September first, King's Cross Station.
After returning from the Marvel world, Skyl spent the last days of summer break in a blur of busyness. The gains from this trip to another world naturally went without saying. Originally, Skyl had never imagined he would actually glimpse the ultimate truth. He had gone to the MCU purely with a vacationing mindset, and collecting the Infinity Stones had only been a spur-of-the-moment idea.
The Infinity Stones were only useful in the universe that had birthed them, but Skyl had gained a brand-new Stone, and that alone was enough to leave him fully satisfied.
Compared with the other six Stones, the power of this Ego Stone was almost not worth mentioning. It could neither let Skyl control the root laws nor provide endless energy. It was no help in battle at all. At most, it could be used as an indestructible pebble, but using a treasure like this to hit someone would be a ridiculous waste.
The special nature of the Ego Stone lay in the fact that it was the condensed form of a universe's soul. The shell of the Stone had been formed from his friends' longing for Skyl, while the essence within it was the consciousness of the cosmic order.
The reason the Infinity Stones possessed such inconceivable power was that they were keys that communicated with the root of the universe. The Ego Stone, however, communicated with Skyl. It represented his status, his authority, and his name. It could be said that the Ego Stone was equivalent to a divine spark. Skyl was now a genuine god, not the mortal who had possessed divinity in name only before.
Having taken this crucial step, Skyl's joy naturally needed no explanation. It included the relief of surviving catastrophe and the emotion of having witnessed the passage of time itself. It was the most unforgettable experience he had undergone since transmigrating.
Turning into the soul of the universe had been an enormous gamble. Skyl had indeed died once because of it, becoming an ignorant, nameless, formless cosmic order. Even his self-awareness had been erased, and he could no longer be seen as an independent individual at all. He was a fog of chaos, an aggregate of pure thought-strings, the framework of the world's laws.
Without the help of the ascended beastfolk, who had pulled him out of that ignorant, empty state, Skyl would have remained forever in the condition of absolute spirit, where material movement and history held no meaning, where everything did not exist, and where there was only beginningless and endless nothingness. If the cosmic order called Skyl had not tried to understand itself, the universe would not have been born.
A person immersed in a dream cannot reflect on themselves, otherwise the dream will end. Skyl had been like someone having a dream that would never stop. If no one had woken him, he would have kept sleeping forever.
The ascended beastfolk had not forgotten the High Evolutionary, even though Skyl had never treated the wisdom he granted them as his private property. Because of them, Skyl had been able to awaken.
And without his friends calling his name, even the awakened Skyl would have lost himself. Perhaps this was what it meant to promise they would meet again someday.
Courage and luck had favored him, allowing Skyl to ascend successfully.
Now he possessed a divine spark, and his soul naturally gave birth to eternal divine power. He was no longer being held back by the level of his strength. Compared with magic, eternal divine power was far more inconceivable. If a wizard was like someone going out to sea in a small boat, needing to remember the laws of currents and weather before they could ride the wind and waves, then Skyl was now the sea and the sky. It was not he who adapted to the wind and waves. The wind and waves rose because of him.
Skyl needed a considerably long time to organize all his gains, so after returning from the Marvel world, his life became even busier than usual. At the very least, he no longer had time to help Marika sell bread. He spent all day in The Tower of Tomes, either doing experiments or practicing with divine power. Sometimes he forgot the time and would go two or three days without leaving his bedroom. The meals Marika prepared for him would go cold, so she had no choice but to eat them herself. However, as long as Skyl appeared at mealtime, there was always a hot meal waiting for him.
Skyl always praised Marika as the finest host he had ever met.
Before he knew it, the first day of school arrived. As usual, Marika took Skyl to the train station. When they parted, Marika asked him, as she always did, whether he would be coming back for Christmas this year. And Skyl, as always, replied, "Possibly."
The Hogwarts Express had already stopped beside Platform 9¾. Young witches and wizards were reluctantly saying goodbye to their parents, while the upper-year students had long since chosen their compartments and were chatting away, recounting their summer experiences and the things they had seen.
Seeing this scene, Skyl felt as though he had been away for a lifetime. He had stayed in the Marvel world for too long, causing his memories of the past to blur slightly, as if he were looking back on old events through a faded photograph.
"Skyl! There you are. Why haven't you boarded yet? Are you waiting for someone?" a cheerful greeting called out.
Skyl did not need to turn around to know that the speaker had to be Percy Weasley, his roommate. And as long as one Weasley appeared, that meant the whole family was sure to show up together.
Sure enough, the Weasley family came rushing onto the platform with great enthusiasm, and Harry, Hermione, and Neville were with them too. Perfect. The concentration of Gryffindors on the platform had practically gone off the charts.
Mrs. Weasley warmly stuffed a paper lunch box into Skyl's hand and said, "I prepared this specially for you. If you get hungry on the train, you can have it for lunch. It's a sandwich made with smoked ham, bacon, and lettuce. I'm sure you'll like the taste."
"My deepest thanks, madam. You are truly generous and thoughtful." Skyl's sense of distance from the magical world vanished all at once. He felt himself standing firmly on the ground again, and with the joy of reunion, he placed a hand over his chest and bowed to this kind, amiable lady.
He said, "I saw it in the Daily Prophet. Your whole family went to Egypt for a trip. Were the pyramids beautiful?"
Now that was a topic with plenty to talk about. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley began talking about ancient Egyptian magic in the pyramids, the unique fashion trends among the local wizards, and so on. Skyl nodded slightly. When they asked whether he had gone anywhere for a trip over the summer, he answered that he had gone to an alien planet to see aliens.
Everyone thought he had told a very amusing joke.
The train was about to leave the station. After saying goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the students hurried aboard. Percy could not wait to rush toward the prefects' compartment. Skyl raised an eyebrow, guessing that if this fellow was in such a hurry, he was definitely going to look for a girl he liked. What a guy, abandoning his friends the second romance called.
Everyone walked through the corridor together. Nearly all the compartments along the way were already full, and the students were discussing the new changes at Hogwarts.
There was one matter in the new school year that had left many young witches and wizards heartbroken. The Defense Against the Dark Arts class had changed professors again. The beautiful, moving, kind, and gentle Lady Moonshadow had resigned from her position. Logically speaking, her year had been peaceful and smooth, with absolutely no sign that she had suffered from the legendary Dark Lord's curse, but this position was just that strange. No matter whether the professor was good or bad, they could only stay for one year.
Harry and the others were also very upset. Hermione was especially saddened, because the Granger family and Lady Moonshadow had already formed a deep friendship, yet now they were separated by two different worlds.
Skyl knew the inside story. Lady Moonshadow temporarily planned to remain in the Marvel world to take care of the dark elves.
High Priestess Ayesha said that her people had a major plan. They intended to spend a vast amount of resources to nurture a powerful descendant named Adam Warlock. Lady Moonshadow was very interested in this plan. As a Daedric Prince, she would choose a champion as her representative. The previous champion of Azura had been Nerevar, the hero of the dark elves. Now, she had set her sights on Adam Warlock.
Skyl thought to himself, this means we are going to get a Black Adam. Does this count as a crossover with DC next door?
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