Banner watched Mephisto storm off in fury, unease written all over his face.
"Harry… is this really okay? He looks furious. That was a dimensional god!"
Harry patted Banner on the shoulder and soothed him.
"Relax, Banner. You've been with Kamar-Taj for so long—how are you still not used to this?
Mephisto's just a demon lord. We've dealt with enemies far stronger than him… like Cyttorak, the Lord of the Crimson Cosmos."
Banner could only shake his head and complain, half-dead inside.
"That's not comforting at all. My future looks pitch-black. Why am I the one who has to face this? I'm just a normal person."
His willpower visibly sagged.
Seeing that, Harry hurried to encourage him.
"Banner, there's tremendous power in you. I've told you before—the Hulk is also the chosen of some great existence.
With the might that existence possesses, even in the multiverse, it's a top-tier powerhouse."
Suspicion flickered in Banner's eyes. He shook his head.
"Sure, the Hulk is strong, but I've never seen him unleash anything truly shocking. At least right now… he still can't beat you."
Harry answered with absolute certainty, without a trace of hesitation. "You'll get the chance to see it one day. I guarantee it!"
Banner gave a bitter smile and sighed.
"Then… I'd rather not. I don't have the willpower to control the Hulk. If his strength rises again, and even you can't stop him… then nobody will be able to."
Boom!
A violent explosion thundered from the distance.
In the next instant, the entire Helicarrier lurched and shuddered, the hull tilting sharply to one side.
Thor looked out the window. A dazzling pillar of red fire blossomed far away, lighting up half the sky, and he couldn't help swearing, "Damn it—what now?!"
They'd just faced a dimensional entity even more powerful than his Allfather, and even he had been tense to the extreme.
Tony swept his gaze around once, then instantly reached a conclusion with pure brainpower.
"Obviously, we're under attack. This is serious—there's been a massive explosion outside!"
The moment he sensed danger, Tony raised his arm without thinking. Magic surged in his palm, and a portal snapped open.
Piece after piece of his magical armor's components howled out of the portal, streaking through the air and flying straight toward him with pinpoint accuracy.
The instant they touched his body, they rapidly interlocked and nested together.
In only a few seconds, Tony finished suiting up.
Then a section of armor on the side opened. Several earpieces shot out from the magic suit and dropped into everyone's ears, vibrating as they expanded, locking firmly in place.
Tony's voice came through the earpieces, crisp and clear.
"Stay in contact. I'm going out to see what the hell is happening."
Harry's brows knit slightly. There was no doubt—everything happening now was most likely a scheme Mephisto and Loki had arranged in the shadows.
Space around him gradually twisted, swirling inward like a vortex collapsing to a single point. He spoke to the others as the distortion deepened.
"I'll go too. I'll see if I can repair the Helicarrier's damage."
"Yes—right. Harry's got a repair charm!" Steve let out a breath. "With him here, the Helicarrier won't fall!"
But before Harry fully vanished, he dumped a bucket of cold water on that hope.
"Mephisto knows me well. He might know the repair charm's weakness. He'll probably interfere with my casting, so don't get your expectations too high."
"Uh…" Steve watched Harry disappear, spread his hands, then charged out. "I've gotta do my part too. Looks like we've got a real mess on our hands!"
The rest didn't hesitate at all, rushing straight for the command room.
Inside, it was chaos. Hill was holding things together. The moment she spotted Nick Fury, she strode over and delivered a rapid-fire report.
"Director Fury, the situation is extremely dangerous. Engine Three has been detonated. It's completely offline!"
Fury moved fast to the screens, voice low and hard.
"Damn it. Can the engine be fixed? Answer me!"
A nearby agent wore a grim expression. A thin sheen of sweat beaded on his forehead as all ten fingers flew over the keyboard, pulling up the engine's diagnostics.
He responded immediately.
"The turbine itself isn't malfunctioning, but the Helicarrier is still in flight. The turbine is spinning at high speed. In these conditions, we can't send anyone out to patch it—too dangerous!"
As an elite agent, Hill knew the Helicarrier's structure and operating principles inside out. Her brows drew tight as she spoke, anxiety sharp in her voice.
"If we lose one more engine, we're finished!
Someone has to go out and fix it—now. If we delay, the remaining engines will keep running overloaded just to maintain the Helicarrier's flight. Heat buildup could wreck them!"
Fury didn't hesitate. He spoke to Tony and Harry.
"Harry, Tony—you heard her. Move, now. If you don't, this Helicarrier is done for!
Harry, what's your situation? Can you use a repair charm to fix the damaged areas?"
On the Helicarrier's deck, Harry knelt on one knee, his palm pressed to the surface as he carefully felt out the lingering magic at the damage site.
That magic carried a pungent stench of sulfur, refusing to disperse. Harry curled his lip.
"Mephisto really did leave magic here to interfere with my casting. But it's fine—give me a few minutes and I can scrub it clean.
Before that, though, we need to get the poor Barton back to normal."
As soon as he finished speaking, the space around him caved inward again. His figure vanished from where he stood—and in the next second, he appeared in front of a special-operations squad.
What greeted him was a fully armed, impeccably equipped team.
The soldiers wore heavy armor and gripped their firearms, their heads enclosed in custom oxygen helmets—gear that let them move freely even at ten thousand meters up, unaffected by the brutal environment.
And at their head stood an old acquaintance of Harry's.
Hawkeye—Barton.
Unlike the others, Barton wasn't wearing a helmet.
A helmet would interfere with his performance—and after all the modifications he'd undergone, his physical conditioning far surpassed that of ordinary people. Even at that altitude, he could shrug off the discomfort by sheer bodily toughness.
Up close, Harry instantly sensed what was wrong.
Barton's eyes were pale blue now, rippling with a magical fluctuation.
Looking deeper through those eyes, Harry could see it—inside Barton's skull, a strange layer of higher-dimensional magic clung there.
It constantly warped his cognition, making him unknowingly loyal to Loki, turning him into Loki's puppet.
After all, he was only a Muggle. Against higher-dimensional magic, he had no way to resist—so Loki had controlled him with ease.
The moment Harry appeared, Barton's steps jolted to a stop, his expression freezing solid.
Even though he was being controlled, his memory hadn't been erased.
So he still understood, with bone-deep clarity, just how terrifying Harry was—and he knew that once Harry stood in front of them, the operation was already a failure.
But that was normal. In this operation, Barton was nothing but a disposable piece. The real piece on the board was someone else.
Noticing Barton's reaction, Harry murmured to himself, "So it doesn't affect memory…"
Then he raised his wand. While he gathered invisible strands of magic to purge the Helicarrier of Mephisto's lingering magic, he smiled and teased.
"Barton… still going to resist?"
Barton didn't hesitate at all. Cold-faced, he chopped his hand down in command.
"Get him. Kill him!"
Even knowing he couldn't win, Barton was an elite agent—and he never abandoned a fight.
Harry didn't panic. He merely lifted his wand slightly. Gravity manipulation activated at once.
Mysterious violet light surged from the tip, falling over Barton and his men.
They were instantly wrapped in that purple glow. Their bodies went light—and they floated helplessly into midair.
Then Harry noticed something, surprise flashing across his face.
Several former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents behind Barton suddenly drew their guns and opened fire at him, bullets pouring in like a tidal wave.
And if that were all, fine.
What shocked Harry was that every bullet was wrapped in powerful hellfire magic—each shot carrying a nasty explosive punch.
Even more startling—Barton drew his bow, pulled the string taut, and fired at Harry.
Thick flame clung to the arrowhead. In sheer piercing power it couldn't compare to Barton's devastating electromagnetic railgun arrow, but in area damage it far surpassed it. Once it burst, everything within several meters would be swallowed by horrific fire.
It was obvious: all of this was Mephisto's plot.
This dimensional god had distributed his own magic to these people, intending to use their hands—at the critical moment—to land a cheap shot on Harry.
To Mephisto, even the tiniest scratch on Harry would be a profit.
And sure enough, he didn't disappoint. After gaining hellfire magic, in a short span of time they'd exploited its unique properties and developed these explosive arrows.
As for why Barton could use Mephisto's magic—simple.
Just like Kamar-Taj's sorcerers often draw on the power of other dimensional gods to cast spells.
Dimensional gods compete with each other by nature.
Rival entities steal each other's borrowers—corrupting them, turning them to a new patron. That kind of thing is completely normal.
Harry had always had his own set of rules about magic loans, and he didn't have many borrowers.
This was the first time another dimensional god had stolen one of his borrowers, and the feeling was… weird.
WTF?!
Was he—
Getting cucked?
Harry decided that once this was over, he was going to the Hell dimension, kidnapping hundreds—no, thousands—of succubi, and training them hard!
Right now, Harry was furious.
He used telekinesis to build a defensive wall in front of him, blocking every attack.
When an explosive arrow wreathed in flame screamed toward him, his palm was instantly shrouded in thick plasma. He slapped the arrow away, making it detonate in midair.
Then Harry took a single step forward—his figure turning into an afterimage as he crossed more than ten meters in a blink, appearing right in front of Barton and the others.
He extended a finger and lightly flicked the center of each person's forehead.
In an instant, pure magic flowed from his fingertip into their minds, blasting away the magic clinging deep in their consciousness—cleanly, completely.
As the foreign magic dispersed, Barton and the agents' eyes snapped back to clarity.
Barton's world spun. His stomach churned violently. His face went pale, his legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees with a thud, gasping for air.
Being controlled was a nightmare beyond words—like being trapped in a lucid dream. Your mind is awake, you understand everything around you, but your body refuses to obey, moving only as someone else commands.
Barton's face filled with regret and apology. He sighed.
"Sorry, Harry. I…"
Harry lightly slapped Barton and the agents on the chest, leaving behind a dense rune sigil on each of them. Then he smiled.
"Barton, don't take it to heart. This isn't your fault.
I've already severed the connection between the hellfire magic in your bodies and Mephisto. From here on, use the power I'm lending you—but don't burn it all out."
At Barton's baffled look, Harry explained patiently.
"I might be able to use that hellfire magic to open a door to the Hell dimension—then go straight to his lair and settle the score."
Barton: "…"
Hearing that, Barton opened his mouth—then found himself completely speechless, unable to squeeze out even a single word.
After spending so much time around sorcerers, Barton had learned some of the occult world's basics.
Storming into a dimensional god's home turf to provoke him—an insane, audacious idea like that… only Harry could come up with it.
And he'd actually do it, too.
Also…
Barton thought of the way Mephisto had been grinding his teeth at Harry—pure, unquestionable hatred.
So yeah. Harry's reputation in the multiverse really wasn't good.
"Notorious" would be putting it mildly.
After dealing with Barton, Harry moved toward Tony.
Tony was currently working with Steve to clear debris jammed in the gears, trying to get the turbine running again.
When he saw Harry arrive, Tony pried at a massive shard of metal with obvious effort, and snapped irritably.
"Hey, Harry! Quit slacking and get over here.
Use your magic to clear these damn obstructions. If we can't use a repair charm, we'll have to do it the old-fashioned way!"
"Who says I'm slacking?"
"With your strength, dealing with a squad of agents doesn't take this long!"
Steve nodded hard at Tony's side, clearly agreeing.
Harry explained, "Barton was with them—and Mephisto boosted them with hellfire magic.
Getting them out from under Loki's control without hurting them took some time."
He paused slightly, then lifted his wand and gave a small flick, smiling as he spoke.
"Besides, I already cleared the lingering hellfire magic on the Helicarrier. I can use the repair charm now.
Reparo!"
A familiar scene unfolded before Tony and Steve.
Metal fragments scattered across the Helicarrier—and even down on the ground nine thousand meters below—were pulled by an invisible force. They tore free from where they lay and converged toward the turbine at high speed.
In the air, those fragments traced sweeping arcs, snapping together with perfect precision—tight, seamless, as though they'd never been broken.
In barely over ten seconds, the turbine—previously wrecked beyond Tony's ability to handle—was restored, pristine and whole.
Then, with a violent pulse, the turbine blades began to turn, slowly at first—then faster and faster.
As the turbine restarted, the Helicarrier's shaking gradually subsided. The hull leveled out again, returning to stable flight and continuing on its set course.
Steve looked amazed. "Magic is so convenient. I really wish I could learn chaos magic too."
Tony let out a long breath. That frantic, race-against-the-clock repair had nearly killed him.
The exhaustion wasn't physical—it was mental, the strain of being stretched tight to the snapping point. In a situation like that, one mistake and the entire Helicarrier would drop out of the sky.
Tony flopped down onto the deck, gulping air, then burst into loud laughter.
"What dimensional god? That's all he's got—and we handled it easily!"
Steve shook his head slightly. "Not 'we.' Harry did."
Tony waved it off, grinning. "Same difference."
Unlike those two, Harry's brows were still knitted. He was thinking through the situation.
He didn't believe Mephisto would stop at this. There had to be something even nastier brewing in the dark—just not triggered yet.
Boom!
Suddenly, another thunderous impact erupted from the distance.
A thick steel wall looked like it had been punched by heavy artillery—instantly blown open into a gaping hole.
A figure, wrapped in smoke and debris, shot out of the hole and rocketed straight toward Steve at incredible speed!
Steve's physical abilities had improved drastically compared to the beginning, but the figure was moving far too fast—fast enough to break the sound barrier.
If Steve took that head-on, he'd be seriously injured on the spot.
At the critical moment, Harry Apparated in front of Steve, laying down layer after layer of defensive arrays in a blink.
At the same time, powerful telekinesis surged forward to meet the incoming figure—trying to block it while minimizing harm.
Under Harry's restraint, the figure's speed rapidly bled away, until Tony and Steve could finally see it clearly.
Blood at the corner of his mouth, Thor was held steady in midair by Harry's telekinesis. He looked at the three of them, a bit embarrassed, but forced himself to act casual.
"Hi. That was an accident. I can take him!"
Harry sighed. "Looks like our trouble is far from over."
In the next second, a deafening roar bellowed from inside the room that had just been breached.
Two enormous hands tore through the steel plating like it was paper, ripping the wall wider by brute force.
A massive body leapt out and slammed down onto the deck with a heavy, muffled boom.
The Hulk—oil-green all over—roared again, his gaze locking onto the four of them like a vise.
Seeing that, Harry couldn't help thinking about the flag he'd raised not long ago.
Yeah, he had said the Hulk would unleash shocking power—but that was supposed to be with the Hulk on the side of justice!
So why did the story decide to make him the Hulk's opponent now?
What the hell?
But once Harry confirmed the Hulk's current size, he relaxed a little.
Thank goodness—this was only the original two-meter-tall Hulk, not a larger form.
As the Hulk's anger rises, his strength climbs with it, his defense skyrockets—until eventually even the Sorcerer Supreme can't really hurt him.
But the original Hulk?
One electromagnetic railgun shot and it's over.
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