"You can really use magic?!" Nick Fury's eyes were practically popping out of his head. He had never imagined that there was a person like this next to Wanda. He had absolutely no information about Cassius in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files. The guy was too good at hiding.
Now he finally understood why Wanda insisted on bringing Cassius along. And it turned out this guy was a Sorcerer! He had misjudged him completely.
Who would have thought this kid had been hiding his power all this time? No wonder his judgments were spot on. And he had stupidly offered to protect him. Who was protecting whom was anyone's guess.
Thinking about this, his expression became a little awkward. If he had insisted on leaving Cassius behind, they would all have died here.
"Phew... These disgusting things are finally all dead!" Gwen jumped down from the wall, her pale face finally regaining some color.
The old man on the stage looked at the terrifying flames, his eyes filled with caution. He had never expected this man to be so skilled in magic. Although it only looked like he was releasing fire, the old man noticed that the flames had spread like a carpet. To control fire with such precision was an extremely difficult task.
"Are you a Sorcerer from Kammar-Taj?" The old man stared at Cassius, his voice much lower. "Your methods look a bit similar!"
If he was truly a Sorcerer from Kammar-Taj, the old man would have no choice but to stop his plan. He didn't want to encounter those people; once they targeted you, it would be a huge problem.
"Kammar-Taj? I'm not one of those monks," Cassius said with a smirk. "Show me what else you've got."
As soon as he finished speaking, Cassius waved his hands, and a black mist slowly seeped out from the floor's cracks. The mist quickly gathered and formed several spectral wolves that lunged at the old man.
"Ha!" the old man sneered. "So you're really not from Kammar-Taj. In that case, I don't have to hold back!"
The old man pulled his hands apart, and a black pillar of energy formed behind him, instantly dissipating the wolves. If Cassius hadn't summoned the wolves, the old man wouldn't have been so sure. But when he saw that it was black magic, the weight on his heart was finally lifted.
Since he wasn't from Kammar-Taj, everything was fine!
His face became sinister, and the veins on his withered skin moved like earthworms. He spread his hands and clapped them together with a ferocious expression. In an instant, countless black mists gushed out from the magic circle behind him, covering the entire room.
The air was filled with an evil aura, as if a black cloud had been created out of thin air. The entire room started to shake, and the dust that had accumulated on the ceiling for years slowly fell.
"Die!" The old man laughed maniacally, his terrifying expression making him look even more grotesque.
The black mist on the ceiling began to spread along the walls, and as it grew denser, the ceiling and the walls showed signs of corrosion. The black mist in the room grew thicker as the old man cast his spell.
At the same time, the other cultists next to him also made a move. The four of them stood at the four corners of a circle, forming hand seals. A purple mist gushed out of their bodies and quickly gathered in the middle.
In the next second, a black space appeared, and a giant snake burst out from it. The snake's head had three horns, and its eyes glowed red. Its body twisted in the narrow black hole, struggling to get out.
Nick Fury immediately grabbed an automatic rifle from an agent and quickly shot at the cultists. This thing looked hard to deal with, and if they could take out the four cultists, they could surely disrupt the spell.
The rifle's muzzle spat out light, but when the bullets were about to hit them, they seemed to hit a steel plate. A transparent black barrier surrounded them, and the bullets shattered into small black mists. The bullets couldn't even penetrate the strange black barrier!
"Interesting. Is he planning to use his magic to corrode us all here?" Cassius smirked, looking at the old man's movements.
These cultists were clearly providing cover for the old man, giving him enough time to complete the spell. Once the spell was complete, everything in the room would be corroded by the black mist.
Beep, beep, beep! The agents' instruments emitted a rapid alarm.
"Damn it, the energy field here is already showing extremely powerful fluctuations!" Nick Fury's face changed drastically. According to the instrument's display, the value had gone off the charts. If they converted that into weapon power, the energy here was equal to two missiles!
"This guy is really planning to melt all of us..." Hill's face was pale. If it weren't for so many people here, she would have already prepared to retreat.
What was even more terrifying was that this crazy old man was planning to sacrifice them all. At the current rate of the black mist's spread, it would fill the entire room in less than a minute. The surrounding structures were already melting rapidly.
At the same time, the giant snake summoned by the four other cultists fully emerged from the strange space. It was a giant snake more than 30 feet long, and its scales were raised, looking like a shattered pinecone. It looked incredibly disgusting.
Hiss...
The moment the giant snake appeared, it lunged at them. Its wide-open mouth was filled with sharp fangs, unlike any ordinary snake. If they were bitten, they would be crushed to pieces like they were in a shredder.
"A Canisiamous Giant Snake? Interesting!" Cassius recognized it as a type of black magic. The summoned giant snake had a very strong defense and was probably meant to buy time. He raised his right hand and pulled, and a giant flaming hand appeared out of thin air. It grabbed the giant snake and threw it at the wall.
Bang!
The room shook with the impact.
Then, the flaming hand pressed the 30-foot-long giant snake against the ceiling. When the giant snake came into contact with the black mist, its flesh was corroded and began to melt rapidly. In less than three seconds, the entire giant snake was reduced to a pile of white bones.
"This stuff is even more terrifying than concentrated sulfuric acid!" Hill shuddered, her face filled with terror. This was a 30-foot-long giant snake, and it couldn't even last for long.
Seeing this, the four cultists suddenly hit their chests, spitting out dark red blood. The blood turned into countless tiny insects that flew toward them. The insects' buzzing wings emitted a sound that made their chests feel heavy, and it echoed in the basement.
"As expected of Nightmare's cultists, you have a lot of tricks up your sleeves." Cassius looked at the black magic these people were using, a playful glint in his eyes.
He had to admit that this black magic had been modified. Not only did it look different when released, but it also sacrificed a part of their lives. If these insects touched them, their life force would be drained.
"By the way, I still haven't played with my Ice Elemental Power." Cassius thought to himself. He hadn't tried it since he got it. He slowly raised his hands, a sharp light in his eyes.
The temperature in the room dropped rapidly. Although it was already autumn, at this moment, Nick Fury and the others wondered if they had walked into a freezer. The bone-chilling cold spread down their backs.
Frost quickly formed at Cassius's feet. The terrifying frost solidified on the ground, and snowflakes even formed in the air. The snowflakes didn't fall; they floated in the air.
"Solidify!"
The moment Cassius uttered the word, the snowflakes in the air solidified into ice needles. With a flick of his index finger, the ice needles flew toward the countless bloody insects. The moment the needles touched the insects, they were instantly frozen and shattered into powder in the air.
"His power... it's even stronger!" Nick Fury's eyes widened. He could tell that Cassius's power was even stronger than Wanda's. Even though the enemy's attacks were fierce, Cassius remained calm and unbothered.
"I didn't expect you to have some power!" The old man wasn't panicked when he saw this. As he raised his right hand to continue releasing the black mist, he suddenly plunged his left hand into a cultist's chest. His withered left hand was like a sharp sword, piercing through the cultist. What was even more bizarre was that the cultist's face showed a strange smile after being pierced.
"It is my honor to be sacrificed to my lord Nightmare!" The cultist raised his head, his eyes wide, and let out a strange laugh. Blood mixed with foam gushed out of his mouth.
In the next second, black mist spewed out of his facial orifices. His entire body began to melt rapidly, and when the blood mixed with black mist melted onto the ground, a bunch of strange black shadows crawled out from the ground...
The shadows' black hands writhed, as if they were evil spirits struggling to get out of the abyss. When they crawled out, they let out a roar that went straight to their souls.
"Have these guys all gone crazy?!" Nick Fury's hair stood on end as he watched the bizarre scene. The guy was laughing maniacally before he died. They were a bunch of complete lunatics. It was as if death was an honor to them.
When the bizarre black shadows crawled out, they quickly crawled toward the mind-controlled people, seemingly trying to drag them into a terrifying hell. The rest of the black shadows, like Kayako, twisted their limbs and rushed toward them.
"Damn it, what are these things?!" Gwen shot out her webs, but the webs that had always worked only managed to hold the shadows for a moment. The parts of the webs that stuck to the shadows were corroded and snapped. And the strange shadows seemed to be unaffected by gravity. They could even climb the walls.
"Stay away!" Wanda's hands were filled with crimson light, ready to blast these shadows away. But at that moment, Cassius stepped forward before her.
"Let me handle this." He had finally encountered something so interesting. And since he had already made his move, he might as well get the rewards.
Cassius snapped his right hand, and a phoenix the size of a fingernail appeared on his fingertip. The phoenix was dark red, looking like a real phoenix. He could see every feather on its body. But even though it was the size of a fingernail, it made everyone's skin crawl. It was a fear that came from the depths of their bloodlines.
The threat of death quickly spread in their hearts. Although it was only a tiny bit, they all knew that this phoenix could easily take everyone's life. If the energy released by the old man made them afraid, then the phoenix in Cassius's hand gave them a feeling of utter helplessness.
The terrifying death aura constantly radiated from the phoenix, carrying a destructive aura that filled the entire room. Even the black mist that was rapidly corroding the surroundings seemed to have met its nemesis. It stopped spreading and even showed signs of shrinking.
"Go," Cassius said lightly.
The phoenix flew forward. As its wings flapped, countless tiny dark red threads that were invisible to the naked eye split from its feathers. The threads seemed to have a will of their own and whipped toward the black shadows.
In just one whip, all the shadows were sent flying. When they landed, they turned into balls of black mist that exploded, letting out countless wails. The phoenix circled the room once and let out a cry that shook the heavens and the earth.
Bang!
Countless dark red lights burst out from the phoenix. The black mist that had been spreading vanished in an instant when it came into contact with the dark red lights.
The dark basement was now as bright as a day under the midday sun. Everyone had to squint. The dazzling light was like a flame, dispelling all the coldness from the basement.
"This... This is the Phoenix Force!" The old man's heart raced, and his eyes were filled with shock. He had never expected to encounter the Phoenix Force and Chaos Magic here. At that moment, a thought came to his mind.
But at that moment, Nick Fury shouted out what was on the old man's mind.
"You... You're that mysterious person!!!" Nick Fury's pupils constricted, and he couldn't help but tremble.
He knew about this because he had watched the footage of the mysterious person over and over again. The thing that he remembered the most was that phoenix. It was so recognizable. He recognized it with just one look.
He had never thought he would encounter that mysterious person here. He instinctively looked at Cassius in front of him.
"I must be getting old! The only person Wanda would protect like that is her boyfriend!" Although he had once suspected that Cassius was Wanda's boyfriend, he had pushed that thought to the back of his mind because it was too unlikely. It was practically impossible!
A Stark Industries shareholder was also the mysterious person. At the same time, he was Tony Stark's best friend!
He had heard Tony mention Cassius before, but the impression wasn't very strong. But he had never thought that this was the mysterious person. This was probably news that even Tony didn't know!
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