New York Harbor, the small island where the Statue of Liberty stands, has already been reduced to ruins after Hela and Lin Huai visited one after another.
The night wind howled, swirling charred dust and dispersing the lingering scent of death and gunpowder in the air.
Amidst this mess, an eerie confrontation was unfolding.
Lin Huai stood calmly on a pile of concrete fragments.
Not far in front of him, Fenrir, a giant black wolf as large as a truck, crouched low, letting out warning growls from its throat.
Behind it was Hela, the Goddess of Death, who had been toyed with by Lin Huai until she was in a trance.
And behind Lin Huai were the members of the Avengers, who had been easily defeated and knocked unconscious by Fenrir.
This scene looked very much like two gang bosses finishing a fight and preparing to exchange hostages.
Lin Huai didn't immediately check on his teammates' injuries.
All his attention was focused on that giant wolf.
In this battle, Hela's performance was certainly impressive.
But what truly made things difficult for Lin Huai was this modified Extinction Demon Wolf.
Its strength had already exceeded Lin Huai's initial estimates.
Physical and energy attacks were almost ineffective, and it could even inflict mental pollution and curses in return.
"Roar—"
Fenrir seemed to have lost its patience.
It suddenly took a step forward, making the earth tremble.
A terrifying aura originating from the Abyss rushed toward him, as if it wanted to freeze one's very soul.
Lin Huai remained unmoved, merely sizing it up with interest.
He raised his left hand wearing the Infinity Gauntlet, the Space Stone on his index finger flickering with blue light.
His figure disappeared from where he stood, instantly appearing dozens of meters to Fenrir's left.
Fenrir seemed to have anticipated this.
Almost at the same instant Lin Huai disappeared, its massive wolf head had already turned.
A solid black breath, like a cannonball, tore through the air and came whistling toward him!
Wherever the breath passed, whether it was steel wreckage or rock fragments, they were all reduced to powder in silence.
However, facing an attack that could annihilate an army, Lin Huai simply activated Flame Leap again.
His figure flickered, and he appeared behind the giant wolf.
"Nice power, but a pity it can't hit."
Lin Huai's voice carried a hint of commentary.
He clenched his right hand, and an invisible heavy cannon made of compressed air formed in his palm.
"Boom!"
An Air shell far exceeding a large-caliber sniper rifle, traveling at speeds capable of breaking the sound barrier, blasted toward the back of Fenrir's head.
This strike was enough to level a small mountain.
But at the very moment the shell was about to hit, Fenrir's massive body suddenly became illusory, like a thick mist blown by the wind.
The violent Air shell pierced through that mist, leaving a bottomless crater on the ground in the distance.
Yet it failed to harm Fenrir in the slightest.
The black mist churned and re-condensed into the form of the giant wolf.
It turned around, its crimson eyes devoid of a Beast's brutality, containing only a cold, indifferent gaze that saw through everything.
"Mistification... That's not Fenrir's original ability. Is it the Mist Demon Wolf?"
A trace of surprise flashed in Lin Huai's eyes.
He hadn't expected that this fellow not only avoided losing control from Beyonder characteristic pollution,
But had instead fully integrated its power, even showing signs of evolving toward a higher Sequence.
This was no longer just simple combat instinct.
This was a talent, an extraordinary understanding and application of power.
Lin Huai decided to test it further.
He reached out his hands, fingers slightly spread.
Invisible Spirit Threads spread from his fingertips like a web covering heaven and earth, enveloping Fenrir.
However, facing this invisible attack, Fenrir's reaction greatly exceeded Lin Huai's expectations.
It didn't choose to avoid it by mistifying; instead, it tilted its head back and let out a long wolf howl.
This howl wasn't a sonic attack, but a pure Spiritual impact.
Invisible ripples spread through the air.
Under the impact of these ripples, the Spirit Threads Lin Huai had extended shook violently like spider silk blown by a gale, unable to advance for a moment.
"It actually knows how to use Spiritual impact to interfere with Spirit Threads?"
Lin Huai was truly shocked this time.
This way of responding was no longer just instinct.
Instead, it required a profound understanding of the Seer Pathway's abilities to perform such a precise countermeasure.
In the moment he was dazed, Fenrir's figure disappeared again.
It transformed into a vast expanse of black mist, enveloping him at speeds far exceeding the speed of sound.
Within the mist, countless crimson eyes opened, and evil, frantic whispers came from all directions, striking directly at Lin Huai's mental body.
Lin Huai felt his thoughts stagnate for a moment.
But soon, the World in his eyes returned to clarity.
As a Bizzaro Sorcerer, his resistance to mental attacks far exceeded that of ordinary people.
"A good combo, but it's useless against me."
As he spoke, he activated Flame Leap again, preparing to escape the range of the mist.
But this time, he failed.
At the instant he was about to teleport, a powerful sense of precognition came from his spiritual intuition.
If he appeared at the intended location, he would run headlong into a Spatial rift blade that was already waiting there.
Fenrir had actually predicted his teleportation landing point!
Lin Huai had to forcibly cancel the teleportation, appearing in place somewhat disheveled.
It was also at this moment that he noticed something.
As the battle continued, the blood-colored madness in Fenrir's eyes was rapidly receding.
Replacing it was an ancient, profound light of wisdom, like the Cosmos.
When it used the Mist Demon Wolf's abilities, its movements were no longer awkward but became increasingly fluid and sophisticated, as if this were its innate power.
Something's wrong.
Something's very wrong!
This wasn't a Demonic Wolf affected by a Beyonder characteristic at all.
It was more like a high-Sequence powerhouse of the Seer Pathway, just in a wolf's body!
This terrifying thought flashed through Lin Huai's mind, making him shudder.
He pulled away once more.
This time, his attack was no longer a simple test.
He raised his hand, lightly snapping his index finger and thumb together.
The powers of the Space Stone and the Reality Stone were triggered simultaneously.
A brilliant energy sphere condensed at his fingertips, with what seemed like galaxies swirling inside.
The power at the level of laws contained within it was enough to completely erase this small island from reality.
Facing this strike that could threaten a demigod, Fenrir just stood quietly in place.
The black mist around it slowly retracted, revealing its mountain-like massive body.
It didn't roar, nor did it prepare to defend.
It just raised its head, watching Lin Huai with those eyes that had regained their clarity and held a hint of playfulness.
That look seemed to say: Come on, let me see what else you've got.
This highly humanized provocation caused Lin Huai's movements to come to an abrupt halt.
The energy sphere at his fingertips, capable of destroying everything, was ultimately not fired.
One man and one wolf faced each other from a distance across the ruins.
Everything around them fell silent, leaving only the whimpering sound of the sea breeze blowing through the broken walls.
The Avengers remained unconscious.
Hela, also due to exhaustion and the double blow to her spirit, sat slumped behind the giant wolf, watching this eerie scene in terror.
Lin Huai took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart.
Seer Pathway abilities, Mist Demon Wolf, near-god-level combat intuition... and those wise eyes.
Lin Huai's lips moved.
Finally, in a very soft, very uncertain voice, he carefully spat out a word in the Ancient Hermes Language.
"...Antigonus?"
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
Fenrir, the giant wolf that had been crouching low and full of oppressive pressure, slowly straightened its body.
Then, under the horrified gazes of Hela and Lin Huai, an even more incredible scene occurred.
Its hideous wolf muzzle actually split into an extremely humanized smile, full of pleasure and approval.
An old and gentle voice, as if traveling through the endless river of time, rang out from deep within the giant wolf's throat.
It was also in precise Ancient Hermes Language.
"Miracle."
This word seemed to possess a certain magic where words become reality.
The moment the voice fell, Lin Huai felt his entire spirituality being completely imprisoned by an irresistible great power.
His connection with the Spirit Threads was severed.
His resonance with the Infinity Stones was blocked.
He couldn't even perform the simplest action of blinking.
His body still maintained its attacking posture.
But his soul, his thoughts, and everything about him were dragged into a static temporal interlayer.
He became a living statue.
A massive wave rose in Lin Huai's consciousness.
Immediately after, an even more bizarre and strange scene unfolded.
The thick, black-iron-like fur on Fenrir's chest suddenly rippled like water.
A gentleman dressed in a classic black formal suit slowly emerged from those rippling waves.
He seemed to possess both old age and youth, his eyes dark and profound, as if they contained the mysteries of the entire Universe.
On both sides of his cheeks, there were still a few tufts of lingering, coarse black short hair belonging to a Demonic Wolf, adding a bit of non-human eeriness to him.
Only then did Lin Huai, with the help of that infinitely extended moment, see the truth.
From that man's ten fingers extended countless Spirit Threads that were even thinner than spider silk and nearly transparent.
The other ends of these threads were densely connected to every muscle, every nerve, and even every hair of the giant wolf Fenrir.
Fenrir, this Extinction Demon Wolf that had swept through the Avengers, had from beginning to end been nothing more than a perfectly controlled Marionette.
And he, a Marionettist, a newly promoted Bizzaro Sorcerer, had actually failed to notice this at such a close distance!
The other party's attainment on the path of Marionettes had reached a level he could not comprehend.
"Truly... a beautiful performance."
Antigonus walked slowly to Lin Huai, sizing up his body which was still in an attacking posture.
He looked at the left hand wearing the Infinity Gauntlet, his eyes showing appreciation.
"Finally, this heart has been born."
As he spoke, he waved his hand casually.
All the Spirit Threads connected to Fenrir were instantly retracted.
The massive body of the giant wolf crashed to the ground like a machine that had been unplugged.
Antigonus didn't even spare it a glance, simply walking slowly to Fenrir's fallen corpse.
He reached out his right hand and pierced through its solid chest without any resistance.
When his hand was pulled out again, his palm held an extra strange heart, wrapped in wisps of white mist and slightly throbbing.
It was exactly the main material for the Sequence 3 Scholar of Yore that Lin Huai needed.
"I have brought what you need, Fool!"
Antigonus put away the heart, smiled gently, and turned to look at Fenrir lying on the ground.
"I wish for you to be restored as before."
Along with this sentence that sounded like a wish, the traces of modification from the Beyonder Pathways on Fenrir's body began to rapidly recede.
That non-human eerie aura also vanished into thin air.
Its massive body once again emitted the pure aura belonging to a Extinction Demon Wolf.
A moment later, Fenrir snapped its eyes open and leaped up from the ground.
It shook its massive wolf head, the gaze it directed at Antigonus full of reverence and fear, as docile as a puppy that had just been weaned.
After finishing all this, Antigonus tidied his formal suit.
He turned to face the still-imprisoned Lin Huai and the unconscious heroes in the distance.
He placed his right hand over his chest and performed a standard, ancient noble's salute.
"Good day."
He smiled.
His gentle and clear voice rang out in everyone's soul, whether they were awake or unconscious.
"I am Antigonus, Son of the Demonic Wolf."