Marvel: Killing Makes You Stronger

Chapter 160: Arishem and the seed Tiamut

The chaos magic combined with Wanda's own abilities has merged into an incredibly powerful reality-altering capability.

A mage who can cast all kinds of magic instantly, and has the ability to easily alter matter, is undoubtedly extremely terrifying. Even more frightening is that her power is constantly increasing, and she is learning various white magic spells with the support of Bi Xiao. She might even study black magic in the future.

For others, black magic is a double-edged sword. Its immense power can also distort the user's mind and will.

There are two exceptions: one can either delve deeply into black magic, becoming a powerful dark sorcerer, or one can be like the Ancient One, mastering white magic to such an extent that black magic's corruption can be ignored.

The Ancient One knows plenty of black magic but remains unaffected.

Wanda is another special case. As the source of chaos magic, she can dominate both white and black magic. Unless Wanda herself collapses due to some reason, black magic cannot influence her.

The Darkhold is an exception. This book is a remnant of the Dark God Chthon and contains incredibly powerful black magic. It also serves as a means for Chthon to connect with Earth. If Wanda studies the Darkhold, a bridge will be formed between her and Chthon, making her a conduit for his arrival on Earth.

Regardless, Wanda is unique. After her fate was altered by Bi Xiao, she became even more formidable. Unaware of her changed destiny and epic power boost, Wanda currently finds Thor strong but not difficult to handle. After observing his battle style, she has already calculated dozens of ways to torment him.

Defeating Thor is easy, but killing him is difficult due to his incredible resilience. Wanda's current magic, though powerful, has limited lethality against a god like Thor. Unless she perfects the Gate of Babylon magic she learned from Bi Xiao, she lacks the means to deliver a decisive blow.

Thor's straightforward style makes him vulnerable to magic, as even Loki's mediocre spells can deceive him. However, his resistance to magic is as high as his physical defense, rendering Wanda's reality-altering powers ineffective against him.

Thus, the only outcome is Wanda toying with Thor until he surrenders.

Regarding Pietro, their battle won't last long.

As Wanda anticipated, Pietro fiercely battles Thor amidst lightning strikes. While they appear evenly matched, Pietro knows his stamina is inferior to Thor's. The speed force from his heart enhances his physical abilities but the intense battle rapidly depletes his stamina.

Aware of this, Pietro realizes he must settle the fight before exhausting himself. Gradually adapting to Thor's combat style, he seizes an opening, evading Thor's hammer and striking Thor's chest with a powerful kick, sending him flying through the lightning pillars.

Pietro swiftly pursues Thor, delivering a relentless barrage of kicks, propelling him further each time. The rapid and continuous attacks leave Thor unable to fight back, merely feeling the impact of hundreds of blows within seconds, even causing him to bleed.

Though Thor tries to counterattack with his hammer, Pietro doesn't give him a chance.

Finally, with a powerful strike, Pietro overwhelms Thor.

When Pietro noticed that Thor's energy had weakened considerably, he delivered the final blow. Raising both hands, he clenched his fists, and with a flash of white lightning, appeared above Thor, capturing his flight path, and struck down forcefully.

It was like a terrifying battering ram, crashing onto Thor's head.

In an instant, a piercing whistle sounded as Thor plummeted violently towards the ground. With a muffled thud, Thor was smashed into the ground, creating a massive crater, sending dust and debris flying into the air.

The previous pillars of lightning had long dissipated.

With a flash of lightning, Pietro appeared in the center of the crater, overlooking Thor lying on the ground.

"Are you okay, Thor?"

"Ugh, quite good, I just might need to rest for a while."

As an Asgardian tough guy, despite the immense pain coursing through his body, Thor's expression was somewhat pained, but his words remained strong.

Crack~

The sound of a mirror shattering echoed, and the four returned to the manor, with Thor lying on the sofa, his cape trailing on the smooth, clean floor.

At this moment, Bi Xiao snapped his fingers and signaled to a pretty maid nearby.

She nodded and headed to the bar, instructing the bartender to mix a few cocktails, including a large mug of beer.

"Well done."

Bi Xiao walked up to Thor, patted him on the shoulder, and then sat on a nearby single sofa. Thor, who was previously in severe pain, was surprised to find that the touch from Bi Xiao had brought a powerful, vast, and unfamiliar divine power.

This power coursed through his body, accelerating his healing process.

In an instant, Thor realized that all his previous pain had vanished, and he quickly sat up, thanking Bi Xiao.

Pietro and Wanda sat on a nearby sofa, the former looking very satisfied.

Obviously, the battle with Thor had given him great satisfaction.

Fully engaging in a battle is a wonderful process for men, worth reminiscing about and even becoming immersed in.

No wonder some people love fighting so much, walking on the edge of a knife, between life and death, feeling the adrenaline surge.

"I enjoyed this battle."

"Yeah, buddy, a warrior never leaves the battlefield, he bathes in blood and enjoys the thrill it brings," Thor said, smiling as he extended his fist.

Pietro responded by bumping his fist.

The collision of two strong fists signified that their battle was far from over.

Wanda felt somewhat helpless with the rekindled spirits of the two men. The sudden sparks between boys were beyond her comprehension; she didn't like fighting at all.

But her experiences since childhood had taught her the importance of strength.

It was a path she had to walk.

The maids brought the drinks over, and Thor plopped down beside Pietro, taking a big gulp from the mug, pleased with the taste. Putting his arm around Pietro's shoulder, he said, "Buddy, your punches and kicks are powerful and astonishingly fast; you are a naturally perfect warrior."

"I like your tough-guy style, but you lack a tough-guy physique."

Thor spoke non-stop, even though he had been beaten badly by Pietro's outburst, he keenly observed Pietro's weaknesses.

For a warrior, the most important thing is a solid physique.

Clearly, Pietro was still too young and not tough enough.

"Your build is solid, but your fighting style is too direct, buddy, all your moves seem full of flaws to me," Pietro retorted, not willing to concede.

"Nonono, trust me, I was deliberately showing you my flaws, because at that moment, my hammer could knock you down."

"But you didn't knock me down."

"That was a mistake, after all, mistakes always happen in battles.”

It can be said that even if the universe were to be destroyed, Thor's mouth would remain unscathed.

The two engaged in a heated debate.

"Boring argument," Wanda said, sipping her cocktail, leaning back on the sofa, and glancing at Bi Xiao.

Bi Xiao interrupted the debate.

"Enough."

Though he spoke quietly, for some reason, Pietro and even Thor immediately fell silent.

Thor, realizing he had shut up, looked at Bi Xiao in surprise. He felt a sense of authority similar to that of his father, Odin—a profound and regal majesty.

Or perhaps the power gap between Bi Xiao and Thor was too vast, making even a single word from Bi Xiao impossible to ignore.

This realization was significant.

"Leave this argument for later. Combat is always the best way to address shortcomings. Next, it's Wanda's turn."

"Uh, can I take a break?"

"Haven't you rested already?" Bi Xiao retorted.

Thor was speechless.

In the following period, Thor endured a series of beatings. He frequently came to Earth to fight with Pietro and Wanda.

Thor was particularly frustrated because he couldn't defeat the young twins.

Pietro was manageable; at least he would confront Thor head-on, showcasing a tough-guy style. But once the real fight started, Pietro would switch tactics, targeting Thor's combat flaws.

Pietro was incredibly fast, faster than Thor. Speed here wasn't just about running; it encompassed all aspects, like striking speed.

In combat, Thor was continuously overpowered by Pietro, especially due to his wide-open fighting style, leaving him full of openings. Thor tried leveraging his strengths, like being the God of Storms and Thunder, controlling storms and lightning to limit Pietro.

But this was merely a temporary solution. Once Pietro adapted to Thor's brute force approach, it was all over, with Pietro easily overpowering him.

Wanda was even more troublesome. In their first battle, Thor experienced true frustration as he couldn't even touch Wanda. She combined various spells, including mirror dimension magic, making it a game just to get close to her.

No matter what Thor tried, he first had to close the distance with Wanda. Otherwise, if there was a gap, Thor couldn't even touch her and would only get bombarded. Wanda even developed many spells specifically for tough opponents like Thor.

Various magic traps, curses, and deceptive tactics made Thor want to cry.

After consecutive defeats by the twins, Thor finally wised up, reflecting on his combat flaws and figuring out how to fight Pietro and Wanda's different styles.

He significantly improved his battle habits, abandoning many unnecessarily flashy yet foolish moves.

He had to; the cost of not doing so was too high.

Thor's growth was rapid, keeping up high-intensity combat with Pietro and Wanda, greatly stimulating the development of his cells, bones, and muscles. Under the influence of speed force and chaos magic, his life force was rocketing forward.

Bi Xiao observed the fights between the twins and Thor but stopped interfering, instead seeking the Ancient One to understand the situation of a dormant Celestial in Earth's core.

As Bi Xiao expected, the Ancient One was aware of the ticking time bomb in Earth's core.

However, she did not plan to interfere because, as someone who often manipulates time, the Ancient One knew the outcome if the timeline remained unchanged.

Given that the timeline had already been altered, she did not care much. She believed in the wisdom of future generations.

According to the Ancient One, a seed is planted in planets with intelligent life. When the population reaches a certain number, the seed activates, birthing a new Celestial. Many such planets exist in the universe.

The birth of these seeds is rare and significant. Reportedly, a powerful entity consciously devours such planets because the energy of a Celestial is immense, making them the best food for many powerful beings.

This process is managed by a powerful Celestial named Arishem. The Celestial in Earth's core is named Tiamut. According to the Ancient One, a new Celestial is born every billion years, and such seeds are scattered throughout the universe.

Hearing Arishem's name, Bi Xiao immediately recognized him as the Judicator of the Celestials, also known for defeating Odin.

Arishem's goal is to expand the universe, which requires sacrificing lesser life forms.

One of Arishem's tasks is to ensure the birth of new Celestials. However, the universe is vast, and Arishem's methods are peculiar. He determines whether a planet is valuable. If he deems it so, the planet may be preserved by any means necessary, even halting the emergence of a new Celestial.

Upon learning this, Bi Xiao was intrigued and immediately asked if eliminating the Celestial seed in Earth's core would provoke Arishem. The Ancient One assured him it would not.