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[C.G] Ch 205: The Darkhold & Wanda Maximoff
🕑 Added 2025-08-01 16:46:42 +0000 UTC— — — — — —
After handing over a portion of the Crimson Cosmos' origin and casually tossing out an invitation— "Drop by the Crimson Palace sometime if you're free" — Cyttorak promptly closed the dimensional portal linking his dimension to the Earth's dimension.
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Kamar-Taj.
Catching the glowing crimson jewel in his hands, Veyron immediately sensed its power. This wasn't just some artifact or energy crystal—it was the raw essence capable of birthing a brand-new universe. A complete one. And once formed, it would expand on its own, infinitely.
"… Mr. Ancient One?" Veyron glanced over, still a little thrown off by how insanely generous that gift had been. He had no idea what Cyttorak was thinking.
"I'm not jealous," the Sorcerer Supreme said, slowly and deliberately.
Veyron blinked. "…Ok, but I didn't ask!"
"I.... I mean it!"
Yeah. Like hell I'll believe that.
After meeting Cyttorak, Veyron tried contacting a few other heavy hitters from the Kamar-Taj's [multiverse contacts list].
None of them were nearly as enthusiastic as Cyttorak. No gifts of universe-origin or anything over-the-top. Most of them acted like they were just fulfilling a formal request, lending their power in a businesslike manner.
Once he was done making the rounds with all the multiversal-level entities, Veyron turned his focus to the single-dimension overlords. He tapped into their domains and used that energy to supercharge his "Ki"—unlocking a whole bunch of new traits.
By the time he left Kamar-Taj, the power he had once named [Divine Ki]—his vision of a fundamental source energy behind all things—had taken a massive step toward completion.
— — —
The Web Headquarters.
"Veyron, could you not show up out of nowhere like that?!"
Seeing Veyron's face materialize out of a swirling mass of Ki right in front of her, Gwen practically jumped out of her skin. She clutched her chest, trying to steady her heartbeat.
Then she paused. "Wait… your Gene Lock isn't at mid-Fourth Tier anymore, is it?"
Veyron nodded slightly. "Strictly speaking, it's at high-fourth."
Once you awaken your Soul Light, you hit mid-Fourth Tier. The gap between mid and high, though, is mostly a matter of accumulation.
It's like that...
Back when Veyron was just entering Fourth Tier, the power boost he got from [Divine Ki] already put him near God-level. Then once he ignited his soul light, the Limiter Remover (Gold) effect kicked in—and with both his essence and soul constantly evolving, that so-called bottleneck between mid and high? Basically nonexistent. Flimsy, like paper.
That said, he wasn't calling it "Near Fifth" yet. He'd already achieved ultra-fine control at the atomic level—something required for that tier. But the other requirement, complete energy-form transformation (both body and mind), was still just out of reach.
Not for long, though.
His intuition—sharpened by the light of the mind—told him that the moment his traits Divine Ki, Divine Will, and Divine Body all hit Level 100, he'd be standing at the very threshold of Fourth Tier perfection. A semi-Fifth Tier.
And let's not forget—he was still holding onto that universe-grade crimson origin Cyttorak gave him.
"Here. I brought this back from Kamar-Taj."
Raising a hand, Veyron summoned a worn, ancient-looking grimoire out of folded space. It floated gently into the air in front of Gwen.
"I've analyzed its properties. It should be a perfect match for Wanda."
"...Then why not give it to her yourself?"
The second she laid eyes on the book, Gwen felt an ominous chill crawl up her spine. The moment he said it wasn't meant for her, she instinctively took a half-step back—clearly wanting to keep as much distance between herself and this magical WMD* as possible.
(WMD*: Weapon of Mass Destruction)
"Well, she's part of the Web, your organization," Veyron replied. "Technically, I'm also affiliated with the Web, but it's more of a… ceremonial thing."
He paused for a beat, then added, "Also, this book? It has a serious pedigree. I've met its original author. Judging by their attitude, they probably won't try to mess with Wanda through it—but you should still be cautious. This book's potential is insane. If Wanda accepts it, there's a good chance her power will skyrocket way past anything you've ever imagined. It's your call as her team leader whether or not she should have it."
"More overpowered than you?"
Gwen raised a brow, half-joking.
Veyron shook his head. "Not quite."
Wanda's chaos magic had enormous theoretical potential. But like the Phoenix Force—a similarly ancient and overwhelmingly powerful entity that usually appeared in fragments—it was rarely seen in its true form.
Reaching the upper limits of chaos magic wasn't something you could just grind your way toward. It took more than power. It took everything.
And this book—The Darkhold, the Book of the Damned, authored by the demonic entity Chthon himself, a being on the same multiversal level as Cyttorak and Shuma-Gorath—could drastically reduce the difficulty. Like, take the odds of mastering Chaos Magic from 'one in a billion' to 'highly likely.'
But even then, it wouldn't turn her into someone like him—someone who evolved nonstop, even while AFK, without doing any active training.
"Got it…"
Gwen tapped her communicator, projecting Wanda's image into the air.
"If you're okay with it, why not just tell her everything about the book and let her decide whether to take it or not?"
"Up to you," Veyron said with a shrug.
Roughly half an hour later, The Darkhold was already in Wanda's hands—and she now knew exactly where it came from.
"Was there something else you wanted to ask?"
Veyron noticed Wanda hadn't left yet. She stood there quietly, like she was hesitating to speak. So he spoke first.
"…I wanted to ask something." Wanda finally broke the silence.
"Does Pietro… have the same kind of potential I do?"
Veyron's eyes narrowed slightly. "Did you use your powers on him?"
Pietro Maximoff—Wanda's twin brother—better known in the Marvel universe as Quicksilver, might just be the worst speedster in comic book history.
He practically handed the win to DC's speedsters by being so underwhelming. The only real hope Marvel fans ever had was the Quicksilver from the X-Men movies.
Back to Pietro Maximoff. Given that both he and his sister were born in Sokovia, and that they held a long-standing grudge against Tony Stark and his company, it was safe to say their backstory here probably borrowed from the movie universe.
According to that version, Pietro's speed powers were awakened after the Battle of New York, triggered by exposure to the Mind Stone embedded in Loki's scepter.
"No," Wanda said, shaking her head. "I was just curious. I mean… we're twins. And back at that HYDRA facility, Baron Strucker seemed to value him just as much as he did me…"
"He's got some potential, yeah," Veyron said. "But his gift manifests differently. It's speed."
With a quick gesture, Veyron reached into thin air—and yanked Pietro out of nowhere, still holding half a hot dog.
"Wait—what the hell is going on?"
Pietro barely managed to choke down the last bite before looking at Wanda, completely lost.
Then, in the next second, something inside him shifted.
Following his instincts, he tried to take a step forward—
BANG!
—and crashed straight into the wall several meters away.
"I've already activated his latent ability," Veyron told Wanda calmly. "What he does with it from here on out… that's up to him."
Wanda, still wide-eyed, grabbed her confused but clearly catching-on brother and gave Veyron a grateful nod. "Thank you."
...
Once the two had left, Veyron turned to Gwen, who had been watching silently the whole time, her eyes practically saying 'please tell me I'm next.'
"You're different from them," he said. "Your potential—your gift—came from being bitten by that spider. And honestly? With the help of the Gene Lock, you've already developed it pretty well."
"Fair enough."
Gwen shrugged, then changed the subject.
"And in just this short time, we've already triggered two new events. First, you gave Wanda the Darkhold. Second, Pietro awakened his ability."
"And if we count what happened before, that means Wanda's already triggered two events all by herself!"
The first Wanda event she was referring to happened when Wanda had tapped into the Almighty Serum and awakened the Chaos inside her.
"Maybe because the Darkhold is that important to her?"
Veyron tilted his head slightly in thought. "I told you before—this book resonates with her like crazy. Now that it's in her hands, her power's going to grow… fast. Really fucking fast."
From what he remembered in some old info before his crossover from Earth, there was a time in the official lore where Wanda's Chaos Magic was said to have come directly from Chthon, the First Demon — the very being who created the Darkhold, the Book of Sins.
"Yeah… maybe."
Gwen nodded slowly, taking it all in.
"Well, time for me to level up again, so I'm out," Veyron said with a grin.
"Okay, bye~" Gwen replied, waving lazily.
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