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"So what should we do now?" Nick tentatively used the ring to send out several energy attacks, but these attacks fell on the five monsters chasing from behind, like a breeze blowing by, and they couldn't even retreat or stop for a moment.
Undeterred, Nick changed his strategy. He shaped his energy into ropes, wrapping them around the black monster in front. However, the energy vanished the moment it touched the monster's body. Nick took a step back with a grim expression.
"It devoured my energy." Nick didn't want to believe this possibility, but the fact reminded him. He now also felt Stephen's headache.
"What else can we do? Can we still escape? It would be better if Dr. Banner is here. He and Hulk might be of some use. Maybe these monsters are afraid of simple physical attacks?" Stephen waved his hands, and two red fan-shaped shields appeared in his hands.
The Ring of Raggador.
He hadn't used this magic in a while.
"You want to engage in close combat with this thing?" Nick was no longer a complete novice in mysticism. Although he didn't know how to do it, he had interacted with the mages of Kamar-Taj frequently and had a basic understanding of the combat methods within the Kamar-Taj magic system. Seeing the two familiar fan-shaped rings in Stephen's hands, his eyes widened, thinking that Doctor Strange had gone mad.
It was obvious that those black monsters could only unleash their lethality at close range. Their safest course of action was to stay away from them, creating a sufficient distance between them, even if it meant kiting them. Regardless, engaging in combat close to them was too risky.
"I just wanted to test the waters." Doctor Strange waved his hands, and several magical figures appeared around him. Some also held the Ring of Raggalor, while others rushed forward, unleashing Cyttorak's crimson chains to bind an approaching black monster. Meanwhile, the remaining mage phantoms, wielding the Ring of Raggalor, rushed forward, attacking the bound monsters.
But soon, Doctor Strange Stephen's face was filled with helplessness, because his attack did not have the desired effect, and only forced the opponent back again. It seemed that the opponent did not even suffer much damage, or simply was not injured at all.
"This is troublesome." Stephen smiled bitterly.
Their actions seemed to have angered the black monsters, or perhaps their attack had exposed them, and the joy of finally being found caused the five black monsters to almost accelerate their charge. The leader was still dragging several of Stephen's mage phantoms with him. The chains bound by the power of the Crimson Dimension seemed to have no effect other than wrapping them in a layer.
"Let's talk about our feelings later. I think we should start running away! If we can't go to Luke's core laboratory, I think Luke's collection room is a good place." Nick took two steps back, and his body floated in the air with the help of the energy suit.
"That's a nice place indeed," Stephen nodded in agreement. His levitation cloak immediately dragged its owner towards a certain direction, their movements drawing arcs in the air.
Seeing its prey flee once again, the black monsters screamed in anger. Silent power spread outward, and the leading black monster burst into a blaze of black, fluffy flames. The flames dripped onto the ground like oil droplets, immediately spreading out in all directions.
"Huff, huff, huff."
After arriving at the destination successfully, Stephen, who staggered a few steps due to inertia due to the extreme speed before he could stand firm, was gasping for breath.
"We've activated the collection room's monitoring mechanism. Whether it's functioning properly might tell us whether the situation here is dire or manageable." Stephen stood in the open space ahead. The ground was crisscrossed with lines, forming a complex and ornate pattern. As he and Nick stood on it, multicolored energy rays began to spread along their respective lines.
"Looks like the situation isn't so bad, is it?" Nick breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this. This proved that Silent City's monitoring and protection mechanisms were still functioning. They could temporarily retreat to the collection room and figure out a solution. Even if they couldn't leave, they could still find a lot of goodies in the collection room to strengthen their own strength. Thanks to Capital Luke's love of showing off, Nick was not completely in the dark about the items in the collection room, their functions, and how to use them.
"I think their target might be you." Looking at the figure chasing them from afar again, Stephen suddenly spoke thoughtfully to Nick beside him.
"Me?" Nick pointed at himself in astonishment. He didn't know how Stephen figured that out. Was it because he had dark skin, the same color as the monsters, that they treated him as a playmate?
"To be precise, it's the energy of the psychic ring on your body. You are just an accessory." Stephen glanced at the psychic ring on Nick's finger.
"I'd rather your guess weren't right," Nick said with a dark face. Perhaps Stephen was telling the truth, but he couldn't just throw away his psychic ring just to verify it. What if he was wrong? What if the enemy devoured the ring's stored energy and relentlessly pursued them? Without the ring's protection, he'd be the first to die.
The black monsters were already roaming close. The leader raised his head, revealing a gaping mouth covered in blood and scabs beneath his hood. A silent scream echoed again, spreading and reverberating throughout the space.
Nick and Stephen felt a wave of dizziness. The energy lines beneath their feet, nearly completed, were disrupted and stagnated. Nick felt a chilling, piercing sense of despair and helplessness. He knew he shouldn't be feeling this way, but this sudden surge of negativity overwhelmed him with an irresistible force. He considered pushing Stephen away to shield himself and buy himself time to escape.
The worst side of human nature began to take over at this moment. Nick's mental consciousness at this moment was like an evil schizophrenic personality.
If it weren't for the shaky energy suit on his body that provided cushioning and protection, Nick even thought that he would not only be struggling with the inner struggle now, but would probably put it into action the moment before, giving his companions around him a deep betrayal and a painful blow.
Coincidentally, Stephen also turned his gaze at this time. The dark light in his eyes made Nick's heart skip a beat. He almost couldn't control his evil personality and let it completely take over.
Nick was now somewhat convinced that these monsters were really coming for him, or rather, for the psychic ring in his hand, because strands of energy particles were being swept up by a powerful suction force and falling into the bodies of the black monsters.
Stephen pointed at the psychic ring on Nick's hand, then at the black monster floating in front of him. These simple movements were performed with incredible awkwardness and difficulty by Stephen, while a variety of emotions flashed across his eyes and face. These emotions, too, were being devoured.
Nick understood what Stephen was trying to say. While the energy suit still protected him, allowing him to maintain his composure, he ignored the constant barrage of invective from the evil personality in his mind, such as "He wants to kill you," "This is betrayal," and so on. He feared that if he listened any longer, he would lose control completely, overwhelmed by despair and other negative emotions, and do something he would regret forever.
Empowered by the psychic ring's courage, he chose to trust Stephen. Resisting the influence of his other personality, he struggled to remove the psychic ring from his hand. The moment he tossed it, a protective energy shone from him. The black monsters instantly silenced their silent screams and pounced on Nick's tossed ring, merging into a chaotic mass like black mist.
The stagnant energy lines beneath their feet also resumed their movement. In the teleporting light, Nick and Stephen disappeared from their original position. A black monster, having been excluded because it had not obtained the psychic ring, wandered back and forth where the two had disappeared, seemingly sensing something.
"How are you?"
After waking from his coma, Nick felt light and fluttery. He remembered the moment he lost consciousness, his will seemed to be replaced by another personality. He quickly looked around, only to find his body and Stephen sitting on the ground. Catching his gaze, Stephen waved to him and asked the same greeting he had heard since waking up.
"What's happening to me?" Nick looked at his illusory body floating in the air. He began to think that he was dead, but soon he realized that this situation looked very familiar.
"Astral projection." Stephen confirmed Nick's suspicion. "You just tried to release a dangerous creature to kill me. I almost got caught."
"Then I have to apologize. That wasn't my intention," Nick said apologetically. He had already guessed what the evil personality might have done. He could tell from Stephen's disheveled appearance and the mess around him.
"You're in trouble." Stephen ignored Nick's apology and just looked at him with a sigh.
"I think I'm in good shape, except that I see my body as a soul. This makes me feel like I'm dead." Nick's heart sank, but he forced a joke.
"You've been infected by some negative psychic energy." Stephen said something that made Nick's face change, but he quickly comforted him, "It's not the Abyss, at least not to the point of being infected by the Abyss. As long as we can find Luke, it won't be difficult to remove this infection. In fact, if I weren't so unsuitable right now, I could try to help you solve it."
"So, we still have to find Luke, right?" Nick sighed. He followed Stephen's gaze to his left hand, where a black spot was slowly spreading throughout his soul. Nick knew it didn't need to spread to 100%, just enough to make his consciousness completely dead. If he survived, he would be nothing more than a mutated monster in human skin.
"What do you want from dad?" A clear female voice suddenly sounded in their ears, and in a flash of lightning, Becky jumped out of the void.
"Oh, my God! Becky!" Seeing the person coming, the depressed Nick and the pensive Stephen became excited.
"What on earth is happening here? Why are there so many black monsters wandering outside? How did they appear? And where is Luke? Why doesn't he show up?" Nick asked in one breath.
"Nothing happened here?" Becky gave Nick a strange look. "What could happen here? As for those black monsters wandering outside, they're not monsters! They're called soul-catching monsters, and they're my pets!"
"Pet?" Nick and Stephen's faces turned dark in an instant.
"Those dangerous creatures can't be pets, can they? They're just too dangerous! Shouldn't they be locked up?" Nick took a deep breath. The thought of himself being nearly killed by Becky's pets made him want to curse.
"Those soul-catching monsters should be related to the abyss, right? Is it really okay to let these monsters wander around outside?" Stephen also had a headache.
"It's time to let my pets out for some fresh air. I have to let my pets out for some exercise. No one wants to play with the ghost monsters, so I can only throw them outside for some fresh air temporarily. It's not like they will run away." Becky blinked and said confidently.
"Your Uncle Nick almost died." Nick sighed again. "They chased us all the way! And where's Luke?"
"They're probably hungry and looking for food. They feed on all kinds of positive psychic energy and the emotions of living beings, and generally don't kill people directly. They don't have that concept." Becky replied while rummaging in his pockets, "Of course Dad is in the lab."
"Found it!" Becky suddenly shouted and pulled out a creature from his pocket that scared Stephen and Nick. It was a monster exactly the same as the black creature that had been chasing them all the way outside. The only difference was that the monsters outside were black, like the god of death, while this one was pure white, like the Holy Spirit.
As soon as the white soul-sucking monster emerged, it pounced on Nick as if it had smelled something. Before he could react, it took a deep, sucking breath from him. Nick felt as if his entire being had been purified from the inside out, and a smile of mixed happiness and joy appeared on his face.