Chapter 428: Civil War II!
A glowing green Energy Scroll suddenly materialized in front of Silas, and a terrifying aura began to brew within the parchment. Carol, who hadn't taken the situation seriously until now, immediately wiped the smirk off her face. Sensing the sheer power of the energy fluctuations, her expression turned grave.
"Your power is formidable. Is this magic?" Carol asked, looking Silas in the eye.
"Correct, it is magic. I wonder if you have the confidence to take it head-on?" Silas didn't attack immediately.
"Hmph," Carol gave a disdainful laugh. "Up until now, I haven't met anyone capable of actually hurting me."
"Is that so? Then I'm honored to be the first," Silas replied, his smile fading as his eyes narrowed. Aside from the Ancient One, Carol was the most powerful opponent he had encountered to date.
"Hold on tight!" Silas placed his right hand behind the Energy Scroll and gave it a gentle push.
BOOM!!!
A brilliant emerald beam, accompanied by howling hurricane-force winds, roared toward Carol. The intense surge of energy was so great that the Avengers on the ground had to shield their faces.
Carol showed no fear. She pressed her hands together, channeling her internal energy into a concentrated blast of pure light to intercept the magic.
The collision of these two massive forces unleashed an unprecedented storm. Centered at the point of impact, a hemispherical dome of runaway energy began to form. This energy clash possessed a world-ending momentum, spiraling into a violent, chaotic state that was horrifying to behold.
Everyone present felt as if a mountain were pressing down on their shoulders, forcing them to keep their heads down. Only Thor, having recovered a sliver of his strength, managed to force himself to stand.
"Sir, the energy output from both sides is reaching critical levels. If they continue, the resulting shockwave will wipe this town off the map," JARVIS analyzed.
"Masked Boy!" Tony shouted, calling out to Silas. He knew Silas would understand the gravity of the situation.
Silas, resisting the rolling heatwaves, could faintly hear Tony's voice. "I've got it." He gave Tony an 'OK' sign; he was well aware of the consequences of this energy surge.
"Shadow Khan!" With a thought, Silas summoned the Shadow Kingdom ninjas. He commanded them to seize the Avengers and the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel and pull them into the Shadow Kingdom to be transported to safety.
Carol clearly realized the danger as well, but she couldn't simply retract her power. In such a stalemate, the first person to stop would be crushed by the opponent's momentum. If they both stopped simultaneously, the runaway energy in the center would detonate prematurely.
The onlookers, who were still processing the spectacle, were suddenly grabbed by the Shadow Khan and dragged into the darkness, reappearing miles away.
"What are you going to do?" Tony hadn't left yet, worried about what might happen to Silas.
"Don't worry about me," Silas said, his face expressionless.
"Fine." Seeing that look, Tony bet that the kid would be fine—he wouldn't be this calm otherwise. Once Tony followed the ninjas into the shadows, Silas turned his full attention back to Carol.
Carol's figure was now partially obscured by the blinding white light, her long blonde hair whipping violently in the continuous shockwaves.
"Silas! The energy is about to go critical! Get out of here now!" Carol shouted. Although the energy was immense, she believed she could tank the blast.
As the central energy dome expanded, both Carol and Silas felt the crushing pressure. Carol felt as though she were submerged in the deepest depths of the ocean, experiencing the weight of millions of tons of water from every direction. This feeling of being suppressed was something she hadn't felt in a very long time.
Suddenly, the runaway energy reached its tipping point. It was going to explode!
Only two people remained on the field: Carol, half-kneeling and stubbornly holding her hands out to contain the blast, and Silas, who had intentionally stayed behind to test his own limits.
"I didn't think... runaway energy could be this terrifying," Silas muttered. He was actually in better shape than Carol. While her physical stats were higher, she didn't have the Horse Talisman. Every time Silas felt fatigue or strain, the talisman's power would rejuvenate him, keeping him at his peak.
Carol gritted her teeth, trying to gather enough energy to wrap the blast and carry it into outer space before it detonated.
"Don't be in such a hurry, Carol." Silas activated another spell: the Mirror Dimension. This wasn't from Jackie Chan Adventures, but rather a Kamar-Taj spell he had picked up during a "visit" to their library.
Crank!
Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass echoed through the air. The world underwent a cataclysmic shift; buildings began to twist, fold, and flip. Silas even manipulated the gravity within the space. A low rumble echoed through the Mirror Dimension, as if a creator god were redesigning his home.
Finally, the energy detonated.
BOOM!!!
At the moment of the blast, Silas utilized his speed to pull himself out of the Mirror Dimension and back into the real world. Without the Dog Talisman, he knew he couldn't survive the core of that explosion. As for Carol... she should be fine. She was Captain Marvel, after all.
Inside the Mirror Dimension—
Unable to contain the blast any longer, Carol's eyes widened as she saw Silas simply turn and leave. He really just left her there.
The space around her shattered in layers. The raw, violent energy of the explosion instantly flooded her body, rampaging through her system. The distorted buildings within the space stood no chance; they were pulverized into particles in a heartbeat. A heatwave of extreme intensity swept in all directions, looking like fiery dragons devouring everything in their path.
Fortunately, this was all contained within the Mirror Dimension. Otherwise, it wouldn't have just destroyed a town; it would have been a catastrophe.
However, the Carol inside the Mirror Dimension was very real. In that moment, her body looked like glass—webbed with cracks and on the verge of shattering.
"AH!"
Carol clenched her fists. A spark of gold light flickered from her, followed by a brilliant, magnificent radiance that surged across her skin. The rampaging energy that was tearing through her was instantly consumed by this golden light. Her glow grew brighter and more dazzling until she was nothing but a silhouette of pure light.
As the light faded, Carol stood tall in the empty space, hovering mid-air.
"Hmm?" Carol panted, looking around. For a second, she thought the world had been destroyed. But as her vision cleared, she realized the town was gone but the sky was wrong—it was folded and inverted. With her experience, she guessed she was in another dimension, though she wasn't sure which one.
"Silas!" Carol shouted toward the inverted earth above her head. Only Silas could bring her back out. She knew she was strong, but she wasn't a fool; she wasn't going to try and punch her way through space-time without a plan.
In the Real World—
"As expected of Captain Marvel. She's fine," Silas noted. Through his enhanced perception, he could see the situation inside the Mirror Dimension. Her body was indeed tough, but he could tell she had reached her limit. If the explosion had been any stronger, it truly could have killed her.
The blast had been a combination of Carol's full output and Silas's maximum magical energy. Not even the Hulk or Thor could have survived that. Carol had only pulled through because of her ability to absorb energy—especially since a large portion of the blast was made of her own power.
"Everyone alright?" Silas asked, turning to the Avengers who had been relocated.
"We're fine. What's the status of the town?" Steve asked urgently.
"Don't worry, the people were evacuated, and the town itself is untouched," Silas replied, knowing Steve's primary concern was for innocent lives.
"Untouched? Based on the energy readings from that clash, destroying the town would have been the bare minimum. We were worried it would level half of New York," Tony said, confused.
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