Reward settlement

The night wind sliced through the clouds like a blade.

Dark red Chaos Energy surged around Wanda as she carried Lynn through the night sky over northern New York State like a burning meteor. Her magical barrier blocked all the high-altitude air currents, but Lynn could still feel the violent trembling of the slender body in his arms.

Dozens of minutes later, they landed in front of an abandoned ranger cabin deep in the Adirondack Mountains.

Magic shoved the wooden door open roughly, stirring up a cloud of choking dust. The cabin smelled of stale pine and damp mildew, and cobwebs in the corners flickered in and out of view in the moonlight.

Wanda waved a hand, and several rotten logs in the fireplace instantly burst into scarlet flames, illuminating the dim room. Ignoring the dust-covered sofa, she pulled Lynn down with her onto the rug in front of the fireplace.

Even though they had escaped S.H.I.E.L.D.'s encirclement, Wanda still clutched the hem of Lynn's trench coat in a death grip, her nails almost digging into flesh. Her bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the dancing flames, and she was still muttering under her breath in a nervous frenzy.

"They wanted to take you away... those insects in black, they looked at you so greedily..." Wanda whipped her head around, crazed killing intent reigniting in her scarlet eyes. "I should have crushed that entire building into dust! Torn that Black man with the eye patch and that guy whose bones you broke to pieces!"

Lynn knew all too well how dangerous a Skyfather-level yandere on the verge of a mental breakdown could be. Right now, she was like a pressure cooker packed with explosives. The slightest provocation could trigger a world-ending explosion.

"Wanda, look at me." Lynn did not shrink back. Instead, he reached out and cupped her pale, icy cheeks in both hands.

His touch was gentle, the warmth of his palms passing into her skin.

"I'm here. No one can take me away." Lynn looked straight into her eyes, his voice carrying three parts relief at surviving disaster and seven parts unreserved dependence. "If it weren't for you, that man called Crossbones would have killed me tonight. You saved me, my witch."

Those words were like a perfectly targeted sedative.

The scarlet light in Wanda's eyes shuddered, then rapidly faded, revealing her originally clear but exhausted green eyes. Her rigid back finally relaxed, and she plunged into Lynn's arms like a cat drained of all strength, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.

"You can't leave my sight... not even for a second." She buried her face in Lynn's chest, greedily inhaling the mingled scent of gun smoke and sweat on him.

"I promise." Lynn gently stroked her soft, long hair.

After enduring their tragic parting through death in the simulated world, then forcibly crossing dimensions in reality to tear apart S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Wanda had long since exhausted her mind and body. She had held on through nothing but her obsessive determination to find her beloved. Now, under the sense of security Lynn deliberately created and his gentle caresses, exhaustion washed over her like a tide.

Within ten minutes, her tightly knitted brows gradually relaxed, and her breathing grew slow and steady.

Lynn did not move immediately. He maintained the embrace for a full half hour, and only after confirming that the woman in his arms had fallen into a deep sleep did he slowly, inch by inch, extract his arms from her hold.

He took off his trench coat and draped it over Wanda, then retreated into the shadows on the other side of the cabin.

The tenderness and weakness on his face instantly vanished, replaced by absolute rationality and unfathomable cunning.

System, bring up the settlement panel, Lynn silently instructed.

A blue screen unfolded deep in his vision, accompanied by a cold, mechanical voice.

[Ding. The Sokovia simulation instance has ended.]

[Target: Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch).]

[Ending achieved: Surrounded by Ultron's army, you pushed Quicksilver away with your mortal body and took the fighter jet's main cannon fire with your back. With countless rounds piercing your heart, you died smiling in the target's arms.]

[Rating: SSS (Devoted unto death).]

[Message: Through the most devastating sacrifice, you carved an indelible mark into the depths of her soul. From this moment onward, you are her one inviolable taboo.]

Lynn's lips twitched as he read that line.

The price had certainly been steep. The agony of those countless rounds piercing his heart in the simulation had been one hundred percent real. If not to secure the means to survive in the Marvel Universe, where godlike beings fought one another, who would willingly suffer through that?

[Drawing the target's core ability/physique based on the SSS rating...]

[Draw complete. Congratulations, host. You have obtained: Chaos Magic affinity physique (incomplete version).]

Lynn narrowed his eyes slightly.

[Chaos Magic affinity physique (incomplete version): The host's cells and bones will be reshaped by Chaos Energy.]

[Effect 1 (Absolute magic resistance): Greatly negates physical damage and grants immunity to most forms of mental control and dimensional whispers.]

[Effect 2 (Energy vessel): Grants the host the physical foundation to contain and channel Chaos Magic. You cannot create Chaos Magic from nothing, but you can perfectly assimilate, absorb, and reflect any Chaos Energy that touches your body.]

[Note: Power must be obtained through equivalent exchange. Physical reconstruction will be accompanied by the intense pain of cells tearing apart. Please prepare yourself, host.]

No wonder I could send Wanda's energy back through the handcuffs into Crossbones in the rubble, Lynn realized.

Chapter 9: Chaos Magic affinity physique

With this physique, he was no longer a low-level agent who would shatter at a touch. The "greatly negates physical damage" effect alone already brought his physical durability close to, or even beyond, Captain America's after the serum injection. And that was without mentioning immunity to mind control, which would be a powerful tool for turning the tables and killing certain old monsters who liked to toy with minds.

"Begin integration." Lynn gave the command without any hesitation.

The moment he spoke, a violent surge of heat appeared out of nowhere in his heart.

There was no gradual buildup. That heat instantly turned into countless red-hot steel blades, brutally crashing through his blood vessels into every part of his body!

"Ngh!"

Lynn let out a muffled groan. His legs weakened, and he dropped to one knee on the dusty wooden floor. He snatched up a rag beside him, stuffed it into his mouth, and bit down hard.

Pain.

Excruciating pain beyond words.

Violent energy tore his muscle fibers apart inch by inch, only for them to rapidly rebuild under the nourishment of Chaos Magic. His bones made teeth-grating cracking sounds as their density increased exponentially. Dark red light rose uncontrollably over his skin, and strange magical markings flickered beneath it, like magma surging through his veins.

Cold sweat instantly soaked his shirt, dripping from his chin onto the floor in large drops. His fingers dug deep into the hard oak floorboards. Splinters pierced the gaps between his fingers, but they could not begin to overshadow the bone-scraping agony inside his body.

A full five minutes passed.

The dark red magical markings beneath his skin finally faded, and the tearing sensation receded like a tide.

Lynn spat out the rag he had chewed to shreds and gasped for breath. He slowly stood and rolled his shoulders.

His bones gave a series of crisp cracks. He looked down at his hands. His palms, once somewhat rough from years of hauling field equipment, were now fair and tough. He tried clenching a fist hard, and a faint sonic boom actually sounded in the air.

It was not just his strength. His five senses had also improved to a terrifying degree.

He could clearly hear leaves falling dozens of meters away and smell the fermenting humus deep in the soil. He could even faintly perceive the terrifying laws of destruction contained in the scarlet flames Wanda had lit in the nearby fireplace.

"So this is the world of superhumans." A sharp gleam flashed in Lynn's eyes.

With this trump card, he had enough confidence for his upcoming struggle with Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. That old fox Pierce wanted to use him as a leash to control Wanda? Then he would show Hydra what it meant to invite a wolf into their home.

Lynn took a deep breath, settling the energy fluctuations still stirring faintly within him.

He turned, preparing to wash his face at the cabin's sink.

Yet the instant he turned, he froze.

At some point, Wanda, who had been sleeping soundly in front of the fireplace, had come to stand behind him. Less than half a meter separated them.

She wore no shoes, her bare feet resting on the cold wooden floor without making a sound.

The firelight flickered through the cabin, stretching Wanda's shadow long. Her head was tilted slightly, and her eyes, which had regained their clarity, were once again filled with an impenetrably dense scarlet.

She said nothing, only slowly raising a hand. Her icy fingertips traveled up Lynn's spine and finally stopped at the nape of his neck.

Lynn's muscles instinctively tensed. He could feel the Chaos Magic swirling around Wanda's fingertips vibrating at an extremely dangerous frequency.

"Lynn..."

Wanda's voice was soft, yet carried a trace of morbid bewilderment that made his skin crawl. She brought her nose close to the side of Lynn's neck and inhaled deeply, like a cheetah checking the scent of its territory.

"Your scent... has changed."

Her fingers abruptly tightened, and scarlet energy instantly sealed off the space around Lynn.

"Why is there a trace of my magic inside your body?" Wanda whispered against his ear, her voice steeped in extreme obsession and danger. "What did you just do... behind my back?"