Without wasting another second, Sisythos clasped his hands together. Violent chaos energy exploded from his palms and surged toward Thanos like a collapsing star.
The attack tore through the void with terrifying force, but before it could even reach its target, Thanos vanished.
A split second later, he appeared directly behind Sisythos after crossing hundreds of meters instantly.
"You really dared to send your consciousness here with this little power?" Thanos said coldly. "That takes courage."
The moment the voice sounded behind him, Sisythos' entire body trembled violently.
How?
How could someone move that fast?
He hadn't sensed Thanos approaching at all. One moment the Titan had been in front of him, and the next he was already behind him like a phantom.
Before Sisythos could react, a massive hand suddenly clamped around his neck.
At the same time, dense purple energy erupted from Thanos' body and engulfed him completely. The overwhelming force instantly suppressed the chaos energy inside Sisythos while also locking down his consciousness, preventing him from escaping this projection body.
Only then did true fear finally appear in Sisythos' eyes.
When Doctor Strange died, Sisythos had actually possessed two options.
The first was abandoning the projection entirely and retreating back into the void. The second was transferring a fragment of his consciousness into the projection body to continue fighting personally.
But he had spent too long trapped in endless emptiness.
Too long alone.
After countless ages drifting through the void, the temptation of returning to reality had overwhelmed his caution. He hadn't thought things through carefully enough before allowing a portion of his consciousness to descend personally.
After all, his original plan had been simple.
As long as he could restore the Darkhold in this universe, he would be able to reconnect with his true body hidden within the void dimension. Once that connection was restored, all of his power and consciousness could descend completely.
At that point, he could reclaim everything he had lost and once again rule reality itself.
But now…
Now he had encountered a monster.
A being who was actually stronger than this portion of his projected power.
And that meant he wasn't just losing energy anymore.
He was about to lose a fragment of his consciousness itself.
No!
Absolutely not!
Back then, he had already been framed and stripped of control over the Dark Dimension, causing most of his strength to collapse. His multiversal-level power had fallen all the way down to the level of a single universe. If he lost another portion of himself now, maintaining even that level of power might become impossible.
Panic surged through Sisythos immediately.
Dark energy and chaos power exploded wildly from his body as he desperately struggled against the suppression surrounding him.
But in the very next second, he saw a massive purple fist flying toward his face.
Bang!
Sisythos instantly felt dizzy as his mind buzzed violently. The energy flowing through his body froze for a moment under the impact.
"This is absur—"
Bang!
Another fist smashed directly into his face before he could finish speaking.
"You—"
Bang!
"Dare—"
Bang!
Each sentence was interrupted by another devastating punch.
Not far away, the Ancient One stared at the scene with visible shock.
"That's… the source of dark magic? Sisythos?"
Beside her, Hela looked at Thanos with open admiration. Her eyes practically glowed as she watched him brutally overpower an ancient demon god with raw physical strength alone.
"As expected of my king," she said excitedly. "Even the ancient gods can't withstand your power."
Laufey lowered his gaze toward the Casket of Ancient Winters in his hand. For the first time in a very long while, the artifact suddenly didn't seem nearly as impressive anymore.
"When," he muttered quietly, "will I ever possess strength like that?"
A short time later, Sisythos had been beaten into an utterly miserable state.
His face was swollen black and blue while cracks spread throughout his unstable projection body. Even the remaining fragment of consciousness inside him had begun showing signs of instability.
Seeing that the demon god was finally on the verge of collapse, Thanos nodded slightly and stopped attacking.
The next task was far more important.
The Time Stone.
Thanos immediately headed toward the location where Doctor Strange's body had been destroyed. He remembered clearly that the Time Stone had always been sealed within the Eye of Agamotto.
That artifact belonged to every Sorcerer Supreme throughout history and possessed powerful enchantments of its own, including automatic concealment and defensive magic.
Back during the battle on Titan, Ebony Maw had failed to seize the Time Stone precisely because of those defensive mechanisms. Even after defeating Doctor Strange, he still couldn't force open the Eye of Agamotto.
Thinking about it now, Thanos still found it strange.
Why hadn't Ebony Maw simply killed Strange and taken the artifact directly?
Still, the fact that it had resisted even someone like Ebony Maw proved how powerful the artifact itself truly was.
A few moments later, Thanos' eyes suddenly flashed.
He reached into the distorted void nearby and grabbed hold of a palm-sized metallic object shaped like an eye.
The Eye of Agamotto.
At its center, the Time Stone radiated brilliant green light.
The moment it sensed an unfamiliar presence touching it, golden magical energy erupted from the artifact automatically.
Unfortunately, that level of defense wasn't even enough to inconvenience Thanos.
He tightened his grip slightly.
Crack!
The Eye of Agamotto shattered instantly.
The glowing green Time Stone floated free from the ruined artifact, radiating pure temporal energy. Without hesitation, Thanos placed it directly into the Infinity Gauntlet.
The moment the stone connected, terrifying power exploded throughout his body.
Multicolored light surged violently across the Infinity Gauntlet as the six cosmic energies resonated together. Time, space, power, mind, soul, and reality all began synchronizing inside him.
If this had happened in the past, adapting to the sudden increase in power would have taken tremendous effort.
But Thanos was no longer the same person he once was.
He stabilized the overflowing energy almost instantly.
After adjusting briefly, he turned toward the Ancient One, Hela, and Laufey.
"You three can return on your own," he said calmly. "I'm leaving first."
Originally, his plan had been straightforward.
Defeat Doctor Strange quickly, retrieve the Time Stone, then immediately head to Earth's core to seize the Reality Stone before calling his subordinates over to assist with the final stages.
But Sisythos' interference had delayed everything far longer than expected.
And right now, time mattered more than anything.
Beyond Earth's hidden dangers, the Three Great Empires and the Ten Major Alliances across the galaxy were still monitoring him constantly. He couldn't afford unnecessary delays.
The next instant, blue light erupted from the Space Stone.
Thanos disappeared.
—
Temple II.
Boom!
The moment he returned, Thanos casually threw Sisythos' battered body onto the metallic floor.
"Deep Blue," he ordered coldly, "imprison him using maximum-level containment. He's an energy lifeform."
When Sisythos descended earlier, he hadn't possessed a true physical body. What existed now was a completely energy-based form, meaning ordinary prisons would be useless against him.
"Understood, Master."
As Deep Blue responded, an energy prison immediately formed around Sisythos. Dense restraining fields locked him in place while several metallic tubes descended from the ceiling and pierced into his body.
The machinery immediately began extracting his energy continuously.
Feeling his power being drained away, Sisythos regained consciousness again and revealed a pained expression. However, his weakened condition left him completely incapable of resisting.
Thanos nodded in satisfaction before turning his attention toward the blue planet visible in the distance.
Earth.
The reason he hadn't killed Sisythos outright was simple.
The demon god originated from Earth's hidden history, meaning he almost certainly knew secrets about the planet that ordinary beings didn't.
Still, interrogation could wait for now.
The Reality Stone came first.
The next second, Thanos raised the Infinity Gauntlet again as blue light from the Space Stone erupted around him.
He attempted to teleport directly into Earth's core.
But after the light faded…
He hadn't moved at all.
Thanos frowned instantly.
What happened?
Why had the teleportation failed?
At that moment, weak laughter suddenly echoed from inside the prison.
"Crack… crack… crack…"
Sisythos slowly raised his head while staring toward Thanos.
"I remember you now… Thanos. Grandson of Cronus, the god of time." His eyes shifted toward the Infinity Gauntlet. "You're trying to retrieve the Reality Stone… aren't you?"
Hearing those words, Thanos immediately appeared in front of the prison and stared coldly at the demon god.
"You know me?"
Just moments ago, Sisythos had acted as though he had never seen him before. But now he suddenly recognized his identity.
Sisythos looked at the Infinity Stones embedded in the gauntlet and smiled weakly.
"Of course I know you. Your grandfather once served me." His smile slowly widened. "He said he witnessed the birth of an ultimate evil… so he chose to hide himself away."
.....
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