Web of the Multiverse - 187 (Patreon)

Chapter 187: The Unexpected Arrival of Carnage, Spider-Man vs. Carnage

Already?

Was Doctor Strange about to perform another interdimensional summoning?

Peter was somewhat surprised when he heard the news.

It had only been three days since Doctor Strange had summoned Venom and Agent Venom, two incredibly powerful Superheroes.

Yet in such a short time, he had already recovered enough magical power to support another round of interdimensional summoning.

That was beyond Peter’s expectations.

Interdimensional summoning was an incredibly powerful spell. It was nothing like simply using the Sling Ring to open a Portal within this universe.

The magical energy required was enormous, and throughout the summoning process, the dimensional passage had to remain absolutely stable.

Otherwise, the monsters and demons that had been lurking in other dimensions for tens of millions of years would show no mercy. The moment they got the chance, they would break through the dimensional passage and descend upon this universe.

Venom Captain America seemed to notice Peter’s concern and spoke in a relaxed tone.

“It’s all thanks to the White Queen. She gave the Doctor a drug that can rapidly restore mental energy, which is why he recovered so quickly.”

So that was it. That explained everything.

Peter’s doubts immediately vanished. Without even bothering to pack anything, he put on his Iron Spider-Man suit.

He hurried over to the maglev car, jumped straight into the cabin, and gave Venom Rocket Raccoon a high five along the way.

After what had happened yesterday, Peter’s relationship with Venom Rocket Raccoon had improved considerably.

The two of them could now interact almost like old friends.

“Hold on tight. We’re leaving now.”

Venom Rocket Raccoon solemnly put on his goggles, then slammed his foot down on the accelerator. Brilliant blue light instantly flared beneath the maglev car.

The car shot forward from a standstill, reaching an astonishing 100 kilometers per hour in only 1.5 seconds.

Fortunately, everyone inside was a Superhero whose physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people.

Otherwise, the brutal acceleration alone would have caused serious damage to their internal organs.

Like a silent silver phantom, the maglev car tore across the skies above Krakoa, passing over plains and desolate seas before finally arriving at Blackstone City by the bay.

The three of them stepped out of the maglev car and entered the Blackstone Wall.

After making their way through a maze of corridors and halls, they finally arrived at Venom Doctor Strange’s room.

Venom Doctor Strange no longer needed to sit in a wheelchair.

The Cloak of Levitation draped over his body. He was still visibly gaunt, but his complexion looked better than Peter had ever seen before.

“Doctor, long time no see.”

Peter greeted Venom Doctor Strange, who smiled and nodded in response.

In front of him was an elaborate and mysterious magical array.

Its pattern resembled a hexagram, but countless intricate runes and lines had been added and extended from the basic shape.

At each of the six corners of the magic circle stood a candle burning with Green Magic flame.

At the very center of the magic circle floated a shifting mass of dense black mist, filled with a mysterious aura.

“You’re here. Since everyone has arrived, let’s begin the summoning.”

Venom Doctor Strange’s voice was now strong and resonant, no longer weak and feeble like before.

“This time, I have more than enough magical reserves, so I can try summoning some rather special entities.”

The moment Peter heard the word “special,” he instinctively frowned.

Special meant unusual, and unusual meant accepting the risks that came with the unknown.

To Peter, that was hardly an ideal choice. It was too unpredictable. Even if greater risks could bring greater rewards, it still wasn’t a worthwhile gamble.

But Peter had only been invited to observe the summoning. Raising an objection now would inevitably seem inappropriate.

So he could only suppress his unease and remain quietly on the sidelines.

Peter and the other two retreated to a corner of the room, standing beside Venom Captain America and Venom Rocket Raccoon.

Venom Doctor Strange stood before the magic circle, closed his eyes, and slowly raised both hands.

As the magical energy within his body began flowing faster, the runes on the floor lit up layer by layer, starting from the outer ring and moving inward.

Golden magical light spread continuously along the prepared magical patterns.

Before long, the entire intricate array had been completely illuminated in gold.

The air at the center of the magical array seemed to twist and compress under some unknown force.

The dense black mist also began churning violently.

It looked as though some indescribable monster inside was about to break free.

Finally, a vertical golden fissure slowly opened within the black mist.

Golden light poured from the fissure, dyeing the surrounding mist gold as it swirled around the opening.

Deep within the fissure, a wavering shadow slowly appeared.

The shadow had a human shape. At first it was black, but gradually, it turned blood red.

Peter frowned again.

Blood red was not the color of the Venom Symbiote, and that only deepened the unease in his heart.

The others, however, sensed nothing unusual. They simply assumed the blood-red color was part of the “special” entity Venom Doctor Strange had mentioned.

Venom Doctor Strange began chanting a complex magical incantation.

As he chanted, his fingers repeatedly traced circles through the air. With each turn, he seemed to consume even more magical energy.

Following the movement of his fingers, the shadow inside the fissure gradually expanded until it filled the entire opening.

Then the shadow broke through the boundary of the fissure and fully entered this universe.

It was a man clad in a blood-red Symbiote suit.

Irregular black patterns flowed across the surface of the blood-red Symbiote suit.

Countless blood-red Symbiote tentacles extended from all over the suit, swaying gently in different directions as though each possessed a life of its own.

Two demonic, deathly pale eye patterns stood out sharply across the head of the suit.

A mouthful of hideous white fangs was fully exposed, radiating an overwhelming aura of savagery.

Even while standing perfectly still, his presence alone gave people the terrifying sensation of being swallowed by a sea of blood.

He was Venom’s most powerful offspring... Carnage!

Carnage’s original name was Cletus Kasady. He had originally been an utterly deranged serial killer.

Cletus Kasady met Eddie Brock by chance while in prison. Later, when Venom helped Eddie Brock escape, Cletus Kasady came into contact with the Symbiote egg Venom had left behind, turning him into the infamous Carnage Symbiote.

As Venom’s first offspring, Carnage inherited all of Venom’s formidable abilities and even surpassed his predecessor, possessing terrifying power far beyond Venom’s own.

That was why Carnage had become a deadly enemy of both Spider-Man and Venom. Among all Symbiote villains, he ranked among the most dangerous.

Unlike ordinary supervillains, however, Carnage did not commit evil for wealth or fame.

He simply enjoyed killing.

To him, human lives were nothing more than toys, which made the depths of his depravity obvious.

Wherever Carnage appeared, mass casualties were almost guaranteed to follow.

Having just crossed into this universe, Carnage stood at the center of the magic circle. His ghastly white eye patterns contracted several times as he quickly surveyed everyone around him.

Venom Captain America already had one hand on the edge of his Vibranium shield, but he did not immediately throw it.

Venom Rocket Raccoon had also raised his modified firearm, his finger resting on the trigger, yet he hesitated to pull it.

After so many interdimensional summons, the two of them had developed a fixed assumption.

Every being summoned so far had belonged to the hero faction. Never once had they summoned a Villain.

Over time, everyone had subconsciously come to believe that whoever appeared would be a companion they could trust to watch their backs.

They had never even considered what they should do if a Villain were summoned instead.

There was another important factor.

The summoning coordinates were not fixed. Whoever was summoned could appear anywhere within a one-kilometer-diameter area centered on the magic circle.

Yet by sheer coincidence, Carnage had appeared directly in the center of the magic circle this time.

With those two coincidences overlapping, both Venom Rocket Raccoon and Venom Captain America hesitated for a split second.

And that brief hesitation gave Carnage the chance to strike first.

Once Carnage realized that everyone around him was a complete stranger, he instinctively assumed he had fallen into a trap.

He should not have been here.

Someone must have arranged all this in order to kill him.

The crazed Carnage had no intention of negotiating, nor was he willing to compromise.

He chose to attack immediately!

With a roar, he charged at the nearest target, Venom Doctor Strange, who had just completed the interdimensional summoning.

By the time Venom Captain America and Venom Rocket Raccoon reacted, they were already several beats too late.

Even Venom Doctor Strange himself had no time to respond.

But at that critical moment, Peter’s voice suddenly rang in everyone’s ears.

A figure shot past the others like lightning and lunged straight at Carnage.

“Everyone, get back! I’ll handle him!”

The instant Carnage appeared, Peter had already realized something was terribly wrong.

Unlike the others, he had not fallen into the same fixed assumption, so he reacted immediately.

Carnage was a lunatic. There was simply no reasoning with him.

The best way to deal with Carnage was to beat him down first and talk afterward.

And if there truly was no way to reach an agreement, then even killing Carnage would be better than allowing him to run rampant unchecked.

Peter shot forward like lightning.

Before Carnage’s claws could reach Venom Doctor Strange, Peter’s fist had already slammed into Carnage’s shoulder.

Thud!

The sickening sound of flesh colliding echoed through the room.

Peter’s fist met Carnage’s Symbiote suit for the first time.

Even without using the Enigma Force, Peter still achieved an overwhelming victory.

At the point where Peter’s fist landed, violent ripples spread across Carnage’s Symbiote suit.

That was the Symbiote suit attempting to absorb and dissipate the impact.

It was like an elastic membrane stretched to its absolute limit, using incredibly high-frequency vibrations to counteract the force pulling against it.

This was one of the Symbiote suit’s greatest advantages, its ability to automatically defend against physical attacks.

But this time was clearly different.

Peter’s punch was simply too powerful, and every bit of that force had been concentrated into a single point.

That required both absolute strength and perfect technique.

Even with the Symbiote’s vibrations pushed to their limit, they could only dissipate ten percent of the punch’s power.

The remaining ninety percent tore straight through the Symbiote suit.

Starting from the point where Peter’s fist had struck, the Symbiote suit burst apart inch by inch, like a balloon squeezed past its breaking point.

The force continued deeper until it reached Carnage’s flesh and blood.

Before such overwhelming power, no matter how tough the muscle fibers, fascia, or even bones were, they meant nothing.

Every cell in Carnage’s left arm was compressed and ruptured at the exact same instant.

Boom!

Carnage’s entire left arm exploded into a cloud of blood, even the hard bones reduced to shattered fragments.

Countless Symbiote tentacles poured from the severed stump, desperately trying to repair the wound, but their efforts were completely useless.

Carnage froze.

Half a second later, unbearable agony finally erupted from the wound.

He stared at his empty left shoulder, his pupils constricting to pinpoints.

At that moment, Carnage, who had always acted without fear or restraint, experienced true terror for the first time.

The Spider-Man standing before him in the Iron Spider-Man suit was practically a human titan, possessing several times the strength of an ordinary Spider-Man.

Carnage had fought gamma giants such as the Hulk and the Red Hulk before, yet never had he experienced such overwhelming, raw physical domination.

Could the physical strength of this Iron Spider-Man actually surpass that of the Green Hulk?

How was that possible?

Had this universe gone insane?

How could a Spider-Man this terrifying possibly exist?

Run!

No matter what, he had to escape.

He had to get as far away from this monstrous Spider-Man as possible!

That was the only thought left in Carnage’s mind.

The next instant, Carnage let out an incredibly shrill scream, then turned and fled without the slightest hesitation.

Peter drew back his fist and glanced at Venom Doctor Strange beside him. After confirming that he was unharmed, Peter immediately charged after Carnage.