Tony's expression turned grave as he asked over the public channel, "Does anyone know what kind of power that is? In the span of a single sentence, he made every Chitauri within several hundred meters disappear. If he wanted to kill us, would it only take one sentence too?"
The channel fell silent for a moment before Natasha answered on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"As far as I know, S.H.I.E.L.D. has never recorded any ability that powerful. That mysterious man might be an alien."
In the end, it was Thor who offered his own theory.
"I once heard my father mention that in the multiverse, there exists a force called chaotic power, a power that can distort reality and rewrite the rules.
So that man may possess a fragment of chaotic power. At the very least, he's a master of chaos magic."
"So do we have any chance at all now?" this world's Steve asked heavily, unwilling to give up.
"Absolutely not," Thor said without hesitation, crushing that hope outright. His voice turned stern. "No matter which explanation is true, it means he is an unbelievably powerful being. If it's the first possibility, then even a mere fragment of chaotic power might be enough that not even my father could defeat him."
The moment he said that, the public channel went silent again, leaving only the sound of everyone's harsh breathing.
Not long ago, they had only been dealing with supervillains on Earth. Now the Chitauri invasion was already beyond anything they could reasonably handle.
So why, at a time like this, did a mysterious visitor who could roam the multiverse have to show up too?
At that moment, Tony's pupils contracted sharply. He took a deep breath and said, "That visitor from the sky is flying straight toward me. I'll test his attitude first."
"Be careful," Steve warned.
…
The instant Harry dropped below the portal, he drew the full attention of the Chitauri forces.
Years ago, these cannon-fodder troops had already been no match for him. They hadn't even been qualified to interfere in his battle with Mephisto. That was even more true now.
So he used the power he had gained by analyzing Wanda's chaos magic.
"Here, there are no Chitauri!"
The next instant, invisible chaos magic spread rapidly outward, blanketing everything within several hundred meters of Harry.
The chaos magic twisted space-time, rewrote the rules, and acted directly on the Chitauri.
They had no ability to resist. They simply vanished into nothingness, without even going through the process of their bodies dissolving.
When they saw their comrades disappearing at terrifying speed, even these Chitauri soldiers, beings created purely as weapons, realized something was very wrong.
They understood that the man before them was an enemy they could not possibly fight.
They did not fear death, but they were not willing to throw their lives away pointlessly, so they immediately ignored Harry and returned their focus to the civilians in New York and the handful of superheroes fighting below.
At the same time, Harry continued wiping out nearby Chitauri as he rapidly approached this world's Tony in the air.
Seeing Tony look as if he were facing a deadly enemy, Harry stopped when he was still ten meters away, keeping what he judged to be a reassuring distance, then smiled and said, "Hello, Tony of this world. It's nice to meet you."
Tony froze for a second, then quickly grasped what Harry meant.
Thor had just suggested that this mysterious figure, who seemed to be some sort of sorcerer, might have come from a parallel universe. If so, did that mean he knew a version of Tony from another universe?
So Tony tested him. "Who are you, and why do you know me?"
Sure enough, the mysterious sorcerer's answer confirmed Tony's suspicion.
"I come from a parallel universe, and because of some special circumstances, I ended up in this one.
In my universe, I'm one of your close friends, and also one of the Avengers' founders. So don't worry, I'm not hostile."
Tony let out a small breath of relief, though he didn't fully believe Harry. Still, he put on a trusting face and said, "In that case, can you help us deal with these damned aliens?
As you can see, this really isn't a good time to stand around talking."
Harry, of course, had no reason to refuse. He smiled faintly.
"The timeline of my universe is further ahead. I've dealt with the Chitauri before.
The way to defeat them is simple. Destroy the Chitauri mothership, and these soldiers will die immediately once they lose control."
Tony raised an eyebrow and asked, "And how exactly do you plan to destroy the Chitauri mothership? It's out in space, and Earth doesn't currently have any way to launch an attack into orbit."
Harry knew perfectly well how limited Tony was at this point in time. Without magic, he probably couldn't even beat the Abomination.
He gave Tony a meaningful look, then flew straight upward toward the portal, leaving behind a single line.
"Tony, you really are behind in this world. I remember you once said, believe in magic, not science."
Inside the helmet, Tony's face twisted into a strange expression. Personality differences between universes were one thing, but he was absolutely certain that he would never say something like that.
Still, Tony relaxed a little. At a moment like this, the fact that the man still had the leisure to joke around suggested that this mysterious friend from another universe was probably incredibly strong, maybe strong enough to use magic to destroy the Chitauri mothership in space and save New York.
Just as Tony was wondering what method this mysterious friend would use to save the city, he suddenly realized the sky had lit up, followed by a deafening roar from above.
A dazzling crimson beam of magic, streaked with multicolored light, burst forth from the tip of the sorcerer's wand and surged into the portal.
Only a few seconds after the beam vanished, every Chitauri rampaging through New York suddenly stiffened and began dropping from the sky.
Tony stared for a moment, then his face lit up with wild delight.
He had only meant to test the man. He never expected the mysterious sorcerer to truly possess the power to solve the Battle of New York, and to do it in mere seconds, ending a war that threatened the entire planet.
But then he saw dozens of Leviathans beginning to fall from the sky, and his expression changed at once. He hurriedly shouted into the Avengers' public channel, "Move! Stop those Leviathans from crashing into the crowds! If they fall normally, that'll mean thousands more casualties!"
The Hulk leaped high and intercepted several Leviathans. Hawkeye used explosive arrows to knock one of them off its descent path. Steve also managed to stop a damaged Leviathan with his vibranium shield.
But that was all.
No matter how hard the Avengers tried, they couldn't stop every falling Leviathan.
Steve looked at the Leviathans plummeting down and suddenly slammed his vibranium shield into the ground, roaring, "Damn it, is there seriously no other way?!"
And then, at that very moment, they suddenly saw a pale violet spell formation spread out at blinding speed, instantly covering several kilometers.
In the next instant, purple magical light precisely wrapped around one Leviathan after another.
Then the impossible happened. The speed of every falling Leviathan gradually decreased until, at last, they simply floated there in the sky, no longer falling at all.
Steve was stunned with curiosity. What kind of power was that?
Tony, as one of the world's greatest physicists, immediately recognized what it was through the data fed to him by J.A.R.V.I.S.
He muttered to himself, "So it's gravity control? Reality rewriting, gravity manipulation… what else can this visitor from another universe even do?"
Thor, meanwhile, recognized the magic immediately.
"Gravity magic? And it looks awfully familiar, like something from Kamar-Taj. Could he be a sorcerer from Kamar-Taj in another universe?
No. With power like his, he may even be the Sorcerer Supreme of another world."
After using gravity magic to stop every Leviathan from crashing down, Harry slowly descended and advanced toward Stark Tower together with the Avengers, explaining his identity as they went.
Thor, looking openly curious, came over to Harry's side and asked, "Hey, I heard your name is Harry. I'm Thor. Did we know each other in your universe too?"
Harry nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Of course. We're one of each other's best friends. I even helped you out in a big way."
Helping Thor turn Loki into a woman had definitely been a huge favor.
Unlike the straightforward Thor, Natasha and the others remained much more cautious. Even now, they still didn't fully trust Harry.
Natasha even tried using her advantage as a woman to test him.
"Hey, Harry, what exactly are we in your universe? Is it the kind of relationship I'm imagining?"
Seeing the older woman lean toward him again, Harry quietly shifted a few inches farther away and replied with poorly hidden distaste, "Sorry, Natasha. Just like I said, the age gap between us is too big. There might be a generation gap, so please keep your distance."
Natasha's face went dark. Just like her counterpart in the other world, she was more than a little rattled.
Tony, on the other hand, burst out laughing and clapped Harry on the shoulder.
"Now I believe we really would be good friends. I like your style."
But just then, Harry suddenly paused and looked toward the far side of a nearby wall, confusion flickering across his face.
"Wait… maybe I'm mistaken?"
Tony frowned. "What is it, my friend? What did you see?"
Harry rubbed his chin, sounding uncertain.
"I think I sensed another you, but he seems older than the Tony from my world."
Tony: "???"
Harry shook his head and said lightly, "Maybe I sensed it wrong. There are plenty of people with similar life signatures. Let's keep moving.
Oh, right, there's something I have to tell you. Hydra still exists, and right now it's deeply rooted inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
One of its biggest leaders is Alexander Pierce."
At once, Steve's face turned blank with shock.
"What the hell?!"
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