Chapter 166 : Zombie Wanda, Shion's request!
Instantly, all the Westview residents wandering and lingering on the streets abruptly froze.
Their heads, at an angle unnatural for human anatomy, all turned in Li Yu's direction.
Their once relatively normal faces immediately began to decay and distort, skin peeling off, muscles rotting, revealing the white bones beneath, and their eye sockets glowed with a crimson light, locking onto him, the sole living being.
An extreme thirst for pure life energy, originating from the deepest instincts of a zombie, mixed with violent killing intent, surged from all directions, converging on Li Yu.
"Roar!"
A deafening roar suddenly erupted, breaking the dead silence.
Hundreds of thousands of zombies poured out from street corners, broken windows, and dilapidated houses; they crawled on all fours, some even leaping down from rooftops, moving with a swiftness unlike ordinary zombies, and swarmed towards Li Yu like a tidal wave.
The stench of decay, distorted faces, and sharp, gleaming teeth instantly formed a wave of death that threatened to devour everything.
Facing this zombie horde, which would make any hero despair, Li Yu didn't even frown.
Beneath the silver-grey Thor's horned helmet covering half his face, his eyes were calm and unperturbed, as if what lay before him were not deadly zombies, but withered leaves drifting in the wind.
He calmly raised his right hand, and Mjolnir in his hand glowed with purple lightning.
Earlier on Xandar, Li Yu did not want to cause unnecessary slaughter, so he used Absolute Zero.
He had no need to be polite to these zombies, who had completely lost their humanity.
There was no warning, no incantation.
Li Yu's Mjolnir simply pressed down gently.
"Boom, crack!"
A pillar of light, indescribable as mere lightning, more like a spear of judgment forged from pure, violent energy, struck vertically down on the ground ten meters in front of him.
Instantly, the area struck.
Within a one-kilometer radius, all matter.
The asphalt road, abandoned vehicles, and surging zombies did not explode in one ten-thousandth of a second but were directly vaporized, leaving behind only a gigantic, charred crater with edges as smooth as a mirror and unfathomably deep, its walls glowing with dazzling molten red light.
Before the aftershocks of the first strike had fully dissipated, Li Yu gently rotated Mjolnir in his hand.
From the edge of the giant crater, and within the ten-meter space around him, hundreds of twisted, leaping blue-white electric arcs burst forth out of thin air!
They were no longer straight lightning bolts but raging thunder snakes, as if alive.
The speed of the thunder snakes surpassed the limits of visual perception; they shot out radially from Li Yu, accurately piercing through the head of every Westview zombie.
There was no explosion, only silent penetration. The struck zombies instantly stiffened, dazzling electric light shot out from their eye sockets, mouths, and noses, and their entire heads instantly carbonized and disintegrated into fine black powder, which fluttered down.
The headless bodies lurched forward a few steps due to inertia before collapsing helplessly.
The air was filled with an intensely nauseating mixture of ozone and burnt protein.
With just one strike, Li Yu completely cleared out the entire Westview.
"Come out, I know you're here!"
Li Yu's voice echoed through the empty streets.
No sooner had he spoken than the space not far in front of him suddenly twisted and wrinkled violently, like silk fabric crumpled by an invisible giant hand.
A dazzling crimson energy, like a wound tearing through the void, suddenly ripped open!
A slender figure flew out of the rift, hovering a few feet above the ground.
Unstable crimson energy particles continuously emanated from her body; she wore a tattered, dark red battle robe, her long hair clung messily to her pale, haggard face, and in those eyes, which might once have been bright, there was now only an impenetrable sorrow, madness, and a reckless obsession.
Li Yu was slightly surprised; this woman was Scarlet Witch Wanda!
But Strange clearly said that this Universe's Wanda had already sealed herself away.
The Wanda before him suddenly looked up and let out a mournful shriek.
Her eye sockets were highly decayed, revealing a crimson light within, and her gaze immediately locked onto Li Yu, or more precisely, onto the energy emanating from the three Infinity Stones within his body.
"Stones!"
Wanda's voice was hoarse and trembling; she stretched out her decayed right hand, revealing the bones of her knuckles, and pointed at Li Yu.
"Thor, give me the Stones! Give them... all to me!"
Crimson Chaos Magic energy surged violently in her palm, almost overflowing.
Her eyes were filled with desperate pleading, mixed with an unfathomable obsession, as if the three Stones were the only straw she could grasp while drowning.
"With the Stones, I can resurrect myself, and I can save my... World!"
Li Yu's gaze calmly swept over her broken body, sensing the anomaly in her soul.
It was an unstable state, suspended between life and death, forcibly anchored to the present World by a powerful obsession.
The other party was clearly not mentally sound, mistaking him for Thor; he probably understood the situation before him.
This Wanda should already be dead; she was a Scarlet Witch from another Universe, forcibly resurrected through dream-walking, with the goal of collecting this World's Infinity Stones.
The Wanda from another realm most likely intended to use the six Stones to completely bring herself back from death or another dimension, achieving true resurrection.
"I'm sorry."
Li Yu's voice came through the Thor's horned helmet, cold and resolute, leaving no room for negotiation.
"The Infinity Stones have a more pressing use for me; they cannot be used to resurrect you."
"No!"
Li Yu's refusal ignited a powder keg. The sorrow in Wanda's eyes was instantly consumed by furious crimson, and she let out a piercing shriek, unlike any human sound, as vast Chaos Magic energy erupted like an out-of-control volcano!
Her body twisted violently with rage, and even the frozen space of the entire Westview trembled with it, fine ice cracks appearing on the ground.
"They are my hope! My salvation! Give them to me!!!"
Accompanied by this roar, filled with despair and madness, Scarlet Witch's power poured out without reservation.
The violent Chaos energy transformed into a towering wave, crushing down on Li Yu, who stood proudly at the center of the frozen area, with a terrifying might that tore reality and twisted space!
Chaos Magic, as one of the three great creation powers of the Marvel Universe, holds an extremely high position!
Li Yu's body was tightly entangled by Chaos Magic!
...In the Saint Seiya World, deep within the Elysium of the Underworld, the shadows of Hades's temple solidified like ink, engulfing every corner of the hall in boundless silence.
The obsidian floor reflected the ghostly green glow of theDark Lantern (Underworld lamps) hanging from the temple ceiling.
Within the grand hall, countless souls seemed to be wailing silently.
Thanatos, God of Death, and Hypnos, knelt on one knee.
Both bowed their heads, their voices filled with absolute reverence for Hades.
"My Lord Hades, the nine stars are about to align; should we initiate the Eternal Eclipse?"
Hypnos paused, then added.
"Once initiated, there will be no turning back between us, the Sanctuary, and the Sea Emperor."
In the center of the temple, the colossal statue of Hades stood silently, its stone eyes hollow yet seemingly capable of piercing through life and death.
Moments later, green Underworld flames suddenly ignited in the statue's eye sockets, the flames flickering violently, like an enraged viper.
"Initiate it!"
A cold voice emanated from the statue, carrying bone-deep hatred.
"Athena has gone too far in deceiving me! This time, I will completely reverse the tide of battle!"
Hypnos, remained kneeling, his head bowed, and said in a deep voice.
"Your subordinate just received news from the guards of the Ice Hell; the former Gold Saints, led by Athena's previous Pope Shion, have sent a message to the Underworld, requesting resurrection, and in return, they are willing to help us retrieve Athena's head."