The black smoke surged forward, and before Abel reached the entrance to the basement, he transformed back into human form. Standing before him at the doorway were four figures, Loki among them. Abel glanced around before fixing his gaze on Loki and asking, "Hawkeye and the Tesseract—are they both in the basement?"
Loki nodded slightly, his expression unreadable. "It's been a while. I hear you've been learning Asgardian magic from my mother. I'm quite curious to see how you've progressed."
Abel raised an eyebrow. "You heard? From her?" He glanced at Amora, who was watching him with an amused expression.
Slowly rising to his feet, Loki met Abel's gaze and said, "It doesn't matter how I know. Since you've studied magic with my mother, I'm willing to let you go. Leave now, and I'll forget this ever happened. But if you insist on interfering with me, don't blame me for what comes next."
Abel chuckled. "Oh? And what exactly do you plan to do to me?"
As he spoke, Tony, Steve, and Natasha arrived, their presence turning the confrontation even more tense. The eight of them now faced off, the air growing heavy with anticipation.
Abel's voice came through the team's internal channel, hidden by the cover of his suit. "Tony, you're up against the shirtless guy. Be careful—his body can absorb the properties of any material he touches, significantly boosting his strength and durability.
"Steve, Natasha, your target is the green-skinned telepath. He has mind-reading and mind-control abilities, so stay focused and don't let him manipulate you.
"As for Loki and Amora, they're both magic users. You guys don't have the means to counter them, so I'll take care of them myself."
Steve and Natasha exchanged a glance but didn't say a word, subtly adjusting their stance as they inched toward their target.
Meanwhile, Tony moved toward Carl, the Absorbing Man, and sent a quick message to Abel. "I'll handle this guy as fast as I can, then I'll deploy the Mark Ω Type-2 to back you up against Loki and Amora."
"Got it," Abel replied.
The moment the words left his lips, both sides launched into action.
Abel waved his wand, and black smoke billowed out, engulfing Loki and Amora. In the blink of an eye, the three of them vanished from sight, reappearing in a remote wilderness on the outskirts of New York.
Loki and Amora burst free from the smoke using their magic. Loki immediately raised his scepter, unleashing a burst of blue energy at Abel.
Hovering in the air, Amora conjured a pale green energy barrier around herself, forming a protective sphere. Several glowing green orbs appeared, orbiting her like satellites. With a flick of her hand, they shot toward Abel in arcing trajectories.
Boom!
Abel's body dissolved into a cloud of black smoke, narrowly evading the attacks. He reappeared behind Loki and swung his wand, drawing moisture from the air and shaping it into a massive, sinuous serpent that coiled around Loki.
Atlantean magic—Water Serpent Strangle!
Loki reacted instantly, swinging the Mind Scepter in a sweeping arc. A wave of blue energy rippled out, shattering the water serpent into droplets.
Taking a step back, Loki's form shimmered like ripples on a pond before vanishing. An instant later, multiple illusions of Loki appeared in a circle around Abel, each one raising the Mind Scepter with a smug grin.
Abel scoffed, clearly unimpressed. He had anticipated this move.
With a forceful sweep of his wand, the ground trembled violently. Jagged stone spears erupted from the earth in a radial pattern, piercing through the illusions and scattering them like mist. Loki's real body, forced out of hiding, barely dodged in time.
Just as Abel prepared to launch another attack, Amora struck from above!
Boom!
The ground trembled again, but this time, it wasn't from Abel's magic.
Cracks spread across the earth as if an invisible force was tearing it apart. With a thunderous roar, massive chunks of rock broke free and began to rise into the air.
Abel stood atop one of the floating boulders, watching as two massive slabs of earth hurtled toward him. Without hesitation, he turned to smoke once more, vanishing just before impact.
Above, Amora reached out and pulled Loki to her side, using her magic to manipulate the levitating rocks. "This guy is strong. How do you want to handle him?"
Loki's expression was unreadable. "Wait for my signal. When the time comes, leave. Unlike the others, you are not expendable. You must follow our original plan. If I'm not around, you'll be in charge of everything."
Amora hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Understood."
With a snap of her fingers, she disappeared.
Below, Abel shattered another floating boulder and caught a glimpse of Amora vanishing. His eyes narrowed, but after a brief pause, he chose not to pursue her. Instead, he refocused on Loki.
Loki sneered and raised the Mind Scepter, firing a brilliant blue energy beam directly at Abel.
Abel knew better than to underestimate an attack powered by an Infinity Stone.
Reacting instantly, he opened a portal in front of him, intending to redirect the beam back at Loki. But to his surprise, the energy shot straight through the portal, ignoring its usual properties, and continued its course toward him.
His expression darkened. He had miscalculated.
With a flick of his wand, he conjured a counterattack.
Annihilation Ray!
A streak of dark red energy twisted in midair, changing direction at a sharp angle before colliding with Loki's blast.
The two forces tangled, crackling and writhing in a deadly struggle before exploding in a blinding flash.
Abel quickly raised a golden circular shield—the Shield of the Seraphim—to absorb the shockwave. Loki, however, was sent hurtling backward by the blast, slamming into the ground. His Mind Scepter flew from his grasp, clattering onto the battlefield.
Abel took a step forward, appearing in front of Loki in a whirl of spatial distortion. He pointed his wand at Loki's chest, keeping him pinned, while the Mind Scepter floated up into Abel's waiting hand.
But just as he was about to secure the weapon, a deafening roar echoed through the sky.
Above them, the clouds split apart, revealing a massive spacecraft descending through Earth's atmosphere. Its structure, shaped like a vertical ring, loomed overhead.
It came to a halt, hovering directly above Abel and Loki.