A mere fatal wound was insignificant to Kaecilius, even if this sword had pierced his heart and contained a holy power that suppressed his dark energy.
Nevertheless, Kaecilius forcefully pulled it out.
As the sword was removed, Kaecilius lifted his head and laughed fiercely.
The powerful force combined with dark energy could corrode and crush anything.
However, to Kaecilius's surprise, his full strength could not shake the sword at all.
The scene became quite awkward.
Bella's eyes flashed with mockery. This weapon was from the Gate of Babylon, where even the most basic items were of sub-Celestial quality. Moreover, after partnering with Asgard, Odin gifted many Uru metals and other precious materials.
While Uru metal is precious, it's not exceedingly rare. Asgard's accumulation over millions of years means they have plenty stored.
Additionally, there are other rare metal materials.
Not all the gifted materials were used, but most of the weapons in the Gate of Babylon were renewed and inscribed with runes, enhancing their power and durability, making them unbreakable by ordinary people.
And certainly not by Kaecilius.
While Kaecilius was still astonished by the sword's hardness, Wanda was ready.
Boom!
Her delicate fingers intertwined, forming a complex hand sign, and the ground shook violently.
From the pit below, crimson chains erupted from the earth around Kaecilius, darting towards him with such speed that he barely had time to react. As he leaped up, his left hand and foot were entangled by the chains.
Clang!
The moment he was ensnared, his body halted, and more chains swiftly wrapped around him, binding him completely.
The chains then retracted, suspending Kaecilius in mid-air. He struggled fiercely, trying to break free with brute strength and dark energy, but the crimson chains were exceptionally resilient.
No matter how much force he used, he couldn't break the chains. Even his dark energy was quickly absorbed by them, resulting in even stronger bindings.
The chains seemed to precisely react to his muscle contractions, tightening with every struggle.
As a result, Kaecilius found himself completely immobilized.
Moreover, mental shocks from the chains assaulted his mind, plunging his consciousness into chaos and conflict.
Kaecilius fell silent.
The group descended, and Sif immediately wanted to pierce his heart with her sword, but Thor stopped her with a wave of his hand. "It's useless, Sif. You know this won't kill him."
"The dark power granted by Dormammu ensures he won't die or get hurt."
Sif's instinctive warrior reaction was to finish him off, but she knew it was futile. After being stopped, she lowered her hand.
"What should we do now?"
Volstagg looked around, scratching his helmet, looking perplexed.
"Extracting his soul from this body would be best," suggested Loki. "This body is so powerful that it allows him to draw unlimited dark energy. His soul, however, is much more fragile."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Wanda and Bella had known this, so Loki's suggestion wasn't surprising.
"There are actually two souls in this body besides Kaecilius? A dual-soul body, one weak and the other newly formed but strong and volatile," Loki said with interest, observing the bound Kaecilius.
He was intrigued by how such an anomaly came to be.
Apart from Kaecilius, Loki recognized the body's strength, comparable to Asgard's mightiest warriors.
Had he encountered this monster a year ago, Loki might have suffered greatly.
Fortunately, he had grown much during this time, mastering many powerful spells, giving him plenty of ways to deal with such physically reliant enemies as a sorcerer.
"Before he realizes the danger, the mental shocks from the crimson chains and the unbound souls are in a stalemate. If they had merged, it would have been much more troublesome," Loki explained.
Wanda, being a kind witch, preferred not to use cruel methods if unnecessary. This situation was favorable.
Extending her right hand, Wanda infused Kaecilius's brain with chaos magic energy. In this state, he had no ability to resist, lying helplessly like meat on a chopping board.
Soon, a dark mass slowly rose from the giant's head, floating mid-air, completely enveloped by chaotic magic.
The mass grew restless, violently struggling to break free from the magical hold.
Unfortunately, Kaecilius was too weak in this form.
The souls of sorcerers are generally resilient, especially for a genius like Kaecilius. However, his power was far inferior to Wanda's. If it weren't for painstakingly finding this body capable of endlessly absorbing dark energy, Kaecilius alone would have been easily defeated by Wanda.
Now, with a fragile soul unable to endlessly absorb dark energy, it was easy to deal with him.
After extracting Kaecilius's soul, Wanda ruthlessly clenched her right hand.
Bang!
The black ball of light was instantly squeezed and shattered by the overwhelming chaotic magic, dispersing into wisps of black smoke. The once genius sorcerer who pursued eternal life and became Dormammu's servant had now completely vanished.
Thor and the others showed no change in expression upon witnessing this. However, Sif, Volstagg, and the other Warriors Three from Asgard felt a chill down their spines.
This seemingly gentle and kind Midgard girl had rather ruthless methods. They realized that although this girl was kind, her ferocity was intimidating.
This trait, however, matched the style of Asgard, and Sif and the others appreciated such decisive character.
Without Kaecilius's soul controlling it, the burly black giant before them began to change. Under their watchful eyes, the giant's dark skin started to fade, gradually being replaced by green.
Soon, the black giant transformed into the Hulk.
This transformation surprised Loki even more. "He actually decomposed and absorbed the remaining dark power, or maybe it was a natural response of his body. His body seems quite unique."
Loki's eyes sparkled with interest, seeing the Hulk as a promising research subject. Thor, listening to Loki, was also surprised.
Meanwhile, Hulk slowly regained control of his body, though feeling somewhat disoriented. As he opened his eyes, he realized he was restrained and noticed a small green figure examining him with a dissecting gaze.
This immediately triggered Hulk's short temper, and he opened his mouth to express his anger. However, before he could roar, he caught sight of Wanda quietly watching him, which instantly made him shiver and close his mouth.
Hulk obediently looked at Wanda with a pitiful expression, despite her being much shorter than his two-meter-tall frame.
Hulk had just been reborn, and his body had been occupied by a strange person who manipulated it to cause chaos. While Hulk's soul was imprisoned, his senses were not blocked, allowing him to witness everything that had happened.
He saw firsthand how terrifying this small female human was. Or rather, all these humans were quite fearsome, but he was especially afraid of Wanda.
Thus, Hulk immediately became compliant. He could sense the kindness from these humans, particularly from Wanda, who had saved him from his soul prison. This made Hulk less angry.
Of course, the overwhelming power that intimidated him was also a significant reason.
Regardless, Hulk's obedient demeanor appeared somewhat endearing. His naive and silly expression amused Wanda and Bella.
Both women had sharp instincts and easily noticed Hulk's unguarded emotional changes, which reassured Wanda. She waved her hand, leading Hulk and the others to the ground.
Upon landing, the crimson chains binding Hulk automatically retracted. Even though he was free, Hulk remained obediently in place, looking at Wanda eagerly and even subtly moving closer. Hulk liked this small person; he longed for a friend.
To him, Wanda was his first friend. Bella, standing next to Wanda, also seemed kind, which made Hulk even more fond of her.
With his temper now subdued, Hulk appeared quite cute.
"Hey, what's your name?" Wanda asked with a smile, looking up at Hulk. He scratched his head and answered in a deep voice, "Hulk."
"Hulk? I'm Wanda. You're safe now, big guy," Wanda said gently.
Hulk thought for a moment and then smiled foolishly, "Thank you, Wanda."
"I'm Bella. You're so tall, big guy, even taller than the Juggernaut."
"Heh, Hulk is very big."
"Indeed, very big."
Bella was immediately accepted by Hulk. After some conversation between Bella and Hulk, the Asgardians, Thor, and Loki also began to communicate with Hulk. The straightforward and non-discriminatory attitude of the Asgardians made Hulk even happier.
Well, except for Loki. Hulk, with his keen senses, always felt that the little guy with two horns on his head had some ill intentions towards him.
Being straightforward by nature, Hulk completely ignored Loki.
If it weren't for all these new friends, Hulk might have gone straight up and given him a punch to let him taste the power of Hulk's big iron fist.
Loki, on the other hand, was not angry at Hulk's unmasked attitude, or rather, he simply didn't care.
What he was more interested in was figuring out how to study Hulk's body. Why could this guy's body be so special that it could absorb Dormammu's dark power without any mutations? Instead, it seemed to become nourishment, making Hulk even stronger.
Moreover, even his soul was not contaminated. This was very unusual.
If he could find out the reason, it would be amazing. After all, the Dark Lord Dormammu was incredibly powerful, and his dark energy was equally terrifying.
If Loki could master such a method, he would have another trump card to save his life in the future and wouldn't have to fear Dormammu anymore.
"I like your muscles, Hulk. You will be a brave warrior. Welcome to visit Asgard in the future. We can have more sparring sessions," Thor said happily to Hulk.
Thor liked this big guy very much, or rather, he liked his big muscles. A limitless and crazy sparring partner was just what he wanted.
"Hulk likes you too," Hulk responded.
Hulk also liked Thor. Although he used lightning, his straightforward personality won Hulk's favor.
"Okay, it looks like we're done here."
Nearby, the white-haired Pietro stretched lazily, looking like he had finished his work.
"Is there nothing left for us to do?" Volstagg asked naively. His old buddy Fandral immediately rolled his eyes and said, "Tag, do you want to jump into that place and destroy the artifact?"
"Oh~~~ I will support you, warrior Tag. You are the bravest warrior of Asgard. Of course, I will also hold a memorial for your heroic death."
"I'm not going down there," Volstagg said, feeling a chill down his spine.
He might be naive, but he wasn't stupid. Jumping into that giant pit as an Asgardian would mean getting torn apart by the demons inside.
Just imagining that scene made Volstagg sweat profusely.
"Indeed, there is nothing left for us to do. We've done everything we can. Now we just wait. The next part is beyond our control," Wanda said, glancing at the Hell's Gate. Although the expansion had slowed, it was still growing.
The barrier set up by her and Loki was strong, but it couldn't stop the dimensional power of the Hell's Gate.
"Are you going back, Thor?" Wanda asked.
This time, Thor had come to Earth without any need for gratitude because she knew that their relationship didn't require verbal thanks. Moreover, Earth itself was Asgard's territory, and Thor's actions were also for Asgard.
This was just Thor fulfilling his duties.
"I'm not going back. The next battle is what I want to see. The Celestial's battle," Thor said, shaking his head vigorously.
This was no joke. A Celestial's war wasn't something just anyone could watch.
Even in Thor's lifetime, he had never seen one.
Not just Thor, but Loki, Sif, and Volstagg all felt the same. Missing a Celestial's war would be too regretful for them.
They might even want to slap themselves if they went back.
Wanda and Bella looked at each other and laughed. Wanda nodded slightly, "Alright then, let's wait and see. Who knows how much patience those Hell lords have."
After speaking, Wanda, Bella, Thor, and the others took Hulk to a distant, partially intact iceberg.
Wanda casually summoned a bunch of ingredients and started a BBQ in the Arctic Circle.
Thor, Volstagg, and the others immediately rolled up their sleeves and eagerly joined in. Even Loki was preparing some wine and other things. Only Hulk was left not knowing what to do.
Then Bella directed him to help set up the tables and utensils.
This leisurely scene stunned the onlookers.
From a distance, Tony Stark and the X-Men stared in shock at the bustling activity on the distant iceberg.
~~~
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— Completed (Chapter 277: Finale)