Malphegor

NYP Ch. 76

After checking in at the Suna front-line camp and getting his assignment, Kenji immediately grabbed Kaede and headed toward the field hospital to find Aoi. With Tsunade still wandering the ninja world due to her hemophobia, refusing to participate in the war, her former student had stepped up to fill the void. Aoi had taken over many of Tsunade's responsibilities, primarily focusing on analyzing the special poisons used by Suna's puppet masters and developing corresponding antidotes.

Ac...

OP: AMP Ch. 197

Fear, unease, and the creeping edge of madness.

These emotions crashed over the remaining staff members like waves, each one stronger than the last. Every fiber of their being screamed at them to get as far away from this thing as possible. But rationality, that thin thread of discipline, held them in place. If they fled now, they might survive this danger. But when Shiki found out they'd abandoned their posts? When he learned they'd left Indigo alone with an unstable experiment? They'd...

OP: AMP Ch. 196

"Oh! OH!"

Indigo watched the scene unfolding before him. The bizarre visual glitching effect made his eyes burn from the effort of tracking it. But he couldn't look away. He was too excited.

Change didn't frighten him. Even death was an acceptable outcome in his experiments. What truly unnerved him was when nothing changed at all. Stagnation was failure. But this?

Situations like this were incredibly rare in his research. Normally, after being modified with his serum, beasts...

OP: AMP Ch. 195

Inside the fortress' IQ cultivation chamber, Indigo stood watching a sheep munching on an IQ plant like it was regular grass. He was deep in thought.

IQ plants were the primary ingredient for creating his beasts. To put it simply, they were as essential to the mutation process as water was to human life itself. The human body was about seventy percent water. The beasts had similar water content, maybe even higher. But that remaining twenty to thirty percent of their biology had undergon...

OP: AMP Ch. 194

Marcus' words made Usopp stop and think about the whole Devil Fruit situation from a different angle. But the more he thought about it, the more complicated his expression became. Those three Devil Fruits that had just appeared kept nagging at the back of his mind. Sure, Marcus had claimed that Devil Fruits actively gravitated toward people whose desires resonated with them. That sounded reasonable enough in theory.

But there was a problem with that theory when you looked at what had ha...

OP: AMP Ch. 193

In just a few minutes, three Devil Fruits had materialized out of thin air and were now lying in front of Usopp.

He stared at them. Devil Fruits were supposed to be legendary treasures of the sea. And yet here were three of them, acquired as casually as picking flowers from a garden. It didn't make sense. Even the most basic logic suggested that if this method was so simple, major powers would've monopolized the entire Devil Fruit market centuries ago. Given enough time and resources, a...

OP: AMP Ch. 192

On the shore of Angel Island, the once-chaotic crowd had fallen completely silent.

The refugees who'd been screaming and fighting just moments ago now stood frozen, staring open-mouthed at the pirate ships exploding one after another in the distance. Some had their hands halfway to their faces, caught mid-gesture. Others had tears still wet on their cheeks from their panic. But now they all wore the same expression.

"What just happened?" someone whispered.

That single questi...

OP: AMP Ch. 191

Breakfast ended, but nobody left the table. They all just sat there, looking at Marcus.

"Vivi filled you in on the East Blue Destruction Plan, right?"

Everyone nodded.

The reason Marcus had managed to keep the Straw Hats from using ender pearls to escape earlier was because he'd secretly exchanged a few words with Vivi using her Whisper-Whisper Fruit ability before they parted ways. After that, he'd tracked their movements using eyes of ender.

Over the past two days, V...

OP: AMP Ch. 190

Marcus had finally returned to the Straw Hat crew after several days away, and the state he found them in could only be described as pitiful.

They had food, technically, but never enough to feel satisfied. They had shelter, but it wasn't comfortable. And worst of all, they'd been deprived of proper sleep for so long that they'd forgotten what it felt like to get a full night's rest.

When he walked into their quarters, Nami tackled him, grabbing onto his leg with desperate strength...

OP: AMP Ch. 189

New World - Totto Land - Whole Cake Island.

"Mama, shouldn't we be doing something about this?"

Perospero, Big Mom's eldest son, held up the newspaper with his unusually long tongue hanging out as he spoke. The headline screamed about Shiki's declaration of war. Shiki's plan to destroy the East Blue was insane. So crazy it almost seemed impossible to pull off. But as one of the Four Emperors ruling the seas, were the Big Mom Pirates really going to just sit back and watch everythi...

OP: AMP Ch. 188

"Where are you going?" Indigo called out.

"Preparing the next phase of the plan."

"But what about him? You're just going to let this go?"

Shiki paused at the doorway but didn't turn around. "They'll come back."

Indigo stood there, watching the Golden Lion walk away like nothing had happened. Like Marcus vanishing into thin air was just another Tuesday. He felt lost trying to understand what he'd just witnessed.

This wasn't the Shiki he knew. When Roger had been c...

MCIM Ch. 126

In the end, Mephisto chose not to sign a contract with Mario. Mainly because he suspected that no matter how beautifully he wrote up a soul contract, it would be completely useless. Worse, he had the distinct feeling that if they did sign a contract, he'd be the one bound by every clause while Mario could just ignore the whole thing.

It was not worth the risk, better to keep things informal.

"Woo! This motorcycle is badass, it totally ignores terrain!"

Mario tore across Hell...

MCIM Ch. 125

Mario hadn't even finished materializing when a miniature sun dropped from the sky. He tried to dodge, but the fireball was already kissing his face. The explosion him, and he went flying backward. His health bar plummeted to nearly zero in a single blast.

"Font of Vitality!"

A holy staff materialized in his hand, releasing a beam of divine light that poured over him. His health bar ticked back up from the brink of death.

Is this quantum armor even working?

A ...

MCIM Ch. 124

Thor rejected Mario's proposal.

"No. Loki is my brother. Not by blood, but in my heart he's no different from family."

The room fell so silent you could hear a pin drop. Sivir flushed with emotion and quickly asked, "You really mean that?"

Since becoming female, her personality had shifted from rational to emotional. It was fascinating to watch, like the same person viewed through a completely different lens.

Thor nodded without hesitation.

Satisfied, Sivir gave ...

MCIM Ch. 123

"WOOOOO!"

"Go Hulk! Smash him!"

"Come on, flatten him!"

The roar of the crowd was loud in the massive arena. Mario sat in the VIP section, eyes fixed on the two figures clashing in the center ring. One was the Hulk. His opponent was Thor. Neither warrior carried weapons. This was pure, brutal hand-to-hand combat at its finest. Thor's eyes crackled with electricity, after some guidance, he'd finally mastered his innate lightning powers. Blue-white energy wreathed his fist as ...

MCIM Ch. 122

"So, how do you handle extreme temperatures?"

Mario studied the young black man sitting across from him. They were in one of Xavier's school's reception rooms. Xavier sat to Mario's left, with Erik stationed beside him.

"If it's not too extreme, and you give me time to adapt, I can manage most environments."

The young man's name was Armando Muñoz, though he went by Darwin, a nickname that perfectly suited his mutant ability. Reactive Evolution, or as he called it, "survival...

MCIM Ch. 121

Coulson walked through the dense forest in Central Park, his dress shoes crunching through layers of fallen leaves. Autumn had arrived, the canopy overhead was a patchwork of yellow and brown, and every breeze sent more leaves spiraling down.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

The sound of his footsteps was oddly satisfying in the quiet woods. He spotted Mario sitting on his usual couch near the pond, fishing rod in hand, completely focused on the bobber floating in the water.

MCIM Ch. 120

"Careful with that. It's three thousand years old, from when Asgard was conquering half the known universe."

Tivan directed a crew of workers as they hauled his collection through the blue. The new location was considerably brighter than Knowhere, at least it orbited an actual star instead of floating in the dead Celestial's skull.

Mario watched the procession with satisfaction. "I'm glad you made the smart choice, Collector."

He walked over and picked up the sword Tivan had...

MCIM Ch. 119

What can possibly save you...

Yondu's thought process was simple: if Star-Lord were his biological kid, he would've thrown him against a wall as a baby and called it mercy. The boy was a walking disaster magnet.

To everyone else in the galaxy, Thanos was pure nightmare fuel. The lunatic traveled from planet to planet, slaughtering half the population for no apparent profit. Just death for death's sake.

And his forces weren't some ragtag militia. He commanded an army...

MCIM Ch. 118

Two days passed in a blur of farming, negotiations, and surprisingly little violence.

Young Thanos had adapted to agricultural life with disturbing enthusiasm, even wearing a straw hat identical to Infinite Thanos'. Mario had ordered them custom-made from a craftsman back in Sicily, mainly because regular stores didn't carry them in "genocidal space tyrant" size.

---

Splash.

Hawaiian beach.

Clear water shimmered under the sun, a cool ocean breeze carryin...

MCIM Ch. 117

Watching Gamora and Star-Lord get hauled away by Nova Corps officers, Rocket looked like someone had just stolen his wallet.

"Where to now?"

Mario stared at Star-Lord's retreating figure, a smile spreading across his face. "Where? Back to the ship. We wait for someone to call me."

Ronan would definitely head to Kyln to retrieve the orb. All Mario needed to do was make sure the Accuser got a nasty surprise when he opened it.

Rocket had no objections. He followed Mario b...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 389

"You are now a true squire of Rohan, Merry."

Inside one of the tents of the Rohirrim camp, Éowyn personally placed a helmet on Merry's head.

"Wonderful!"

Merry looked overjoyed. He excitedly drew his sword, so hastily that he almost cut Éowyn, making her gasp in alarm.

"Oh, sorry!"

He quickly sheathed his sword again.

Éowyn glanced at the short blade, which seemed to glimmer faintly, and said, "That sword looks sharp, but it hasn't yet struck down an ene...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 388

"The Paths of the Dead. This valley on the highlands is far from peaceful. Countless have tried to pass through, yet none ever returned. Among them was even a prince of Rohan."

On the eve before Rohan's army marched to war, Aragorn stood gazing toward the direction of the Dark Door, recalling the grim history of that place.

Behind him, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, and Halbarad were making their final preparations, ready to follow Aragorn into that perilous land.

"Lord Aragorn!"<...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 387

Whether this journey will end in a safe return, no one yet knows.

From Garrett's words, Théoden learned of the enemy's composition.

Nearly twenty thousand Haradrim and their mighty war elephants, more than ten thousand Easterlings, over seven thousand Far Harad soldiers, and tens of thousands of orcs and Uruk-hai. Altogether, perhaps a hundred thousand.

And leading them were several Nazgûl.

And that wasn't even all. Far away, a vast fleet of black-sailed corsair ship...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 386

"Come now, Shadowfax, show your true speed..."

Outside the walls, Gandalf gently patted Shadowfax. In the next instant, the great horse surged forward, and within the blink of an eye, only its distant silhouette remained.

"So fast."

Watching Gandalf's departing figure, even Garrett couldn't help but sigh in admiration. In terms of pure top speed, that horse was a little faster than the fastest ones he had ever trained, and its endurance was just as remarkable.

Gandalf ...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 385

Thud, thud, thud.

With a gulp of milk down his throat, Garrett's vision gradually cleared up.

"You're awake."

A face loomed right above him.

"Gandalf? What are you doing here?"

Inside the room just off the main hall, Garrett stood up, rubbing his head. He shook it a few times, trying to dispel the last traces of drunkenness.

"Phew. That was close. I almost passed out for real."

Being drunk, well, technically it was a buff he could dispel, but...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 384

After all the necessary formalities were completed, it was time for the classic highlight of any banquet.

"No stopping, spilling, and regurgitating."

Gimli announced the rules of the contest as he took the cup of ale Théodred handed him.

Legolas picked up his own cup, looking curious. "So this is... a drinking contest?"

"Of course! What, you've never drunk before?"

At that moment, Boromir came over, holding a cup of his own.

He had just been chatting with ...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 383

"You two little Hobbits!"

Gimli shouted from behind Gandalf, "We've been chasing all this way, only to find you sitting here feasting!"

"And smoking!"

"We're just enjoying the fruits of victory. It's well-deserved compensation," Pippin said, taking a puff of his pipe. "Look here, ale from the Riddermark, and salted pork from the Shire."

"Salted pork..." he muttered the words, staring at the delicious meat in their hands, unable to stop himself from swallowing hard.

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 382

At this moment, dawn finally arrived, neither hurried nor slow.

Inside and outside the walls of Helm's Deep, the corpses of enemies were piled up like mountains, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

Fortunately, the Ents who had just finished off the remaining enemy troops arrived. They helped bury the Uruk-hai corpses across the deep and wide valleys, piling them up until a small mound was formed. Only then was the battlefield finally cleared.

Later, that mound cam...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 381

"Yes, the sun has indeed not yet risen."

Inside Helm's Deep, Théoden placed his helmet upon his head.

"But the light of dawn has arrived first."

Bwooooom!

From the tower above, Gimli blew the Horn of Helm Hammerhand. The Dwarf's bull-like lungs showed their full strength, and the sound of the horn echoed through the entire mountain range, deep, distant, and stirring to the heart.

And from the other side, the horns of the Free Cities answered, their call...