Silent City.
Luke's laboratory.
"Oh my God! What happened here? Is there an invasion?" Nick Fury and Stephen Strange looked at the interior scene in shock, which had changed drastically and looked a bit like a magical doomsday scene, and they were terrified.
"Who can invade Luke's laboratory? Do you know how many layers of defense the Silent City has? Without the coordinates, you can't even find it. At best, you can find the Bright City. Kamar-Taj has built at least two barriers here! Unless there is a problem inside, so serious that Luke has no time to deal with it." Stephen said bluntly.
"Can you open that portal?" Nick asked Stephen. He remembered that the Supreme Sorcerer had privileges here.
"No, the surrounding energy is too chaotic. It's difficult to form a stable space portal." Stephen shook his head. He had just tested it, and the surrounding psychic energy was like being caught in a storm. Not only could the portal not be created, but the composition of many spells was affected. For a mage, this was equivalent to a debuff that significantly reduced their strength.
"Then what should we do? Do you think we can leave safely?" Nick held his breath and glanced behind the stone pillar at a black spirit similar to a ghost floating in front of him, and asked in a low voice.
"I think it's difficult." Stephen winked at Nick, and almost immediately, he rushed forward to one side with his body almost touching the ground.
Nick felt a chill in his heart and almost subconsciously activated the psychic ring on his body. Covered in a golden light, he drew a long golden phantom around him.
Two hooded monsters, with black airflow all over their bodies like black cloaks and dark faces, were circling silently around the stone pillars. Their empty eyes hidden under the hoods seemed to be staring at Stephen and Nick.
"Damn, what kind of monster is this! It can actually scare me! This shouldn't be the case!" Nick looked at the two monsters in shock. He felt something familiar from them.
Could this be Luke's latest creation, and it's gone haywire?
"It's the abyss!" Nick could only perceive it vaguely, but Stephen, the Supreme Sorcerer who was now almost bound to psychic power, was the first to realize where the uneasiness and weirdness in his heart came from!
He'd encountered the abyss more than once! Though he'd never ventured deep into its depths, he was still one of those who understood it best and had come into contact with its power. Even though the energy these monsters carried seemed different from the abyss, the oppression and despair they felt were identical! These creatures seemed like creatures born only from the abyss!
He and Nick thought of the same possibility, that is, these monsters were either creatures born naturally from the abyss, or monsters created by Luke using the abyss, but they were out of control now.
Nick and Stephen believed in Luke's skills and strength, but they also knew that once the Abyss was involved, it would be very troublesome. After all, the Abyss had caused Mephisto and Dormammu a headache, and they had no choice but to turn to Luke for help.
"Are you sure?" Nick was also irritated by the word 'Abyss,' and the golden glow around him dimmed for a moment. Although he hadn't dealt with the power of the Abyss like Stephen, he knew of its existence and that it was sealed away as a top secret within S.H.I.E.L.D. He knew what a terrifying force the Abyss was and what it could do!
"Is there no warning in the Abyss dimension? I remember that Master Ancient One is responsible for the Abyss warning, right?" Nick had just finished speaking when he felt a chill all over his body. He subconsciously used the power of the ring to be pulled horizontally for a distance in the void, and saw another black monster swooping down from the high ceiling.
A quick glance around revealed that there were about thirteen of them in the empty hall. Even worse, at least five of them had already spotted them and were apparently hunting them as prey.
Stephen immediately broke into a run. The levitation cloak, sensing the danger, practically dragged its owner along in an abstract curve, whizzing around the stone pillars in the hall, leaving a trail of afterimages.
Nick was no less powerful with the help of the ring. A golden energy chain connected to Stephen's body and turned into a rope to bind his waist. It looked like the front of a car pulling the body of a car, running for their lives in sync.
"I don't know. I haven't received any news." Stephen communicated with Nick mentally through the energy chain on his waist.
"So? Are we going to go find Luke now?" Nick felt like he was going crazy.
"We can't leave now. Barriers and restrictions have been raised outside. Nothing, living or even dead, can escape. This at least proves that Luke is still normal and actively resolving the situation," Stephen affirmed. It seemed unlikely that the two of them could resolve the situation successfully. He could only hope that Luke wasn't seriously affected, otherwise they would be in serious trouble. Even communication was blocked. The surrounding psychic energy was too chaotic.
"I think you'd better hurry up. Otherwise, we might be caught up soon," Nick said suddenly. Stephen glanced behind him and saw five or six black monsters floating in the air, catching up with him at a speed that seemed slow but was actually shimmering like folding space. The closest one was almost touching Nick's butt.
Stephen's levitation cloak was like hair on fire, stretched straight in the air, and then he rushed out at full speed. The speed was so fast that Stephen felt his bones creaking.
But those black monsters still seemed to be following behind slowly. No matter how the levitation cloak accelerated, changed direction, or dodged, the other party could always keep up steadily and keep getting closer.
Even the closest one was less than a meter away from Nick, who was hanging behind. At an inconceivable speed, it extended a pair of withered hands from within a black cloak woven from black psychic energy. The palms resembled bones covered in skin. Under Nick's horrified gaze, it slowly reached toward him.
A powerful suction force emerged from the withered palms, and Nick's golden energy suit emitted wisps of light particles like smoke and mist in the direction of the withered palms. The energy stored in Nick's psychic ring instantly turned on like a faucet, disrupting the balance of energy output and frantically flowing out and replenishing.
At the same time, Nick couldn't help but feel a lot of dark and desperate emotions in his heart. If it weren't for the psychic ring still protecting his body and consciousness, his spirit would probably have experienced shallow pollution from the abyss and then began to mutate.
"Stephen!" Nick frantically called the police for Stephen in his mind.
Magical sounds like musical notes played a magnificent and passionate melody in the air that could resonate with people's hearts. It bypassed Nick and shot out from Stephen's open palm towards Nick, hitting the black monster in front of Nick.
Stephen's current state is that the levitation cloak is pulling him and Nick in front and they are running away. He then turns around, with the levitation cloak in front, and faces the direction where Nick is behind him.
The black monster absorbed Stephen's magical attack, its black body retreating repeatedly as if electrocuted. Nick's dark and gloomy emotions were instantly cleared, and the loss of energy stored in the psychic ring was greatly reduced. The ring's airtight protection once again covered his entire body, and he regained stability.
"Thank you." Nick, who had experienced a terrifying moment, was dragged to Stephen's side and took a breath to thank him.
"Don't thank us yet. We need to find a way to get rid of those guys." Stephen realized that if they couldn't find a way to get rid of these monsters, they would catch up before they even reached Luke's lab. Worse still, they had no way of knowing for sure how many black monsters there were in Luke's lab. And was the number in this place high or low?
If the deeper they went, the more monsters there would be, and their actions would be like moths flying into a flame. But even worse than this was the only option they had left. Apart from finding Luke, there seemed to be no better way forward.
"What are you going to do?" Nick understood Stephen's thoughts and agreed. After all, those monsters were not slow. No matter how fast they rushed, they would be able to keep up steadily, even closing in. In this situation, simply running away would undoubtedly not get them very far.
"Let's try to find a way to resolve them first," Stephen resolved. Although the chaotic psychic energy around him significantly impacted the casting of spells, he could still successfully cast many. This included the musical note psychic magic he had created in a flash of inspiration.
"What are you going to do? Your spells don't seem to be working on them." Nick watched the seemingly unscathed black monsters catch up again, and he felt a headache at their formidable strength. He could clearly feel the power of the exploding notes, each one enough to shatter his energy suit. Even with the highest level of protection, he wouldn't be able to withstand such a blast. He might only have the psychic ring on his hand to survive, and he might be completely destroyed. The power was terrifying.
But this spell hit a monster and except for making it retreat a few steps, it did not cause any damage. It was really frightening.
"If one doesn't work, try another." Stephen waved his hands to the sides, his fingers moving rapidly through the air like a band conductor. Notes leaped and flowed from his waving fingers, dancing and swirling around them, forming a spherical cocoon that encircled and protected him and Nick. Finally, with the final note's return, Stephen's gesture scattering the air into a cloud of flying fireworks, then reforming into a serpent of notes in the air, encircling the five pursuing black monsters.
"Success!" A moment later, looking at the monsters that were still unable to break through the blockade of the musical notes, Nick breathed a sigh of relief and said in surprise.
"No, it's just temporarily restricted." Stephen was not as surprised as Nick. Nick was limited in vision and perception and could not accurately detect subtle abnormalities, but as the caster of the spell, he knew very well that although his spell did restrict those monsters, this restriction required a lot of energy replenishment.
The monsters were gradually weakening and wearing away the Ouroboros's power. Stephen's favorite spell, this one, known for its ability to bind and restrict, automatically absorbed all kinds of energy from the void dimension, transforming it to maintain its own existence. As long as there was a constant supply of external energy, this spell could exist forever.
But the current situation is that the Ouroboros's energy cannot keep up with the speed at which it is worn down and consumed by the black monsters. In other words, this spell can only trap them for a short moment.
But that's enough.
The levitation cloak accelerated again, and Stephen and the other man quickly disappeared in the hall.
The two men ran furiously, finally having to stop as they neared their destination. Ahead of them, a dense swarm of black monsters, numbering dozens, even hundreds, floated. Like loyal guards, they roamed the path leading to Luke's core laboratory.
"It seems the worst has happened."
Stephen and Nick were both filled with a heavy heart. Ahead lay a dead end, and the shadowy figures of the black monsters had reappeared from behind. The five monsters seemed to have identified them, and after escaping, they had almost caught up with them in a way that no one could have determined.
Attack from both front and back.
This is terrible!
"Can you tie them up a little longer?" Nick looked at Stephen with hope, who had a grim expression on his face.
"That spell model has its limits. I can use it again, but I'm afraid it'll break free in an instant." Stephen was also a bit troubled. These monsters seemed to be immune to all attacks. The only thing that could restrain them were some kind of restraining spell. But these spells couldn't really restrain them for long. Most importantly, these monsters have a good memory. Judging by the relentless pace of the five monsters behind, once they've set their sights on you, they'll chase you until you can't get away.