A million years ago, Altos's mistake caused a catastrophe that wiped out the glorious civilization of Antuakh. All that remained were broken ruins and a relatively intact tall tower at the center.
"This thing looks like a streetlamp. Does the rune at the top mean 'light'?"
Qingshui looked at a pole still standing by the ruined street and pointed at the rune at its top.
"More than that. Besides light, it should also have functions for photography, storage, and radio transmission."
Tony took down several other streetlamps with similar runes. After scanning the images on them, he used his finger to magically carve onto one of them.
These runes were more or less incomplete. He had to combine the runes from these streetlamps to analyze their original appearance.
"Whirr~"
With a soft sound, the stone carved with runes on the streetlamp glowed faintly, absorbing the free energy in the air, and began to work again after millions of years.
Tony took down the Rune Stone, examined it for a moment, then turned it over, inputting a stream of magic to guide the energy within.
Soon, the Rune Stone projected an image into the air, much like a holographic projection device.
Humanoid creatures with various clothes and pointy blue skin walked along the street.
At that time, the street was clean and tidy, with various robots acting as traffic police to guide traffic.
Aircraft, looking somewhat like cars, hovered a few dozen centimeters above the ground, moving along the road. In the sky, there were subways that floated precisely without tracks.
Perhaps "sky train" would be a more appropriate name.
On both sides, various runic lights flickered with neon-like colors, shining with unknown characters.
Tony fiddled with it again and quickly found a hidden switch in another part of the Rune Stone that allowed its back to be opened.
There was another rune inside.
Fortunately, this rune was still intact.
As this internal rune lit up, the projected image also transmitted the noisy sounds from the street at that time.
The prosperous scene of Antuakh's main city from a million years ago was instantly replicated before Qingshui and Tony.
Qingshui was somewhat interested in these runes, but he was even more interested in the Book of Altos.
After all, he wasn't the only one who wanted that book right now; Doctor Doom did too!
"These things should all be covered in the Book of Altos, right? Didn't you say that book represents the pinnacle of runic magic? Let's not waste time here."
Qingshui squatted beside Tony and spoke.
"No need to rush. Do you see that tower? According to records from a million years ago, that was Altos's residence, the Tower of Altos. Even the catastrophe a million years ago didn't destroy it. As long as its surface runic magic shield doesn't disappear, Doom and his people won't be able to get in.
And to unlock the runic magic shield, unless your strength is greater than Altos's was, you won't be able to break it. Only with some understanding of runic magic can you analyze the weak points of this magic shield and break through it."
Tony stood up, pointing at the distant tall tower.
However, as he pointed, the protective shield around the tower suddenly vanished.
"You're that amazing? You studied a few runes and could break this magic shield with a single pointer?"
Qingshui and Tony exchanged glances, then sprinted forward.
Damn it, how was Doctor Doom so fast?!
It didn't take long for Qingshui and Tony to reach the vicinity of the tower using a teleportation circle.
"This is good. Any closer, and Doom would detect the energy fluctuations."
About a thousand meters from the tall tower, Tony said to Qingshui, who had stepped out of the light circle.
"They've already gone in. There are four Rune Giants representing earth, wind, fire, and water blocking the entrance, and Doom himself has gone up!"
Qingshui looked at the distant tall tower and said to Tony.
"Your perception is stronger than Doom's? Good. Now that we know the situation, we can launch an attack. Here's the plan: you ambush Ovie; she's weaker and easier to deal with. Then I'll sneak up, and you just keep Doom's subordinates busy for me."
Tony thought for a second or two, then mind-melded to Qingshui.
Although he judged that Qingshui's combat power wouldn't be too bad, and the Web of Zoroyades he had just used was an outstanding Magic Tool with considerable power, their enemy was Doom after all.
Doctor Doom was a master of both magic and technology, with incredibly high intelligence and methods so bizarre that anyone encountering him would find him extremely troublesome.
Stark himself had fought him many times and possessed the strength to contend with him, but he didn't have a clear enough idea of Qingshui's combat power, which led to this decision.
The Ancient One wouldn't have let him out if he didn't have some tricks up his sleeve. Delaying Doom's subordinates shouldn't be a big problem.
After all, he had a decent Iron Suit, keen perception, and an excellent Magic Tool. At the very least, self-preservation wouldn't be an issue.
"Alright, once I've dealt with those small fries, I'll meet up with you."
Qingshui gave Tony an OK gesture.
Half a minute later.
Qingshui concealed his presence, enveloped in the Concealment Magic Tony had cast, and stealthily slipped into the tower.
The first floor of this colossal tower was remarkably spacious, with a height of several tens of meters.
At its center, a massive, winding staircase connected to the upper levels.
In the space below, four giants, each over ten meters tall, were unleashing their fury.
Sand swirled, and gales raged.
The turbulent sand was dispersed, only to quickly reform into a giant human face.
"Quentin! Don't lead the Wind Elemental Monster over here!"
"I know! But this thing has no solid form, I can't hit it, so I can only trick it with illusions!"
Mysterio, enveloped in green light, appeared in mid-air, then his figure was immediately dispersed by a giant hand formed from a gust of wind.
It was an illusory clone.
"It's fine, one's already taken care of."
The Water Elemental Giant crashed to the ground, dissolving into a puddle.
Prowler, clad in cool black armor, emerged from the shadows on the ground, holding a glowing blue Rune Stone.
"Looks like my judgment wasn't wrong. Even if these monsters are powerful and can absorb external energy to sustain themselves, they must have at least one energy core."
Doctor Octopus (Female) said calmly.
Eight mechanical tentacles swiftly moved along the wall, either holding up magic shields or brandishing weapons molded from magic, blocking attacks from the Fire Giant.
Suddenly, a golden teleportation circle appeared behind her without warning.
A sharp sword gleam shot straight for her neck.
Her reaction was truly not slow; even though the mechanical tentacles holding the magic shield were currently blocking the Fire Giant's attacks, she instantly moved another mechanical tentacle in front of her to protect herself.
However, the blade of this sword was made of Vibranium.
The sword paused only for a moment before smoothly cutting through the entire mechanical arm, slicing through Doctor Octopus (Female)'s body like a hot knife through butter.
But that brief moment of reaction time allowed Doctor Octopus (Female) to avoid a fatal blow.
A bloody arm fell to the ground, followed immediately by another sword strike.
"Breath of Separation: Seventh Form - Separation Mirror."
Like a blue sun rising, then shattering with a crash.
Doctor Octopus (Female)'s high-tech tentacles and Magic Tools instantly shattered, and she collapsed, clutching her neck.
And the Fire Giant she had been entangled with also had an arm within Qingshui's attack range, which exploded with a boom.
Further away, Tony Stark suddenly appeared from thin air, throwing a snowflake-shaped ice crystal that struck Sandman.
A cold wave instantly erupted from the snowflake ice crystal, freezing Sandman and the Earth Elemental Giant together.
This was a single-use Magic Tool, Tears of Yukidoma, containing powerful ice and snow energy.
This was a multiversal demon god who controlled an ice and snow dimension, considered by the Frost Giants to be their ancestor.
"What's going on?!"
Affected by the cold wave, Mysterio was forced to pull himself out of the illusion and flee to the side.
"Clearly an enemy!"
Compared to Quentin, Mysterio, who was a Hollywood special effects artist, Prowler, who started as a gang enforcer, had more combat experience and reacted faster. He was already in front of Tony, swinging his claws.
Tony's Iron Suit flowed like water, forming a shield in front of him, blocking the blow and using the force to fly upward.
A hurricane surged, and the Wind Elemental Giant, the tower's guardian, roared as it lunged at Tony, only to be met by another fierce gust of wind.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Winds of Waltum!"
Fierce winds surged. Qingshui had already avoided the Fire Giant and was holding off the Wind Elemental Giant.
The combination of Wind Release Ninjutsu and wind-attribute magic unleashed immense power, forcing even the spirits born from the wind through runes to retreat.
With the opposing air currents, Tony's speed was now faster than before, and he easily shot upward.
"Clang~!"
The clash of metal rang out as the Vibranium blade collided with claws.
It was Prowler, who had emerged from the shadows and launched an attack on Qingshui.
Qingshui stood motionless, but Prowler retreated rapidly, his speed so decisive that even Qingshui couldn't catch him.
In terms of power, Qingshui, empowered by Chakra and the Arc Reactor in his suit, overwhelmed Prowler.
However, the claws in Prowler's hands were completely unharmed after clashing with the Vibranium blade, indicating they were either made of Vibranium or another supernatural metal no less formidable than Vibranium.
This thing could potentially breach his suit's defenses; he needed to be vigilant.
"Bolts of Balthakk!"
Surging purple currents shot from the arms of the suit, erupting in all directions under Qingshui's control.
Because he realized he might have made a wrong decision earlier.
Using wind to fight wind.
The roaring winds had now dissipated.
In the brief moment Qingshui was occupied with Prowler, the Wind Elemental Giant not only broke through Qingshui's Ninjutsu and magic but also swallowed him whole, inflating like a balloon.
Using the Bolts of Balthakk now was also because lightning doesn't belong to the four elements of earth, wind, fire, and water—at least, not directly connected.
However, the Wind Elemental Giant growing stronger wasn't the worst part yet.
Perhaps because Mysterio lacked ways to deal with these creatures, the illusion magic couldn't stop the Fire Giant's eruption from below. It broke through all illusions and merged with the Wind Elemental Giant.
With wind fueling the fire, even more raging high temperatures and air currents appeared. In Qingshui's perception, these two combined, and their strength nearly doubled!
If these two could combine, what about the other two?
Seizing the opportunity while casting Bolts of Balthakk, Qingshui quickly assessed the situation on the field.
The Earth Elemental Giant and Sandman were currently sealed within solid ice.
This ice came from the lord of the ice dimension; theoretically, nothing couldn't be frozen by it. Sandman and the Earth Elemental Giant would have great difficulty breaking through this layer of ice, and outsiders, without sufficiently strong power, couldn't shatter it quickly either.
So, there was no need to worry about those two.
Doctor Octopus (Female) was already dead. Mysterio's illusion magic, similar to Loki's, was perfectly countered by his Transparent World and the Magic Tool Eye of All Things. He also lacked sufficiently powerful offensive means and couldn't break through his defenses in a short time, serving merely as a supportive, distracting role in this team.
Prowler, on the other hand...
He possessed weapons capable of breaking through his defenses, acted decisively, was experienced, and carried a Rune Core representing the Water Elemental Giant.
But if that's the case...
Qingshui watched as the Wind-Fire Giant wildly charged towards a certain shadow.
Through the Eye of All Things, Qingshui could clearly see Prowler, hidden in the shadows, fleeing frantically.
"Stone! Rune Stone! Aaron!"
Mysterio, seeing this scene, immediately understood something and shouted.
But the next instant, his body suddenly stiffened.
Magical chains, shimmering with blue light, tightly bound him.
"Chains of Krakkan."
Qingshui's figure quietly appeared behind Mysterio, one hand gripping the other end of the chains.
"You..."
Mysterio looked up in surprise, seeing the Electrolight Armor still floating in mid-air.
Luring the tiger out of its mountain lair!
Qingshui's Genjutsu wasn't particularly advanced, but with the enhancement of his exceptional mental and spiritual abilities, the effect was not bad.
Combined with the Transparent World's ability to conceal his entire presence, the effect was unusually good at this moment.
Of course, this was also because Mysterio was overly confident in his illusions and excessively trusted his own Concealment Magic.
He hadn't anticipated that the silver monocle Qingshui wore possessed the ability to see through illusions, which led to his unexpected downfall.
*CRACK!*
As the Chains of Krakkan tightened, even with the armor's protection, Mysterio's body and neck began to make successive cracking sounds before falling silent.
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