Chapter 525

At this moment.

Syd spoke calmly, "I assume you already know why I'm here."

Hearing this, Red Skull nodded.

"White-Clad Hero, you've come for the Soul Stone, haven't you? But even I cannot simply give it to you."

As he spoke, he led the way forward.

"The Soul Stone holds a revered status among the Infinity Stones precisely because it possesses a unique intelligence."

"In order to ensure that its wielder truly understands its power, the stone requires a sacrifice."

"To obtain it, you must lose something in return…"

By this time, they had arrived at the cliff's edge.

Floating in midair, Syd gazed down with curiosity, silently thinking, "So this is the place where either Gamora or Black Widow was sacrificed for the stone?"

Before Red Skull could even finish his explanation, Syd leaped off the cliff.

Red Skull: "…???"

Instinctively, he leaned forward and looked down.

A white silhouette was plummeting rapidly towards the rocky abyss below.

From the looks of it, the White-Clad Hero hadn't even activated any powers?

Soon, a thunderous crash echoed through the air.

Under the pull of gravity, the White-Clad Hero collided headfirst with the ground.

However, it wasn't Syd who broke.

Instead, it was the rocky ground beneath him that shattered into countless fragments.

As if… his body was harder than the very stones themselves.

Red Skull: "…???"

No Effect…?

After experiencing what it was like to fall off a cliff, Syd found it rather disappointing.

He was completely unharmed—it didn't even feel like much of an experience at all.

However, the bottom of the cliff was interesting. He could vaguely make out traces of others who had fallen here before.

It seemed that some had tried to obtain the Soul Stone—and failed.

"Well, not my problem."

The next second, his figure flickered, and in the blink of an eye, he reappeared in front of Red Skull.

"What were you saying just now? Go on…"

Red Skull: "…???"

Staring at the Omega-level mutant in white, who had just jumped to his death and returned unscathed, Red Skull felt an overwhelming urge to clutch his head in frustration.

He regretted bringing this guy to the cliff.

He swore he had never encountered such a freak of nature before.

At this moment, Syd suddenly had a thought and spoke.

"You brought me here to tell me that in order for the Soul Stone to appear, a soul must be exchanged for a soul, correct?"

Hearing this, Red Skull's expression changed.

"You… already know?" he asked, surprised.

Syd replied indifferently, "I know far more than you think. Likewise, I understand the Soul Stone far better than you do."

Pausing for a moment, he continued.

"So, the Soul Stone requires someone to sacrifice their most beloved person for it to manifest?"

"That person has to push their loved one off this cliff, right?"

"Tell me, if someone were to throw me off this cliff, would they obtain the Soul Stone?" Syd asked with a smirk.

"What do you think of that idea?"

Hearing these words, Red Skull glanced at him, then at the shattered rocks at the bottom of the cliff.

His skinless face twitched.

He sighed helplessly, "White-Clad Hero, under normal circumstances, yes. But if you were sacrificed, you wouldn't even die. That wouldn't fulfill the conditions to obtain the Soul St—"

Before he could finish, Syd's expression darkened.

"So… it won't work, is that what you're saying?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Syd no longer restrained his divine aura.

A terrifying godly presence erupted from his body.

In that instant, Red Skull truly understood the difference between gods and mortals.

"So, you and the Soul Stone are toying with me?"

An indescribable, incomprehensible voice echoed in Red Skull's mind, carrying the weight of absolute truth and cosmic law.

Dark red chaotic magic energy surged from Syd's body, raging around him like an ominous storm.

In just a split second, Red Skull was blown away by the sheer force of the energy.

But he didn't even care about his own predicament anymore.

All his attention was now fixated on the White-Clad Hero floating above the abyss.

Syd's white robes were stained in eerie crimson, as if drenched in dark red eldritch power.

Strands of scarlet energy seeped from his body, swirling around him like writhing tendrils.

His blood-red eyes and the overwhelming aura of destruction made it feel as though a terrifying demon had descended upon the world.

What happened next confirmed Red Skull's fears.

"Vanish."

A voice, akin to the decree of reality itself, resonated in his soul.

For the first time since becoming the guardian of the Soul Stone, Red Skull felt pure, unadulterated fear.

Centered around Syd, a 5,000-kilometer radius was instantly enveloped in deep crimson light.

Everything within this area—mountains, rivers, the air, even the clouds—began to disintegrate and vanish.

In mere moments, a massive portion of Vormir was completely erased from existence.

BOOM!

Magma erupted from the exposed planetary crust, triggering violent earthquakes.

The entire planet trembled, as if apocalypse had arrived.

At the center of all this devastation stood Syd, his body wrapped in blood-red energy, his presence alone rewriting reality itself.

He was the one who caused all of this.

"Just because of a single sentence…"

Vormir… was on the verge of destruction?

Red Skull was horrified.

He had always known that the White-Clad Hero was terrifying.

But witnessing it firsthand? That was a completely different experience.

At the heart of the devastation, Syd stood unfazed, drawing upon his vast reserves of divine faith energy.

In an instant, the light energy he had expended was fully restored.

This was no surprise to him.

He hadn't tapped into his faith energy for a long time. Having accumulated power across multiple worlds, his reserves were enormous.

At this point, he could easily wipe out Vormir if he wished.

Syd's gaze fell upon the trembling Red Skull.

His voice, carrying the weight of absolute truth, echoed through the air.

"I don't care about understanding the Soul Stone's so-called wisdom."

"I don't care about comprehending its power."

"I only want it to appear. Otherwise…"

"I won't hesitate to destroy all of Vormir."

"Let's see if it can keep hiding then."

In the distance.

Standing atop the last remaining peak, Red Skull—despite being altered by the Soul Stone's power—trembled with fear.

(End of Chapter)

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