywhere, with no intact stretch more than a meter across. The Tesseract lay beside the machine.
"He's over there!"
Carter scanned the room, immediately spotted him in the center, and hurried over.
When she reached Mercer, she found him lying in a pool of blood. The vast quantity of thick blood beneath him was a shocking sight. A large section of his chest had caved in, and his wrists and ankles were twisted in different, horrifying directions.
Everyone present was seasoned and had seen death before. At the sight of such a contorted body, they all knew there was no chance he could survive.
"Did Loki do this? What on earth happened?"
The same questions surfaced in everyone's minds. This did not look like the work of a god the same size as they were. It looked more like the work of some enormous creature.
The young man in the pool of blood showed no signs of life. Carter slowly crouched, reaching out with trembling hands to lift Mercer up. With that much blood lost, there was no possible way he could still be alive.
Looking at the lifeless Mercer, Carter could not speak for a long time. She could only choke back her sobs in silence.
At the sight, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents around her said nothing and quietly moved away to clean up the battlefield.
Someone brought over a specialized containment case, intending to put the Tesseract inside.
"You can't take that. Give it to me." A voice came from nowhere. Golden light appeared beneath the Tesseract, lifting it into the air.
A golden ring appeared out of thin air. Nick Fury and the others knew this sight all too well. Mercer had emerged from just such a golden ring before.
"Mercer?"
Those who knew Mercer looked over hopefully. Unfortunately, the person who emerged was not the one they wanted to see, but a bald woman dressed in a fitted yellow outfit.
It was the Ancient One!
"This object has always been in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody. May I ask who you are?" Nick Fury glanced at the reactions of the people on either side, stepped forward, and asked.
The Ancient One gave him an indifferent glance and ignored him entirely, speaking to herself instead. "Killing Mercer really wasn't easy. I actually had to use a teleportation Magic Array for a Great Old Ones."
As she spoke, she looked around. Finding no sign of Galacta, the Ancient One felt a little puzzled.
"Did he use a Sling Ring to send her away inside Boundless Lockdown? Hmph. He sent someone else away but didn't leave himself. He really did care about Earth's safety."
The Ancient One's muttering left the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel baffled. They did not know what a Great Old Ones was, but they understood that someone else had been behind Mercer's death.
"What do you mean?"
Carter, who had remained unresponsive all this time, finally raised her head. Murderous intent filled her cold face, and her eyes fixed on the Ancient One.
The Ancient One smiled, utterly unconcerned by Carter's murderous intent. "This fellow was a wild card. How could I take over Earth without getting rid of him? I've long since had enough of protecting you weak, useless fools.
"If Mercer were still here, he would surely love this gift I prepared for him."
"I'll kill you!"
Carter sprang up, clenched her fist, and swung at the Ancient One.
The Ancient One casually waved a hand. An invisible force slapped Carter out of the air, sending her crashing into a nearby support pillar.
Seeing this, the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents immediately drew their pistols to fire at the Ancient One. Her raised hand moved again, and their gun hands felt as though they had been struck hard by a whip. Every pistol flew from its owner's grasp.
"Heh. If that's all you can do, you'd better kneel. You don't even deserve to stand."
The Ancient One chuckled and widened her eyes. Everyone before her felt their legs give way, and they dropped to their knees, exactly as she had commanded.
Carter and the others struggled to get up, but the pressure pinned them firmly in place. Never mind standing-they could not even move a finger.
"At last! At last, I can rule Earth! Mercer is dead. No one on Earth can stop me now!"
The pathetic sight of everyone struggling yet failing to rise made the Ancient One burst into arrogant laughter.
Before her laughter had faded, a soft chuckle cut it abruptly short.
"Is that so? Then how about I give you a gift, too?"
A moment later, the Space Tesseract in the Ancient One's hand exploded. Instead of scattering, its tremendous energy enveloped her completely.
That was because, a second after the first voice spoke, another ethereal voice rang out.
[Vishanti's Technique, Boundless Lockdown!]
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