X-Force: Beyond Omega-Chapter 148: Danger sense

[Asgard – Beneath Yggdrasil, The Hidden Vault]

The vault was silent.

Far below the roots of Yggdrasil, in a place untouched by time, Odin stood before a large stone door. He placed his hand on it, and ancient golden runes lit up under his palm.

With a loud rumble, the door opened.

The chamber was glowing with a green hue. At the center, on a raised stone pedestal, three glowing objects floated in the air.

Three Infinity Stones.

The Power Stone, burning with raw, purple energy.

The Mind Stone, glowing a soft yellow.

And the Soul Stone, deep orange, pulsing slowly like a heartbeat.

Aron stepped forward.

No words were spoken.

Odin looked at the stones once more, his face calm, but tired. Then he turned away and walked out without another word.

Aron stood alone in the vault, staring at the stones.

Then, he opened his hand.

With a small spark of energy, a swirling portal opened in his palm. It was a small dimensional pocket. From inside it, two more stones floated out:

The Space Stone and the Reality Stone.

He had already absorbed a portion of both the stones. Still, there was much to absorb.

Now, they were all here.

Five.

Five of the six Infinity Stones.

Aron looked at them for a moment, floating in front of him.

The power... was unimaginable. It was time to absorb them all. He created an illusion around the place to prevent Hela and Odin from seeing what he was about to do. All they will see was the stones shattering.

Then, he used his absorption power on the stones.

One by one, they began to glow brighter.

The Power Stone was first, followed by the Reality Stone. Next was the Space Stone, then the Mind Stone, and finally, the Soul Stone.

Aron felt each and every stone's power flow into him.

The power.

The energy.

It was exhilarating, and yet it was almost too much for him to bear. The sensation was like a thousand lightning bolts shooting through his body. But his Phoenix Force flared up, healing his body and nullifying the effect of absorbing so much power at once. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

"So much power!" Aron clenched his fists, feeling the sheer amount of strength within him. "Just one more stone and I will be unstoppable."

For a moment, even he fell for the lust of power. The temptation of having all the stones was so strong that it made him want to find the last stone as soon as possible. But he punched his own face out of the blue, removing the corrupting thoughts from his mind. He had to keep his head straight.

'Fuck! That was a close one.'

This was not why he had gathered the stones in the first place. All he wanted to do was erase all crimes and villains so that he could finally live a peaceful life. Well, the Infinity Stones were never meant to be gathered. Not like this. Their powers were too much for any living being to handle. And yet, here he was, controlling the power like he was used to it. Under the Phoenix's influence and probably Death's influence too, the infinity power stabilized.

The glow of the stone's power faded and fell to the ground and shattered like some glass crystals.

The Infinity Stones were no more.

Their powers were now safely tucked away inside Aron's body.

"It is done," he said to himself as he walked out of the vault.

Odin and Hela were waiting outside. Odin looked at Aron with a grim expression on his face. So much power in the hands of a human. It was an uneasy sight to behold.

Hela, on the other hand, seemed to be curious about what had just happened inside the vault. She didn't understand how Aron managed to absorb the infinity stones and destroy them in such a short period of time.

"What did you do to them?" she asked, looking at Aron with a puzzled expression.

"I destroyed them," he replied, looking at her with a small smile.

"You destroyed the stones? How is that possible?" Hela raised her eyebrows, still confused about what had happened. "The infinity stones cannot be destroyed! They are eternal!"

"Yeah, well. Trade secret. You don't need to know how I did it. Just know that it's done," Aron shrugged.

Hela sighed. "Destroying the Stones was foolish. You should've used them to conquer the Nine Realms and beyond. We could have ruled side by side. We could have had everything. Haaa... Alas, it would seem, you still don't want to become the king of this multiverse."

"Yup! I'm good with what I have," Aron replied before turning to Odin. "Now, seeing how you willingly handed the stones after hearing the word, Chaos. Then, I'm pretty sure you know who Chthon is. I need more information. Tell me everything you know."

Odin turned slowly, his expression no longer unreadable... but solemn. For the first time in a long while, the All-Father looked like a man burdened by memories too heavy for words.

"You asked about Chthon," he spoke, his voice low, laced with the weight of ages.

Aron folded his arms. Hela crossed hers beside him, watching her father carefully.

Odin's eye turned toward the distant sky as if gazing back into time.

"Chthon is the archetypal Class One Demon, one of the Elder Gods created billions of years ago from the Demiurge, the sentient life force of Earth's biosphere, shaping the early development of Earth. He is... corruption given form. He does not rule, or reign, or conquer through power alone... he consumes through madness. He corrupts through whispers. And worst of all..."

He looked down.

"...you never see it coming. Think of him as a concept. Just like Death. He can not be killed or harmed since he uses others as his vessels to act."

Hela narrowed her eyes. "You're speaking from experience."

Odin nodded. Slowly.

"This was long before I became the All-Father. Before the throne, before Gungnir, before everything. Back when I was only a warrior... bloodthirsty, prideful. I sought glory through conquest. I wanted to prove myself beyond the Nine Realms, and Earth—Midgard—was my target."

He gave a bitter smile.

"I expected resistance. Mortal defiance. A show of bravado from the tribes and their so-called gods. But what I found... was something else entirely."

The air around them darkened slightly, Yggdrasil's roots groaning above them.

"Chthon had already begun to seep into Midgard. Not through armies. Not through sorcery. Through dreams. Through doubt. Through desire. My warriors, loyal to the end, began to act... strange. Paranoid. Violent, even toward each other."

He looked at Aron, then at Hela.

"They turned on me. Every last one of them."

Hela's brow furrowed. "That's impossible. The warriors of Asgard—"

"Were his the moment he touched their minds," Odin said sharply. "He doesn't need to break you. He makes you break yourself."

A long pause. Then he spoke again.

"Chthon offered me everything. Power beyond the imagination. Visions of endless realms at my feet. He promised me eternal rule if I simply opened my mind to him. I refused."

Aron studied him carefully. "So how did you survive?"

Odin's expression grew distant. "My father. Bor. He came for me."

He exhaled slowly, a hint of guilt crossing his ancient face.

"He pulled me from the brink. At great cost. But he managed to seal the rift between our realm and Chthon's... at least for a time. Later, he was sealed inside his own dimension. But his influence never faded from this reality."

There was silence as the weight of that admission settled in.

"If you wish to erase his existence, you need to break him out of his prison dimension and defeat him. But that would mean an endless catastrophe on Earth. Or you can enter his dimension and defeat him there. But once he dies, the dimension will collapse. His influence will disappear and you'll be lost in an endless abyss for eternity... Floating between dimensions. Even if you use your Phoenix Force to forcefully break out, there's no saying in which dimension you will emerge. That's all I know," Odin finished explaining.

"You shouldn't have destroyed the Infinity Stones. At least with the stones, you'd have a chance," Hela said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, well. Let me worry about that," Aron said with his usual confident smile.

Suddenly, he felt a sense of danger around Jubilee and Natasha on Earth. There were others fighting some kind of creatures, but for some reason, his scenes screamed, pointing at the two girls. And he also sensed something sinister... Chaos.

"Tsk. Time's up," He grabbed Hela's hand and opened a portal back to Earth. "I kept my promise. It's time to keep yours."

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