The strength of these scarlet magic chains far exceeded everyone's expectations.
A piercing alarm sounded inside Tony's armor, and Jarvis's voice repeated frantically in his ear:
"Sir, the armor's power source has been completely cut off, the weapons systems are offline, and the kinetic systems are non-functional."
"Are you kidding me!" Tony couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.
"Didn't Peter say his Celestial Energy would provide us with a 36-fold boost? Under these circumstances, we're still left completely helpless? What kind of monster is that girl?"
At this moment, Tony wasn't the only one in shock.
All the Superheroes were bound by Wanda's magic chains, and even the strongest among them—Sif, Daisy, and Natasha—were completely powerless against it!
In Stark contrast to the others who were struggling frantically, Mantis remained very quiet throughout.
She could sense the emotions within Wanda through the magic chains.
Fear, madness, hatred... the intense negative emotions caused her, naturally sensitive as she was, to shed tears unconsciously...
Seeing that struggling was futile, everyone turned their gaze toward the instigator of it all—Wanda!
Currently, Wanda was suspended in mid-air, with scarlet Chaos Magic churning around her into a massive vortex.
The dark red Chaos Crown atop her head emitted a luster even more intense than before, and her crimson pupils looked down at everyone entangled in the chains on the ground.
"The accounts with those aliens have been settled."
Wanda's voice drifted down from on high, every word amplified several times by Chaos Magic, echoing across the sky over Chernobyl.
As she spoke, her gaze landed on the only one who had slipped through the net—Peter Parker.
It wasn't that Wanda didn't want to lock him down.
Rather, the moment the chains tried to wrap around Peter's body, the effect of the Horse Talisman automatically activated, instantly burning the magic chains to ashes.
"Next, it's time to settle the score between us."
Seeing this sudden turn of events, the live comments exploded again after a brief, dead silence:
"Wait, wait, wait! What's going on? Isn't this Scarlet Witch lady on our side?"
"No, isn't she a bit too strong? The Superheroes who were cutting through those aliens like vegetables earlier are being hard-CC'd by her alone?"
*Hiss*~ I feel like The Arbiter might have brought a new trouble to Earth!"
"I get all that, but what score does the Scarlet Witch have to settle with The Arbiter? Could it be... My Lord Arbiter abandoned her?"
"What's the situation now? A 'chasing the husband to the crematorium' drama? Or the overbearing Witch's forced love?"
"??? Family, is this right? Hearing you guys say it, I'm not scared at all now; my head is just full of the desire for gossip!"
Peter looked up at Wanda, who was floating in the air.
His expression was calm, but a hint of realization flashed deep in his eyes.
No wonder his Observation Haki had been sounding frantic warnings when he made his decision earlier; it turns out it had already anticipated this scene!
Just as he was feeling a mix of annoyance and amusement at Wanda's sudden outburst, Wanda's gaze moved past Peter and landed on the chain-bound Tony Stark.
Those eyes, which had now turned scarlet, carried too many things:
"Stark."
She spoke the surname softly, causing the level of Chaos Magic in the air to suddenly spike several grades higher.
It gave everyone present an involuntary feeling of heart palpitations.
"The flames of war that Sokovia experienced ten years ago—do you still remember?"
Hearing this question, Tony's body visibly trembled.
"That was my hometown," Wanda's voice began to shake.
"When the Stark Industries bomb fell into our living room, our family of four was sitting together watching TV."
"It was you! You made Pietro and me lose our parents!"
"It was you who left us trapped under the rubble, staring at that missile that could explode at any moment for two whole days and nights!"
As she spoke, she made a grasping motion with her right hand.
A massive screen of Chaos Magic appeared in mid-air.
The images projected onto it were of Sokovia back then; amidst the ruins and broken walls, two children were curled up in a pile of rubble, forced to watch their parents and that missile that could detonate at any time, waiting in despair for the Shinigami that could arrive at any moment!
This scene entered thousands of households through the global broadcast, causing the expressions of countless viewers to shift from shock to silence.
"I really didn't expect the Scarlet Witch to be Sokovian?"
"Stark Industries' weapons business back then really did harm a lot of people..."
"Not just Sokovia, my hometown was also attacked by Starrk missiles!"
"But this isn't Iron Man's fault! He didn't start the war!"
The viewers in America were even more anxious, jumping with worry:
"Big sister, wake up! Tony stopped doing the weapons business a long time ago!"
"Exactly, Stark has already transitioned to clean energy! What's the point of bringing this up now!"
"And The Arbiter just saved you, yet you're repaying kindness with ingratitude?"
But Wanda couldn't hear them.
She didn't need to hear them either.
Quicksilver, trapped on the web of wreckage, looked at his sister and opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But the words died in his throat; as her brother, the only thing he could do was always stand on the same side as his sister.
"Today, I will settle this account personally." Wanda raised her hands, the scarlet energy entwined between her fingers lighting up half the sky.
"Tony Stark must die. Whoever stands in my way will die with him, even you, Arbiter!"
Hearing this, Peter didn't get angry, nor did he strike a defensive pose.
He just tilted his head and spoke in a teasing tone:
"I say, Miss Wanda, your power was triggered with my help, after all. Are you going to turn your back on me just like that?"
"Shut up!"
Wanda's voice carried a hint of shame turning into anger:
"Even without you, I could have done all of this!"
"Even if you take back the energy you left in my body, it won't matter. Your bit of energy was nothing more than a key! You cannot restrict me!"
"Oh?" A playful look appeared in Peter's eyes.
He took a step forward, preparing to show this girl just how high the sky is and how thick the Earth is.
But then he heard Tony suddenly speak:
"Wait, Arbiter! I still have something I want to say to her!"
Looking at Wanda before him, and seeing the eyes full of hatred she directed at him.
Tony suddenly thought of someone.
Bucky Barnes.
There is never true empathy in the world.
Tony previously felt that he could never forgive Bucky in this lifetime.
Until today, until fate pushed him into the same position Bucky had once been in.
Until he saw Wanda glaring at him just as he had once glared at Bucky.
Tony suddenly understood.
And so, his faceplate popped open.
Tony used his real face to look calmly at Wanda and said:
"You're right."
Just three words.
But coming from Tony Stark's mouth, they carried more weight than any flowery apology.
They even caused Wanda to take a half-step back uncontrollably.
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