Jean Grey gritted her teeth, refused Thor's help, and stood up straight on her own.
She looked at Thor, her eyes filled with a resolute determination.
"It's alright," her voice was a little hoarse, but firm. "I promised you, and I'll keep my word. After all, you gave Peter and Jessica a place where they can live a stable life."
As soon as she finished speaking, the golden flames around her body surged again, and this time, she was no longer in human form.
A clear, melodious cry echoed through the ruins of time, and a colossal fire phoenix, blotting out the sky, soared into the heavens, its wings stirring up waves of reality and illusion, once again crashing headlong into the green monster.
Thor looked at the golden trail, then at himself, and felt a pang of unease.
It's ridiculous to let a woman fight so hard while you just sit here and watch.
He turned to look at Loki on the throne.
"Hey bro," he leaned closer, "Don't you have any hidden treasures? Any powerful artifacts, or anything that can directly inject energy into my body? Hurry up and bring them out to boost my combat power."
Loki didn't even lift his eyelids, only giving him a faint glance.
"What," he said with a hint of amusement, "You want to experience this throne for yourself, see if it's hard to sit on?"
Upon hearing this, Thor shook his head vigorously, waving his hands repeatedly.
"Forget it, I don't want to be trapped on a golden toilet for the rest of my life."
The metaphor made Loki's eye twitch uncontrollably again.
Just then, without warning, a crack appeared in the void in front of the two, as if something had ripped it open from the outside.
A young man wearing a T-shirt and flip-flops walked out of the crack at a leisurely pace.
He glanced at the distant battlefield, then at Thor and Loki on the throne, and scratched his head.
"Don't worry too much," the young man said. "The heroes from Earth-616 have come to help. As long as we can hold on, everything will be fine."
Thor's eyes lit up the moment he saw the person's face.
Franklin Richards!
There's hope!
"With you here, isn't everything safe?" Thor was overjoyed and stepped forward to pat Franklin on the shoulder. "This guy's in your hands!"
In his mind, Franklin in his adult form was a ruthless person who could create Pocket Universe with ease, a true Omniverse Level.
However, Franklin shook his head, a wry smile on his face.
"I'm not at the level of being omnipotent yet; I'm still a little short."
Thor's smile froze.
Almost? How much is "almost"? You're trying to play Versailles with me at a time like this?
"Then go help Qin," Thor pointed to the phoenix in the distance, "She can't beat that guy by herself."
Franklin did not act immediately; he simply looked at the distant battlefield, his brow suddenly furrowing.
Seeing that he didn't move, Thor was about to urge him again when he heard Franklin whisper:
"They've arrived."
What's coming?
The next second, a pungent, nauseating stench of sulfur appeared out of nowhere and swept through this timeless ruin.
Accompanying this scent were ubiquitous crimson flames, flames that seemed to rise from the deepest depths of Hell, carrying an aura of depravity and despair.
A figure slowly coalesced in the flames.
He wore a well-tailored dark red suit, his face was handsome yet sinister, and he held a glass of red wine that looked like it was filled with blood. His posture was so elegant that it was as if he had come to a banquet rather than to a battlefield.
Mephisto.
Moreover, the oppressive aura emanating from him, that absolute control over the surrounding laws...
It's also Omniverse Level!
Thor's mind went blank.
He turned to look at Loki beside him, his voice trembling. "Wait... when did Mephisto become Omniverse Level? Is this even playable? Is it a buy-one-get-one-free deal?"
Loki finally managed to shift his gaze away from those timelines for a moment.
"While the Council of Kangs was disrupting the timeline and I had to focus on stabilizing the foundations of the multiverse, they were reaping Soul Stone across countless universes," Loki's voice remained calm. "Those Soul Stone gave him enough power to devour all the other variants within the Red Council, forcibly pushing him to this level."
He glanced at Thor and added, "Don't worry, he's not as Hulk. The two of you working together can hold out for a while."
Hang in there?
Thor was already cursing under his breath.
He silently summoned his Golden Battle Axe, his entire body crackling with lightning, and stared intently at the devil who was smiling like a gentleman.
"You're not telling me another big boss is coming up later, are you?" he grumbled at Loki's retreating figure. "Is the omnipotent universe really worse than a dog, with the multiverse roaming everywhere?!"
Loki ignored his complaints and focused all his attention back on repairing the timeline.
Countless green-gold threads surged from his fingertips, several times faster than before.
Thor and Franklin exchanged a glance.
Both of them saw the seriousness in each other's eyes.
There's no point in wasting words when it comes to fighting this kind of entity.
When we make a move, we go all out!
Franklin was the first to act; he simply extended one hand and gently shook Mephisto's.
The space, time, reality, causality... everything around Mephisto began to be twisted and folded like dough, trying to compress him into a non-existent point.
This is the reality-distorting ability of Omega-level Mutant; in his hands, everything is like a toy.
At the same time, Thor also moved.
He gathered all the power of the laws he had comprehended—power, space, time, life, death, the end, Void, chaos—onto the Golden Battle Axe.
The blade of the battle axe was no longer simply crackling with lightning, but rather a chaotic mass of multicolored lightning that was constantly being generated and destroyed.
He used all his strength to cleave the axe, which contained everything he had, and swung it down fiercely!
Faced with this combined attack capable of wiping out an entire universe, Mephisto's elegant smile remained unchanged.
He didn't even put down his wine glass.
He casually raised his other hand and waved it lightly in front of him.
A thin, almost transparent, deep red barrier coalesced and took shape before him.
The barrier looked thinner than paper, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch.
However, Franklin's Reality Distortion and Thor's Thunder of All Laws vanished without a trace the moment they touched that barrier, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.
Mephisto swirled the wine in his glass, the crimson liquid dancing within.
He looked at Thor and Franklin, who seemed to be facing a formidable enemy, and a smirk appeared on his lips.
"You are among the rarest individuals I have ever seen; you are quite interesting even in the entire multiverse."
His voice possessed a bewitching magic, resonating directly in their minds.
"Sign a contract with me, and I might spare your lives. How about it?"