Dark energy spread, flowed, and churned.
It brought a chilling aura, dimming the surrounding light and turning the sky gray.
From the enormous black skull pattern on the ground, wisps of black energy began to rise, chasing the spirits within the storm.
The spirits seemed to realize that the black energy was nothing good and desperately tried to evade it.
Unfortunately, the black energy was faster.
In the blink of an eye, one spirit was caught.
Then more and more spirits were captured.
Whenever a strand of black energy seized a spirit, the pale flames in its eyes turned black, signifying that it had been enslaved.
The spirits enslaved by the Darkhold immediately pounced on those beside them. The two spirits became entangled, roaring and attacking each other before perishing together.
Before long, the storm of spirits became chaotic.
As more and more spirits with black flames in their eyes appeared, disorder spread throughout the storm.
The spirits grappled with one another, attacked one another, and ultimately annihilated each other, disappearing within the storm.
The storm of spirits became less dense.
But Alex wasn't pleased, because the Darkhold had only been able to enslave one-third of all the spirits.
It was clear that although the Darkhold was a divine artifact and possessed magic capable of enslaving spirits, when it came to this aspect, the Soul Stone was stronger.
After all, it represented the laws of the domain of souls.
Within that domain, the Darkhold ranked below the Soul Stone.
However, Alex had never expected to kill Thanos with this spell alone. He turned another page, and when he stopped, he pressed his hand onto it.
A new sound appeared within the storm.
The chirping of locusts.
The Darkhold suddenly released a mass of pitch-black energy, with countless sparks flickering inside.
The mass of energy suddenly unfolded.
From within it flew locusts with human faces.
Necromancy, Hell Locusts!
Thousands upon thousands of Hell Locusts flew out of the dark energy. The tiny creatures shrieked and screamed as they rushed toward Thanos, fighting to get there first.
Thanos' expression changed. The Soul Stone on the Infinity Gauntlet shone brilliantly, and spirits from the storm charged at the locusts.
The moment they threw themselves into the swarm, purple light burst from inside their bodies before they exploded violently.
The explosions, fueled by souls, blew apart every Hell Locust caught in the blast.
But there were simply too many locusts.
They poured endlessly from the dark aura released by the Darkhold.
As though there were no limit.
The spirits charged forward one after another, using suicidal attacks to stop the locusts.
In the barrier in the distance, Doctor Strange's breathing grew heavier.
"He even mastered a spell like this?"
Spider-Man and the others looked at him, hoping for an explanation from the master of the mystic arts.
Doctor Strange did not disappoint, "Hell Locusts are demons from the Prison of Gluttony. These little monsters are constantly hungry. They'll eat almost anything, even lava is food to them."
"This spell summons these terrifying demons into the living world and has them devour a designated target. A large swarm of Hell Locusts won't stop until they've eaten their target so thoroughly that not even bones remain."
"And their persistence is frightening."
"Just like this."
From afar, purple fireballs constantly erupted within the storm of spirits, while the Hell Locusts covered the sky like a vast black cloud.
Although Thanos controlled the spirits to attack in waves of suicide assaults, he still couldn't eliminate all the Hell Locusts. Before long, the vanguard of the swarm had reached him.
Thanos remained calm.
He raised the Infinity Gauntlet, and the Space Stone shone brightly.
A mass of black-blue flames appeared between him and the swarm.
Towering before him, it blocked his view while teleporting the Hell Locusts to other parts of the battlefield.
But at that moment, Thanos suddenly felt a searing pain in his neck.
Then his vision began to tilt, as though the world had turned upside down.
As the world spun around him, Thanos saw a tall body without a head.
That body raised an arm. On the Infinity Gauntlet, the light of the Space Stone was gradually fading.
'Am I dead?'
That was the only thought that flashed through the overlord of the galaxy's mind before his consciousness sank into eternal darkness.
Looking at the headless corpse, Alex, holding the battle axe Fang of Destruction, let out a light breath.
"I was aiming for your head."
Just now, the instant the Hell Locusts were teleported away, Alex had used Teleportation to blink behind Thanos.
Then he took Fang of Destruction out of his inventory and swept it horizontally across Thanos' neck. With the battle axe, strengthened by the Mother Box, he beheaded the overlord of the galaxy.
If this had been the Thanos from the movie who arrived on Titan with the Space Stone, Soul Stone, Power Stone, and Reality Stone, Alex certainly wouldn't have killed him so easily.
But with only two Stones, Thanos wasn't much of a challenge to the current Alex.
Without additional Stones, Thanos possessed only raw strength and defense, with no other special abilities.
At the very least, as long as he seized the opportunity, Fang of Destruction, itself a divine artifact, was capable of beheading him.
The moment Thanos died, the Soul Stone naturally lost its effect.
Apart from those enslaved by the Darkhold, all the other spirits floated into the sky and departed on their own.
Alex planted Fang of Destruction into the ground and walked over to Thanos' corpse to remove the Infinity Gauntlet.
Seeing this, Doctor Strange shouted, "Stop him!"
"We can't let him take the Infinity Gauntlet!"
Spider-Man and the others also realized how urgent the situation was. Without caring whether they could defeat Alex, they all charged forward.
Spider-Man fired webs from his wrists, attached them to pieces of spaceship wreckage, and used the momentum to swing toward him.
Star-Lord lowered his mask. Flames burst from beneath his boots, lifting him into the air.
Drax roared as he charged through a portal opened by Doctor Strange, emerging directly above Alex before diving down at him.
Doctor Strange himself also used magic, trying to stop Alex.
But whether it was magic or the attacks from Drax and the others, everything was blocked by Alex's Absolute Domain.
Calmly, Alex removed the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos.
He then used Reality Warp to change the gauntlet's size so it fit his own hand.
After putting it on, Alex embedded the remaining Infinity Stones into the gauntlet one by one.
With each Stone he inserted, he could feel the terrifying impact of its power.
Arcs of multicolored light danced across his body. He suspected that if he hadn't already evolved the Absolute Domain, his body would never have withstood the impact of so many Infinity Stones.
Now, however, it was more than enough.
Very soon, Alex had fully endured the Stones' power.
He let out a breath, picked up Fang of Destruction, and muttered, "Now only the Mind Stone is left."
He raised the gauntlet, causing the Space Stone to shine.
Then he stepped into the black-blue flames.
From beginning to end, he never spared Doctor Strange or the other heroes a single glance.
As if, in his eyes, Doctor Strange and the others were nothing more than annoying mosquitoes. Not worth mentioning.
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