"What a loss."
"I've taken a huge loss."
Martin slumped down onto the ground. With only ten percent of his energy left, all he wanted now was to go home.
He was waiting for information to appear on his retina.
Suddenly, two masses of shadow came over his face and stuck to his eyes.
Instantly, Martin couldn't see anything.
"What is this?"
He couldn't see that what was stuck to his eyes were two clumps of webbing.
Martin reached out to grab the webs, but at that moment, two more strands shot over, sticking to his hands and yanking them backward.
In an instant, Martin's hands were pulled behind his back.
Behind him, Gwen, wearing a Spider-Man mask, landed.
Gwen strained with all her strength to restrain Martin's arms. At that moment, Norman Osborn came in on his glider.
From the glider, the micro-missiles fired in rapid succession.
One after another, they shot out, hitting Martin, causing fireballs to erupt continuously at the bottom of the pit.
Amid the rising orange flames, fierce, searing heat burst forth.
This kind of attack wasn't enough to seriously injure Martin, but it was enough to blast him away.
Martin hit the ground, got back up, and reached out to tear off the webs stuck to his eyes.
Looking at Gwen and Norman Osborn, he roared, "You insects, how dare you attack me!"
Though exhausted, Martin still fired his laser vision at Norman Osborn.
Two deep red beams shot out. Just as they were about to hit Osborn, they suddenly bent and turned back toward Martin's own eyes.
Not understanding why his lasers had curved, Martin quickly stopped firing.
The two beams halted just before hitting his eyes, leaving faint red trails in the air.
Using her "thread control" ability to twist Martin's laser vision, Gwen rushed toward him again.
With a flick of her wrist.
Snap!
The web shooter flashed red, and a strand shot out. Under Gwen's control, its tip suddenly blossomed open like a flower, spreading into a web.
The web covered Martin, sticking to his limbs and body.
Gwen moved around him, continuously firing webs, like a spider wrapping up its prey.
In just a short moment, Martin's entire body was tightly wrapped in webbing, unable to move.
At that moment, Norman Osborn lowered his glider and extended sharp blades from both sides.
He spun the glider, circling Martin and cutting repeatedly. But aside from slicing apart the webbing on him, he couldn't even leave a single wound on this "Homelander."
"Get lost, you clowns!"
Martin exploded in anger.
His eyes lit up, laser vision blasting out, tearing through the webs and sweeping toward Norman Osborn in the air.
At that moment, Gwen fired another strand, sticking to Martin and yanking him.
With her enhanced strength, she easily swung him around, spinning him before throwing him upward with force.
Martin was flung into the air.
In midair, a heavy tearing sound rang out.
Soon, Martin saw Doomsday descending from above.
After the "Ancient Demon's Shadow" stopped possessing him, the black magic Martin had used naturally lost its effect.
That included "Real Mirror Space."
When the mirrored Doomsday disappeared, the original Doomsday locked onto Martin again and leaped down from the sinkhole.
And now, it appeared before him.
Seeing the monster, Martin's face turned bitter.
Against Doomsday, unless you had a specific counter like a kryptonite spear, the only option was to control it with magic.
But now, Martin had neither kryptonite nor the ability to use even a single dark spell.
And trading blows with Doomsday was the worst option.
Especially since Martin's condition had fallen to rock bottom. He hadn't expected that after dealing with his "brother" from another universe, there would still be so many loose ends.
And Doomsday was undoubtedly the most troublesome one.
BANG!
Martin took a punch from Doomsday, smashing hard into the ground before bouncing back up.
He roared and broke free of the webs.
Doomsday lunged at him.
Grabbing Martin's head, it slammed it down into the ground, burying it.
Then it stepped on him, firing energy beams from its eyes, a thick torrent blasting down.
Martin barely raised his hands to resist, then wrapped his legs around Doomsday's foot and twisted, bringing the monster down.
The energy torrent swept away, carving a glowing trench across the ground and into the distant rock wall.
Martin quickly flew up, heading for the sky, trying to create distance.
He knew Doomsday couldn't fly. If he got high enough, the creature wouldn't be able to touch him.
Then whether to fight or flee, he'd have the advantage.
But just as he rose, Gwen stuck him with a web and shouted, pulling hard.
Martin was dragged back down.
Doomsday got up again, leaped, and threw a heavy punch, sending Martin flying.
Before he could recover, Norman Osborn stayed on him, the glider's missiles and machine guns firing continuously.
Chasing Martin through the air with relentless bombardment.
Under the coordinated assault of the three, Martin felt like his body was about to fall apart.
After being blasted away again by Doomsday, Martin got up and quickly opened his inventory, pulling out a scroll.
He shook it open.
The scroll ignited on its own.
Then a portal opened in front of him.
Martin immediately dove in.
Doomsday lunged forward, reaching into the portal.
It grabbed Martin.
But at that moment, the portal closed.
Doomsday's arm was severed cleanly at the wrist.
———
[In the Ruins of New York]
The evacuated citizens had gradually returned, searching through the wreckage of their former homes for anything salvageable.
At a dock, a portal suddenly opened, and Martin tumbled out.
On the other side of the portal was the underground pit.
Doomsday charged in.
Its arm reached through the portal and grabbed Martin.
Fortunately, the portal closed at that moment.
Cutting off a portion of Doomsday's arm.
Martin collapsed onto the ground, grabbed the severed limb, and tossed it into the water.
He couldn't even stand up.
He took a breath.
His mind was spinning. He just wanted to leave this universe.
At that moment—
A soft "pop" sounded beside him.
At the edge of his vision, a flash of bright red rose.
Then in his sight appeared Alex, with blond hair and blue eyes, and Alex's hand pressing down a white sphere of light.
Inside the sphere, countless symbols and numbers flickered.
It contained an immense amount of information.
This was "Knowledge Projection."
Alex compressed a vast amount of information he had into an "information sphere," then forced it into Martin's brain.
Martin didn't even have time to think about why Alex wasn't dead or how he had appeared here, his mind was already flooded with overwhelming information.
Already exhausted, suddenly receiving such an influx, his eyes widened, and his brain briefly stopped responding.
Seizing that moment, Alex's eyes lit up.
Then two golden beams burst out from the back of Martin's head.
Back at the containment facility that morning, when Alex shattered the Magneto helmet, he had already noticed that Martin seemed particularly cautious about his eyes.
Even with tiny fragments, he would close his eyes to prevent anything from getting into them.
And just now, when Martin had used some unknown method to eliminate the clone, even though the "Ancient Demon's Shadow" was no longer attached, Alex still had Gwen and Norman Osborn work with Doomsday to test this "Homelander."
At that time, when Gwen controlled Martin's laser vision and turned it back toward his eyes, Martin immediately stopped firing.
All these details had been observed by Alex.
From that, he concluded, the eyes were likely Martin's weakness.
Without a biological force field, he couldn't protect his eyeballs.
So, using "Mental Transfer" to instantly approach Martin, Alex first used "Knowledge Projection" to overload his brain.
Putting him into a brief stunned state and exposing his weakness.
Then, cleanly and decisively, he delivered the killing blow, turning the eyes of this "Homelander" from some unknown universe into two charred holes.
[Multiverse Invasion Event has ended.]
[You have successfully killed the invader.]
[Now conducting event evaluation and settlement.]
[Evaluation complete. Details as follows.]
[1. You killed "Homelander" Martin Sink from Universe No. 46962, obtaining "Proof of Honor ×48." The "Honor Shop" is now unlocked!]
[2. You killed the invader under "Iron Cage Deathmatch" mode, thus inheriting all of Martin Sink's items, including "Transformation Gun ×1," Strong Healing Potion ×3, Proficiency Essence ×11, Multiverse Crystal ×4, Runestone "Detection" ×1, "Incomplete Darkhold (Artifact)" ×1]
[3. You completed a multiverse invasion event, obtaining "Proof of Honor ×16"]
[Honor Shop unlocked.]
[Your Honor Shop has been updated with new items.]
After reading all this information, Alex was in a good mood.
Taking down Martin Sink this time had been fairly easy.
However, there were two major prerequisites that made it so easy.
First, Martin Sink was weakened, and Alex attacked before his second penalty expired.
Second, Martin Sink couldn't use detection-type abilities or items on Alex.
These two conditions, the first put Martin in an extremely unfavorable state, while the second prevented him from seeing through the clone.
Especially the second.
If detection abilities and items had worked normally, Martin would have used "Detection" on the clone and realized it wasn't Alex himself.
Then he wouldn't have wasted his comeback move, "Shadow Dimension," on the clone.
At that point, who would win would still be uncertain.
From this event, Alex roughly understood that in invasion events, the invading side would receive certain penalties depending on the combat mode.
"Iron Cage Deathmatch" was probably one of the harsher modes.
Which was why the winner could obtain all of the loser's items.
Thinking of this, Alex immediately opened his inventory.
The other items were one thing.
But that artifact, the Darkhold, was what he truly valued.
Martin had already demonstrated its terrifying power.
At once, a pitch-black, heavy book appeared in Alex's hands.
It seemed to condense the deepest darkness and the most intense evil in existence.
From between its pages, black liquid and sparks seeped out.
As Alex looked at the book, information immediately appeared on his retina.
[Incomplete Darkhold: As the prefix suggests, this artifact is incomplete. However, after obtaining it, your shop will occasionally refresh fragments of the Darkhold. Collecting these fragments will gradually restore the artifact.]
[The Darkhold records four types of magic: necromancy, darkness, chaos, and corruption. Currently, it contains only four spells: "Death Servant," "Create Abomination," "Dark Sky Prison," and "Forbidden: Shadow of Chthon."]
"So that guy Martin used all his Proficiency Essence to buy fragments of the Darkhold?"
Alex smiled. That was the only explanation.
Otherwise, Martin Sink wouldn't have failed to even evolve a biological force field.
Alex opened the Darkhold. As the book opened, black aura silently rose, forming twisted, hateful faces in the air.
Looking at the first page, though it was written in symbols and language he didn't recognize, with a glance, he understood its meaning.
This page recorded necromancy: Death Servant.
[Death Servant: Necromancy. Revives corpses that have been dead for less than 24 hours, turning them into undead servants under your control. If the corpse is incomplete, it will manifest as a flesh puppet instead.]
Alex flipped through the few pages.
Reading each spell one by one.
[Create Abomination: Necromancy. You can create an abomination from corpses to fight for you. Abominations naturally hate all life except you. They fight tirelessly, can release corrosive toxic mist and mental pollution, and can recover by devouring corpses when injured.]
[Dark Sky Prison: Dark magic. You can create a pitch-black prison to trap your opponent. Inside it, the target is cast into a dimension of endless darkness. It is nearly impossible to break from within, but can be dispelled by the magic of the Vishanti.]
[Forbidden: Shadow of Chthon: Dark magic. Chthon is an ancient god, a fallen demon, the creator of the Darkhold. This spell allows a shadow of his existence beyond infinite dimensions to descend and possess you. While possessed, you will share Chthon's endless magical knowledge. Any spell from necromancy, darkness, chaos, or corruption can be used effortlessly. However, summoning Chthon's shadow requires building an altar and offering a large amount of energy to attract his attention. Additionally, after the effect ends, Chthon's shadow will forcibly take a large amount of your energy and life force as payment. This spell also grants "Resurrection of the Dead." If the caster dies before Chthon's shadow attaches, upon attachment, the caster will be revived, but this effect can only occur once. Finally, as a forbidden spell, after using "Shadow of Chthon" three times, your soul will be forcibly taken by Chthon.]
After reading the description of this final forbidden spell, Alex finally understood why Martin had been so confident.
Indeed, under normal circumstances, Martin could have turned things around with this spell.
Unfortunately, he wasted it on the clone. Just bad luck.
Alex closed the Darkhold and put it back into his inventory.
Once it disappeared, the oppressive darkness and evil in the air also faded.
Alex kicked Martin's corpse into the water, then flew up into the air and turned toward Hawaii.
———
The long day was finally over.
As the sun rose, Caitlin stretched and woke up on the soft bed.
She got down, washed up, and soon heard a knock at the door.
"Coming."
Caitlin opened the door and heard Alex's voice.
"The weather's nice today. Want to go for a walk by the beach?"
Since they were in Hawaii, how could they not relax at the beach?
And after such a battle, even though Alex hadn't personally fought much, controlling the clone had kept his nerves tense.
This was a good chance to unwind.
Hearing about the beach, Caitlin became interested, then hesitated, "But I didn't bring a swimsuit."
"That's not a problem."
Alex had already prepared. With a gesture, a servant from the Osborn villa brought over a swimsuit.
———
After breakfast, Alex and Caitlin went to the beach.
Since it was early morning, there were hardly any people.
Caitlin wore a light blue one-piece swimsuit, fairly conservative in style.
With a sun hat, her hand resting on Alex, she walked along the soft sand as waves occasionally washed over her feet.
Each time, she let out soft exclamations and laughter.
Alex looked up at the blue sky and white clouds, stretching comfortably.
Then the two came to a set of beach chairs.
Alex lay down on one, and a servant applied sunscreen for him.
Though with his current physique he couldn't possibly be harmed by ultraviolet rays, he still enjoyed the service.
———
In the open-air garden of the Osborn villa—
Norman Osborn stood by a carved railing, holding a glass of red wine, looking at Alex and Caitlin on the distant beach.
At that moment, Gwen walked over and handed him several design drafts.
"Sir, could you help me make a suit?"
Norman Osborn set down his glass and took the drafts.
They showed a colored suit design.
Mainly black and white, with purple accents on the arms and other areas.
It also had web-like patterns.
Osborn nodded, "No problem, Miss."
"Once it's finished, I'll have it delivered."
"Where should I send it?"
Gwen gave him an address, then said, "I want to go back to New York. Can you book me a flight?"
Norman Osborn smiled, "That's too formal, Miss."
"As comrades who fought together, my private jet is at your disposal."
Gwen didn't refuse, "Then I'll take you up on that."
So Osborn called the butler and had him escort Gwen to the airport.
After seeing her off, Norman Osborn answered a call.
From the other end came the sound of water, and a man said, ["Sir, we've recovered the body."]
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