Agatha's newly assigned house sat just a short walk away from the factory district. The two-story building had soft pink exterior walls that stood out awkwardly among the dull gray structures nearby, but she didn't mind. In fact, she was surprisingly pleased with the arrangement. There were more than enough vacant homes these days, so she'd managed to secure the entire place for herself.
That suited her perfectly.
As a dark witch, there were far too many things she couldn't allow other people to see. Strange rituals, forbidden tomes, dimensional materials, and creatures from beyond reality didn't exactly make good neighborly hobbies.
Grunting with effort, Agatha scooped up the heavy black demon cat sprawled across the couch. The moment she touched it, she immediately realized what the problem was. The cat wasn't injured. It was hungry again.
"Abney, sweetheart," she sighed helplessly, scratching beneath its chin, "once I finally get paid, I'll buy you proper cat food."
The demon cat let out a dissatisfied growl while she absentmindedly combed her fingers through its dark fur. The creature had originally been summoned from another dimension centuries ago. Despite its appearance, it possessed terrifying destructive power, and as long as Agatha remained alive, she could continue summoning it even if it died.
More importantly, Abney had stayed beside her for over three hundred years.
To Agatha, it wasn't a pet. It was family.
Unfortunately, the collapse of the old world had destroyed her savings along with everything else. The new regime had invalidated nearly all former currencies, wiping out the comfortable lifestyle she'd once enjoyed.
"Meow…"
Abney rubbed its head against her chest again, clearly demanding more affection despite its complaints. Agatha chuckled softly and leaned back against the sofa.
At that exact moment, a circular black portal suddenly opened in the middle of the living room.
Two figures stepped out.
The moment Agatha saw the red-haired woman, her eyes widened with genuine delight.
"Wanda!" she exclaimed. "My wonderful student—you're alive!"
For years, Agatha had invested heavily in Wanda's growth. Of course, part of that motivation came from ambition. Chaos Magic was one of the rarest and most dangerous forces in existence, and Agatha had long dreamed of one day absorbing Wanda's power for herself after the girl fully matured.
But Wanda had vanished during the alien invasion months ago. After the appearance of the extraterrestrial fleet, Agatha had quietly assumed her student had died somewhere in the chaos.
Seeing her alive now came as a complete surprise.
But the happiness on her face only lasted a few seconds before it froze into shock.
Because standing beside Wanda was a towering purple giant radiating a level of pressure that made Agatha's blood run cold.
Sweat instantly formed across her forehead.
That terrifying aura…
This was only the second time in her entire life she had experienced such overwhelming fear.
The first had been centuries ago when she encountered Chthon—the ancient elder god and creator of dark magic itself.
Who… exactly was this monster?
Thanos looked calmly at the witch in front of him and immediately understood why Wanda privately called her "Big Fierce Teacher."
The nickname fit surprisingly well.
"You are Agatha Harkness?" he asked flatly.
Agatha instinctively nodded before her brain even processed the question. The motion caused her already impressive chest to bounce slightly, and poor Abney ended up getting smacked in the face repeatedly while trapped in her arms.
Wanda frowned the moment she noticed it. Then she instinctively glanced down at herself before gritting her teeth in silent frustration.
How was the difference still this ridiculous?
Thanos, completely oblivious to Wanda's internal crisis, continued speaking after confirming Agatha's identity.
"Good. I need your help with something."
Before Agatha could even respond, Thanos casually grabbed her shoulder and activated the Space Stone.
The world instantly twisted.
"Wait—!"
Her protest never finished.
A second later, Agatha found herself standing inside a completely unfamiliar environment.
She blinked in confusion before slowly looking around.
The moment she saw Temple Number Two clearly, all of her irritation vanished.
The massive interior stretched endlessly in every direction like a mechanical cathedral drifting through space. Members of the Dark Order moved efficiently through the halls while countless systems operated with quiet precision. Beyond the enormous windows lay the cold darkness of the universe itself.
Everything felt orderly.
Controlled.
Perfectly structured.
Agatha's eyes gradually brightened.
Wasn't this exactly what witches had always dreamed of?
Absolute freedom for experimentation without interference or chaos. No screaming civilians. No governments. No annoying neighbors. Just endless silence and unlimited resources.
Back on Earth, magical experiments inevitably became noisy disasters once too many people got involved.
Here, everything resembled an enormous machine functioning with flawless efficiency.
After finally recovering from her shock, Agatha turned toward the massive throne ahead of her. Thanos now sat upon it casually, resting one arm against the side while staring down at her with calm indifference.
"What exactly does Lord Thanos require from me?" she asked carefully.
Since she didn't know how else to address him, "Lord" seemed like the safest option.
Thanos didn't waste time with unnecessary conversation. He simply raised one hand and produced a dull yellow gemstone.
"I need you to use Chaos Magic to slowly melt this Infinity Stone."
The moment the words "Infinity Stone" left his mouth, Agatha's expression shifted again. She stared at the gemstone curiously before frowning.
"Lord Thanos… this Infinity Stone feels strange."
Over her centuries of life, she had naturally heard countless legends regarding the Infinity Stones. Every story described them as dazzling cosmic treasures overflowing with limitless power.
But the stone in front of her looked dead.
Dim.
Empty.
There were almost no visible energy fluctuations at all.
It resembled an ordinary rock more than a universal artifact.
Beside her, Wanda also looked confused. She had been wondering about this issue for quite some time already. Her father somehow possessed multiple Infinity Stones simultaneously, and now he was apparently trying to melt them together.
None of this made sense.
Thanos calmly summoned several additional Infinity Stones into the air.
"These stones come from alternate universes," he explained. "I intend to melt them down and fuse them together."
Agatha and Wanda both froze.
Alternate universes?
That concept alone sounded absurd enough, yet the being in front of them had somehow traveled across realities and stolen Infinity Stones from entirely different universes.
The sheer scale of it made their minds spin.
After understanding the task, Agatha quickly suppressed her shock and began channeling Chaos Magic. Crimson energy spread from her hands as she carefully enveloped the dim Mind Stone floating in front of her.
Despite Thanos speaking politely, she could clearly tell this wasn't a negotiation.
If she refused, she was fairly certain she'd never see Earth again.
As the Chaos Magic intensified, the Mind Stone slowly began to soften.
Minutes passed.
Sweat poured down Agatha's face as she focused entirely on maintaining stability. Her breathing gradually became uneven, and the pressure clearly strained her heavily.
Finally, the Mind Stone began melting completely.
The once-solid gem transformed into a glowing golden liquid suspended within the crimson magical energy.
At that moment, Thanos narrowed his eyes slightly.
He could sense something changing.
The energy within the Mind Stone had entered an extremely unstable state.
And yet…
At the same time, it also felt strangely stable.
The contradiction itself was difficult to explain.
Normally, the Infinity Stones possessed extraordinarily stable energy structures. Instability only occurred under specific external conditions.
For example, the Power Stone could backlash violently if mishandled by living beings.
The Space Stone became unstable when struck with certain electrical frequencies, creating chaotic portals.
The Mind Stone could forcibly drag intelligent creatures into hallucinations under the right circumstances.
There were many ways to destabilize an Infinity Stone.
But all of those reactions remained within controllable limits.
This situation was different.
If Agatha continued pouring Chaos Magic into the melted stone, the unstable energy would likely detonate completely.
But Thanos understood this was also the exact moment required for fusion.
Back in Universe S, Ultron had successfully merged the Infinity Stones under nearly identical conditions.
Without hesitation, Thanos immediately reached into the swirling Chaos Magic and grabbed the unstable liquid Mind Stone directly with his hand.
Then he slammed it onto the Infinity Gauntlet.
At the same time, massive cosmic energy erupted from his body, forcibly containing the gemstone's unstable power and preventing it from leaking outward.
Soon, the two Mind Stones began colliding violently before slowly merging together.
The energy radiating from the Mind Stone embedded in the Infinity Gauntlet steadily increased.
However, it was still far inferior to the Mind Stone mounted on Ultron's head.
.....
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