RBCT Chapter 1986: Deception and Transformation; Everything Can Be a "Lie"
Chapter 1986: Deception and Transformation; Everything Can Be a "Lie"
Chapter 1986: Deception and Transformation; Everything Can Be a "Lie"
In the instant Ebony Maw was stunned, Proxima Midnight moved!
Her figure blurred into a streak, and the spear in her hand shot out like a venomous snake, aiming straight for Tony's body.
Before the spear tip even arrived, the chilling sensation that seemed to lock onto one's soul had already descended.
At the same time, Black Dwarf roared and launched an attack. He didn't use any fancy moves; he simply swung the huge battle axe in his hand, comparable to a small meteorite, down at Tony's head with pure, extreme force.
Faced with this near-fatal attack, Tony's expression remained largely unchanged; he simply shrugged.
"Their teamwork was good, but it's a pity."
He raised his right hand, bringing his index and middle fingers together, and drew a perfect golden circle in front of him.
"Shh!"
A silver-white, arc-shaped blade of light, as thin as a cicada's wing yet dazzlingly brilliant, flashed out from the golden circle.
"Ding!"
With a crisp clang, Proxima Midnight felt an irresistible force surge through the gun, instantly numbing her hands as the spear was sliced high into the air by the thin blade of light.
Almost simultaneously, Tony raised his left hand, and a magical shield composed of countless hexagonal golden runes instantly materialized above his head.
"Bang!!!"
Black Dwarf's battle axe, powerful enough to shatter mountains, slammed into the magic shield with a deafening roar, accompanied by a violent energy shockwave.
But that seemingly flimsy magic shield was like the most resilient celestial barrier, remaining completely unmoved.
Not even a ripple appeared.
On the contrary, Black Dwarf felt as if he had struck the hardest substance in the universe with a hammer. The terrifying recoil traveled through his battle axe, making his arms numb and causing his massive body to involuntarily stagger back a few steps, his face showing disbelief and horror.
"A reverse application of spatial warp, combined with an enhanced version of the Ring of Laggardor, specifically designed to counter someone like you who only has brute force."
Tony calmly withdrew his hand, and the magic shield vanished in specks of golden light.
He looked at Proxima Midnight and Black Dwarf, which had been knocked back, and then glanced at Ebony Maw, who was trying to interfere with space with his telekinesis in vain. He shook his head.
"Your attack patterns are too simplistic."
"Strength, speed, and telekinesis may seem powerful, but they are full of flaws in the face of true rules."
He gave the three no further chance to react.
"Dimensional Exile - Triple Gate!"
Three magical doors of different colors suddenly swung open.
One door was as hot as lava, radiating a heat that scorched the soul; another was as dark as ice, seemingly freezing even the light; and the last one was twisted and distorted, as if leading to an endless void of turbulent currents.
A terrifying suction force erupted simultaneously from the three doors, enveloping Proxima Midnight, Black Dwarf, and Ebony Maw!
"No!"
Ebony Maw let out a defiant roar, but it was all in vain.
Faced with Tony's dimensional magic, the three of them seemed to have such powerful strength that it appeared so pale and powerless.
Just three breaths later, the three struggling figures, along with their resentment and roars, were completely swallowed up by the three dimensional gates.
Tony let out a soft breath, clapped his hands as if merely brushing off dust, and turned his gaze to the silent, dark gold flagship, saying casually:
"I told you, these rabble are useless, why won't you believe me?"
The moment his words fell, a familiar yet unsettling wave once again emanated from the depths of the flagship.
An invisible force of time began to surge, and the colors of space seemed to stagnate, as if an invisible hand was about to pluck the strings of time once more, forcibly "rescuing" the three Obsidian Generals who had just been "exiled" by Tony from that unknown dimensional predicament.
"Still using that trick?"
Tony's eyes narrowed, and the Eye of Agamotto on his chest instantly lit up with a bright green light, preparing to fight against this force of time once again.
Although he was at a disadvantage in the previous head-on confrontation, they both possessed the Time Stone, and his use of the Time Stone was even superior to Thanos's, so he was not entirely without a chance to fight back.
But before that vast and cold power of time could fully unfold.
"call out!"
A dazzling golden beam of light tore through the sky from the direction of Asgard and shot towards us.
Its speed was beyond the limits of perception. One moment it was in the direction of the Golden Palace in Asgard, and the next it had already crossed most of the battlefield and hit the dark golden flagship that was gathering the power of time.
That's a gun!
A spear that flows with golden divine light, its body engraved with ancient runes, capable of piercing through all obstacles in the universe—the Eternal Spear, Gungnir!
"puff!"
With a soft thud, the flagship armor, which was strong enough to withstand the bombardment of the main cannons of Asgardian capital ships and had a powerful energy shield flowing across its surface, was as fragile as paper in front of Gungnir's spear tip.
The spear pierced through the thick hull without any resistance, entering from the bow and exiting from the stern, leaving a terrifying hole that was clear from front to back!
At the instant Gungnir struck the flagship, an indescribable force erupted along the hole that had been pierced through it.
Inside the flagship, the Time Stone's power, which had been surging and preparing to reverse local time, instantly became chaotic and out of control.
The golden divine power, like the most domineering cleaner, ruthlessly swept away the pervasive power of time.
"How disgusting. Are you just going to hide there and play these pointless time-wasters, Thanos?"
A cold, indifferent voice echoed throughout every corner of this battlefield.
It's Loki!
He had unknowingly left the depths of the Golden Palace and appeared on the battlefield.
At the same time, an unusually large hand covered in dark gold armor firmly grasped the shaft of Gungnir, the Spear of Eternity.
"Buzz!"
Gungnir roared in anger, the golden divine power flowing through the gun like boiling magma, trying to burn away the blasphemous touch, break free from the hand's restraint, and even turn back on its master along the arm.
But the hand only paused slightly, its five fingers tightening.
On the dark gold armor covering his palms, six gems of different colors, each containing boundless power, flashed slightly, and Gungnir quickly calmed down under the suppression.
Like ordinary iron, it was firmly held in that hand.
Immediately afterwards, under the gaze of countless eyes, a tall and imposing figure, like a demon god, slowly emerged from the crack in the damaged flagship.
Thanos.
His physique was larger and more robust than that of ordinary Titans, with bulging muscles and explosive power.
His skin was a deep purple, with a square jaw and strong facial features. At this moment, he had no expression, only a calmness that came from having experienced countless years and seen through the cycle of life and death, and an indifference that came from the depths of his soul and was unwavering in his beliefs.
He wore simple dark gold armor, without much decoration, yet it exuded an aura of dominance that could suppress the universe.
What is most striking about him, besides his left hand that holds Gungnir and is inlaid with six Infinity Stones, are his eyes.
It lacked the youthful ambition, but rather a profound understanding as if it had seen through the ultimate fate of all things, and an inhuman rationality.
Those eyes swept across the battlefield, over the Asgardian fleet that looked as if facing a formidable enemy, over Thor who was locked in fierce combat with Corvus Glaive, and finally settled on Loki in the distant starry sky.
"I never imagined that you, from this universe, would become the king of Asgard."
His gaze seemed to penetrate Loki's body, looking directly at the very source of his bloodline, and his voice carried a barely perceptible hint of interest.
"And this bloodline. Such pure and concentrated Odin's blood, without the slightest impurity of the Frost Giants. Are you in this world not Laufey's offspring, but Odin's true bloodline?"
"Interesting variables."
Then, his gaze turned to Tony, his calm eyes shifting slightly, as if he could see through the intense magic emanating from Tony and the Eye of Agamotto on his chest.
"And you, Tony Stark, in this world you actually abandoned armor and chose the path of magic."
"Indeed, it was beyond my expectations."
As he spoke, he casually tossed Gungnir's hand aside.
The divine spear that had just been trying to resist now flew obediently to the side, hovering beside him, like a tamed wild beast.
Neither attacking nor returning, it seemed to have become a temporary spoil of war for Thanos, quietly displaying his power.
With just his entrance, Thanos undeniably demonstrated his power.
but.
"Watch your words. Respectfully address me as the King of Asgard, Lord of the Nine Realms."
Loki's voice remained calm.
As he finished speaking, Gungnir, the spear of eternity that had been hovering beside Thanos and seemed to have been completely suppressed and tamed, burst into golden specks of light like a shattered bubble.
The next second, a golden light flashed, and an Eternal Spear, identical to the one from before, reappeared beside Loki.
The spearhead was pointed at Thanos, exuding an awe-inspiring and inviolable majesty.
Thanos's all-knowing eyes shifted slightly, his gaze falling on Loki, or more precisely, on Loki's body.
The Power of the Reality Gem
"Deceptive and realistic, shifting between illusion and reality; you've integrated it into your body?"
"It's hard to imagine how you did it. No wonder you're so confident."
Thanos was slightly surprised.
After all, it's almost impossible for the Infinity Stones to be integrated into one's own body, because the body simply cannot withstand them.
Even he couldn't possibly fuse the Infinity Stones into his own body.
But Loki did it.
Although it's unclear how he did it, the fact that he did gives him the right to be arrogant.
However, the gap in strength cannot be bridged simply by fully integrating the power of an Infinity Stone.
Boom!!!
In an instant, Thanos appeared in front of Loki, his right hand gripping Loki's neck!
"Uh!"
His throat was gripped by a cold, irresistible force, and the feeling of suffocation and overwhelming divine power surged like a tide. But in Loki's emerald eyes, astonishment flashed by only briefly, then was replaced by an almost indifferent calm and a hint of amusement.
He didn't struggle, nor did he try to mobilize the divine power that was subtly suppressed by the power of the Infinity Stones. He merely twitched the corner of his mouth slightly and, with a voice that sounded like he was being choked, whispered a few words:
"Reversal".
The moment the words fell, something that touched upon the fundamental rules of the world was stirred.
Thanos suddenly felt that the sensation and the force he applied to Loki's neck with his right hand had been "reversed" on some incomprehensible level.
It's as if the two opposing concepts of "pinching" and "being pinched," "applying force" and "bearing force" have been forcibly replaced!
He still maintains the gesture of choking Loki, but in terms of the rules and the determination of "facts," it has become Loki choking him!
No, it's not just a substitution of concepts.
A real gripping force suddenly came from nowhere to Thanos's neck, which was covered by armor.
Although the grip wasn't as tight as when he gripped Loki due to the size difference, there was indeed an invisible hand gripping his throat with the exact same force he exerted on Loki.
This is the manifestation of the power of lies, recognizing falsehood as truth and imposing this "truth" on reality!
"boom!!!"
With a deafening roar, it exploded directly in Loki's abdomen.
Thanos's fist, carrying the purple turmoil of the Power Stone that could shatter stars, slammed into Loki's abdomen.
"puff!"
In an instant, Loki's body exploded, leaving not a trace of blood behind, and he was completely destroyed.
One punch, just one punch, and Loki's body was reduced to dust.
but.
"lie."
A calm voice gently rang out.
It was still Loki's voice.
The next second, the powder that had just exploded reassembled into flesh and blood, forming a torso, and extending into limbs and a head.
In the blink of an eye, Loki's figure reappeared.
He looked at Thanos, his gaze calm as still water, but a mocking smile played on his lips.
“You are very strong, but killing me seems to be a little more difficult than grabbing my neck.”
"After all, 'death' itself can be a lie, can't it?"
The power of lies can not only distort reality and deceive others, but can even deceive death itself.
As long as the fact that "Loki is dead" is deemed "false" under the shroud of the power of lies, then no matter what degree of physical destruction he suffers, he can return from the "lie" and recognize "survival" as the new "truth"!
This is the power of lies that has been integrated into the Reality Gem, directly altering the rules defining "truth" and "falsehood".
As long as his divine power is sufficient, everything can be a "lie".
Thanos slowly withdrew his right hand that had been gripping the air, and released the destructive fist in his left hand. He looked at Loki quietly, as if he had seen something interesting, and chuckled softly.
"A very interesting power."
"Once you reach the level of rules, even if your own strength is insufficient, you can still use the rules to achieve your goals."
"However, this is on the premise that we do not encounter higher-level rules."