The frenzied surge of Chaos Magic… no, it couldn't quite be called Chaos Magic yet.
Ronan didn't feel the oppressive force described in the books—the kind tied to true Chaos Magic.
According to those texts, facing Chaos Magic would hit you with a sensation like nothing else.
For lighter cases, it'd feel like an invisible weight pressing down.
For heavier ones, breathing turns tough, power won't muster, and even the will to resist crumbles.
But none of that hit Ronan.
So, he made a bold guess.
The Scarlet Witch right now? She wasn't wielding Chaos Magic at all.
It was just the Mind Stone turning her into a telekinetic, telepathic superhuman.
Of course, there's another angle—maybe she always had the potential, and the Mind Stone just juiced it up.
Ronan leaned toward the latter.
Because the *later* Scarlet Witch? That's when she rocked real Chaos Magic.
Even if it was a heavily nerfed version.
The wild red energy surged toward Ronan like boiling seawater, spreading to the Mirror Dimension's edges in a blink.
Ronan could clearly sense his Mirror Dimension taking a beating from this red onslaught.
Sure, what Scarlet Witch was using now wasn't Chaos Magic.
But Chaos Magic was stepping in clutch, lending her a hand.
This endless energy? Another flavor of Chaos Magic.
Problem was, raw energy alone couldn't touch Ronan.
With a casual wave, mountains and landscapes flipped hard.
The ground they stood on tilted ninety degrees—walls became floors, floors became walls.
The sudden shift caught Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch off guard.
Gravity yanked them down fast.
*Whoosh!*
Quicksilver reacted just in time.
The instant his feet left the ground, he kicked his power into gear.
Cradling Scarlet Witch, he dodged falling debris at breakneck speed.
*Boom!*
Even the long-dead Leviathan crashed down with a thunderous roar.
In a flash, the whole world turned upside down.
Since Scarlet Witch took a hit, the red energy lunging at Ronan snapped back, wrapping around her as she clutched her head.
"Prioritizing the host, huh?"
Ronan narrowed his eyes, waving his right hand again.
Quicksilver locked onto Ronan's moves, gripping Scarlet Witch tight.
If danger struck, he'd bolt with her first thing.
No escape? He'd still dodge whatever came!
*Crack-crack…*
*Crack-crack…*
Amid the chaos, Quicksilver picked up a distinct, rhythmic sound.
Crisp, regular—
Like… gears grinding together.
*Crack-crack…*
*Crack-crack…*
It grew louder, and Quicksilver—half-thinking it was in his head—finally confirmed it was real.
But then his pupils blew wide!
Because he saw it clear as day—that long-dead Leviathan, the one that fell past him, started twitching!
A beast that massive, even moving slow as hell—
One shift kicked up a dust storm from above!
Quicksilver yanked Scarlet Witch's arm, blinking out of there.
*Boom!*
Right as they vanished, a huge rock smashed where they'd stood.
"ROAR!!!"
With the Leviathan's bellow, debris rained harder.
The long-dead beast finally fired up its colossal frame.
First time Quicksilver saw a monster that big swimming through the air.
And it left him speechless.
A dead thing—alive again?
He gawked at the Leviathan weaving overhead, then at Ronan on the wall.
How'd he pull that off?
Next second, Quicksilver chucked the thought.
No time to figure *how*—he had to stop it!
Who knows what else might wake up if this kept going?
"ROAR!!!"
The Leviathan's roar snapped him out of it.
That hulking thing charged them at a speed its size shouldn't allow.
Quicksilver squinted, vanishing again.
*Boom!*
It slammed where they'd been, but the spot was empty.
Quicksilver popped up elsewhere, glancing at the Leviathan, then Ronan.
And then—a smirk curled his lips.
"This speed? You can't touch me."
"I can drag this out forever—I don't buy you can trap me for good."
Quicksilver shook off his earlier freak-out.
At first, Ronan's reanimation trick and that massive Leviathan rattled him.
But up close? The thing was no threat.
Simple reason.
Too slow!
To Quicksilver, it might as well be crawling.
A little effort, and he'd dodge its slams easy.
Ronan just smiled, not bothering to reply.
If this was all he had, "reviving" the Leviathan would've been pointless.
With a thought, it launched skyward again.
This time, no charge—it roared to the heavens.
Around it, over a hundred red mini-portals popped up.
No doubt—Ronan's doing.
"Since you're so fast…"
"Let's play a game."
Ronan's voice was soft but cut clear into Quicksilver's ears.
Instinctively, Quicksilver's leg muscles tensed.
Something felt off.
*Snap!*
Another sharp finger-snap.
Quicksilver watched the red portals on the Leviathan flare bright.
Next second—
*Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!*
*Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!*
Energy blasts erupted from the glowing portals, hammering the ground in a wild, no-aim barrage!
Faster than the Leviathan, though still laughable to Quicksilver.
His power didn't just give him insane speed—his dynamic vision was off the charts.
But even so, he had to dodge!
And keep dodging!
The blasts came like free ammo, raking the ground nonstop!
No reload nonsense either.
"Unlimited bullets" plus a ton of portals? Scorched earth and endless dust clouds.
Under this onslaught, Quicksilver pushed his max speed to weave through the storm.
All he could do now?
Dodge.
His powers couldn't crack this.
No flight, no ranged moves to hit that skyborne Leviathan.
So, dodge and wait.
Wait for Ronan's mana to tap out—that's when he'd strike back.
But Ronan seemed to clock his plan.
Not only did he not slow down, the blasts *ramped up*!
Was Ronan's mana infinite too?
Well, kinda.
It's all borrowed from Vishanti.
Borrow too much, though, and Vishanti might peek over.
*Which little punk's burning through my juice like that?*
Then Ronan, the "traitor," would be busted!
So, he pulled an old-school trick from his ancestors.
Bluff and bamboozle—keep 'em guessing.
Eighty percent of those "energy blasts"? Illusions.
Even the craters? Just "special effects"—no real damage.
But Ronan bet Quicksilver wouldn't dare test it.
Even if he suspected the "endless mana" was bunk—
Would he risk tanking a hit?
Ronan could flub ninety-nine times, but one real shot landing? Quicksilver's done.
The second they got locked in the Mirror Dimension, Ronan had the upper hand.
Unless—
*Cough cough cough!*
Ronan wiped that thought fast.
Nope—can't jinx it now, or—
*Bang!*
Right then, Quicksilver's speed finally slipped.
The cost? A blast caught him off guard, exploding in his face.
The shockwave flung both siblings back.
*Tsk.*
Rough luck.
Ronan eyed the battered Quicksilver, clicking his tongue.
Not only did he miss the dodge, he hit a *real* one.
Talk about a bad roll.
The shockwave's damage was light, but the fallout? Huge.
It sent Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch crashing down.
The overhead barrage gave no breather—blasts closed in fast.
Three.
Ronan spotted it instantly—three real ones in the mix.
Just three, but enough to kill.
Unless—
Ronan's gaze flicked to Scarlet Witch.
"Ahhh!!!!!!"
As he looked, Scarlet Witch—still clutching her head—unleashed another shriek.
The ear-piercing wail made Ronan quirk a brow.
Knew it.
Spot on.
A visible red energy wave erupted from her, blasting outward in all directions!
The incoming blasts smashed into it!
Illusions shattered on contact.
Real ones? Bounced off!
As the red energy kept surging, more blasts got deflected!
They slammed the Mirror Dimension's walls, forcing Ronan to pop a Kamar-Taj shield ring to dodge his own ricochet.
Watching the rebounds, Ronan couldn't hide a jealous glint.
What the hell *wasn't* this a Shinra Tensei?
Ignoring all attacks, bouncing them clean off.
Pair that with his current kit, and he'd be untouchable!
Outside rule-based moves, he'd have zero weak spots.
Too bad…
Life's a bummer eight or nine times out of ten.
While he mused, his shield ring took a light test.
Compared to the Leviathan nearby, though? His hits were raindrops.
Because after deflecting the blasts, that red energy didn't retreat to Scarlet Witch.
It morphed midair into a giant hand, snagging the "root cause."
The Leviathan!
In a blink, the once-arrogant beast got crushed—its armor splintering under the grip!
Red energy seeped into it.
The mini-portals around it? Popped like bubbles.
The rain of blasts vanished in an instant.
Ronan, hovering, narrowed his eyes, his grin fading.
This time, he felt it—a pressure he'd never known.
Not even from the Ancient One.
Though, maybe she'd never gone full throttle against him.
Still, among every being he'd met—Dormammu included—nothing matched this.
This… was Chaos Magic?
Right then, Scarlet Witch—head still in hands—lifted off.
Black energy swirled around her!
Darker than before—not just in color.
Ronan sensed the shift in power.
As she rose level with him, he saw it clear.
Her pupils? Swallowed by that red energy.
Meaning—
Her body was now Chaos Magic's puppet!