The Vishanti represented two thirds of their combined divine power. Chthon had manifested only a power clone of himself.
The two cosmic forces collided. The impact instantly caused catastrophic destruction across the entire region. The ground shattered and cracked open. Molten lava erupted from the fissures. The sky darkened ominously. Lightning flashed across the heavens. Gales swept through with tremendous force. It was as if the end of the world had arrived.
At this moment, Sebastian had no time to worry about the battle between Chthon and Hoggoth. He could clearly feel that because of his deliberate lie just moments ago, the part of his soul that had made a pact with Chthon was beginning to show signs of disintegration. Sooner or later, Chthon would discover the broken soul pact and punish him severely. He would obliterate that part of Sebastian's soul imprint. However, Sebastian himself would survive without any problems. Therefore, Sebastian had to hurry and complete his plan before that happened!
Otherwise, he would probably have to face an enraged Elder God and a Vishanti member determined to stop him. He would face them as a mere mortal.
With Chthon's obstruction of Hoggoth, Sebastian finally broke free from Hoggoth's direct interference. The black smoke that he had transformed into quickly twisted and turned into a vortex. He disappeared from the spot and appeared on the glacier of the Arctic.
With a slight magical sense, Sebastian immediately realized that one final Infinity Stone had not yet been placed into its designated magic circle. Without any hesitation, he released a puff of black smoke. It transformed into a raven and disappeared into the sky. He flew toward Thor's location in Africa.
He had to hurry and activate the magic circle system. While the others had already placed their Infinity Stones into the magic circles, they still needed to guard them carefully to prevent Thanos's army from seizing them. Moreover, there was an Elder God and a Vishanti member fighting above. Sebastian's time was rapidly running out.
Meanwhile, Thor was engaged in a fierce battle with Thanos's invading forces on an African grassland.
Although Reed Richards had sent Asgardian warriors to assist earlier, Thor had not reached the magic circle's location before Thanos's army arrived in force. The magic circle was located dangerously near the heart of Thanos's army positions. This forced Thor to advance alone against overwhelming numbers. This wasted precious time.
Boom!
Stormbreaker exploded with blinding white lightning. The electricity mixed with powerful magnetic fields and formed an invisible barrier. It spread outward rapidly and instantly engulfed a large area. It annihilated all of Thanos's soldiers within that region completely.
Thor's intention to advance had already been detected by the commanders of this army. They did not hesitate at all in their response. While attempting to seize the Infinity Stone, they did their utmost to hinder Thor's progress. They employed guerrilla tactics and avoided direct confrontation. This strategy truly annoyed Thor immensely.
"Damn bastards, if you do not want to face me head-on, then get out of my way!" Thor roared.
Boom!
Stormbreaker was hurled out with tremendous force. It spun through the air while bursting with blazing white lightning. It instantly engulfed most of Thanos's soldiers in front of Thor. It cleared a path for him to advance.
Seeing this opening, Thor did not hesitate at all and immediately chased after the thrown Stormbreaker. Just as he was about to reach the agreed position, a warship behind him suddenly fired a devastating energy cannon. It hit Thor squarely in the chest and blasted him away with tremendous force. He slammed heavily to the ground.
At the same time, seeing Thor vulnerable, the nearby soldiers of the Black Order immediately rushed toward him. They buried him under their sheer numbers in the blink of an eye.
Just as the number of Black Order soldiers was increasing around the fallen Thor, a bolt of golden lightning suddenly struck from mid-air. It blasted all the gathered Black Order soldiers away with explosive force. Those directly struck by the golden lightning were instantly reduced to ashes and annihilated completely.
Golden lightning flashed across the battlefield. Thor, now clad in magnificent gold and black armor, slowly rose from the deep crater in the ground. His single eye emitted streams of golden lightning. His red cloak fluttered dramatically without any wind. Tiny golden electrical currents coursed across his entire body. At this moment, Thor had once again transformed into the God-King of Asgard. He appeared in the world with his full divine power.
With a flick of his wrist, Stormbreaker flew backward through the air. It smashed through countless Black Order soldiers along its path before landing firmly in Thor's waiting hands. A burst of lightning erupted from the weapon. Thor leaped high into the air while gripping the axe handle tightly. He slashed downward with all his might. A golden streak of pure energy shot from the blade of Stormbreaker. It tore through the ground and annihilated half of the Black Order soldiers in one devastating blow. The energy streak finally cleaved their arriving spaceship completely in two. It caused the ship to explode violently.
Thor's display of divine power immediately drew enthusiastic cheers from the Asgardian warriors behind him. It further fueled their fighting spirit tremendously.
Then Thor descended from mid-air to the location of the magic circle. With a slight stomp of his foot, the plants and earth on the ground tumbled and spread outward amidst flashes of lightning. This revealed a massive and intricate magic circle beneath the smooth ground.
Reaching into his armor, Thor retrieved the Power Stone from a specially crafted crystal container. He placed the purple Stone at the core of the magic circle with reverence. He then nodded respectfully to a raven hovering in the air nearby.
Holding Stormbreaker in one hand, Thor stood atop the magic circle. He exuded an aura of unparalleled power. The raven, naturally Sebastian's magical avatar, saw Thor's actions and vanished without hesitation.
Simultaneously on the Arctic glacier, Sebastian opened his eyes back in his true body. He sealed the Time Stone within a special crystal container. He placed it on the magic circle beneath his feet with careful precision.
Instantly, all six Infinity Stones were placed within their six respective magic circles. Each circle was located in one of six specific locations on Earth. Together they formed a colossal global magic circle system!
Soaring into the air, Sebastian raised his wand high above his head. He began chanting a convoluted and mysterious incantation. As he chanted the ancient words, six magic circles began to activate simultaneously. They continuously drew immense energy from the Infinity Stone at each core. Suddenly, a beam of pure energy, the same color as each respective Infinity Stone, shot forth from each circle. The beams pierced through Earth's atmosphere and transformed into six magic circles far larger than those on the ground. These enormous circles combined to form one complete magic circle that enveloped the entire Earth.
The instant the global magic circle was completed, everyone on Earth sensed its activation and looked up at the sky. This included the Vishanti, Dormammu, Chthon, and other demon gods and dimensional lords watching from their realms. Even other Elder Gods hidden on Earth looked upon the magic circle enveloping the planet. In that single instant, Earth once again attracted the attention of almost all the demon gods and dimensional lords throughout the universe!
Even with the Infinity Stones absorbing the majority of the magical energy, Sebastian was still pale and physically exhausted. However, this was contrasted sharply by his intense excitement. Now that the magic circle was fully activated and the power of the six Infinity Stones had merged into one unified force, the task could be considered more than half successful.
Zzzzz...
The six Infinity Stone magic circles activated together. Six bands of brilliant light, each the color of an Infinity Stone and composed of countless intricate runes and magical patterns, surged from Sebastian's body. They gradually wrapped around his surface like living energy.
Sebastian then put away his wand. He sensed the incredible power flowing within him. He was now directly connected to the six magic circles. Simultaneously, due to their effects, he was also connected to Earth itself. Earth and Sebastian would share the negative effects of using the Stones equally. This was one major reason Sebastian had gone to such extraordinary lengths to set up these magic circles across the globe.
Of course, even with this safeguard, Sebastian was certain he could only snap his fingers three times maximum. Any more than that would inevitably cause catastrophic problems. Even if his body could barely withstand more snaps, the magic circles could not withstand the power of the Infinity Stones multiple times.
"The first snap... a completely new dimension, originating from Earth, and related to both Earth and the entire universe, like the relationship between light and shadow!" Sebastian declared.
Snap!
As Sebastian snapped his right thumb and middle finger together with perfect precision, the bands of light swirling around him instantly converged at the center where his fingers met. The moment he completed the snap, a blinding light erupted from Sebastian's fingers. It spread outward from Earth to the entire universe in the blink of an eye.
Simultaneously, an enormous and seemingly infinite tree composed of countless galaxies and worlds appeared throughout the universe. Earth was at its core. Numerous branches extended from the trunk. Each leaf and fruit represented a parallel world and a different dimension. This was Yggdrasil, the World Tree, supporting the entire universe and its countless parallel worlds and dimensions!
Just as the World Tree fully materialized, a sapling sprouted from the trunk directly beside Earth. It gradually transformed into a new dimension. At its core was a planet that appeared to be a perfect mirror image of Earth.
With his first wish fulfilled through the Stones' power, Sebastian could feel the indescribable pressure his body was under. If he had not been connected to Earth through the magic circles, allowing the planet to absorb most of the backlash, Sebastian would likely be half-dead already.
Crack...
A sound like shattering glass rang out clearly. Sebastian could distinctly feel a soul imprint deep within his soul completely shatter. It was the soul imprint bound to his soul contract with Chthon. Even before Sebastian snapped his fingers, the soul contract had already begun its backlash process. It was erasing that part of Sebastian's soul imprint.
This meant Chthon was about to notice Sebastian's complete breach of the contract.
Just as Sebastian had anticipated, Chthon was incredibly excited when Sebastian prepared to snap his fingers. He eagerly awaited his complete liberation from the dimensional seal under the power of the Infinity Stones.
However, when Sebastian actually snapped his fingers, Chthon experienced no change whatsoever in his prison. He also sensed the sudden disappearance of the soul contract. He felt the dissipation of Sebastian's soul imprint. Most shockingly, Sebastian himself had not died!
Although he did not know why Sebastian had not died from breaking the contract, Chthon knew Sebastian must have used some kind of elaborate scheme. Sebastian had not only deceived him completely, making him shield Sebastian from Hoggoth, but had also stolen his Authority. No one had ever successfully broken a soul contract before. No one had ever made Chthon suffer such a tremendous loss.
Moreover, this being who had caused him such humiliation was merely a lowly human mage!
Chthon was absolutely enraged. He abandoned his entanglement with Hoggoth immediately. He frantically rushed toward Sebastian with murderous intent. Thick dark red light mist crackling with lightning erupted around him. In the blink of an eye, Chthon arrived above the North Pole. He charged toward Sebastian with devastating force. He was determined to make this damned human pay with his life!
Without Chthon's obstruction anymore, Hoggoth followed closely behind. He charged toward Sebastian as well.
He had sensed something was fundamentally wrong earlier. If Sebastian's use of the Infinity Stones to fulfill his wish was not to release Chthon from his prison, but rather to create a new dimension, then what exactly did Sebastian truly want?
To become the master of that new dimension?
Or perhaps something far more ambitious!
Sebastian watched as Chthon and Hoggoth both arrived above him. He was awaiting the reconnection of the magic circle system. Though the reconnection would only take a brief moment, it would be more than enough time for Chthon and Hoggoth to kill him. So Sebastian was fully prepared.
"Mephisto, according to our contract, now let the projection of Hell descend!" Sebastian commanded mentally.
With this mental call, Mephisto, his face grim in his Hell dimension, gritted his teeth in frustration. He had no choice but to follow the soul contract's binding terms. He unleashed his immense power to bring the projection of Hell to Earth. It centered directly on Sebastian's location. The power Mephisto expended was immeasurable. The pressure and backlash he endured were absolutely astonishing.
If he could obtain Sebastian's Hell Authority afterward, then all this sacrifice would be worthwhile.
However, considering that Sebastian had somehow broken his soul contract with Chthon without any fatal consequences, Mephisto doubted whether he could actually obtain what was rightfully his according to their contract. Bound by his own soul contract, he could not break it. He had to follow its terms. At this moment, Mephisto suddenly sensed Chthon's absolute fury.
A phantom of the hellish dimension, both illusory and almost tangible, appeared suddenly around Sebastian. It instantly weakened the power of both Chthon and Hoggoth significantly while amplifying Sebastian's power tremendously. Sebastian now possessed the Authority of Hell.
Sebastian unleashed nearly endless hellfire from his being. He transformed into a fiery skeleton wreathed in flames. He directly clashed with both Chthon and Hoggoth simultaneously. Using the Authority of the hellish dimension projection, Sebastian forcibly expelled both Chthon and Hoggoth from the projection's effective range. He pushed them away from his true physical form.
At this precise moment, the hellish projection manipulated by Mephisto retracted instantly. It did not linger for even a single second longer than required.
But for Sebastian, this brief protection was more than enough.
Watching Chthon and Hoggoth rush toward him again with renewed fury, Sebastian snapped his fingers a second time.
"A second snap... strip Chthon's power clone of all its power and Authority completely, strip Hoggoth of his power and Authority to the greatest extent possible, merge their Authority into my body, and infuse their power into the new dimension as nourishment!" Sebastian declared his wish.
Snap!
With the second snap of his fingers, an invisible force of the combined Infinity Stones instantly acted upon Chthon's power clone and Hoggoth directly. Amidst their agonized and painful roars, Chthon's power clone was completely annihilated. A dark magic Authority and a Chaos Dimension Authority were successively absorbed and injected into Sebastian's body.
Immediately following, a terrible tearing sound arose from within Hoggoth's physical form. A brilliant white light erupted from within him. The light flowed directly into Sebastian's body under the overwhelming influence of the six Infinity Stones working in perfect unison!
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