Chapter 145: The Scent of Black Magic
By the time Wanda and Daisy arrived at the docks, it was already eleven at night.
Though New York was famously a city that never slept, the docks were a different story—by this hour, the area had become eerily deserted. The only sounds breaking the stillness were the gentle lapping of river water and the crisp echoes of their heels on the concrete.
It didn't take long before the two discovered clear signs of a violent confrontation. Several massive shipping containers had been knocked over, others bore large dents as though something incredibly powerful had collided with them. There was even a cratered fist imprint in the ground—whatever caused it must have had unimaginable strength.
Nearby, a small pool of blood shimmered faintly under the moonlight.
Wanda knelt by it, splaying her fingers over the bloodstain. A deep red glow pulsed from her hand as she activated her Chaos Magic, attempting to trace the origin and sequence of the events.
Thanks to Gene's relentless development efforts, Wanda had grown far more adept in wielding her powers. What had once been purely combat-focused was now a versatile set of abilities. One of them allowed her to psychically reconstruct past events from residual magical or emotional energy left at a scene.
But this time… it didn't work smoothly.
It felt as if something was blocking her powers—like trying to see a battlefield through a thick curtain. She could feel the presence of the conflict, even sense the clashing auras, but it was all blurred, obscured—like looking at a reflection in rippling water.
Still, there was one thing she could sense with absolute clarity: an overwhelmingly sinister presence. One of the combatants had radiated a dark, ice-cold malevolence—cruel, feral, devoid of empathy or rules. A creature so dangerous it sent a chill down Wanda's spine.
This was no ordinary skirmish. It had escalated beyond the jurisdiction of standard S.W.O.R.D. personnel. It now fell under the authority of the Sharp Blade Squad—Gene's elite unit for handling supernatural and extra-dimensional threats.
"Wanda!" Daisy's voice rang out. She was now standing atop a sky-blue shipping container not far from the impact zone. "I think we found something!"
Wanda approached, her expression sharpening as she followed Daisy's gaze.