Chương 66: Chapter 66: True Dimensional Demon God Form and the True Shadowkhan 

"Damn it! How could Loki just get himself captured so easily?!" Corvus Glaive snarled, lifting a mind-controlled Clint Barton entirely off the ground by his throat. 

"It's... part of the plan!" Hawkeye gasped out, desperately fighting through the agonizing suffocation to speak. 

"What kind of garbage plan requires the Commander to be captured?!" Corvus roared, violently tossing Hawkeye across the room. The archer slammed heavily against the concrete wall, coughing and gasping for air. 

"They are just a bunch of pathetic Earthlings! Proxima and I could easily slaughter them all! But no, he insisted on following his 'grand scheme.' And look what happened! He got himself captured, and now we've completely lost the initiative!" Corvus Glaive raged, pacing back and forth like a caged animal. 

Proxima Midnight walked over, wrapping her arms around her husband to calm him. "Patience, Corvus. With the two of us here, even if Loki tries to hide in the core of this planet, we will dig him out and drag him back to the Master." 

Proxima's words seemed to soothe Corvus slightly. He glared at Hawkeye, who had finally managed to stand back up. 

"I have absolutely no idea why Loki chose to recruit useless trash like you," Corvus hissed, stepping forward and pressing the edge of his razor-sharp glaive against Hawkeye's neck. "But remember this, insect: if Loki is attempting some kind of treacherous scheme, I will personally slaughter every single one of you!" 

Despite the deadly blade pressing against his throat, Hawkeye's expression remained perfectly stoic. "You have absolutely no idea how dangerous this planet truly is. Did you honestly believe you were invading the tutorial zone?" 

Hawkeye remembered the massive, terrifying green rage-monster, and the incomprehensibly powerful Lord of Shadows. He sincerely doubted these two arrogant aliens could survive a direct encounter with either of them. 

"Do not attempt to measure our cosmic might with your primitive, shallow understanding of power," Corvus sneered, withdrawing his blade. "Now, continue executing Loki's 'plan.' And remember... no tricks." 

A strange, eerie smile briefly flickered across Hawkeye's face. 

'Why would I play tricks?' he thought. Deep down, the lingering remnants of his true consciousness were already starting to fiercely despise these two arrogant aliens. 

Meanwhile, aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet. 

Luke had stopped Thor from immediately grabbing Loki and fleeing back to Asgard. 

"Hold on, buddy. His business on Earth isn't finished yet. You can't just take him and run," Luke said, placing a firm hand on Thor's shoulder. Simultaneously, he deployed a single Nightbat, ordering it to hang upside down from the ceiling to constantly monitor the cabin with its magical echolocation, ensuring Loki didn't try to pull any illusion tricks. 

Seeing that Loki was securely bound and sitting quietly under the Nightbat's watch, Luke relaxed slightly. Turning back to the incredibly impatient Thor, Luke continued, "Even though he's Asgardian, he committed crimes on Earth. He has to answer for his actions here first." 

"But he is my brother! I cannot just abandon him to the mortals!" Thor argued passionately. 

"He and his alien enforcers completely destroyed our primary research facility. Over three thousand S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, scientists, and support staff were killed in the collapse. He abducted one of my closest colleagues. And over the past two days, he murdered eighty innocent civilians just to steal the materials he needed," Natasha Romanoff stated coldly, not even turning around from the co-pilot seat. 

Thor's expression immediately shifted to profound helplessness and guilt. He hadn't realized the sheer scale of the devastation Loki had already caused. 

"Well... he is adopted. But..." 1

Seeing Thor struggling to defend the indefensible, Luke stepped in to mediate. 

"Just relax, alright? Loki absolutely needs to pay the price for what he's done. But... if you can manage to convince him to willingly reveal the location of their secret base and their ultimate objective, we might be able to negotiate a slightly more lenient punishment for him." 

After participating in several major battles that drastically deviated from the movie plots, Luke no longer fully trusted his knowledge of the timeline. For all he knew, Loki was currently planning to open the portal over the Triskelion instead of Stark Tower! 

If they could get Loki to voluntarily spill the beans on the new plan, it would save everyone a massive headache. 

Thor looked at Loki, his eyes filled with desperate, earnest concern. 

Tony quietly sidled up next to Luke. "What is wrong with that guy? Why is he so incredibly protective of the psychopath who tried to kill him?" 

"He's a classic bro-con," Luke whispered back. "It's a textbook toxic relationship. 'My brother abuses me a thousand times, yet I still treat him like my first love.'" 

Thor walked over to Loki and began earnestly trying to reason with him. The rest of the group consciously stepped away, giving the brothers some privacy. 

Thankfully, the interior of the Quinjet was surprisingly spacious, so they didn't feel cramped. 

As Thor passionately pleaded with his brother, Loki's expression occasionally flickered with genuine conflict and regret. But whenever he seemed close to breaking, the glowing blue gem within the scepter resting on his lap would subtly pulse. The faint yellow light of the Mind Stone would momentarily flare, and Loki's expression would instantly return to a cold, mocking mask of absolute arrogance. 

Luke and the others didn't bother eavesdropping on the family drama, opting to chat among themselves. 

After a relatively peaceful flight, the massive, imposing silhouette of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier finally appeared through the clouds. 

"Whoa... imagine using the AllSpark on that thing. That would be absolutely incredible," Tony suddenly murmured, staring at the colossal flying fortress. 

Having just acquired the AllSpark from Luke earlier that morning, Tony was currently experiencing the 'child with a new toy' phase. He literally wanted to animate every single machine he saw. 

Luke nearly choked on his spit. He immediately began trying to mentally picture what kind of terrifying, Godzilla-sized Transformer a Helicarrier would turn into. 2

'Damn it, Tony! Now I can't stop thinking about it!' 

Luke shot Tony an incredibly exasperated look. Tony simply shrugged, offering an innocent smile. 

"Come on, you can't tell me you don't want to see what happens," Tony nudged Luke playfully. 

"That thing is multi-billion dollar government property. We absolutely cannot just casually experiment on it," Luke warned strictly. 

However, remembering that Fury was destined to intentionally crash three heavily upgraded Helicarriers in the near future during the HYDRA uprising, Luke felt a sudden pang of regret. That was a massive waste of resources! 

'Ahem. If the government is just going to throw them away anyway... maybe I could 'salvage' one and take it home later? That shouldn't be a problem, right?' 

Seeing the subtle, calculating shift in Luke's eyes, Tony smirked knowingly. 

"When you finally decide to animate one, make sure you call me. I want front-row seats." 

Steve Rogers stared blankly at Luke and Tony, completely lost. 'What are they talking about? Animate what?' 

Natasha, however, suddenly felt a bizarre, highly concerning spike of intuition regarding Luke and Tony's whispered conversation. She had a terrifying premonition that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flagship might soon require a change of ownership paperwork. 

(Woman's Intuition.jpg) 1

The Quinjet smoothly touched down on the Helicarrier's flight deck. The group disembarked. 

Aside from Tony (who was currently wearing the 'Saturday' armor), everyone present possessed enhanced physiology, so the freezing, high-altitude, low-oxygen environment didn't bother them. 

The moment the ramp lowered, dozens of heavily armed S.H.I.E.L.D. strike team agents rushed forward, forming a tight perimeter around the jet. Luke casually summoned two Nightbats to escort Loki down the ramp alongside the agents. 

As they walked, Luke casually reached out and took the glowing scepter from Loki's bound hands. He had always wondered if he could utilize the Mind Stone's power. 

His fingers wrapped around the metallic haft, his palm brushing against the casing surrounding the Mind Stone. 

Instantly, a massive, overwhelming flood of imagery violently exploded into Luke's mind. 

It wasn't a psychic attack from Loki; it was an incredibly vivid, hyper-detailed recall of every single episode of the Jackie Chan Adventures cartoon he had ever watched! Specifically, the Mind Stone had forcefully extracted and highlighted every single scene featuring the Shadowkhan, isolating the intricate lore, the history of the Oni Masks, and the true capabilities of the nine distinct tribes. 

'Ugh... what the hell?!' 

Countless fragmented memories rapidly expanded, sharpening into perfect clarity before violently merging directly into his consciousness. 

"AHHHH!" 

Luke suddenly felt a profound, fundamental shift occurring within his very soul—something ancient and powerful was awakening, but the sheer volume of raw data flooding his mind was agonizing. He let out a pained roar, his vision going completely black as he lost all connection to the physical world. 

"What's wrong?!" Tony yelled, quickly rushing toward Luke. 

But before Tony could reach him, an absolute ocean of pitch-black shadows violently erupted from Luke's body, instantly swallowing the entire flight deck of the Helicarrier! 

Thousands upon thousands of Shadow Ninjas materialized simultaneously from the darkness. However, they were no longer uniform. Instead of just wielding standard katanas and shuriken, the ninjas now carried a vast, terrifying arsenal of specialized, highly advanced weaponry—kusarigama, naginata, specialized explosives, and heavy polearms! 

Simultaneously, a terrifying, pitch-black Oni Mask seamlessly materialized over Luke's face. The mask's design was identical to the glowing, magical brand that appeared on the foreheads of the Kamar-Taj sorcerers who had signed energy contracts with him. 

Tony skidded to a halt, staring in absolute shock at Luke. The man was currently holding the glowing alien scepter, wearing a demonic mask, and his eyes were glowing with the exact same terrifying, bloody-red hue as the thousands of Shadowkhan surrounding him! 

Immediately, the entire army of thousands of Shadowkhan dropped to one knee, bowing in absolute, fanatical reverence toward Luke. 

Luke's glowing red eyes suddenly snapped shut. The tactical pouch on his waist flew open on its own. Tens of millions of points worth of Dark Energy Crystals violently erupted from the pouch, instantly dissolving back into raw, chaotic dark energy that swirled around Luke in a localized, pitch-black hurricane. 

The impossibly dense energy violently enveloped Luke, surging and shifting as it rapidly initiated a terrifying physical transformation. 

When the hurricane finally dissipated, Luke was gone. 

In his place stood a colossal, five-meter-tall demonic entity. The demon was clad in traditional, dark martial arts pants, its heavily muscled, pitch-black upper torso completely exposed. Its fingers ended in razor-sharp, metallic talons, and a pair of massive, terrifying bat-like wings extended from its back. 

"SCRAP! LUKE, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Tony yelled, staring in sheer terror at the towering, demonic entity. He glanced down at the glowing scepter clutched in the demon's massive hand. 

"It's that damn alien stick! It's controlling him! We need to get the scepter away from him!" Tony roared to the others. 

Tony immediately ignited his thrusters, preparing to tackle the demon, but dozens of Shadow Ninjas instantly intercepted him. They moved with terrifying speed, launching specialized, unbreakable shadow-ropes that completely entangled the Mark VI armor, violently dragging Tony out of the sky and pinning him to the deck. 

Seeing Tony subdued, Captain America immediately raised his shield and charged forward. But two massive Troll Ninjas materialized directly in his path. One Troll effortlessly snatched the Vibranium shield from Steve's grasp, while the other casually grabbed Steve by the waist and lifted him high into the air, holding him like a struggling child. 

"Code Red! Consultant Luke has lost control!" Natasha yelled into her comms, immediately requesting backup. 

Several heavily armed Quinjets instantly scrambled from the Helicarrier's lower hangars, rising to surround the flight deck. 

But before they could even lock their weapons, dozens of Nightbats shot into the sky with speeds rivaling Tony's armor. The Nightbats unleashed a barrage of kinetic light-beams from their palms, precisely blasting the Quinjets' engines and rotors, instantly disabling the aircraft and sending them crashing heavily back onto the deck. 

Inside the command center, Nick Fury stared at the live security feeds in absolute bewilderment. His single eye narrowed as he watched the massive army of shadows flawlessly neutralize Earth's greatest defenders without a single casualty. 

Looking at the towering, silent demon standing motionless in the center of the chaos, Fury slowly reached into his coat and pulled out an ancient, modified pager. 

"Hey... Thunder God? Aren't you going to try and wake your Uncle up?" Tony groaned, struggling helplessly against the unbreakable shadow-ropes binding his armor. He honestly had no idea what the ropes were made of, but even with the Mark VI's maximum servo output, he couldn't break them. 

Thor stood completely still, frowning deeply. He glanced over at Loki, who was currently being pinned to the deck by four Shadow Ninjas, looking equally bewildered. 

"I... I am not entirely sure what is happening to Uncle Luke. However, my instincts tell me this is not a hostile takeover," Thor said slowly, sensing the immense, purely divine aura radiating from the demonic entity. 

"I can sense that his life force is not in danger. In fact, it feels as though his very essence is currently undergoing a profound, foundational evolution... ascending to a realm of power I cannot fully comprehend." 

Thor looked down at Tony. "As long as you do not display active hostility or attempt to disrupt his evolution, his army will not harm you. They are merely acting defensively." 

Thor felt incredibly relieved that he hadn't immediately attacked the shadow army to 'save' his brother. Because he had remained completely passive, the Shadowkhan had simply ignored him. 

The tense, terrifying standoff on the flight deck continued for several long minutes. 

Finally, the colossal demon's glowing red eyes slowly opened. 

Luke looked around at the absolute chaos—Tony tied up like a turkey, Steve dangling in the air without his shield, smoking Quinjets crashed on the runway, and a literal army of heavily armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents aiming their weapons in sheer terror. 

"Uh... I think I might have caused a scene," Luke's booming, demonic voice echoed across the deck. 

With a simple thought, Luke dismissed the army. 

Instantly, the thousands of Shadow Ninjas holding the Avengers hostage dissolved into shadows and vanished. 

'Wait... they all vanished instantly? Even the ones hundreds of meters away?!' 

Luke was shocked. Previously, his Shadowkhan had to physically travel back into his immediate 'radiation radius' to be reabsorbed into the Dark Dimension. Now, the spatial restriction was completely gone! 

'I see. My understanding of the Shadowkhan has finally achieved absolute perfection. This is the true, unrestrained power of the Shadow Realm.' 

Luke felt a profound sense of absolute control over his forces. He glanced down at the glowing Mind Stone scepter, which had physically shrunk to match his current hand size. 

Wait... the scepter didn't shrink. I GREW! 

Luke finally realized he was currently occupying a colossal, five-meter-tall demonic body. 

"What the hell happened to me?!" Luke gasped, staring at his razor-sharp claws. He actually felt significantly more powerful in this state! 

"You have successfully unlocked your True Dimensional Demon God form. Also, please revert to your human form immediately! You are currently triggering every single apocalyptic warning ward in the New York Sanctum!" 

The Ancient One's voice echoed urgently in his mind via their magical contract. 

'Oh, right! True Demon God Form!' 

Focusing his will, Luke manually retracted the overwhelming volume of dark energy saturating his body. The colossal demonic form rapidly shrank, shifting back into his normal, human appearance. 

He immediately gathered the excess dark energy swirling in the air and re-condensed it back into crystals, stuffing them back into his tactical pouch. 

"Ouch. That was expensive." 

Checking his inventory, Luke winced in physical pain. Transforming into his True Demon God form had instantly consumed over fifty million Energy Points! His massive stockpile of nearly a hundred million points had been cut exactly in half just from holding the form for five minutes! 

'This form burns energy way too fast! It's definitely an ultimate trump card.' 

"Luke! Are you okay?! Did that alien stick brainwash you?!" Tony yelled, quickly standing up and rushing over, his repulsors primed just in case. 

"I'm fine, Tony. The scepter just forcefully triggered a dormant evolution within me," Luke lied smoothly, hoping to deflect attention. "But you're absolutely right; this artifact possesses an incredibly potent, highly dangerous mind-altering capability. You guys need to store it in a heavily shielded, secure containment unit immediately." 

Luke wasn't entirely lying. The Mind Stone was incredibly dangerous, and warning the team to be cautious was definitely the right move. 

Besides, Luke had just confirmed that, much like the Time Stone, the Mind Stone aggressively rejected his attempts to harness its power. He honestly didn't care. He was going to use the Space Stone (Tesseract) to power his ultimate plans later anyway. 

Once the Chitauri invasion was over, he fully intended to steal the Mind Stone and hide it deep within the Dark Dimension just so Thanos couldn't snap his fingers later. 

'I can't use it, but I sure as hell won't let you use it either!' 

Luke deployed a few dozen Shadow Ninjas to help clean up the massive mess he had caused on the flight deck. Thankfully, the Nightbats had only targeted the Quinjets' non-lethal propulsion systems; none of the aircraft had exploded, and the pilots had only suffered minor bruises. 

Seeing that the Shadowkhan hadn't attacked anyone once he 'woke up,' Luke nodded in satisfaction. 

Just like his very first awakening, the Shadowkhan had automatically materialized to form an absolute, impenetrable defense around him while he was vulnerable. 

Absolutely loyal, eternally vigilant, and unconditionally protective. They truly were the perfect army.