In a short while, three of the four subordinates Doctor Doom brought with him were dead.
The female Doctor Octopus and Sandman had been ambushed and killed, and now Mysterio had been strangled, leaving only Prowler.
And Prowler was currently being chased by the Elemental Giant.
"Shit!"
Prowler cursed under his breath, then quickly threw the Rune Stone in his hand towards Qingshui's location.
This was his only option now.
By diverting the danger and leading this Elemental Giant, which could only grow stronger, towards an equally formidable enemy, he, the weakest among them, might be able to hold out until Doctor Doom was free and could survive.
However, his plan unfortunately failed.
With a gentle turn of his finger, wearing a Sling Ring, a portal shimmering with golden sparks at its edges appeared in front of Qingshui, swallowing the Rune Stone.
Prowler, who had just emerged from the shadows: …
Why does it feel like I got hit in the head?
The next second, a blue glowing Rune Stone dropped in front of him.
*"Boom!"*
With a single strike, unknown runes lit up on the ground at the base of the tower, protecting the structure from damage, while Prowler, in the shadows above, was instantly incinerated into charcoal.
"Tsk…"
As the aqua-blue Rune Stone disappeared, the Elemental Giant's aura surged again, its flames turning into scalding steam that dispersed outwards with the airflow.
"Pretty impressive, actually…"
Qingshui looked at the Elemental Giant before him, clucking in wonder.
Just a Puppet made of runes already felt almost as powerful as Thor, who was Sub-Skyfather Level.
Of course, there was still a difference; its energy intensity was probably about half a tier lower, and while this Elemental Giant possessed some intelligence, it was clearly not as intelligent as a true sentient being.
If all four Elemental Giants were to merge, would they achieve Skyfather Level power?
Qingshui recalled the Elemental Giant's second power surge earlier and felt that it probably wouldn't reach Skyfather Level, but it certainly wouldn't be weaker than Thor.
No wonder it was said that Altos possessed the power to contend with Dimensional Demon Gods.
Millions of years had passed, and even the security Puppets guarding his home still retained such power. Back then, they must have been unequivocally Skyfather Level.
Not to mention Altos's own strength.
"This is quite troublesome…"
Qingshui looked up.
In his perception within the Transparent World, Doctor Doom on the tower's peak was in a stalemate with Tony.
Their strengths were similar, though Tony was slightly weaker.
As Sorcerer Supreme, outside of his own dimension, he couldn't use his strongest means, which were the Infinity Stones.
But both of them were stronger than him.
Not just stronger than this Avatar, but significantly stronger than his main body.
He estimated that his DC Universe Avatar, with the Speed Force Dagger and Promethium armor, could probably hold its own.
As for himself…
While he couldn't beat them, if he had the Mind Stone on him, or was willing to pay a certain price to gain power beyond his own from Vishanti and other multiversal gods, he could certainly intervene.
Of course, that was assuming he could get past the Elemental Giant first.
Qingshui turned to face the massive creature charging towards him, instantly summoning his armor back onto his body.
"Separation Breathing: Fifth Form, Wind-Lightning Separation Blast!"
A surging plasma thunderstorm exploded, obstructing the Elemental Giant.
Qingshui manipulated his armor with his right hand, and with his left, he rotated his Sling Ring, sacrificing a certain amount of life force and all the Demon Ash stored in the inner layers of his armor as payment. He successfully exchanged for sufficiently powerful strength from Vishanti and several other Dimensional Demon Gods.
The sound of shattering glass echoed, and a Mirror Dimension portal instantly appeared on the reflective, smooth ground, swallowing the still-frozen Sandman and the Earth Elemental Giant.
Qingshui immediately followed, diving in.
However, the Elemental Giant stopped at the Mirror Dimension's entrance, hesitating.
He wanted to defeat the enemy and also wanted the Earth Elemental Giant's core Rune Stone.
But his duty was to guard this tower.
Therefore, he could not leave here and enter the Mirror Dimension.
"What a shame."
Inside the Mirror Dimension, Qingshui regrettably shook his head. The Ice Bomb prepared on his armor's shoulder remained unfired.
If he could have moved the battle here, it would have been much easier for him.
But at least he could separate the Earth Rune Stone from the Elemental Giant, preventing it from strengthening again, which was good news.
A portal, crackling with golden-edged sparks, opened in mid-air and unleashed a barrage of Ice Bombs down onto the Elemental Giant.
In just a few moments, the entire base of the tall tower was encased in ice.
The extremely low temperature was capable of suppressing steam, water, and fire.
Meanwhile, several new teleportation circles appeared, transporting Prowler's charred remains into the Mirror Dimension.
"As expected, the claws are made of Uru Metal, but only the blades are Uru Metal. Do they possess the magic to tear through the Shadow Dimension and travel through shadows?"
Qingshui looked at the ten sharp blades at his feet, then flew out of the portal, separating from his armor.
The energy cannons, freezing rays, and other weapons on the armor continued to fire at the Elemental Giant.
At this moment, Qingshui formed hand seals and began to cast a spell.
He had just borrowed a considerable amount of power from the Vishanti and other Dimensional Demon Gods, and now was the perfect time to use it.
Numerous pairs of arms materialized behind Qingshui, then swiftly separated, transforming into hundreds of physical Avatars.
*Images of Ikonn!*
Immediately following this were countless dazzling bolts of lightning.
*Bolts of Balthakk!*
At this moment, Qingshui unleashed his full power.
With the aid of the Dimensional Demon God's power, he could display strength far exceeding the upper limits of his own Chakra.
At the top of the tower, two beams of light, one gold and one green, exploded violently.
In mid-air, a book made from the fur of an unknown creature was being contested by a golden tiger's claw and several green energy chains.
*Book of Altos!*
The two combatants were none other than Tony and Doctor Doom.
When Qingshui unleashed his power below, both of them simultaneously glanced downwards.
They had noticed the commotion beneath.
Tony's expression was one of surprise mixed with a hint of delight, while Doctor Doom's face, hidden by his mask, showed no discernible expression, yet clearly conveyed his gloomy mood.
This kind of attack couldn't have been unleashed by those four under Doctor Doom.
It could only be someone else!
"Metal-masked man, you look rather unhappy, don't you? How about you let me have the book? That way, you can go back to Eastern Europe and play king in your little kingdom, and avoid getting the crap beaten out of you by your Uncle Tony."
Tony grinned mischievously, speaking to Doctor Doom.
"Doom never yields."
A cold, mechanical voice emanated from Doctor Doom's mask. The next moment, the two resumed their fierce battle, stirring the air.
At the base of the tower.
*Whoosh!*
Crimson chains, accompanied by an interwoven net of silver-white threads, enveloped the Elemental Giant.
The Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, and Qingshui's Magic Tool, the Web of Zoroyades.
The former assisted the latter, as the latter possessed the ability to absorb energy and capture spiritual entities.
This was precisely the bane of elemental life forms.
Now that the Elemental Giant was temporarily heavily injured by its own full-force attack, it was the perfect opportunity to deploy the Web of Zoroyades.
This Magic Tool possessed sentience and was of no low caliber. After being enhanced by Qingshui's Chakra and nurtured by the Mind Stone, it had become even more extraordinary.
Now, propelled by the power of a multiverse-level deity borrowed from Vishanti, and combined with magic borrowed from another Dimensional Demon God, Cyttorak, even a Skyfather Level powerhouse would find it uncomfortable to endure, let alone the Elemental Giant, which was weaker and completely countered.
A few minutes later.
Three dim Rune Stones dropped to the ground, wrapped in the Web of Zoroyades, swaying unsteadily towards Qingshui, looking rather tipsy.
Too much energy, it had eaten its fill.
Putting away the Web of Zoroyades and the three Rune Stones, Qingshui looked up, feeling the remaining Dimensional Demon God magic within him.
Not a lot, but not a little either.
Enough for a big one.
So Qingshui raised one hand towards the sky, while simultaneously moving to the stairs, rapidly ascending to the top floor.
Flames so hot they caused subtle distortions in space condensed in his palm, then instantly blasted towards Doctor Doom's position.
*Flames of Faltine!*
The surging, immense fiery energy was not to be underestimated, even by Doctor Doom.
"Crimson Crystal of Cyttorak."
A yellow rectangular crystal materialized out of thin air, blocking the power from the ancient and mysterious Faltine dimension.
The moment the two spells collided, an explosion instantly erupted.
A loud explosion rang out, and Qingshui quickly retreated to avoid the aftershocks.
Doctor Doom turned his metal-masked face, glancing at Qingshui, then at Tony, who had seized the opportunity to grab the book.
Since Qingshui was here, it meant that his subordinates and the elemental spirits had all been eliminated by him.
Both the previous disturbances he'd sensed and the incredibly powerful Flames of Faltine just now showed that Qingshui was very strong, no ordinary opponent.
Now that the book was in Stark's hands, snatching it back would be difficult. If the two enemies teamed up, even if he was Doctor Doom, a god-king, escaping unscathed would come at a price.
There was no need to continue fighting.
But threats still needed to be made.
"Don't think you've won, Stark. Doctor Doom never fails. No one escapes the vengeance of the great Doctor Doom."
Doctor Doom stared coldly at Tony and declared.
*"Bang!"*
A palm repulsor blast accurately struck Doctor Doom, blowing him into metal fragments.
"I knew it was a spatial replacement using a clone. He must have already hidden outside the tower."
Stark retracted his smoking repulsor, a hint of regret in his voice.
"So, should we keep chasing?"
"That would be difficult. Whether it's me or Doctor Doom, if we want to leave, not even the destruction of the universe can stop us."
Tony shook his head.
He was a genius, one in a billion, full of self-confidence.
And so was Doctor Doom.
He was one of the few people whose intellect Tony felt was on par with his own.
Qingshui's gaze fell on the silver-paged book in Tony's hand.
"Is this the Book of Altos?"
Qingshui stepped forward, examining the book and opening its first page.
Patterned runes were displayed on it, and as he turned the page, a vast and complex stream of information poured into his mind through his spiritual senses.
Qingshui felt a slight sting in his head.
This book had been enchanted with peculiar magic.
The massive amount of information within it wasn't conveyed through text or images, but through a form of mental transmission, similar to Telepathy.
The magnum opus of a legendary archmage whose power rivaled a Dimensional Demon God—the sheer volume of information it contained was something no ordinary object could hold, nor could an average person comprehend.
The pain intensified, and Qingshui quickly cast a Sealing Jutsu, slapping it onto his head to block out most of the information. He would wait to slowly unseal and read it after he had processed the rest.
The amount of knowledge contained within was simply too vast.
"This book has seventy pages in total. What you just saw was about the basic runes of elements; the first ten pages are all about that. The rest includes content on life, mysticism, mind, energy, matter, time, and space."
Qingshui rubbed his head, his eyes growing brighter with surprise.
This was a treasure!
"You finished reading it?"
"No, my brain couldn't handle it either. But the back of the book has a table of contents. Maybe it's an Antuakh custom to put the table of contents on the back."
Tony flipped the book over, pointing to the lines of strange symbols on it.
These symbols were Antuakh script, but a spell had been cast on them, allowing them to be translated into the viewer's most recently used language.
"So this book..."
"I know, you want this book, but actually, your Uncle Tony wants it too."
Qingshui looked at Tony with a skeptical expression.
"Don't look at me like that. Even though I'm still handsome and young, I'm actually forty-seven. You're definitely not over thirty, so I'm old enough to be your uncle."
Tony pointed a finger at Qingshui.
"Then, as an uncle, you should know that elders should defer to their juniors, right?"
"Aha, you really called me uncle! I'm actually only thirty-seven!"
You bastard!
Tony chuckled and placed the book in front of Qingshui, saying:
"I know you came here for this book, but for us to get it, my efforts were definitely no less than yours. You couldn't have gotten this book from Doctor Doom by yourself."
Qingshui stared at Tony with dead fish eyes.
"But without me, could you have gotten this book from Doctor Doom?"
"I know, I know, little nephew, so this is what I propose."
Tony extended a finger towards Qingshui.
"The ownership of this book belongs to both of us, with Vishanti as our witness. We will take turns borrowing it every year, and if one party has an urgent need, they can temporarily use it. If both parties need it, then Vishanti will decide who needs it more and to whom it should be given. How does that sound?"
"Sounds fair. But since you drafted the terms, how about the first year goes to me?"
"Alright, consider it an uncle letting his nephew have his way."
Tony winked.
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