Ch.101 Spider-Man's Exclusive Magic

"No way, we just dealt with the Dark Doctor, and now we have to face a terrifying Dark Magic Iron Man?"

Old Steve's face darkened, while Thanos silently picked up his blade, his expression turning grim.

"Wait, hold on, don't misunderstand," Tony quickly waved his hands, showing an awkward smile.

"It's really not what it looks like. Yeah, you caught me, but don't worry, I just wanted to try something. Please stop looking at me like that—I won't do it, okay?"

Under everyone's threatening gaze, Tony sheepishly activated the magic circle, returning the magical energy he borrowed from the Ancient One.

Having just touched dark magic, he showed no signs of anything wrong.

"Did you keep a little for yourself?"

"No, I swear," Tony promised.

Charlie approached Tony with the Titan Relic in his hand. "Return the rest as well."

"Uh... can't I wait a bit longer?" Tony looked reluctant.

"What do you want to wait for?"

"I want to use magic to make everyone vote for me."

Charlie: "..."

"Cut the crap—keeping those things is too dangerous."

He pulled Tony's hand onto the relic.

"It won't work," Tony said with a smug smile. "As long as I don't infuse it with magic energy, it can't take away my magic knowledge."

The next second, Thanos walked over and joined Charlie in touching the relic.

Buzz~

Suddenly, the Spider Totem and purple starlight burst forth, and a bright glow once again emanated from Tony's forehead.

Seconds later, the glow dissipated.

"No, how could this happen?!" Tony yelled, feeling the magic knowledge in his mind vanish.

No matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn't recall any spells.

Thanos shot Tony a side glance. "I forgot to tell you, my power and Spidey's are enough to activate the relic—it doesn't need magic energy."

"You... you..."

Tony clutched his aching heart, pointing a trembling finger at the two of them.

"You guys are too sneaky."

"And so are you."

Thanos gave Tony a shove, then turned to Charlie.

"Based on that guy's behavior earlier, it doesn't count as helping you since he wanted to kill me too.

So this time, I still haven't helped you—it's you who saved me again. I owe you once more."

The Dark Sorcerer's power had exceeded his expectations.

If it weren't for Charlie, Thanos believed that even with the Chitauri army he commanded across the cosmos, he wouldn't stand a chance against such a terrifying dark sorcerer.

Without Charlie, he'd be dead.

Charlie didn't hold back. "Alright, pay me back one favor first, then."

"What do you want me to do?" Thanos asked.

"Temporarily abandon your invasion of Earth until I find a better solution."

"No problem." Thanos agreed without hesitation.

It was only abandoning the invasion of Earth—he didn't say not to search for the Infinity Stones.

Earth was just an underdeveloped backwater planet. He had no interest in it.

"One more thing," Charlie added. "Lend me a few Chitauri soldiers."

Since the Chitauri hadn't invaded Earth, casually taking down a few of them would earn Charlie a resurrection slot.

And with Thanos' help, it was practically cheating for the other participants.

In short, one word—sweet!

Thanos didn't refuse Charlie's second request either.

Compared to the two times Charlie saved him, this was trivial.

For someone who kept pulling off miracles like Charlie, Thanos couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope.

He glanced at Young Steve and Old Steve, mulling something over.

Whether it was those two or the frightening Dark Sorcerer that had appeared out of nowhere, all these anomalies led him to consider a possibility.

If it were true, then perhaps it might solve the problem that had long troubled him.

After all, he never liked slaughter.

Thanos raised his Infinity Gauntlet, the Space Stone glowing faintly, creating a blue wormhole that brought several Chitauri soldiers to the scene.

"Old man, you do it."

"On it."

Old Steve stepped forward, taking out the Chitauri soldiers right in front of Thanos, though his face showed no excitement.

After all, he wasn't particularly hopeful about the resurrection.

If it weren't for worrying that other evil beings might get the resurrection slots, he truly disliked killing.

He'd rather play web slingshot games with Charlie.

Thanos observed it all, his expression unchanged.

The Chitauri's notorious reputation in the universe wasn't because he led them into war—it was because they were inherently a vile race that reveled in slaughter.

Without Thanos, the Chitauri would still be pests in the universe.

Even if the entire Chitauri race perished, Thanos wouldn't feel a shred of pity.

All he would feel was inconvenience.

Because then he'd need to find another combat-capable race to wage war across the cosmos.

Thanos looked at Charlie. "What are you going to do next?"

"Wait a few minutes—I have something to take care of," Charlie replied.

"Need my help?"

"No, just lend me the Black Order."

Thanos' expression turned strange.

"They are my most trusted subordinates. Can I offer someone else?"

Seeing Thanos' look, Charlie understood the misunderstanding.

"I don't plan to kill them—I just need them to help me take down a few folks. It'll be faster that way."

Thanos let out a small sigh of relief. "Alright, I'll give them the instructions."

Next, Charlie gave the Black Order some guidance and then approached the Ancient One.

"I also want to ask you for a favor."

"I know what you want to do."

The Ancient One, having recovered her magic, replied, "None of you should be in this world. I hope you can leave soon."

"No problem. If you help me find them, I'll make them leave immediately."

"Hmm."

The Ancient One nodded, raising her hand to draw golden portals.

The other side of the portal showed the other contestants hiding in the shadows.

"What?"

"Shit, what just happened?"

"Is this magic?"

"Damn, they found us."

Amid the exclamations, the Black Order entered the portals, quickly dragging defeated contestants and throwing them at Charlie's feet.

Except for Bucky, who liked to self-destruct.

Under Ebony Maw's telekinetic control, Norman and Professor Curt were crushed beneath heaps of rubble.

Under Proxima Midnight's blade, Venom Parker's symbiote writhed in agony. The special weapon rendered it unable to heal temporarily.

Similarly, Hydra Steve's bloody tentacles were all severed by Corvus Glaive's spear, which now pierced his back, its strange power suppressing Hydra's influence.

As for Electro, he was too fast, and Charlie had no interest in dealing with him.

Anyway, these guys were enough for him to earn the resurrection slots.

Looking at Charlie, their faces were filled with anger and reluctance.

"Damn you, Charlie! Why is there always someone helping you?! It pisses me off!!" Norman cursed.

Charlie shrugged. He first borrowed Corvus Glaive's Soul Blade and dealt with Venom Parker before approaching Norman with the large blade in hand.

"Sorry, let me tell you a truth—resurrection matches aren't about fighting and killing. It's about connections."

"What?"

Slash!

Norman's eyes widened, then fell silent.

On the other side, Hydra Steve glared at Charlie, seething.

"If there's a next time, I swear I'll—"

"Take your life."

Slash!

A swift slash severed Hydra Steve's spine in two.

Finally, it was Professor Curt's turn.

"Kid, I realize I was wrong." The Lizard smiled awkwardly.

Charlie nodded. "Since you know you're wrong, you probably have nothing to say if I kill you."

"Wait—"

Slash!

With one final slash, Professor Curt was dispatched, leaving Charlie satisfied.

Turning around, he saw Tony and the others were already far away from him.

"You all..."

Charlie had just started to speak when Tony quickly turned away. "I've got to go give away some money. Let's catch up another day." He activated his suit and took off into the sky.

"Wait, take me with you. I'll vote for you!" Young Steve ran toward Tony.

The Ancient One also shook her head, disappearing through the portal.

"What's wrong with them?" Charlie asked Old Steve.

Old Steve shrugged. "You looked a bit like a psychopath just now."

Charlie: "..."

"I was just taking the match seriously."

"They don't know that."

"Alright, hopefully, they don't have nightmares tonight."

Charlie looked at Thanos. "Join me in going somewhere."

"Okay."

Thanos opened a spatial wormhole.

...

Late Night.

A hospital, where a busy female doctor hurried through the emergency room, doing her best to save each patient.

At the entrance, a tall figure in a dark cloak attracted the attention of a passing nurse.

"Hey, who are you? You can't be—"

Halfway through her words, Thanos raised his hand, releasing the Mind Stone's light.

The hypnotized nurse's eyes went vacant, and she silently walked past Charlie.

"Why are we here to see this woman?" Thanos asked.

Charlie smiled. "Her name is Christine. That guy's girlfriend. Well, in another world, at least."

Thanos seemed to understand. "I see. That guy's girlfriend died."

"Yes."

"But what are you trying to say?"

Charlie thought for a moment. "Not much. Just trying to confirm something."

According to Dark Stephen's plan, he was eventually going to use a nuke to destroy all of New York. It seemed he didn't care about the Christine in this world.

He only wanted more resurrection slots, gambling on a possibility.

He gambled that if he could obtain all the resurrection slots, he might be able to give up one to bring his beloved Christine back to life.

He was greedy and overly confident, and that led to his failure.

But that didn't mean it was impossible.

This gave Charlie another idea.

What Dark Stephen couldn't do, Charlie might be able to achieve.

But not now.

Charlie turned and said, "Substitutes are still substitutes. They're never quite the same as the real thing, and that guy understood that well."

"Are you reminding me of something?" Thanos frowned.

"You think I'm still haunted by my failure to save Titan, and saving the universe is just my way of easing my own pain, right?"

"No, I wasn't thinking that."

"You definitely were."

"I said I wasn't."

"Spidey, your analogy is crude."

"You're overthinking it."

They continued chatting as they stepped into the blue wormhole.

...

30 Minutes Until Mission Ends.

A barren planet, Sanctuary II.

In the training room, Thanos and Charlie exchanged blows—punches and kicks collided, air bursting constantly. The fierce physical duel went on for over a hundred rounds until it ended with Charlie's defeat.

Whoosh~

A punch brushed past Charlie's ear, and Thanos slowly withdrew his fist.

"Your strength is decent, but your technique is too crude."

Thanos thought for a moment and added, "No, you've never trained your body systematically, so you're not able to fully harness your strength."

Charlie used a towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead, catching his breath.

"Yeah, that's why I asked for your guidance."

At first, with just one ton of strength, he hadn't thought there was anything wrong.

But after winning a few resurrection matches, as his strength increased, the destructive power wasn't as overwhelming as he imagined.

That was when Charlie realized what his problem was.

Look at Thanos in the movies—his strength wasn't necessarily that much greater than the Hulk's, but he could easily crush him.

A big part of that was due to years of accumulated battle experience and skill.

And now, after Thanos' words, Charlie was even more certain of this.

Next to them, Old Steve handed Charlie a water bottle.

"He's right. Your technique is crude. But it's okay—Spider-Man doesn't rely on combat technique. The Peter Tingle is enough." He tried to comfort Charlie.

Charlie shook his head, taking the water from Steve and pouring it over his head casually.

"True, but it still feels like a waste."

He was talking about his powerful body.

Of course, compared to Thanos' Titan physique, Charlie still had a long way to go.

Seeing Charlie still unwilling to give up, Old Steve said helplessly, "We only have half an hour left before we have to leave. You don't have time to learn much."

"That's fine. I've got plenty of time."

Charlie willed it, and a system prompt appeared in front of him.

[Remaining Reboots: 8]

Great, he still had 192 hours.

Considering unexpected events, he decided to save four reboots.

Haha, I'm really working hard.

...

Cosmic Web.

Standing on the cosmic web, Charlie raised his hand, shooting webs as he tested out different web modes gained from reboots.

Seeing no useful webs, he turned his attention to the resurrection match rewards.

[You completed Mission 3 and earned 1 Resurrection Slot.]

[Reward: 100 Killing Points]

[Consecutive Resurrection Wins, Extra Reward: Power of the Spider Totem x1]

[Consecutive Resurrection Wins, Extra Reward: Spider-Man's Exclusive Magic Knowledge x1]

[Remaining Reboots: 4 (Retained for Next Resurrection Match)]

[Killing Points: Accumulate points by continuously killing hostile targets within a certain time frame. Once you reach 100 points, you gain a 100% critical hit.]

Charlie: "..."

Isn't this just rage building?

Looking at the extra reward:

[Spider-Man's Exclusive Magic Knowledge: By borrowing magical energy from the Spider Totem, you can randomly learn one Spider-Man-exclusive spell.]

[Congratulations! You have obtained Spider-Man's Exclusive Spell: "Summon Little Spider"]

[Summon Little Spider: Once the summoning conditions are met, you can summon a mutated little spider.]

[First-time Spider Magic Reward—View Advanced Magic.]

[Advanced Magic: "Summon a Lot of Little Spiders"]

Charlie: "..."

What a careless Spider spell.

What a careless advanced spell.