Restart, Spider-Man! [101]

Steve Rogers's face darkened, while Thanos silently picked up his battle blade, his gaze cold.

"Wait, don't get the wrong idea!" Tony quickly raised his hands with an awkward smile.

"What can I say, you caught me. But seriously, I was just trying it out, okay? No need for those looks—I won't try it again, promise."

Under their menacing stares, Tony forced a grin and activated a spell array, returning the magical energy he'd borrowed from the Ancient One.

It seemed he hadn't suffered any adverse effects from dabbling in dark magic.

"You didn't keep any for yourself?"

"No, I swear."

Xia Luo approached, holding the Titanian relic in his hand. "Then how about returning everything else as well?"

"Can't I just keep it a little longer?" Tony asked, sounding reluctant.

"What are you planning on doing with it?"

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

Xia Luo: "…"

"Cut it out. Leaving that stuff with you is way too risky."

He took Tony's hand, pressing it to the relic.

"It's not going to work," Tony said smugly. "As long as I don't inject it with magic energy, the relic can't take away my magic knowledge."

The next moment, Thanos stepped forward to touch the relic with Xia Luo.

Buzz~

In an instant, the spider sigils and a violet glow pulsed, and a bright light burst from Tony's forehead.

Moments later, the glow faded.

"No…no, how could this happen?" Tony yelled, realizing that his magical knowledge had been completely erased. No matter how hard he tried to remember, he couldn't recall a single spell.

Thanos glanced at him with a smirk. "Forgot to mention, Stark—my and the kid's divine power can activate the relic just fine. No magic required."

"You…you…" Tony clutched at his heart, pointing a trembling finger at them both.

"You're both so sneaky!"

"So are you," Thanos replied, giving him a shove and turning to Xia Luo.

"Judging by his behavior just now, it's actually you who helped me out, not the other way around, since he was gunning for me, too. So, once again, I owe you one."

The Dark Sorcerer's power had exceeded even Thanos's expectations. Without Xia Luo, he knew his Chitauri army would have been hopelessly outmatched by that dark sorcery.

Without Xia Luo, he would have been a goner.

Xia Luo didn't hesitate. "Alright then, you can start by repaying that favor."

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

"Hold off on invading Earth until I find a better solution."

"No problem." Thanos agreed readily.

After all, he'd only promised not to invade Earth—nothing about giving up his search for the Infinity Stones. Such an isolated, undeveloped planet was hardly worth his interest.

"And there's one more thing," Xia Luo added. "I'd like to borrow a few Chitauri soldiers."

Since the Chitauri hadn't invaded Earth yet, Xia Luo figured he could rack up a few resurrection slots by dealing with a handful of them. And with Thanos's support, it would be like crushing ants for the other competitors.

In a word: satisfaction.

Thanos didn't refuse his second request either. Compared to Xia Luo saving his life twice, this was nothing.

Seeing Xia Luo, a mortal, repeatedly accomplish the impossible had even sparked a bit of hope in Thanos.

He glanced over at young Steve and old Steve, a speculative look in his eyes. Between those two and the strange, terrifying Dark Sorcerer, he began to wonder if there was more to this than he'd realized.

If his suspicions were right, perhaps his problem did have a solution after all.

I've never actually enjoyed killing, Thanos thought to himself, raising his Infinity Gauntlet. The Space Stone glowed faintly, and a blue wormhole appeared, summoning a handful of Chitauri soldiers to the scene.

"Alright, old man, your turn."

"On it."

Old Steve approached and dispatched the Chitauri soldiers in front of Thanos without much reaction. He didn't exactly relish the idea of killing for a resurrection slot, but he couldn't let the wrong people get their hands on it either. Besides, he'd much rather be off playing web-slinging games with Xia Luo.

Thanos observed the scene impassively. The Chitauri had earned their infamy across the cosmos not because he'd led them into conquest, but because they were already a bloodthirsty, depraved race by nature. Even without Thanos, they would still be a plague upon the universe.

The eradication of the Chitauri didn't trouble him; he'd simply have to recruit a new army for his battles.

Turning back to Xia Luo, Thanos asked, "What's your next move?"

"Give me a few minutes; there's something I need to take care of."

"Need a hand?"

"Nope, just lend me the Black Order."

Thanos gave him a peculiar look. "They're my most trusted aides. Could I substitute them for someone else?"

Xia Luo caught the implication, smiling. "I'm not planning to kill them, just borrow them to deal with a few folks. It'll be faster that way."

Thanos sighed in relief. "Very well. I'll let them know."

Xia Luo gave the Black Order a few instructions, then approached the Ancient One.

"I'd also like to ask you for a favor."

"I already know what you have in mind."

The Ancient One, restored to her full magical powers, said, "You and your companions don't belong in this world. I hope you'll leave as soon as possible."

"Not a problem. Just help me locate them, and I'll make sure they're gone right away."

The Ancient One nodded, drawing a series of golden portals in front of her.

Beyond each portal lay the hidden competitors, lurking in the shadows.

"What—?"

"What the hell just happened?"

"Is this…magic?"

"Damn it, they found us!"

Amid startled cries, the Black Order jumped through the portals and quickly tossed the battered competitors at Xia Luo's feet.

All except Bucky, who had a tendency to self-destruct.

Under Ebony Maw's telekinetic control, Norman and Professor Conners were both trapped beneath massive piles of rubble. With Corvus Glaive's blade to his neck, Venom Parker's symbiote writhed helplessly, its regenerative abilities temporarily halted. Similarly, every blood-red tentacle of Hydra Steve had been severed by Proxima Midnight's spear, pinning him in place and stopping Hydra's influence from spreading.

As for Electro, his speed made him too bothersome to bother with. The ones here would be enough to secure Xia Luo's resurrection slot anyway.

Each of them looked up at Xia Luo, their faces twisted with anger and resentment.

"Damn you, Xia Luo!" Norman roared. "Why is someone always helping you? It's infuriating!!"

Xia Luo shrugged, lifting Corvus Glaive's soul-stealing glaive to dispatch Venom Parker, then hoisting his weapon over Norman.

"Sorry to break it to you, but resurrection matches aren't just about fighting—they're about alliances."

"What…?"

Slice!

Norman's eyes widened before he fell silent.

On the other side, Hydra Steve glared at Xia Luo, his jaw clenched.

"If I get another chance, I swear I'll—"

"Kill you," Xia Luo interrupted.

Slice!

Next was Professor Conners.

"Kid, I'm sorry. I know I messed up." The Lizard-man forced a strained smile.

Xia Luo nodded. "Since you know you messed up, I assume you have no objections to me finishing you off."

"Wait—"

Slice!

After one last swipe, Xia Luo looked satisfied.

Turning around, he noticed Tony and the others had distanced themselves.

"You guys…"

Xia Luo started, but Tony turned, yelling over his shoulder, "I have cash to spend. Let's hang out sometime!" And with that, he rocketed off in his suit.

"Wait! Take me with you—I'll vote for you…" young Steve called, running after Tony.

The Ancient One shook her head before disappearing into a portal herself.

"What's with them?" Xia Luo asked old Steve.

Old Steve shrugged. "You looked like a total psycho just now."

Xia Luo: "…"

"I was just being thorough in the match."

"They don't see it that way."

"Fine, I just hope they don't have nightmares."

Turning to Thanos, Xia Luo said, "Come with me. I need to go somewhere."

"Alright."

Thanos opened a new wormhole.

---

Late at night.

At the hospital, a busy doctor darted through the emergency room, doing everything she could to save each patient.

Meanwhile, a tall figure cloaked in black stood by the entrance, drawing curious stares from passing nurses.

"Hey, who are you? This area isn't—"

Before the nurse could finish, Thanos raised his hand, letting the Mind Stone glow.

Her eyes went vacant, and the nurse quietly walked past Xia Luo as though he wasn't there.

"Why did you want to come here to see this woman?" Thanos asked.

Xia Luo smiled slightly. "Her name is Christine, that guy's girlfriend—well, in another world, at least."

Thanos considered this. "I get it. So, his girlfriend died."

"Right."

"But what are you trying to tell me?"

Xia Luo thought about it for a moment. "Nothing, really. Just wanted to confirm something."

Based on Dark Stephen's plans, he would eventually nuke all of New York, not caring about the Christine of this world at all. He just wanted to grab as many resurrection slots as possible, betting on a chance—a chance that if he could win them all, he might be able to use the extra slots to bring back the Christine he loved.

He was greedy and overconfident, and so he failed.

But that didn't mean it wasn't possible.

It gave Xia Luo an idea.

Dark Stephen couldn't do it, but Xia Luo just might.

But not yet.

Turning, Xia Luo said, "A substitute is still just a substitute, never quite the same as the real thing. He did that part right."

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Thanos asked with a frown.

"You think I'm still stuck in my guilt over not being able to save Titan—that I'm saving the universe to ease my own pain, right?"

"No, I don't think that."

"Yes, you do."

"I said I don't."

"Kid, your logic's terrible."

"You're overthinking it."

The two of them continued their conversation as they stepped into the blue wormhole.

Thirty minutes until the end of the mission.

A desolate planet, Sanctuary II spaceship.

In the training room, Xia Luo and Thanos exchanged punches and kicks, blows splitting the air. After a hundred rounds of raw physical strength, Xia Luo finally collapsed in defeat.

Whoosh~

Thanos retracted his punch, the wind grazing Xia Luo's ear.

"You've got decent strength, but your technique is sloppy," Thanos commented. "No, actually, you've never trained your body systematically, which is why you can't use your full power."

Xia Luo wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel, catching his breath.

"Exactly, which is why I asked for your help."

Back when he could only lift a ton, Xia Luo hadn't thought anything was off. But after winning a few resurrection matches, his strength kept growing, but his destructive power didn't match the increase.

That was when he realized the problem lay in himself.

In contrast, Thanos in the movies might not be vastly stronger than the Hulk, yet he crushed him easily. A lot of that came down to his years of combat experience and refined technique.

Having Thanos spell it out only confirmed it further for Xia Luo.

Old Steve handed him a water bottle.

"Thanos isn't wrong," Steve said, trying to comfort him. "Your technique's rough, but Spider-Man doesn't need that kind of skill. Peter's quick thinking is usually enough."

Xia Luo shook his head, took the water, and casually poured it over his head.

"True, but it's a waste of this body."

Even so, his physique was still leagues away from Thanos's Titanian build.

Seeing Xia Luo's determination, old Steve sighed. "We have only thirty minutes left. You can't learn much in that time."

"That's fine. I still have plenty of time."

Xia Luo brought up his system notifications.

[Remaining Restart Count: 8]

Perfect. He had 192 hours left.

To stay ready for emergencies, he decided to save four restarts.

Not bad, I've been pretty diligent.

The cosmic web.

On the web, Xia Luo fired a few webs, testing out different effects from his previous restarts.

Finding nothing too special, he focused on this match's rewards.

[Mission 3 Complete: Earned Resurrection Slot x1]

[Reward: 100 Kill Points]

[Consecutive Resurrection Match Wins: Bonus Spider Totem Power x1]

[Consecutive Resurrection Match Wins: Bonus Spider-Man Exclusive Magic Knowledge x1]

[Remaining Restarts: 4 (Reserved for Next Resurrection Match)]

[Kill Points: Accumulate kill points by eliminating hostile targets within a set time frame. Reach 100 kill points to gain a guaranteed critical hit.]

Xia Luo: "…"

Isn't this just a rage meter?

Looking at the additional reward:

[Spider-Man Exclusive Magic Knowledge: Draw magical power from the Spider Totem to learn a randomly assigned Spider-Man-specific spell.]

[Congratulations! You've learned Spider-Man Exclusive Magic: Summon Little Spider.]

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

[First-time spider magic unlocks upgrade options.]

[Upgrade Spell: Summon Many Little Spiders]

Xia Luo: "…"

That's…an underwhelming spell.

And an even more underwhelming upgrade.

---

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you spot any mistakes or inconsistencies!

If you wish to support me or read ahead here's a link! [patreon.com/WiseTL]