Those time travelers that year

From the fatal wound in his chest, near his heart, scorching flames erupted, eventually coalescing and embedding themselves into Surtr's heart, which Odin had pierced. Without breaking the 'curse' left by Odin, it was impossible to regenerate the heart using one's own power; Surtr simply replaced the pierced heart with his own flames.

Only in this way could Surtr effectively suppress Odin's power and gain enough time to slowly recover his own strength. Unfortunately, however, someone did not want to give him that time to recover.

"Immortality? Ridiculous. There is no such thing as immortality in any world."

"Flowers and plants wither, animals age, and even the most indestructible rocks are weathered by the wind."

"Even if there really is such a thing as immortality in this world, it won't be you—Surte!"

A golden, twilight-colored sun appeared in space not far from Sirte.

It was a pitch-black sun... a sun with a golden edge in the hues of dusk, its center as dark as an eternal night.

"It's you!!!" When Surt saw the strange sun, he roared angrily. There was no mistake, the one who made the sound and manipulated the dark, gold-edged sun was the wizard who had fought him in Muspelheim and controlled the cosmic source matter.

"Yes! It's me, Charles!" The pitch-black sun, like a phantom, instantly moved to the front of Surt. Without heat or energy, this sun seemed to be nothingness or merely an existence.

However, for some reason, as Surte gazed at the darkness at the center of the sun, a chilling feeling swept over him.

What was that thing? Within that pitch-black sun, it seemed to lurk some indescribable alien entity—pure depravity, pure darkness, utterly wicked. It was like a cacophony of sounds piled together, like countless curses and incantations converging. One could not watch, for it would drive one mad; one could not explore, for the truth is ultimately cruel; and there was absolutely no hope, for at the end of so-called hope lay the darkest despair.

"Whatever you are, whatever you are!?" Sensing something was terribly wrong, Surt swung his Twilight Sword, channeling his remaining energy to slash at the dark sun. "Before Surt's power—die, you insect!" Flames erupted once more from the Twilight Sword, carrying immense energy, and a blade of light spanning countless miles materialized, falling towards the dark sun.

Even though he was exhausted, even though he was ambushed and severely injured by a mortal enemy of the same level, Surtur was still the King of Flames and the God of Doomsday. Even though he had very little energy left, as long as he could muster it, this Heavenly Father still unleashed a strike powerful enough to cleave stars.

However, this attack, which was enough to destroy a star, missed. The sun seemed to exist in the real universe, allowing the light blade to pass right through it without revealing a trace of it.

“As I said, the game is over…” A sliver of twilight appeared in the center of the dark sun, and Char, dressed in a black trench coat, holding a golden scepter in his left hand and a blue cube in his right, his entire body wreathed in dark red flames, appeared before Surt’s eyes. “Using two Infinity Stones simultaneously has reached my limit. Using one more would cause my entire body to collapse under the pressure…”

"But now it seems it was worth it?"

“Ether particles, cosmic source matter?! You…” Surt stared in horror at Charles, or rather, at the dark red flames emanating from Charles, the golden scepter in his hand, and the blue cube. “Impossible! Cosmic source matter cannot be gathered; it is the ironclad rule of the entire universe! Why? Why? How could you obtain half of the cosmic source matter?”

“This…” Ciel thought for a moment and said, “Then it must be… times have changed!” That’s right, times have indeed changed. From the moment Thanos began trying to collect the Infinity Stones, the rule that the Infinity Stones couldn’t be gathered together was already broken. “So, are you prepared for what’s next?”

"The end of the world for Surt, the god of doomsday!"

No! You're dreaming!

Surte roared, but before he could react, silver-gray chains appeared out of thin air and bound his entire body. In the instant he was bound by the chains, Surte could feel the energy within his body being firmly trapped; not only that, but even the bound body lost consciousness.

The Chains of Heaven (Enhanced Version)

This is a far more powerful counterfeit than the genuine Chains of Heaven in Gilgamesh's hands; even Surtur, the Father God, cannot break these shackles in a short time. This is also when Surtur is at his weakest. If he were at his peak, these chains would at most only delay his movements, instead of completely restraining him once he is entangled by them.

"No! No! No!" Sensing the approach of death, Surt struggled fiercely, repeatedly wielding the Twilight Sword to sever the approaching chains. However, more chains emerged from the spatial ripples around Surt, mercilessly binding the hand that held the Twilight Sword. "No!"

Nightmare Gaze (Infinity Stones 3.0 Enhanced Version)

Ethan's Lost Paradise

Finally, Surtr let out a tremendous roar before being pulled by silver-gray chains and plunged into the illusory sun. Inside that dark world, countless wails, curses, and malice transformed into black sludge that seeped into Surtr's body.

Then, while struggling, Surte slowly sank into the black mud, or rather, was gradually digested by the black mud.

In the end, after seeing a cluster of stars gathered like bubbles, Surtur's consciousness was completely torn to shreds by the power of the Infinity Stones... and then he sank into the depths of darkness—forever.

It's dawn! Give me your votes, gentlemen who love lolis!

273. Devour

The Tesseract shields all space within a light-year radius, disrupting all spatial manipulation. This Tesseract, which S.H.I.E.L.D. can only theoretically generate infinite energy and manufacture weapons (theoretically, but in reality, you know), is a complete waste of its Space Stone potential. If that dark-skinned Wu Ke could see how Ciel uses the Tesseract, he'd definitely turn around and stuff all his funding-grabbing "experts" and "professors" into concrete slabs and throw them into the Pacific Ocean trench.

The spatial barrier created by the Cosmic Cube directly replaced an area spanning an entire light-year into the illusory space. At this moment, no one could approach or observe this star field. Even the coordinates for reaching this location were rendered invalid.

In this illusory space, only a golden-edged, jet-black sun floats suspended. At the very center of this phantom-like, non-existent sun, countless silver-gray chains firmly bind a colossal object, slowly pulling it into the darkness.

At first, the enormous red creature struggled fiercely, constantly breaking the silver-gray chains that bound it. However, gradually, the red-skinned giant's struggles weakened until darkness finally engulfed and swallowed it.

Then, an indescribable, bizarre phantom, which had lost its fixed form but retained a pair of striking dark golden pupils, appeared in the endless darkness. Then, the phantom made a grasping motion, and a golden scepter appeared directly in front of it. Afterward, the phantom approached the red giant that had been pulled into the darkness and pushed the scepter to touch the giant's head.

Then, a golden light flashed from the scepter and entered the giant's body. The red giant trembled, then remained motionless. The phantom, having completed these steps, grew increasingly ethereal, as if about to dissipate. Next, a dark red, liquid-like substance began to swirl around the phantom. Then, the dark red liquid rapidly expanded, one side reaching into the center of the phantom, while the other branched out in countless directions, enveloping the giant.

Finally, a large, dark red cocoon appeared here, and it pulsated as if it were alive.

……

The Cosmic Cube creates a virtual space independent of this universe. Aether particles pulverize the target's body, while the Mind Scepter begins to ravage the spirit and will. Finally, the abyss of darkness devours all remnants, and the primordial fire burns away the immortal soul.

A comprehensive weakening, specifically targeting a Celestial Father at his weakest moment. Without the Infinity Stones with GM privileges, Ciel wouldn't, and wouldn't dare, provoke a Celestial Father. But now, in this world where everyone's cheating is the most powerful, using three Infinity Stones to completely deal with a Celestial Father is already a sign of extremely high regard for him.

And now, the risk to his life had finally paid off. First, Surtur's body, after withstanding the self-destruction of the Ice Casket, was pierced through a vital spot by Odin's Gungnir javelin. Before that, the god-slaying spear constructed from the Infinity Stones had pierced Surtur's shoulder, the curse specifically targeting gods forcefully suppressing Surtur's regenerative abilities. Although Surtur managed to become largely immune to the curse of killing gods through his formidable strength, the inescapable power of the curse finally erupted completely after Odin's attack that shattered Surtur's heart.

Then Surtr was in trouble. He had to repair his shattered heart to suppress the fatal wound, and also to suppress the curse power that killed gods. If it were just a simple curse, Surtr would have destroyed it long ago. But it was a divine artifact created (a bootleg) by the Infinity Stones. In essence, regardless of whether the Spear of Longinus, as its prototype, existed in this world, once the Aether created the weapon's shell and power, and the Mind Scepter filled the weapon with its own 'existence' and 'essence', in this Marvel Universe, after this weapon was born, the rule of the curse that specifically targets gods directly and truly appeared in this world.

So in the end, Surtr was completely defeated. Even though he was in the 'delete' button of Ragnarok, after the Cosmic Cube completely isolated space and dimensions, the masterminds behind Ragnarok were powerless to do anything about it. Even though they had now discovered that something was wrong, they could only watch helplessly as Charles unleashed all his power and devoured Surtr bit by bit.

Yes! That's right, it's about eating, literally eating. In the pitch-black space, your dark red cocoon, throbbing like a heart, also emitted chilling chewing sounds...

The seemingly indescribable phantom was actually Ciel's soul itself. After continuously using the Aether and the Mind Stone, and then using the Tesseract and three Infinity Stones simultaneously, Ciel's body finally succumbed to the terrifying power and shattered.

But that doesn't matter. From another perspective, the so-called body is merely a shell formed from the soul. Since the shell has been destroyed, can't we just create a new one? The key point is that Surtr is now completely in Ciel's hands, and has fallen into the 'Silent Hill' created by the 3.0 upgraded version of [Nightmare Gaze], [Ehren's Lost Paradise]. Now Ciel can do whatever he wants with her!

However… it seems that during this process, a 'small problem' that Ciel himself did not anticipate occurred! After losing his body, Ciel's senses inexplicably began to blur, and then various physical sensations that should have disappeared with the collapse of his body began to reappear. The clearest and most agonizing sensation among them was—hunger…

And then that was it. When Charles finally came to his senses, he was horrified to discover that something was wrong with reality. Surtr was gone. His soul had been completely sunk into the abyss. Without the Soul Stone, and while he was almost unconscious, Charles had strangely used the power of the Mind Scepter to suppress Surtr's consciousness.

Then, he directly pulled Surtr's consciousness into a state of timelessness, where a second could be used as a day. But the timelessness created by the Mind Scepter wasn't just a second being used as a day, but a second as a year. Furthermore, in that state, while stretching Surtr's consciousness's sense of time, Ciel irresponsibly copied the music of 'Giligili Love' and 'Gokuraku Jodo' and forcibly inserted it into Surtr's consciousness via the Mind Scepter for continuous, 24/7 playback.

Then there is no more...

Although Surtur's soul still existed, his entire mental consciousness had completely collapsed. His body was devoured entirely by the unconscious Charles, and when Charles finally regained his senses, Surtur collapsed in a most humiliating manner. After completely consuming Surtur, Charles began to reconstruct his body.

'Why did my art style turn into a horror movie?'

This was Ciel's first thought after regaining his physical body.

274. The Perfect Ciel

After resurrecting his body, Ciel, who had consciously changed his art style, did not immediately notice the terrifying power he had gained after completely absorbing a Heavenly Father. Instead, he began to get stuck in a vicious cycle of thinking about his art style.

But thinking about it, it doesn't really seem like a matter of art style! His body turned to ash because it couldn't withstand the power of the three Infinity Stones—is there anything wrong with that? Nothing! As a mere soul, he brought Surtr from near death to complete annihilation—was that wrong? No, it wasn't! His original goal was to strike Surtr, to devour his power and authority. While the process was a bit surprising, when there's no physical form, only a soul remains—shouldn't the first thing to do be to rebuild his body? And in that process, incidentally tearing apart Surtr's consciousness to devour his Heavenly Father's soul energy, destroying his divine body, and then extracting his power—is there anything strange about that? No, it's not!

The only exception is that some discordant elements appeared during this process, but without pictures and without proof, what's the difference? Surely no one would use their extraordinary imagination to fabricate a bizarre scene!

"...So! There's nothing wrong with that!" After struggling to break free from the vicious cycle of thought, Sharl came to a conclusion after a series of deep considerations. "I won this battle! As they say, only the survivor is the biggest winner... I'm alive, but Surtr is dead."

"No problem!"

Feeling completely innocent and without any problems, Charles's thought process became strange again. He still hadn't noticed the power he gained after completely usurping a Heavenly Father. In the past, when faced with such situations, Charles would usually focus on his own gains, but now, something seemed to have really gone wrong.

"Seriously?!"

"Why? When I was in my soul state, in order to break Surtr's consciousness, I actually stretched his sense of time to the point where one second equals one year. And why? After stretching his sense of time, I also copied the music of 'Giligili Love' and 'Gokuraku Jodo' and forcibly inserted them into Surtr's consciousness through the Mind Scepter for a non-stop, 24/7 loop?!" Thinking this, Charles waved his hand, and the Mind Scepter appeared directly in his hand. "Those are just two anime songs! There's no problem! It's not like he'll have a heart attack and kick the bucket just because they're too old-fashioned and can't adapt to the rhythm of modern young people, right?!"

"Just kidding!" With a stomp of the Mind Stone's scepter, its power instantly spread out, amplifying the mental energy emanating from Charles at that moment. Then, through the Mind Stone's powerful GM privileges, Charles projected his consciousness towards the nearest civilization. Hmm, an alien civilization.

This is a civilization that has already ventured beyond its own planet and engaged in interplanetary colonization. In terms of appearance… well, it certainly doesn't meet Earthling aesthetic standards. However, this civilization's technology is undeniably impressive. They possess space battleships, galactic defense systems, and even space fortresses. They can perform space jumps and have communication capabilities spanning light-years. Although their appearance is strange, it's not a major issue.

Then, with a thought, and using the GM privileges of the Mind Gem, Xia Er instantly connected his mind directly to this alien civilization... Subsequently, he directly packaged and copied the musical mental information of 'Giligili Love' and 'Gokuraku Jodo' and launched it into the subconscious of this alien race...

But nothing seemed to have happened!

"...As expected, old relics are outdated!" Looking at the aliens' unresponsive state, Charles sighed. It seemed the fundamental reason why Surtr's consciousness was completely shattered, leaving only his soul, was simply the sheer power of the Mind Stone. "No wonder Thanos is so obsessed with the Infinity Stones; it seems there's a reason behind it! However, if I don't let go, is it even possible for Thanos, without his full power-up, to steal these three Infinity Stones from me?"

“If I don’t let go, it seems he really doesn’t have much of a chance.” Nodding, Charles placed his hand directly on the Mind Stone embedded in the Mind Scepter. “I’ll leave a little something as a gift… like creating a tiny, insignificant consciousness within it using the Mind Stone. Hmm, hopefully Thanos will be pleased with this gift. Of course, if anyone else suffers before that, it’s none of my business!”

After casually tampering with the Mind Stone, Ciel glanced around. The space temporarily created by the Cosmic Cube was now completely dark. It was filled with black sludge that clearly wasn't good stuff, along with other random noises.

"Alright! Time to go!"

Of course, after leaving, Xia Er was unaware that for a long time, the alien civilization that had already embarked on interstellar colonization was directly afflicted by a mental illness affecting the entire race. They would act erratically and wildly in their sleep, ultimately leading to their complete annihilation. Some survivors fled in disarray to the protection of other civilizations, living in constant fear. Later investigations revealed... this was caused by an accidental firing of a mind-control weapon created by Earthlings. As for why Earthlings, despite developing a weapon capable of annihilating civilizations across countless light-years, couldn't escape the solar system, this was overlooked by everyone. In short, the most dangerous place in the entire universe truly lived up to its name...

—————————Divider Line——————————

The spatial barrier that had enveloped this mere one light-year vanished in an instant, and at that very moment, all those who had been watching this battlefield turned their gazes toward this place without exception.

Then, without exception, they all saw a man wearing a black trench coat, holding a scepter in his right hand and a cosmic cube in his left, surrounded by dark red liquid matter representing ether particles.

"Is spying interesting?" Seemingly sensing something, Ciel asked softly, though sound shouldn't be heard in space. However, Ciel's voice still carried. "Well then... I'll say hello too!"

Shadow Fury

The chaotic shadow power was transformed into mental energy, and then, under the amplification of the Mind Scepter, this spell, which was not particularly lethal but could still cause trouble, was directly hurled at the projected gazes.

Several muffled groans rang out, and the feeling of being watched vanished instantly. Suffering a silent loss was nothing; at least for many who had been following the events here, being able to learn of Surt's demise so quickly was already a gain. As for being rebuked by Charles and suffering a silent loss, it was also no big deal. At their level, time was long enough; any grudges could be settled slowly over time.

Of course, Charles paid no attention to those spying on him. After all, the vast majority of them were just planetary gods, and a good portion of them were lords from evil spirit hells or other dimensions. Although any one of these guys would be a problem on Earth, Charles didn't see them as a problem at all. He didn't even need to use the Infinity Stones; he could wipe them out with the power he had obtained from Surtr.

However, it's another matter which of them have reached the same level of power as the Heavenly Father! Right now, Charles isn't concerned with those spying on others who are more or less planning to play the role of the hunter and the hunted, but rather he is looking at another place, a dark space, and those huge figures that seem to be constructed from starlight.

275. Heavenly Father - Shire

There were five towering figures, three men and two women, seated on rocky thrones. They were giants formed from silver starlight, each taller than Surtr in his normal form. In this dark space, these five giants, dressed in the same style of clothing and armor as those in Asgard, sat on their thrones, staring coldly at the Shire.

"A cosmic god? He doesn't seem like it!" Charles muttered to himself, then flashed a bright smile and bowed slightly to the five giants who were looking at him. "Past, Present, Future, Beginning, End—these must be your names, right?"

"We have learned of your deeds, wizard." The giant sitting in the center, wearing a long coat, a winged helmet, and with a thick beard, spoke. "...You challenged an impossible task and defeated Surt, the ruler of this desolate land. During this time, your courage and wisdom drew our attention to your heroic deeds, and to honor your glorious achievements, we will bestow upon you our blessings."

“‘Those who sit in the shadows’—that’s what Loki, that guy who’s always trying to stab me in the back, calls you…” Ciel replied with a smile. “How fitting! Is that so? Ancient gods recorded only in some Asgardian documents. But are you sure your ‘blessing’ isn’t some kind of curse?” Ciel sneered, the smile on his face vanishing, replaced by a chilling killing intent.

"So, before we have a proper talk, could you please stop with those utterly pointless mental seductions and suggestions? I'm not some simpleton like Surtr, and besides..." The gem embedded in the Mind Scepter emitted a dazzling golden light, and then Ciel stomped the scepter forcefully, a sound of 'giligili love' echoing through the dark space. "Are you sure your mind control methods can work on the Infinity Stones?"

"...Now that you know who we are, what can you do?" A masked woman spoke up. "You don't understand the ins and outs. Our existence is far beyond your comprehension, even if you currently hold the essence of the universe in your hands."

"But now you are fully qualified to join us and share in our endless glory..."

"And then, as I know it? Manipulating fate, even constantly pushing forward Ragnarok, and feeding on the gods and lives that died in the Ragnarok War to prolong your immortality and rule?"

“And now, you want to drag me into your ranks, just because I devoured Surtr, the pawn you used to carry out the Twilight War,” Charles said. “...Isn’t that right? If I didn’t have half of the Infinity Stones, I wouldn’t be able to deal with Surtr at all. In fact, facing Surtr would be suicide.”

"But reality doesn't allow for 'what ifs,' and... I have absolutely no interest in joining you."

"Is that so? You should know that we can know all the outcomes of the past, present, and future. Do you know what you're rejecting, wizard!"

"Of course! After all, compared to being trapped and dying in this world where I face all sorts of crises every day, I'd rather go home and find my sister!" The golden light on the Mind Scepter in his hand shone brightly once more. "Well then, goodbye!"

The power of the Mind Stone severed the connection between the five giants and Ciel; they no longer existed in the real world. After absorbing Surtr's power, Ciel could no longer withstand the immense burden of using the Infinity Stones as before. Similarly, the effects of using the Infinity Stones were now far more powerful.

The five giants now reside in a shadow space, which, if I'm not mistaken, actually connects nine realms—the shadows of those worlds. It is because they exist within this shadow that these beings have been able to instigate Ragnarok for countless years without anyone questioning or interfering, until the appearance of the Aether first exceeded their expectations. After that, more and more Infinity Stones and various unexpected factors appeared here, nearly collapsing their entire plan. And now, Surtr's death has utterly destroyed their entire plan.

Because they exist in the shadows, these beings cannot influence the real world at all; they can only subtly affect the arrival of Ragnarok by manipulating the trajectory of fate. They are weaker than Charles imagined. At first, Charles thought they were all at the level of cosmic gods, but now it seems that they are not.