CHAPTER 198

[Draul St. Cross POV]

"Is there really no way we can kill this bitch!?" I couldn't help but ask because even after we've nerfed the hell out of this guy, pun not intended, he was still going strong. 

"There is but it's not viable to us." I looked at the bleeding form of the Ancient One, fully aware that she was inching closer to death by the second. 

"What of the breach? Figured out a way to stop the encroachment yet?" I, or rather an astral form of me, asked as my main body was busy duking it out with Dormammu. Catching Dormammu by his formless neck, my hand grew to the point that it completely dwarfed Earth, I slammed him straight through the confines of darkness not relenting as I kept on bombarding him with all the attacks I could, causing the nearby planetary bodies to explode. 

"Strange is on it. We'll have to keep his attention to us in the meantime and hold him down in case he finds out about what we're doing." She said as she casually kept up with me and Dormammu's speed that had surpassed light. 

"You mean I'll have to keep a leash on him, right?" 

SLASH! 

My axe slashed into Dormammu's hands, causing fire and darkness to spew out while also inflicting curses I knew did next to nothing to him. Slowness, dizziness, pain that increased with every movement – magical or subconscious –, senses override, disruptive control over their energy and a slew of others. The only way things like these could work against Dormammu in any capacity was due to active use of the Power and Soul Stone. But even then…. 

SLASH! 

Blood spewed out from my chest as I was given another injury for the umpteenth time since our tousle began. 

He blocked my axe and held my head with an arm he grew from his back and snapped my neck before engulfing me in flames. Despite the fact that my head was 180° facing the wrong way, I still pressed forward, completely ignoring the unholy combination of black and red flames, as arms grew from me and started pummeling the frustrated Hell Lord. 

We exchanged punches for punches, not minding a bit about defense as we both beat each other through the systems and dark moons. Dormammu was amortal, nigh-unkillable, in his own domain while I could heal from anything and could very well survive even with a destroyed heart or any major organ and also the fact that I was completely at ease with most of the elements in the Dark Dimension, so much so that not even the fabled flames of hell gave me any sort of damage. 

I could now match Dormammu since he was resetting at a fast pace while I was growing stronger. I don't know how long the fight went by but the underworld was practically in upheaval as we both fought. 

Impaling me with spears of darkness, I would cleave off his arms with my axe only for them to form back with fire and darkness. He grabbed me by the scuff of my neck only for the foul space of the underworld to writhe and bend in pain that he missed me. 

Most of my defensive spatial powers didn't work against Dormammu for the simple fact that he outclassed me in strength and we were also fighting in his domain, but the longer the fight went on, the more I started taking dominion of the space in the underworld. Not just the space but even fire and darkness, all of which served to make Dormammu even more furious. 

The Power Stone and the Space Stone were working together in full harmony that I was now starting to share the same domain with Dormammu, though mine was weaker currently due to the obvious vastness of the underworld which was said to even far eclipse that of multiple universes and also the fact that Dormammu was the reigning God of the Dark Dimension and what I was doing was basically usurping his domain bit by bit. 

"Foul cretin!" Darkness and destruction pour out of my body like a geyser, melding and intertwining with all of my abilities and the space around me, distorting my malevolent form even further. 

Then something kicked into overdrive. Something that had long slipped my mind, or rather had become so normal to me that I didn't give it an active thought. 

Energy assimilation. 

A faucet of my Evolution ability, but it became something else entirely when powered by the Space Stone. 

I crashed Dormammu through a planet, making the Dark God to howl in pain but also in rage as the dark planetary body we destroyed started disintegrating in darkness and started seeping into my body, tainting me further. 

Dormammu tried to break through his shackles, succeeding in some, only for it to clamp him down harder. Though he broke through a few, he was still limited in his prowess. "You infernal worm! How dare you!" he dug his hands through the darkness of his own realm, summoning an evil flame of black that howled in despair and agony, melting even the satellite bodies in the distance in its cold deadly heat. 

He brought it down like a rain on me but I stood unfazed as the power of the Soul Stone and the Power Stone flowed through me without obstruction. 

What Dormammu did was mix soul magic, maybe a small amount of his reality warping powers, darkness, fire and death into the unholy amalgamation he was throwing around. I swung my axe with a great deal of strength, the power of the Soul Stone severing any link between the abilities he used while the Power Stone straight up destroyed the bits of the independent powers, crushing them to nothingness in front of its overbearing might. 

As the fight prolonged, I got more used to the similarities and distinct use of both the Soul and Mind Stone. In my opinion, none of the other stones had as much synergy as the two stones that I was in the process of fusing with. 

The Mind Stone basically gave me a universal perspective on things, comprehending laws and forces in a way that I never could, while the Soul Stone melded my core aspects with the Mind Stone, making me accomplish all these things easily. It truly had a special knowledge. 

It was during my extensive use of the Soul Stone during the fight that made me understand why the Infinity Stones were as they were. The Soul, Mind and Power Stone focused on the three aspects of every sentient being, harmony in trinity. 

Though no one knew this, obviously apart from the Celestial since they made the universe, the stones were made in a symmetrical way that it was divided into two parts. The Body and the Universe. 

The body on its own cannot hold all powers of the universe so the Power, Soul and Mind were made in such a way to rectify that – giving the wielder the potential to sustain a universal Infinity. 

The Space, Time and Reality Stones were also made in the same but different vein, in that they focused on manipulating every aspect of universal creation. 

What was I trying to say? With just the Soul and Mind Stone, coupled with the Power Stone, every aspect was laid bare in front of me, and given that I fused with the stone instead of the traditional way of physically using them, everything else was multiplied to a whole new level. 

The soul of a God? The soul of a Hell Lord? I could be all of these things and more. 

Everything in the path of my axe was trampled asunder as it bore its way to Dormammu, the scales of the battle having changed dramatically after he found his connection to the Dark Dimension drastically limited while mine grew stronger. 

The foul energies of his attacks turned into a swarm of darkness and was absorbed into my body, finally shredding whatever humanoid form I still had, turning into a mismatch of shadowy darkness and destruction. 

Despite being on the back foot of our fight, despite his boiling rage, Dormammu still didn't have the caution of defeat any person losing in a fight would have. It had been repeatedly stated, even by the Ancient One, that Dormammu was a very prideful and arrogant being due to his undisputed rule as the nigh-omnipotent God of the Dark Dimension. 

'Guess we should shake that belief a little.' I felt the grin on my phantom lips as it curled up in an inhuman manner at the thought of Dormammu's panic-filled shriek placated my mind. 'I'll have to wait for Strange though before I act.'

"Mr. Cross." The Ancient One's cautious voice filled my ears but I snorted. "I'm fine. No going over to the dark side for me… if there ever even was a dark side."

I knew why she was worried. The amount of darkness I was basically bathing with was more than enough to turn the most righteously pious man to a blood hounding forgotten vestige of damned hell, but I've never felt freer. 

I separated the space around Dormammu, creating a pseudo independent domain in an instant then leaped through it and called my axe to me. I cleaved everything through which finally caused the Dark God to scream in appropriate pain, but this intensity was still not enough. It was only filled with pain and nor despair and fear. 

Dormammu's cry turned into a sickening howl and I could hear the ephemeral sound of chains breaking, signifying the shackles he was breaking through, which in turn affected the Ancient One. 

Despite his seemingly weakness, his authority of fire and flames covered its apparentness and it was during him breaking his shackles that I gleaned something. 

Shackles. 

That was what everything was. 

The mind, the body, the soul – everything was a form of shackles. 

Unconsciously the Mind and Soul Stone floated out from the pocket spaces they were in and floated in front of me. 

"Infinity Stones!!" 

"Mr. Cross!!"

I ignored the sounds around me as I held onto the two stones, staring transfixed at them, before my glowing purple hand brought them towards me. 

First was the Mind Stone which I tore open my forehead and planted it inside, planting it in the middle of my brain. The next was the Soul Stone which went into my heart, placing it in the middle of the beating organ. 

"!!!"

"!!!"

Burst of power and space rocketed the entire dimension, stretching forward by galaxies while my eyes glazed over. 

… 

"I never expected to see you here."

I saw Gamora, not the small version shown but her normal adult form. "What are you doing here?" 

"Well, I'm dead if that's what you are asking. This is just a residual part of my soul that was taken as some form of token by the Soul Stone." She explained as she continued sitting on the clear water that sent out ripples at certain times. 

"Why?" I looked around the place but I couldn't sense anything, which was kind of new but I had the feeling that I could break through whatever was inhibiting my senses. 

"The Soul Stone retains knowledge. You could say it's the crux of the Infinity Stones, holding all secrets in the known and unknown universe.. The secrets of creation."

"I see." There was no surprise there. I knew from the moment I held the Soul Stone that it had something that made it different from all the others of its kind. If all the other Infinity Stones had specific knowledge that was ingrained in them, then it could be said that the Soul Stone not only had that knowledge but also sentience… 

Like what I was seeing. What was in front of me was the Soul Stone taking Gamora's form, maybe due to the fact that she was the last person that was sacrificed to it. 

"Then get on with it, I'm kinda busy right now."

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