Once the divine projection vanished from before Thanos, he abruptly clenched his fist and issued orders to his subordinates.
"Ebony Maw, when the operation begins, you will lead the Outriders in destroying the Avengers' base.
"Corvus Glaive, you will invade Kamar-Taj.
"Once we eliminate those troublesome superhumans, the entire Earth will become our playground. Then I will be able to gather all the Infinity Stones at once!"
A trace of apprehension flashed through Ebony Maw's eyes, but he still bowed respectfully.
"However, Harry's magic allows him to travel across dimensions. Should he break free from those restraining him..."
"He will not escape," Thanos declared with absolute confidence. "He has angered too many enemies. More than a dozen Dimensional Demon Gods have joined this operation.
"They will create countless false timelines around Harry Potter, making him believe he is saving Earth while he is actually trapped inside a spacetime loop.
"By the time we conquer Earth, he will return to find nothing but ruins."
Thanos rose from his seat. The obsidian throne behind him disintegrated into particles of energy and merged into his body.
This was a new ability bestowed upon him by the Dimensional Demon Gods, Dimensional Energy Control. His power had already surpassed the limits of a Titan. Even if one of the Celestials who had created the Titans appeared before him now, Thanos would charge forward and fight it without hesitation.
Thanos turned and gazed at the projection of Earth beyond the flagship's viewport. The energy surging through the Infinity Gauntlet grew increasingly intense.
"Prepare the fleet. We attack in exactly three days. I will show the entire universe the price of opposing me, a price that even Harry Potter cannot endure.
"Let Harry watch Earth's destruction from the gaps between universes."
Outside the vessel, streams of blue energy suddenly accelerated. The entire Dark Aster began moving rapidly toward Earth.
Countless smaller warships gathered around the flagship like a swarm of insects, forming a massive black tide that blotted out the stars.
Thus began an invasion of Earth led by Thanos and supported by gods from across the multiverse.
Some time later, Tony unexpectedly sent Harry an invitation. The contents surprised Harry, yet at the same time, they seemed perfectly natural.
Tony and Pepper were getting engaged.
One week later, the top-floor ballroom of Stark Manor was bathed in the warm golden light of dusk.
Crystal chandeliers hung beneath a vaulted ceiling nearly sixteen feet high, each crystal prism reflecting the glittering stars of a holographic projection.
This was no ordinary light show. It was a virtual galaxy generated in real time by JARVIS using data provided by the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Tiny particles of light drifted gently with the saxophone melody played by the jazz band. They settled along the rims of the glasses in the champagne tower, making it appear as though someone had scattered crushed diamonds throughout the luxurious ballroom.
Tony Stark stood at the center of the room in a custom-tailored charcoal-gray suit that perfectly accentuated the line of his shoulders. A titanium cuff link peeked out beneath one sleeve, engraved with a minuscule Arc Reactor pattern.
He held a glass of champagne in his left hand, the amber liquid swirling gently within it, while his right arm rested casually around his dance partner's waist. Pepper wore a burgundy velvet gown, and whenever its hem brushed across the marble floor, it carried a faint scent of roses through the air.
"Easy, sweetheart," Tony said with a smile, the final word rising playfully. "There's no need to rush. We're going to have plenty of time together. Today, we're the undisputed stars of the show."
Today was his engagement to Pepper. As the world's richest man, the controlling shareholder of Stark Industries, a founding member of the Avengers, Iron Man, and one of the most famous superheroes alive, Tony had not personally invited many guests.
Most of the people present had found ways to attend on their own.
As a result, the ballroom was packed, and nearly everyone there was a celebrity, politician, business leader, or prominent member of high society.
Tony raised his hand and snapped his fingers. A blue light flashed from the miniature communicator behind his ear, and the band immediately transitioned from "Blue Bossa" to "Fly Me to the Moon."
Pepper could not help laughing. She gently poked the lapel of his suit with one finger.
"Tony, today is wonderful, isn't it?"
"It is." Tony lowered his head. For once, there was none of his usual playfulness in his eyes, only genuine affection. "It's incredible, Pepper. This is absolutely the happiest day of my life. No missiles, no villains, just music, drinks, you, and me."
As he finished speaking, the bartender approached with two cocktails glowing faintly blue.
Tony took one and handed it to Pepper. Their glasses met with a clear chime that echoed softly through the jazz melody.
The starlike particles beneath the crystal chandeliers were still drifting through the ballroom when a sudden commotion erupted on the western side of the room.
A golden portal had opened without anyone noticing.
The next second, three figures walked through it and entered the celebration.
All three wore magnificent formal attire, but their clothing differed from everyone else's. Glowing patterns flowed across the fabric, formed from layer upon layer of runic matrixes that performed functions such as Cleaning Charms.
The three arrivals were Harry, Wanda, and Gwen.
"Sorry we're late," Harry said with a smile toward Tony and Pepper at the center of the ballroom.
Tony casually rotated his champagne glass between his fingers, causing the amber liquid to trace a shallow arc along its inner surface. He raised an eyebrow, his usual relaxed smile appearing immediately.
"You're not late. You got here much earlier than most of the other Avengers. Come in, all three of you. This is my big day, so enjoy yourselves."
After Harry arrived, the other members of the Avengers began appearing one after another.
Eventually, even Nick Fury, the secretive agent who preferred to remain hidden in the shadows, showed up.
Of course, Fury merely greeted Tony before disappearing from the party at some unknown point. He probably still did not want too many people seeing his face.
Had this not been Tony's engagement party, Fury likely would not have appeared at all.
The engagement celebration was not excessively formal. Most of the extravagance and ceremony would be reserved for the wedding itself.
With everyone offering their blessings, Tony Stark, the infamous playboy, finally settled down and devoted his heart to one woman.
Pepper deserved that devotion.
She had accompanied Tony for so many years that each had become an indispensable part of the other's life.
After the formal part of the engagement celebration ended, the Avengers gathered together in one corner of the ballroom.
Hawkeye teasingly turned toward Harry.
"Harry, when are you getting married? We've all been waiting for your wedding."
Without changing his expression, Harry glanced behind him at Gwen and Wanda, who were speaking with Pepper. After thinking about it, he answered, "It'll probably take some time. They may still think of themselves as kids. Honestly, so do I."
Thor smacked his lips and gave Harry a strange look.
"If the people throughout the multiverse who tremble whenever they hear your name heard you say that, their entire understanding of reality would collapse.
"A murderous monster like you still thinks he's a child? What kind of child casually kills billions of beings?"
Harry remained unconcerned.
"Those deaths were necessary. Demons and creatures of darkness are our natural enemies. There is no possibility of coexistence between us."
Doctor Strange nodded and raised his glass toward Harry.
"Exactly. Without Harry, there's no telling how many innocent universes would have been devoured by evil dimensional rulers."
Beneath the warm golden light of the crystal chandeliers, particles from the virtual galaxy continued drifting beside Tony and Pepper's engagement cake.
Harry had just accepted a nonalcoholic mint drink from the bartender, and his fingers still carried the cold moisture from the glass when the holographic projector on Tony's wrist suddenly activated.
Nick Fury's one-eyed face appeared in the projection. Although he had attended the engagement party only two hours earlier, his expression was now tense. The roar of spacecraft engines could be heard faintly in the background.
"Stark, you can't stay there any longer. Tell the other Avengers." Every word Fury spoke carried an icy urgency. "We detected an unidentified wormhole beyond Jupiter's orbit. Three unknown warships breached Earth's atmosphere three minutes ago and are moving toward New York.
"Another war is coming."
The smile immediately vanished from Tony's face.
He did not want to leave. He did not want this day to end with another regret, but he was no longer the spoiled playboy he had once been. He had become a true superhero, the respected Iron Man.
Tony sighed and shared the news with the other Avengers. Finally, he stopped in front of Pepper and spoke apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Pepper. Someone's invading Earth again, just like during the Battle of New York. I can't stay here and do nothing."
Pepper did not want Tony to leave, but she did not know how to say it. She understood better than anyone how much responsibility her fiancé carried.
She opened her mouth several times, but in the end, she could only force an uneasy smile.
"Be careful, Tony."
"I will."
The Avengers quickly equipped their specialized communicators. Fury's image flickered in the projection above Tony's palm. His gaze moved toward Harry at the edge of the display, and he paused for half a second.
"Mr. Potter, does your magic work against targets that absorb energy?
"Our scans show that their outer hulls can absorb technological energy, but they react abnormally to unidentified energy frequencies. Magic may be effective against them."
"I can try." Harry put down his glass before Fury had even finished speaking. "But I need their exact location."
Fury's image flickered again.
"I'll send you their position. Be careful. Something about this alien attack feels wrong."
Harry nodded seriously. He did not believe that his current strength allowed him to behave recklessly.
There were still many unknown entities throughout the multiverse that even someone as powerful as Harry would struggle to confront.
Of course, it would be a different matter if he completely released the power within his body.
However, until he had fully absorbed the Soul King, Harry could not unleash his primordial chaos power.
The primordial chaos power inside him was currently being used to suppress the Soul King's authority and transform the Soul Reaper world into an anchor capable of restraining that same chaotic power.
Harry turned toward the gathered Avengers and smiled.
"I'll go ahead and assess the situation. I'll see you all there."
Steve nodded.
"Be careful. Though with your power, there probably won't be much of a problem. We may receive a message saying the threat has been eliminated in a few minutes."
"Let's hope so."
Harry drew his wand and opened a portal. Under everyone's watchful gaze, he stepped through it.
Before the portal's glowing traces had completely faded, Harry emerged in the depths of space.
Several capital-class spacecraft floated ahead of him. The largest among them was several miles long.
Harry recognized that vessel.
It was the Dark Aster.
The Dark Aster was currently serving as Thanos's flagship, but it looked nothing like the ship Harry remembered. Something had clearly changed it.
It resembled a meteorite stripped of all reflected light. Matte black metal covered its hull, while dark-red patterns resembling organic blood vessels spread across its surface. A pale-purple trail of energy streamed behind it as it charged directly toward Earth.
Those organic veins had never existed on the Dark Aster before.
Harry sensed unusual higher-dimensional energy flowing through them and immediately realized they were the work of Dimensional Demon Gods.
Naturally, the veins growing across the inorganic hull were not merely decorative. They possessed genuine power.
There were no conventional cannon openings at the ship's bow. Instead, an irregular metallic tumor protruded from the front of the vessel. Thick dark-purple energy seeped through the gaps between flesh and metal, pulsing as though the structure were a living creature breathing in the vacuum of space.
Even more disturbing were the fragments of cosmic debris and abandoned satellites floating around the hull.
They had not broken apart naturally. Their edges looked as though they had been gnawed away by some immense force, leaving irregular marks of heat and corrosion. Even titanium alloys had been reduced to charred fragments.
"JARVIS, can you locate its power source?" Harry asked through the communicator Tony had previously given him, his voice carrying faint electronic interference.
The device behind Harry's ear could transmit the energy structures detected by his senses to JARVIS, allowing the artificial intelligence, which possessed far greater knowledge of machinery, to analyze the vessel's construction.
When dealing with machinery created on Earth, there was almost nothing JARVIS could not understand.
However, even JARVIS could not fully analyze a spacecraft constructed from a fusion of flesh and machinery.
Without Harry's magical perception supplying information, JARVIS would not have been able to obtain any meaningful readings from the Dark Aster at all.
The communicator remained silent for two seconds before JARVIS responded, his electronic voice carrying an unusual degree of seriousness.
"Mr. Potter, the Dark Aster's energy field is absorbing the cosmic radiation surrounding it. I cannot accurately locate its core.
"The metal covering its surface absorbs every scanning frequency, almost like living skin."
The moment he finished speaking, the tumor at the Dark Aster's bow suddenly lit up with crimson light.
Without warning, a dark-purple energy beam shot directly toward Harry.
Harry instinctively swung his wand, instantly creating a pale-golden defensive barrier.
The energy beam struck the barrier and exploded into a cloud of dark mist. The magical patterns across the shield flickered violently, and tiny cracks appeared where the mist corroded its surface.
Harry's expression darkened.
This was not an ordinary energy attack. The dark mist carried some kind of factor capable of dismantling magical structures. Even his protective spell could not withstand it for long.
Naturally, this was also related to Harry's current condition.
His most important priorities were absorbing the Soul King's authority and establishing complete control over the Soul Reaper world.
Although he was stronger than he had been before absorbing the Soul Reaper world, he had not yet reached the universal level.
The strange energy attacks before him appeared simple, but they were actually connected to several separate dimensions. The Dimensional Demon Gods ruling those dimensions were continuously supplying the Dark Aster with power.
That was why the Dark Aster possessed far more power than Harry had anticipated.
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